Interpretation Response #23-0081
Below is the interpretation response detail and a list of regulations sections applicable to this response.
Interpretation Response Details
Response Publish Date:
Company Name: North American Transportation Consultants, INC.
Individual Name: J.P. Gibbons
Location State: PA Country: US
View the Interpretation Document
Response text:
June 3, 2024
J.P. Gibbons
North American Transportation Consultants, INC.
P.O. Box 1440
Hightstown, NJ 08520
Reference No. 23-0081
Dear Mr. Gibbons:
This letter is in response to your November 21, 2023, email requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to approval and use of foreign-made international specification packaging. Specifically, you ask whether a U.S. domiciled Designated Approval Agency (DAA) registered solely with PHMSA as prescribed in 49 CFR Part 107 Subpart E may be approved by PHMSA to certify a portable tank—intended for international use only—that is designed and constructed to an international standard not authorized by the HMR. You refer to portable tanks that incorporate fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) as shells—where reinforcement fiber is one of carbon, glass, or other as permitted materials in the IMDG Code Chapter 6.10 —and ask whether an entity may be approved as a DAA to certify such a packaging like other third-party approval entities outside the U.S. even if the packaging is not authorized for use in the U.S.
The answer is no. As a matter of approval program general policy, PHMSA does not approve an entity as a DAA to certify a packaging to a UN specification or other international standard for purposes of international use if that packaging is not also authorized for use in the U.S. Furthermore, PHMSA does not list FRP portable tanks as an authorized packaging, and they may only be transported as prescribed in § 171.25.
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
171.25
Regulation Sections
| Section | Subject |
|---|---|
| 171.25 | Additional requirements for the use of the IMDG Code |