# Dangerous Goods Advisory Council — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation

**Citation:** 09-0248  
**Type / status:** guidance / guidance  
**Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration  
**Effective:** Not stated  
**Published:** 2010-04-13

09-0248 response to Dangerous Goods Advisory Council concerning 172.101, 173.22.

## Document text

<<<PAGE 1>>>

U.S. Department of Transportation , 200 New Jersey Ave. SE
Washington. D.C. 20590
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration APR 1 3 20m
Mr. Frits Wybenga
Technical Director
Dangerous Goods Advisory Council
Suite 740
1100 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005
Ref. No.: 09-0248
Dear Mr. Wybenga:
This is in response to your November 4,2009 e-mail regarding my response to a question
raised in a letter (Ref. No. 09-0118) concerning acceptable shipping descriptions for an
import shipment of a combustible liquid under the Hazardous Materials Regulations
(HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). The letter in question indicated that a bulk packaging
containing a combustible liquid with a flashpoint of 79°C (174 OF) being imported into
the United States by vessel may be described using the identification number and proper
shipping name "NA1270, Petroleum oiL"
You suggest that there is no regulatory basis for allowing a Hazardous Materials Table
(HMT) entry listed with a UN identification number to be changed to an NA number for a
combustible liquid not subject to the international regulations. You also suggest that if
the change from a UN to an NA identification number is permitted, the identification
number and proper shipping name "NA 1993, Combustible liquid" is more appropriate.
The MSDS submitted with the incoming letter identifies the material as "UN1268,
Petroleum distillates, n.o.s., Combustible liquid, PO III." Since § l72.101(d)(4) permits
modification of the Class 3 reference in Column 3 ofthe HMT to read "Combustible
liquid" when that material has a flash point above 60°C (140 OF) but below 93°C (200
OF), this shipping description is acceptable under the HMR. The shipping description
suggested in the incoming letter "NA1270, Petroleum oil" - is also acceptable;
petroleum oil is included in the petroleum distillate family and the "NA1270, Petroleum
oi]" shipping description entry is listed in the HMT. The HMR authorize these shipping
descriptions and therefore an approval under § 172.101 (1)(2) is not needed. Note that

<<<PAGE 2>>>

since the HMR require a shipper to use the name in the HMT that most appropriately
describes the material, use ofthe name "Petroleum oil" is preferable to the name
"Combustible liquid" (see § 172.1 01 (c)(12)(ii)).
I trust this responds to your inquiry. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Hattie L. Mitchell
Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention
Office of Hazardous Materials Standards

<<<PAGE 3>>>

AV1 dyetiJs Page 1 of 1
C3 J It . 101
'3 173· 2<~~~~':~~!~~_.'
:~rol~~,,,~~H~S.A~)_,_,,_~",~,~ __ kQt2e:C_~$h ip~ill!j_JJ~,~,~",
From: Mitchell, Hattie (PHMSA) cPt-oz 48
Sent: Thursday, October29,200911:51 AM
To: Drakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA)
Cc: Gorsky, Susan (PHMSA)
Subject: FW: Use of NA in place of UN - interp 09-0118
Please log in.
From: Frits Wybenga [mailto:fwybenga@dgac.org]
sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 11:27 AM
To: Mitchell, Hattie (PHMSA)
Cc: Mazzullo, Ed (PHMSA)
Subject: Use of NA in place of UN - interp 09-0118
Hi Hattie - in the referenced interp you allow a hazmat table entry to be changed from UN 1268 to NA 1268 when
the material is a combustible liquid not subject to international regs.
I see no regulatory basis for going from UN to NA and would have assumed that NA 1993 Combustible liquid
should have been recommended instead of NA-1268. I know you make the general statement that UN is for
international/domestic and NA is reserved for domestic only but this is explanatory text indicating the significance
of UN and NA - not text that allows a shipper to replace UN with NA.
I know there is the 172.101 (1)(2) provision that allows PHMSA to make changes to the entries in the table but
when this is done that authority has been cited as part of the approval. Shipping paper requirements say the info
has to be as provided in the 172.101 table and the packaging requirements for combustible liquids are different
than those for UN 1268. '"
You might want to take another look at this one. - Frits
10/29/2009

## Provenance

- Official: Yes
- Source: <https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2009/090248.pdf>
- Source ID: `phmsa`
- SHA-256: `e2ddd059991f42ea993e68b6a74cffc942373f0e33b08eacb9f1b738f81fcd08`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z
- Exported: 2026-08-22T23:06:04.788Z
- Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-09-0248`

### Source metadata

```json
{
  "materialSubtype": "interpretation",
  "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials",
  "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf",
  "companies": [
    "Dangerous Goods Advisory Council"
  ],
  "individuals": [
    "Mr. Frits Wybenga"
  ],
  "refIds": [
    "09-0248"
  ],
  "catalogDates": [
    "2010-04-13"
  ],
  "catalogParts": [
    172,
    173
  ],
  "catalogRowCount": 2,
  "sourceRecordUrls": [
    "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/node/50831"
  ],
  "linkedAttachmentUrls": [],
  "unavailableResponseUrls": [],
  "duplicateRepresentationUrls": [],
  "citedSections": [
    "172.101",
    "173.22",
    "172.1"
  ],
  "catalogPageUrls": [
    "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/172101",
    "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/17322"
  ],
  "pdfUrls": [
    "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2009/090248.pdf"
  ],
  "representations": [
    {
      "viewUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2009/090248.pdf",
      "detailUrl": null,
      "detailHtmlPath": null,
      "pdfUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2009/090248.pdf",
      "pdfArtifactPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/09-0248-273616610b.pdf",
      "pdfArtifactSha256": "c4840e54547d99023d11675df175f2be19ccf2e2107fd81caceecb1ae85776c0",
      "extractedTextPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/09-0248-273616610b.v2.txt",
      "extractedTextSha256": "773784666d9be3f48e78f4a10d2e6b1dbc924517f0acc19019dc1bd1cc9ebf75",
      "pageCount": 3,
      "extractionVersion": 2
    }
  ],
  "caveat": "Interpretations apply regulations to the facts presented and do not create independently enforceable requirements.",
  "jurisdiction": "US"
}
```