What aerosol retailers need to know about this and other regulations DOT’s New Hazmat Reverse The new regulation applies only to highway transportation and does not apply to hazardous waste. It also does not apply to hazardous materials that are transported according to the provisions of a special permit. Since the new rule is less strict than the applicable hazardous materials regulations (HMRs), it is optional. According to the EHS Daily Advisor, retailers can choose to continue to operate under the full requirements of the HMRs. The new rule—49 CFR 173.157—provides a definition of reverse logistics and sets out requirements for packaging, hazard communication, employee training, segregation of hazardous materials and incident reporting. According to Pagel, the new regulation provides the appropriate procedures for retail outlets returning unused, damaged or defective hazardous materials products to their sources. Previously, such products were shipped in accordance with the Limited Quantity and ORM-D exceptions. Very Pagel often, such goods were not even recognized by their shippers as being regulated in transportation. This has caused shippers to occasionally run afoul of regulations that, in many cases, they were not even aware existed. Reverse logistics is a phrase that was developed to refer to a very specific and limited stream of commerce between retail store environments and a consumer product’s manufacturer, supplier or distributor, explained Heidi McAuliffe, VP, Government Affairs, the American Coatings Association (ACA). The phrase was crafted by dangerous goods professionals who recognized that there were multitudes of shipments in commerce that were not in compliance with PHMSA HMRs and that these “undeclared” shipments presented a risk to the public and specifically to the postal employees and others who handled these goods when they were shipped back to the manufacturer. These goods are all typi- Almost 9% of total U.S. purchases are returned to the amount of $284 billion annually. If products include dangerous goods, it only complicates returns. Coordinating consumer returns of hazardous materials—otherwise known as reverse logistics—can be a challenging part of business. Hazardous materials (hazmat) or dangerous goods (DG) make up an increasing number of manufactured items and include aerosols, paints and coatings, perfumes, cleaning solutions, batteries and battery-powered devices, electronics, smoke detectors and cosmetics. Returned products complicate logistical planning, said Mike Pagel, Senior Consultant at compliance provider Labelmaster, because they are subject to the same hazmat shipping regulations as other outgoing shipments. Additionally, a majority of customers don’t know how to ship hazmat compliantly and often don’t even know they are shipping hazmat. In addition to customer returns, there also are employee store returns that must remain compliant. Any violations or penalties in this case would directly affect the company involved. The Reverse Logistics Rule In March, The U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) finalized efforts to make reverse logistics easier for retailers with brick-and-mortar stores that have to ship hazardous materials. PHMSA HM-253 defines reverse logistics as the “process of offering for transport or transporting by motor vehicle goods from a retail store for return to their manufacturer, supplier, or distribution facility for the purpose of capturing value (e.g., to receive manufacturer’s credit), recall, replacement, recycling or similar reason.” 14 Spray December 2016 cal consumer products, such as aerosols, that were sold directly to consumers who transported them to their homes or places of business in their own car without any special directions or requirements. “When PHMSA adopted the final rule, HM-253 Hazardous Materials: Reverse Logistics, in March of 2016, the purpose of the final rule was to help retail stores transport those returned products that meet the criteria for dangerous goods from their retail store environment back to the product’s manufacturer, supplier or distribution center,” said McAuliffe. “That is the entire scope of the rule. It does not apply to the consumer or a product’s manufacturer, supplier or distributor. It is meant to simply facilitate the shipment of goods from a retail location back to the product’s manufacturer in a manner that provides typical ‘dangerous goods’ parameters such as packaging and hazardous communication requirements.” HM-253 was the result of a 10-year effort to improve hazardous materials safety by reducing the number of unsafe, undeclared shipments and providing a regulatory framework for the safe return of products. According to Doug Raymond, Raymond Regulatory Resources, LLC, it also enhances waste reduction by increasing the opportunities for recycling, reclamation and donation. Prior to the final rule, it could be noted that returns from retail stores may have been packaged in whatever boxes were available at the store, Raymond said. The final rule requires that the packaging consist of strong outer packaging per hazmat requirements. Contrary to the idea that the rule deregulated reverse logistics shipments, the final rule created a set of requirements based on existing hazardous materials regulations that include packaging, hazard communication and handling conditions for materials offered and transported under the rule. An important part of the rulemaking is the option to focus training on reverse logistics and not on the full requirements of the McAuliffe Raymond
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