# Mr. William K. Taggart, CET — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation **Citation:** 02-0050 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** 2002-05-31 02-0050 response to Mr. William K. Taggart, CET concerning 172.704. ## Document text <<>> • U.S. Department of Transportation 400 Seventh St., S.W. Research and Washington, D.C. 20590 Administration Special Programs MAY 3 1 2002 Mr. William K. Taggart, CET Lion Technology, Inc. Reference No.: 02-0050 P. O. Drawer 700 Lafayette, New Jersey 07848 Dear Mr. Taggart: This is in response to your letter regarding §§ 172.704 and 172.204(d) of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). Specifically, you ask if an individual who hazmat transportation. signs the shipper's certification required under § 172.204(a) must be trained in all phases of Your understanding is correct. The training requirements apply to hazmat employees who perform any function subject to the requirements of the HMR (§ 172.704(b)); this includes an employee who signs a shipping paper certification. Since the employee certifies that the materials are properly classified, described, packaged, marked and labeled and in proper condition for shipment, the employee must receive function specific-training that ensures they are knowledgeable in those areas and can determine that a shipment is in compliance with the requirements of the HMR, in addition to general awareness/familiarization and safety training. I hope this satisfies your request. Sincerely, Transportation Regulations Specialist Office of Hazardous Materials Standards 172,704 020050 <<>> : Corbin 3172: 704 LION TECHNOLOGY INC. P.Q. Drawer 700 Training • (201) 383-0800 Lafayette, Now Jersey 07848 0 2-0050 January 10, 2002 Mr. Edward T. Mazzullo Director, Office of Hazardous Materials Standards U.S. DOT/RSPA (DHM-10) 400 7th Street S.W. Washington, D.C. 20590-0001 RE: Shipping Paper Certification - Training for Signers Dear Mr. Mazzullo: Lion Technology Inc. has been providing hazardous materials transportation Lion currently conducts over 60 two-day hazardous materials transportation training training for nearly 25 years. Since 1978, we have trained tens of thousands of people. workshops per year, nationwide. We have always endeavored to provide our students with regulatory training that is as technically correct as we can possibly make it. Since we are training thousands of people per year, we feel it is very important that what we teach them is aligned with current DOT interpretation. promulgation of the "hazmat employee" training requirements under HM-126F. We are requesting confirmation of a particular interpretation pursuant to the what training is required for someone who signs the certification on a DOT shipping One of the more common questions asked by our clients and students is exactly paper or hazardous waste manifest. It is clear that any person who signs a shipper's certification is subject to the "hazmat employee" training standard of 49 CFR 172 Subpart H... RSPA has clearly stated this in interpretive letters. However, the question that these people are ultimately getting at is "specifically, what must their training cover?" Lion has always understood that the person who signs a shipping paper is per the ebie to make the such etion repress in at the material is propen order for a packaged, marked, labeled, described, and "in all respects" in compliance, that their training must cover all of these aspects of the HMR. In other words, you can't certify that something is "right" and in compliance with the regulations, unless you know what "right" is. Therefore, our understanding is that a Page 1 of 2 <<>> Mr. Edward T. Mazzullo Training for shipping paper signers Page 2 of 2 January 10, 2002 person whose sole hazardous materials transportation function is to sign shipping papers would need to have training such that they are able to determine if a material is properly classified, packaged, marked, labeled, placarded, prepared, loaded and described on the shipping paper. Please confirm that this continues to be RSPA's interpretation. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to your response. Sincerely, Lion Technology, Inc. ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa` - SHA-256: `81ca230daae6c83f2c493ffd866e4db1f67ceaeec501a1cc165f13b651609445` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z - Exported: 2026-08-23T09:10:36.706Z - Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-02-0050` ### Source metadata ```json { "materialSubtype": "interpretation", "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials", "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf", "companies": [ "Mr. William K. 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