January 10, 2002

Dr. Robert McGuire
Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety
Dockets Management System
U.S. Department of Transportation
Room PL 401
400 Seventh St., SW
Washington, DC 20590-0001

Re: DOT Docket No. RSPA-99-5013 (HM-229); "Hazardous Materials: Revisions to Incident Reporting Requirements and the Hazardous Materials Incident Report Form" (Notice of proposed rulemaking published July 3, 2001)

Dear Dr. McGuire:

The Dangerous Goods Advisory Council, also known as the Hazardous Materials Advisory Council, is an international, non-profit, educational organization devoted to promoting safety in the domestic and international transportation and handling of hazardous materials, substances and wastes. DGAC represents shippers, carriers of all modes, container manufacturers and reconditioners, emergency response and waste clean-up companies, and a variety of other companies and trade associations involved in the field of hazardous materials transportation.

We have the following comments on this proposed rule to revise the current incident reporting requirements of the Hazardous Materials Regulations and the incident report form, DOT Form F 5800.1.

These comments correspond to the general areas listed in the rule:

Electronic filing - We strongly support the option of electronic filing.

Revisions to the form - The reporting mark on a bulk container, i.e. tank car number, should be added to the form in Part 2 after the current line item # 8. Placing this information in a prominent position up front and in close proximity to the date, time and location of the incident will make it easier to identify the incident and compare the F 5800.1 information with data on the incident from other sources.

Updates to reports - 171.16(c)(4) requires updates to the report if the damage, loss, or related cost changes by $25,000 or more. We recommend this amount be increased to $50,000 since it does not take much damage for the cost to change by $25,000.

Reporting when no hazardous material is released during an incident - The following two circumstances require incident reporting using form F 5800.1:

171.16(b)(2) "there is an unintentional release of a hazardous material or any quantity of hazardous waste has been discharged during transportation" and

171.16(b)(3) "A bulk package (other than a tank car tank) containing any hazardous material or a Type B packaging containing a class 7 hazardous material receives structural damage to the lading retention system."

However, these two circumstances are not required to be reported telephonically under 171.15. We believe the reporting requirements should be the same for both the telephonic and the F 5800.1 form. If a verbal report is not required, it might be assumed that a written report is also not required. There should be consistency between the reporting requirements including the exceptions in 171.16.

Notifying Shippers of Incidents - We support proposed 171.16(d)(3) that would require a copy of the report be sent to the person who offered the hazardous material for transportation. In our view, telephonic notification in lieu of a report would be inadequate.

These comments concern proposed regulatory provisions:

In 171.15(a)(2), the word "carrier" is too restrictive.

In 171.15(a)(6), the phrase "and quantity of hazardous materials involved" is vague. Does this refer to the capacity of the packaging, the net contents, or the amount released? We suggest the word "involved" be replaced by the word "released".

Concerning 171.15(b) and 171.16(b), the applicability and enforceability of these provisions depends on the outcome of the jurisdiction docket (HM-223).

In 171.15(b)(4), the trigger quantity for reporting the spill of a marine pollutant is not clear. It could be interpreted to mean greater than 450 L from the failure of many packages or this quantity lost from one package (therefore a bulk package). The words "from a bulk package" should follow "marine pollutant" and precede "in a quantity".

These comments refer to the General Overview section of the rule:

Instructions for Completing the Hazardous Materials Incident Report - Under the topic "Who Must Complete the Report," in the third bullet we suggest inserting the words "any quantity of" before "a hazardous material" to make it clear the requirement applies to all bulk packages (except tank cars and type B packages) regardless of the amount of hazardous material they contain.

When is a Release Not Required to be Reported? - In the last paragraph of this topic, the word "which" should be added after the word "for" and before the word "venting".

When Must I Submit a Written Report? - In the last paragraph, the word "device" needs to appear between the words "protection" and "guarding".

Part 2: General Incident Information - In item 8 (Mode of Transportation), the parenthetical expression "(e.g. a terminal or warehouse)" is another jurisdictional issue. Whether a material is "in transportation in commerce" determines whether the HMR may or may not apply to these facilities depending upon who owns them and how they're operated.

Sincerely,

Michael Morrissette
Vice President