By Ilana R. Morady and Craig B. Simonsen

shutterstock_30524071On August 6, 2014, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a final rule modifying the requirements governing the transportation of lithium cells and batteries. 79 Fed. Reg. 46012.

The final rule revised hazard communication and packaging provisions for lithium batteries to harmonize the Hazardous Materials Regulations with applicable provisions of the United Nations Model Regulations, the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air and the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code. The August 6, 2014 final rule had set a mandatory compliance date of February 6, 2015 for shippers to incorporate the new requirements into standard operating procedures and to complete training of affected personnel.

However, several retail and industry-related associations submitted a joint request for an extension of six months to the current mandatory compliance date. The request contended that the six month period adopted in the final rule did not provide sufficient time to comply with the new requirements and has proven extremely challenging for the retail industry to implement — in particular for surface transportation. The requestors noted that “generally, the new regulations require that domestic ground shipments of products with lithium batteries adhere to shipping standards previously only required for international air and sea transportation.” It was also noted that tens of thousands of consumer products may be impacted by the rule.

In this PHMSA notice, the Agency has partially extended the compliance date to August 7, 2015. 80 Fed. Reg. 9218 (February 20, 2015). In an important compliance distinction, PHMSA is maintaining the February 6, 2015 effective date for offering, acceptance, and transportation by aircraft. This extension, therefore, does not apply to transportation by aircraft. Otherwise, in response to commenters’ requests PHMSA is extending the mandatory compliance date for the lithium cells and batteries final rule published on August 6, 2014, until August 7, 2015 for all modes other than transportation by aircraft, to allow additional time to implement the requirements of the rule.