Sat, Nov 27, 2004
IG says agency should verify compliance with covert tests,
speed up enforcement
The Office of the
Inspector General of the Department of Transportation has issued a
new report on Friday, entitled "Report on New Approaches Needed in
Managing FAA’s Hazardous Materials Program." In this report,
the IG states that it believes the FAA is not doing enough to make
sure airlines are following the rule of the law when it comes to
shipment of hazardous materials.
Hazmat rules enforcements jumped to the forefront of the
nation's priorities after the 1996 ValuJet crash in the Florida
Evergaldes in which 110 people lost their lives, and which was
blamed on a fire caused by an illegal shipment of oxygen
generators.
The IG's report says
that, since then, "the FAA's enforcement of hazmat regulations has
been in flux." The report takes aim at the agency's handling of
paperwork review without conducting covert tests to ensure that the
shippers and air carriers are in fact following the rule of law
that regulates these shipments. In addition, the IG has also
concluded that the agency simply takes too long to follow through
on enforcement actions related to hazmat cases.
In response to the conclusions of the report, FAA spokesperson
Diane Spitalieri said that the FAA has already taken action to deal
with the problems that the IG's office refers to in the report. In
additional to streamlining the enforcement on hazmat cases, the
agency is also working closely with air cargo carriers to get to
them to voluntarily report hazmat violations.
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