The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's Cooperative Hazardous Materials Enforcement Development (COHMED) Program is hosting their annual conference Jan. 24-28, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency River Walk in San Antonio.


COHMED is an outreach activity aimed at fostering coordination, cooperation, and communication between federal, state and local agencies having regulatory and enforcement responsibility for the safe transportation of hazardous materials and the industry that they regulate.

The conference will include training sessions on inspections of bulk packages, MC338 and cryogenics, the preemption determination process and a live presentation of the capabilities of the hazmat intelligence portal. Another session will provide an in-depth look at the U. S. Coast Guard's Cargo Inspection Team, with a focus on how roadside inspectors can support its activities and many others.

The event will also feature regulatory updates by William Quade, associate administrator in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Office of Enforcement and Compliance; Cynthia Douglass, acting deputy administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration; William "Bill" Arrington, general manager of the Transportation Security Administration's TSNM/Highway and Motor Carrier Division; Christopher J. Bonanti, Federal Aviation Administration director in the Office of Hazardous Materials; and Transport Canada's Donna McLean.

The keynote speaker for the event is Randy Speight, managing director of Chemtrec, who will discuss some of the emergency response challenges related to the import of hazardous materials with foreign shipment origins. He'll also discuss what Chemtrec is doing to address those challenges.

More info: www.cvsa.org