{"operation":"document","citation":"14-0241","title":"Horizon Hobby, LLC — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2016-02-29","effective_on":null,"summary":"14-0241 response to Horizon Hobby, LLC concerning 172.312.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-14-0241.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-14-0241.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-14-0241","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2016/140241.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department of Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials\nWashington, DC 20590\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nSafety Administration\nFEB 2 9 2016\nMr. Travis Morenz\nDomestic Logistics and Compliance Analyst\nHorizon Hobby, LLC\n4105 Fieldstone Road\nChampaign, IL 61822\nReference No. 14-0241\nDear Mr. Morenz:\nThis is in response to your December 18, 2014 e-mail requesting clarification of the\n• Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) relating to the use of\norientation arrows on packages and lithium battery classification. Your questions are\nparaphrased and answered as follows.\nQ1.\nIs it a violation of HMR § 172.312 to have partially covered or completely covered\norientation arrow markings on a package that contains a non-liquid hazardous\nmaterial or a material that is not subject to regulation under the HMR?\nAl.\nSection 172.312 specifies when appropriate package orientation arrows are\nrequired. The HMR do not prohibit partially or completely covered orientation\narrow markings on packages where their display is not required in accordance with\n§ 172.312.\nYou provide an example of a 2-cell lithium ion battery with each cell rated at 30 Watt-\nhours (Wh) and an overall battery rating of 60 Wh and ask the following:\nQ2.\nIs the outer package for the example lithium ion battery required to be marked\n\"LITHIUM BATTERIES-FORBIDDEN FOR TRANSPORT ABOARD\nAIRCRAFT AND VESSEL\" in accordance with HMR § 173.185(c)(1)(iv)?\nA2.\nThe answer is no. Neither the individual cells within the example lithium ion\nbattery exceed the 60 Wh threshold, nor does the battery exceed the 300 Wh\nthreshold for the § 173.185 (c)(1)(iv) marking requirement to apply.\nQ3.\nUnder special provision 188 of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods\n(IMDG) Code would the example lithium ion battery be classified as Class 9?\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nA3.\nThe example lithium ion battery does not exceed the 100 Wh limit and may be\ntransported in accordance with special provision 188 of the IMDG Code. The 20\nWh cell and 100 Wh battery thresholds apply to the item being shipped. In this\nexample, because the battery does not exceed 100 Wh, you would not have to\nconsider the size of the component cells.\nQ4.\nUnder Packing Instruction 965 of the International Civil Aviation Organization\nTechnical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air (ICAO\nTI), would the example lithium ion battery fall under Section IA, Section IB or\nSection II?\nA4.\nProvided the lithium ion battery does not exceed 100 Wh, the example lithium ion\nbattery would be subject to the requirements of Section II of Packing Instruction\n965 of the ICAO TI.\ncontact this office.\nI trust this information is helpful. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to\nSincerely,\nDuaned Feel\nDuane A. Pfund\nInternational Standards Coordinator\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nBabuch\n$172.312 Markera\nDodd, Alice (PHMSA)\n§ 173.185 Lithium Batteries\n14-0241\nFrom:\nSent:\nCiccarone, Michael CTR (PHMSA)\nThursday, December 18, 2014 2:22 PM\nTo:\nHazmat Interps\nSubject:\nFW: Request for formal Letter of Interpretation\nShante/Alice,\nPlease submit this for a formal letter of interpretation. I spoke with Mr. Morenz earlier today.\nThanks,\nMike\nFrom: Travis Morenz [mailto:tmorenz@horizonhobby.com]\nSent: Thursday, December 18, 2014 2:20 PM\nTo: Ciccarone, Michael CTR (PHMSA)\nSubject: RE: Request for formal Letter of Interpretation\nMike-\nThank you so much.\nOur physical address is below,\nHorizon Hobby LLC\n4105 Fieldstone Road\nChampaign IL, 61822\nTravis Morenz\nDomestic Logistics and Compliance Analyst\nHorizon Hobby, LLC\nPh: 1-217-403-3126\nCell: 1-217-841-5980\ntmorenz@horizonhobby.com\nFrom: m.ciccarone.ctr@dot.gov [mailto:m.ciccarone.ctr@dot.gov]\nSent: Thursday, December 18, 2014 12:58 PM\nTo: Travis Morenz\nSubject: RE: Request for formal Letter of Interpretation\nDear Travis,\nhazardous materials regulations (49 CFR Parts 171-180).\nWe have received your request for a\nwritten letter of interpretation regarding the\nPlease include your company's physical address to expedite the submission process.\nSincerely,\n1\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\nMike, Hazardous Materials Specialist\nAn e-mail response from this office is considered informal guidance.\nbe requested in accordance with 49 CFR 105.20.\nhttp://phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat/regs/interps\nFormal guidance may\nFrom: Travis Morenz [mailto:tmorenz@horizonhobby.com]\nSent: Thursday, December 18, 2014 11:15 AM\nTo: PHMSA HM InfoCenter\nCc: infocenter@dot.gov\nSubject: Request for formal Letter of Interpretation\nGood day,\nI am writing to day in hopes to get clarification and a formal Letter of Interpretation on 2 subjects, the use of Orientation\nArrow markings and Lithium Battery classification.\n1) In regards to Orientation arrow markings, is it a violation of 172.312 to have partially covered or completely\ncovered Orientation arrow markings on a package that contains a) a non-liquid hazardous material or b) a\nmaterial that is not covered by the HMR?\n2) Please help to clarify Lithium battery classification under 173.185 of the HMR, Special Provision 188 of the IMDG\ncode (Amdt 36-12)_ and Packaging Instruction P1965 of the ICAO regulations. For this example we will use a 2-\ncell lithium ion battery that has a cell Wh rating of 30wh and an overall battery WH rating of 60Wh.\nUnder the HMR, 173.185 (c)(1) defines the size limits for lithium batteries as Wh rating may not exceed 20Wh for\na lithium ion cell or 100Wh for a lithium ion battery.\na) Question: Using the 2-cell battery example above would this battery be subject to the additional\n\"LITHIUM BATTERIES-FORBIDDEN FOR TRANSPORT ABOARD AIRCRAFT AND VESSEL\" marking\nrequirement found in (c)(1) (iv)?\nUnder the IMDG code, Special Provision 188 states the same 20Wh cell, 100Wh battery rating requirements.\nAlthough the IMDG does not clearly indicate \"or\" but lists the size limits in the following fashion:\n.1 For a lithium-ion cell the watt-hour rating is not more than 20Wh;\n.2 For a Lithium-ion battery the watt-hour rating is not more than 100Wh;\nb) Question: Using the 2-cell battery example, since the cell watt-hour rating in the example is 30Wh,\nwould this battery be subject to the requirements of SP188 or would the battery be classified as\nClass 9?\nUnder the ICAO regulations, PI965 states the general requirements for Section IA applies to lithium ion cells\nwith a Wh rating in excess of 20Wh and lithium ion batteries with a Wh rating in excess of 100Wh. Section IB and Section\nIl applies to lithium ion cells not exceeding a Wh rating of 20Wh and\nTable 965-II.\nLithium ion batteries not exceeding 100Wh packaged in quantities not exceeding the allowances permitted in\nc) Question: Using the 2-cell battery example, since the cell Wh rating of the battery is 30Wh, would\nthis battery fall under Section IA, or Sections IB or Section Il based of the Wh rating of the battery.\n2\n\n<<<PAGE 5>>>\n\nPlease understand my confusion, as under the ICAO regulations the verbiage \"and\" is expressly used and in the\nHMR the verbiage \"or\" is used. This verbiage can mean different things, I recently received an interpretation from IATA\nstating the below in regards to the same example battery and question posed to you in question 2(c). From IATA (and l\nam paraphrasing):\n\"the Wh rating limit explicitly says \"and\" for cells \"and\" batteries to be below the limit. So for assigning the\nbattery to section Il you need to ensure the cells and batteries are below the Wh limit. Then, once in section II, you\nfollow the package limits for either cells OR batteries based on what you have.\nII.\"\nSo your 2 cell battery at 30Wh / cell is a Section IA battery and you can't follow any of the provision in Section\nPlease feel free to reach out to me if you have further questions and I appreciate your time\nThank you,\nTravis Morenz\nDomestic Logistics and Compliance Analyst\nHorizon Hobby, LLC\nPh: 1-217-403-3126\nCell: 1-217-841-5980\ntmorenz@horizonhobby.com\n3","truncated":false,"body_characters":7947}