{"operation":"document","citation":"04-0032","title":"Currie Associates, Inc — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2004-04-05","effective_on":null,"summary":"04-0032 response to Currie Associates, Inc concerning 172.604.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-04-0032.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-04-0032.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-04-0032","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2004/040032.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\nSpecial Programs\nResearch and\nAPR\n5 2004\n400 Seventh St., S.W.\nWashington, D.C. 20590\nAdministration\nMr. John V. Currie\nCurrie Associates, Inc.\nRef. No. 04-0032\n1118 Bay Road\nLake George, New York 12845-4618\nDear Mr. Currie:\nThis is in response to your February 18, 2004 letter regarding\nthe emergency response telephone number requirements under the\nSpecifically, you ask whether the emergency response telephone\nHazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180).\nnumber may be in the form of \"alpha characters\" representing a\ntelephone number on the telephone dial or keypad of a telephone.\nThe answer is yes.\nAs specified in $ 172,604, a person offering\nresponse telephone number, including the area code or\na hazardous material for transportation must provide an emergency\ninternational access code, for use in the event of an emergency\ninvolving the hazardous material.\nuse of \"alpha characters\" as a method of complying with this\nThe HMR do not prohibit the\nrequirement.\nHowever, based on the concerns you rasied, we may\n• Based on the done m\nconsider publishing a noțice of proposed rulemaking to address\nthis issue in the future.\nquestions, please do not hesitate to contact this office.\nI hope this information is helpful. If you have additional\nSincerely,\nRegulatory Review\nHattie I. Mitchell, Chief\nOffice of Hazardous Materials Standards\nand Reinvention\n§172.604\n040032\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nBetts\n$172.604\nEmergency Response Telephone\nCURRIE ASSOCIATES, INC.\nNumber\nTHE GLOBAL COMPLIANCE PROFESSIONALS .\n04-0032\nDr. Robert McGuire, Ph.D.\nFebruary 18, 2004\nAssociate Administrator\nResearch and Special Programs Administration\n400 7* Street, SW DHM-1\nWashington, DC 20590-0001\nDear Dr. McGuire:\nI am submitting this request for consideration of an official interpretation of the\nrequirements applicable to 49 CFR, Part 172, Subpart G, §172.604 Emergency Response\ntelephone number.\nOn behalf of several of my clients and as a former emergency responder wę have a joint\nconcern regarding immediate access to the information that may be required to be\nprovided by the \"person who is either knowledgeable of the hazardous material being\nshipped and has comprehensive emergency response and incident mitigation information\nfor that material, or has immediate access to a person who possesses such knowledge and\ninformation.\" Several places throughout the section and more particularly at §172.604(b),\nthe regulations specifically require a \"number\" and states \"The telephone number\nrequired by paragraph (a) of this section must be the number of the person offering the\naccepting responsibility for, providing detailed information concerning a hazardous\nhazardous material for transportation or the number of an organization capable of, and\nmaterial.\" (Emphasis added by underlining)\nIt has been brought to our attention thạt some shippers are using the \"alpha characters\"\nrepresenting a telephone number on the telephone dial or keypad of à telephone. It is\npossible that in some instances the letters may form an acronym advertising an agency or\nshipper company division that has accepted the responsibility for providing the\nemergency response information.\nIn the past most wall or desk telephones had rotary dials with large numerals and equally\nlarge letters, usually three letters representing each number, or were equipped with\nkeypads which also had large numerals and equally large letters, similarly configured.\nHowever, please permit me to call to your attention that the introduction of wireless and\ncellular phone service has increasingly focused on miniaturizing the hardware for\nconvenience in mobile use. Modern cellular phones are now so small that they may be\ncarried in a shirt pocket and some even include a computer keypad function that require a\n1118 BAY ROAD * LAKE GEORGE, NEW YORK 12845-4618 * TEL: (518) 761-0668 FAX: (518) 792-7781\nhttp://www.currieassociates.com Email: mail@currieassociates.com\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nPage 2 of 2\nmake reading of the letters on the small buttons of a keypad extremely difficult under\nstylus to push the tiny buttons. These modern telephones, due to the reduction in size,\ngood lighting conditions and virtually impossible in poor light.\nMany emergency responders, including firefighters, police, and emergency medical\ntechnicians are equipped with cellular telephones and rely on these phones for on-scene\ncommunications. Requiring these responders to transpose letters into numbers to reach\nmaterials release, under normal conditions such as night time incidents could result in\nthe emergency response contact and obtain critical information at the scene of hazardous\nloss of valuable time. Under conditions usually associated with an accident scene, such as\nnot feel that these emergency responders should be encumbered in any way in obtaining\nwearing \"turn-out gear\" and other distractions, the difficulty could be exacerbated. We do\nthe necessary information as quickly as possible in the emergency situation.\nIn the interest of transportation safety, we would therefore request an official written\nclarification be issued as expeditiously as possible that in consideration of these factors,\nregulations at §172.604 and accordingly §172.201(d).\nwould include a literal interpretation of the term telephone number within the text of the\nSincerely yours,\nSoftl une\nJohn V. Currie\nCurrie Associates, Inc.","truncated":false,"body_characters":5416}