Interpretation Response #16-0025 ([Pine] [Mr. Jason Miller])
Below is the interpretation response detail and a list of regulations sections applicable to this response.
Interpretation Response Details
Response Publish Date:
Company Name: Pine
Individual Name: Mr. Jason Miller
Location State: TX Country: US
View the Interpretation Document
Response text:
May 19, 2016
Mr. Jason Miller
HSE Manager
Pine
10635 Richmond Avenue, #100
Houston, TX 77042
Ref. No. 16-0025
Dear Mr. Miller:
This letter is in response to your February 8, 2016 email requesting clarification of the applicability of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) to Materials of Trade (MOTs). Specifically, you state your company transports compressed Division 2.1 (flammable) or 2.2 (non-flammable) gas in lecture-size cylinders that vary in size but usually measure 11 inches in length and 3 inches in width, weigh approximately 0.5 to 3 pounds each, and have an internal pressure that can be up to 2,200 pounds per square inch (psi). You further explain that these cylinders are used in measuring equipment that your company sells and rents. We have paraphrased your questions and answered in the order you provided.
Q1. If employees transport one or two of the previously-described lecture cylinders in company-owned vehicles and deliver them to a customer, do the MOTs regulations apply?
A1. The answer is yes, provided the shipment complies with the applicable provisions in § 173.6.
Q2. If the answer to Q1 is yes, is the company excepted from the following when shipping these cylinders: creating shipping papers, using hazmat labels and placards, and training employees?
A2. Motor vehicle carriers transporting MOTs are excepted from having to comply with the shipping paper requirements prescribed in 49 CFR Part 172, Subpart C; and the placarding requirements prescribed in 49 CFR Part 172, Subpart F. Carriers are also excepted from the training requirements prescribed in 49 CFR Part 172, Subpart H, provided they are informed of the presence of the hazardous material on the vehicle and the requirements contained in § 173.6. Each MOTs cylinder must be marked and labeled as prescribed in the HMR for the hazardous material it contains (see § 173.6(c)(3)).
Q3. If the company continues to use its own employees and vehicles to transport these cylinders, at what point would it be necessary to train employees, use shipping papers, and apply hazmat labels and placards?
A3. Your company would need to comply with the hazmat training, shipping paper, marking, labeling, and placarding requirements for those cylinders that do not comply with the MOTs provisions in § 173.6. For example, cylinders that 1) have a gross weight of over 100 kg (220 pounds), 2) cause the aggregate gross weight of cylinders on a motor vehicle to exceed 200 kg (440 pounds) (see § 173.6(a)(2) and (d)), or 3) that do not comply with packaging requirements for cylinders prescribed in § 173.6(b) do not qualify for the MOTs exception.
I hope this information is helpful. Please contact us is we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
T. Glenn Foster
Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention
Standards and Rulemaking Division
173.6, 172, 173.6(c)(3), 173.6(a)(2) and (d), or 3) 173.6(b)