{"operation":"document","citation":"12-0065","title":"Chart Inc. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2012-05-21","effective_on":null,"summary":"12-0065 response to Chart Inc. concerning 180.203, 180.211.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0065.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0065.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0065","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2012/120065.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 2 1 2012\nMr. Steve Therneau\nChart Inc.\n1300 Airport Drive\nBall Ground, GA 30107\nReference No.: 12-0065\nDear Mr. Therneau:\nThis responds to your February 27, 2012letter requesting further clarification of the\nHazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CPR Parts 171-180) applicable to the repair of\nDepartment of Transportation (DOT) 4 series specification cylinders. You request that the\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) reconsider a previously-\nissued letter of interpretation to you dated February 23, 2012 [Ref. No. 11-0237].\nIn your current letter, you state that it is your understanding that if the inner vessel of a\nDOT-4 series cylinder has not been compromised and repairs have only been completed on\nthe outer vessel,§ 180.21l(c)(2)(i) is not applicable and there is no requirement to test the\ncylinder in accordance with the specifications under which the cylinder was originally\nmanufactured.\nAs previously stated, your understanding with regard to cylinder repair is incorrect. The\nterm \"repair\" is defined in § 180.203 as a procedure for correction of a rejected cylinder that\nmay involve welding. A repair is not limited to the correction of a rejected cylinder that has\nhad only its inner vessel compromised. Therefore, DOT-4 series cylinders requiring repair,\nas defined in§ 180.203, must be done in accordance with§ 180.211. In addition, DOT 4L\ncylinders must meet additional requirements for repair specified in§ 180.211(c) including\nbeing pressure-tested in accordance with the specifications under which the cylinder was\noriginally manufactured. DOT 4L cylinders which undergo procedures that are not defined\nas a repair in§ 180.203 are not subject to the requirements of§ 180.21l(c) including the\nrequirement to be pressure-tested in accordance with the specifications under which the\ncylinder was originally manufactured.\nIf a DOT-4 series cylinder requires repair as defined in§ 180.203 and that cylinder is\ndesigned so that it is not possible to safely pressure test the cylinder in accordance with the\nspecification with which the cylinder was originally manufactured, you may request a\nspecial permit to except the cylinder from the requirement to be subjected to the pressure\ntests specified in§ 180.21l(c) and (e). Your application should be directed to the Approvals\nand Permits Division and should include specific and detailed information concerning the\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nrationale for excepting the cylinder from the pressure test requirements. The procedures for\napplying for a special permit are found in 49 CFR Part 107, Subpart B. You may also obtain\nthis information at our website at http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat/regs/sp-a.\nSincerely,\nT. Glenn Foster\nChief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nChart Inc.\nDistribution & Stora.!!;e Gro1\n1300 Airport Drive\nBall Ground, GA 30107\nPhone: 770.479.6531 Fax: 770.479.4603\nwww.chart-ind.com\nFebruary 27, 2012\nU.S. DOT\nPHMSA Office of Hazardous Materials Standards\nAttn: PHH-10\nEast Building\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nWashington, D.C. 20590-0001\nAttn: Glenn Foster\nReference: Registration K-058, Interpretation Response 11-0237\nDear Mr. Foster,\nWe are in receipt of your response to our September 12, 2011 request for interpretation. As we\nnoted in an earlier email to you, we feel we may have asked our question incorrectly based on\nthe answer we received. We would like to restate our question in this request.\nAfter discussions with DOT enforcement personnel and DOT engineering personnel, it was\nrecommended that we request a formal interpretation related to CFR 49 paragraph 180.211 (c)\n(2) (i). The text in question states that \"after repair, the cylinder must be pressure tested in\naccordance with the specifications under which the cylinder was originally manufactured:\".\nThe situation is related to a repair/rebuild of a 4L vessel in accordance with CFR 49 180.211. In\nthe majority of cases, no work is done to the inner vessel. In fact, measures are taken to ensure\nthat the boundaries described in 180.211 (c) (1) (ii) are maintained to ensure that the inner\nvessel remains intact.\nSince the work has only been done to the outer vessel and there are no manufacturing pressure\ntest specifications defined for the outer vessel in CFR 49 180.57, the requirements of 180.211\n(c) (2) (i) are moot. This is further reinforced by the fact that we are also approved manufacturers\nof DOT 4L products and know that there is no testing performed on the outer vessel other than\nmass spectrometer testing which is also performed on repair/rebuild tanks.\nThis situation was discussed at length with Duane Cassidy, Ben Smith, Wayne Chaney, John\nHeneghan, Rafaat Shafkey, and Mark Toughiry on August 31, 2011. We were lead to believe\nthat our understanding was accurate.\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\nWe would like to obtain written confirmation that the requirements of CFR 49 paragraph 180.211\n(c) (2) (i) do not apply when only the vessel jacket is compromised. We believe that to be the\nonly possible answer based on the unique construction of DOT 4L cryogenic pressure vessels.\nThank you for your consideration. We look forward to a favorable response. Please advise if you\nhave any questions or concerns. Thank you in advance for your prompt reply.\nRegards,\nSteve Therneau\nDirector of Quality- Biomedical/Canton Operations","truncated":false,"body_characters":5528}