Hazardous Materials Shipment Information For Emergency Response

In the Hazardous Materials Transportation Uniform Safety Act of 1990, Congress called on the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study of the feasibility and necessity of...a central reporting system and computerized telecommunications data center that is capable of receiving, storing, and retrieving data concerning all daily shipments of hazardous materials,...and that can provide information to facilitate responses to accidents and incidents involving the transportation of hazardous materials. The Transportation Research Board (TRB) conducted the study. The TRB assembled a committee that included experts in hazardous materials safety, freight transportation, information systems, and public policy. The committee assessed (a) various potential applications of communications and information technology to aid emergency responders in obtaining information at hazardous materials incidents and (b) nontechnological options for improving information through better regulation, enforcement, or training. The committee's findings are presented in this Special Report. Chapter 1, the introduction to the report, describes the congressional charge to the committee, the origin and history of the national central reporting system proposal, and the approach that was taken in conducting this study. Hazardous materials transportation, its regulation, and its safety record are described in Chapter 2; emergency response information needs and the performance of the existing information system are analyzed in Chapter 3; potential technological means of solving information problems are described in Chapter 4; and nontechnological means are addressed in Chapter 5.