{"operation":"document","citation":"12-0237","title":"Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA, Inc. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2012-12-14","effective_on":null,"summary":"12-0237 response to Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA, Inc. concerning 171.1, 171.16.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0237.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0237.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-12-0237","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretations/2012/120237.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 ··~ 20r!\nMs. Karen Scheel\nTotal Petrochemicals & Refining USA, Inc.\n1201 Louisiana St. Ste. 1800\nHouston, TX 77002\nRef No.: 12-0237\nDear Ms. Scheel:\nThis is a response to your October 22, 2012 email requesting clarification of the Hazardous\nMaterials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 100-185) applicable to incident reporting.\nSpecifically, you describe a spill of approximately 3 gallons of Sulfuric Acid that occurred\nduring the unloading of a DOT 407 specification cargo tank motor vehicle. You indicate\nthat in this scenario, the carrier was still present and was working jointly with the consignee\nto unload the material using a consignee-owned unloading line. Based on this scenario you\nask; if the product is still considered in transportation and who is responsible for completing\nthe Hazardous Materials Incident Report on DOT Form F 5800.1, as required by § 171.16.\nAs required in§ 171.16, each person in physical possession of a hazardous material at the\ntime an incident specified in § 171.16 occurs during transportation (including loading,\nunloading, and temporary storage) must submit a Hazardous Materials Incident Report on\nDOT Form F 5800.1 within 30 days of discovery of the incident. According to§ 171.1(c),\ntransportation begins when a carrier takes physical possession of a hazardous material for\nthe purposes of transporting it and continues until the hazardous material is delivered to the\ndestination indicated on a shipping paper, package marking, or other medium. Furthermore,\n§ 171.1( c)(3) explains that transportation of a hazardous material in commerce includes\n\"emptying a hazardous material from the bulk packaging after the hazardous material has\nbeen delivered to the consignee when performed by carrier personnel or in the presence of\ncarrier personnel.\"\nIn the scenario you describe, the material is considered to be in transportation and in the\npossession of the carrier until delivery to the consignee is complete. Incidents that occur\nwhile the carrier that delivered the hazardous material is observing or participating in\nunloading operations must be reported by the carrier because the carrier is deemed to be in\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\npossession of the hazardous material at that point. In the scenario you provide, the carrier\nmust complete and submit a DOT incident report. However, the HMR does not prohibit the\nconsignee from completing and submitting the incident report.\nI hope this information is helpful. If you have any more questions, please do not hesitate to\ncontact this office.\nSincerely,\nRobert Benedict\nChief, Standards Development\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nDrakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA)\nFrom:\nSent:\nTo:\nSubject:\nINFOCNTR (PHMSA)\nTuesday, October 23, 2012 10:05 AM\nDrakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA)\nFW: Hazardous Material Incident Reporting Requirements\n6«.-cha./6\nQl71· l(p\n§ J71 . 8\n:It!cid-enf f?rrfV:J\n12-0237\nHi Carolyn,\nThanks,\nVictoria\nWe received the following request for a formal letter of interpretation.\nFrom: Karen SCHEEL [mailto:karen.scheel@total.coml\nSent: Monday, October 22, 2012 12:06 PM\nTo: INFOCNTR (PHMSA)\nSubject: Hazardous Material Incident Reporting Requirements\nI am writing to request clarification ofthe Hazardous Material Incident Reporting requirements.\nWhile unloading hazardous material (sulfuric acid) from a bulk packaging (truck), a leak occurred on a consignee~owned\nunloading line. The driver was present and participated in the unloading process along with consignee personnel. The line\nwas located between the delivering truck and the consignee tank, to which the sulfuric acid was being unloaded.\nApproximately 3 gallons sulfuric acid were spilled to containment. There were no injuries or exposures.\nAccording to 49CFR171.8, \"Unloading Incidental to Movement\" means \" . .for a bulk packaging, emptying a hazardous\nmaterial from the bulk packaging after the hazardous material has been delivered to the consignee when performed by\ncarrier personnel or in the presence of carrier personnel....\"\n49CFR171.6(a) states that \"each person in physical possession of a hazardous material. .. must submit a Hazardous\nMaterials Incident Report on DOT Form F 5800.1\"\nBecause the carrier was still present <;md obsE;rving or participating in the unloa ing, it appears that he was still in\npossession of the material. Howevei, because the unloading line belonged to us the consignee facility, it caused us to\nlook further into the regulation to d~termine whether it made sense for the ca ier to report a leak on our facility\nunloading line. '-\\., ' ~\n\"\"---\n.. ,, /,_,,./\nIn addition, on the form \"Instructions for CompTettng~.Wa«tt=Getts-Materials Incident Report -Department of\nTransportation Form F 5800.1\", in the section titled \"Who Must Complete the Report\" it is stated: \"Any person in\npossession of a hazardous material during transportation, including loading, unloading and storage incidental to\ntransportation must report to the Department of Transportation (DOT) if certain conditions are met. This means that\nwhen the conditions apply for completing the report, the entity having physical control of the shipment is responsible for\nfilling out and filing form 5800.1. For example, if a shipper is carrying hazardous material and the material is in the process\nof being unloaded by the consignee and there is an incident involving this material, the consignee is responsible for filling\nout and filing the form\".\nIf a consignee and carrier are jointly working together to complete the unloading, and the product has moved into the\nconsignee-owned unloading line, 1) is the product still in transportation? and 2) If applicable, should the carrier be\nexpected to file a 5800 report for an incident involving the consignee-owned unloading equipment, or should the\nconsignee make the report?\nI appreciate your assistance in clarification of this requirement.\n1\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\nThank you,\nKaren\nKaren Scheel\nSr. HSE Coordinator- Transportation and Product Safety\nTotal Petrochemicals & Refining USA, Inc.\n1201 Louisiana St. Ste. 1800\nHouston, TX 77002\nWork: {713) 483-5048\nMobile: (713) 569-1078\nFax: (713) 483-5050\nKaren.Scheel@total.com\nThis e-mail and any attachments may contain confidential information. If you are\nnot the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail,\ndelete this e-mail and destroy any copies. Any dissemination or use of this\ninformation by a person other than the intended recipient is unauthorized and may\nbe illegal.\n2","truncated":false,"body_characters":6629}