# Barlen and Associates, Inc. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation

- **operation:** document
- **citation:** 00-0197
- **title:** Barlen and Associates, Inc. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation
- **source type:** guidance
- **agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
- **status:** guidance
- **official:** true
- **published on:** 2000-08-22
- **effective on:** Not available
- **summary:** 00-0197 response to Barlen and Associates, Inc. concerning 171.1.
- **machine formats:** - **json:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-00-0197.json
- **markdown:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-00-0197.md
- **app url:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-00-0197
- **source url:** https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2000/000197.pdf
**body:**

<<<PAGE 1>>>

f Transportatio
.S. Departmer
Washington, D.C. 20590
400 Seventh St., S.W.
esearch an
Administration
pecial Program
AUG 22 2000
Mr. William Barlen
Ref. No: 00-0197
Barlen and Associates, Inc.
90 Dorset Lane
Madison, Connecticut 06443-8107
Dear Mr. Barlen:
This is in response to your letter of July 17, 2000, requesting information on the applicability of the
Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) to DOT specification cylinders for
personal use.
As specified in § 171.1, the HMR govern the safe transportation of hazardous materials in intrastate,
interstate, and foreign commerce. Therefore, a DOT specification cylinder used to supply liquefied
petroleum gas for cooking and heating at a consumer location, which is filled at that location and never
transported in commerce, is not subject to the HMR. There is no need to remove the specification
marking from the cylinder.
For your information, although not required by the HMR, we recommend testing of any cylinder
beyond its retest date prior to refilling the cylinder.
I hope this information is helpful.
Sincerely,
-The
an I. Allan
for
Edward T. Mazzullo
Director, Office of Hazardous
Materials Standards
000197
174

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....
8924
BARLEN and ASSOCIATES, Inc.
William Barlen
Consulting to the Compressed Gas Industry
Madison Connecticut 06443-8107
90 Dorset Lane
• Telephone (203) 421-3864
• e-mail - Barlen@gas-consulting.com
• Telecopier (203) 421-3863
RSPA
Office of Hazardous Materials Standards (DHM-10)
Lavalle
U.S. Department of Transportation
400 Seventh Street SW
S171.1
Washington, DC 20590-0001
00-0197 17 July 2000
RE:
"Request for Interpretation of a DOT regulation"
cylinder in commerce, does the cylinder have to be retested and maintained as prescribed
Question. If a DOT cylinder is going to be filled for a use that will not involve shipping the
in 49 CFR?
Specifically the DOT has written an interpretation - I have not seen the letter - but several people
that propane cylinders used in barbecue grill service (25 pounds capacity and smaller) did not fall
on an industry safety committee I am serving on have seen it. That interpretation apparently says
under DOT regulations since they "were not in commercial commerce."
Based on that interpretation, committee members on NFPA 58 (Standard for the Storage and
requalify DOT cylinders - generally 100 pound capacity - used for cooking and heating at
handling of Liquefied Petroleum Gases) have recently removed the requirement to inspect and
consumer locations. Those cylinders are filled at the user location and are not transported.
Personally, as a retired Technical Director of the Compressed Gas Association, and someone with
40 plus years in the compressed gas industry, my interpretation of 49 CFR has always been that if
a cylinder was made to a DOT specification and was marked "DOT" it had to meet all requirements
be maintained and retested to DOT requirements.
of the specification or exemption and
If the key to a cylinder being DOT compliant was only "if used in commercial transportation",
• Could fiber wrapped cylinders made to an exemption that requires their removal from
•service at the end of 15 years, stay in service if the user promised not to ship them?
• Could a filler cited during a DOT inspection for filling a cylinder out of test, avoid a fine by
• Could a user mark any container "DOT" if they promised not to ship it?
swearing that the cylinder was only going into storage for use on site ?
I feel since a person moving/transporting it in the future would have to rely that it had been filled to
with CFR 49.
conform to DOT regulations, that unless the DOT markings were removed, it had to always comply
I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Welian Bak,
William Barlen
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