# ADCOM Express, Inc. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation **Citation:** 01-0170 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** 2001-08-13 01-0170 response to ADCOM Express, Inc. concerning 172.101. ## Document text <<>> • • U.S. Department of Transportation Washington, D.C. 20590 400 Seventh St., S.W. Research and Special Programs Administration AUG 1 3 2001 Mr. Bradford A. Gagnon Ref. No. 01-0170 ADCOM Express, Inc. 2462-C South Santa Fe Vista, CA 92084-8002 Dear Mr. Gagnon: This is in response to your July 5, 2001 letter and subsequent phone conversations with Michael Johnsen of my staff regarding the determination of when a hazardous material is a hazardous substance under the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). In a conversation with Mr. Johnsen on July 31, 2001, many of the questions raised in your letter were addressed, but your question regarding how to determine the reportable quantity (RQ) of a mixture that is identified by more than one EPA waste code still required a response. Enclosed is a February 26, 1998 letter from our office which provides that if you know the constituent and exact concentration of a waste stream, then the RQ amount for that constituent shall be used. If the constituent or concentration is not known, then the RQ for that waste must be used to determine the RQ. For a mixture that is identified by two or more EPA waste codes, the RO amounts for each waste must be identified and determined by the amount of each waste code contained in the mixture. In addition you would also need to meet the concentration limits found in the definition of "hazardous substance" in § 171.8. I hope this satisfies your request. Sincerely, Transportation Regulations Specialist Office of Hazardous Materials Standards Enclosure <<>> of Transportation US. Department 400 Seventh Streel. S.W. Research and Washington, D.C. 20590 special Program: Administratiol FEB 26 1998 Mr. Kurt Swart Health & Safety Manager ROMIC Environmental Technologies Corp. 2081 Bay Road East Palo Alto, CA 94303-1316 Dear Mr. Swart: This is in response to your letter dated December 22, 1997, regarding reportable quantities for Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) wastes under the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Paris 171-180). Specifically, you ask whether the RQ for the EPA waste number supersedes the RQ for the individual constituent. The appropriate RQ for a hazardous waste depends on the amount of information available on the waste stream including the constituents of the waste stream and their respective concentrations. If the constituent and its concentration in the waste stream are known, then the RQ for the constituent is appropriate. For example, Pyridine has an RQ of 1000 lbs (454 kg). If Pyridine is the only constituent and its concentration in a mixture or solution is known, then tne ke for pyrdine is appropriate. However, if the waste's constituent or its respective concentration is unknown, then the appropriate RQ is that which is assigned to the waste stream. For example, the reportable quantity for a waste stream described under F00S, and which contains Toluene in an unknown concentration, is 100 Ibs (45.4 kg). I hope this answers your inquiry. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, Ahmet things, Delmer F. Billings Chief, Standards Development Office of Hazardous Materials Standards <<>> John.som 8172.101 Appendix A Hazardous Substance ADCOM Express, Inc. 2462-C South Santa Fe • Vista, California 92084-8002 • (760) 727-6461 • Fax (760) 727-5809 010170 July 5, 2001 Mr. Edward T. Mazola Director, Office of Hazardous Materials Standards U.S. DOT/RSPA (DHM-10) 400 7th Street S.W. Washington, D.C. 20590-0001 Dear Mr. Mazzullo: I am looking for some guidance in determining when a hazardous material understand for example, that acetone has a 5000-pound RQ in a single and /or a hazardous waste meets the definition of a hazardous substance. I package. Where I need guidance is when the acetone is an EPA hazardous waste in a solution. In this scenario a 55-gallon drum weighing about 400 pounds, the waste stream is characterized as having both the D001 for ignitability and the FOO3 for spent non-halogenated solvents. As a hazardous material, the Appendix A to the HMT lists acetone as needing 5000 pounds in a single container to meet the definition of a hazardous substance. As a hazardous waste, the Appendix A to the HMT contains a listing for D001 Unlisted Hazardous Wastes Characteristic of ignitability with an RQ of 100 pounds. The F003 is also listed with a "generic" of 100 pounds and acetone specifically named at 5000 pounds. Does the fact that the characteristic waste code listing for D001 reads "unlisted", refer to the fact that waste streams such as in my example, that is waste streams that in fact are EPA "listed" wastes, as in this case an EPA F0O3 listed waste, render the possibility of this waste being a hazardous substance for its D001 characteristic of ignitability a moot point because it is an EPA "listed" waste? What now do we consider with the F003 portion? If we know that our 400-pound drum contains 50% acetone and 50% water, we do not have a hazardous substance for acetone, we have only 200 pounds of acetone in our solution and under F0O3, the acetone listing still needs 5000 pounds. <<>> Since we know the exact amount of the acetone am I correct that we do not need to consider the F003 100-pound factor? What if we only knew that the acetone solution was a range of say 45% to 55%, would it then be a hazardous substance due to the generic F003 because we did not know exactly how much acetone we had? When does the table in 171.8 for hazardous substances come into consideration? If we had a 50%/50% mixture/solution of two materials that were similar in weight, the concentration by weight and the concentration by volume would be the same correct? What happens as in my example, we know that the concentration by volume is the same, how do we determine the concentration by weight? Thank you. I have written a similar e-mail to infocntr@rspa.dot.gov for an unofficial response but I'm very much in need of a written interpretation on hazardous substance determination in general for my own understanding and when presenting DOT Function Specific type training. Corporate Transportation Manager - ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa` - SHA-256: `b7e131b16cedc5a4ebb66461dd3f6039532b8c36f97a57c2195e6b907d82cacc` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z - Exported: 2026-08-23T23:03:02.779Z - Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-01-0170` ### Source metadata ```json { "materialSubtype": "interpretation", "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials", "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf", "companies": [ "ADCOM Express, Inc." ], "individuals": [ "Mr. Bradford A. 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