# Radian International — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation **Citation:** 00-0310 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** 2001-01-18 00-0310 response to Radian International concerning 172.101. ## Document text <<>> - U.S. Department 400 Seventh Street, S.W. of Transportation Washington, D.C. 20590 Research and Administrations JAN 1 8 2001 Mr. Andrew N. Romach Ref. No: 00-0310 Regulatory Manager Radian International P.O. Box 13000 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 Dear Mr. Romach: This is in response to your November 2, 2000, letter regarding the proper shipping name for a material consisting of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and soil under the Hazardous Materials Regulations (49 CFR Parts 171-180). Your scenario consists of a bulk packaging being transported by highway containing more than I pound of pure CBs at a concentration of more than 20 ppm but less than 50 ppm. You question whether the proper shipping name "Polychlorinated biphenyls, solid" is appropriate for a material with such a low concentration of PCBs. As provided by § 172.101(c)(10), a mixture not identified specifically by name, comprised of a hazardous material identified in the Table by technical name (e.g., PCBs) and non-hazardous material (e.g., soil), must be described using the proper shipping name of the hazardous material and the qualifying word "mixture" unless the mixture is significantly different from the pure hazardous material (i.e., meets a different hazard class or packing group or there is a significant change in emergency response measures). Therefore, in the scenario you provided, the proper shipping description is "Polychlorinated bipheyls, solid, mixture, 9, UN2315, II!" when transported by highway. Note that the packing group changes from "Il" to "II" when this material is transported by highway or rail as stated in Special Provision 140. I hope this information is helpful. Sincerely, Delmer F. Billings Chief, Standards Development Office of Hazardous Materials Standards 172./01 000310 <<>> RADIAN INTERNATIONAL Boothe RENUE A DAMES & MOORE GROUP COMPANY November 2, 2000 HM-218 8172-101 Office of Hazardous Material Standards Mr. Ed Mazzullo, Director Proper Shipping Research and Special Programs Administration U.S. Department of Transportation Name 400 7th Street, SW Washington, DC 20590-0001 FAX: (202) 366-3012 00-0310 Dear Mr. Mazzullo: I am writing to you to request a wrilten regulatory interpretation concerning the appropriate proper shipping such as remediation soil contaminated with parls per million (220 ppm) levcis of PCBs. In this particular name to use when shipping a material contaminated with low levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), scenario, a truck load of such material would trigger the reportable quantity (RQ) of 1 pound for PCBs and be required to be shipped as a hazardous material by ground transportation under new Special Provision 140. In DOT's August 18, 2000, Federal Register (HM-218), paragraph (c)(8) in 49 CFR 172.101 was removed technical name for a hazardous substance were listed in the HMT, that lechnical name would be the proper from the DOT regulations and roplaced by a new paragraph. This previous paragraph stated that if the shipping name for the material. Based on discussions with DOT chemists in the Office of Hazardous Materials Technology, they agree that the proper shipping name of the pure material ("Polychlorinated biphenyls, solid") would not be the rost accurate description at such a low concentration. They agreed that a polychlorinated biphenyls xx ppm)." Without the clear guidanoe set out in the delered paragraph, it would more accurate description would be "Environmentally hazardous substance, solid, n.o.s. (contains appear that "Environmentally hazardous substance, solid, n.o.s. (contains polychlorinated biphenyls xx ppm)" would be the appropriate proper shipping name for the above-described material. Elsewhere in the Federal Register notice (column 1 on page 50452), DOT stated that: "The ICAO Technical Provision A97 and State Variation US4." Special Provision A97 is not referenced next to the proper Instructions regulate PCBs only when they are present in a reportable quantity, as stipulated in Special shipping name entry "Polychlorinated biphenyls, solid" (or "Polychlorinated biphenyls, liquid") in the ICAO entry "Environmentally hazardous substance, solid, n.o.s." (and "Environmentally hazardous substance, Technical Instructions. However, Special Provision A97 is referenced next to the proper shipping name liquid, n.o.s."), implying that this would be the appropriate proper shipping name to use for shipping PCBs by air that equal to or exceed the reporrable quantity. It is confusing for the appropriate proper shipping name for a material to differ depending upon whether that material is being shipped by ground or by air. Please clarify the appropriate proper shipping name for shipping the above-described material by ground transportation. Sincerely, ally. Andrew N. Romac Regulatory Manager Radian-URS Offices Worldwide ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa` - SHA-256: `16e480646494668a08a959eb4d0c4f19118ed4ee65d1890de52d438623477e00` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z - Exported: 2026-08-22T19:25:57.987Z - Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-00-0310` ### Source metadata ```json { "materialSubtype": "interpretation", "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials", "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf", "companies": [ "Radian International" ], "individuals": [ "Mr. Andrew N. 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