Long gone are the days when US regulators and the regulated community felt sufficiently at ease to sit and discuss problems openly. The new sense of mistrust was pervasive during last year's DGAC annual conference, despite attempts at reassurance The recent upheavals at the Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), the US government agency that is responsible for drawing up the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR), have had a major impact on the relationship between the country's competent authority and its regulated industry. Whatever the reasons behind the Congressional investigation into the activities of PHMSA and its parent agency, the US Department of Transportation (DOT), the outcome has been a reshuffle of senior personnel and a change in the approach to the use of special permits and approvals.
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