Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG)

"The Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG) is developed jointly by the US Department of Transportation (DOT), Transport Canada, and the Secretariat of Communications and Transportation of Mexico (SCT). The ERG is intended to be used by firefighters, police, and other emergency services personnel who may be the first to arrive at the scene of a transportation incident involving hazardous material. It is primarily a guide to aid first responders in (1) quickly identifying the specific or generic classification of the material(s) involved in an incident, and (2) protecting themselves and the general public during the initial response phase of the incident. The ERG is updated every four years to accommodate new products and technology.."
View full guide.

myRight-to-know mobile phone application

"myRight-to-know is an EPA Web application designed for mobile devices. For any location or address, myRTK maps nearby facilities that report to TRI, as well as large permit holders in the Air, Water or Hazardous Waste programs that are expected to produce, manage or release TRI-reportable chemicals. The application compares individual facility releases to releases by other facilities in the county, as well as to other facilities in the same industrial sector..."

EPA Removes Confidentiality Claims for More Than 150 Chemicals
"In order to ensure the public has as much information as possible about the health and the environmental impacts of chemicals, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made public the identities of more than 150 chemicals contained in 104 health and safety studies that had been claimed confidential by industry. Today’s announcement is another in a series of unprecedented actions that EPA is taking to provide the public with greater access to information on the chemicals that are manufactured and used in the United States.
For full list see Increasing Transparency in TSCA

EPA Removes Saccharin from Hazardous Substances Listing
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has removed saccharin, a common artificial sweetener, and its salts from the agency’s list of hazardous substances. Saccharin is no longer considered a potential hazard to human health.

Saccharin is a white crystalline powder that is found in diet soft drinks, chewing gum and juice. Saccharin was labeled a potentially cancer-causing substance in the 1980s. In the late 1990s, the National Toxicology Program and the International Agency for Research on Cancer re-evaluated the available scientific information on saccharin and its salts and concluded that it is not a potential human carcinogen. Because the scientific basis for remaining on EPA’s lists no longer applies, the agency has removed saccharin and its salts from its lists.

EPA proposed the removal of saccharin and its salts from the lists on April 22, 2010 and did not receive any comments opposing the proposal. .."

Trains Transporting the Most Toxic Hazardous Materials Must Use Safest, Most Secure Route
"Railroads will be required to route every train carrying the most toxic and dangerous hazardous materials on the safest and most secure route under a new federal rule announced today by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters...

Secretary Peters explained that beginning June 1, the rule requires railroads to conduct a comprehensive safety and security risk analysis of its primary route and any practicable alternative routes over which it has authority to operate. The analysis must consider information provided by local communities and a minimum of 27 risk factors like trip length, volume and type of hazmat being moved, existing safety measures along the route, and population density, she said. Railroads must implement their routing decisions based on these analyses by September 2009."