Industrial Packaging Alliance of North America — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation

Page 1U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, D.C. 20590 MAY 3 0 2012 Mr. John McQuaid Industrial Packaging Alliance of North America P.O. BOX 100907 Arlington, VA 22210-3907 Reference No.: 12-0071 Dear Mr. McQuaid: This responds to your March 6, 2012 letter requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to the marking of steel drums. Specifically, you ask if a manufacturer is permitted to use a three-line mark instead of a four-line mark that contains the pertinent information without listing the month of manufacture, US origin, and M-number twice. The answer is no. Section 178.503(a) states that the packaging must bear the marks as specified in (a)(1) through (a)(6) of this section. It then states that the marking may be applied in a single line or in multiple lines provided the correct sequence is used. In removing the month of manufacture, US origin, and M-number as shown in your letter, the marking would no longer meet the requirements of§ 178.503(a) which requires that the information on the marking be presented in the correct sequence, and, therefore would not be in compliance with the HMR. I hope this satisfies your inquiry. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance. Sincerely, T. Glenn Foster Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch Standards and Rulemaking Division#

Page 2Andrew -§( 7£.503 _Erakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA) From: Seot: To: Cc: Subject: Attachments: Foster, Glenn (PHMSA) IZ.- oo1/ Tuesday, March 06, 2012 7:21AM Drakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA) Betts, Charles (PHMSA); Billings, Delmer (PHMSA); Kelley, Shane (PHMSA); Supko, Ben (PHMSA) FW: Inquiry on Content on Durable Marking on Steel Drums Durable Mark Inquiry- New Labeler(1 ).pdf Importance: High :r:s~ Good morning, Carolyn. Please log in the attached as a formal request for interpretation and assign. Thanks, Glenn From: John McQuaid [mailto:mcguaid@industrialpackaging.org] Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 6:13 PM To: Foster, Glenn (PHMSA) Subject: Inquiry on Content on Durable Marking on Steel Drums Importance: High Mr. Foster, I am writing on behalf of a member of the Steel Shipping Container Institute (SSCI) of IPANA that is in the process of updating its durable marking technology at its steel drum manufacturing facility. They have asked me to inquire as to whether the change in the content on a planned new durable mark labeler meets with the requirements of the regulations. As indicated in the attached illustration, the manufacturer is inquiring whether the proposed reduction from a four-line durable mark that duplicates the CFR-required information to a new three-line mark that contains the pertinent information without listing the month of manufacture, US origin, and M-number twice meets regulatory requirements. We would appreciate PHMSA's position with respect to this inquiry. An expedited response to this inquiry would be appreciated as the manufacturer's upgrade is contingent, somewhat, on PHMSA's reply. Thank you. Cordially, JOHN A. MCQUAID www.industrialpackaging.org Industrial Packaging Alliance of North America PHONE: 571.527.0779 CELL: 703.629.6239 IPANA lOth ANNUAL MEETING April15- 17, 2012 1#

Page 3Evergreen Marriott, Stone Mountain, GA Consider the environment; print this document only if necessary. CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT This electronic message transmission contains information from IPANA and is confidential or privileged. This information is intended only for the person or persons named above. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of any other action based on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. 2#

Page 4CURRENT: 7A2453 12/USA/M NOHBER Proposed: (4) ) 1A2/ 1.2/100 6SIA2/Y45/S 12/USA/M NOHBER#