{"operation":"document","citation":"09-0224","title":"URS — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2009-10-14","effective_on":null,"summary":"09-0224 response to URS concerning 172.334, 172.502.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-09-0224.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-09-0224.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-09-0224","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2009/090224.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department of Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials\nSafety Administration\n1200 New Jersey Ave,S.E.\nWashington, D.C. 20590\nOCT 1 4 20U9\nMs. Erin N. Jarman\nEnvironmental Scientist\n1600 Perimeter Park Drive\nSuite 400\nMorrisville, NC 27560\nRef. No. 09-0224\nDear Ms. Jarman:\nThis responds to your October 1,2009 letter requesting clarification concerning cargo tank\nmarking and placarding requirements under the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR, 49\nCFR Parts 171 -1 80). Your questions are paraphrased and answered as follows:\nQ1. When a cargo tank is cleaned and purged of residue and vapor, may the placard\nrepresenting the hazardous material previously contained in the cargo tank remain on the\nvehicle?\nAl. No. Section 172.502(a) prohibits the display of placards on any packaging, freight\ncontainer, unit load device, motor vehicle, or rail car unless the material being offered for\ntransportation or transported is a hazardous material and the placard represents a hazard of\nthe hazardous material being offered or transported.\n42. When a cargo tank is cleaned and purged of residue and vapor, is it permissible to\ndisplay four zeros in place of the UN number of the hazardous material previously contained\nin the vehicle? Or is it correct and preferred to flip the UN number marking section of the\nplacard to display all blanks (i.e., no numerals)?\nA2. Section 172.334(b)(3) prohibits the display of a UN identification number unless the\nvehicle contains the hazardous material associated with that UN identification number. It is\nthe opinion of this Office that using four zeros in lieu of blank spaces in the UN number\nmarking section of a placard could cause confusion for emergency responders in the event of\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nan incident and, in keeping with the intent of the regulations, is prohibited. Therefore, it\nwould be correct to flip the UN number marking section of the placard to display all blanks\n(i.e., no numerals).\nI hope this answers your inquiry. If you need further assistance, do not hesitate to contact\nthis Office.\nhief, Standards Development\nf Hazardous Materials Standards\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nOctober I, 2009\nMr. Edward T. Mazzullo\nDirector, Office of Hazardous Materials Standards\nU.S. DOTPHMSA (PHH-1 0)\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE East Building, 2nd Floor\nWashington, DC 20590\nDear Mr. Mazzullo:\nI am writing to you with regards to a clarification of the permissive/prohibitive marking and\nplacarding regulations for cargo tanks pursuant to 49 CFR §172.334(b)(3) and 49 CFR §172.502(a).\nSpecifically, a cargo tank which previously contained a hazardous material has been cleaned and\npurged of residue and vapor and is therefore considered \"empty\" per 49 CFR 8173.29. The language\nin 49 CFR §172.502(a)(l)(ii) states the following:\n\"Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, no person may affix or display on a packaging,\nfreight container, unit load device, motor vehicle or rail car any placard described in this subpart\nunless the placard represents a hazard of the hazardous material being offered or transported.\"\nMy questions are as follows:\n1) When a cargo tank has been cleaned and purged of residue and vapor, is it permissible to leave the\nplacard which represented the hazard prior to cleaning and purging on the vehicle? Or must the\nplacard representing the hazard present prior to cleaning be removed, obscured, or otherwise be\nmade not visible during transportation?\n2) Under 49 CFR § 172.334(b)(3), a transport vehicle is prohibited from displaying an identification\nnumber unless the vehicle contains the hazardous material associated with that identification\nnumber. Since \"0000\" is not a valid UN identification number found in the hazardous materials\ntable at 49 CFR 8 172.101, would it be permissible to display four zeros in place of the UN number?\nOr would the correct and preferred method be to flip the UN number marking section of the placard\nto display all blanks (i.e., no numerals)?\nPer a telephone conversation on August 27,2009 with Ms. Susan Gorsky of your office, it was her\nopinion that the display of \"0000\" in lieu of blank spaces in the UN number marking section of a\nplacard could cause confusion for emergency responders in the event of an incident and in keeping\nwith the intent of the regulations, would be a prohibited practice.\nThank you in advance for your assistance. I look forward to your response.\nSincerely,\nErin N. Jarman\nEnvironmental Scientist\nURS Corporation\n1600 Perimeter Park Drive\nSuite 400\nMorrisville, NC 27560\nTel: 919-461-1478\nErin-Jarman@urscorp.com","truncated":false,"body_characters":4579}