In response to a disturbing finding of the industry practice of transporting aerial shells alone, and without reloadable tubes, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) recently issued a formal guidance on the requirements for transporting an aerial shell kit with a reloadable tube as UN0336, 1.4G. Aerial shell kits are designed to operate…
[First and foremost, this article is dedicated to the memory of Dotty Drewes] In the December 2012 edition of the ATF Explosives Industry Newsletter, the ATF released a list of the six most frequently-cited violations during the 5-year period of 2006-2011. These six violations represent, in the aggregate, over fifty percent (50%) of the total…
The war on terrorism is being fought on many fronts. Unfortunately, the lumping of an entertainment activity such as display fireworks together with the commercial explosives industry puts the display fireworks industry on one of those fronts. To avoid becoming a victim of that war, the display fireworks industry must battle to separate itself from…
Just when you thought it could not get any worse on the regulatory front, on the eve of the New Year, PHMSA released another clarification on its fireworks approval policy. In the process, it appears that PHMSA has both upended and compromised certain accepted industry practices of businesses located in the United States and, at…
Not surprisingly, last month’s article generated intense interest as well as an unusually high number of inquiries. Accordingly, one purpose of this article is to clarify and amplify certain points made in that article as part of our examination of the EX-approval regulation. Among the concerned are persons who provide the manufacturer with a formulation…
The title of this article is actually the title of another article by a different author; however, it should set off alarm bells for the fireworks industry. While other industries have been similarly targeted, in my opinion only highly-capitalized and centralized industries (such as oil companies) with an ability to tap vast unnatural resources (e.g.,…
Last year, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Special Permits and Approvals instituted changes to the EX application form. The changes can be separated into the following three (3) categories: (i) particle size, (ii) point of contact, and (iii) U.S. Agent. Particle Size In addition to the information already required to be disclosed, applications…
Consent Judgments (or Decrees) Historically, judgments are issued by courts of law while decrees are issued by courts of equity or chancery; however, with the merger of the courts of law with the courts of equity the term judgment has generally replaced the term decree. For purposes of this article, the terms judgments and decrees…
Depositions can, and do, win or lose cases. Consequently, it is of utmost importance that you give depositions (sometimes also referred to as examinations before trial, or EBTs) your full attention. These observations are equally valid for the witnesses produced by the plaintiff(s) as well as by the defendant(s). This article will highlight the process…
