Interpretation Response #10-0106 ([Law Offices of Charles T. Simmons, LLC] [Mr. Charles T. Simmons])
Below is the interpretation response detail and a list of regulations sections applicable to this response.
Interpretation Response Details
Response Publish Date:
Company Name: Law Offices of Charles T. Simmons, LLC
Individual Name: Mr. Charles T. Simmons
Location State: DC Country: US
View the Interpretation Document
Response text:
September 8, 2010
Mr. Charles T. Simmons
Law Offices of Charles T. Simmons, LLC
1250 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.,
Suite 200
Washington, D.C. 20036
Ref. No. 10-0106
Dear Mr. Simmons:
This responds to your May 5, 2010 letter requesting that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration (PHMSA) re-visit its response to your original request for interpretation of
the Hazardous Materials Regulations (49 CFR Parts 171-180). The response to your original
request was issued June 26, 2006 [Ref. No. 06-0003; Attached] and signed by Hattie L. Mitchell,
Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention, Office of Hazardous Materials Standards. In that
original request, you asked PHMSA if the exception in § 173.401 (b)( 4), which provides regulatory relief from the Class 7 (radioactive) material regulations for natural material and ores containing naturally occurring radionuclides, applies to zeolite media used as part of a water treatment process to remove radionuclides from drinking water. PHMSA responded stating the exception does not apply to the contaminated zeolite. You assert that the letter issued on June 26, 2006 [Ref. No. 06-0003] is in conflict with other more recent letters issued by PHMSA on the applicability of § 173.401 (b)( 4). Thus, you are asking PHMSA to reconsider the response to that June 26, 2006 letter.
PHMSA disagrees with your assertion that the June 26, 2006 [Ref. No. 06-0003] letter conflicts with other more recent letters of interpretation that have been issued on the applicability of the exception in § 173.401 (b)( 4). Each of the more recent letters that you reference concern ores or materials remaining from the processing of ores. As your request does not involve "natural material" (due to the man-made processing involved) or "ores containing naturally occurring radionuclides" our previous response to you is not inconsistent with the other letters you reference. Therefore, PHMSA is not revising the letter of interpretation that was issued to you on June 26, 2006.
I hope this answers your inquiry. If you need further assistance, please contact this Office.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Betts
Chief, Standards Development
Office of Hazardous Materials Standards
173.401(b)(4)