Interpretation Response #05-0046 ([Allied Universal Corporation] [Ms. Robin J. Eddy Bolte])

Below is the interpretation response detail and a list of regulations sections applicable to this response.

Interpretation Response Details

Response Publish Date: 05/05/2005

Company Name: Allied Universal Corporation

Individual Name: Ms. Robin J. Eddy Bolte

Location State: FL Country: US

View the Interpretation Document

Response text:

May 5, 2005

Ms. Robin J. Eddy Bolte                 Reference No. 05-0046
Safety and Regulatory Affairs Manager
Allied Universal Corporation
3901 N. W. ll5 Ave.
Miami, FL 33178-1859

Dear Ms. Eddy Bolte:

This responds to your fax requesting clarification of the emergency response information requirements under the Hazardous Material Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR parts 171-180). Your fax s that your company provides the emergency response information in material safety data sheets (MSDSs), which are in a binder, along with the following documents:

a) Hazardous materials registration,
b) List of company emergency contact phone numbers,
c) Insurance and vehicle registration,
d) Accident Kit, and
e) Applicable DOT exemptions.

In response to a request by a member of my staff, you submitted a complete Emergency Information a binder. The binder is a plain white three-ring binder without markings on the spine or cover to indicate the content of the binder. The above-listed documents are in the front of the binder followed by fifteen MSDSs. The MSDSs are separated from the other documents by a plain yellow divider sheet. You ask if a MSDS for a hazardous material being transported satisfies the requirements in § 172.602 and whether MSDSs must be indexed.

Any document, including an MSDS, that contains all of the information specified in § 172.602(a)(1) through (7) may be used to satisfy the emergency response information requirement. See § 172.602(b). Section 172.602(c)(1) requires the carrier to maintain the emergency response information in the same manner as prescribed for shipping papers. Specifically, § 177.8 17(e) states that shipping papers must be: readily available to, and recognizable by, authorities in the event of an accident or inspection. Also, the driver and the carrier must clearly distinguish the shipping paper, if it is carried with other shipping papers or other papers, by either distinctively tabbing it or by having it appear first. Applying these requirements to the binder you submitted, it is our opinion that your unmarked binder is not “readily re to a first responder as containing emergency response information; further, MSDSs in a binder with other documents should be tabbed or appear first in the binder.

We also note that MSDSs for hazardous and non-hazardous materials are intermixed in the binder, and, while you have attempted to arrange the MSDSs in alphabetical order, some MSDSs re filed by DOT proper shipping name and others by product name. Consistency in maintaining the emergency response information would be beneficial to a first responder in the event of an incident or accident.

I trust this satisfies your inquiry.

Sincerely,

Hattie L. Mitchell
Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention
Office of Hazardous Materials Safety

172.602(b)

Regulation Sections