RSPA Schedules Public Meeting on International Hazmat Rules

May 13, 2001 12:00 PM

The Department of Transportation's Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA) will conduct a public meeting in preparation for the nineteenth session of the United Nation's Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (UNSCOE) to be held July 2-6, 2001 in Geneva, Switzerland and the first session of the United Nation's Sub-Committee on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (Geneva, Switzerland--July 9-11, 2001). The meeting is open to the public and will be held on June 19, 2001, from 9:30 am-12:30 pm, Room 6332-6336, at DOT Headquarters, 400 Seventh Street SW, Washington, DC 20590.

The primary purpose of the meeting will be to discuss and prepare positions for these upcoming meetings. Topics will include: (1) Global harmonization of classification criteria; (2) Criteria for Environmentally Hazardous Substances; (3) Intermodal requirements for the transport of solids in bulk containers; (4) Harmonized requirements for compressed gas cylinders; (5) Classification of individual substances; (6) Requirements for packagings used to transport hazardous materials; (7) Requirements for infectious substances; and (8) Hazard communication requirements.

Copies of documents for the UNSCOE meeting may be obtained by downloading them from the United Nations Transport Division's web site, which can be accessed through RSPA's Hazardous Materials Safety Homepage at http://hazmat.dot.gov/intstandards.htm. RSPA's site provides information regarding the UNSCOE and the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling for Chemicals, a summary of decisions taken at the 21st session of the UN Committee of Experts, meeting dates and a summary of the primary topics which are to be addressed in the 2001-2002 biennium.