Interpretation Response #23-0072
Below is the interpretation response detail and a list of regulations sections applicable to this response.
Interpretation Response Details
Response Publish Date:
Company Name: Arma Container Corp.
Individual Name: Mr. Howard Silverman
Location State: NY Country: US
View the Interpretation Document
Response text:
February 28, 2024
Mr. Howard Silverman
Arma Container Corp.
22 Earl Rd.
Melville, NY 11747
Reference No. 23-0072
Dear Mr. Silverman:
This letter is in response to your August 7, 2023, email and subsequent telephone conversations requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to the legal liability of a person who manufactures packaging for the shipment of limited quantities of hazardous materials. You state that your company manufactures boxes for a customer with pre-printed limited quantity markings, who then utilizes those boxes for the transportation of limited quantities of aerosol bike chain lubricant. You ask whether your company has any legal liability in the event of an incident involving the packaging your company manufactures for the limited quantities of the aerosol bike chain lubricant. You included a picture of what appears to be a display box for the aerosols with a limited quantity mark printed on one of the surfaces.
Liability associated with a non-compliant packaging or package, or a package failure, is determined on a case-by-case basis. Section 171.1—which covers the applicability of the HMR to persons and functions—states in paragraph (a) that the requirements in the HMR apply to each person who manufactures, fabricates, marks, maintains, reconditions, repairs, or tests a packaging or a component of a packaging that is represented, marked, certified, or sold as qualified for use in the transportation of a hazardous material in commerce. It appears that your company is manufacturing and marking a packaging that is represented as qualified for use in the transportation of a hazardous material—specifically, for use in the transportation of a limited quantity of aerosols. Accordingly, to the extent that your company performs some of the functions stated in § 171.1(a), your company is responsible for complying with the requirements of the HMR with respect to those functions. However, as discussed in our subsequent telephone conversations, if your company did not pre-print the limited quantity mark on the boxes, and did not otherwise represent, mark, certify, or sell the boxes as qualified for use in the transportation of hazardous materials; your company would likely not have liability in the event of an incident involving these packages of aerosol bike chain lubricant.
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 Branch
Standards and Rulemaking Division
171.1, 171.1(a)