# Sun Chemical Corporation — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation **Citation:** 14-0239 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** 2015-02-10 14-0239 response to Sun Chemical Corporation concerning 172.504, 173.29. ## Document text <<>> U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE Washington. DC 20590 Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Ms. Amy Fischesser Corporate Hazardous Goods FEB 1 0 2015 Transportation Manager Sun Chemical Corporation 5020 Spring Grove Avenue Cincinnati, OH 45232 Reference No. 14-0239 Dear Ms. Fischesser: This is in response to your December 3, 2014 e-mail requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) regarding the highway shipment of non-bulk drums containing only the residue of a hazardous material. In your letter you describe a scenario where your local driver delivers full non-bulk drums containing "UN1210, Printing ink" to your customer. The same driver would then collect "empty" drums containing between 5-30 Ibs of unused printing ink from the customer and be placed in an empty drum trailer for eventual transport to a drum recycler. Your return them to the originating facility. Upon return to your facility the "empty" drums will questions are paraphrased and answered as follows: Q1. Are empty drums that previously contained "UN1210, Printing ink" subject to the HMR even if they are excepted from a hazardous waste manifest because the amount of residue remaining in each drum is less than 3 percent weight of the total capacity of the drum in accordance with 40 CFR § 261.7? Al. The answer is yes. Generally, in accordance with § 173.29, packagings containing a residue of a hazardous material must be transported in the same manner as when they previously held a greater quantity of the material. Empty packages containing a hazardous waste also meeting the definition of a hazardous material under the HMR, are fully subject to the HMR regardless of any exception from certain requirements under 40 CFR. 02. You note that in accordance with § 173.29(c), a non-bulk packaging containing only the residue of a hazardous material covered by Table 2 of §172.504 is excepted from the shipping paper and placarding requirements when collected and transported by a contract or private carrier for reconditioning, remanufacture or reuse. You ask if the "empty" drums to be returned to the originating facility in the above scenario are eligible for the exception in § 173.29(c) as they are not being transported directly to a reconditioner or remanufacturer. <<>> A2. A non-bulk packaging containing only the residue of a hazardous material covered by Table 2 of § 172.504 collected and transported by a contract or private carrier for reconditioning, remanufacture or reuse is excepted from the shipping paper requirements in Part 172, Subpart C. Therefore, if the shipment is made by a private or contract carrier, it is not subject to the shipping paper requirements (§ 173.29(c)(2)). In addition, a non-bulk packaging containing only the residue of a hazardous material covered by Table 2 of § 172.504 is not subject to the placarding requirements in Part 172, Subpart F (§ 173.29(c)(1)). This placarding determination exception is not contingent on the transport being performed by a contract or private carrier for reconditioning, remanufacture or reuse. The "empty" packagings described in your scenario would be eligible for the shipping paper exception provided in § 173.29(c)(2) when transported by a contract or private carrier from the customer's facility back to the intermediary facility where they will be stored temporarily for subsequent transport provided the empty packagings containing residue are collected for purposes of reconditioning, remanufacture or reuse. I trust this information is helpful. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact this office. Sincerely, Shane C. Kelley Acting International Standards Coordinator Standards and Rulemaking Division <<>> 'Wiener 317324 December 3, 2014 Empty Packages 14-0239 U.S. DOT PHMSA Office of Hazardous Materials Standards Attn: PHH-10 East Building 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590-0001 RE: Letter of Interpretation • Dear Office of Hazardous Materials Standards: Sun Chemical Corporation requests a letter of interpretation regarding the provisions specified in Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) § 173.29, Empty Packages. Our local driver makes a delivery of full drums of UN1210, Printing Ink to one of our customers. That same local driver was bringing back to the originating plant site empty drums, which may have anywhere from 5-8 Ibs. to 20-30 Ibs. of product left in them. Our local driver is refusing to bring back the drums containing product back to the originating plant site. After our plant site received the drums they would then put those drums on the empty drum trailer. When the empty drum trailer is full, then it goes to the recycler. The customer's SH&E Manager told the driver "That if 3% by weight of the total capacity of the less than 119 gallons container could remain in the drum. This return would not require hazardous waste paperwork. It just needs to be sealed and the original labels and placards left on." It may be the SH&E Manager is misunderstanding 40 CFR § 261.7 Residues of hazardous shipping requirements may still be applicable during transport. waste in empty containers. Even though the manifesting requirements may not apply, DOT May understanding is that packagings containing a residue of hazardous material must be transported in the same manner as when they previously held a greater quantity of the material. hazardous material covered by Table 2 of § 172.504 is excepted from shipping paper and However, in accordance with § 173.29(c), a non-bulk packaging containing only the residue of a placarding requirements when collected and transported by a contract or private carrier for reconditioning, remanufacture, or reuse. I believe that since our local driver is bringing those drums back to the originating location instead of taking them directly to a reconditioner, remanufacture, etc. that §173.29(c) does not apply. The amount left in the drums is questioning to me as well - especially the 20-30 Ibs. Thank you very much for your time, it is greatly appreciated. Kind Regards, Amy E. Fischesser Corporate Hazardous Goods Transportation Manager Sun Chemical Corporation 5020 Spring Grove Avenue Cincinnati, OH 45232 PH: 513.681.5950, Ext. 4492 Cell: 513.484.7657 <<>> Dodd, Alice (PHMSA) Sent: From: Ciccarone, Michael CTR (PHMSA) To: Tuesday, December 09, 2014 2:18 PM Hazmat Interps Subject: FW: Letter of Interpretation Request Attachments: Letter to DOT regarding empty returns 2014 doc Importance: High Shante/Alice, Please submit this for a formal letter of interpretation. Ms. Fischesser spoke with Adam Lucas. Thanks, Mike Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2014 8:53 AM From: Fischesser, Amy [mailto:Amy. Fischesser@sunchemical.com] To: PHMSA HM InfoCenter Importance: High Subject: Letter of Interpretation Request Please see attached letter requesting letter of interpretation. Thank you. Kind Regards, A. E. Fischesser Corp. Hazardous Goods Transportation Mgr. Sun Chemical Corporation 5020 Spring Grove Avenue Cincinnati, OH 45232 PH: 513.681.5950, Ext. 492 FAX: 513.681.4797 CELL: 513.484.7657 EMAIL: amy.fischesser@sunchemical.com By working together, we can stay in regulatory compliance. This message may contain confidential, proprietary or legally privileged information and is intended only for the use of the addressee named above. No confidentiality or privilege this waived or lost by any error in transmission. If you are not the intended recipient of message you are hereby notified that you must not use, disseminate, copy it in any or form take any action in reliance on it. 1 ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa` - SHA-256: `f4347226bbfdc992868e9b1eda15d57c0b151e98f134ebb718ddc452c08b9e4c` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z - Exported: 2026-08-23T14:02:27.994Z - Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-14-0239` ### Source metadata ```json { "materialSubtype": "interpretation", "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials", "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf", "companies": [ "Sun Chemical Corporation" ], "individuals": [ "Ms. Amy fischesser" ], "refIds": [ "14-0239" ], "catalogDates": [ "2015-02-10" ], "catalogParts": [ 172, 173 ], "catalogRowCount": 2, "sourceRecordUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/node/47751" ], "linkedAttachmentUrls": [], "unavailableResponseUrls": [], "duplicateRepresentationUrls": [], "citedSections": [ "172.504", "173.29" ], "catalogPageUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/172504", "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/17329" ], "pdfUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2015/140239.pdf" ], "representations": [ { "viewUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2015/140239.pdf", "detailUrl": null, "detailHtmlPath": null, "pdfUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2015/140239.pdf", "pdfArtifactPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/14-0239-a9597717ea.pdf", "pdfArtifactSha256": "8e4deab8f0b74d6b0af28c0a33b180af5f23e4a7f936ab5db35a2b2dad9a8bdb", "extractedTextPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/14-0239-a9597717ea.v2.txt", "extractedTextSha256": "d1757e0d7562a7829257833c10e468d02a723e3c5104d0d6db96e7724e2fd135", "pageCount": 4, "extractionVersion": 2 } ], "caveat": "Interpretations apply regulations to the facts presented and do not create independently enforceable requirements.", "jurisdiction": "US" } ```