Mr. Lawrence W. Bierlein — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation

Page 1U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, D.C. 20590 JAN 0 8 2009 Mr. Lawrence W. Bierlein Attorney at Law Suite 500 1101 3oth Street, NW Washington, DC 20007 Ref. No. 08-0277 Dear Mr. Bierlein: This responds to your letter of October 2 1, 2008, regarding classification of a new water reactive formulation used in a flameless ration heater (FRH) under the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). According to your letter, the FRH is a component of a Unitized Group Ration Express (UGR-E) used by military services to heat foodstuffs when activated by contact with water. You offer verification that your client tested the reformulated heating mixture in accordance with the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria, as required by 5 173.124(c), and test results indicate the reformulated mixture does not produce flammable or toxic gas at a rate greater than one liter per kilogram, per hour, when in contact with water. As you note in your letter, it is the primary responsibility of a person who offers a product into commerce to properly classify that material under the HMR. However, upon review of your letter and the accompanying test report, it is the opinion of this Office that the reformulated mixture does not meet the definition of Division 4.3 material and, therefore, is not subject to the HMR. I trust this adequately responds to your request. Please coiltact us if we can be of further assistance. S incerelv. Hattie L. Mitchell Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Office of Hazardous Materials Standards#

Page 2October 30,2008 Dr. Ted Willke Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration U.S. Department of Transportation Washington, DC 20590 Attn: Office of Standards (PHH-10) Re: Request for clarificiation of regulations; UGR-E classification Dear Dr. Willke: A number of meals ready-to-eat (MRE) are authorized for transport by and for the Department of Defense. Many of these meals include a flameless ration heater consisting of a magnesium-iron alloy mixture containing sodium chloride. In the field, the deliberate application of water to the magnesium mixture provides enough heat to make these field rations edible. For many years, a single field unit has been recognized as not constituting a hazard in quantity and form sufficient to warrant regulation, but larger numbers of these units or larger units have been shipped under Class 4.3. This is because the magnesium generates sufficient flammable gas when tested with distilled water under the UN Manual of Tests and Criteria to meet the definition of Packing Group I or I1 in Class 4, Division 4.3. Several configurations of these products can serve multiple military personnel in the field. These larger packages commonly are called a Unitized Group Ration-Express (UGR-E). My client has been successful in reformulating the heating compound of a UGR-E heater such that, when tested under the UN Manual, less than 1 liter of flammable gas is generated per hour, i.e., the gas generated is below the regulated range for a 4.3 material. A copy of those test results is attached. While we understand that under Sec. 173.22, it is the shipper's obligation to properly classify a material, the Defense Department purchasers of such products would appreciate PHMSA concurrence in our conclusion that the reformulated product does not meet the definition of a 4.3 material. Nothing else in the package meets the definition of any other hazard classification. Although the modified heater no longer would be regulated, under military specifications the UGR-E would continue to be packaged to exceed ASTM transportation performance-oriented packaging tests. We request your confirmation that these UGR-E products may be shipped as unregulated under the Hazardous Materials Regulations. Please let me know if you have any questions on this request for clarification. Thank you. Sincerely, Lawrence W. Bierlein#