NACD NewsBrief | August 7, 2012
Regulatory Deadline Alert: CDR submissions due to EPA in less than a week, on Aug. 13
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The submission period for filing the Chemical Data Reporting Form U to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency closes on Monday, Aug. 13 — less than a week from today. If your company manufactured or imported any products on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory in volumes of 25,000 pounds or more at a site during the principal reporting year (calendar year 2011), you must file a CDR report.
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Legislative Update: Congressman Pompeo introduces General Duty Clause Clarification Act
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Congressman Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., has introduced H.R. 6345, the General Duty Clause Clarification Act. In recent years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has increasingly used Clean Air Act Section 112(r)(1), the General Duty Clause, to cite and fine facilities for violations. Because it has no specific list of chemicals or clear regulatory requirements, the GDC gives EPA tremendous power to require facilities to change their procedures and designs while giving these sites limited recourse to question the agency’s allegations. Congressman Pompeo’s bill seeks to provide companies with greater certainty by requiring EPA to complete a rulemaking process before finding any facility in violation of the GDC.
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Regulatory Update: Groups petition EPA to require inherently safer technologies at chemical facilities
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A group of more than 50 environmental, health and labor organizations have submitted a petition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asking the agency to begin a rulemaking under Clean Air Act Section 112(r) to require facilities that use or store hazardous chemicals to use inherently safer technologies. This is the latest of many attempts by these organizations to impose IST requirements on chemical facilities through the EPA’s Clean Air Act after having been unsuccessful to date in having these mandates imposed through chemical security legislation or regulations.
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Regulatory Update: FMCSA issues proposed rule on reporting out-of-state convictions
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On Aug. 2, the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding self-reporting of out-of-state convictions. Under the current regulations, both commercial driver’s license holders and states with certified CDL programs are required to report a CDL holder’s out-of-state traffic conviction to the driver’s state of licensure. FMCSA is proposing to reduce the impact of this reporting redundancy by providing that if a state in which the conviction occurs has a certified CDL program in substantial compliance with the FMCSA regulations, then an individual CDL holder convicted in that state is considered to be in compliance with his/her out-of-state traffic conviction reporting obligations.
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Continuous GHS Labels On Demand |
Regulatory Compliance Resources: Society of Chemical Hazard Communication to hold Aug. 13 webinar on new GHS rule
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On Aug. 13 from 1-2:30 p.m. EDT, the Society of Chemical Hazard Communication will host a free webinar to present information on implementing OSHA’s revised Hazard Communication Standard in the United States. Staff from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration also will be on hand during the webinar to provide information and answer questions. The webinar, developed as part of OSHA’s alliance with SCHC, describes changes to the Hazard Communication Standard to align with the Globally Harmonized System.
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Regulatory Update: Key regulatory official in Obama White House to step down
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Cass Sunstein, head of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs has announced his resignation. OIRA is the division of the White House Office of Management and Budget that reviews all regulations proposed by federal agencies. The office has substantial power in its ability to approve, amend or stop regulations from being finalized. OMB General Counsel Boris Bershteyn will replace Sunstein on an interim basis.
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August is Advocacy Month!
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NACD needs an army of advocates to support the chemical distribution industry. Very soon, NACD will start promoting a bill introduced in Congress last week by Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., which is intended to clarify the EPA’s confusing and vague General Duty Clause. This is a chance for all hands on deck to support the bill, but NACD must recruit those willing to educate Congress. It’s easy: Email “Opt In” to governmentaffairs@nacd.com to get started. So far, over 125 NACD members, employees and affiliates have signed up for the Chemical ReACTions Advocacy Network. Anyone interested in supporting the Industry may participate. Get signed up today to be ready for the call to action on this bill (and others of importance to NACD), and alert employees to this opportunity, too!
| General Business Interest |
Trucking allies file amicus brief on hours of service
Heavy Duty Trucking
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The National Retail Federation joined a coalition of manufacturers, shippers and transportation providers to file an amicus brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals opposing new hours-of-service rules. The joint friend-of-the-court brief challenges the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new hours-of-service regulations, calling them arbitrary and capricious. NRF had previously filed comments with the FMCSA during the rulemaking process to express the retail industry’s concerns.
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Lawmakers protest ‘untenable’ oil field regulations
The Hill
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A bipartisan group of House members has called on the Department of Transportation to reverse regulatory guidance issued in June that limits the ability of supply trucks to service oil and gas fields.
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Big jump in US rail shipments
Hazardous Cargo Bulletin
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U.S. railroads moved 241,000 rail tank cars with crude oil and petroleum products during the first half of 2012. That represents a 38.5 percent increase over the 174,000 moved in the same period last year, according to AAR.
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200,000 trucking jobs vacant in US
Industry Market Trends
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The trucking industry is struggling to fill long-haul driver jobs, despite an uptick in truck tonnage, which increased 1.2 percent in June after a 1 percent drop in May, according to the American Trucking Association. According to David Heller, director of safety and policy for the Truckload Carriers Association, there are as many as 200,000 job openings nationwide for long-haul truckers, positions that may be difficult to fill.
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