{"operation":"document","citation":"05-0297","title":"U.S Battery Manufacturing Company — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2006-01-05","effective_on":null,"summary":"05-0297 response to U.S Battery Manufacturing Company concerning 172.200, 173.159.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-05-0297.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-05-0297.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-05-0297","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2005/050297.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nMr. Terry Campbell\nRef. No. 05-0297\nDirector of Transportation\nU.S Battery Manufacturing Company\n1675 Sampson Avenue\nCorona, CA 92879-1889\nDear Mr. Campbell:\nThis responds to your letter of November 14, 2005, and subsequent telephone conversation with\na member of my staff requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49\nCFR Parts 171-180) applicable to electric storage batteries and storage incidental to\ntransportation. According to your letter, your company transports batteries containing corrosive\nbattery fluid from one shipping point without addition products loaded on your trucks. You state\nthese shipments are excepted from subchapter C of the HMR as provided by § 173.159(e). Your\nquestions are paraphrased and answered as follows:\nQ1: If all requirements in §173.159(e) of the HMR are met, are placarding or driver\nhazardous materials endorsements required?\nA1: No. Under § 173.159(e), electric storage batteries must: (1) be the only hazardous\nmaterial on the vehicle; and (2) be loaded or braced so as to prevent damage and short\ncircuits. In addition, any other material loaded in the vehicle must be blocked and braced\nto prevent contact with or damage to the batteries and the vehicle may not carry material\nshipped by any person other than the shipper of the batteries. Electric storage batteries\nmeeting the criteria specified in § 173.159(e) are not subject to the HMR. The HMR\ninclude, but are not limited to, shipping paper, marking, labeling, and placarding\nrequirements. If the shipper chooses to provide a hazardous materials shipping paper, the\nshipper must do so in accordance with all the requirements in Part 172, Subpart C;\nhowever, the vehicle need not be placarded. In addition, you may require the drivers of\nlense wive has rous raini endorse shi as an ate of company pial divers\nQ2: Are shipping papers required for shipments positioned in a staging area waiting for\ntransportation?\nA2: No. In accordance with § 171.8 of the HMR, storage incidental to movement means any\nat a carrier's terminal, consolidation or storage facility, or on a dock area waiting for\n172.200 (a)\n173.159 (e)\n050297\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nOffice of Hazardous Materials Standards\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\n14-November-2005\nMr. Edward T. Mazzullo\nDirector, Office of Hazardous Materials Standards\nU.S. DOT/PHMSA (PHH-10)\n400 7th Street S.W.\nWashington, D.C. 20590-0001\nDear Mr. Mazzullo,\nRecently, during a FMCSA compliance review, two issues came up that we would respectfully request\nclarification on.\nThe first comes about from the exception afforded battery transporters in CFR 49 sec. 173.159 (e). It is our\nunderstanding that if all of the criteria are met, neither placarding or drivers hazardous materials\nendorsements are required. The Special Agent in charge of our review stated that this was not true. It was\nhis position that because a driver is responsible for the safe loading of the materials on his vehicle, it would\nbe necessary for him to hold a hazardous materials endorsement to ensure the safe loading of the hazardous\nmaterials. Obviously this is not our understanding. As a company policy, we require a hazardous materials\nendorsement for our drivers, but we do not believe it would be mandatory per the regulations. Are our\nassumptions incorrect?\nSecondly, as we understand the regulation in CFR 49 sec. 172.200 (a), shipping papers are not required\nuntil the shipment is \"offered\". There is some confusion on just what the definition of \"offered\" is. Or\nunderstanding is that the shipment is not \"offered\" until the shipment is completed and just before the\ntransport vehicle arrives. The inspecting Agent stated that \"offered\" can be defined as any time a shipment\nis \"staged\" for shipping, regardless of the level of completion or date of that shipment. He went on to say\ngenerated. In our estimation, this would not be reasonable or prudent, due to the fact the particular logistics\nhat once a shipment is placed in a shipping or staging area, shinning papers would now need to be\nand disposition of various shipments can change. Are we once again incorrect?\nWe appreciate any assistance your office can provide us in interpreting the regulations.\nYours truly\nTerry Campbel\nDirector of Transportation\n1675 Sampson Avenue • Corona, CA 92879\n1895 Tobacco Road • Augusta, GA 30906\n(951) 371-8090 • (800) 695-0945\n(706) 790-0218 • (800) 522-0945\n653 Industrial Park Drive • Evans, GA 30809\n(706) 868-0533 • (888) 811-0945\nFax (951) 371-4671\nFax (706) 772-7756\nFax 706) 860-9342\ninternet - http://www.usbattery.com","truncated":false,"body_characters":4567}