FAA on the Lookout for HazMat

Air Safety Week, August 4, 2008

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has enforced hazardous materials regulations for aviation since the passage of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act in the late 1970s.

The fatal ValuJet accident in 1996 caused by the improper transportation of oxygen generators led to revision of the legislation and modifications to the FAA's dangerous goods and cargo security program.

In late 2002, the FAA further modified its hazardous materials program after the Department of Transportation (DOT) split responsibility for oversight of cargo security and hazardous material, with cargo security becoming the purview of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and hazardous materials returning to the FAA from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

With TSA now handling cargo security, the FAA is focusing on the safe transport of hazardous materials by air.

Meanwhile, TSA's increased security screening of cargo, carry-on and checked bags is uncovering many undeclared hazardous materials that likely would not have been discovered otherwise. During the period from March 2005 to April 2006, the FAA received approximately 15,000 reports of possible infractions leading to over 3,000 investigations and 12,000 educational notices concerning the Hazardous Materials Regulations.

The current hazardous materials program employs a risk-based approach to hazmat inspections, and uses over ten years of hazmat incident and enforcement data in the DOT intermodal shipper database to identify companies that appear to be responsible for multiple air-mode hazmat incidents.

FAA inspectors target these companies for visits to check for compliance with the hazmat regulations and offer assistance in improving their business practices to prevent hazmat accidents or incidents. With this outreach, the FAA is striving to get out ahead of problems -- a preventative measure that complements the program's other efforts.

The FAA's hazardous-materials program employs a three-prong program to ensure compliance. It focuses on: inspections of repair stations, air carriers and shippers; outreach and education programs; and collecting data to spot and combat dangerous trends before they become problems.

The FAA sent hazmat literature to nearly 400 hospitals and medical facilities in the Northeast. Shortly after, FAA agents visited many of these locations to provide more information and conduct inspections to ensure that medical facilities are properly shipping specimens, radioactive materials, compressed gasses, hydrogen peroxide and other hazardous materials.

The FAA is examining virtually every aspect of hazardous-materials transportation by air. With 124 dedicated hazardous-materials agents and $25 million for FY 2008, the air safety program will inspect approximately 2,700 air carriers and 6,400 shippers.

Violators of the hazardous-materials regulations can be charged up to $50,000 per violation, and there are usually multiple violations in any one case. Since 1998, the agency has collected a yearly average of $6.5 million for violations of the hazardous materials regulations. In addition, any investigation that reveals willful or knowing violations will be coordinated with the Department of Justice for possible criminal prosecution.

The FAA's databases of violations and pending cases help the agency detect trends and potential problems. This data is used to determine which shippers FAA agents visit, as well as the order in which the agency inspects air carriers, shippers and repair stations. In addition, the FAA conducts trend analyses to target commodities of most concern for inspections and outreach efforts.

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