# H.B. Fuller Company — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation

**Citation:** 05-0011  
**Type / status:** guidance / guidance  
**Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration  
**Effective:** Not stated  
**Published:** 2005-02-28

05-0011 response to H.B. Fuller Company concerning 171.16.

## Document text

<<<PAGE 1>>>

Transportatic
S. Departme
400 Seventh St., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20590
Administration
FEB 28 2005
Mr. Gene Secor
Ref. No. 05-0011
31601 Research Park Drive
H.B. Fuller Company
Madison Heights, MI 48071
Dear Mr. Secor:
This is in response to your January 11, 2005, letter requesting clarification of the
Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). Specifically, you ask
whether a person must report an undeclared hazardous material discovered after the
material has been delivered to the consignee and the carrier has departed the consignee's
facility. In addition, you indicate that the package may or may not be leaking.
The answer is no. The requirement to file a Hazardous Materials Incident Report on
DOT Form F 5800.1 applies to hazardous materials incidents that occur during
transportation (§ 171.16(a)). Therefore, incidents that occur after the hazardous material
has been delivered to the consignee and the carrier has departed the premises are not
subject to the incident reporting requirements. For incidents that occur during
transportation it is the responsibility of the person in physical possession of the leaking or
undeclared package to file an incident report.
I hope this information is helpful.
Sincerely,
John A Gale
Chief, Standards Development
Office of Hazardous Materials Standards
171.16
050011

<<<PAGE 2>>>

BAH
$171.16
Incident Report
H.B. Fuller Company
15-00/1
31601 Research Park Drive
Madison Heights, MI 48071
January 11, 2005
it':
Mr. Edward T. Mazzulio
Director, Office of Hazardous Materials Standards
U.S. DOT/RSPA (DHM-10)
400 7* Street S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20590-0001
Re: Interpretation Question on 49 CFR 171.16
Gentlemen:
• 3:
Our various facilities receive hazardous materials on a frequent basis;
sometimes, we find when opening the package that the contents are undeclared
Is there any legal obligation under the HMR to make a report? If we are
obligated to report, since the material was shipped by Air but is out of
transportation when the package is opened, do any of the exceptions provided at
171.16 apply?
If the package was soiled (indicating a potential release) when received, are we
required to report if the shipment was made by air?
Sincerely,
Henslecor
Gene Secor
EHS/Transportation Specialist
File: DOT/Interpretations/171.16

## Provenance

- Official: Yes
- Source: <https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2005/050011.pdf>
- Source ID: `phmsa`
- SHA-256: `fc6b24ff45d8e7e26c7db159dec2f3431e9929a328e4037583aacf8571ae8630`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z
- Exported: 2026-08-22T04:59:41.617Z
- Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-05-0011`

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