Household Hazardous Waste Management Program — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation

Page 1U.S. Department of Transportation Washington. D.C Special Programs Research and Administration OCT 1 8 2000 Mr. Robert Fiederlein Reference No. 00-0041 City of Houston Household Hazardous Waste Management Program 11500 South Post Oak Houston, TX 77035 Dear Mr. Fiederlein: This is in response to your letter and telephone conversations with me and a member of my staff concerning the applicability of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) to household hazardous waste management programs established by municipalities. These programs are established to collect household hazardous wastes, such as solvents, pesticides, etc., that are dropped off by citizens at a designated city-owned site. Your scenarios and questions are paraphrased and answered as follows: Question 1: Through a contractual agreement with the municipality, a contractor assumes generator status and all responsibilities for the hazardous materials. As such, the contractor oversees collecting, packaging, and transporting the hazardous wastes to a disposal facility using its own vehicles and personnel. Under § 171.2(a), would the city be considered an offeror of the hazardous materials? Answer: No. The contractor has consented by contractual agreement to perform all offeror and carrier functions and, therefore, assumes all responsibilities for ensuring that the hazardous waste shipments meet the requirements in the HMR. Answer: No. A state or local government entity that transports hazardous materials in vehicles operated by government personnel for non-commercial purposes is not a "person" for purposes of § 171.2 and, therefore, is not subject to the HMR. However, based on the definition of a "person" in § 171.8, if the purpose is commercial or if the government entity offers the hazardous material for transportation to a commercial carrier, then the HMR apply. 000041#

Page 2I hope this satisfies your request. Sincerely, Ho the 2. mithell Hattie L. Mitchell, Chief Regulatory Review and Reinvention Office of Hazardous Materials Standards 2#

Page 3- Robert ATIN: City of Houston ILENE HHW Mgt. Program 8/5/00 Fax To: USDOT/RSPA/Ofc Haz Mati Safety From: Robert Fiederlein Fax: 202.366.7012 Pages: 1 Phone: Dato: 02/04/00 Re: Regulatory Interpretation CC: D Urgent • For Review • Please Comment Please Raply • Please Recyclo • Comments: Dear Sirs: Please assist us with an interpretation of the HMR with regards to two points: 1. 49CFR171.2(a) states that "No person may offer or accept a hazardous material for Presently, many household hazardous waste management programs collect materials (waste solvents, pesticides, etc.) from citizens that are USDOT hazardous materials and package and ship these materials for proper disposal. Most cities do this on city property but who, through a contract with the city, has agreed to assume generator statu tilizing a hazardous waste contractor who oversees the collection and transport of these material: and all responsibility for the hazardous materials. Question: Would the city be considered a person offering a hazardous material for transportation? , 49CFR171.2(b) states that "(No person may transport a hazardous material in commerce...' If a municipality were to collect household hazardous wastes (waste solvents We appreciate your expeditious attention to this request. Any further information regarding this request may be obtained by calling me at 713.551.7353, between 8am and 5pm CST. Robert Fiederlen/City of Houston HHW Mgt. Program/713.551.7353/fax713.726.7154#