Hazardous Materials Background and Data Overview

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Hazardous Materials Background and Data Overview

• Talking Freight Seminar
• Washington D.C.
• October 18, 2006
• Ron Duych
• Research and Innovative Technology Administration
  Bureau of Transportation Statistics
• Ronald.Duych_at_dot.gov
• [phone]

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History of the Federal Governments Involvement
in Hazardous Materials Transportation

• 1866 1871 Laws passed regulating explosives
  and flammable materials
• 1887 Interstate Commerce Commission Act
• 1908 Explosives and Combustibles Act
• 1911 Regulations adopted by the ICC
• April 1, 1967 Department of Transportation formed
• 1975, 1990, 2005 Major hazardous materials
  transportation legislation

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Reported Hazardous Materials Incidents
Source Hazardous Materials Information System,
US DOT
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Serious vs. Other Incidents
Source Hazardous Materials Information System,
US DOT
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Reported Hazardous Fatalities
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Background of the Commodity Flow Survey

• Jointly conducted by BTS Census BTS funded 80
  Census funded 20
• Fourth in a series conducted in 1993, 1997
  2002 now planning for 2007
• Sample of 100,000 establishments from Census
  Business Register (753k)
• Mandatory reporting requirement (part of
  Economic Census)

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CFS Shipment Characteristics

• Value
• Tons
• Ton-Miles
• Average miles per shipment
• Modes of transportation
• State of origin destination
• Hazmat class/division/UN number
• Special groupings

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Hazardous Materials Report - Uses

• Identify hazmat flows exposure by mode
• Policy development
• Rule making
• Program planning
• Public safety concerns
• Denominator data for risk analysis
• Security assessments
• Emergency response and preparedness

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Hazardous Materials Versus
Non-Hazardous Materials
Excludes crude petroleum, natural gas extraction
and hazardous waste. Imports and radioactive
materials are not well sampled. 2002 Commodity
Flow Survey
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Tons of Hazardous Materials by Mode
Total hazmat tons 2.2 billion
2002 Commodity Flow Survey
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Ton-Miles of Hazardous Materials by Mode
Total hazmat ton-miles 326.7 billion
2002 Commodity Flow Survey
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Summary Points

• Safety has historically been the focus of the
  Federal Government in hazardous materials
  transportation.
• Security, because of September 11, 2001, is now a
  major concern and issue.
• Incident/accident hazardous materials data are
  available from the HMIS. hazmat.dot.gov
• Hazardous materials transportation flow data are
  available on a national level from the CFS.
  Highway hazmat flow data is sparse on the state
  and local level. www.bts.gov or www.census.gov

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• Contact Information
• Email Ronald.Duych_at_dot.gov
• Phone [phone]
• Product Distribution
• BTS Website www.bts.gov/btsprod