PHMSA Will Consider Scrubbing Outdated Hazmat ORM References
PHMSA responded October 26, 2026 to a petition for rulemaking filed four days earlier by the Council on Safe Transportation of Hazardous Articles (COSTHA). The petition, docketed as P-1826, asked PHMSA to amend the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) at 49 CFR Parts 171-180 by deleting all remaining references to Other Regulated Materials (ORM), a classification category the agency phased out years ago but that still appears in parts of the text.
In a letter signed by Matthew Nickels, Acting Director of the Standards and Rulemaking Division, PHMSA said it evaluated the request under 49 CFR 106.105 and determined it "merits consideration in a future rulemaking." That is not a commitment to issue a proposed rule or a timeline for one. The agency said it will route further correspondence on the petition through docket PHMSA-2026-3928 and directed questions to the Standards and Rulemaking Division.
The letter does not change any current packaging, marking or classification requirement. It only confirms PHMSA accepted the petition for review, one of several editorial cleanup requests COSTHA has filed with the agency this month.
What's next
- Watch docket PHMSA-2026-3928 for any notice of proposed rulemaking or further agency action.
- No comment period or effective date has been set.
All sources
- Supporting & Related Material: P-1826 Response Letter (PHMSA-2026-3928) — Regulations.gov (PHMSA), 2026-10-26
