Allied Universal Corporation — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation

Page 1U.S. Department of Transportation 400 Seventh Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20590 Pipeline and MAY 5 2005 Administration Hazardous Materials Safety Ms. Robin J. Eddy Bolte Reference No.: 05-0046 Safety and Regulatory Affairs Manager Allied Universal Corporation 3901 N. W. 115 Ave. Miami, FL 33178-1859 Dear Ms. Eddy Bolte: This responds to your fax requesting clarification of the emergency response information requirements under the Hazardous Material Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR parts 171-180). Your fax states that your company provides the emergency response information in material safety data sheets (MSDSs), which are in a binder, along with the following documents: a) Hazardous materials registration, b) List of company emergency contact phone numbers, c) Insurance and vehicle registration, d) Accident Kit, and e) Applicable DOT exemptions. In response to a request by a member of my staff, you submitted a complete Emergency spine or cover to indicate the content of the binder. The above-listed docurents are in the Information binder. The binder is a plain white three-ring binder without markings on the front of the binder followed by fifteen MSDSs. The MSDSs are separated from the other documents by a plain yellow divider sheet. You ask if a MSDS for a hazardous material being transported satisfies the requirements in § 172.602 and whether MSDSs must be indexed. Any document, including an MSDS, that contains all of the information specified in § 172.602(a)(1) through (7) may be used to satisfy the emergency response information requirement. See § 172.602(b). Section 172.602(c)(1) requires the carrier to maintain the emergency response information in the same manner as prescribed for shipping papers. Specifically, § 177.817(e) states that shipping papers must be readily available to, and recognizable by, authorities in the event of an accident or inspection. Also, the driver and the carrier must clearly distinguish the shipping paper, if it is carried with other shipping papers or other papers, by either distinctively tabbing it or by having it appear first. Applying these ruitem rests to the binder you submind, is outropinion that your unmarked birder is no readily recognizable" 1 further, MSDSs in a binder with other documents should be tabbed or appear first in the binder. 172-602(b) 050046#

Page 2We also note that MSDSs for hazardous and non-hazardous materials are intermixed in the binder, and, while you have attempted to arrange the MSDSs in alphabetical order, some MSDSs are filed by DOT proper shipping name and others by product name. Consistency in maintaining the emergency response information would be beneficial to a first responder in the event of an incident or accident. I trust this satisfies your inquiry. Sincerely, stalle z: Mitate Hattie L. Mitchell Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Office of Hazardous Materials Safety#

Page 303/02/2005 10:23 3055009750 ALLIED UNIVERSAL CO PAGE 02 Corbin 3901 NW 115 Avenue A 3172.602 (b) Miami, Florida 33178 305-888-2623 office Emergency Response 305-885-4671 fax ALLIED UNIVERSAL CORPORATION Established 1954 05-0046 March 1, 2005 Director of Hazardous Materials Standards Development Mr. Edward Mazzullo Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration Office of Hazardous Materials Standards Development 400 Seventh Street, S.W. Washington, J.C. 20590-0001 VIA FASCIMILE: 202-366-3012 Re: Georgia Citation Dear Mr. Mazzullo: response to our letter. Please find altached a citation issued by the State of Georgia as well as our response to the citation and their Background Universal Corporation. On the date of September 8, 2004, one of the units transporting Hypochlorite Transportation Services Unlimited Inc. is a private transportation company hauling exclusively for Allied Solütions (Sodium Hypochlorite), class 8, UN1791, PGIl, underwent a roadside inspection conducted by the Georgia Department of Motor Vehicles. During the inspection, two violations were found. The citation is We disagree with one violation listed for 49 CFR 172.602(b). To comply with the requirements of 49 CFR 172 the Emergerty Information Binder or MSDS Binder, Georgia referred to it in the citation as the Permit Binder) Subpart G, we provide all vehicles hauling our hazardous materials with a one-inch binder (we refer to it as that contains: 1) Haza'dous Material Registration Certificate (49 CFR 107 Subpart G): 2) 3) List of Emergency Contact Phone Numbers in the company; 4) Insurance and Vehicle Registration; 5) Applicable Department of Transportation Exemptions; and, Accident Kit (to be completed if involved in an accident); 6) Material Safety Data Sheets for all the hazardous materials being transported, in alphabetical order by technical name. emergency response Information required by 49 CFR 172 Subpart G. They are trained on its contents, and During training to comply with 49 CFR 172 Subpart H, all drivers are trained to know that this binder contains are informed that they are to keep the binder at an arm's reach while wearing their seat belt when they are papers on top of the driver's seat or inside the pouch on the driver's side door. driving the vehicle. When absent from the vehicle, they are trained to place the binder with their shipping emergency response guidebooks are not mandatory (as stated in your 1999 interpretation, Ref. No. 99-0018), In our argument to Georgia, we stated that our binders met the requirements of the regulation. The meeting if not exceeding the regulatory requirement. Furthermore, the vehicle operator would have to look-up and the Material Safety Data Sheets in the binder contained the required elements listed in 172.602(b), Please see enclosed letter from Miriam Guerrero to the State of Georoja. or search through the guldebook as he did the Material Safety Data Sheets to find the correct gulde page.#

Page 403/02/2005 10:23 3055009750 ALLIED UNIVERSAL CO PAGE 03 March 2, 2005 Page 2, Emergency Response Information Allied Universal Corporation alternative to the North American Emergency Response Guidebook as the sheets were not indexed, making The State or Georgia responded to our letter, stating the Material Safety Data Sheets were not a suitable them not accessible to information. Questions 1) Is It legal for us to use Material Safety Data Sheets that satisfy the requirements of 49 CFR 172 2) Is there any requirement for indexing? Could we face a possible enforcement action by simply Subpart G In the manner described above? this be deemed not accessible information as indicated in the Georgia letter? placing the Material Safety Data Sheets in the binder in alphabetical order as we are doing? Would Your promptness in responding to our questions is greatly appreciated given the frequent inspections the regulatory requirements, but we feel we have and are being incorrectly cited. We have spoken to your tractor-trailers undergo while operating in the State of Georgia. We want to properly comply with the hazardous material hotline, and the gentleman on the phone, Kevin, based upon the information given, agreed. However, given the nature of the circumstances, a second review and response in writing would be greatly appreciated. RobinE@Allieduniversal.com. If you should have any questions, please call me at 800-981-6700, extension Thank you. Singerely, Bobin JEddy Bolte. Safety and Regulatory Affairs Manager Robin J. Eddy Bolte Allied Universal Corporation#

Page 503/02/2005 10:23 3055009750 ALLIED UNIVERSAL CO PAGE 84 197€ Georgia Department of Motor Vehicle Safety Law Enforcement Division P.O. Box 80447 James R. Lavis 2206 East View Parkway Conyers, GA 30013-8047 ol. Mark C. McLeoc Phone: 678.413.8825 www.dmvs.ga.gov Commanding Offic Fax: 678.413.8832 February 16, 2005 Ms. Miriam Guerrero Transportat on Services Unlimited 3901 NW 115 Avenue Miami, FL 33178 Dear Ms. Guerrero This is in response to your letter of September 14, 2004 concerning DMVS Inspection Report GA013700C895. I apologize for the delay in responding and any inconvenience it may have caused. to agree with his analysis of the situation. An unindexed binder full of material safety data sheets I have spoken to Officer Massey about this inspection, and after careful consideration, am forced is not equivalent to an Emergency Response Guidebook in accessibility of information. that is, either in a pocket on the drivers' door, or visible to a person entering the cab of the truck Emergency Response Information must be accessible in the same manner as shipping papers, and within the reach of a belted driver. If you choose to use an MSDS binder to meet this shout Be a bed or indexed in some mamter, in adition to being in one of the focations required under 49 CFR §172.602(c) and §177.817(e). I hope this irformation is helpful. If you need more information, please let me know. Sincerely, Capt/Bruce Bugg#