DoD Replaces 6055.09M with Defense Explosive Safety Regulation 6055.09

Washington, D.C. The Department of Defense Explosives Safety Board (DDESB) released Defense Explosives Safety Regulation (DESR) 6055.09, to replace DoD 6055.09-M, DoD Ammunition and Explosives Safety Standards.

Changes to the old Volume 7, now titled UXO, Munitions Response, Waste Military Munitions, and MPPEH incorporates some interesting new requirements for DoD Components. Examples include:

• Notifying DDESB and the respective explosive safety offices of "repetitive explosives or munitions emergency responses to a discrete geographic area, where the circumstances surrounding the explosives or munitions emergency response are similar."
• Work "collaboratively with environmental regulators and safety officials toward resolving, in a mutually agreeable manner, any concerns with the planned disposition of UXO during a response action."
• Acknowledging that environmental regulators and safety officials "may challenge a DoD field expert's decision and seek to elevate their concerns to higher levels of authority for resolution."

• Disassembly and inerting operations must not be conducted without proper authorization.
• For moderate to high probability UXO sites, before construction is allowed to commence, EOD personnel or UXO-qualified personnel must attempt to identify and remove any explosive or CA hazards.
• Prohibit unnecessary access (e.g., hunting and hiking) under DoD control that are known or suspected to contain UXO. Note - many installations currently allow hunting on range areas.
• At sites where DoD does not control (e.g., FUDS), "provide written notification to the property owner and, if known, any tenants of the potential explosive and CA hazards present. A record of this notification must be maintained in permanent records."

In addition to condensing the previous 8 Volume manual into one document, new terms and acronyms are introduced (not exactly what the UXO industry needs).

Download Edition 1 of DESR 6055.09 from UXOInfo.com.