The Surface Transportation Board (STB) announced its decision today to determine if a railroad's requirement of indemnity from shippers for hazardous material liability is reasonable.
The STB has accepted the Petition by the Union Pacific to determine if it is reasonable to include in its tariff, or shipping rates, for hazardous materials shipments, a requirement that the railroad be indemnified from liabilities arising from haz mat incidents caused by the shipper's negligence. The tariff-based indemnity provisions relate to the loading, sealing, and securing the commodity, or the condition of the equipment tendered by the shipper (known in the industry as the packaging). The UP's tariff does not indemnify it from liabilities cause by its own negligence or fault.
Procedurally, this issue is similar to a former ex parte docket item the Board had pending for some time (Docket EP-677). That docket was closed, after significant comment by carrier and shipper interests, in favor of an actual controversy rather than what the Board at the time considered a policy statement in the abstract.
Even though the petition before the Board is the UP's request to consider its tariff imposing indemnity requirements on its shippers, the Board has opened the proceeding to comment from the public, outside of the original parties to the petition. According to the Board's Order, anyone interested in joining the proceeding is to file with the Board by December 27, 2011.
Ultimately, this proceeding picks up where prior docket EP 677 left off to some extent in that the Board now has a live case to decide the reasonableness of rail carriers imposing indemnity obligations on the shippers of hazardous materials.
Hazmat
ReplyDeleteGreat post.Really informative.The NEW DoseRAE 2 by RAE SYSTEMS is a compact, direct-reading and alarming electronic personal radiation detector. It uses a diode and a scintillation crystal to detect X- and gamma radiation, and provides real-time monitoring of personal dose and dose rate. The real-time radiation dose rate monitoring allows immediate reaction in case of radiation occurrences and thus reduces the radiation exposure. By measuring dose equivalent and dose equivalent rate, this detector provides the functions of a dosimeter too. It also measures radiation exposure and exposure rate, which is appropriate for controlling the exposure of emergency responders to photon radiation. Qal-Tek Associates is a fully authorized distributor for RAE SYSTEMS. Contact us today for pricing or additional information.Thanks for sharing.