{"operation":"document","citation":"11-0153","title":"Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation 11-0153","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2011-12-21","effective_on":null,"summary":"11-0153 concerning 171.8.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-11-0153.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-11-0153.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-11-0153","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2011/110153.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE\nof Transportation Washington. DC 20590\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nA&cn~tia~o11\nSergeant Brad C. Gibson\nTexas Highway Patrol\nCommercial Vehicle Training Unit\nTexas Department of Public Safety\n455 \"S\" State Highway I\nGeorgetown, TX 78628\nReference No. 11-0153\nDear Sergeant Gibson:\nThis is in response to your July 6, 2011 letter and e-mail requesting clarification on how\ntube trailer motor vehicles are defined under the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR;\n49 CFR Parts 171-180), and ask if Reference No. 10-0116 supercedes Reference No. 880026.\nYou refer to two letters ofclarification this Office issued under Reference Nos. 880026\n(to Paul Horgan; 4/28/1998) and 10-0116 (to Neil Banman; 5/12/2011). Specifically,\nyou ask under what circumstances manifolded, non-bulk packagings would be considered\na single bulk packaging.\nBecause the two letters describe different packagings with different associated risks, which\nwe restate later in this letter, the letter issued under Reference No. 10-0116 does not\nsupercede the letter issued under Reference No. 88-0026. Manifolded cylinders have\ninherent design risks, such as exposed cylinder shells and piping, opportunities for product\nbackflow and backflash, and are usually designed to carry larger quantities of gas. All of\nthese factors can contribute to the loss of an entire load during an incident. Therefore, it is\nthe opinion of this Office that:\n• cylinders interconnected through manifolding that use a common outlet (e.g., a\npressure regulator) operate as an integral unit;\n• non-bulk cylinders that are manifolded in a tube trailer such that the aggregate\ncapacity of the tube trailer meets the definition prescribed in § 171.8 of the HMR\nfor a bulk packaging must be treated as one bulk packaging;\n• individual non-bulk cylinders that are not manifolded and are designed to operate\nseparately with their own stop valves are non-bulk packingings.\nThe Reference No. 88-0026 letter states two compartments permanently attached to a\nmotor vehicle and used in the same manner as a cargo tank to dispense gasoline and diesel\nfuel to other vehicles that are manifolded together without valves to separate them are\nconsidered a bulk packaging if they have an aggregate capacity that exceeds 450 L. In\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\naddition, this letter states manifolded bulk packagings permanently attached to a motor\nvehicle that are designed to perform as cargo tanks contain safety features and\nappurtenances and are sometimes subject to different or lesser stresses than tube trailer\ncylinders. This letter also states if each compartment has valving that is closed during\ntransportation, each compartment is considered a separate packaging regardless of whether\nthe compartments have a contiguous shell. You state that based on Reference No. 88-0026\nyour organization has maintained the view that:\n1) manifolded, non-bulk packagings with their own stop valve in the closed position\nare separate packagings;\n2) manifolded, non-bulk packagings with their own stop valve in the open position are\na single bulk packaging when their aggregate capacity exceeds 450 L; and\n3) manifolded, non-bulk packagings without their own stop valve are a single bulk\npackaging when their aggregate capacity exceeds 450 L.\nWe disagree. The Reference No. 88-0026 letter concerned packagings designed to operate\nas cargo tanks. For the reasons stated earlier in this letter, it is the opinion of this Office\nthat manifolded cylinders have the ability to release their entire contents during an incident\nregardless of whether they have individual stop valves in the opened or closed position or\nthey are without stop valves.\nThe Reference No. 10-0116 letter states a tube trailer that contains non-bulk cylinders is a\nbulk packaging because it is a transport vehicle, and because it is designed to transport gas\nin an aggregate quantity greater than 3,000 L (792 gallons), which meets the definition of a\nbulk packaging under § 171.8 of the HMR. This letter also states cylinders in a tube trailer\nthat each have their own shut-off valve and are connected with stainless steel tubing\nthrough a header, heat exchanger, and several additional valves to an automated valve that\ncontrols outlet pressure are also one bulk packaging under the HMR.\nI hope this satisfies your request.\nSincerely,\n--7~L~~~,\nT. Glenn Foster\nChief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n2\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nt:-Cl monsen\n~ 11 2. SOD\n~ (],. ~ 5e~tj\"'f~\nTEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY I 1- 0153\n5805 N. LAMAR BLVD. BOX 4087 • AUSTIN, TEXAS 78773-0001\n512/424-2000\nwww.txdps.state.tx.us\nSTEVEN C. McCRAW\nCOMMISSION\nDIRECTOR ALLAN B POLUNSKY, CHAIR\nLAMAR BECKWORTH\nADA BROWN\nCHERYL MacBRIDE JOHN STEEN\nDEPUTY DIRECTORS CARIN MARCY BARTH\nA. CYNTHIA LEON\nMr. Charles E. Betts July 6, 2011\nDirector, Office of Hazardous Materials Standards\nU.S. DOT/PHMSA (PHH-lO)\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE East Building, 2nd Floor\nWashington, DC 20590-0001\nDear Mr. Betts,\nI am requesting written clarification on the manifolding of non-bulk packages and its subsequent\neffect on the packages' status of becoming a single bulk package, when statutorily defined amounts\nare met, or remaining separate non-bulk packages. There seems to be some confusion in the\nenforcement community, since interpretation 10-0116 was issued by your office on May 12, 2011,\non whether manifolded non-bulk packages, each with its own shut-off valve, transported in the\nclosed position, retain their status as non-bulk packages or become a single bulk package.\nIn your office's letter to Mr. Paul Hogan, on April 28, 1998, it is written by your office, \"Two\ncompartments manifolded together without valves to separate the compartments would be\nconsidered a bulk package ifthe aggregate capacity exceeds 450 liters. When valving is present and\nclosed during transport each compartment is considered a separate packaging. This remains true\nwhether or not the packagings have a contiguous shell.\" We understand this to mean that closed\nvalving constitutes an intermediate form of containment for the purposes of determining if a\npackage meets the definition of a bulk package or not.\nOur Department has long used the above language to view: 1) separate non-bulk packages,\nmanifolded together, each with their own stop valve in the closed position during transport, as\nseparate non-bulk packages, 2) separate non-bulk packages, manifolded together, each with their\nown stop valve in the open position during transport, as a single bulk package (when the aggregate\ncapacity exceeds 450 liters) and 3) separate non-bulk packages, manifolded together, each without\ntheir own stop valve, as a single bulk package (when the aggregate capacity exceeds 450 liters).\nOur officers often encounter trucks and trucks and trailers transporting multiple non-bulk packages\ncontaining combustible liquids that are manifolded. Our understanding is that based upon the\npresence of a stop valve for each package, in a closed position during transport, the packages\nremain non-bulk and exempt from the HMRs, while the absence of a stop valve for each package or\npresence of a stop valve for each package, in an open position during transport, the packages are\nthen considered to be a bulk package and the HMRs become applicable. In some ofthe\nconfigurations we encounter, the non-bulk packages can be filled and/or drained simultaneously and\nsome configurations further utilize anti-backflow valves.\nEQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER\nCOURTESY. SERVICE. PROTECTION","truncated":false,"body_characters":7592}