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On Friday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced it narrowed the list of hazardous materials subject to security plan requirements. The move is part of the agency’s effort to “continuously assess the risk of hazardous materials in transportation,” USDOT officials said in a news brief posted on the agency’s Web site.

The transportation security plan requirement, which was added to haz-mat regulations in 2003 in response to the 2001 terrorist attacks, mandates that shippers and carriers of “placarded amounts” of hazardous materials at a minimum address personnel security, unauthorized access and security en route.

After consulting with the U.S. the Department of Homeland Security, the USDOT based its current decision to narrow the haz-mat list on an evaluation of the security risks associated with specific material types and quantities. In addition to refining the list of materials that potentially could be misused in a terrorist incident, the new final rule clarifies certain requirements pertaining to security planning, training and documentation.