FEDERAL LEGAL CONSTRAINTS ON STATE AND LOCAL REGULATION OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS TRANSPORTATION

Within the last five years, the transportation of nuclear materials has experienced a rapid growth of state/local regulations. The federal government is responding to develop a legal basis for declaring these state/local regulations inconsistent and has proceeded to declare certain state regulations invalid. This paper summarizes the relevant legal doctrines, places these doctrines in the context of the federal regulatory framework and reaches conclusions about what forms of state and local regulation may be subject to possible preemptive initiatives and what regulations are unlikely candidates for federal actions. This paper also discusses an example of a preemptive initiative and a federal action. The initiative is contained in DOT's proposed rule on Highway Routing of Radioactive Materials. DOT's first general preemptive action under the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act is described with respect to decisions on Rhode Island's regulations regarding transportation of liquefied natural and petroleum gases. There are still some issues that have not been clarified - the role of the federal government in the development and support of emergency response capabilities for nuclear and other hazardous materials, detailed shipment information, and state requirements for prenotifications. (ERA citation 06:002048)

• Supplemental Notes:
  • International symposium on packaging and transporting radioactive material, Berlin, F.R. Germany, 10 Nov 1980.
• Corporate Authors:

  Sandia Laboratories

  P.O. Box 5800
  Albuquerque, NM  United States  87115

  Battelle Human Affairs Research Centers

  P.O. Box C-5395, 4000 NE 41st Street
  Seattle, WA  United States  98105-5428

  International Energy Associates Limited

  Washington, DC  United States  20037

  Department of Energy

  1000 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20585
• Authors:
  • Reese, R T
  • Morris, F A
  • WELLES, B W
• Publication Date: 1980

Media Info

• Pagination: 7 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Constraints; Federal government; Freight handling; Hazardous materials; Legal factors; Liquefied natural gas; Liquefied petroleum gas; Local government; Packaging; Radioactive materials; Regulations; Safety; Security; State government; Transportation policy
• Identifier Terms: U.S. Department of Transportation
• Geographic Terms: Rhode Island; United States
• Old TRIS Terms: Government regulations; Transport regulations; Us nrc
• Subject Areas: Freight Transportation; Highways; Law; Policy; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies; I81: Accident Statistics;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00336147
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: CONF-801115-7
• Contract Numbers: AC04-76DP00789
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 21 1981 12:00AM