November 16, 2017

 

 

 

Kym Seth

Manager, Hazard Communications & Product Stewardship

Tyco Fire Protection Products

2700 Industrial Parkway South

Marinette, WI  54143

 

Reference No. 17-0066

 

Dear Ms. Seth:

 

This letter is in response to your June 13, 2017, email requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to classification.  You describe your material as a highly-concentrated, water-based surfactant solution with a flash point of 23 °C and a boiling point of greater than 100 °C, which is not capable of sustaining combustion.  Specifically, you ask if the material is considered a Class 3 flammable liquid under the HMR.  

 

As specified in § 173.22 of the HMR, it is the shipper’s responsibility to properly class and package a hazardous material.  This Office does not normally perform this function.  The HMR define a flammable liquid as having a flash point of not more than 60 °C.  Per § 173.120(a)(3), for your material to be exempted from classification as a Class 3 material, it must have a flash point of greater than 35 °C.  Since your material does not have a flash point of greater than 35 °C, it is the opinion of this Office that the material in question is a Class 3 flammable liquid.       

 

If experience or other data indicate that the hazard of flammable liquid or combustible liquid material is greater or less than indicated by the criteria specified in § 173.120(a) or (b), the Associate Administrator of Hazardous Materials Safety may revise the classification or make the material subject or not subject to the requirements of the HMR (see § 173.120(d)).

 

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

Standards and Rulemaking Division

 

173.22, 173.120(a)(3), 173.120(a) or (b), 173.120(d)