TITLE 24. TRANSPORTATION AND MOTOR VEHICLES

COMMONWEALTH TRANSPORTATION BOARD

Final Regulation

Title of Regulation: 24VAC30-61. Rules and Regulations Governing the Transportation of Hazardous Materials Through Bridge-Tunnel Facilities (amending 24VAC30-61-10 through 24VAC30-61-40).

Statutory Authority: §§ 33.2-210 and 33.2-300 of the Code of Virginia.

Effective Date: February 25, 2026.

Agency Contact: Jo Anne Maxwell, Director, Governance and Legislative Affairs, Department of Transportation, 1401 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219, telephone (804) 786-1830, or email joanne.maxwell@vdot.virginia.gov.

Summary:

As a result of periodic review, the amendments (i) remove outdated and redundant language, (ii) clarify the categories of bridge-tunnel facilities, and (iii) update references to the Code of Federal Regulations.

Summary of Public Comments and Agency's Response: No public comments were received by the promulgating agency.

24VAC30-61-10. Applicability and purpose.

This chapter applies to all state owned bridge-tunnel facilities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and establishes the rules by which all interstate, intrastate, and public and private transporters of hazardous materials are governed while traveling through these certain bridge-tunnel facilities.

24VAC30-61-20. List of state-owned bridge-tunnel facilities in the Commonwealth.

The following table lists the six state-owned bridge-tunnel facilities in the Commonwealth. The Virginia Department of Transportation owns and operates all six facilities listed to which this chapter applies. A list of telephone numbers for each facility is available at the following website: https://www.vdot.virginia.gov/travel-traffic/freight/hazmat/.

For purposes of this chapter, the facilities listed above in the table in this section are classified into two groups: rural and essentially distanced from bodies of water, and urban and essentially proximate to bodies of water.

24VAC30-61-30. Restrictions on hazardous material transportation across rural and distanced-from-water facilities.

The two rural and distanced-from-water tunnel facilities are: the Big Walker Mountain Tunnel and the East River Mountain Tunnel. For these the two rural tunnels, and these two only, no restrictions apply on the transport of hazardous materials, so long as transporters and shippers are in compliance with 49 CFR 100 through 180, and any present and future applicable state regulations which may become in force to implement the federal regulations. In addition, the Commissioner of Highways may, at any time, impose emergency or temporary restrictions on the transport of hazardous materials through these facilities, so long as sufficient advanced signage is positioned to allow for a reasonable detour.

Questions on this section of the regulation should be directed to the VDOT Office of Safety, Security and Emergency Management, which can be reached by calling VDOT at 804-786-4692. Copies of the regulation will be provided free of charge. For copies, please write to:

Virginia Department of Transportation

ATTN: Office of Safety, Security and Emergency Management

1221 East Broad Street

Richmond, Virginia 23219

24VAC30-61-40. Restrictions on hazardous material transportation across urban and water-proximate facilities.

Hazardous materials are regulated in the four urban and water-proximate tunnels (Elizabeth River (Midtown and Downtown), Hampton Roads, and Monitor-Merrimac) based exclusively on the "hazard class" of the material being conveyed. The following tables in this section list those categories of materials grouped under the designations "Prohibited," "No Restrictions," or "Restricted."

Regulations concerning the transportation of hazardous materials across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (CBBT) are available from the CBBT website: https://www.cbbt.com/regulations/#hazmat.