{"operation":"document","citation":"08-0112","title":"Southwest Electronic Energy Corp. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2008-08-14","effective_on":null,"summary":"08-0112 response to Southwest Electronic Energy Corp. concerning 173.185.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-08-0112.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-08-0112.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-08-0112","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2008/080112.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nAdministration\n1200 New Jersey Ave.. S E\nWashington. DC 20590\nMr. Randy Tanner\nTraffic Manager\nSouthwest Electronic Energy Corp.\n1270 1 Royal Drive\nP.O. Box 848\nStafford, Texas 77497-0848\nRef. No. 08-0 1 12\nDear Mr. Tanner:\nThis responds to your April 21,2008 letter requesting clarification of requirements\napplicable to shipping lithium battery packs by aircraft under the Hazardous Materials\nRegulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 1 71 - 180.) Specifically, you ask if you may ship these\nbattery packs in UN specification packaging in accordance with the HMR and. International\nAir Transport Association (IATA) requirements. The IATA requirements are industry\nguidelines and are not recognized by the HMR. Therefore, our response is fiamed in terms\nof the requirements of the HMR and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)\nTechnical Instructions (TI).\nIn your letter, you state that your overseas customers need to send lithium battery packs (UN\n309.0, Lithium batteries, 9, PG 11) back to your facility in the United States for recycling or\nadditional evaluation. Your customers request shipment by air. You believe that you may\nship these lithium batteries if they are packaged in UN specification packaging for Class 9\nmaterials. You ask if there any other regulatory issues that need to be addressed.\nIn accordance with the provisions of the HMR, you may ship these lithium battery packs as\nClass 9 material, provided they meet the requirements of 5 173.1 85(a) including UN\nspecification packagings, and the applicable Special Provisions in 5 172.102 in the HMR.\nHowever, you should also be aware that the ICAO published an addendum/corrigendum\napplicable to the 2007-2008 ICAO Technical Instructions effective August 1,2007. The\naddendum added a new Special Provision 154 to the entry for Lithium Batteries, UN 3090;\nLithium Batteries in equipment, UN3091; and Lithium Batteries packed with equipment,\nUN3091. Special Provision 154 states, Lithium batteries, identified by the manufacturer as\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nbeing defective for safety reasons, or that have been damaged, that have the potential of\nproducing a dangerous evolution of heat, fire or short circuit are forbidden for transport (e.g.\nthose being returned to the manufacturer for safety reasons). It would be incumbent upon the\nofferor of the material to ensure compliance with this special provision.\nI hope this answers your inquiry.\nSincerely,\nSusan Gorsky\ndq\nActing chief, Standards Development\nOffice of Hazardous Materials Standards\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\n- - . -\nSOUTHWEST ELECTRONIC ENERGY GROUP\nApril 2 1,2008\nDear Mr. Mazullo,\nOur overseas customers need to send lithium battery packs (UN3090, Lithium Batteries, 9, PG 11)\nback to our facility for two reasons:\n(a) for purposes of recycling\n(b) for evaluation when the customer thinks the battery pack is nonconforming (NCM)\nOur customers request all transportation be carried out via air, not ocean. Using 49CFR and\nIATA regulations we believe we can correctly ship these lithium batteries ifthey are packaged in\n\" U N specified packaging following class 9 regulations (49CFR 62 IATA).\nIf our customers inform us that there are no safety issues with the batteries, are there any other\nregulatory issues to be addressed? On the packs coming back for evaluation, neither we nor our\ncustomer will know what, if anything is wrong with the battery packs until they are evaluated at\nour facility. Are there any regulatory constraints that would prevent us fiom shipping these packs\nfor evaluation back to SWE via air?\nThank you for your assistance in clarifjring these'questions. clarifications, please do not hesitate to contact me at 281-240-4000.\nIf you have any questions or need\nRandy ~ a n n e r\nTraffic Manager\nSouthwest Electronic Energy Corp\n1 2 7 0 1 R O Y A L D R I V E P.O. BOX 848 WWW.SWE.COM\nS T A F F O R D , T E X A S 77497-0848","truncated":false,"body_characters":3954}