# DPC Industries, Inc. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation **Citation:** 08-0099 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** 2008-06-12 08-0099 response to DPC Industries, Inc. concerning 172.203. ## Document text <<>> U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration JC!d 1 2 2008 Ms. Charlcye Sells DPC Industries, Inc. P.O. Box 24600 Houston, TX 77229-4600 Reference No. 08-0099 Dear Ms. Sells: 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, D.C. 20590 This is in response to your April 17,2008 letter and telephone conversation with a member of my staff concerning how to properly indicate on a shipping paper when a Special Permit applies to a hazardous materials entry under 5 172.203(a) of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). You state most of the bulk tanks (multi-unit tank car tanks and cargo tanks) your company uses conform to DOT specifications but some are special permit tanks. When the shipping paper is computer generated, the type of tank that will be used is not known. The tank selection is based on availability at the shipping location when the order is filled. You ask if your shipping paper may display the required information and include the wording "DOT-SP 595 1 May Apply" for your multi-unit tank car tank (ton tank) shipments or offer a check-off option for your cargo tanks operating under a special permit, as follows: UN1017, Chlorine, 2.3, (8), RQ Poison - Inhalation, Zone B Corrosive, Marine Pollutant DOT-SP 595 1 May Apply UN179 1, Hypochlorite solutions, 8, PG 111, RQ (Sodium Hypochlorite) Special Permit applies if checked: DOT-SP 10878 - DOT-SP 125 16 The correct special permit number must be entered on a shipping paper in association with the basic description of the material to which it applies. See 172.203(a). Therefore, based on the information you provided, when shipping Chlorine, the above shipping paper entry is acceptable provided you remove or obliterate the words "May Apply" when using a DOT-SP 595 1 ton tank, and remove or obliterate the entire phrase "DOT-SP 595 1 May Apply" when <<>> using any other type of ton tank. When shipping Hypochlorite solutions, the above shipping paper entry is acceptable provided the blank line beside "DOT-SP 10878" or "DOT-SP 125 16" is checked only for the shipping description to which each special permit specifically applies. I hope this satisfies your request. Hattie L. Mitchell Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Office of Hazardous Materials Standards <<>> Date: April 17, 2008 To: U.S. Department of Transportation Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Hazardous Materials Information Center infocntr@dot.gov From: DPC Industries, Inc. Charlcye Sells csells@dxgroup.com We request interpretation of 49CFR 172.203(a), regarding the requirement to print DOT-SP and the special permit number in association with the shipping description. We have questions about two kinds of shipments. 1) Each year, we transport thousands of multi-unit tank car tanks filled with compressed gases. Most of these tanks are DOT specification tanks, but some are transported under the provisions of DOT-SP 5951. When the computer generates the shipping paper, we do not know whether a shipment will include special permit containers. The order is filled from the stock available at each shipping location at the time. Will we be in corr~pliance with 172.203(a) if our shipping description includes "DOT-SP 5951 may apply"? All special permit containers are properly marked and labeled, and all transport vehicles carry copies of the special permit. The shipping description looks like this: UN1017, Chlorine, 2.3, (8), RQ Poison - Inhalation Hazard, Zone B Corrosive, Marine Pollutant DOT-SP 5951 May Apply 2) We transport cargo tanks of sodium hypochlorite. Most of our cargo tanks are DOT specification tanks, but we have several that operate under DOT- SP 10878 or DOT-SP 12516. When the computer generates the shipping paper, we do not know which cargo tank will be available. Will we be in compliance with 172.203(a) if our shipping description offers a check-off option for tanks operating under a special permit? The shipping description would look like this: UN 1791, Hypochlorite Solution 8, 111, RQ (Sodium Hypochlorite) Special Permit applies if checked: - DOT-SP 10878 - DOT-SP 12516 Sincerely, Charlcye Sells <<>> t Drakeford, Carolyn From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: INFOCNTR Monday, April 21, 2008 1 1 :30 AM Drakeford, Carolyn 'CSELLS@dxgroup.com' FW: Request for lnterprestation Attachments: Request for interpretation.doc Request for interpretation.doc ... Carolyn, Attached is a request for a letter of interpretation on the requirements in 49CFR 172.203 (a) . Thanks, Rob ----- Original Message----- From: Sells, Charlcye [mailto:CSELLS@dxgroup.com] Sent: Monday, April 21, 2008 10:27 AM To: INFOCNTR Subject: Request for Interprestation I have attached our request for an interpretation of the requirements in 49CFR 172.203(a). <> Charlcye Sells DPC Industries, Inc. ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa` - SHA-256: `98b3f4f3de5340ebb643a4fdb2f896fc5eaa7ed2ad94981de32762b693d5d6fb` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z - Exported: 2026-08-22T19:08:58.842Z - Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-08-0099` ### Source metadata ```json { "materialSubtype": "interpretation", "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials", "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf", "companies": [ "DPC Industries, Inc." ], "individuals": [ "Ms. Charlcye Sells" ], "refIds": [ "08-0099" ], "catalogDates": [ "2008-06-12" ], "catalogParts": [ 172 ], "catalogRowCount": 1, "sourceRecordUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/node/44686" ], "linkedAttachmentUrls": [], "unavailableResponseUrls": [], "duplicateRepresentationUrls": [], "citedSections": [ "172.203", "172.203(a)" ], "catalogPageUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/172203" ], "pdfUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2008/080099.pdf" ], "representations": [ { "viewUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2008/080099.pdf", "detailUrl": null, "detailHtmlPath": null, "pdfUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2008/080099.pdf", "pdfArtifactPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/08-0099-79bfe78e7b.pdf", "pdfArtifactSha256": "65091404d2efdac9fb808fa3f1d293477910333f9e1edafe3b034f72beffa426", "extractedTextPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/08-0099-79bfe78e7b.v2.txt", "extractedTextSha256": "97404172d3f8ec8ccf7b5757752907210fc3162c81fd9e8fe5a189c26ff3076e", "pageCount": 4, "extractionVersion": 2 } ], "caveat": "Interpretations apply regulations to the facts presented and do not create independently enforceable requirements.", "jurisdiction": "US" } ```