On Sept. 2, CVSA submitted comments in response to PHMSA’s NPRM stakeholder feedback on the agency’s proposal to adopt the provisions of DOT special permit (SP) 21478 into the HMRs. Adopting SP 21478 into the HMRs would allow for intermediate bulk containers (IBC) containing not more than 0.3% of material by weight of the total capacity of certain classes or divisions, packing groups II and III to be transported similarly to non-bulk in § 173.29(c). CVSA shared strong opposition to the changes being proposed by PHMSA because neither industry nor enforcement have the capability to determine whether the amount of the material in the IBC is equal to or less than 0.3% of the total capacity, and there is no way for the motor carrier to ensure that the 0.3% limit has not been exceeded. In addition, while the proposal is limited to IBCs containing materials that are being shipped to a reconditioning, remanufacturing, requalification, disposal or repair facility, there is no provision that requires documentation that the IBCs are being shipped for one of these purposes, making this difficult to enforce during a roadside inspection.
