Rule Clarifies Status of USPS Hazmat Regulations

Posted on 9/27/2021 by Roger Marks

USPS is amending the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) and 39 CFR to clarify that the regulations for mailing hazardous materials are found in Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail.

Read the Final Rule.

USPS removed its regulations for hazardous, restricted, and perishable materials from the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) in 2014 to reduce the size of the manual and moved them to Publication 52.

Publication 52 is available online.

The Final Rule also lists a variety of publications and memoranda that USPS uses to create new regulations. These includes Publication 52 as well as the DMM, the Postal Operations Manual, the International Mail Manual, circulars, handbooks, management or regional instructions, memoranda of policy, and more.

In the Rule, USPS clarifies what makes something a USPS regulation:

“...status as regulations depends not on the formal designation of the document, but on its statement of binding rules of future effect beyond those stated elsewhere in the Postal Service regulations.”

Enforceable USPS regulations are not necessarily codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, although they may be.

Hazmat Postal Shipper Online Training

Lion's Hazmat Postal Shipper Online Course covers the USPS Publication 52 requirements that shippers must follow to offer hazardous materials through the mail. Build on your knowledge of US DOT's 49 CFR Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) and learn the unique requirements for hazardous materials by mail.

Shippers who complete this online course build expertise to identify which materials can be mailed; which are prohibited; and how to ensure safe, on-time delivery of hazmat by mail.

Recent USPS Hazmat Rule Changes

Recent rule changes initiated by USPS concerning hazardous materials by mail include:

Updated Publication 52 to remove references to ORM-D for consumer commodities.
Proposed changes for treatment of e-cigarettes in the mail.
Increased civil penalties for hazmat mailing violations.
Revised regulations for shipping Category B infectious Substances to facilitate deployment of COVID-19 diagnostic tests.

More about USPS and hazardous materials

Tags: hazardous materials, hazmat by mail, Publication 52, USPS, USPS hazmat

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