American Chemistry Council v. Department of Transportation

468 F.3d 810, 373 U.S. App. D.C. 330, 36 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20210, 63 ERC (BNA) 1129, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 25526, 2006 WL 3316788
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit·Decided October 13, 2006·No. 03-1456, 05-1191·Published·Cited by 62 cases

Opinions

Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge GRIFFITH.

Dissenting opinion filed by Circuit Judge ROGERS.

GRIFFITH, Circuit Judge.

Several associations of hazardous materials manufacturers, shippers, and transporters challenge a Department of Transportation (“Department”) rule defining when hazardous materials are being “load[ed], unloaded], or stor[ed] incidental to the[ir] movement,” 49 U.S.C. § 5102(13), which largely controls whether such materials will be subject to federal regulation by the Department under the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, 49 U.S.C. § 5101, et seq. Because the associations have not demonstrated Article III standing under the United States Constitution to bring their challenge, we dismiss their petitions for review.

I.

Congress enacted the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (the “HMTA” or “Act”) in 1975 to “improve the regulatory and enforcement authority of the Secretary of Transportation to protect the Na[812] tion adequately against the risks to life and property which are inherent in the transportation of hazardous materials in commerce.” Pub.L. No. 93-633, § 102, 88 Stat. 2156, 2156 (1975) (codified as amended at 49 U.S.C. § 5101); see generally id. §§ 101-115, 88 Stat. at 2156-64 (codified as amended at 49 U.S.C. §§ 5101-5128). A key feature of the Act is its broad mandate providing that the Secretary of Transportation (the “Secretary”) “shall prescribe regulations for the safe transportation, including security, of hazardous materials in intrastate, interstate, and foreign commerce.” 49 U.S.C. § 5103(b)(1). The Department has done so, resulting in the Hazardous Materials Regulations (“HMR”), found at 49 C.F.R. parts 171-180. This case involves continued efforts by the Department to comply with that mandate and develop regulations seeking to ensure “safe transportation.” 49 U.S.C. § 5103(b)(1).

The Act provides that the Department’s regulations:

(A) apply to a person who—
(i) transports hazardous material in commerce;
(ii) causes hazardous material to be transported in commerce;
(iii) designs, manufactures, fabricates, inspects, marks, maintains, reconditions, repairs, or tests a package, container, or packaging component that is represented, marked, certified, or sold as qualified for use in transporting hazardous material in commerce;
(iv) prepares or accepts hazardous material for transportation in commerce;
(v) is responsible for the safety of transporting hazardous material in commerce;
(vi) certifies compliance with any requirement under this chapter; or
(vii)misrepresents whether such person is engaged in any activity under clause (i) through (vi); and
(B) shall govern safety aspects, including security, of the transportation of hazardous material the Secretary considers appropriate.

Id. § 5103(b)(1) (emphasis added). Thus, as the name of the Act suggests and the terms of the Act provide, the Department’s regulatory authority under the Act often begins — and ends — with the phrase “transportation in commerce.” See also id. (“[t]he Secretary shall prescribe regulations for the safe transportation ... in ... commerce”) (emphasis added). This case focuses on the former term, transportation, as opposed to commerce. The Act defines “transports” or “transportation” as “the movement of property and loading, unloading, or storage incidental to the movement.” Id. § 5102(13).

After initially promulgating the HMR, the Department “issued a number of interpretations ... in response to public requests for clarification regarding the meaning of the term ‘transportation in commerce’ and whether particular activities fall under that term and, therefore, are subject to the HMR.” Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Applicability of the Hazardous Materials Regulations to Loading, Unloading, and Storage, 61 Fed. Reg. 39522, 39522 (July 29, 1996). In 1996, the Department sought “to consolidate, clarify, and revise, as necessary, these interpretations, rulings and decisions, and make them part of the HMR.” Id. The Department requested comments from the public in its Advanced Notice, held a series of public meetings, [66 Fed. Reg. 32420, 32420] sought further comments on approaches to defining “transportation,” see Supplemental Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Applicability of the Hazardous Materials Regulations to [813] Loading, Unloading, and Storage, 64 Fed. Reg. 22718, 22719-23 (Apr. 27, 1999), and then proposed “a list of specific functions to which the HMR apply and ... the types of persons or entities responsible for compliance with the HMR,” Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Applicability of the Hazardous Materials Regulations to Loading, Unloading, and Storage, 66 Fed.Reg. 32420, 32421 (June 14, 2001).

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American Chemistry Council v. Department of Transportation, 468 F.3d 810, 373 U.S. App. D.C. 330, 36 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20210, 63 ERC (BNA) 1129, 2006 U.S. App. LEXIS 25526, 2006 WL 3316788 (D.C. Cir. 2006).

468 F.3d 810 (American Chemistry Council v. Department of Transportation) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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