The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration changed criteria for the Hazardous Materials intervention threshold.

In the August 3 Safety Measurement System release, FMCSA refined the criteria that determines which motor carriers are subject to the more stringent Hazardous Materials intervention threshold.

This change allows FMCSA to more accurately identify motor carriers that transport placardable quantities of HM and thereby ensures that enforcement resources are deployed as effectively and efficiently as possible, according to the agency.

"The intent of the revised definition is to apply lower thresholds to carriers transporting placarded quantities of HM (generally 1,001 pounds or more of most HM)," wrote Rob Abbot, vice president of Safety Policy at the American Trucking Associations, in an email.

Previously, the HM intervention threshold was applied to motor carriers based solely on their registration information indicating they transported any quantity of HM. This resulted in some motor carriers being subjected to the lower HM threshold that in fact were not carrying placardable quantities of HM. Conversely, it resulted in some carriers not being subjected to the lower HM threshold that should have been. Abbot said that, previously, even carriers hauling small quantities of more benign materials, such as household paint, were subject to the threshold.

The HM intervention threshold now applies to motor carriers that transport placardable quantities of HM based on operational evidence. These are motor carriers that meet one of the following criteria:

* Inspection in the last 24 months where the motor carrier was identified as carrying placardable quantity of hazmat

* Review or safety audit in the last 24 months where the motor carrier was identified as carrying placardable quantity of hazmat

* Motor carrier has a hazmat permit

Although this is not a regulatory change and therefore did not require a formal rulemaking process, FMCSA says the change was made after several months of careful monitoring and listening to industry and enforcement safety professionals.

ATA's Abbott says the new definition still falls short.

"We understand the logic behind excluding carriers that haul very small quantities of less egregious HM from the HM carrier definition," Abbott wrote. "But the new definition needs improvement. For instance, a carrier that hauled a single placarded load in the past 24 months is now considered an HM carrier and subject to the lower intervention thresholds.

"Intuitively, these are not the carriers FMCSA had intended to label as HM carriers, since they do not regularly haul commodities that could contribute to crash severity. Instead, the agency should consider taking frequency into account."

For more information: www.fmcsa.dot.gov