{"operation":"document","citation":"12-0208","title":"Occidental Chemical Company — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2012-12-11","effective_on":null,"summary":"12-0208 response to Occidental Chemical Company concerning 171.8, 173.6.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0208.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0208.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0208","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2012/120208.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\nDEC 1 l 201~\nMr. Norman Dodson\nOccidental Chemical Company\n6200 South Ridge Road\nWichita, KS 67026\nReference No. 12-0208\nDear Mr. Dodson:\nThis is in response to your September 14, 2012 e-mail requesting clarification of the\nexceptions for Materials of Trade (MOTs) under§ 173.6 of the Hazardous Materials\nRegulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). In your letter, you state that to analyze the\nquality of the chemicals your company supplies to its customers, these customers send\nsamples of these chemicals in amounts of one pint or less to your company for testing.\nYou state customers return the following materials to your company for testing:\n1) UN 1496 Sodium Chlorite, 5.1 (oxidizer), PG II\n2) UN 1593 Dichloromethane, 6.1 (poisonous), PG III\n3) UN 1789 Hydrochloric acid, 8 (corrosive), PG II and III\n4) UN 1846 Carbon tetrachloride, 6.1, PG II\n5) UN 1888 Chloroform, 6.1, PG III\n6) UN 1897 Tetrachloroethylene, 6.1, PG III\n7) UN 1908 Chlorite solution, 8, PG II and III (the primary material being\nshipped)\nYou also state some of your customers do not have employees trained to prepare and offer\nhazardous materials for transport in conformance with the HMR, but a carrier informed you\nthat your customers can transport their chemicals as MOTs by motor vehicle to the carrier\nfor its staff to properly package and transport because your customers are not transporting\nthe samples for commercial purposes. You ask if this statement is correct. The answer is no.\nA \"Material of trade\" is a hazardous material, other than a hazardous waste, that is carried on\na motor vehicle: (1) for the purpose of protecting the health and safety of the motor vehicle\noperator or passengers; (2) for the purpose of supporting the operation or maintenance of a\nmotor vehicle (including its auxiliary equipment); or (3) by a private motor carrier\n(including vehicles operated by a rail carrier) in direct support of a principal business that is\nother than transportation by motor vehicle (see § 171.8). Your customers are transporting\nchemical samples to the carrier solely for the purpose of offering them for transportation in\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\ncommerce, not to perform tasks that are in direct support of a business that is other than\ntransportation by motor vehicle, criteria (3) in the definition of \"material of trade.\"\nTherefore, the chemicals must be transported under other provisions in the HMR authorized\nfor the specific hazards each sample contains at the time it is offered for transportation.\nI hope this satisfies your request.\nSincerely,\nT. Glenn Foster\nChief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n2\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nDrakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA)\nFrom:\nSent:\nTo:\nSubject:\nImportance:\nINFOCNTR (PHMSA)\nMonday, September 17, 2012 2:35PM\nDrakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA)\nFW: Request for formal letter of interpretation\nHigh\nMa-krl a,{s o-f Tra. J e.-\n1 ~- D:Z o8\nCarolyn,\nWe received the following request for a formal letter of interpretation.\nThanks,\nVictoria\n-----Original Message-----\nFrom: Norman Dodson@oxy.com [mailto:Norman Dodson@oxy.coml\nSent: Friday, September 14, 2012 4:20 PM\nTo: INFOCNTR (PHMSA)\nSubject: Request for formal letter of interpretation\nImportance: High\nI would like to request a formal letter of interpretation regarding 49 CFR 173.6 Materials of trade exceptions.\nMy company sells commodity chemicals to other companies. On occasion, questions arise regarding the quality of this\nproduct making it necessary for the customer to need to ship a small sample ( 1 pint or less) to us for follow up analyses.\nProblems arise when the customer does not have trained and certified people to prepare and offer for shipment, these\nhazardous products. The next choice would be for them to take this one pint sample to a company that offers these\nservices. An example of such a company would be AirPack Inc. A problem may exist with this option if an employee of\nthe customer company places the sample in a motor vehicle and drives it to the packaging company. I have been told by\nAir Pack Inc., that they could lawfully do this under 49 CFR 173.6 as long as the container was of the proper integrity and\nsecured from shifting. The reasoning being that the customer is not transporting the samples over the road for\ncommercial purposes. The one pint chemical samples that these customers would be transporting would be the\nfollowing:\nChloroform I I UN1888 /I Toxic I I 6.1 I I PG Ill Dichloromethane I I UN1593 I I Toxic I I 6.1 I I PG Ill Tetrachloroethylene\nI IUN1897 II Toxic II 6.1 II PG Ill Carbon Tetrachloride I I UN1846 II Toxic II 6.1 II PGII Sodium Chlorite II UN1496 I I\nOxidizer II 5.1 II PGII\nChlorite Solution I I UN1908 I I Corrosive I I 8 I I PGII & Ill (This would be the primary one shipped)\nHydrochloric Acid I I UNI1789 I I Corrosive I I 8 I I PG II & Ill\nWe would like to be able to advise these customers that they can legally transport these samples to a certified hazmat\npackager for preparation for shipping. However, we need to know that we are interpreting this correctly. Your prompt\nattention to this request would be greatly appreciated. You may send the letter to my attention at this email address, or\nif you need to send it by regular mail delivery, the address is:\nAttn: Norman Dodson\nOccidental Chemical Co.\n6200 South Ridge Road\nWichita, KS 67026\n1\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\nThanks and best regards.\nNorman Dodson\nTechnical Services\nOxyChem\nOffice: 316-529-7577\nFax: 713-985-1507\nnorman dodson@oxy.com\nThe information contained in this message may be confidential and/or privileged. This message is intended to be\nreviewed by the individual or organization named above. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified\nthat any review, dissemination or copying of this message or the information contained herein and in its attachments, if\nany, is prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please immediately notify the sender by return e-mail and\ndelete this message and attachments from your system.\n2","truncated":false,"body_characters":6150}