# The Law Offices of Paul D. Borghesani — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation

- **operation:** document
- **citation:** 11-0007
- **title:** The Law Offices of Paul D. Borghesani — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation
- **source type:** guidance
- **agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
- **status:** guidance
- **official:** true
- **published on:** 2011-05-11
- **effective on:** Not available
- **summary:** 11-0007 response to The Law Offices of Paul D. Borghesani concerning 171.8.
- **machine formats:** - **json:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-11-0007.json
- **markdown:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-11-0007.md
- **app url:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-11-0007
- **source url:** https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2011/110007.pdf
**body:**

<<<PAGE 1>>>

U.S. Department ofTransportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
Safety Administration
MAY 1 1 2011
1200 New Jersey Avenue. SE
washington. DC 20590
Paul D. Borghesani
The Law Offices of Paul D. Borghesani
307 S. Main Street, Suite 300
Elkhart, Indiana 46516
Ref. No.: 11-0007
Dear Mr. Borghesani:
This responds to your December 14, 2010 letter requesting clarification of the Hazardous
Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). Specifically, you ask ifthe HMR
apply to the transportation ofpersonal belongings by a driver who is operating a leased pickup
truck in commerce. The belongings in question include: battery operated cell-phones,
medical devices and GPS devices, and gas cans used to fuel the driver's non-commercial
vehicles and machinery. You also reference a letter ofinterpretation issued by PHMSA on
April 29, 2010 (Ref. No. 09-0220), which clarified that transportation of scuba tanks for
personal, non-commercial use (e.g., recreation, sport fishing) is not subject to the HMR.
A driver who transports hislher own personal belongings (e.g., battery operated cell phones,
medical devices and GPS devices, gas cans, etc.) for personal, non-commercial use is clearly
not in commerce. Therefore, in the scenario you describe, those personal belongings are not
subject to the HMR. However, any hazardous material that the driver is transporting on
behalf of the motor carrier is in commerce and subject to the HMR.
You also refer to the Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) 2010 program in your letter.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration implements the CSA 2010 program.
Information on CSA 2010 is available at the following website: http://csa.fincsa.dot.gov/.
I trust this satisfies your inquiry. Please contact us ifwe can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
~.5~
Ben Supko
Acting Chief, Standards Development Branch
Standards and Rulemaking Division

<<<PAGE 2>>>

.
THE LAW OFFICES f lChtY)Jauh
OF
PAUL Do BORGHESANI De+jnJ't-U)Y1 r
CS/7/~?
"-bo01
December 14,2010
Hattie L. Mitchell
Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention
Office of Hazardous Materials Standards
U.S. Department of Transportation
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, D.C. 20590
RE: Personal Items
Dear Ms. Mitchell:
This firm represents numerous motor carriers registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration ("Administrat:ion") and engaged in the transportation of property pursuant to either a
certificate or permit issued by the Administratiori. The registered motor carriers are leasing
equipment (i.e. pick-up trucks) from owners that are also 9pera!ing·the leased .equipment when
transporting property for the motor carrier. As provided in 49. CFR Part 3,90, the \motQr c<wjers
leasing commercial motor 'veh~c1es which, transport ,property 'in:int€rsta!e: cQmmer.ce a~e ;equirt:~ not
only to be knowledgeable of and c'omply with the' Federal Motor Carrier' Safety Regulations
("Safety Regulations") but, also must instruct the owner/drivers as well as require their compliance
with these Safety Regulations. With the implementation of CSA 2010, the motor ,carriers
represented by this' firm have expanded' the scope of, instructions as well as compliance
accountability ,wi,th' all appli<;:able ,Safety Regulations. including, ~ncreased awareness of and
compliance with the Hazardous Materials Regulations in 49 CFR Part~,l71-180.
, . ~ _ l'
During tthe course of instructing the owner/drivers, several questions h~ve arisen concerning the
Personal Items that the owner/drivers of the lease equipment may have inion the equipment while
operamfg the equipment in the furtherance of the commercial enterprise of the motor carrier. These
Personal Items include battery operated cell phones; battery-oR~fated medical devices (CPAP);
battery-operated GPS devices, and occasionally small, empty, fuel containers ranging from five (5)
to thirty (30) gallons, the latter used for personal uses including the fueling of off-road equipment,
boats, and other non-comp1ercial motor vehicles. The batteries utilized for the cell phones and/or
the GPS units <;lre primarily lithium ion and are rechargeable. The batteries utilized for the CP AP
macliine are either lithium ion or sealed lead acid. The batteries are more specifically described in
the attachments to thisco~espondence. .
.~
Consideration has been given to the 'Pipeline and Hazardous ",M'aterials Safety Administrati~n
. .
("PHMSA") Interpretation Number 9-0220. Therein, the PHMSA noted that under the Federal
Hazardous Materials Transportation Law the . term "in
~ommerce;' means transportation in
307S. ~ain Street, Suite 300' EIJ<:hart, Indiana ·46516
Telephone (574) 389-0804 . Fax (574) 293-2214
E'mail pdborglaw@verizon.net

<<<PAGE 3>>>

12/14/2010
Hattie L. Mitchell
furtherance of a commercial enterprise. Based thereon, it was concluded that "the individual who
transports his/her own scuba tank for personal, non commercial use (e.g., recreation, sport fishing)
is not subject to the HMR."
The questions being presented include the following:
1. Is the individual owner/driver having the described battery~operated Personal Items in the leased
equipment while the owner/driver is operating the leased equipment in the furtherance of the
commercial enterprise of the motor carrier subject to the Hazardous Materials Regulations?
2. In these circumstances, is the motor carrier subject to the Hazardous Materials Regulations?
As noted, the Personal Items of the owner/drivers also include empty fuel tanks having a capacity
of five (5) to thirty (30) gallons that the owner/drivers use to fuel off~road equipment, boats, and
other non-commercial motor vehicles of the owner/driver. Generally, the equipment, boats and
other non-commercial vehicles are gasoline powered. As with the personal battery-operated items,
the leased equipment is being utilized to transport other property in furtherance of the commercial
enterprise of the motor carrier and the fuel tanks are not required by the motor carrier for such
transportation.
3. Noting that 49 CFR Part 390.3 excepts from the applicability of the rules in subchapter B the
occasional transportation of personal property by individuals not for compensation nor in the
furtherance of a commercial enterprise also except the applicability of the Hazardous Materials
Regulations for the occasional transportation of the described personal property of the
owner/drivers herein?
4. Are the described fuel tanks utilized for gasoline either empty or full considered materials of
trade as noted in 49 CFR Part 392.51 and as defined in 49 CFR Part 171.8?
5. If the small amounts of fuel are considered materials of trade, what if any provisions of the
Hazardous Materials Regulations would be applicable to the individual owner/driver as well as the
motor carrier leasing the equipment from the owner/driver?
The consideration of the foregoing and response(s) by the PHMSA will serve to enhance the
instruction and compliance with the Safety Regulations including the Hazardous Materials
Regulations by the motor carriers and the owner/drivers leasing equipment to the motor carriers.
Very Truly Yours,
The Law Offices ofPaul D. Borghesani
~tw.9 \) . t30 r()~ p9.-.
Paul D. Borghesani
PDB/alh
2

<<<PAGE 4>>>

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U
Description
Battery Type: Sealed lead-Acid
The Respironics Universal Portable Battery Pack is designed to allow you to
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Features
• 14 pounds - smaller and lighter than traditional gel cell,
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• One year warranty
• Average run times of 16 to 24 hours for most CPAP machines
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• Sealed lead-acid battery
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<<<PAGE 8>>>

Universal Portable Battery Pack http://www.cpap-supply.comlUni versal- Portabl e-Battery-Pack-pll 028 ...
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<<<PAGE 9>>>

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