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Letters of Interpretation

PHMSA has published several Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) documents on programmatic topics. Please review these documents here at: https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/about-phmsa/phmsa-faqs.

Additionally, Office of Hazardous Materials Safety has published Hazardous Materials FAQs based on letters of interpretation on the following topics:

Office of Hazardous Materials Safety: For questions about transporting hazardous materials, needing clarifications of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180), or requesting a formal letter of interpretation, please go to the Hazardous Materials Information Center (HMIC) page for contact information (phone and email address). Pending interpretation letters that are under review by the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety can be found at Pending Hazardous Materials (Hazmat) Interpretations.  

Office of Pipeline Safety: A written regulatory interpretation, response to a question, or an opinion concerning a pipeline safety issue may be obtained by submitting a written request to the Office of Pipeline Safety (PHP–30), PHMSA, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590–0001 or at the email address: pipeline_interp_submittal@dot.gov. In addition to email address, the requestor must include his or her return address and should also include a daytime telephone number. Requests should be submitted at least 120 days before the time the requestor needs a response. Note: electronic submission is provided as alternative to the 49 CFR Part 190.11(b) mail-in requirement.

Interpretation letters under review are available at the Office of Pipeline Safety’s Interpretation Review page. To submit comments on an interpretation under review, proceed to the Interpretation Review page, locate the interpretation to comment on, and click the appropriate link to submit a comment on the corresponding interpretation. Comment submissions will be accepted for 30-days after the interpretation letter is posted.

This section of the website below provides the ability to find regulations information including regulations parts, content of sections, and interpretations for regulations sections. A list of parts, identified by the part number and subject is also provided. To browse sections by part, click on the subject link below. You will be taken to the eCFR website to view sections for a part.

The eCFR is also searchable by keyword and other available options on the eCFR website. To search and browse regulations using the eCFR website, use the link below. For assistance, please send an email to PHMSA.Webmaster@dot.gov.

Search the eCFR

Interpretations Reference #

Search Tip: Use quotation marks to search for commonly used phrases, such as “gas transmission” or “cargo tank motor vehicle.”
E.g., 02/09/2021
E.g., 02/09/2021
Ref ID: Date Company Name Individual Name Response Document
12-0215 Hazardous Materials Specialist Mr. Tom Forbes View
12-0207 Railroad Regulatory Safety Services Mr. Raymond Kasey View
12-0189 Wirtgen America, Inc. Ms. Stephanie Dalton View
12-0229 Currie Associates, Inc. Ms. L'Gena Prevatt View
12-0206 Ammunition Surveillance Inspector Mr. David Arange View
12-0226 Groendyke Transport, Inc. Mr. Jerry Mahl View
12-0145 HazMat Resources Inc. Danny Shelton View
12-0116 The Valspar Corporation Mr. Eric Barcaskey View
12-0110 Akrochem Corporation Scott Fleming View
12-0164 ARTA Group, Inc. Dr. Alex von Keitz View
12-0209 K & P Trucking, Inc. Ms. Kathy McConnell View
12-0195 Philips Respironics Mr. Joseph E. Olsavsky View
12-0137 Data Domain, BRS Division of EMC Corporation Mr. Kendall Wilcox View
12-0186 URS Corporation Mr. Andy Romach View
12-0183 Bureau of Explosives, TTC, Inc Mr. Paul Draper View
12-0177 Homax Group, Inc. Mr. Eric Clifford View
12-0182 ChemPura Pools, Ltd. Mr. David Brady View
12-0155 Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Fears Mr. Timothy W. Wiseman, Esq. & Mr. Jeffrey S. Jackson, Esq. View
12-0180 Concorde Battery Mr. Steve Delmar View
12-0227 IQ Products Company Mr. P. Yohanne Gupta View
12-0223 Mr. John A Desharnais View
12-0172 Detector Electronics Corporation Mr. Lee R. Zwiefelhofer View
12-0160 Donovan Marine, Inc. Mr. Keith Mauer View
12-0169 LANXESS Corporation Ms. Cyndi Fink View
12-0202 NK CO., LTD Mr. Hyun-Joon Ji View
PI-12-0002 McAfee & Taft Chris A. Paul, Esq. View
12-0095 Guerilla Air Mr. Sam Newman View
12-0174 Process Technology Optimization, Inc. Dr. Tilak Bommaraju View
12-0167 FedEx Express Mr. David Littlejohn View
12-0184 Ms. Shari Ann Fry View
12-0153 Autoliv ASP, Inc. Mr. Dave Madsen View
12-0133 Autoliv Ogden Technical Center Mr. Dave Madsen View
12-0150 Horizon Lines Mr. Clifford Bartley View
12-0105 Arcet Cylinder Services Div. Mr. David Goff View
12-0179 Dysol & MagChem Mr. Danny Gehlhausen View
12-0147 The Govmark Organization, Inc. Mr. Salvatore Messina View
12-0128 SGS North America Mr. Terry M. Thompson View
12-0157 Perkins Coie Mr. Christopher J. Sutton View
12-0199 AirSep Corporation Mr. Richard W. Boerdner View
12-0081 Hazardous Material Packaging, Inc. Mr. Bill Holbrook Allflex View
12-0201 Horizon Lines, LLC Mr. Cliff Bartley View
12-0197 Chemplex Advance Materials, LLC Mr. Ed Vinson View
PI-11-0016 Atmos Energy Charles R. Yarbrough, II View
12-0132 Hogan Lovells US LLP Mr. Kenneth M. Kastner View
12-0092 PSEG Nuclear Mr. Ronny A. Olson View
12-0117 URS Corporation Ms. Erin N. Jarman View
12-0107 North American Automotive Hazardous Materials Action Committee Mr. Dave Madsen View
12-0131 New Century Transportation, Inc. Ms. Donna Horn View
12-0165 DRMS-VSE Mr. Sandy Clark View
PI-11-0014 Bose McKinney & Evans LLP Ms. Nikki Gray Shoultz, Esq. View