Elimination of Exception Affects Thousands of Companies That Transport Consumer Commodities of Hazardous Materials in United States
Carlsbad, CA, October 13, 2011 — 3E Company, a leading provider of environmental health and safety (EH&S) compliance and information management services, today reported on the status of its specialized transportation services to help companies navigate the challenges surrounding the transport of hazardous materials (hazmat). The transportation regulatory landscape is shifting with the elimination of the Other Regulated Materials-Domestic (ORM-D) exception for consumer commodity hazardous materials shipments scheduled for January 1, 2014.
As the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) continues to align its hazardous materials regulations to conform to international standards, phasing out the ORM-D and ORM-D-Air exceptions has become necessary. Providing an expanded definition of the internationally recognized limited quantity exception may provide certain long-term benefits but will represent a cultural change for the many companies shipping consumer commodities in the short term. 3E Company anticipates that the change will affect thousands of companies that transport consumer commodities of hazardous materials in the United States each year, because many companies have built their hazmat transportation compliance programs on the assumption that some of their consumer items are consumer commodity ORM-D materials.
The elimination of the ORM-D exception will compel a reevaluation and reengineering of transportation programs to account for new compliance requirements applicable to consumer commodity hazardous materials in the supply chain. Specific areas to be addressed include product classifications, packaging, marking and labels, shipping papers, and employee training.
3E Company stands ready to assist customers with those obligations with a suite of reliable transportation services to help ease the burden of the transition. Specifically, 3E’s Transportation Classification services are available to help customers identify regulated and nonregulated items and the available exceptions, such as limited quantity, for each mode of shipment. This critical item-level data can be integrated into a customer’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to drive hazmat transportation compliance programs, including for automated generation of shipping documentation where required. In addition, 3E Company’s regulatory experts are available via its 24/7 3E Transportation Hotline for classification, packaging, marking, and labeling questions, as well for guidance or assistance with generation of shipping papers. Finally, 3E Company offers customized modular training programs for employees shipping hazardous materials.
“The elimination of the ORM-D exception and understanding the impact of the resulting new requirements can be complex and difficult to navigate without the proper regulatory expertise. 3E has an extensive history of leadership in serving transportation needs for a wide variety of customers, including retailers,” said Isaac Powell, product manager, 3E Company. “This experience, when combined with our vast suite of industry-leading transportation solutions, makes 3E uniquely positioned to help companies navigate the implications of the phaseout of the ORM-D exception.”
3E Company’s transportation experts have delivered presentations and published articles on the topic of the ORM-D exemption. Recent ORM-D articles and presentations can be viewed online via the following links:
- “US DOT Begins Phase Out of ORM-D Exception,” February 2011 issue of EH&S Today
- “End of an Era? The Phase Out of the ORM-D Exception,” August 28, 2011, AHMP Annual Conference
- “Transporting Dangerous Goods: Compliance Management,” May 26, 2010, AIHce National Conference
In addition, Isaac Powell will be speaking on the topic with Dale Kettler, hazardous materials compliance manager, Cabela’s, at RILA’s Environmental Sustainability Conference in Orlando, Florida, on Friday, October 14, 2011, at 9:15 a.m.
About 3E Company
3E Company, a subsidiary of Verisk Analytics (Nasdaq:VRSK), offers a comprehensive suite of data, products, and services for environmental health and safety (EH&S) compliance management. This solutions suite addresses the entire chemical life cycle and includes regulatory research; MSDS authoring, distribution, and management; transportation; emergency response; training; regulatory reporting; and hazardous waste management. 3E provides an industry-leading combination of a 24/7/365 EH&S mission-control call center and the world’s premier hazardous substance database of global regulatory and compliance information. The company was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Carlsbad, California, with additional operations in Canton, Ohio; Bethesda, Maryland; Kingsport, Tennessee; Montreal, Quebec; and Copenhagen, Denmark. For more information on 3E Company, visit www.3ecompany.com.
Release: Immediate
Contact:
Jenny Bingham
3E Company
619-980-4205
jbingham@3ecompany.com