# Ten-E Packaging Services — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation **Citation:** 18-0064 **Type / status:** guidance / guidance **Agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration **Effective:** Not stated **Published:** 2019-02-25 18-0064 response to Ten-E Packaging Services concerning 173.27. ## Document text <<>> U.S. Department of Transportation Plpellne and Hazardous Material• Safety Admlnl1tratlon 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 FEB 2 5 2019 , . . Robert Ten Eyck Ten-E Packaging Services 1666 County Road 7 4 Newport, MN 55055 Reference No. 18-0064 Dear Mr. Ten Eyck: This letter is in response to your March 21, 2018, email and subsequent conversations with a member of my staff requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to closure requirements for shipments of receptacles being transported by aircraft. Specifically, you ask if your client's bottle design as described below meets the requirements of§ 173.27(d) for secondary closures. You provide technical drawings of your client's bottle design and further describe it as having a closure with an interlocking flange design that once connected to the bottle cannot be removed without destroying the closure or the bottle neck itself. You also state that the closure incorporates an "anti-back off' feature similar to a child lock. After reviewing the description and technical drawings you provided, it is the opinion of this Office that the closure meets the closure requirements of§ 173.27(d). I hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance. Sincerely, T. Glenn Foster Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Standards and Rulemaking Division <<>> January, lkeya CTR (PHMSA) From: Sent: To: Subject: Attachments: Kelley, Shane (PHMSA) Wednesday, April 18, 2018 5:54 PM January, Ikeya CTR (PHMSA) FW: Letter of Clarification Non-Removable Closure2.docx Please assign for response and let me know who the specialist will be. Thanks! From: Robert Teneyck Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2018 1:17:42 PM To: Kelley, Shane (PHMSA) Subject: Letter of Clarification Hi Shane, Please see attached request for a written interpretation concerning the use of secondary closure seals. Let me know if you need any further information to handle this packaging matter. Regards, BobT. - -·· N · · .·· - TE - ' . . Setting the Standard Robert Ten Eyck robert.teneyck@ten-e.com Office: 651-459-0671 Fax: 651 -459-1430 TEN-E Packaging Services, . Inc. 1666 County Road 7 4 Newport, MN 55055 www.ten-e.com 1 <<>> Wolcott, Alexander (PHMSA) From: Sent: To: Subject: Robert Teneyck < Robert.Teneyck@ten-e.com > Tuesday, October 02, 2018 11:07 AM Wolcott, Alexander (PHMSA) Secondary closure seals Confirming our brief discussion today, our letter dated March 21, 2018 is not requesting an approval for the closure in question but rather an interpretation as to whether or not it meets DOT and ICAO requirements for secondary seals. Regards, Robert Ten Eyck Tr- . ··· . I ,;;. ···N .·· · ··.· .·· .... . · · • · · . . Setting the Standard Robert Ten Eyck robert.teneyck@ten-e.com Office: 651-459-0671 Fax: 651-459-1430 TEN-E Packaging Services, Inc. 1666 County Road 74 Newport, MN 55055 www.ten-e.com 1 <<>> TEN TEN-E Packaging Services~ Inc. March 21 , 2018 Shane Kelley U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Standards Development, PHH-11 1200 New Jersey Avenue S. E. Washington, D.C. 20590 Ref.: Secondary closure seals Dear Shane: Both Title 49 CFR and the ICAO Technical lnstrucitons call for secondary seals on "friction" closures used with inner receptacles containing liquids that are shipped by air (reference Title 49 CFR Sections 173.24(f)(ii) and 173.27(d) and ICAOTechnical Instructions Part4; Chapter 1; Paragraph 1.1.4.1). A client of ours has developed a unique closure system that secures the closure to the bottle neck by use of an interlocking flange design. Once seated the closure cannot be removed without destroying it and the bottle's neck. Product is ultimately dispensed through a septum located in the center opening of the closure. Since the closure will not loosen under transportation conditions of temperature or vibration there is no reason to apply a secondary seal or to require the use of a leakproof liner. As such we believe the unique closure design should be excepted from these requirements and would appreciate having the agency either confirm our viewpoint or tell us why the design falls subject to these additional packaging requirements. Please let me know if you require any additional information to handle this request for clarification. Eyck Director, echnical Services TEN-E Packaging Services, Inc. 1666 County Road 74 Newport, MN 55055 Phone: 651-459-0671 Fax: 651-459-1430 Email: info@ten-e.com Web: www.ten-e.com United States - Minnesota TEN-E Packaging Services. Inc. 326 North Corona Avenue Ontario, CA 91764 Phone: 909-937-1260 Fax: 909-937-1262 Email: info@ten-e.com Web: www.ten-e.com United States - California 2101 Shore Street High Point, NC 27263 Phone: 336-803-4878 Fax: 336-804-5074 Email: info@ten-e.com Web: www.ten-e.com United States - North Carolina <<>> Wolcott, Alexander (PHMSA) From: Robert Teneyck < Robert.T eneyck@ten-e.com > Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2018 4:03 PM To: Wolcott, Alexander (PHMSA) Subject: RE: Letter of Interpretation Hi Alex, As a further thought the closure design could certainly be considered to incorporate an anti-back off feature and could also be considered to be a child-resistant design. I believe the agency has viewed such designs as meeting the secondary closure requirement. Regards, Bob T. From: Wolcott, Alexander (PHMSA) [mailto:alexander.wolcott@dot.gov] Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2018 10:35 AM To: Robert Teneyck Subject: Letter of Interpretation Good Morning Bob, I have been going over the drawing that you sent over with some others here and we just had one question for you that we couldn't quite tell from the drawings. We were wondering of the bottle is sealed with something over the top of it before the cap is placed or is the cap the only method used to seal the bottle. Let me know. Thanks, Alexander Wolcott I Transportation Specialist Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE Washington, DC 20590 Office: (202) 366-4003 Room: E22-231 Email: Alexander.Wolcott@dot.gov 1 <<>> Wolcott, Alexander (PHMSA) From: Robert Teneyck < Robert.T eneyck@ten-e.com > Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2018 12:17 PM To: Wolcott, Alexander (PHMSA) Subject: RE: Letter of Interpretation The cap has a flowed-in liner that engages the land area of the bottle to form a liquid tight seal. There is an additional friction-fit cap that sits over the septum area of the cap that forms a secondary seal to the septum itself but not the land area. Hopefully I am not confusing this situation for you. Regards, BobT. From: Wolcott, Alexander (PHMSA) [mailto:alexander.wolcott@dot.gov] Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2018 10:35 AM To: Robert Teneyck Subject: Letter of Interpretation Good Morning Bob, I have been going over the drawing that you sent over with some others here and we just had one question for you that we couldn't quite tell from the drawings. We were wondering of the bottle is sealed with something over the top of it before the cap is placed or is the cap the only method used to seal the bottle. Let me know. Thanks, Alexander Wolcott I Transportation Specialist Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE Washington, DC 20590 Office: (202) 366-4003 Room: E22-231 Email: Alexander.Wolcott@dot.gov 1 <<>> _______ 2~---------1----;:::::---~ ------~~ i------t-6Xl4 HOOKS@ ~ .:i \ 'r) 41. 1 sw2s ) 0 AT 19 DATUM-A "KEY-RI N9,;-f; D.'' l-$!0 o@I A l s @jl0J., @ l AT 19 DATU M-A D -· ---· ~~ : - 19 I I @ 3X 6.76 1 ---- ·· __ ,,,,,,, -- -- 0 ( 034.15±0.15 ,1 6.5 DATUM-,\ (3 SNAP HOOKS) SECTION D-D S CALE 4 : l _ C i!_oilr.;-. l61Il~ SECTION G-G KEY-3 SHOWN AIL I E 4 : 1 _ SECTION H-H SCALE 4: l _ - M/A 2 <<>> r 2 1 D t D J E L_ E >-- Vl Vl - co 2 0... --0 N co 0 0l 0 CONCEPT SKETCH 02-26-18 N SECTION E-E SCALE_l : l -a N c [ ION 8-B ~LE 2: 1 _ DRAFT 0 :::i .._ Reference Only -fil ,__ __________ ,.OW - NB- Y, -----0 - ATE - , ----------------------t LL EE ELECTRONIC REVISION Maki, Linda M 5 10/16 :1 Abbott ~ HISTORY REPORT CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION ~ A Promise ror ute 1? 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Ass Ke -3 ~ DRAWING ON CAD ODN: SCALE v, I-- __________ ..._ ____________________________ _. _.DO NOT UPDATE MANUALLY N/A l :2 DO NOT SCALE DRAWING SHEET 1 OF 1 <( ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `phmsa` - SHA-256: `9b2d942023aec84c87756501d0fc6e3cc858d62a2147b241dc7275e3448859f8` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T00:59:31.977Z - Exported: 2026-08-22T13:54:54.273Z - Document slug: `phmsa-interpretation-18-0064` ### Source metadata ```json { "materialSubtype": "interpretation", "interpretationArea": "hazardous_materials", "representation": "full_text_from_official_pdf", "companies": [ "Ten-E Packaging Services" ], "individuals": [ "Robert Ten Eyck" ], "refIds": [ "18-0064" ], "catalogDates": [ "2019-02-25" ], "catalogParts": [ 173 ], "catalogRowCount": 1, "sourceRecordUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/node/71156" ], "linkedAttachmentUrls": [], "unavailableResponseUrls": [], "duplicateRepresentationUrls": [], "citedSections": [ "173.27", "173.27(d)", "173.24(f)(ii)" ], "catalogPageUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/section/17327" ], "pdfUrls": [ "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/docs/standards-rulemaking/hazmat/interpretations/70621/180064.pdf" ], "representations": [ { "viewUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/docs/standards-rulemaking/hazmat/interpretations/70621/180064.pdf", "detailUrl": null, "detailHtmlPath": null, "pdfUrl": "https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/docs/standards-rulemaking/hazmat/interpretations/70621/180064.pdf", "pdfArtifactPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/18-0064-a0645a99ed.pdf", "pdfArtifactSha256": "24b84ca6dce6f0897f02a0d9cf87acfcdd47c699a8320c1962f1ecea6885211b", "extractedTextPath": "data/sources/phmsa-interpretations/18-0064-a0645a99ed.v2.txt", "extractedTextSha256": "ddee14f96eb403d55b3a1c81d236e636bf374a92255c90cac1e2865476001838", "pageCount": 8, "extractionVersion": 2 } ], "caveat": "Interpretations apply regulations to the facts presented and do not create independently enforceable requirements.", "jurisdiction": "US" } ```