Interpretation Response #16-0188 ([Propetro] [Tony Garcia])
Below is the interpretation response detail and a list of regulations sections applicable to this response.
Interpretation Response Details
Response Publish Date:
Company Name: Propetro
Individual Name: Tony Garcia
Location State: TX Country: US
View the Interpretation Document
Response text:
April 12, 2017
Mr. Tony Garcia
Director of DOT Compliance
Propetro
P.O. Box 10688
Midland, TX 79702
Reference No. 16-0188
Dear Mr. Garcia:
This letter is in response to your November 15, 2016, email requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to Class 7 radioactive material. In your email, you explain that your company uses a density gauge containing a radioactive source of Celsium-137 that is then installed on a "Blender" unit that acts as a semi-trailer when in transportation. Specifically, you ask if your radioactive density gauge is considered an integral part of the means of transportation when installed on the "Blender" unit and therefore excepted under § 173.401(b)(3). You provide photographs for further clarification.
A final rule titled, "Hazardous Materials Regulations; Compatibility With the Regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency" published January 26, 2004 [69 FR 3631] under Docket No. RSPA-99-6283 (HM-230), states that the purpose of § 173.401(b)(3) is to "except from the HMR such items as thoriated metallic engine parts, depleted uranium counterweights, tritium exit signs, and similar items containing radioactive material which are an integral part of, and are routinely used in the normal operation of a transport vehicle." In the scenario you provided, the density gauge would not be considered an integral part of the means of transportation and therefore would not meet the exception in § 173.401(b)(3). While this gauge may be integral to the "Blender" performing its functions as a Blender, the gauge does not perform a function necessary for the "Blender" to act as a transport vehicle.
I hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
T. Glenn Foster
Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch
Standards and Rulemaking Division
173.401(b)(3)