{"operation":"document","citation":"03-0167","title":"McCarthy, Sweeney & Harkaway, P.C. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2003-09-29","effective_on":null,"summary":"03-0167 response to McCarthy, Sweeney & Harkaway, P.C. concerning 171.1.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-03-0167.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-03-0167.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-03-0167","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2003/030167.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\n400 Seventh St., S.W.\nResearch and\nWashington, D.C. 20590\necial Program\nministratic\nSEP 2 9 2003\nMr. Lawrence W. Bierlein\nRef. No. 03-0167\nMcCarthy, Sweeney & Harkaway, P.C.\nSuite 600\n2175 K Street, N.W.\nWashington, D.C. 20037\nDear Mr. Bierlein:\nThis responds to your June 23, 2003, letter requesting clarification on the applicability of the Hazardous\nMaterials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) to capillary tube thermostats produced by\nTherm-O-Disc, a division, of Emerson Electric. Specifically, you ask for concurrence that these\nthermostats containing a small amount of flammable liquid charging material, sealed within each control,\nand packaged as described, are not regulated under the HMR.\nAccording to your letter, these thermostats are used in baseboard heater applications. Expansion and\ncontraction of the charging fluid in a fine tube, under varying temperatures, exerts pressure on a bellows\ndiaphragm located in the metal cup. This activates the switching of the control.\nThese thermostat controls are manufactured in various temperature control ranges and tube lengths. The\nlower temperature-rated controls utilize methanol and water as a charging mixture that is drawn into the\nsmall copper tubing during manufacture. Fluid volumes are very small, with the least material holding\napproximately 1 milliliter of charging liquid, and up to 4.4 milliliters in the largest version. The entire unit\nis hermetically sealed under vacuum.\nThe units are packed in a fiberboard carton with 200-400 units per carton, each separated from the\nothers in an egg-crate style inner packaging configuration, with a solid fiberboard divider separating the\nlayers within the cartón. Each control is physically separated from the other controls on all six sides.\nThe units are sealed and do not leak. If one were broken, capillary action would tend to hold the small\namount of charging fluid inside the control.\nUnder § 173.22, it is the shipper's responsibility to properly class and describe a hazardous material.\nhis Ottice does not generally pertorm that function. According to your letter, your capillary tub\nhermostats contain methanol (Class 3, Flammable liquid) and water used as a charging mixture\nSection 173.150(e) permits aqueous solutions of alcohol containing 24 percent or less alcohol by\nvolume and no other hazardous material to be reclassed as a combustible liquid. Further, under\n§ 173.150(e), an aqueous solution containing 24 percent or less alcohol by volume and no other\n171.1\n030167\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nhazardous material is excepted from the HMR if it contains no less than 50 percent water. You did not\nprovide more specific information on the methanol and water mixture to enable this Office to provide\nyou with a more specific opinion on the hazard class of these thermostats. However, based on the\ninformation you provided, if the capillary tube thermostats containing small amounts of the methanol and\nwater charging mixture do not meet the hazard class defining criteria in Part 173, and are not a\nhazardous waste, hazardous substance, or marine pollutant, they are not subject to the HIMR.\nI hope this answers your inquiry.\nSincerely,\nSusan Gorsky\nSenior Transportation Specialist\nOffice of Hazardous Materials. Standards\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nDOUGLAS M. CANTER\nLAWRENCE W. BIERLEIN\nLAW OFFICES\nMCCARTHY, SWEENEY & HARKAWAY, P.C.\nJOHN M. CUTLER, Jr.\nSUITE 600\n(202) 775-5574\nFACSIMILE\n2175 K STREET, N.W.\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20037\nMSH@MSHPC.COM\nE-MAIL.\nCHANNING D. STROTHER, Jr.\n(202) 775-5560\nWEBSITE\nKAREN R. O'BRIEN\nOF CoUNSEL.\nHTTP://wWW.MSHPC.COM\nJune 23, 2003\nBoothe\n3171.1\nMr. Edward Mazzullo, Director\nOffice of Hazardous Materials Standards\nApplicability\nResearch & Special Programs Administration\nDepartment of Transportation\n03-0167\nWashington, DC 20590\nDear Mr. Mazzullo:\nyour review of their capillary tube thermostats to determine whether this product contains\nOn behalf of Therm-O-Disc, a division of Emerson Electric, I would appreciate\nmaterial in a quantity and form that is subject to the hazardous materials regulations. I\nhave a sample of this type of control in my office if you would like to examine it.\nThese controls are used in baseboard heater applications. Expansion and\ncontraction of the charging fluid in a fine tube, under varying temperatures, exerts\npressure on a bellows diaphragm located in the metal cup. This activates the switching of\nthe control. See the attached drawing for a representative configuration.\nand tube lengths. The lower temperature-rated controls utilize methanol and water as a\nThese capillary controls are manufactured in various temperature control ranges\ncharging mixture that is drawn into the small copper tubing during manufacture. Fluid\nvolumes are very small, with the least material holding approximately 1 milliliter of\ncharging liquid, up to 4.4 milliliters in the largest version. The entire unit is hermetically\nsealed under vacuum.\nThe units are packed in a fiberboard carton with 200-400 units per carton, each\nseparated from the others in an egg-crate style inner packaging configuration, with a solid\nfiberboard divider separating the layers within the carton. In other words, each control is\nphysically separated from each other control on all six sides.\nThe units are sealed and do not leak. If one were broken, which is difficult to do,\ncapillary action tends to hold the small amount of charging fluid inside the control.\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\nexample of one in my office if you would care to view it.\nAttached is a representative drawing of one of these devices. I also have an\nwithin each control and packaged as described is in a quantity and form that does not\nI would appreciate your concurrence that the small amount of this material, sealed\npose a hazard in transportation and, therefore, these articles are not subiect to the\nhazardous materials regulations.\nPlease contact me if you have any questions on this request.\nSincerely;\n\n<<<PAGE 5>>>\n\n99.19\nPARAMUS, NEW JERSEY\nWM INDUSTRIES, INC.\n- 1.50\n0.170 -\nBLACK 54038\n1.688\n2.00\n1.563\nBLACK 54038\n0.50+0.10\n6.5₺0.50\n$1.24\n0.66\n0.37\nT\n/1.21-\n10H11 221437 L230F # DATE\n140+25\nBELLOWS ASSEMBLY\nPART NO. 113830\n- $0.075\nBE INCLUDED WITH EACH SHIPMENT\nCERTIFICATE OF CONFORMANCE TO\nNO. 1441/30 WIRE WITH 1/32 TK.\n105° C PVC ODORLESS INSULATION\nTHERMODISC®\nTYPE 10H11 221437\nMANSFIELD, OHIO\nOPEN TEMP. 230 ‡ 15°F\nTSH\nREVISIONS\n1-29-01\nAPPROVALS\n1-31-01\nSCALE\nDON 1/31/01\nFULL\n221437","truncated":false,"body_characters":6474}