Wyoming Statutes

Wyo. Stat. § 31-5-959 (2026)

Vehicles transporting hazardous materials.

✓ current as of May 2026

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(a) Any person operating any vehicle transporting any
hazardous materials, hazardous substance, hazardous waste,
marine pollutant or radioactive material as a cargo or part of a
cargo upon a highway shall at all times comply with regulations
of the department adopted pursuant to W.S. 31-18-303. The
regulations shall be consistent with current hazardous materials
regulations of the United States department of transportation.

     (b) No person shall dispose of or deposit any hazardous
materials, hazardous substance, hazardous waste, marine
pollutant or radioactive material upon any public street, road
or highway in the state. However, the department of
environmental quality or department of transportation may grant
approval for the disposal or deposit of any material according
to law.

     (c) Any person convicted of willfully violating subsection
(b) of this section is guilty of a felony punishable by a fine
of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), imprisonment
for not more than five (5) years, or both. Any person convicted
of recklessly, as defined by W.S. 6-1-104(a)(ix), violating
subsection (b) of this section is guilty of a felony punishable
by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00),
imprisonment for not more than three (3) years, or both. Any
person convicted of criminal negligence, as defined by W.S.
6-1-104(a)(iii), in violating subsection (b) of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than
one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), imprisonment for not more than
one (1) year, or both.
    (d)   As used in this section:

          (i) "Hazardous materials" means a substance or
material, including a hazardous substance, which has been
determined by the United States secretary of transportation
under title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations to be capable
of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety and property
and which has been so designated;

          (ii) "Hazardous waste" means any material that is
subject to the hazardous waste manifest requirements of the
United States environmental protection agency as specified in 40
C.F.R. part 262;

          (iii) "Marine pollutant" means a hazardous substance
which is listed in appendix b, 49 C.F.R. part 172.101 and, when
in a solution or mixture of one (1) or more marine pollutants,
is packaged in a concentration which equals or exceeds:

               (A) Ten percent (10%) by weight of the solution
or mixture for materials that are listed in the appendix;

               (B) One percent (1%) by weight of the solution
or mixture for materials that are identified as severe marine
pollutants in the appendix.

          (iv) "Radioactive material" means any material having
a specific activity greater than 0.002 microcuries per gram;

          (v) "Specific activity" of a radionuclide means the
activity of the radionuclide per unit mass of that nuclide. The
specific activity of a material in which the radionuclide is
essentially uniformly distributed is the activity per unit mass
of the material.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 3 cases, 1981–1996 · leading case: Dubus v. Dresser Indus., 649 P.2d 198 (Wyo. 1982).

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Dubus v. Dresser Indus., 649 P.2d 198 (Wyo. 1982). · cites it 18× “In urging this position, Dubus relies on § 31-5-959(a), W.S. 1977, which provides: "(a) Whenever any motor truck, passenger bus, truck tractor, trailer, semitrailer or pole trailer is disabled upon the traveled portion of any highway or the shoulder thereof outside of any…”

Palmeno v. Cashen, 627 P.2d 163 (Wyo. 1981). · cites it 7× “Appellant’s brief states: “The Trial Court expressed the view that W.S.1977 § 31-5-959 [ 4 ] required Defendant to place flares and that Defendant’s failure to do so was negligence, even stating, ‘There was no hint of emergency situation at that time.”

V-1 Oil Co. v. Means, 94 F.3d 1420 (10th Cir. 1996). · cites it 3× “on May 5, 1994, because the front placard required by Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 31-5-959 (b) 2 to be on all vehicles transporting hazardous materials was peeling and becoming hard to read, contrary to 49 C.”

— Wyo. Stat. § 31-5-959(a) — 1 case

Dubus v. Dresser Indus., 649 P.2d 198 (Wyo. 1982). “In urging this position, Dubus relies on § 31-5-959(a), W.S. 1977, which provides: "(a) Whenever any motor truck, passenger bus, truck tractor, trailer, semitrailer or pole trailer is disabled upon the traveled portion of any highway or the shoulder thereof outside of any…”

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