Model Education Curricula and Toolkit for the Transportation of Hazardous Materials (2013)

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APPENDIX E DEFINITIONS OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS Some relatively concise definitions of “hazardous materials” are shown in Table 1 for comparison. As noted in the table, the term “hazardous materials” is used primarily in the United States. Internationally, the common term is “dangerous goods.” The two terms “hazardous materials” and “dangerous goods” are essentially interchangeable, but as discussed on subsequent pages the terms used in practice must follow specific regulatory definitions. Table E-1. Four Definitions of Hazardous Materials Source Definition Institute of Hazardous Material Management (IHMM) http://www.ihmm.org/index.php?opti on=com_content&view=article&id=6 1&Itemid=161 A hazardous material is any item or agent (biological, chemical, physical) which has the potential to cause harm to humans, animals, or the environment, either by itself or through interaction with other factors. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) NFPA 472, Standard for Competence of Responders to Hazardous Materials/Weapons of Mass Destruction Incidents (2013) Hazardous material. Matter (solid, liquid or gas—or energy) that when released is capable of creating harm to people, the environment, and property. This includes Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), as defined in 18 US Code Section 2332A, as well as any other criminal use of hazardous materials, such as illicit labs, environmental crimes, or industrial sabotage. Merriam-Webster (Web) http://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/hazmat HAZMAT: a material (as flammable or poisonous material) that would be a danger to life or to the environment if released without precautions. Wikipedia (a Wikipedia search for “hazardous materials” was redirected to “dangerous goods”) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazardo us_materials Dangerous goods are solids, liquids, or gases that can harm people, other living organisms, property, or the environment. They are often subject to chemical regulations. In the United States and sometimes in Canada dangerous goods are more commonly known as hazardous materials (abbreviated as HAZMAT or HazMat). REGULATORY DEFINITIONS The following overview of regulatory definitions is from the Institute of Hazardous Materials Management (IHMM): Hazardous materials are defined and regulated in the United States primarily by laws and regulations administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. 94

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Each has its own definition of a “hazardous material.” OSHA’s definition includes any substance or chemical which is a “health hazard” or “physical hazard,” including: chemicals which are carcinogens, toxic agents, irritants, corrosives, sensitizers; agents which act on the hematopoietic system; agents which damage the lungs, skin, eyes, or mucous membranes; chemicals which are combustible, explosive, flammable, oxidizers, pyrophorics, unstable-reactive or water-reactive; and chemicals which in the course of normal handling, use, or storage may produce or release dusts, gases, fumes, vapors, mists or smoke which may have any of the previously mentioned characteristics. [Full definitions can be found at 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1910.1200.] EPA incorporates the OSHA definition, and adds any item or chemical which can cause harm to people, plants, or animals when released by spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping or disposing into the environment. (40 CFR 355 contains a list of over 350 hazardous and extremely hazardous substances.) DOT defines a hazardous material as any item or chemical which, when being transported or moved, is a risk to public safety or the environment, and is regulated as such under the: Hazardous Materials Regulations (49 CFR 100-180); International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code; Dangerous Goods Regulations of the International Air Transport Association; Technical Instructions of the International Civil Aviation Organization; U.S. Air Force Joint Manual, Preparing Hazardous Materials for Military Air Shipments. The NRC regulates items or chemicals which are “special nuclear source” or by-product materials or radioactive substances. (See 10 CFR 20). http://www.ihmm.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61&Itemid=161 From a transportation perspective, the definitions used by the U.S. DOT are based on the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act of 1975 (HMTA) which empowered the Secretary of Transportation to designate material as hazardous “when the Secretary determines that transporting the material in commerce in a particular amount and form may pose an unreasonable risk to health and safety or property. “ U.S. DOT regulations contain this definition: Hazardous material means a substance or material that the Secretary of Transportation has determined is capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported in commerce, and has designated as hazardous under section 5103 of Federal hazardous materials transportation law (49 U.S.C. 5103). The term includes hazardous substances, hazardous wastes, marine pollutants, elevated temperature materials, materials 95

designated as hazardous in the Hazardous Materials Table (see 49 CFR 172.101), and materials that meet the defining criteria for hazard classes and divisions in part 173 of subchapter C of this chapter. (49 CFR 105.15) It is also important to note that the HMTA and U.S. DOT regulations define “transports” or “transportation” to mean “the movement of property and loading, unloading, or storage incidental to the movement.” Thus, “transportation” for the purpose of DOT hazmat regulations includes the actual movement by highway, rail, air, waterway, or pipeline as well as the loading, unloading, intermodal transfer, and “incidental” storage. FEDERAL STANDARD 313D (U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION) The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) defines hazardous materials in a standard that “establishes requirements for the preparation and submission of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) by contractors who provide hazardous materials to government activities.” Federal Standard, Material Safety Data, Transportation Data, And Disposal Data for Hazardous Materials Furnished to Government Activities (FED-STD-313D) includes the following definition, which incorporates many of the regulations described above: 3.2 Hazardous material. 3.2.1 Any item or chemical which is a “health hazard” or “physical hazard” as defined by OSHA in 29 CFR 1910.1200, which includes the following: - chemicals which are carcinogens, toxic or highly toxic agents, reproductive toxins, irritants, corrosives, sensitizers, hepatotoxins, nephrotoxins, neurotoxins, agents which act on the hematopoietic system, and agents which damage the lungs, skin, eyes, or mucous membranes; -chemicals which are combustible liquids, compressed gases, explosives, flammable liquids, flammable solids, organic peroxides, oxidizers, pyrophorics, unstable (reactive) or water-reactive; -chemicals which in the course of normal handling, use, or storage operations may produce or release dusts, gases, fumes, vapors, mists or smoke which have any of the above characteristics. 3.2.2 Any item or chemical which is reportable or potentially reportable or notifiable as inventory under the reporting requirements of the Hazardous Chemical Reporting (40 CFR Part 370), or as an environmental release under the reporting requirements of the Toxic Chemical Release Reporting: Community Right to Know (40 CFR Part 372), which includes the following: -chemicals with special characteristics which in the opinion of the manufacturer can cause harm to people, plants, or animals when released by spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or 96

disposing into the environment (including the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers, and other receptacles). 3.2.3 Any item or chemical which, when being transported or moved, is a risk to public safety or an environmental hazard and is regulated as such by one or more of the following: -Department of Transportation Hazardous Materials Regulations (49 CFR 100-180); -International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code of the International Maritime Organization (lMO); -Dangerous Goods Regulations of the International Air Transport Association (lATA); -Technical Instructions of the International Civil Aviation Organization (lCAO); -US Air Force Joint Manual, Preparing Hazardous Materials for Military Air Shipments (AFJW 24-204). 3.2.4 The item or chemical is a special nuclear source, or by-product material as defined in 10 CFR or is regulated or referred to as radioactive under one or more of the referenced documents in paragraph 2 above. GLOBAL HARMONIZATION The Global Harmonized System (GHS) of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) is an international system developed by the United Nations, designed to replace various classification and labeling standards used in different countries such that consistent criteria for classification and labeling can be accomplished on a global level. The United States was an active participant in the development of the GHS, and is a member of the UN bodies established to maintain and coordinate implementation of the system. The GHS includes these two elements: • Harmonized criteria for classifying substances and mixtures according to their physical, health, environmental hazards • Harmonized hazard communication elements, including requirements for labeling and safety data sheets Federal agencies in the United States, including the U.S. DOT (PHMSA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have amended, or plan to amend, hazmat transportation and related regulations to be consistent with the GHS. Other federal agencies with interests in the GHS include the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Department of Commerce, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Department of Agriculture, and National Institute of Environmental does Health Sciences. The GHS does not offer specific definitions for “hazardous materials” or “dangerous goods,” but GHS is the international standard for defining and classifying the physical, health, and 97

environmental hazards associated with specific chemicals and for specifying the information that should be included on labels and safety data sheets. The UN document Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) (Third Revised Edition, 2009), known as “The Purple Book,” can be viewed in PDF format at: http://www.unece.org/?id=3636. More insight can be gained from A Guide to the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS) which is available from OSHA at: http://www.osha.gov/dsg/hazcom/ghs.html#2.4. 98