Regulatory oversight for transporting hazardous materials resides with the federal government. Each of the agencies listed below play an important role with regulating, implementing, and enforcing policies for the transportation of hazardous materials.
- Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)
- United States Coast Guard (USCG)
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
- Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)
- Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
- Transport Canada (TC)
Scope
Anyone that is subject to each agency’s area of responsibility must comply with that agency’s rules and regulations.
Key definitions
- Administrator: The administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).
- Associate administrator: The associate administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).
- Commerce: The trade or transportation in the jurisdiction of the United States within a single state; between a place in a state and a place outside of the state; that affects trade or transportation between a place in a state and place outside of the state; or on a United States-registered aircraft.
- Domestic transportation: Transportation between places within the United States other than through a foreign country.
- Multimodal: Using more than one mode of transportation.
- Person: An individual, corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, society, joint stock company; or a government, Indian Tribe, or authority of a government or Tribe, that offers a hazardous material for transportation in commerce, transports a hazardous material to support a commercial enterprise, or designs, manufactures, fabricates, inspects, marks, maintains, reconditions, repairs, or tests a package, container, or packaging component that is represented, marked, certified, or sold as qualified for use in transporting hazardous material in commerce.
- Stakeholder: A person or business that has an interest with the transportation of hazardous materials.
Summary of requirements
Each of the regulating agencies listed is responsible for maintaining or enforcing the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR). Some of these agencies are responsible for a particular mode of transportation, for example, the FAA is responsible for air transportation and the FMCSA is responsible for highway transportation. Agencies such as PHMSA, oversee multiple modes of transportation and work with other agencies to ensure hazardous materials are transported safely. It is your responsibility to know which agencies you need to follow and comply with.
