# Arkema — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation **Citation:** 15-0201 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** 2015-12-09 15-0201 response to Arkema concerning 172.101. ## Document text <<>> of Transportation U.S. Department Washington, D.C. 20590 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration DEC 0.9 2015 Ms. Christina Kurtz Manager of Regulations and Packaging Health, Environment, and Safety Arkema 900 First Avenue, Building #2 King of Prussia, PA 19406 Reference No. 15-0201 Dear Ms. Kurtz: This responds to your October 8, 2015 email concerning a final rule under Docket No. PHMSA-2012-0082; HM-251 (80 FR 26643). Specifically, you request confirmation that the requirements adopted in this final rule do not apply to materials with a subsidiary hazard of Class 3 flammable liquid. Your understanding is correct. On May 8, 2015, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, in coordination with the Federal Railroad Administration, issued a final rule, entitled "Hazardous Materials: Enhanced Tank Car Standards and Operational Controls for High-Hazard Flammable Trains." In the rule, PHMSA adopted enhanced tank car standards and operational controls for high-hazard flammable trains. As used in the final rule, Class 3 refers to the primary hazard or hazard class of the material as indicated in Column (3) of the Hazardous Materials Table in 49 CFR 172.101. I trust this satisfies your inquiry. Please feel free to contact me if you need further assistance. Sincerety Ben Supko Senior Regulations Officer Standards and Rulemaking Division <<>> Antonielli 172:101 Goodall, Shante CTR (PHMSA) Deluntion From: Supko, Ben (PHMSA) 15-020 Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2015 11:02 AM To: Goodall, Shante CTR (PHMSA) Subject: FW: HM-251 and subsidiary flammable Attachments: FW: PHMSA's High-Hazard Flammable Train Rule Announcement Shante, Good morning. Please log this in as a request for interpretation. I have also attached some language that can be used by the assigned specialist to craft a response. Ben From: Christina KURTZ [mailto:christina.kurtz@arkema.com] To: Supko, Ben (PHMSA) Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2015 10:38 AM Cc: Martin THOMAS Subject: HM-251 and subsidiary flammable Ben, If you recall, when we met at the CPC meeting we discussed the definition of flammables pertaining to HM-251. Dr. El Sibaie stated that subsidiary flammables were not included in this docket. He also stated in discussions with Canada, they were in agreement that flammables only pertains to the primary hazard as listed in column 3 of 172.101 Can you please provide confirmation in writing via email and/or a formal interpretation? Regards, Christina KURTZ Manager of Regulations and Packaging 610-205-7417 Health, Environment, and Safety ARKEMA 900 First Ave. Building #2 USA 19406-1308 King of Prussia, PA christina.kurtz@arkema.com <<>> This e-mail, attachments included, may contain information that is confidential and/or privileged and/or proprietary to the Arkema Group or third party. It may oniy be used for its intended purpose. If you are not the intended recipient, please advise the sender by return and delete this e-mail without reading, copying nor distributing it. Thank you. Ce courriel, pièces jointes incluses, peut contenir des informations confidentielles et/ou couvertes par le secret professionnel et/ou propriété du Groupe Arkema ou de tiers. Il ne peut être utilisé que dans le cadre de son objet. Si vous n'en êtes pas le destinataire, merci d'en informer l'expéditeur par retour et de supprimer ce courriel sans le lire, le copier ni le distribuer. Merci. Arkema Group or third party. It may only be used for its intended purpose. If you are not the intended recipient, please This e-mail, attachments included, may contain information that is confidential and/or privileged and/or proprietary to the advise the sender by return and delete this e-mail without reading, copying nor distributing it. Thank you. 2 <<>> Goodall, Shante CTR (PHMSA) From: Supko, Ben (PHMSA) Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 6:07 AM To: Schoonover, William (PHMSA) Subject: FW: PHMSA's High-Hazard Flammable Train Rule Announcement Bill, Here was my response to you regarding the Doug James Inquiry. Ben Ben Supko Acting Deputy Associate Administrator Policy and Programs Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 202-366-0374 ben.supko@dot.gov -__-Original Message-. From: Supko, Ben (PHMSA) Sent: Friday, May 08, 2015 05:38 AM Eastern Standard Time To: Schoonover, William (PHMSA) Subject: RE: PHMSA's High-Hazard Flammable Train Rule Announcement Bill, We were focused on materials Classed as flammable liquids and shipped in high-hazard flammable trains. The term "Class" refers to the primary hazard or hazard class of the material (column 3 of HMT). Ben Ben Supko Acting Deputy Associate Administrator Policy and Programs Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 202-366-0374 ben.supko@dot.gov -----Original Message----- From: Schoonover, William (PHMSA) Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2015 09:28 PM Eastern Standard Time <<>> To: Supko, Ben (PHMSA) Subject: FW: PHMSA's High-Hazard Flammable Train Rule Announcement Sent with Good (www.good.com) ----Original Message---- From: James, Doug (D) Damesdd@dow.coml Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2015 05:39 PM Eastern Standard Time To: Butters, Tim (PHMSA); Schoonover, William (PHMSA) Ce: Burke, Cherry (C) Subject: RE: PHMSA's High-Hazard Flammable Train Rule Announcement Tim, Bill, An example for my question below would be UN2789, Acetic acid, glacial or Acetic acid solution, Hazard class 8 (3), PG II. We asked the same question of Mr. Ben Turcotte, Transport's Director of Regulatory Affairs, with regards to the Transport Canada amendment and answer was that subsidiary hazard class of 3 would not apply to their Regulations Amending the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations (TC 117 Tank Cars. See attached email. Thanks and regards, Doug James Transportation Regulatory Compliance & Risk Management -Rail Mode EHS Leader -Distribution Risk Management Leader The Dow Chemical Company *..PK0 0: 31120 5703:0938 From:tim.butters@dot.gov [mailto: tim. butters@dot.gov] Sent: Monday, May 04, 2015 10:51 AM To: James, Doug (D) Cc: Burke, Cherry (C); william.schoonover@dot.gov Subject: RE: PHMSA's High-Hazard Flammable Train Rule Announcement Doug, I have forwarded to Bill Schoonover, who will have on of our hazmat folks follow up with you. Timothy P. Butter Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Deputy Administrator 202-366-4433 U.S. Department of Transportation From: James, Doug (D) [maiitorjamesdd@daw.coml To: Butters, Tim (PHMSA) Sent: Monday, May 04, 2015 10:57 2 <<>> Cc: Burke, Cherry (C) Subject: FW: PHMSA's High-Hazard Flammable Train Rule Announcement Hello Tim, I work with Cherry Burke for Dow Rail Safety and I did attend your stakeholder call last Friday. I have a question - would this rule apply for materials shipped by rail that have a Secondary Hazard Class = 3 (flammable liquid), but a different Primary Hazard Class? I think this question has been raised before but i was just looking for confirmation either way. Thanks and regards, Doug James Transportation Regulatory Compliance & Risk Management -Rail Mode EHS Leader -Distribution Risk Management Leader 395 Hw 3142 The Dow Chemical Company art, LA 700S7 Sce 533. R-n 144 Cal phone 0TD 206 9709 shee phone: 955 03-4013 From: Burke, Cherry (C) Sent: Friday, May 01, 2015 8:51 AM To: Heater, John L (J); James, Doug (D) Subject: FW: PHMSA's High-Hazard Flammable Train Rule Announcement Note Tim Butter's open stakeholder call at 1EDT. I won't be able to make it. From: Lepik, Donna [mailto:Donna Lepik@americanchemistry.com] To: Ms. Donna Lepik Sent: Friday, May 01, 2015 9:49 AM Subject: Fwd: PHMSA's High-Hazard Flammable Train Rule Announcement FYI/see below - in case you're interested. Donna L. Lepik American Chemistry Council CHEMTREC®/TRANSCAER® 700 2nd Street NE Suite 913 Washington DC 20002 P: 202.249.6723 C: 571.225.8877 dlepik@chemtrec.com diepk@wranscaer.com Begin forwarded message: From: Date: May 1, 2015 at 7:31:06 AM CDT To: Undisclosed recipients:; Subject: PHMSA's High-Hazard Flammable Train Rule Announcement Knowing of your strong interest in the flammable liquid rail safety rulemaking that has been underway, I wanted to let you know that today at 10:30 a.m. (EST), Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Canada's Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt will hold a press conference to 3 <<>> announce the comprehensive rail safety regulation, which includes the requirements for stronger, safer rail tank cars for the transportation of flammable liquids in North America, new rail operational requirements, and other provisions. Secretary Foxx and Minister Raitt will address the aspects of both DOT's final rule and Canada's regulations. The press conference will be streamed live online bese. Following that announcement, I will host an open stakeholder conference call at 1:00 p.m. (EST) to personally answer any questions you may have about the operational and safety improvements that will be announced. I invite you to call in. When: Friday, May 1, 1:00pm (EST) Teleconference #: 1-877-336-1839 Access Code: 8170541 Sincerely, Timothy P. Butters Administrator (Acting) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration U.S. Department of Transportation 202-366-4433 ****#++*+++++*+++++ This message may contain confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee do not disseminate, distribute or copy this email. Please notify the sender immediately by email if you have received this email by mistake and delete this email from your system. E-mail transmission cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of this message which arise as a result of email transmission. American Chemistry Council, 700 - 2nd Street NE, Washington, DC 20002, www.americanchemistry.com ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa` - SHA-256: `b7473ac0cfae7f279f030bde0ef86f943c10645e52a116099a26e47410bc3fd2` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z - Exported: 2026-08-23T13:51:50.565Z - Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-15-0201` ### Source metadata ```json { "materialSubtype": "interpretation", "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials", "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf", "companies": [ "Arkema" ], "individuals": [ "Ms. Christina Kurtz" ], "refIds": [ "15-0201" ], "catalogDates": [ "2015-12-09" ], "catalogParts": [ 172 ], "catalogRowCount": 1, "sourceRecordUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/node/51631" ], "linkedAttachmentUrls": [], "unavailableResponseUrls": [], "duplicateRepresentationUrls": [], "citedSections": [ "172.101" ], "catalogPageUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/172101" ], "pdfUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2015/150201.pdf" ], "representations": [ { "viewUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2015/150201.pdf", "detailUrl": null, "detailHtmlPath": null, "pdfUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2015/150201.pdf", "pdfArtifactPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/15-0201-3637edaaae.pdf", "pdfArtifactSha256": "f8bf646704f5d7df94119399935984d16ecae37e6dfe054b1cbcf9a3aae7464d", "extractedTextPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/15-0201-3637edaaae.v2.txt", "extractedTextSha256": "716e1be4de4d11a947396f7bd5e097d8a94027c67f42df0e51f6a7a88db39869", "pageCount": 7, "extractionVersion": 2 } ], "caveat": "Interpretations apply regulations to the facts presented and do not create independently enforceable requirements.", "jurisdiction": "US" } ```