Hazmat reauthorisation act passes Congress

The US Congress has passed the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), which includes the Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety Improvement Act of 2012. This is the ‘hazmat reauthorisation bill’ that was widely expected to be overtaken by the run-up to the November presidential election. The Act covers such topics as training, paperless hazard communication, data collection and analysis, the enhanced authorisation provisions, wetlines (where another study has been mandated), loading and unloading, motor carrier safety permits, criteria for special permits, and civil penalties.

The full text of MAP-21 can be found here, but don’t press the ‘print’ button – it is 599 pages long. A summary will be included in the forthcoming August issue of HCB.