{"operation":"document","citation":"11-0146","title":"Mr. Thomas W. Ferguson — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2012-05-01","effective_on":null,"summary":"11-0146 response to Mr. Thomas W. Ferguson concerning 175.75.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-11-0146.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-11-0146.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-11-0146","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2011/110146.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nAdministration\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nWashington, D.C. 20590\nMAY 0 1 2012\nMr. Thomas W. Ferguson, DGSA\nTechnical Consultant\nThe Council on Safe Transportation\nof Hazardous Articles, Inc.\n7803 Hill House Court\nFairfax Station, VA 22039\nRef. No. 11-0146\nDear Mr. Ferguson:\nThis responds to your letter requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations\n(HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to hazardous materials quantity limitations aboard\naircraft. Specifically, you ask whether the revisions adopted in paragraphs (c), (d) and (e) of\n§ 175.75 in a final rule published on January 19,2011 (76 FR 3308 (HM-215K))\nintentionally amended the HMR to further restrict inaccessible packages not exceeding 25\nkg or 75 kg net quantity, in the aggregate, of eligible hazardous materials and gases of\nDivision 2.2, respectively, otherwise authorized for transport aboard passenger-carrying\naircraft. In your letter, you assert the long-standing interpretation of§ 175.75(c) that\nspecifies the inaccessible package limitation applies to each individual cargo compartment\nand not to the entire aircraft.\nPlease be advised that it was never our intention to apply the inaccessible quantity\nlimitations to the entire aircraft. As you correctly point out in your letter, because the\n§ 175.75(£) table headings no longer reference \"per cargo compartment\" as ultimately the\nlimiting factor in quantity limitations, it could be inferred that the limitation applies to the\nentire aircraft. We addressed the unintended consequences of this amendment and in a final\nrule published in the Federal Register on December 30, 2011 (76 FR 82163) that also\nresponded to various administrative appeals filed in response to the January 19, 2011 final\nrule.\nI trust this satisfies your inquiry. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.\nSincerely,\nT. Glenn Foster\nChief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nofevw.s\n~}75·75\nA-ir\n1/-0tl-/to\nCOUNCIL ON SAFE TRANSPORTATION\nOF HAZARDOUS ARTICLES, INC.\nJune 22, 2011\nPresident\nRobert Heinrich\nNovartis Phannaceuticals\nRobert.Heinrich@novartis.com\nFirst Vice President\nDonald Rossow\nDiversey, Inc.\ndonald.bossow@diversey.com\nSecond Vice President/Treasurer\nJohn D'Aioia\nMary Kay, Inc.\njohn.d'aloia@mkcorp.com\nSecretary\nJeanne Zmich\nLabelmaster\nJEANNEZ@alc-net.com\nExecutive Committee Member\nRichard Lattimer\nEli Lilly and Company\nR.Lattimer@lilly.com\nBoard of Directors\nLesAdolph\nAmerican Airlines\nLes.Adolph@aacom\nSean Broderick\nProcter & Gamble Distributing LLC\nBroderick.sp@pg.com\nDavid Evans\nPurolator Courier Ltd.\ndevans2@purolator.com\nAmy Fischesser\nSun Otemical Corporation\namy.fischesser@Jna.slUlchemcom\nJames Jahnke\nMerck and Co\njames.jahnke@merck.com\nDave Madsen\nAutoliv, Inc.\nDave.Madsen@autoliv.com\nRich Moskowitz\nAmerican Trucking Associations, Inc.\nrrnoskowitz@trucking.org\nChristopher Palabrica, CPM, CHMM\nMays Chemical Co.\nchrisp@mayschem.com\nDan Wieten\nToyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc.\ndan_ wieten@toyota.com\nGeneral Counsel\nRichard Schweitzer, PLLC\nMagdy EI-Sibaie, PhD\nAssociate Administrator, Hazardous Materials Safety\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nUS Department of Transportation\n1200 New Jersey Ave., SE\nEast Bldg. Second Floor\n(PH) Washington, DC 20590-0001\nDear Dr. EI-Sibaie:\nThe Council on Safe Transportation of Hazardous Articles, Inc.\n(COSTHA) hereby submits a request for correction in the regulations\nand interpretation regarding the quantity limitations of Title 49 CFR,\nSubtitle C, Part 175, Subpart B, §175.75 subsequent to the issuance of\nFinal Rule HM-215K (issued January 19, 2011).\nCOSTHA is a not-for-profit organization representing manufacturers,\nshippers, distributors, carriers, freight forwarders, trainers, packaging\nmanufacturers and others associated with the hazardous materials\ntransportation industry. In addition to promoting regulatory compliance\nand safety in hazardous materials transportation, COS THA assists its\nmembers and the public in evaluating the practicality and efficacy of\nlaws, rules and regulations for the safe transportation and distribution\nof hazardous materials.\nThe Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)\nand the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have enforced a\nlimitation on the amount of hazardous materials which may be\ntransported aboard aircraft in \"inaccessible\" locations. Generally, the\nlimitation is up to 25 kg of hazardous materials (subject to certain\nexceptions) other than gases, and up to 75 kg of Division 2.2 gases\n(subject to certain exceptions). These limitations are detailed in\n§175.75(c). The text in this section states:\n... no more than 25 kg (55 pounds) net weight of hazardous\nmaterial may be loaded in an inaccessible manner ...\nPrior to the issuance of HM-215K, Section 175.75 also included tables\nfor Passenger Aircraft and Cargo Aircraft. These tables visually\nindicated the quantity limitations in an \"accessible cargo compartment\"\nand separately in an \"inaccessible cargo compartment\".\nThe Council on Safe Transportation of Hazardous Articles, Inc.\n7803 Hill House Court Fairfax Station, VA 22039 Phone: 703/451-4031 Fax: 703/451-4207\nmail@costha.com www.costha.com\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nHowever, when HM-215K was issued, the tables were significantly modified for the purposes of\nclarification and simplicity. However, COSTHA believes inadvertently, the term \"compartment\"\nwas omitted. Thus, in reading the Quantity and Loading Table in §175.75 from HM-215K, the\nreader may interpret the 25 kg/75 kg limitation to apply to the entire aircraft, not just per\ninaccessible compartment. In fact, since the revision of Part 175 in HM-228, the text in §175.75\ndoes not mention \"inaccessible cargo compartment\" but instead uses the language\n\"inaccessible manner\".\nCOSTHA believes this apparent change in the regulations was unintentional, resulting from the\nsignificant modification to the Quantity and Loading Table instead of an intent on PHMSA's or\nthe FAA's part to further limit the amount of hazardous materials which may be loaded on an\naircraft in an inaccessible manner. Although the revised text and table were presented in the\nNotice for Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for HM-215K (issued August 24, 2010), there is no\nlanguage in the Preamble to the NPRM or the Final Rule suggesting PH MSA or the FAA was\nproposing such a drastic change to a long standing regulation.\nConsidering many aircraft contain 2 or more separate inaccessible cargo compartments as\ndefined by 14 CFR §25.857 and §121.314, the implication of such a change would equate to a\n50% or more reduction in the previous! y permitted quantities of hazardous materials loaded in\nan inaccessible manner aboard aircraft. Again, COSTHA does not believe such a change was\nintended by PHMSA or the FAA.\nWe believe inserting the word \"compartment\" in the heading of the 3rd column of the Quantity\nand Loading Table in §175.75 would correct the omission and clearly indicate the intended 25\nkg/75 kg limitation applies to each inaccessible aircraft cargo compartment, not the entire\naircraft.\nIf you need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me.\nRespectfully submitted,\nThomas W. Ferguson, oGSA\nTechnical Consultant\nThe Council on Safe Transportation of Hazardous Articles, Inc.\n7803 Hill House Court, Fairfax Station, VA 22039 703/451-4031 FAX: 703/451-4207\nmail@costha.com www.costha.com","truncated":false,"body_characters":7505}