Interpretation Response #11-0146 ([Mr. Thomas W. Ferguson] [The Council on Safe Transportation of Hazardous Articles, Inc.])
Below is the interpretation response detail and a list of regulations sections applicable to this response.
Interpretation Response Details
Response Publish Date:
Company Name: Mr. Thomas W. Ferguson
Individual Name: The Council on Safe Transportation of Hazardous Articles, Inc.
Location State: VA Country: US
View the Interpretation Document
Response text:
May 1, 2012
Mr. Thomas W. Ferguson, DGSA
Technical Consultant
The Council on Safe Transportation
of Hazardous Articles, Inc.
7803 Hill House Court
Fairfax Station, VA 22039
Ref. No. 11-0146
Dear Mr. Ferguson:
This responds to your letter requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to hazardous materials quantity limitations aboard aircraft. Specifically, you ask whether the revisions adopted in paragraphs (c), (d) and (e) of § 175.75 in a final rule published on January 19, 2011 (76 FR 3308 (HM-215K)) intentionally amended the HMR to further restrict inaccessible packages not exceeding 25 kg or 75 kg net quantity, in the aggregate, of eligible hazardous materials and gases of Division 2.2, respectively, otherwise authorized for transport aboard passenger-carrying aircraft. In your letter, you assert the long-standing interpretation of § 175.75(c) that specifies the inaccessible package limitation applies to each individual cargo compartment and not to the entire aircraft.
Please be advised that it was never our intention to apply the inaccessible quantity limitations to the entire aircraft. As you correctly point out in your letter, because the § 175.75(f) table headings no longer reference "per cargo compartment" as ultimately the limiting factor in quantity limitations, it could be inferred that the limitation applies to the entire aircraft. We addressed the unintended consequences of this amendment and in a final rule published in the Federal Register on December 30, 2011 (76 FR 82163) that also responded to various administrative appeals filed in response to the January 19, 2011 final rule.
I trust this satisfies your inquiry. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
T. Glenn Foster
Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch
Standards and Rulemaking Division
175.75
Regulation Sections
| Section | Subject |
|---|---|
| 175.75 | Quantity limitations and cargo location |