Interpretation Response #11-0231
Below is the interpretation response detail and a list of regulations sections applicable to this response.
Interpretation Response Details
Response Publish Date:
Company Name:
Individual Name:
Country: US
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Response text:
December 21, 2011
Mr. Bret Ulibarri
Rinchem Company, Inc.
111 Hayes Memorial Drive
Marlborough, MA 01752
Reference No.: 11-0231
Dear Mr. Ulibarri:
This is in response to your September 6, 2011 letter and follow-up telephone discussion concerning the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) as they pertain to the segregation of hazardous materials being shipped in accordance with the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code (IMDG Code). Specifically, you present a scenario where Class 2.3 material poisonous by inhalation, Hazard Zone A is transported in the same freight container as Class 2.1 material. Section 177.848 of the HMR prohibits the highway transportation of these two materials in the same transport vehicle. However, Chapter 7.2, Section 7.2.1.16 of the IMDG Code does not prohibit transport or require the segregation of these two materials. Therefore, the loads are prepared in accordance with the IMDG Code, for shipment via highway from your facility directly to the port for export on a vessel. You ask whether §171.25(d)(1) of the HMR authorizes these loads, prepared in accordance with the IMDG Code, to be shipped via highway from your facility in Marlborough, Massachusetts to the Port of New York.
The authority you are seeking is not found in §171.25(d)(1). Rather, these shipments are appropriately authorized pursuant to §171.25(b)(1) of the HMR.
The scope of §171.25(d)(1) of the HMR is limited to transportation by motor vehicle within a single port area, including contiguous harbors when shipments of hazardous materials are packed, marked, classed, labeled, stowed, and segregated in accordance with the IMDG Code. Marlborough, Massachusetts is not within the port area of the Port of New York.
However, §171.22, of the HMR does authorize, with certain conditions and limitations, the offering for transportation and the transportation in commerce of hazardous materials in accordance with the IMDG Code. The conditions and limitations specified are enumerated in §171.22, §171.23, and §171.25 of the HMR. If each of these requirements is met, and the hazardous materials shipment is prepared in accordance with the IMDG Code, §171.25(b)(1) of the HMR provides that for transportation by motor vehicle on a public highway, the segregation requirements of Part 7, Chapter 7.2 of the IMDG Code are authorized.
To summarize, provided the shipments are prepared in accordance with the IMDG Code, and are in conformance with the applicable conditions and limitations specified in §171.22, §171.23, and §171.25 of the HMR, loading Class 2.3 material poisonous by inhalation, Hazard Zone A and Class 2.1 material in the same freight container for transportation by highway and vessel is acceptable.
I hope this satisfies your inquiry. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Delmer Billings
Senior Regulatory Advisor
Standards and Rulemaking Division
171.25, 171.21