Interpretation Response #15-0168R
Below is the interpretation response detail and a list of regulations sections applicable to this response.
Interpretation Response Details
Response Publish Date:
Company Name: AECOM
Individual Name: Andrew N. Romach
Location State: NC Country: US
View the Interpretation Document
Response text:
Andrew N. Romach
Regulatory Compliance Manager
AECOM
1600 Perimeter Park Drive
Morrisville, NC 27560
Ref. No. 15-0168R
Dear Mr. Romach:
This letter supersedes our December 11, 2015 letter to you under Reference No. 15-0168 that responded to your August 10, 2015 email requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to the definition of a bulk packaging as it relates to a solid material. In your email, you described a non-specification packaging that can accommodate a maximum net mass greater than 400 kg (882 lbs) and has a maximum capacity less than 450 L (119 gallons). You asked whether it meets the definition of bulk packaging.
The answer is no. After careful review of our original response to you, we have reconsidered our conclusion. In accordance with § 171.8, the definition of a bulk packaging is a packaging with a "maximum net mass greater than 400 kg (882 pounds) and a maximum capacity greater than 450 L (119 gallons) as a receptacle for a solid." Based on a strict reading of this definition, your packaging does not meet the definition of a bulk packaging in the HMR.
Prior to 1990, the non-specification closed bin described in your original email would have been considered a bulk packaging. As currently defined in § 171.8 of the HMR, a bulk packaging must have a maximum net mass greater than 400 kg (882 pounds) and a maximum capacity greater than 450 liters (119 gallons) as a receptacle for a solid. Because the non-specification closed bin used to package a solid material described in Reference No. 15-0168 has a volumetric capacity of less than 450 liters (119 gallons) and a maximum capacity of greater than 400 kg (882 pounds), it does not meet the definition of a bulk packaging under the HMR; therefore, its use is not authorized under the description's bulk packaging provisions prescribed in § 173.240(c) and may only be used to package solid material under the terms of an approval granted in accordance with § 178.601(h).
Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this reconsideration of our original guidance may cause. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Shane C. Kelley
Director
Standards and Rulemaking Division
Regulation Sections
| Section | Subject |
|---|---|
| 173.240 | Bulk packaging for certain low hazard solid materials |