The Association says a new ruling by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) proposes numerous regulations that would deviate significantly from international standards. The most consequential to the air cargo sector are those that differ from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Technical Instructions on the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air by eliminating exceptions for most small, consumer-type batteries. Under the new rule, only batteries with a lithium content of less than 0.3 grams or 3.7 Watt-hours would receive the exception and these would be subject to stowage restrictions in the aircraft hold.
The change in procedures would require lithium batteries, widely used in consumer electronic products, many emergency medical devices, hybrid and electric vehicles, and other products, to be stowed in a crew-accessible location except if they are shipped in an FAA-approved container or a Class C cargo compartment. TIACA says these deviations would impose a significant burden on air cargo operators and would limit shipments of lithium batteries by air.
In its comments to PHMSA, TIACA says it is 'unaware of any FAA-approved container for the purposes of transporting lithium batteries, so that exception effectively offers no relief, at least for the foreseeable future. Additionally, on many passenger and cargo aircraft, there is limited cargo space that is crew accessible. Furthermore, while Class C cargo compartments are relatively common on passenger aircraft, that is not the case for many all-cargo freighters - and retrofitting aircraft for a Class C compartment would be a costly endeavor, particularly in an industry that is still suffering through a severe downturn from the current recession'.
Daniel Fernandez, Secretary General of TIACA, stated: 'TIACA strongly supports efforts to ensure the safety and security of the air cargo supply chain. We recognize that PHMSA is proposing this rule with the intention of enhancing safety, and commend it for that objective. However, TIACA believes that safety and security measures should be taken in a manner that sensibly addresses the realities of the threat and, to the extent possible, minimizes the disruption to commercial operations. TIACA believes aspects of this proposed rule fall short of that standard and should be revised.
'Given the prevalence of lithium batteries in today's marketplace and the substantial changes to existing procedures that would be required, the proposed rule would have a widespread adverse economic impact. This fact is not sufficiently acknowledged in PHMSA's cost-benefit analysis, which underestimates of the volume of lithium battery shipments, the scope and cost of new training requirements and the impact on shipping costs, and omits any consideration of impact on key sectors such as retailers and consumers.'
TIACA says it is also concerned that there has been insufficient study of the safety issues related to the transport of lithium batteries, particularly by air. It believes additional studies should be undertaken to more carefully evaluate the true risks of such shipments and that the PHMSA should defer the extensive rulemaking proposed until such a study has been completed and the risks are better understood.
'The proposed new rule would have a significant adverse effect on air cargo operations, and it would be impossible to implement within a 75-day period, as proposed by PHMSA. It would require wholesale changes in air cargo operations and greatly limit the space available for lithium battery shipments. It would also require a complicated lading process under which operators would have to identify and limit any containers with lithium
