[3] In the 1970s, landfills throughout the United States began to refuse the acceptance of hazardous wastes for the protection of property, the environment, and liability from what would later become known as Superfund sites, which dramatically increased the cost of disposal.

At the same time, increased accidents and incidents with hazardous materials during transportation was a growing problem, causing damage to property and the environment, injury, and death.

[2] The increasing frequency of illegal "midnight" dumping and spills, along with the already existing inconsistent regulations and fragmented enforcement, led to the passing of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act.

It was signed into law on January 3, 1975 by President Gerald Ford, as a means to strengthen the Hazardous Materials Transportation Control Act of 1970 and unify existing regulations.

Since its passage, the HMTA has had two major amendments: It is estimated that the United States alone makes over 500,000 shipments of hazardous materials every day.

Approximately 50% of those materials are corrosive or flammable petroleum products, while the remaining shipments represent any of the 2,700 other chemicals considered hazardous in interstate commerce.

Accidents that occurred in the transportation of hazardous materials resulted in injury, death, and the destruction of property and the environment.

[5] Regulations under the Act are categorized into four key provisions, encompassing federal standards under Title 49 of the United States Code that guide the safe transportation of hazardous materials: The HMTA specifically states that regulations apply to any person who — Essentially, all persons involved in the preparation of the transportation of hazardous materials, though the primary burden of liability falls on the shipper of the hazardous materials (the person who offers shipment).

[5] Regulations are enforced by use of compliance orders, civil penalties, and injunctive relief,[8] under the discretion of the Secretary of Transportation.

[9] The Secretary then must publish notice of the application in the Federal Register to give the opportunity for public review and comment.

[12] Under §5123, a person is liable for a civil penalty of up to $75,000 for each violation of a "regulation, order, special permit or approval" of the Act that has been knowingly committed.

A violation under this section that results in the release of hazardous material causing bodily injury or death to any person can render a maximum prison penalty of 10 years.

Under §5106, the Secretary of Transportation may prescribe criteria for handling hazardous material, including— Under §5107, the hazmat employee training requirements and grants are summarized: (A) Training requirements— The Secretary shall prescribe by regulation requirements for training that a hazmat employer must give hazmat employees of the employer on the safe loading, unloading, handling, storing, and transporting of hazardous material and emergency preparedness for responding to an accident or incident involving the transportation of hazardous material.

This amendment sought to standardize international hazardous material transportation requirements as recommended by the United Nations,[16] define preemption over local state regulations that differed from the Act's regulations, and to give more authority to the Secretary of Transportation in requiring registration of hazardous materials.

Before the HMTUSA was passed, the Secretary's authority to require registration by all shippers of hazardous materials and by all parties involved in the preparation of shipment (manufacture, repair, testing, or sale) was never exercised.

"[29] The amendment also outlined two types of emergency response information: Under the HMTUSA, the Secretary continues to enforce regulations for the safe transport of hazardous material in intrastate, interstate, and foreign commerce in the same manner as the HMTA.

The Secretary also retains authority to classify hazardous materials, when "they pose unreasonable risks to health, safety, or property.

"[29] Signed by President Bill Clinton on August 26, 1994, the purpose of the amendment was to broaden the "regulatory and enforcement authority of the Secretary of Transportation.

After the September 11 attacks, Congress considered new security measures to the Act, including background checks for truck drivers, requiring shipping companies to create alternative security plans, the use of electronic tracking devices to pinpoint exact locations of hazardous materials and their transporters, and creating strict federal penalties for hijacking trucks carrying hazardous materials.