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DOT Guidelines for Disposal of Ebola-Contaminated Items

October 30, 2014 Leave a Comment

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has issued a safety advisory that provides guidance on the DOT’s Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) to persons who prepare, offer, and transport materials contaminated or suspected of being contaminated with the Ebola virus. The safety advisory notice is slated for publication in the Federal Register on Thursday, October 30.

HMR applies to Ebola. The HMR apply to any material that the DOT determines is capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported in commerce, the advisory noted. Material contaminated or suspected of being contaminated with Ebola is regulated as a Category A infectious substance under the HMR. To ensure safe transportation, the PHMSA said, the Ebola-contaminated materials must be packaged in conformity with the applicable requirements in the HMR for Category A infectious substances.

Ebola-contaminated materials that have been appropriately incinerated, autoclaved, or otherwise inactivated are not considered Category A infectious substances and are not subject to the requirements of the HMR, the agency noted.

Additional information on HMR requirements is available here. Guidance on how to handle infectious substances before transporting them is also available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The PHMSA cautioned the advisory provides general guidance; it does not address many of the specific provisions and exceptions contained in the HMR. Accordingly, it should not be used as a substitute for the HMR to determine compliance. Strict compliance with the HMR is required, unless a special permit has been granted.

Government operators. The agency also explained that transportation of a hazardous material in a motor vehicle, aircraft, or vessel operated by a federal, state, or local government employee solely for noncommercial federal, state, or local government purposes is not subject to the HMR. Therefore, waste generated from the treatment of a patient contaminated or suspected of being contaminated with the Ebola virus transported by a federal, state, or local government employee to a disposal facility is not subject to the HMR.

The DOT, however, recommends that federal, state, or local governments nonetheless comply with appropriate safety requirements provided in the HMR to ensure the safe transportation of waste contaminated or suspected of being contaminated with the Ebola virus. The DOT also recommends compliance with all conditions and operational controls specified in any applicable special permit issued for the transportation of waste contaminated or suspected of being contaminated with the Ebola virus, as well as guidance provided in the safety advisory notice.

Special permits for HMR variance. According to the safety advisory, in order to transport materials contaminated or suspected of being contaminated with the Ebola virus, a special permit may be necessary to allow for a variance of the HMR packaging requirements to handle the larger volume of contaminated waste generated during the treatment of Ebola patients. The DOT may grant such a permit where the applicant can demonstrate that an alternative packaging will achieve a safety level that is at least equal to the safety level required under HMR or is consistent with the public interest if a required safety level does not exist. The DOT also pointed out that emergency processing of special permits applies when the special permit is necessary to prevent significant injury to persons or property not preventable under normal processing, for immediate national security, or to prevent significant economic loss. In order to qualify for emergency processing, the application must meet specific criteria, justifications must be well documented, and the impact of not granting the special permit must be described.

Non-site specific special permits. The PHMSA said that it has issued a non-site specific special permit (Special Permit DOT-SP 16279) to certain waste haulers that authorizes transportation in commerce of waste contaminated with or suspected of being contaminated with the Ebola virus for disposal. Other waste haulers that have not yet been authorized under Special Permit DOT-SP 16279 may apply for party status in accordance with 49 CFR 107.107, PHMSA advised. If an entity needs a variance from the HMR, it must apply for a special permit as provided in 49 CFR 107 subpart B.

Guidance documents. The PHMSA pointed to the following guidance on the transportation of these materials:

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Questions on the HMR requirements may be directed to PHMSA’s Hazardous Materials Information Center at 1-800-467-4922.

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