(The following press release was issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation.)
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued temporary regulations that will provide for security checks of Canadian truck and rail operators carrying explosives to the United States to ensure that the operators do not pose a security risk.
Under the interim final rule (IFR) issued by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which has been posted at the Federal Register and will be published Feb. 6, carriers of explosives from Canada to the United States by truck or rail must register with Transport Canada, the Canadian government agency responsible for transportation safety. Transport Canada will conduct checks to ensure that both the carriers and their customers who ship explosives are legitimate entities. Transport Canada also will check the drivers to ensure that they pose no security concerns. Transport Canada will then forward lists of approved carriers, shippers and drivers to the TSA, which will make additional checks as appropriate and forward the lists to the U.S. Customs Service. Customs will allow Canadian explosives carriers to enter the United States only if the carrier, shipper and operator are on the approved list.
The Safe Explosives Act, enacted in November 2002, added a number of categories of persons who may not lawfully transport explosives in interstate or foreign commerce without DOT authority, one of which was nonresident aliens. DOT issued the IFR under its authority to regulate the safety and security of transportation of hazardous materials. This action allows all legitimate Canadian carriers of explosives to operate their services into the United States without interruption.
The public will have 30 days to comment on the IFR, which is intended only as a temporary measure until the department completes consultations with Canada and other U.S. government agencies and issues more comprehensive regulations regarding background checks of persons transporting hazardous materials. DOT is also consulting with the government of Mexico to develop a similar system of security checks and will amend its rules to include Mexican explosives carriers in the near future.
The IFR and public comments are available on the Internet at
http://dms.dot.gov