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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Interpretation Response #19-0043

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: Haley Hoewt

Location State: NV Country: US

View the Interpretation Document

Response text:

August 8, 2019

Haley Hoewt                   
1040 C St #505
Sparks, NV  89431

Reference No. 19-0043

Dear Ms. Hoewt:

This letter is in response to your April 1, 2019, email requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to portable tanks. Specifically, you ask whether a portable tank that has been “rendered stationary” (e.g., welded feet, bolted to the ground) and is no longer used in transportation must be requalified in accordance with § 178.605. 

If the packaging is represented as being maintained and retested in accordance with applicable requirements in the HMR by displaying the applicable specification markings, it is subject to the HMR.  Section 171.2(g) states that no person may represent or offer a packaging as meeting the requirements of the HMR unless the packaging is maintained, marked, and retested in accordance with the applicable requirements of the HMR.  These requirements are applicable whether or not the packaging is used for the transportation of a hazardous material.  Therefore, if the UN or DOT specification portable tank used at your facility is not maintained in accordance with the HMR, we recommend you securely cover any identifying marks or specification plates representing it as such.  In the instance the packaging is used in transportation again at some point in the future, it would have to meet all applicable requirements of the HMR prior to being filled and placed into transportation.  

I hope this information is helpful.  Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Dirk Der Kinderen
Chief, Standards Development Branch
Standards and Rulemaking Division

178.605, 171.2(g)

Regulation Sections

Section Subject
171.2 General requirements