{"operation":"document","citation":"PHMSA Guidance, Notice of Enforcement Policy Regarding the Testing and Inspections of Cargo Tank Motor Vehicles","title":"Notice of Enforcement Policy Regarding the Testing and Inspections of Cargo Tank Motor Vehicles","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2023-08-11","effective_on":"2023-08-11","summary":"Notice of Enforcement Policy Regarding the Testing and Inspections of Cargo Tank Motor Vehicles Document Notice of Enforcement Policy Regarding the Testing of CTMVs.pdf (199.27 KB) Issued Date: Friday, August 11, 2023","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-guidance-notice-enforcement-policy-regarding-testing-and-inspections-c25e616e.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-guidance-notice-enforcement-policy-regarding-testing-and-inspections-c25e616e.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-guidance-notice-enforcement-policy-regarding-testing-and-inspections-c25e616e","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/regulatory-compliance/phmsa-guidance/notice-enforcement-policy-regarding-testing-and-inspections","body":"Notice of Enforcement Policy Regarding the Testing and Inspections of Cargo Tank Motor Vehicles\n\nDocument\n\n Notice of Enforcement Policy Regarding the Testing of CTMVs.pdf (199.27 KB)\n\n          Issued Date: Friday, August 11, 2023\n\n<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nWashington, DC 20590\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nAdministration\nNOTICE OF ENFORCEMENT POLICY REGARDING THE TESTING\nAND INSPECTIONS OF CARGO TANK MOTOR VEHICLES\nThe U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety\nAdministration (PHMSA) and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) are\nproviding notice that they will not take enforcement action against any person who transports\nU.S. DOT specification cargo tank motor vehicles (CTMVs) that are identified in this notice,\nand that have been tested and inspected by a person who was not qualified as a “Registered\nInspector.\n” This notice of enforcement policy is effective through November 10, 2023.\nBeginning in June 2023, during an investigation at Meeder Equipment Company Inc./Ransome\nManufacturing in Fresno, California, FMCSA personnel discovered that 186 DOT specification\nCTMVs—primarily MC-330 and MC-331 CTMVs used to transport propane—had been tested\nand inspected by a person who did not meet the qualifications of a “Registered Inspector.\n”\nMC-330 and MC-331 CTMVs transporting propane must successfully undergo internal and\nexternal visual inspections, and leakage and pressure tests at intervals specified in § 180.407(c)\nof the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). The inspections and\ntests conducted on the 186 CTMVs included internal visual inspections and pressure tests dating\nback to July 2018, and external visual inspections and leakage tests dating back to July 2022.\nThe affected CTMVs must be retested and reinspected by a qualified “Registered Inspector” to\nensure they are compliant for hazardous materials transportation. Any person in possession of\na CTMV described in this notice should contact Meeder Equipment Company Inc./Ransome\nManufacturing to determine whether its CTMV is in compliance with the HMR. The contact\ninformation is as follows:\nMeeder Equipment Company Inc./Ransome Manufacturing\n3495 S. Maple Avenue\nFresno, CA 93725\nengineering@ransomemfg.com\nPhone: 559-485-0979\nThe HMR requires a cargo tank constructed in accordance with a DOT specification for which\na test or inspection specified in the HMR has become due, may not be filled and offered for\ntransportation or transported until the test or inspection has been successfully completed. Each\nspecification cargo tank must be tested and inspected as specified in § 180.407(c) by an inspector\nmeeting the qualifications prescribed in § 180.409 (Minimum qualifications for inspectors and\ntesters). Section 180.409 requires that any person performing or witnessing the inspections and\ntests must have the training and experience required to meet the definition of a “Registered\n1\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nInspector,\n” as provided in § 171.8 of the HMR. As defined in § 171.8, a “Registered Inspector”\nis a person registered with DOT in accordance with subpart F of part 107 who has the knowledge\nand ability to determine whether a cargo tank conforms to the applicable DOT specification. A\n“Registered Inspector” meets the knowledge and ability requirements in one of the following\nways:\n(1) Has an engineering degree and one year of work experience relating to the testing\nand inspection of cargo tanks;\n(2) Has an associate degree in engineering and two years of work experience relating\nto the testing and inspection of cargo tanks;\n(3) Has a high school diploma (or General Equivalency Diploma) and three years\nof work experience relating to the testing and inspection of cargo tanks; or\n(4) Has at least three years’ experience performing the duties of a “Registered Inspector”\nprior to September 1, 1991.\nBecause the CTMVs described in this notice were inspected and tested by a person who did\nnot meet the requirements of a “Registered Inspector,” the CTMVs will require retesting and\nreinspection to ensure they are compliant and suitable for the safe transportation of hazardous\nmaterials. However, as no imminent safety vulnerabilities have been identified to date, PHMSA\nand FMCSA will not take enforcement action against any person who transports U.S. DOT\nspecification CTMVs identified in this notice and have been tested and inspected by\na person who was not qualified as a “Registered Inspector.” This relief applies only to\ntransportation by motor vehicle, and does not extend to transport by air, vessel, or railroad.\nThis document is a temporary notice of enforcement policy. Regulated entities may rely on\nthis notice as a temporary safeguard from Departmental enforcement as described herein. To\nthe extent this notice includes guidance on how regulated entities may comply with existing\nregulations, it does not have the force and effect of law and is not meant to bind the regulated\nentities in any way. This notice of enforcement policy is effective through November 10, 2023.\nIssued August 11, 2023, in Washington D.C.\nWilliam S. Schoonover\nAssociate Administrator, Office of Hazardous Materials Safety\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.\n2","truncated":false,"body_characters":5311}