# Determan Brownie, Inc. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation **Citation:** 05-0071 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** 2005-04-27 05-0071 response to Determan Brownie, Inc. concerning 178.345. ## Document text <<>> f Transportation J.S. Departmen 400 Seventh Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20590 Pipeline and Administration Hazardous Materials Safety APR 27 2005 Mr. Dave Anderson Ref No.: 05-0071 1241 - 72nd Avenue Northeast Determan Brownie, Inc. Minneapolis, MN 55432 Dear Mr. Anderson, This is in response to your letter dated March 24, 2005, requesting clarification of the requirements contained in the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 00-185) applicable to manufacturing and retesting a DOT Specification 406 cargo tank motor vehicle (CTMV). Specifically, you ask several questions regarding the testing requirements for a DOT Specification 406 CTMV. In addition, you indicate that the cargo tank does not meet the requirements prescribed in Part 178, Subpart J for the specification. Your questions are paraphrased and answered as follows: Q1. May a company that is not registered with the Department, in accordance with Part 107, Subpart F, manufacture a DOT Specification 406 CTMV? Al. No. The definition of a manufacturer provided in § 178.320 states that a mane Hue mus register it the Do parimate inaccordanse with Pant Sue a o specification cargo tank or CTMV unless that person is registered. ot the HMR. A2. No. Section 180.417(a)(3) applies to DOT specification CTMVs manufactured before September 1, 1995. However, even if the CTMV was manufactured prior to September 1, 1995, you may not prepare a manufacturer's certificate based on information supplied by a person who was not authorized to manufacture the CTMV. Q3. May the owner of the CTMV create the documents that are required to be maintained by § 178.345-15? A3. No. The owner of the CTMV is not permitted to create the documents identified in § 178.345-15. The documents must be supplied to the owner by the manufacturer of the CTMV. This includes the certification documents that display the registration 178-345-15 (a)(b) 050071 <<>> number of the manufacturer, the Design Certifying Engineer, and the Registered Inspector. ( In addition, these documents must include a certificate signed by a responsible official of the manufacturer and a Design Certifying Engineer certifying that the CTMV meets the applicable specification. Because the owner is unable to provide any of the required documents and because the person who manufactured the CTV was not an authorized manufacturer, the cargo tank must be certified under the procedures applicable to newly constructed cargo tanks. In the situation described in your letter, you would be converting a non-specification CTMV into a DOT specification CTMV. To accomplish this, your company could become the manufacturer of the CTMV and issue the certificates identified in § 178.345-15. This would entail registration as a cargo tank manufacturer in accordance with Part 107, Subpart F and performance of all tests and inspections under Part 178, Subpart J, as applicable to the DOT Specification 406 CTMV described in your documented QC program used to obtain your ASME Code "U" stamp. I hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if you require additional assistance. Sincerely, Presto Office of Hazardous Materials Standards <<>> Page 1 of 3 Gorsky, Susan From: Shelton, Danny Sent: 05-0071 Thursday, March 24, 2005 1:03 PM To: Delorenzo, Joseph ; Mannikko, Michael Cc: William Hochman, Charles ; Solomey, Joe ; Gorsky, Susan ; Quade, Subject: RE: re-certify DOT cargo tanks Joe, I wanteil to get back to you as soon as possible on this situation. discussed this scenario with Charles Hochman, Director, Office of Hazardous I have Materials Technology and Joe Solomey, Assistant Chief Counsel, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) regarding this situation. is a summary of our discussions. Here 1. Is Interpipe LLC authorized to manufacture a DOT specification cargo tank? therefcre they were not authorized to manufacture a DOT Specification Interpipe LLC was never registered with the Department package. a. No person may engage in the manufacture, assembly, certification, 49 CFR S 107.502 (b) inspection or repair of a cargo tank or cargo tank motor vehicle manufactured under the terms of a DOT specification under subchapter C person is registered with the Department in accordance with the an exemption issued under this part unless the certifying engineer is considered to be registered if the person's provisions of this subpart. A person employed as an inspector or design employer is registered. 2. Can Determan Brownie, Inc. prepare a certificate of compliance that indicates Interpipe Inc. LLC is the marking on the tank in accordance with 49 CFR $ 180.417 (a) (3). cargo tank manufacturer based on the specification manufactured before September 1, 1995, therefore, Determan Brownie, Inc. Section 180.417 (a) (3) only applies to DOT cargo tanks cannot create a certificate of compliance based on information displayed on a tan a a stone to top yed on a manufacture a specification package. specification plate prepared by a manufacture wino was not authorized to 3. Can the motor carrier (owner) produce the documents they are required to maintain in accordance with 49 CFR § 178.345-15. Response: No. It is our understanding that the motor carrier (Owner) is This includes the certification documents including the registration numbers unable io provide the required documents identified in 49 CFR § 178.345-15. of the manufacturer, the Design Certifying Engineer and the Registered Engineering certifying that the cargo tank moto:: vehicle design meets the Inspector and the signatures of the manufacture: and the Design Certifying applicable specification. a. 178.345-15 (a) and (b) al At or before the time of delivery, the manufacturer of a cargo tank motor vehicle must provide certification documents to the owner of the cargo tank motor vehicle. The registration numbers of the manufacturer, appropriate, must appear on the certificates (see subpart F, part 107 the Design Certifying Engineer, and the Registered Inspector, as 3/24/2005 <<>> Page 2 of 3 specifications must provide: (b) The manufacturer of a cargo tank motor vehicle made to any of these official of the manufacturer and a Design Certifying Engineer (b) (1) For each design type, a certificate signed by a responsible applicable specification; and certifying that the cargo tank motor vehicle design meets the Conclusion: required and because the person who manufactured the tank was not authorized to Because the owner is unable to provide any of the baseline documents manufacturer a DOT specification cargo tank, even though the person was issued a "U" stamp, tire certification of these tanks would be considered new construction Yes, this can be accomplished but Determan Brownie would become the manufacturer and would be akin to converting a non-specification tank to a specification tank. and be required to issue the certifications identified in 49 CFR 178.345-15. required to perform all tests and inspections including quality control procedures Because Determan Browning, Inc. would be considered the manufacturer, they would be that are associated with the issuance of a "U" stamp. possible. As always thanks to everyone for the timely responses. Susan, we need a written interpretation regarding this situation as soon as From: Delorerzo, Joseph -----Original Message-- - - - To: Shelton, Danny Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2005 10:03 AM Subject: FW: re-certify DOT cargo tanks Cc: Mannikko, Michael confirmation all they have to do is thickness test so I can let him know where this This is the question I need answered in writing from RSPA. Can you give me verbal is going? From: Anderson, Dave [mailto:davea@determan.com] -----Original Message- - - - To: Delorenzo, Joseph Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2005 12:22 PM Subject: re-certify DOT cargo tanks my questions Good morning Joe. Please send for the Inter-pipe tanks ( three units total) which we have a response for clarification regarding been discussing with yourself, MN DOT Michael Ritchie, and RSPA. One is that they have been marked DOT/MC 406, the other way is that the Question one: The specification plates has been mis-marked in two ways. thickness is incorrect. MS, head is actually .127 and shell is 3/16" : Two have both materials (shell & head) one has the shell at as 3/16" understanding is that we are we to verify thickness and determine if they • and and the head at 3/16" (backwards from what they actually are) test the present welds on this unit? I did not think that we had to do meet min design for DOT 406? The question has come up that we have to will go through the entire unit to verify that. we have all the Please verify that question. Our DCE, (Ken Brors) and correct equipnent to meet 406 on the cargo tanks. Any questions please call me at 763-502-9662 Anderson Determan Brownie Inc. •Thanks for all your help in this matter. Dave Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. 3/24/2005 <<>> Page 3 of 3 Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.7.1 - Release Date: 3/9/05 Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. 3/24/2005 ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa` - SHA-256: `5b3a121bb4748d33f0b205ffaa7ccbe2accdc608748de9877a4b3cb3aa409396` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z - Exported: 2026-08-22T20:22:21.591Z - Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-05-0071` ### Source metadata ```json { "materialSubtype": "interpretation", "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials", "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf", "companies": [ "Determan Brownie, Inc." ], "individuals": [ "Mr. Dave Anderson" ], "refIds": [ "05-0071" ], "catalogDates": [ "2005-04-27" ], "catalogParts": [ 178 ], "catalogRowCount": 1, "sourceRecordUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/node/47286" ], "linkedAttachmentUrls": [], "unavailableResponseUrls": [], "duplicateRepresentationUrls": [], "citedSections": [ "178.345", "178.320", "180.417(a)(3)", "107.502" ], "catalogPageUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/178345-15" ], "pdfUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2005/050071.pdf" ], "representations": [ { "viewUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2005/050071.pdf", "detailUrl": null, "detailHtmlPath": null, "pdfUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2005/050071.pdf", "pdfArtifactPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/05-0071-7926a0458b.pdf", "pdfArtifactSha256": "3bb15af5f8627a9d32fd5ba40b9439a752484be6fe591b8d08515000b115766c", "extractedTextPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/05-0071-7926a0458b.v2.txt", "extractedTextSha256": "02078cc8d1e52b69eee58ccc1d8156a5c738a5014e3d8be5a7827522e36ae27d", "pageCount": 5, "extractionVersion": 2 } ], "caveat": "Interpretations apply regulations to the facts presented and do not create independently enforceable requirements.", "jurisdiction": "US" } ```