Interpretation Response #21-0113

Below is the interpretation response detail and a list of regulations sections applicable to this response.

Interpretation Response Details

Response Publish Date: 03/25/2022

Company Name: TEN-E Packaging Services, Inc.

Individual Name: Robert Ten Eyck

Location State: MN Country: US

View the Interpretation Document

Response text:

March 25, 2022

Robert Ten Eyck
TEN-E Packaging Services, Inc.
1666 County Road 74
Newport, MN 55055

Reference No. 21-0113

Dear Mr. Eyck:

This letter is in response to your December 21, 2021, letter requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to the packaging requirements for certain nitric acid solutions (69.5% nitric acid). Specifically, you seek clarification on the implementation of special provision IP15—which is listed in Column 7 of the § 172.101 Hazardous Materials Table (HMT)—as it applies when this material is packaged in a composite intermediate bulk container (IBC) with a rigid inner receptacle. In your letter, you describe a scenario involving unused composite IBCs that were manufactured in 2018. You ask: (1) whether these composite IBCs are restricted from use when transporting "UN2031, Nitric acid other than red fuming, with at least 65 percent, but not more than 70 percent nitric acid, 8, (5.1), PG II"; and (2) whether the two-year limit on using the composite IBCs is triggered by the IBC manufacture date.

The answer to both questions is yes. Nitric acid solutions assigned special provision IP15 in Column 7 of the HMT may not be transported in a composite IBC with a rigid inner receptacle that is more than two years out from its date of manufacture. Further, the two-year limit is based on the date of manufacture, regardless of when the packaging is filled. As stated in special provision IP15, "for UN2031 with more than 55% nitric acid, rigid plastic IBCs and composite IBCs with a rigid inner receptacle are authorized for two years from the date of IBC manufacture."

Please note that this restriction does not preclude the use of the IBCs for other hazardous materials as authorized.

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

172.101

Regulation Sections