Reverse Logistics Rule AVA CARIDAD, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR regulations that affect product shipping… December 2016 Spray 15 DOT’s Hazardous Materials Regulations. Incidents involving hazardous materials in reverse logistics must be reported to DOT. However, the provisions as adopted give retailers the flexibility to develop specific instructions on how to return consumer products, including aerosols, to the manufacturer or distributor and not be required to fully train their employees to be hazardous material shippers. It is important to note that, under the new rule, HM-253 applies only to highway transport, limited quantity shipments and private carriers. It does not apply to air shipments, rail shipments and marine shipments. Per HM-253, for retailers shipping returns with their own vehicles, most hazmat packages do not have to be labeled or marked to reflect their specific contents. If shipping returns are made through nonprivate carriers—such as FedEx, UPS or USPS—all the full labeling and marking rules still apply. To meet these new DOT guidelines, retailers will benefit from streamlined training requirements. What does this mean for aerosol products? Aerosol products such as spray paint, room fresheners and a multitude of others, assuming that they were sold to a consumer in a retail environment and were returned to the store, can be shipped back to the manufacturer under the requirements of HM-253. Therefore, once a retailer receives the aerosol products and wants to ship them back to the distributor, then HM-253 kicks in. “PHMSA was smart in developing this rule as they knew that retail stores were not well versed in hazardous materials regulations and because these products are typical ‘consumer’ products, many people don’t consider the fact that they can be regulated dangerous goods,” said McAuliffe. Consequently, the requirements of HM-253 were meant to be “user-friendly” and less onerous than those for shipping other types of dangerous goods. The details of the new requirements are closely aligned with the existing limited quantity provisions permitted by DOT, Tom Ferguson, Senior Technical Consultant, Council on Safe Transportation of Hazardous Articles (COSTHA), told SPRAY. For aerosols, the new requirements (found in 49 CFR, § 173.157) may be used to ship flammable and nonflammable aerosols from a retail location as “reverse logistics” if each aerosol does not exceed one liter and the package does not exceed 66 lbs. The aerosols must be protected from activation (release) and packed in strong outer packaging, but there is no requirement for package testing or certification. The box, drum or container needs only to be of such construction that it will protect the aerosols from being damaged under normal conditions of transport. Each package may be marked with the Limited Quantity Mark (a diamond with a black top and bottom) or alternately marked “REVERSE LOGISTICS – HIGHWAY TRANSPORT ONLY – UNDER 49 CFR 173.157”. Training is still required, but it may be limited to instructions on how to classify, pack, mark and offer aerosols as reverse logistics instead of a detailed hazardous materials shipper course. This also means that the instructions must also be documented, as well as the fact that the employees are familiar with the requirements, for as long as the employee is employed and 60-days thereafter. “In general, the same types of reverse logistics concerns apply to aerosols as other dangerous goods, namely that the people returning the products, be it customers or retail employees, are not aware of DOT regulations at all, much less how to properly navigate the complex regulations in place,” explained Labelmaster’s Pagel. “This leads to incorrect return shipments, which put the shippers and the original business in jeopardy of additional oversight from DOT enforcement groups. “The one issue that I have seen that is directly related to aerosols is failure to properly secure the cap of the aerosol can, leading to situations where the cap easily falls off and the nozzle gets depressed. In most cases, non-compliant shipments are found due to leakage being spotted on the outside of the package by carriers or enforcement personnel,” explained Pagel. “Failure to properly place the cap on the aerosol significantly increases the likelihood of leakage which, in turn, increases the likelihood that the package will be discovered in transport. Combine this increased likelihood of leakage with the fact that the return shipper doesn’t know anything about the regulatory requirements to ship the product, and you have a situation where non-compliant shipments are likely to be found,” he said. Pros & cons According to Heidi McAuliffe, some of the positive aspects of HM-253 are that requirements of HM-253 are contained in its own section of the HMR so it is easier to find and doesn’t get confused with shipments that require the full regulatory treatment. Additionally, the definition of “Reverse Logistics” was expanded to include recycling activities and the text “final disposal” was deleted so as to avoid confusion with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) waste regulations. Only minimal training is required for retail employees who prepare these shipments and the packaging requirements are consistent with the requirements of Limited Quantities. The most significant impact on aerosol shipments is the packaging requirements. HM-253’s packaging requirements are consistent with requirements for limited quantity provisions (the provision of the HMR that is used to ship most aerosol products), said McAuliffe. The size limitation is not that problematic (30kg or 66 lbs.) but it must be closed in a manner so that leakage will not occur under normal conditions of transport. Therefore, the reverse logistics shipment must be in original packaging or packaging of equal or greater strength if original packaging is not available. This could prove to be the most difficult aspect for aerosols as this could mean that they must have a cap and an actuator. In many instances, the cap is not always returned with the product or if it is, it may be Ferguson
Spray Decemberr 2016
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