NTSB Issues New Safety Recommendations for Lithium Batteries Transported as Cargo on Aircraft

摘要

It is not known whether PHMSA, in conjunction with the FAA, will agree with NTSB's assessment that rulemaking action to change the HMR can be taken unilaterally even though the proposed changes are not in line with current provisions of the ICAO Technical Instructions. In any case, it is likely the issues addressed by these recommendations will be raised by the U.S. to the ICAO Air Navigation Commission (ANC) for consideration at the international level. The potential impacts on availability of lithium batteries posed by restrictions currently going into effect, or anticipated, under the ICAO Technical Instructions are of significant concern to shippers and consignees both in the U.S. and abroad. Additional restrictions arising from implementation of the NTSB recommendations could further limit the ability to transport lithium batteries by air. Click here to read the NTSB letter to PHMSA (PDF, 9 pages). Readers may also wish to review Senior Technical Advisor Frits Wybenga's report covering Final Rule HM-224F: Analysis: Report on PHMSA's HM-224F Lithium Battery Final Rule, published August 13,2014. Login required. Other recent articles concerning the handling and regulation of lithium batteries are as follows: FAA Safety Alert for Operators (FAA SAFO 16001), Risks of Fire or Explosion when Transporting Lithium Ion or Lithium Metal Batteries as Cargo on Passenger arid Cargo Aircraft, is available here. ICAO ANC Recommendation and IATA Lithium Battery Guidance Document Update. On February 8, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) issued an update to its Lithium Batteries as Cargo in 2016 guidance document, available here. (See HazMat Alert 2016-02), issued on January 11 for the original guidance). The updated guidance document references changes proposed by the ICAO ANC on January 27 to forbid lithium ion batteries, UN 3480, Packing Instruction 965 only, from carriage as cargo on passenger aircraft. These documents and other valuable reports on the subject of lithium batteries and international air transport can be found on hazmat-ship.com after logging in and navigating to Lithium Batteries: International Decisions from the top navigation bar; also see Int'l Decisions: Air Regulations, which is helpfully subdivided into Air Regulation Reports and ICAO/IATA Addenda and Corrigenda.