FPL Group — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation

Page 1of Transportation U.S. Department Washington, D.C. 20590 400 Seventh Street, S.W. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration NOV - 3 2005 Mr. Frank Nesbihal Ref. No. 05-0188 Senior Environmental Specialist FPL Group 700 Universe Blvd. Juno Beach, FL 33408 Dear Mr. Nesbihal: This is in response to your August 8, 2005, letter requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials relationship of the terms "offeror" and "shipper" in the HMR and when they are applicable to use. Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). Specifically, you ask if DOT will clarify the Under final rulemaking HM-223A (70 FR 43638; July 28, 2005), PHMSA amended the HMR to add a definition for "person who offers or offeror" in order to codify long-standing interpretations and administrative determinations on the applicability of those regulations. Within this final rule, PHMSA defined in § 171.8 "person who offers or offeror" to mean any person who performs or is responsible for performing any pre-transportation function required by the HMR or who tenders or makes the hazardous material available to a carrier for transportation in commerce. When the word "shipper" is used, such as in the title of Part 173 - "Shippers-General Requirements for Shipments and Packagings" - that word refers to a person who prepares a shipment for transportation. As already discussed, that person may also be a carrier, when it prepares the shipment for its own transportation (as a private carrier) or for transportation by a succeeding carrier. The word "shipper" is not used in the HMR in a commercial or contractual sense that denotes the economic arrangements of a shipment. I hope this satisfies your request. Sincerely, John A. Gale Chief, Standards Development Office of Hazardous Materials Standards 171.8 050188#

Page 2Message BAH Page 1 of 1 $171.8 INFOCNTR <PHMSA> Definition From: Frank__Nesbihal@fpl.com 85-0188 Sent: Monday, August 08, 2005 2:29 PM To: INFOCNTR <PHMSA> Cc: Roger_Messer@fpl.com Subject: "Shipper" vs "Persons Who Offer or Offeror" Dear Sir/Madam: FPL Group has reviewed the July 28, 2005 final rule regarding the Applicability of the Hazardous Materials Regulations to clarify the meaning of the Our comment was addressed on page 43641 in the final rule, but the DOT did not believe it is necessary to modify the HMR term "shipper". We understand DOT's answer in regards to the rulemaking. However, to avoid confusion within our company, we are kindly asking if the DOT can clarify the relationship of these two terms, and when they are applicable to use. If you have any questions, please call me at 561-691-7013. Frank Nesbihal, CHMM Respectfully, FPL Group Senior Environmental Specialist 700 Universe Blvd. JES/JB Juno Beach, FL 33408 8/9/2005#