{"operation":"document","citation":"12-0127","title":"Veolia ES Technical Solutions, L.L.C. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2012-08-15","effective_on":null,"summary":"12-0127 response to Veolia ES Technical Solutions, L.L.C. concerning 173.124, 173.128.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0127.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0127.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0127","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2012/120127.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\nAUG 1 5 2nt2\nMs. Jennifer Eberle\nManager, Transportation Compliance\nVeolia ES Technical Solutions, L.L.C.\n1 Eden Lane\nFlanders, NJ 07836\nRef. No.: 12-0127\nDear Ms. Eberle:\nThis is in response to your May 31, 2012letter and subsequent June 14, 2012 telephone\nconversation and email correspondence with a member of my staff requesting clarification\nof the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). You state that your\ncompany, Veolia ES Technical Solutions, L.L.C. (Veolia) ships hazardous materials that\nrequire a Competent Authority (CA) approval prior to shipment. The examples you provide\nare approvals that assign a proper shipping name and hazard class to Division 4.1 self-\nreactive materials, per§ 173.124(a)(2)(iii)(D) and Division 5.2 organic peroxides per\n§ 173 .128( d). The approvals are issued by PHMSA to the original manufacturer or\ndistributor, which contract with Veolia to ship unused and outdated supplies of the same\nhazardous material in the original packaging as waste to a disposal facility. Your questions\nare paraphrased and answered below.\nQl. Is it a violation of the HMR for Veolia or another environmental services company to\ntransport a hazardous material with an approval issued to another entity, such as the\nmanufacturer or a distributor?\nAl. No, provided you have not made any changes to the material and you comply with all\nof the requirements detailed in the approval, it is not a violation of the HMR. While most\napprovals apply specifically to the holder of the approval, such as those issued to\ncertification agencies or cylinder retesters, classification approvals that assign a proper\nshipping name and hazard class, apply to the specific hazardous material being offered for\ntransportation, not the entity to which the approval was issued.\nQ2. May an approval that has been issued for shipments of a certain hazardous material also\nbe used for shipping that same hazardous material to a disposal facility as a hazardous\nwaste, assuming the hazardous material is unused, unaltered and remains in its original\npackaging?\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nA2. Yes, an approval that has been issued for shipments of a certain hazardous material\nmay also be used for shipping that same hazardous material, which is unused, unaltered and\nin its original packaging, to a disposal facility as a hazardous waste, provided the word\n\"waste\" precedes the proper shipping name.\nI hope this information is helpful. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to\ncontact this office.\nSincerely,\nRobert Benedict\nChief, Standards Development\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nG)VEOUA\nMay 31,2012\nOffice of Hazardous Materials Standards\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nAttn: PHH-10\nU.S. Department of Transportation\nEast Building\n1200 New Jersey Avenue S.E.\nWashington DC 20590-0001\nRE: Request for Interpretation Regarding the Use of Competent Authority Approvals\nfor Waste Shipments\nTo Whom It May Concern:\nVeolia ES Technical Solutions, L.L.C. (Veolia) is an environmental services company that\nis involved with the shipment of hazardous materials for which a Competent Authority\n(CA) letter is required. These CA letters have been issued by PHMSA to the original\nmanufacturer or distributor of the chemical products to facilitate the shipment of these\nchemicals in commerce. Veolia, on behalf of its customers, is involved with the\nmanagement of these same chemical products once they are classified as a hazardous\nwaste and require shipment for disposal. These chemical products, unused and still in\nthe original manufacturer's packaging, become wastes simply because they are\noutdated or no longer needed by the customer. When shipping these wastes for\ndisposal, it has been Veolia's long-term practice to obtain a copy of theCA letter from\nthe original chemical product manufacturer or distributor and then prepare and offer\nthat waste shipment in accordance with the provisions of the CA letter.\nRecently, Veolia obtained guidance from a PHMSA Hazmat Regulatory Specialist who\nclarified that Veolia would not be authorized to utilize a CA letter issued to the\nmanufacturer of the product when that product is shipped by Veolia as a waste to a\ndisposal facility because the shipping name specified in the CA letter would require\nmodification to add the word \"waste\", an alternative that is not specifically authorized\nby the CA letter.\nBased on this recent guidance, Veolia is requesting a written interpretation from PHMSA\nto clarify the following:\n1) Is it a violation of the HMR for Veolia or an environmental services company to\nutilize a CA letter originally issued to the manufacturer or distributor of a\nchemical product, when shipping that same chemical product to a disposal\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\nG)veouA\nfacility once it is classified as a hazardous waste, assuming the chemical product\nis unused, unaltered and remains in its original manufacturer's packaging?\n2) If the answer to question 1 is \"yes\", then what is PHMSA's guidance for properly\nclassifying and packaging these chemical products once they become a waste\nand require shipment for disposal? Please note that if PHMSA requires one to\napply for a new CA letter for each chemical product for which a CA letter has\nalready been issued simply because the material becomes a hazardous waste, it\nwould be a very costly and time consuming process for Veolia, its numerous\ncustomers, the PHMSA's Approval Office, as well as every other environmental\ncompany providing similar waste management services. As stated above, since\nthese materials are unused, unaltered, remain in their original packaging and are\nsimply being shipped as hazardous waste for final disposal, it seems\nunnecessarily burdensome to apply for a new CA letter. Furthermore, to\nperform testing on these chemical products once they become a hazardous\nwaste in support of a CA letter is extremely costly, and sometimes impossible to\ncomplete due to the small quantity of material available for sampling.\nYour written response to this request is greatly appreciated. If you require any further\ninformation regarding this request please feel free to contact me at\njennifer.eberle@veoliaes.com I 973-691-7331 or Tom Baker at\ntom.baker@veoliaes.com I 973-691-7330.\nThank you,\nJennifer Eberle\nManager, Transportation Compliance\nVeolia ES Technical Solutions, L.L.C.","truncated":false,"body_characters":6518}