{"operation":"document","citation":"05-0240","title":"Triumvirate Environmental — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2005-11-30","effective_on":null,"summary":"05-0240 response to Triumvirate Environmental concerning 173.433, 173.436.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-05-0240.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-05-0240.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-05-0240","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2005/050240.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\nWashington, D.C. 20590\n400 Seventh Street, S.W.\nPipeline and\nNOV 30 2005\nAdministration\nHazardous Materials Safety\nMr. Rick Foote\nRef. No. 05-0240\nSr. Environmental Compliance Advisor\nTriumvirate Environmental\n61 Inner Belt Road\nSomerville, MA 02143\nDear Mr. Foote:\nThis responds to your September 19, 2005 letter requesting clarification on the\nclassification of rubidium (Rb-87) as a radioactive material under the Hazardous\nMaterials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). Specifically, you ask for\nconfirmation that your material, rubidium (Rb-87), is not a hazardous material based on\nthe definition and on activity limits in §§ 173.433 and 173.436.\nAccording to your letter, your material (Rb-87) is contained within an article, specifically\nwithin a small envelope that is part of a measuring device used in GPS system. The\nactivity of the Rb-87 is less than 1.7 × 10 (negative) 4\"* micro curies (approximately 6.29\nbecquerels).\nYour understanding is correct. The item will not be a Class 7 hazardous material if the\ntotal activity of Rb-87 in a consignment is less than 10 million bequerels. In almost all\ncases, this item will not be a Class 7 hazardous material. It could become a Class 7\nhazardous material only if a single consignment were to contain over 1,590,000 of these\nitems, and the activity concentration exceeds 10,000 becquerels per gram.\nI hope this answers your inquiry.\n173.433\n173.436\n050240\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\n50o4\n3173.433\n3173.436\nRAM Exceptions\n05-024C\nMarch 1, 2005\nMr. Edward T. Mazzullo\nDirector, Office of Hazardous Materials Standards\nU.S. DOT/PHMSA (DHM-10)\n400 7th Street S.W.\nWashington, D.C. 20590-0001\nRE: Hazardous Materials Regulation Clarification\nDear Sir:\nMy client ships a small amount of Rb-87 contained within an article. The rubidium is\ncontained within a small \"envelope\" that is part of a measuring device used in GPS\nsystems. The activity level from the RB-87 has an activity level of less then 1.7 x\n10(negative) 4th micro curies. In order for a material to be considered radioactive first it\nmust meet the definition of a radioactive material. The regulations define a radioactive as\nthe following: \"Radioactive material means any material containing radionuclides where\nboth the activity concentration and the total activity in the consignment exceed the values\nspecified in the table in § 173.436 or values derived according to the instructions in §\n173.433\"\nWe feel that this amount and activity level for the Rb-87 is exempt from the regulations\nbecause the material has an activity rating of equal to or less then 1.0 X 10 -4 as per the\ntable found in 49 CFR 173.436. Therefore, we feel that this material is not considered a\nhazardous material per DOT Hazardous Materials regulations. We are looking for a\nwritten confirmation of this information. Thank you\nRick Foote\nSr. Environmental Compliance Advisor","truncated":false,"body_characters":2911}