DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATON

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Parts 171, 172, 173, 175, 176, 178, and 180

[Docket No. PHMSA–2025–0048 (HM–215S)] RIN 2137–AF75

Hazardous Materials: Harmonization With International Standards

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).

SUMMARY: PHMSA proposes to update the Hazardous Materials Regulations to adopt certain international regulations and standards related to proper shipping names, hazard classes, packing groups, special provisions, packaging authorizations, air transport quantity limitations, and vessel stowage requirements. These proposed amendments are intended to maintain consistency with the latest international regulations and standards, to reduce costs to entities or individuals within the United States, and to lower the cost of regulations on the U.S. economy. DATES: Comments must be received by December 28, 2026.

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-10-27/pdf/2026-21922.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Parts 107, 171, 173, 178, 179, and 180

[Docket No. PHMSA–2010–0019 (HM–241)]

RIN 2137–AE58

Hazardous Materials: Incorporation of ASME Code Section XII and the National Board Inspection Code

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: PHMSA is amending the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) to incorporate by reference and authorize the use of the 2015 edition of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section XII—Rules for Construction and Continued Service of Transport Tanks for the construction and continued service of certain specification cargo tank motor vehicles (CTMVs), cryogenic portable tanks, and multi-unit tank car tanks. PHMSA is also amending the HMR to incorporate by reference and authorize the use of the 2015 edition of the National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors National Board Inspection Code, Parts 2 and 3 (including Supplement 6) as it applies to the continued service of transport packagings constructed to ASME Section XII standards, as well as for existing CTMVs constructed in accordance with ASME requirements and the HMR. PHMSA finds these updates will result in cost savings and increased regulatory flexibility without compromising safety.

DATES: Effective date: October 28, 2026. Voluntary compliance date: September 28, 2026

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-09-28/pdf/2026-19741.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

AUGUST 7 TH 2026

49 CFR Parts 107, 171, 172, and 173

[Docket No. PHMSA–2025–0105

(HM–268Q)]

RIN 2137–AG19

Hazardous Materials: Allowing Fireworks Certification Agencies (FCAs) To Approve Professional Fireworks

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This final rule expands the authority of a Fireworks Certification Agency (FCA) to obtain the ability to approve fireworks constructed to certain requirements. These amendments will streamline PHMSA’s fireworks approval process and provide the industry with improved regulatory flexibility.

DATES: This final rule is effective September 8, 2026.

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-07/pdf/2026-16111.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Parts 171 and 174

[Docket No. PHMSA–2025–0099 (HM–268K)]

RIN 2137–AG13 Hazardous Materials: Removing Burdensome Rail Reporting Requirements

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This final rule reduces undue regulatory burdens by eliminating or replacing various rail transportation requirements that are either obsolete, overly burdensome, or conflict with other requirements in the Hazardous Materials Regulations.

DATES: This final rule is effective September 3, 2026.

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-04/pdf/2026-15815.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Parts 171, 172, and 173

[Docket No. PHMSA–2025–0093 (HM–268E)]

RIN 2137–AG07 Hazardous Materials: Remove Redundant List of U.S. EPA CERCLA Hazardous Substances

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: To improve efficiency and eliminate redundancy, this final rule streamlines the Hazardous Materials Regulations by modifying how hazardous substances are listed. Instead of maintaining a duplicative list, the regulations will now rely on the authoritative, comprehensive list already maintained by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

DATES: This final rule is effective December 2, 2026.

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-04/pdf/2026-15809.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 172

[Docket No. PHMSA–2025–0092 (HM–268D)]

RIN 2137–AG06 Hazardous Materials: Reducing Undue Paperwork Burdens to Domestic Carriers

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This final rule removes undue regulatory burdens by providing domestic carriers and facility operators the option to maintain electronic copies of emergency response information rather than requiring a hard copy printed on paper.

DATES: This final rule is effective September 3, 2026.

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-04/pdf/2026-15808.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 107

[Docket No. PHMSA–2025–0097 (HM–268I)]

RIN 2137–AG11 Hazardous Materials: Reducing Recordkeeping Requirements for Domestic Carriers

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This final rule amends the hazardous materials program procedures to allow motor and vessel carriers to carry PHMSA registration documents in electronic form.

DATES: This final rule is effective September 3, 2026.

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-04/pdf/2026-15813.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Parts 172 and 173

[Docket No. PHMSA–2025–0090 (HM–268B)]

RIN 2137–AG04 Hazardous Materials: Reducing Costs to Domestic Shippers and Carriers of Limited Quantities

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This final rule removes undue regulatory burdens by allowing regulated entities to use a reduced sized marking for limited quantity shipments of hazardous materials by highway, rail, or vessel.

DATES: This final rule is effective September 3, 2026.

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-04/pdf/2026-15805.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 173

[Docket No. PHMSA–2025–0091 (HM–268C)]

RIN 2137–AG05 Hazardous Materials: Reducing Burdens on Domestic Companies Using Battery-Powered Equipment in Trades

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This final rule modernizes the Materials of Trade (MOT) exception in the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) by increasing the maximum allowable quantities of lithium batteries that can be transported as MOTs. This increase removes an undue regulatory burden which constrains the ability of construction, landscaping, mowing, tree service, food service, and entertainment companies to perform their trade.

DATES: This final rule is effective September 3, 2026.

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-04/pdf/2026-15823.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 171

[Docket No. PHMSA–2025–0089 (HM–268A)]

RIN 2137–AG03 Hazardous Materials: Reducing Burdens on Domestic Aerosol Shippers

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: PHMSA is amending the Hazardous Materials Regulations by updating the definition of an aerosol to eliminate unnecessary regulatory burdens and maintain consistency with current international transportation standards.

DATES: This final rule is effective September 3, 2026.

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-04/pdf/2026-15803.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 173

[Docket No. PHMSA–2025–0094 (HM–268F)]

RIN 2137–AG08 Hazardous Materials: Reducing Burdens by Allowing Continued Use of Department of Transportation Special Permit Packagings

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This final rule removes undue regulatory burdens by allowing for the continued use of packagings authorized under a manufacturing special permit for the useful life of the package. Manufacturing special permits typically authorize the manufacture, mark, sale, and use of the packaging authorized by the special permit. DATES: This final rule is effective September 3, 2026.

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-04/pdf/2026-15810.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 172

[Docket No. PHMSA–2025–0098 (HM–268J)]

RIN 2137–AG12 Hazardous Materials: Reduce Training Burdens for America’s Farmers

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This final rule makes an inflationary adjustment to the monetary threshold for farmers to be eligible for an exception from security plan and indepth security training requirements.

DATES: This final rule is effective September 3, 2026.

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-04/pdf/2026-15814.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 107

[Docket No. PHMSA–2025–0096 (HM–268H)]

RIN 2137–AG10 Hazardous Materials: Modernizing Payments To and From America’s Bank Account

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This final rule modernizes the payment system for hazardous materials transportation registration fees by eliminating the option to pay by paper check and requiring electronic payment through the U.S. Department of Transportation (Department or DOT) eCommerce internet site. This action improves processing efficiency, reduces administrative burden, and aligns payment procedures with current Government-wide electronic commerce practices.

DATES: This final rule is effective September 3, 2026.

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-04/pdf/2026-15812.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 107

[Docket No. PHMSA–2025–0095 (HM–268G)]

RIN 2137–AG09 Hazardous Materials: Improving Efficiencies for Special Permits and Approvals Renewals

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This final rule amends the Hazardous Materials Program Procedures to allow an application to renew a special permit or approval to be filed any time on or before its expiration date rather than requiring the renewal application to be filed 60 days in advance as under the current regulations.

DATES: Effective September 3, 2026.

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-04/pdf/2026-15811.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Part 177

[Docket No. PHMSA–2025–0100 (HM–268L)]

RIN 2137–AG14 Hazardous Materials: Adoption of Department of Transportation Special Permits 12412 and 11646 Into the Hazardous Materials Regulations

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: PHMSA is amending the Hazardous Materials Regulations to adopt the provisions of U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) special permit (SP) 12412 and DOT SP 11646. These amendments will provide greater regulatory flexibility and eliminate the need for special permit renewal requests, reducing paperwork burdens and facilitating commerce while maintaining an equivalent level of safety.

DATES: Effective date: This final

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-04/pdf/2026-15816.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Parts 172 and 173

[Docket No. PHMSA–2025–0104 (HM–268P)]

RIN 2137–AG18 Hazardous Materials: Adoption of Department of Transportation Special Permit 21478

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This final rule removes undue regulatory burdens by adopting the provisions of U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) special permit (SP) 21478 to allow empty intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) that only contain the residue of a hazardous material to be transported without shipping papers, placards, and United Nations (UN) identification (ID) numbers.

DATES: This final rule is effective September 3, 2026.

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-04/pdf/2026-15820.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Parts 171 and 173

[Docket No. PHMSA–2025–0102 (HM–268N)]

RIN 2137–AG16

Hazardous Materials: Adoption of Department of Transportation Special Permit 21379

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This final rule removes undue regulatory burdens by adopting the provisions of U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) special permit (SP) 21379 to streamline the transportation of refrigerating machines and components containing certain low flammability refrigerant gases.

DATES: Effective date: This final rule is effective September 3, 2026.

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-04/pdf/2026-15818.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

49 CFR Parts 171 and 173

[Docket No. PHMSA–2025–0101 (HM–268M)]

RIN 2137–AG15

Hazardous Materials: Adoption of Department of Transportation Special Permit 21287

ACTION: Final rule.

SUMMARY: This final rule removes undue regulatory burdens by adopting the provisions of U.S Department of Transportation (DOT) special permit (SP) 21287 to streamline the transportation of refrigerating machines—including common household appliances like refrigerators, window-mounted air-conditioning units, and dehumidifiers—that contain small quantities of certain low flammability refrigerant gases.

DATES: Effective date: This final rule is effective August 19, 2026.

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-04/pdf/2026-15817.pdf

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

June 26, 2026

40 CFR Part 268

[EPA–HQ–OLEM–2025–2038; FRL–8504– 04–OLEM]

RIN 2050–AH21

U.S. Ecology Nevada, Inc. High Mercury Subcategory Wastes Land Disposal Restrictions Variance

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is granting, with conditions, U.S. Ecology Nevada Inc.’s (USE) petition for a site-specific treatability variance (SSTV) from the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Land Disposal Restrictions (LDR) treatment standards. USE’s petition is for a variance from the existing treatment and disposal standard for elemental mercury waste generated from retorting high mercury waste as prescribed by the LDR technology-based standard of RMERC. The petition demonstrated that the LDR standard for placing elemental mercury waste generated from RMERC back into commerce for reuse is inappropriate and the alternative treatment variance proposed by USE is sufficient to minimize threats to human health and the environment posed by land disposal of the waste. Under the approved SSTV, the existing LDR treatment standard of RMERC will continue to apply to high mercury hazardous wastes, but the elemental mercury generated from this process will be treated and land disposed subject to specified conditions at both Bethlehem Apparatus’s facility in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and USE’s Beatty, Nevada, subtitle C treatment, storage, and disposal (TSD) facility where the treated mercury wastes will be disposed in a designated RCRA subtitle C compliant monofill.

DATES: This final rule is effective July 27, 2026.

Read More: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-06-26/pdf/2026-12927.pdf

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

JUNE 22, 2026

40 CFR Part 370

[EPA–HQ–OLEM–2025–0299; FRL–12698– 06–OLEM]

RIN 2050–AH40

EPCRA Hazardous Chemical Inventory Reporting Requirements: Conformity With the 2024 OSHA Hazard Communication Standard

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency is conforming the Emergency Planning and Community Right-toKnow Act hazardous chemical inventory reporting regulations to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Hazard Communication Standard amendments of 2012 and 2024. The Emergency Planning and Community Right-toKnow Act (EPCRA) and its regulations rely on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA’s) Hazard Communication Standard for the definition of a hazardous chemical and for the categories of health and physical hazards that must be reported under the hazardous chemical inventory regulations. This action conforms the terminology used and information that must be reported on the hazardous chemical inventory forms to the Hazard Communication Standard amendments. As a result, this action improves first responder and community safety, reduces discrepancies and confusion, prevents interpretation burdens on facilities when using (Material) Safety Data Sheets to complete annual hazardous chemical inventory reports, and enhances clarity.

ACTION: Final rule.

READ MORE: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-06-22/pdf/2026-12426.pdf