Manufacturing and Supply Chain Services — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation

Page 1U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration i 200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, D.C. 20590 JUN 2 0 2013 Mr. Todd A. Strobel Regulatory Compliance Specialist Manufacturing and Supply Chain Services 3M Center, 225-4S-18 St. Paul, MN 55144-1000 Ref. No.: 13-0096 Dear Mr. Strobel: This is in response to your May 7, 2013 email requesting clarification of the requirements for shipping lithium batteries in accordance with Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) and the International Civil Aviation Organization Teclmical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air (ICAO TI). Both the HMR and the ICAO TI require certain shipments of lithium batteries be accompanied by a document indicating that the package(s) in that shipment contain lithium batteries, a f1ammability hazard exists if the package is damaged, that special procedures must be followed in the event a package is damaged and a telephone number for additional information. Specifically, you ask if this document must follow a particular format. Both the HMR and the ICAO TI require a document to accompany certain shipments of lithium batteries but do not require a specific format. Any document that contains all of the required information is acceptable. This approach provides shippers and carriers with the f1exibility to design documents consistent with their own needs. I hope this information is helpful. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact this office. - ~1~· Delmer Billmgs ~ Senior Regulatory Advisor Standards and Rulemaking Division#

Page 2Drakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA) From: Sent: To: Cc: Kelley, Shane (PHMSA) Friday, May 10, 2013 12:41 PM 'tastrobel@mmm.com' rtduzynski@mmm.com; Pfund, Duane (PHMSA); Leary, Kevin (PHMSA); Drakeford, Carolyn (PHMSA) Subject: RE: Lithium Battery Documents Todd, Thank you we will process this as a request for an interpretation and answer your question as to whether there is a specified format. We'll look forward to working at the UN and with interested stakeholders on the broader issues raised by PRBA. -Shane Shane C. Kelley Assistant International Standards Coordinator Office of Hazardous Materials Safety Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration U.S. Department of Transportation Voice: 202-366-4359 FAX: 202-366-5713 From: tastrobel@mmm.com [mailto:tastrobel@mmm.com] Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2013 5:17 PM To: Kelley, Shane (PHMSA) Cc: rtduzynski@mmm.com Subject: Lithium Battery Documents Shane, I wanted to follow up with you regarding our round table discussion at the DGAC meeting in Washington, DC last week regarding the Lithium Battery documents that are being used to meet the ICAO/IATA lithium battery packing instruction document requirements in Section II. lATA has created a document template (shown below) that is found in the lATA Lithium Battery Guidance Document and the other document is being used for air shipments within Europe (however I believe that the Europe document was originally developed and required for shipments from Hong Kong). http://www. iata.org/whatwedo/cargo/dgr/Documents/Lithium-Battery-Guidance-2013-V1.1.pdf, My concern is that if we don't provide one of these documents as required by a particular carrier (freight forwarder or airline) we face rejections of our shipments. These are the only two forms that I am currently aware of, but there could be more in existence or additional ones being developed by the airlines and forwarders. Note: PRBA has submitted a proposal for eliminating the document requirements in Special Provision 188 of the UN Model Regulations applicable to small lithium cells and batteries. The PRBA proposal will be addressed at the June 2013 UN Sub- Committee of Experts meeting in Geneva. If adopted by the UN Sub-Committee, PRBA's goal is to have the same documentation requirement removed from the ICAO Technical Instructions. 1#

Page 3As we discussed, it would be helpful to receive a DOT interpretation that states that a document may be any form as long as it meets the requirements as found in Special Provision 188 and in the ICAO Technical Instructions. Shipper Declaration ~-'>!-!<!;n.>ii'l-"">;,¥-<;l~-->l*:tllii:!IJ..,.. . .ro.~.,r,;:;t...""'.~;~,.-;-;"'I'"-"'~; ... _.W-<4>-"''.£l0,"":rl.><l'"';, i}i)l$1.oft~.V:i•i!Ji-.t;!!AC!<"J-~~~ ii'M.ll.M..ilfb.!iliUtii)Jo If you have any questions, please let me know. Thanks! Todd A. Strobel, DGSA I Regulatory Compliance Specialist Manufacturing & Supply Chain Services 3M Center, 225-4S-18 I St. Paul, MN 55144-1000 US Office: 651 733 6937 I Fax: 651 733 2446 tastrobel@mmm.com 1 www.3M.com 2#