{"operation":"document","citation":"08-0180","title":"Parcels Plus — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2008-10-06","effective_on":null,"summary":"08-0180 response to Parcels Plus concerning 171.8, 172.704.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-08-0180.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-08-0180.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-08-0180","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2008/080180.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials\nSafety Administration\n1200 New Jersey Ave., SE\nWashington, DC 20590\nMr. Bruce Bernstein\nParcels Plus\n2637 E Atlantic Boulevard\nPompano Beach, FL 33062\nRef. No.: 08-0180\nDear Mr. Bernstein:\nThis is in response to your July 10,2008 letter requesting clarification of the Hazardous\nMaterials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) regarding training. Your scenario is\nbased on a Mail and Parcel Center (MPC) that neither accepts nor offers hazardous material\nshipments for transportation in commerce. Your questions are paraphrased and answered\nbelow.\nQ1. Are employees of the MPC described above required to be trained in accordance with\nSubpart H of Part 172?\nA1 . No. The hazardous materials training requirements in Subpart H of Part 172 of the HMR\nestablish training requirements for hazardous materials employees (hazmat employees). A\nhazmat employee is a person who, in the course of his employment, directly affects hazardous\nmaterials transportation safety (see 5 17 1.8).\nQ2. If training is not required for the employees of the MPC, how would DOT view the\nMPC, as a shipper, if the employees receive training in accordance with Subpart H of Part\n172?\nA2. As long as the MPC does not transport or offer hazardous materials for transportation in\ncommerce, the DOT would view the MPC as a shipper of non-regulated materials who is not\nsubject to the provisions of the HMR.\nAlthough the HMR do not require your employees to be trained, you may wish to consider\nproviding your employees with guidance or training to assist them to identify a package that\nmay contain hazardous materials so that they do not inadvertently accept such a package for\ntransportation.\nYou should also be aware that the Federal Aviation Administration has issued regulations\ngoverning air carriers that do not accept or transport hazardous materials, and these\nregulations may apply to some aspects of an MPC's operation. You may wish to contact\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nMr. Christopher Bonanti, Director, Office of Hazardous Materials, ADG-1,\nFederal Aviation Administration, 800 Independence Ave, SW, Room 300 East,\nWashington, DC 20591,202-267-9864, for additional information.\nI hope this information is helpful. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to\ncontact this office.\nHattie L. Mitchell\nChief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention\nOffice of Hazardous Materials Standards\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nPage 1 of 2\nFrom: INFOCNTR <PHMSA>\nSent: Thursday, July 10, 2008 1:53 PM\nTo: Drakeford, Carolyn <PHMSA>\nSubject: FW: Letter of Interpretation\nFrom: Bruce Bernstein [mailto:bbernstl06@aol.com]\nSent: Thursday, July 10, 2008 12:52 PM\nTo: INFOCNTR <PHMSA>\nSubject: Letter of Interpretation\nDear SirsIMadam:\nI am requesting an official interpretation from the DOT on a question of Hazardous Material\nAwareness training.\nFor background, I am the owner of a Mail and Parcel Center (MPC) in Pompano Beach, FL\nand a Director of a non-profit trade association of mail and parcel centers (National Alliance of\nRetail Ship Centers-NARSC) .\nAs a MPC owner, I am specifically prohibited from shipping Hazmat under my authorized\nretailer contracts with UPS, DHL and FedEx. (copies of these agreements are available upon\nrequest. We cannot tender for shipment any Hazmat, including ORM-D. Consequently, we\nare not Hazmat shippers-either by definition or in practice. As a part of our carrier contracts,\nwe are also required to accept packages charged to other account holders which are dropped-\noff at our locations. These \"drop-off\" packages are pre-sealed by the account holder and\n\"ready for shipping\".\nAs a Director of NARSC, our members are asking me to provide an answer to the following\nquestion; If we do not accept these items, do not intend to accept these items, and refuse to\naccept them as drop-off packqges (either charged to our store accounts or charged to other\naccounts), are we required to take the Hazmat Awareness Training?\nAs a follow up to that question, does the completion of the Hazmat Awareness Training class\nchange the way DOT would look at us as a shipper? We would still act as stated above. We\nwould not pack, ship or accept as a drop-off any shipment that would be considered Hazmat.\nI look forward to your response.\nRespectfully,\nBruce Bernstein\nParcels Plus\n2637 E Atlantic Blvd.\nPompano Beach, FL 33062\n(954) 782-9836\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\nPage 2 of 2\n(954) 782-9723 Fax\nBBernstl06@aol.com\nNARSC President\nNARSC South Florida Chapter Treasurer\nA DHL Preferred Provider\nPackFreig ht Member\nThis e-mail contains confidential information and may be confidential. If\nyou are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, you are hereby notified\nthat any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is\nstrictly prohibited. If you received this message in error, please delete\nit immediately.","truncated":false,"body_characters":4869}