{"operation":"document","citation":"15-0075","title":"Dexsil Corporation — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2015-05-27","effective_on":null,"summary":"15-0075 response to Dexsil Corporation concerning 172.401, 173.4.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-15-0075.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-15-0075.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-15-0075","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2015/150075.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\n1200 New Jersey Avenue SE\nWashington. DC 20590\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nAdministration\nMAY 2 7 2015\nMr. Andrew Lynn\nQuality Control Manager\nDexsil Corporation\nOne Hamden Park Dr.\nHamden, CT 06517\nRef. No.: 15-0075\nDear Mr. Lynn:\nThis is in response to your letter requesting clarification of the the Hazardous Materials\nRegulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) regarding the applicability of certain provisions\nof Competent Authority Approval CA1996100010. In your letter, you state that your\ncompany ships environmental test kits containing small quantities of \"UN1391, Alkali metal\ndispersion, 4.3, PG I\" or \"UN1404, Calcium hydride mixtures, 4.3, PG I.\" Competent\nAuthority Approval CA1996100010 authorizes these kits to be offered for domestic ground\ntransportation in accordance with the provisions for small quantities prescribed in § 173.4.\nWhen transported in accordance with the provisions of § 173.4 the kits are not subject to any\nother requirements of the HMR, including placarding. For air transport the kits are offered\nas a fully regulated Division 4.3 material aboard cargo aircraft only in accordance with the\nInternational Civil Aviation Organization Technical Instructions (ICAO TI). Your questions\nare paraphrased and answered below:\nQ1. You ask whether consignments that are fully marked and labeled accordance with the\nICAO TI may be transported without placarding the transport vehicle during the domestic\nground segment of transport based on the Competent Authority Approval authorization to\nuse the provisions of § 173.4:\nAl. Your understanding is correct. Section 173.4 excepts small quantities of authorized\nmaterials from the requirements of the HMR when transported domestically by highway or\nrail provided all of the requirements prescribed in § 173.4 are met. This means they are not\nsubject to the requirements for shipping papers, markings, labels, or placards when\ntransported by highway or rail including when such transportation is performed prior to or\nsubsequent to transportation by aircraft.\nQ2. You seek confirmation of your understanding that your package may be marked with\nthe statement \"This package conforms to 49 CFR 173.4 for domestic highway or rail\ntransport only\" as required by § 173.4(a)(10) in addition to the markings or labels prescribed\nby the ICAO TI. You note that under the ICAO TI, markings and labels required by other\ninternational or national transport regulations are permitted in addition to markings and\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nlabels required by the ICAO TI, provided that they cannot be confused with or conflict\nwith any markings or labels prescribed by the ICAO TI. In addition, you note that under\nthe HMR, there is no prohibition against marking the package in accordance with the\nICAO TI and note that § 172.401(c)(3) permits labeling in conformance with the ICAO TI\neven when not required by the HMR.\nA2. Your understanding is correct. Although your material is excepted from the\nrequirements of the HMR other than those prescribed in CA1996100010 and § 173.4, the\npackage may remain appropriately marked and labeled in accordance with the ICAO TI\nand transit the United States by highway or rail without placarding.\nI hope this information is helpful. If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to\ncontact this office.\nSincerely,\nDuane A. Pfl\nInternational Standards Coordinator\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nWiener\n173.4\nGoodall, Shante CTR (PHMSA)\nGeneral Requiements\nFrom:\nGeller, Shelby CTR (PHMSA)\n15 - 0075\nSent:\nTuesday, April 14, 2015 3:58 PM\nTo:\nHazmat Interps\nSubject:\nAttachments:\nFW: Interpretation of hazardous materials regulations\nCA1996100010 DOT interpretation revision 1.pdf\nHi Shante and Alice,\nAttached is a letter of interpretation request.\nThanks,\nShelby\nFrom: Andrew Lynn [mailto:alynn@dexsil.com]\nTo: INFOCNTR (PHMSA)\nSent: Tuesday, April 14, 2015 12:07 PM\nSubject: Interpretation of hazardous materials regulations\nUS DOT,\nAttached is a request for an interpretation on the use of Dexsil's Competent Authority Approval CA1996100010 '\nfor the ground transportation portion of an air shipment.\nThank you\nAndrew Lynn\nQuality Control Manager\nDirector of Analytical Services\nDexsil Corporation\nOne Hamden Park Dr.\nHamden CT 06517\nPhone: 203-288-3509\nEmail: alynn@dexsil.com\nWebsite: www.dexsil.com\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\nU.S. DOT\nPHMSA Office of Hazardous Materials Standards\nAttn: РHH-10\nEast Building\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE.\nWashington, DC 20590-0001\nDexsil Corporation began manufacturing and shipping test kits containing Alkali Metal Dispersion, 4.3,\nUN 1391, PG I, in 1983. Originally they were shipped under 49 CFR 173.4, however, in 1992 Division 4.3\nmaterials were removed from 173.4. As a result, Dexsil applied for and was granted an exemption (DOT-\nE11199) for shipment of sodium based kits. In 1996, after Division 4.3 materials were put back in 173.4\n(with approval), Dexsil Corporation applied for and was issued CA-9610010, an approval to ship\nEnvironmental Test Kits pursuant to 49 CFR 173.4, on October 31, 1996. Modes of transportation\nauthorized within CA-9610010 included motor vehicle, rail freight, cargo vessel, cargo only aircraft, and\npassenger aircraft. CA-9610010 was revised on November 5, 1997 to include Calcium Hydride\ncontaining kits, also a 4.3 PG I material. When 49 CFR 173.4 no longer allowed for air transport an\napplication for amendment to CA-9610010 was initiated and a new Competent Authority Approval CA-\n1996100010 2nd revision was issued on June 6, 2012.\nDexsil is currently shipping these environmental test kits containing small quantities of Alkali metal\ndispersion or small quantities of calcium hydride domestically by ground transportation under the\nCompetent Authority Approval CA1996100010 and 49 CFR 173.4 and therefore do not require\nplacarding. Dexsil was also shipping these same materials domestically by air until the introduction of\nthe operator variation FX-10 in the ICAO Technical Instructions. FX-10 effects ALL domestic air\nshipments of division 4.3 materials and requires the use of a special permit that does not require\nplacarding for road transportation. Under FX-10 international shipments are not affected, and are\nshipped as DG as before and do not cause a problem with FedEx. It is our understanding that even\ngoods packaged and labeled for DG shipping by air internationally can be shipped without placarding\nwhile on surface roads because of the approval to ship under 173.4.\nUnder ICAO regulations markings and labels required by other international or national transport\nregulations are permitted in addition to markings and labels required by the ICAO instructions, provided\nthat they cannot be confused with or conflict with any markings or labels prescribed by these\ninstructions, because of their color, design or shape. Under 49 CFR there are no regulations that\nprohibit the marking of packages with ICAO required markings, also in 49 CFR 172.401(c)(3) it is\nacceptable to mark packages according to the ICAO instructions and offer that package for ground\ntransport.\nWhile we believe that our interpretation of the DOT and ICAO regulations is correct, our counterparts at\nFedEx are not convinced and would like a formal ruling on the matter. To comply with the FX-10\noperator variation for domestic air shipments Dexsil would like a ruling/interpretation on the use of the\ncurrent Competent Authority Approval CA1996100010 to be utilized for the ground transportation\nportion of an air shipment and therefore not requiring placarding. The packages will be prepared within\n\n<<<PAGE 5>>>\n\nthe guidelines for air transportation and also within the guidelines of the approval with the addition of\nhazard labels and UN ID markings which are required for air transport. Thank you for your help in this\nmatter.\nAndrew Lynn\nQuality Control Manager\nDirector of Analytical Services\nDexsil Corporation\nOne Hamden Park Dr.\nHamden CT 06517\nPhone: 203-288-3509\nEmail: alynn@dexsil.com\nWebsite: www.dexsil.com","truncated":false,"body_characters":8052}