Publications Library

ATF occasionally issues publications to inform the industries it regulates and the general public about the laws and regulations administered and enforced by ATF. These include guidebooks, newsletters, brochures, studies, and reports.

Titlesort ascending Description Category Document Type
List of Explosive Materials - 2002 (41 KB) Notice of List of Explosive Materials. Five additions: Azide explosives, HMTD [hexamethylenetriperoxidediamine], Nitrate explosive mixtures, Picrate explosives and TATP [triacetonetriperoxide] Explosives Report
Institute of Makers of Explosives Safety Analysis for Risk (IMESAFR) (Presentation - September 2020) (1660 KB)

This presentation details the process for requesting a variance for deviating from the explosives regulations through use of a quantitative risk assessment software tool known as ‘Institute of Makers of Explosives Safety Analysis for Risk.'  The software tool is designed, in part, to evaluate the risks of a fatality from an accident involving stored explosives.

Explosives Guide
General Variance Requests (Presentation - Sept. 10, 2020) (2710 KB)

This presentation details when a variance to deviate from the explosives regulations may be requested, to whom they may be issued, where to direct such requests and documentation from the requestor to assist in evaluation of those requests.

Explosives Guide
Fireworks (Presentation - Sept. 2020) (1339 KB)

This presentation on fireworks provides an overview of the classification of explosive materials and exemptions under Part 555. The presentation also addresses storage, identifying appropriate Tables of Distances and determining if a variance to deviate from the regulations might be needed.

Explosives Guide
Federal Explosives Licensing Center (FELC) (Presentation - Sept. 2020) (326 KB)

This presentation provides an overview of the Federal Explosives Licensing Center’s (FELC)responsibilities for reviewing and processing all new applications for federal explosives licenses and/or permits as well as renewals, the background check process, and ensuring sufficiency of information received.

Explosives Guide
Explosives Industry Newsletter-September 2006 (102 KB)
What’s In This Issue: What’s in this issue: Mr. Mark D. Jones Appointed as the Deputy Chief, Arson and Explosives Programs Division; Compliance Issues Involving the Fireworks Industry; License or Permit; Table of Distances; Incomplete Applications; Securing Storage Magazines; Q and A; Daily Summary of Magazine Transactions (Revisited)
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter-November 2002 (1735 KB)
What’s In This Issue: A MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF, ARSON & EXPLOSIVES PROGRAMS DIVISION; ATF HOSTS EXPLOSIVES INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE MEETING; VARIANCES; EPA AND THE TOXIC SUBSTANCES CONTROL ACT; NEW INDUSTRY CIRCULARS; INTERNATIONAL EXPLOSIVES ASSISTANCE & COORDINATION; FUGITIVE CORNER; A $20,000 Reward is being offered by ATF for information leading to the arrest of STEPHEN HOWARD ANDERSON; EXPLOSIVE QUESTIONS; NEWSLETTER DISTRIBUTION; THIRD QUARTER 2002 EXPLOSIVE THEFTS
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter-May 2002 (1852 KB)
What’s In This Issue: A MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF, ARSON & EXPLOSIVES PROGRAMS DIVISION; CHANGES IN THE A & E DIVISION; BULK SALUTES AND LICENSING; VIOLENT OFFENDER BRANCH GETS NEW CHIEF; OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSET CONTROLS (OFAC) RESTRICTIONS; PHONENUMBER FOR NATIONAL LICENSING CENTER CHANGED; ATF’S LAB NEW FIRST RESPONSE FIELD LAB VEHICLES; ATF MEETS WITH ISEE, APA; EXPLOSIVES QUESTIONS; EXPLOSIVES FORMS; FUGITIVE CORNER; NEWSLETTER DISTRIBUTION; FIRST QUARTER 2002 EXPLOSIVE THEFTS
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter-June 2013 (1556 KB)
What’s in This Issue: New Publication; Exploding Ammunition Requirements; Smoke Producing Devices; Reagents; Canadian Type 4 Magazines vs. U.S. Type 2 Magazines; Hardwood or Softwood?; Interior Walls for Type 1 Magazines; Gun Loading Facilities; Horizontally-Mounted Hoods; Indoor Storage Reminders; Recordkeeping Reminders; Permittee Disposal of Surplus Stock; Questions and Answers; Explosives Thefts from 2006 thru 2012
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter-June 2012 .pdf (1440 KB)
What’s In This Issue: ATF Celebrates 40 Years of Public Service; New Publications; ATF Ruling 2012-2, Uncovered Firework Bins; Storage of EPCDs Aboard Fishing Vessels; ATF Regulation of 1.4 Materials; Recording in the Daily Summary of Magazine Transactions; Aluminum Type 2 and Type 3 Magazines; Advertised as “ATF Approved”; ATF to Host Explosives Regulatory Conference; Questions and Answers; Explosives Thefts Reported During 2011
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter-June 2010.pdf (1732 KB)
What’s In This Issue: Changes in Headquarters Personnel;Change of Ownership versus Change of Control; Storage of Shock Tube with Detonators; ATF Ruling—Placement and Visibility of Containers in Magazines; Inspecting Magazines; Type-5 Locking Requirements; Rubberized Lining in Type-3 and Type-4 Magazines; Reviewing Variances; Fireworks and Fires in the United States; Theft Discovery and Reporting; Orange Book Errata
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter-June 2009 (1721 KB)
What’s in this Issue: New Chief of Explosives Industry Programs; New Web Pages; Fireworks Safety and Storage Illegal Explosives Fireworks Recordkeeping; Variance Updated Fireworks Q and A; As Simplified License and Permit Structure Change of Control Scanned or E-Mailed Licenses Igniter Storage with Rocket Motors in Attached Garages Locking Issues Bullet; Resistance for Type-2 Indoor Storage Detonator Boxes Explosives Thefts
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter-June 2005 (675 KB)
What’s in this issue: Changes in the Arson and Explosives Programs Division; Director’s Speech at the ISEE National Conference; New Federal Explosives Licensing Center; Reporting Changes in Responsible Persons and Employees Authorized to Possess Explosive Materials; Reporting Procedures For Explosives Transactions; Storage of More Than 300,000 Pounds of Explosives; ATF Inspections
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter-June 2004 (639 KB)
What’s in this issue: A Message from the Chief, Arson & Explosives Programs Division; New Director, Deputy Director of ATF Announced Lewis P. Raden Named Assistant Director(Enforcement Programs and Services); Changes in the Arson and Explosives Programs Division; Volatile Organic Compounds; Manufacture of Binary Explosives; Manufacture of Binary Explosives; ATF Attends Conferences; Indoor Storage Magazine Locking Requirements; New Annual List of Explosives Published; Thefts and Loss Reporting Requirements; Theft of Explosives as Reported to ATF
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter-June 2001 (181 KB)
What’s In This Issue: A Message from the Chief, Arson & Explosives Programs Division; International Explosives Assistance;Philadelphia Field Division Bombing Incidents; Barricades; Black Powder Sales; Safety, Storage, and Illegal Devices; Special Events Fireworks Variances; First Quarter 2001 Explosives Thefts
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter-June 1997 (248 KB)
What’s In This Issue: COMPUTERIZED RECORDKEEPING SYSTEMS; BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO AND FIREARMS DISTRICT OFFICES; Letters to the Editor; ITEMS OF INTEREST; ESTABLISHMENT OF DISTRICT EXPLOSIVE OFFICERS; ANTITERRORISM AND EFFECTIVE DEATH PENALTY ACT OF 1996; ATF and the INTERNET; EXPLOSIVES SECURITY; National Repository of Arson and Explosive Incidents; THEATRICALFLASH POWDER; BE AWARE AMERICA!;
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter-January 2014 (2373 KB)
What’s in This Issue: Meet ATF’s New Director, B. Todd Jones; New Deputy Division Chief; Contingency and Shared Storage; Binary Explosives: Checking Laws; Alternate Identification Markings; Black Powder Lifters; More on Hoods; Underground Storage Reminder; Explosives Disposal; ATF and the Interagency Committee on Explosives; ATF Hosts QRA Workshop; Questions and Answers; Licensee/Permittee Percentages; Licensee/Permittee Population by Type
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter-January 2001 (572 KB)
What’s In This Issue: A Message from the Chief, Arson & Explosives Programs Division; The New Orange Book; Variances; User Permits and User-Limited Permits; Verbal Opinions vs. “Have-it-in-Writing”; Fireworks Table of Distance Issues; Plastic Explosives; Thefts or Losses of Explosives; Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - Markings on Imported Explosives; Personnel Changes Within the Arson and Explosives Programs Division; International Explosives Assistance
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter-February 2002 (841 KB)
What’s In This Issue: MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF, ARSON & EXPLOSIVES PROGRAMS DIVISION; CHANGES IN ARSON & EXPLOSIVES PROGRAMSDIVISION; ATF ATTENDS UN MEETING; ISEE, APA, TO HOST ANNUAL CONFERENCES IN FEBRUARY; CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP LICENSING REQUIREMENTS; STORAGE REQUIREMENTS FOR DELAYS & DETONATORS; MAGAZINE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS; VARIANCE REQUESTS NOTICE; FUGITIVE CORNER; DAILY MAGAZINE TRANSACTION SUMMARY; ATF INVITES QUESTIONS ON EXPLOSIVES TOPICS; NEWSLETTER DISTRIBUTION; Theft of Explosives
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter-December 2014 (1045 KB)
What’s in this Issue: New Deputy Assistant Director; Explosives in Transit Webpage; Black Powder Open Letter; How to Address a Loss; Pyrotechnic Hobby Fuse Exemption; Seismic Exploration and Geophysical Operation Requirements; Inventories and Records; No. 8 Blasting Caps; Acquiring, Changing, or Discontinuing an Explosives Business; New Publication; ATF Employees Receive ISEE President’s Award
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter-December 2005 (183 KB)
What’s in this issue: Changes Within the Office of Enforcement Programs Services; Changes in the Arson and Explosives Programs Division; ATF’s Response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; ATF’s Response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; Changes in ATF Regulation 27 CFR 555.55; You’ve Got EIPB-Mail!; Submission of Employee Possessor Questionnaires; New Requirements for Identification Markings on Explosives Materials; Definition of “Highways” as Defined in 27 CFR 555.11 and Guidance on Different “Private Roads”; Construction and Recordkeeping: Storage Bins for Blasting Agents; Variances for Continuing Authority Concerning Preloading of Trucks for Temporary Storage of Fireworks for Shows ATF; REMINDER: Licensees and Permittees are Required to Maintain Records
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter-December 2003 (617 KB)
What’s in this issue: Changes in the Public Safety Branch; New Chief of the National Licensing Center; Storage Requirements; Requirements for Distraction Devices; ATF Meets with Mining Industry and ISEE; Limited Permit Procedures Detailed; Sales of Explosives Away From the Licensed Premises; Changes at the National Licensing Center; Theft of Explosives as Reported to ATF; Reporting Changes in Responsible Persons and Employee Possessors
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter-August 2000 (160 KB)
What’s In This Issue: THE NEW ATF STRUCTURE; ATF PUBLISHES FINAL RULE IN FEDERAL REGISTER; AMENDMENT TO LICENSING REQUIREMENTS INTENDED TO EASE BURDEN FOR ON-SITE MANUFACTURERS; STORAGE REQUIREMENTS—DISPLAY FIREWORKS; CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS FOR TYPE 4 MAGAZINES CLARIFIED; LETTERS TO THE EDITOR; REMINDER!!; U.S. CHEMICAL SAFETY AND HAZARD INVESTIGATION BOARD; DISPOSING OF DETERIORATED EXPLOSIVES; ATF REACHES INDUSTRY MEMBERS VIA INTERNET
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter- May 2003 (197 KB)
What’s In This Issue: SPECIAL EDITION; SAFE EXPLOSIVES ACT OF 2002; SAFE EXPLOSIVES ACT OF 2002; CHANGES WITHIN ATF RESULTING FROM THE SIGNING OF THE HOMELAND SECURITY BILL; FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS; THE NEW FEDERAL EXPLOSIVES LICENSE AND PERMIT APPLICATION; OTHER FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS; APPLICATION FOR RESTORATION OF EXPLOSIVES PRIVILEGES; CHANGES WITHIN ATF RESULTING FROM THE SIGNING OF THE HOMELAND SECURITY BILL; THE NEW FEDERAL EXPLOSIVES LICENSE AND PERMIT APPLICATION
Explosives Newsletter
Explosives Industry Newsletter- December 2011.pdf (2137 KB)
What’s In This Issue: New Acting Director of ATF; New Publications; Open Letter—Definition of Display Fireworks; ATF Ruling 2011-3, Alternate Locks Authorized for Explosives Magazines; Non-sparking Metals; Attended “Day Box” Reminders; Smokeless Powder Exemption; Binary Exploding Targets; Binary Explosives Security; Certain Pest Control Devices Exempted as “Articles Pyrotechnic”; Hobby Pyrotechnics in a Regulated Environment; Explosives Licensing and Transfers; Reporting RPs and Eps; U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Yearbook
Explosives Newsletter
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