# Department of Energy — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation **Citation:** 12-0240 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** 2013-01-24 12-0240 response to Department of Energy concerning 171.1, 171.8. ## Document text <<>> U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, D.C. 20590 JAN -2 4 2011 Mr. Stephen C. O'Connor Director Office of Packaging and Transportation Department of Energy 16212 State Highway 249 Houston, TX 77086 Reference No.: 12-0240 Dear Mr. O'Connor: This is in response to your October 18, 2012 letter requesting clarification ofthe Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to training requirements for packaging component suppliers. You present two specific package component supply situations and ask if the training provisions for hazmat employees found in Subpart H of Subchapter C of the HMR are applicable. Your questions are paraphrased and answered below: Ql. A 1. Q2. If Company A supplies drum lid locking rings to Company B who manufactures, sells, marks, and certifies DOT 1A2 steel drums for use in commerce per § 178.504(a)(2); is Company A considered a hazmat employer and required to have a DOT training program in place for hazmat employees per Subpart H of Subchapter C of the HMR, or is it exempt from these requirements? The answer is no. The definition of a hazmat employee includes, among various other possible functions, an individual who designs, manufacturers, fabricates, inspects, marks, maintains, reconditions, repairs, or tests a package, container or packaging component that is represented, marked, certified, or sold as qualified for use in transporting hazardous material in commerce. While reference is made to manufacturers of packaging components in the definition ofhazmat employee; the intent of their inclusion is not to cover producers of parts that may be sold by the manufacturer who are not aware that the purchasers' intent is to utilize the component in a hazardous materials packaging. If Company C is a hardware supplier to a wide range of industry customers and also provides nuts and bolts to Company B (from question 1 above) for the lid locking ring, is Company C considered a hazmat employer and required to have a DOT training program in place for hazmat employees per Subpart H of Subchapter C of the HMR, or is it exempt from these requirements? A2. See answer A1 above. <<>> I trust this satisfies your inquiry. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance. tf?M· . Delmer Billings ~ Senior Regulatory Advisor Standards and Rulemaking Division <<>> Department of Energy Washington, DC 20585 October 18,2012 Mr. Charles Betts, Director Standards and Rulemaking Division Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Attn: PHH-10, U.S. DOT East Building 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590-0001 Subject: Clarification of the Hazmat Training Requirements for Packaging Component Supplier Dear Mr. Betts: The purpose of this letter is to request claritlcation on the applicability of the requirements in 49 CFR 171. I, Applicability of Hazardous lvfaterials Regulations (H},;fR) to persons and jimctions, where it states: The law also authorizes the Secretwy to apply these regulations to persons who mam!frtcture or maintain a packaging or a component o[a packaging that is represente£1, marke£1, certijiecl, or sold as qualijled for use in I he tramportation of a hazardous material in commerce. The clarification requested is specific to packaging component suppliers and whether those suppliers are considered hazmat employer and therefore required to implement a DOT training program for designated hazmat employees. Please provide responses to Questions 1 and 2 below. Question 1: If Company A supplies drum lid locking rings to Company B who manufactures, sells, marks and certifies DOT 1 A2 steel drums for use in commerce per 49 CFR 178.504(a)(2), is Company A considered a hazmat employer required to have a DOT training program in place for hazmat employees per 49 CFR 172 Subpart H, or is it exempt from these requirements? Question 2: Similarly, if Company C is a hardware supplier to a wide range of industry customers and also provides nuts and bolts to Company B (from Question 1 above) for the lid locking ring, is Company C considered a hazrnat employer required to have a DOT training program in place for hazmat employees per 49 CFR 172 Subpart H, or is it exempt from these requirements? Please clarify the intent of 49 CFR 171.1 as it applies to the questions above. <<>> Thank you in advance for your prompt consideration of this request. If you require additional information, please contact me at (30 1) 903-7284, or Mr. Ashok Kapoor of my staff at (202) 586-8307. Sincerely, Stephen C. O'Connor Director Office of Packaging and Transportation ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa` - SHA-256: `6d6d9f146b81b4aee64b484a090a7dacd601474bafc22526532ad6189fcbad9f` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z - Exported: 2026-08-23T11:42:01.609Z - Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-12-0240` ### Source metadata ```json { "materialSubtype": "interpretation", "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials", "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf", "companies": [ "Department of Energy" ], "individuals": [ "Mr. Stephen C. O'Connor" ], "refIds": [ "12-0240" ], "catalogDates": [ "2013-01-24" ], "catalogParts": [ 171 ], "catalogRowCount": 2, "sourceRecordUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/node/65781" ], "linkedAttachmentUrls": [], "unavailableResponseUrls": [], "duplicateRepresentationUrls": [], "citedSections": [ "171.1", "171.8", "178.504(a)(2)" ], "catalogPageUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/1711", "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/1718" ], "pdfUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2012/120240.pdf" ], "representations": [ { "viewUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2012/120240.pdf", "detailUrl": null, "detailHtmlPath": null, "pdfUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2012/120240.pdf", "pdfArtifactPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/12-0240-db1636381e.pdf", "pdfArtifactSha256": "09a9acc080700534486ae1730fe6b4c302e52c52945afe73d11499285570aa07", "extractedTextPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/12-0240-db1636381e.v2.txt", "extractedTextSha256": "08bd19ac23dde35f0a793c9fef2fbce5758c974901c00548438a9ccd40089000", "pageCount": 4, "extractionVersion": 2 } ], "caveat": "Interpretations apply regulations to the facts presented and do not create independently enforceable requirements.", "jurisdiction": "US" } ```