# HazMat Resources Inc. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation **Citation:** 12-0145 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** 2012-11-19 12-0145 response to HazMat Resources Inc. concerning 178.337. ## Document text <<>> U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE Washmgton DC 20590 NOV 1 9 2012 Danny Shelton HazMat Resources Inc. 124 Rainbow Drive# 2471 Livingston, TX 77399 Reference No.: 12-0145 Dear Mr. Shelton: This is in response to your July 02, 2012 email requesting guidance regarding the proper method for cargo tank manufacturers to use to restrict an MC331 cargo tank from transporting certain products under the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). Specifically you ask for help determining proper methods for cargo tank manufacturers to use in order to restrict an MC331 cargo tank from transporting certain products and if the current practice of noting these restrictions in the remarks section of an American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) U1A form is an acceptable way of conveying these restrictions to cargo tank purchasers. The HMR does not indicate a way to note manufacturer imposed, or buyer requested restrictions on what commodities can be carried in a MC331 cargo tank. Generally speaking, if a tank manufacturer designs, constructs, certifies, and stamps an MC331 cargo tank to ASME Section VIII standards, the cargo tank is appropriate to transport all materials authorized for that specification unless limited by special provisions. Nothing prohibits cargo tank manufactures from indicating commodity carriage restrictions on an ASME U1A form, but no reference is made to such notation in the HMR or in Section VIII of the ASME Code. Please note that it remains the responsibility of the person offering the hazardous material to ensure compatibility with the packaging that is being used. I trust this satisfies your inquiry. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance. s{lt?Ji :- .. Delmer Billings ~ Senior Regulatory Advisor Standards and Rulemaking Division <<>> ARTICLE S-3 REPORT FORMS AND MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS AS-300 MANUFACTURER'S DATA REPORTS A Data Report shall be filled out (Form A-1) by the Manufacturer and the Inspector for each pressure vessel to be marked with the Code symbol. For sample Report Forms and guidance in preparing Data Re- ports, see Appendix I. AS-300.1 Units of Measurement. The units of mea- surement shall be in accordance with AG-151. requirements of this Division and shall be forwarded, in duplicate, to the Manufacturer of the finished vessel (see AG-302). These Partial Data Reports, together with his own inspection, shall be the final Inspector's authority to approve and witness the application of a Code symbol to the vessel (see AS-110). When Form A-2 is used, it shall be attached to the associated Form A-I by the Manufacturer of the finished vessel. (b) Data Reports for those parts of a pressure vessel which are furnished by a parts manufacturer to the user of an existing Code vessel, as replacement or repair parts, shall be executed on Form A-2 by the parts manufacturer and his Inspector in accordance with the requirements of this Division. A copy of the parts manufacturer's Partial Data Report shall be furnished to the user or his designated agent and a copy shall be maintained in accordance with AS-311. AS-301 Distribution and Filing of Reports (a) The Manufacturer shall: (I) furnish a copy of the Manufacturer's Data Report to the user and, upon request, to the Inspector; (2) submit a copy of the Manufacturer's Data Report to the appropriate enforcement authority in the jurisdiction in which the vessel is to be installed where required by law; (3) keep a copy of the Manufacturer's Data Re- port on file in a safe repository for at least 10 years or for the intended life of the vessel, whichever is greater. (b) In lieu of (2) and (3) above, the vessel may be registered and the Data Reports filed with the National Board of Boilers and Pressure Vessel Inspectors, 1055 Crupper Ave., Columbus, Ohio 43229. AS-310 PARTIAL DATA REPORTS The parts manufacturer shall indicate under "Re- marks" whether or not he has performed any or all of the design functions. For guidance in preparing Partial Data Reports, see Appendix I. (a) Data Reports for pressure vessel parts requiring inspection under this Division, which are furnished by other than the shop of the Manufacturer responsible for the completed vessel, shall be executed by the parts manufacturer and his Inspector in accordance with the AS-311 MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS In addition to the requirements of AS-301, the Man- ufacturer shall maintain other records as follows. (a) Contents of File. The Manufacturer of the vessel or part shall maintain the complete file for all material certification and/or Partial Data Reports, examina- tion, testing, heat treatment and manufacturing pro- cedures, specifications, and drawings used. All records shall be fully identified by pertinent material or item identification numbers. The record shall include all data on repaired material, items, and assemblies. (b) Maintenance and Access to Reports. Records specified above shall be filed and maintain'ed in a man- ner which will allow access by the Inspector to specific information contained therein within a period not in excess of 24 hr at any time during the period of vessel manufacture. The Manufacturer shall take such steps as may be required to provide suitable protection of all records from deterioration or damage. 423 <<>> Drakeford, Carol n (PHMSA) From: Sent: To: Subject: Attachments: Importance: Betts, Charles (PHMSA) Monday, July 02, 2012 7:55AM Drakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA) FW: Contiuation Danny Shelton.vcf High tz. -Dt15 Carolyn- Please log and assign the attached request for response. Thanks, Charles -----Original Message----- From: Danny Shelton [mailto:shelton10104@gmail.com] Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2012 10:15 AM To: Betts, Charles (PHMSA) Cc: Staniszewski, Stanley (PHMSA) Subject: FW: Contiuation Good morning Mr. Betts, please see the following information regarding the continued practice today (Note the original communication was 8 years ago) of cargo tank manufactures noting restrictions in the remarks section of the U-1A which restrict the type of products that may be transported. Everyone in the e-mail chain agrees and Mr. Phil Olson, God rest his soul, makes the most valid point of all. Phil, I know you are looking down on us laughing at how we do business. Anyway, can your office provide guidance regarding the proper methods to use to restrict an MC 331 cargo tank from transporting certain products and to convey the comments in the remarks section of a UlA regarding (Non- Corrosive) to the tank. Mr. Betts, you can always contact me if you need additional information or you can discuss with Stan, he is well versed on this topic. Regards -----Original Message----- From: Olson, Philip . Sent: Monday, August 23, 2004 11:57 AM To: Shelton, Danny; Olson, Philip ; Staniszewski, Stanley ; Hochman, Charles Subject: RE: Contiuation My comments. I believe the ASME Code is written around the concept that a tank owner (purchaser) decides what the specifications are for a tank he desires to own. Thus the Owner specifies the materials to be put into the tank and the uses for the tank and then places an order for the tank to be designed and manufactured. In the case where a manufacture just builds tanks for sale and wants to market them as DOT Specification tanks, his marking of a DOT Specification must be based on the tank being able to transport all materials authorized 1 ··-------···-----·-----·--·-------- ·-·-··-----~--~-· <<>> for that DOT Specification. I do not think a tank manufacturer can be allowed to market a DOT Spec tank, unless that tank is appropriate to transport all materials (other than those limited by B note Special Provisions) authorized for that Specification. The limitation of materials for certain materials is accomplished by special provisions that are material specific. Phil -----Original Message----- From: Shelton, Danny [mailto:Danny.Shelton@fmcsa.dot.gov] Sent: Monday, August 23, 2004 11:40 AM To: Olson, Philip ; Staniszewski, Stanley ; Hochman, Charles Subject: FW: Contiuation Here is Bill's comment. I agree with him but how do we communicate that restriction so that it is on the tank vs on a sheet of paper 1,000 miles away? From: Quade, William Sent: Monday, August 23, 2004 11:37 AM To: Shelton, Danny Subject: RE: Contiuation For the record, I believe we need to provide manufacturers an avenue for restricting the use of their tanks. If the manufacturer doesn't think it should be used for another material, who are we to argue with him? Thanks, BQ -----Original Message----- From: Shelto~, Danny Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2004 7:03 PM To: Olson, Philip ; Staniszewski, Stanley ; Hochman, Charles Cc: Bill Quade Subject: FW: Contiuation Folks, this is the issue that we discussed about a month ago. Please see the attached U-1A with the notation that it is for LP only- non corrosive service in the remarks section. The only markings required to be on the cargo tank are the ASME Plate and the Spec Plate, plus some marking requirements required by 172.300 but no where on either one of these plates is there place to note that this MC331 cargo tank is only authorized to transport propane. I am of the opinion that if you mark the tank as an MC331 cargo tank then you cannot restrict the tank to only transporting propane by noti!'1g on the U-1A. Roadside enforcement officials must have the information on the tank to determine if the tank is authorized for the material being transported. What do you think. 2 <<>> From: PROTANK@aol.com [mailto:PROTANK@aol.com] Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 9:04AM To: Shelton, Danny Subject: Contiuation Sorry about email it launched automatically Look at UG-25 (a) ofthe ASME Code ... ibid SEC 8 DIV 1. I am attatching UIA to this email. 3 ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa` - SHA-256: `ac8d5cb4e2a53d6f5f5e2f9b167efc59646a04e59aa4655f1fd806d8acc919be` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z - Exported: 2026-08-22T21:39:32.292Z - Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-12-0145` ### Source metadata ```json { "materialSubtype": "interpretation", "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials", "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf", "companies": [ "HazMat Resources Inc." ], "individuals": [ "Danny Shelton" ], "refIds": [ "12-0145" ], "catalogDates": [ "2012-11-19" ], "catalogParts": [ 178 ], "catalogRowCount": 1, "sourceRecordUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/node/54626" ], "linkedAttachmentUrls": [], "unavailableResponseUrls": [], "duplicateRepresentationUrls": [], "citedSections": [ "178.337", "172.300" ], "catalogPageUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/178337" ], "pdfUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2012/120145.pdf" ], "representations": [ { "viewUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2012/120145.pdf", "detailUrl": null, "detailHtmlPath": null, "pdfUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2012/120145.pdf", "pdfArtifactPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/12-0145-e9442625d4.pdf", "pdfArtifactSha256": "d5bcec1953ec52342c47ab0ec27dcb66fbbb5415bf64f69e5a937f7b7536f009", "extractedTextPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/12-0145-e9442625d4.v2.txt", "extractedTextSha256": "45eabc387dd73e1453489d79b62559dd525131d02a6b14531bce946ab64b06f5", "pageCount": 5, "extractionVersion": 2 } ], "caveat": "Interpretations apply regulations to the facts presented and do not create independently enforceable requirements.", "jurisdiction": "US" } ```