{"operation":"document","citation":"10-0267","title":"Dive Xtras, Inc. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2011-03-28","effective_on":null,"summary":"10-0267 response to Dive Xtras, Inc. concerning 175.10.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-10-0267.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-10-0267.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-10-0267","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2010/100267.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department ofTransportation\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials\nSafety Administration MAR 28 2011\n1200 New Jersey Avenue. SE\nWashington, DC 20590'\nMr. Ben McGeever\nDive Xtras, Inc.\n4433 Russell Rd., Ste 106\nMukilteo,WA 98275\nRef. No. 10-0267\nDear Mr. McGeever:\nThis responds to your December 20, 2010 email regarding exceptions for passengers,\ncrewmembers, and air operators under § 175.10 ofthe Hazardous Materials Regulations\n(HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). According to your letter, your company produces an\nLED diving light (diving lamp) designed and constructed to not produce significant heat.\nThe diving lamp does not allow access to internal components ofthe article to remove the\nlight bulb or the energy source (a lithium-ion battery). Additionally, you indicate\nextensive testing to demonstrate your product is not a source ofa significant amount of\nheat. You are concerned that § 175.1O(a)(14) implies all diving lamps are heat-producing\nwhich presents problems for customers who want to carry your product aboard a\npassenger aircraft because the design does not allow removal ofthe light bulb or the\nbattery. You request clarification of what defines a heat-producing article as well as the\napplicability of § 175.l0(a)(14) ifthe diving lamp is not a heat-producing article.\nA passenger, in collaboration with available resources including product manufacturers, is\nresponsible for ensuring that a hazardous article carried aboard a passenger aircraft is in\ncompliance with § 175.10. This Office does not certify articles for conformance with\n§ 175.10. Section 175.1O(a)(l4) specifically applies to the carriage of heat-producing\narticles that are electrically-powered (e.g., battery-powered articles). The example of\ndiving lamps as a heat-:-producing article provided in the regulatory text does not infer that\nall diving lamps are heat-producing. Ifthe results oftesting on your diving lamp are\naccurate and the design and construction ofthe diving lamp are such that, if\nunintentionally activated during transport, it would not generate an amount of heat\nsufficient to be a source of ignition, then the article may be considered as not being a heatproducing\narticle and would not be subject to the conditions and limitations of\n§ 175.l0(a)(14). Note, however, that a battery-powered article not considered to be heatproducing\nis still subject to § 175.1O(a)(18) related to portable electronic devices,\nincluding the size limitations for lithium batteries.\nI hope this information is helpful. Ifyou have further questions, please contact this office.\nSincerely,\n~S~\nBenSupko\nActing Chief, Standards Development\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nDrakeford, Carol\nVe. /Lin deren\n~ n£:>· ro\n%173. I ~5\nFrom: INFOCNTR (PHMSA) Air / L/+-hILJm Uerie,:;\nSent: Tuesday, December 21, 2010 9:34 AM\nTo: Drakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA) /0 -0:2 \"7\nSubject: FW: Request for letter of interpretation.\nHi Carolyn,\nWe received the following request for a formal letter of interpretation at the Info Center.\nIn his conversation with Info Center staff, Mr. McGeever noted that the lamp contains an\ninstalled, factory-sealed lithium battery.\nThanks,\nVictoria Lehman\n202-366-1035\nFrom: ben McGeever [mailto:ben@dive-xtras.com]\nSent: Monday, December 20, 2010 4:46 PM\nTo: INFOCNTR (PHMSA)\nCc: Dave Heiss\nSubject: Request for letter of interpretation.\nDear Sir/Madam\nI would like to request a letter of interpretation on 49CFR175.10 (a) 14\nElectrically powered heat-producing articles (e.g.,\noperated equipment such as diving lamps and soldering equipment) as\ncarry-on baggage only and with the approval of the operator of the\naircraft. The heat-producing component, or the energy source, must be\nremoved to unintentional functioning during transport.\nMy company, Dive Xtras, is producing an new LED diving light. I would like clarification on what exactly defines a heat\nproducing article and what happens if a diving lamp is not a significant source of heat\nWe have designed our new light to not be a significant heat producing device, yet the text implies all diving lamps are.\nUnlike soldering irons which inherently have to generate heat to melt solder and perform their primary function, diving\nlights only produce heat as a byproduct, waste of inefficient light production, and as technology advances and\nefficiencies improve, less heat is generated.\nDiving lights are constantly developing and, in the past, halogen and high intensity discharge (HID) bulbs were\npredominant in products. These bulb technologies potentially generate huge amounts of heat and do warrant the above\nrules. However, in the last few years LED bulbs are becoming more common and do not generate the same amounts of\nheat.\nMy concern is that if we release our new LED dive light in the current form, it will potentially be a problem for customers\nwho would like to travel by air. It is a diving lamp, as described, but they will not be able to comply with the above\nmentioned exception. Our new dive light is designed for high reliability and to achieve this the user has no access to any\nof the internal components and there are no connectors, this increases reliability as user error and connectors are a\nmajor source of failures. This means they have no ability to remove any part.\n1\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nWe have extensively tested our product and can demonstrate it does not generate significant amounts of heat nor is a\nignition risk for ordinary combustibles or flammable liquids. If you could give further interpretation of 49CFR175.10 (a)\n14 with these considerations I would be very grateful.\nYour Sincerely\nBen McGeever\nPresident\nDive Xtras Inc.\n4433 Russell Rd, STE 106\nMukilteo\nWA, 98275, USA\nTel: + {1} 4252966570\nwww.dive-xtras.com\nDISCLAIMER:\nThis correspondence contains proprietary information some or all of which may be legally privileged. It is for the intended recipient only. If an addressing or transmission error\nhas misdirected this correspondence, please notify the author. If you are not the intended recipient you must not use, disclose, distribute, copy, print, or rely on this\ncorrespondence. The contents, comments and views contained or expressed within this correspondence do not necessarily reflect those of Dive Xtras Inc. and are not intended\nto create legal relations with the recipient.\nPlease ~onsider the environment before printing Ihls email\n2","truncated":false,"body_characters":6377}