{"operation":"document","citation":"16-0067","title":"Mr. Francis J. Mendez — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2016-08-02","effective_on":null,"summary":"16-0067 concerning 172.102, 175.10.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-16-0067.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-16-0067.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-16-0067","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2017/160067.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nPipeline and Hazardous\nWashington, D.C. 20590\nAdministration\nMaterials Safety\nAUG 0 2 2016\nMr. Francis J. Mendez\nP.O. Box 6362\nSan Juan, PR 00914\nReference No. 16-0067\nDear Mr. Mendez:\nThis letter is in response to your March 2, 2016, letter requesting clarification of the\nHazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to the shipment\nof \"UN0044, Primers, cap type, by air.\" Specifically, you ask if it is legal and in compliance\nwith the HMR for a person traveling aboard a passenger aircraft to transport in checked\nbaggage primers that are still packed in the original factory packaging, or if they must be\nshipped by cargo aircraft. You cite memos from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)\nand the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) that prohibit the\ntransportation of primers in checked baggage. You further add that the listing for \"UN0044,\nPrimers, cap type, 1.4S\" in the § 172.102 Hazardous Materials Table allows primers to be\nshipped as hazardous materials aboard passenger aircraft up to 25 kg.\nAs outlined in the two memos you cited in your letter, § 175.10 prohibits primers that meet\nthe definition of a 1.4S material from shipment in checked baggage on passenger aircraft.\nThe primers you describe would be permitted for shipment aboard a passenger or cargo\naircraft, with limitations, when offered to a common carrier in accordance with the HMR.\nI hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.\nSincerely,\nT. Glenn Foster\nChief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch\nStandard and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nAndrews\nFrancis J. Mendez\n8/72.101\nP.O. Box 6362\nHMT\nSan Juan, PR 00914\nemail: fjmendez@prw.net\n16-0067\nDr. Magdy El-Sibaie\nMarch 2, 2016\nUSDOT US Dept of Transportation\nAssociate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)\nEast Building, PHH-30\n1200 New Jersey Ave, S.E.\nWashington, D.C: 20590\n16 APR -5 PM 3: 30\n0OT/RSPA/ OHMS\nDear Mr. El-Sibaie - .\nUNIT\nI am writing to request your assistance with some questions I have researched but\ncannot find clear answers to. I am hoping you or someone in your staff can help me\nwith answers to my questions, relating to CFR 172.101, and \"primers, cap type) as\napplicable to transporting in passenger aircraft, and or cargo aircraft. Specifically, !\nwant to know if I can bring small arms primers (cap-type), packed in their original,\nfactory packaging, in my checked luggage, or send in cargo aircraft.\nI have read CFR 172.101 and the Hazard Materials Tables (page 262) and I understand\nthat the type of primers used in small pistol reloading fall under the following description\nand category:\nHazard Description:\nHazard Class/Division:\nPrimers, cap type\n1.4S\nID No.:\nUN0044\nLabel Codes:\nNone\nPacking Ex.:\nNone\nQuantity Limitation,\nPassenger Aircraft:\n25kg\nCommercial Aircraft:\n100kg\nI my research I found a communication from the TSA (dated Feb. 12, 2010) by a Mr.\nChad Bash, Assistant, General Manager, for Communications and Resolution, Office of\nSecurity Operations, TSAHSA which was addressed to C. Tulpa at the Wild Outdoor\nAdventures Television which (although dated) included the following paragraph:\n\"Primers must be protected from accidental initiation and must also be the type.\npermitted by the Department of Transportation Hazardous Materials Regulations.\nYou will have to determine the hazard class of the 209 Primers. Dependent on\nthe hazard class, the primers may or may not be placed in checked baggage. To\nassist you in that determination, we suggest that you contact the Pipeline and\nHazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) at 1-800-467-4922.\nAlthough TSA does not have a limit to the number of allowable primers, air\ncarriers may have their own requirements regarding the amount of primers that\ncan be transported in checked baggage.\" (Note: In this paragraph they are\nreferring to 209 primers, which are \"Shotshell\" primers).\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nPage 2 of 2.\nMarch 2, 2016\nDr. Magdy El-Sibaie\nHowever, I have also found some general information from the FAA that would seem to\ncontradict that statement:\nhttps://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/hazmat safety/more_ info/?hazmat=4\n\"Small arms ammunition includes cartridges up to 19.1 mm (.75 caliber) and\nshotgun shells. It does not include black powder, smokeless powder, primers,\npercussion caps, or homemade powder and ball loads for muzzle loading.\"\nI also found the following:\nhttp://phmsa.dot.gov/safetravel/ammunition\n\"May I carry ammunition components? You may carry separate non-hazardous\ncomponents of ammunition such as empty cartridge cases or inert bullets.\nSeparate hazardous components such as black powder, smokeless powder,\npercussion caps, primers, wrapped charges used in muzzle-loading applications,\nor similar items are prohibited.\"\nIn further reading of CFR 172.101 (page 163) and from what I can gather from the\ndocument, the description for small arms ammunition (Cartridges for weapons, or\ncartridges for small arms), with Hazard Class/Division 1.4S (ID No: UN0012), an item\nwhich one can carry up to 11 Ibs. in \"checked luggage\" on passenger aircraft, that said\nitem's Hazard Class/Division of 1.4S, and Quantity Limitations of 25kg seem to be the\nsame as for the \"Primers, cap type\"\nThat being the case, it would seem to me that there is a possibility that based on the\nCFR and the \"primers, cap type\" table description, that one could legally and in\naccordance to applicable regulations, include in one's checked luggage \"primers, cap\ntype\" that meets the 1.4S class and ID No UN0044.\nI would appreciate if you could clarify if a person traveling from a city in the continental\nUS to the island of PR (or vice versa) can legally and in compliance with applicable\nregulations governing traveling with \"Primers, cap type\" as those described above, can\nbring small arms primers (cap-type), packed in their original factory packaging, in the\npersons checked luggage, or send them using a cargo aircraft courier type company.\nThank you in advance for your time and clarification of this issue.\nFrancis J. Mendez","truncated":false,"body_characters":6224}