BP Products North America — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation

Page 1U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 1200 New Jersey Ave, SE Washington, D.C. 20590 OCT 29 2009 Ms. Becky Conn DOT Coordinator Texas City Refinery BP Products North America P.O. Box 401 Texas City, TX 77592 Reference No. 09-0232 Dear Ms. Conn: This is in response to your October 14, 2009 e-mail and October 21, 2009 telephone conversation with a member ofmy staff concerning the material oftrade exception in § 173.6 ofthe Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). Specifically you ask ifyour company's employees may fill bottles with hazardous materials samples from a BP Products North America marine facility and transport them by contract motor carrier (a cargo inspection company) approximately 1-1/2 miles over public roads to your company's on-site lab as a material oftrade. The answer is no. A "material oftrade" is defined in § 171.8 as a hazardous material, other than a hazardous waste, that is carried on a motor vehicle by a private motor carrier in direct support of a principal business that is other than transportation by motor vehicle. A "private motor carrier" is a carrier that transports the business's own products and does not provide such transportation service to other businesses. A contractor may take advantage ofthe material oftrade exception (§ 173.6) and carry hazardous materials in direct support ofhis or her own business if their primary business is other than transportation by motor vehicle. But a company that hires a contractor or other transportation company to transport its hazardous materials may not transport these materials as a material oftrade. I hope this satisfies your request. ../: _ Hattie L. Mitchell Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Office ofHazardous Materials Standards#

Page 2Request for Interpretation Page 1of 1 Drakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA) From: Betts, Charles (PHMSA) Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 1 :02 PM To: Drakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA) Subject: FW: Request for Interpretation From: Conn! Becky [mallto:Becky.Conn@bp.com] Sent: Wednesday! October 14! 2009 12:58 PM To: Betts! Charles (PHMSA) Subject: Request for Interpretation ~dWl0Y\50Y\ ~r13. ~ . fv\ 0T 6xtept1alts (Jq, C{t.. 31--J Dear Mr. Betts, This request for interpretation is submitted regarding the applicability of the Materials of Trade exception for the transportation of hazardous materials samples by a cargo inspection company, when not in furtherance of their primary business of inspection and testing. The scenario is a cargo inspection company is contracted to transport hazmat samples from a our marine facility to our on~site laboratory, a distance of approximately 1~1/2 miles on public roads. The sample bottles are not filled by the employees of the cargo inspection company and are not destined to be tested or retained by the cargo inspection company. Our employees fill the bottles and offer them to the cargo inspection company for transport to our lab. The inspection company is contracted to provide shipping papers and packaging and is paid on a "per run" basis, with a "run" being each time they are called to our marine facility to pick~up and deliver samples. Please advise, if in this scenario, the cargo inspection company would be authorized to transport hazardous materials under the MOT exception. Your assistance is greatly appreciated. Best regards, Becky Conn DOT Coordinator, Texas City Refinery BP Products North America Tel: 409-965~8661 Fax:409~965~8704 Cell: 409-392-6399 Our stand: What you say matters. The information contained in this communication is COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL and may not be shared outside of the BP Texas City Site without specific permission from the appropriate member of the BPTC Leadership Team. Any viewing, copying or distribution of, or reliance on this message by unintended recipients is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer. 10/14/2009#