Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA, Inc. — 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 DEC 1 ··~ 20r! Ms. Karen Scheel Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA, Inc. 1201 Louisiana St. Ste. 1800 Houston, TX 77002 Ref No.: 12-0237 Dear Ms. Scheel: This is a response to your October 22, 2012 email requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 100-185) applicable to incident reporting. Specifically, you describe a spill of approximately 3 gallons of Sulfuric Acid that occurred during the unloading of a DOT 407 specification cargo tank motor vehicle. You indicate that in this scenario, the carrier was still present and was working jointly with the consignee to unload the material using a consignee-owned unloading line. Based on this scenario you ask; if the product is still considered in transportation and who is responsible for completing the Hazardous Materials Incident Report on DOT Form F 5800.1, as required by § 171.16. As required in§ 171.16, each person in physical possession of a hazardous material at the time an incident specified in § 171.16 occurs during transportation (including loading, unloading, and temporary storage) must submit a Hazardous Materials Incident Report on DOT Form F 5800.1 within 30 days of discovery of the incident. According to§ 171.1(c), transportation begins when a carrier takes physical possession of a hazardous material for the purposes of transporting it and continues until the hazardous material is delivered to the destination indicated on a shipping paper, package marking, or other medium. Furthermore, § 171.1( c)(3) explains that transportation of a hazardous material in commerce includes "emptying a hazardous material from the bulk packaging after the hazardous material has been delivered to the consignee when performed by carrier personnel or in the presence of carrier personnel." In the scenario you describe, the material is considered to be in transportation and in the possession of the carrier until delivery to the consignee is complete. Incidents that occur while the carrier that delivered the hazardous material is observing or participating in unloading operations must be reported by the carrier because the carrier is deemed to be in#

Page 2possession of the hazardous material at that point. In the scenario you provide, the carrier must complete and submit a DOT incident report. However, the HMR does not prohibit the consignee from completing and submitting the incident report. I hope this information is helpful. If you have any more questions, please do not hesitate to contact this office. Sincerely, Robert Benedict Chief, Standards Development Standards and Rulemaking Division#

Page 3Drakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA) From: Sent: To: Subject: INFOCNTR (PHMSA) Tuesday, October 23, 2012 10:05 AM Drakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA) FW: Hazardous Material Incident Reporting Requirements 6«.-cha./6 Ql71· l(p § J71 . 8 :It!cid-enf f?rrfV:J 12-0237 Hi Carolyn, Thanks, Victoria We received the following request for a formal letter of interpretation. From: Karen SCHEEL [mailto:karen.scheel@total.coml Sent: Monday, October 22, 2012 12:06 PM To: INFOCNTR (PHMSA) Subject: Hazardous Material Incident Reporting Requirements I am writing to request clarification ofthe Hazardous Material Incident Reporting requirements. While unloading hazardous material (sulfuric acid) from a bulk packaging (truck), a leak occurred on a consignee~owned unloading line. The driver was present and participated in the unloading process along with consignee personnel. The line was located between the delivering truck and the consignee tank, to which the sulfuric acid was being unloaded. Approximately 3 gallons sulfuric acid were spilled to containment. There were no injuries or exposures. According to 49CFR171.8, "Unloading Incidental to Movement" means " . .for a bulk packaging, emptying a hazardous material from the bulk packaging after the hazardous material has been delivered to the consignee when performed by carrier personnel or in the presence of carrier personnel...." 49CFR171.6(a) states that "each person in physical possession of a hazardous material. .. must submit a Hazardous Materials Incident Report on DOT Form F 5800.1" Because the carrier was still present <;md obsE;rving or participating in the unloa ing, it appears that he was still in possession of the material. Howevei, because the unloading line belonged to us the consignee facility, it caused us to look further into the regulation to d~termine whether it made sense for the ca ier to report a leak on our facility unloading line. '-\., ' ~ ""--- .. ,, /,_,,./ In addition, on the form "Instructions for CompTettng~.Wa«tt=Getts-Materials Incident Report -Department of Transportation Form F 5800.1", in the section titled "Who Must Complete the Report" it is stated: "Any person in possession of a hazardous material during transportation, including loading, unloading and storage incidental to transportation must report to the Department of Transportation (DOT) if certain conditions are met. This means that when the conditions apply for completing the report, the entity having physical control of the shipment is responsible for filling out and filing form 5800.1. For example, if a shipper is carrying hazardous material and the material is in the process of being unloaded by the consignee and there is an incident involving this material, the consignee is responsible for filling out and filing the form". If a consignee and carrier are jointly working together to complete the unloading, and the product has moved into the consignee-owned unloading line, 1) is the product still in transportation? and 2) If applicable, should the carrier be expected to file a 5800 report for an incident involving the consignee-owned unloading equipment, or should the consignee make the report? I appreciate your assistance in clarification of this requirement. 1#

Page 4Thank you, Karen Karen Scheel Sr. HSE Coordinator- Transportation and Product Safety Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA, Inc. 1201 Louisiana St. Ste. 1800 Houston, TX 77002 Work: {713) 483-5048 Mobile: (713) 569-1078 Fax: (713) 483-5050 Karen.Scheel@total.com This e-mail and any attachments may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail, delete this e-mail and destroy any copies. Any dissemination or use of this information by a person other than the intended recipient is unauthorized and may be illegal. 2#