{"operation":"document","citation":"16-0115","title":"The Dow Chemical Company — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2016-08-10","effective_on":null,"summary":"16-0115 response to The Dow Chemical Company concerning 179.200, 179.202.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-16-0115.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-16-0115.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-16-0115","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2016/160115.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nof Transportation\nU.S. Department\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nWashington, D.C. 20590\nMaterials Safety\nPipeline and Hazardous\nAdministration\nAUG 1 D:2016\nMr. John Heater\nTransportation Safety and Security Specialist\nThe Dow Chemical Company\n100 Independence Mall West\nPhiladelphia, PA 19106\nRef. No. 16-0115\nDear Mr. Heater:\nThis responds to your June 29, 2016, email requesting clarification of the Hazardous\nMaterials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR parts 171-180) applicable to the use of stainless steel as\na material of construction for DOT Specification 117 (DOT-117) tank cars. On May 8, 2015,\nthe Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published HM-251, a\nFinal Rule titled \"Hazardous Materials: Enhanced Tank Car Standards and Operation Controls\nfor High-Hazard Flammable Trains\" [80 FR 26643] which adopted prescriptive, performance,\nand retrofit standards for DOT-117 tank cars. Your questions are paraphrased and answered\nbelow:\nQ1. You note that in accordance with DOT-117 prescriptive standards the only material of\nconstruction authorized is AAR TC-128 Grade B, normalized steel and ask if any alternate\nmaterials, such as stainless steel, may be used when building DOT-117 tank cars.\nAl. The answer is yes. Section 179.202-1 requires that each DOT-117 tank car be built in\naccordance with the general requirements of § 179.200 and the prescriptive standards in\n§§ 179.202-1 through 179.202-11 or the performance standards in § 179.202-12. The\nprescriptive standards for DOT-117 tank cars require the use of, at a minimum, 9/16 inch\nAAR TC-128, Grade B, normalized steel. While no other materials are prescribed, alternate\ndesigns will be considered in accordance with the performance specification standards of\n§ 179.202-12. This may allow a DOT-117 tank car to be built with stainless steel. DOT-117\nperformance standards were intentionally incorporated into HM-251 to drive innovation and\nallow for variations in the DOT-117 tank car specifications.\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nQ2. You ask how to proceed in an obtaining an approval to build a stainless steel DOT-117\ntank car.\nA2. In order for a DOT-117 tank car to be built with stainless steel, it must meet the\nperformance standards outlined in § 179.202-12 (see A1). Section 179.202-12(a) requires\ntank car design, testing, and modeling results be reviewed and approved by the Associate\nAdministrator for Railroad Safety/Chief Safety Officer, Federal Railroad Administration\n(FRA), 1200 New Jersey Ave. S.E., Washington, DC 20590.\nQ3. You ask for consideration in adopting stainless steel as a prescribed material of\nconstruction for DOT-117 tank cars and provide reasons for its incorporation.\nA3. As mentioned in Al above, the performance standards in § 179.202-12 have been\ndesigned to allow for variations in the DOT-117 tank car, as you suggest.\nI trust this satisfies your inquiry. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.\nSincerely,\nChief, Standards Development Branch\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nCelleR\n179.200-7\nGoodall, Shante CTR (PHMSA)\nMaterials\nFrom:\nBetts, Charles (PHMSA)\n16-0115\nSent:\nThursday, June 30, 2016 8:12 AM\nTo:\nGoodall, Shante CTR (PHMSA)\nSubject:\nFW: Interpretation Letter Request - Dow Chemical\nAttachments:\nDow Chemical Request for Interpretation.pdf\nHere you go\nFrom: Heater, John L (J) [mailto:jheater@dow.com]\nTo: PHMSA HM InfoCenter\nSent: Wednesday, June 29, 2016 1:06 PM\nSubject: Interpretation Letter Request - Dow Chemical\nCc: Majors, Leonard (PHMSA); Keltz, Randy (FRA); Betts, Charles (PHMSA); Alexy, Karl (FRA); Freeman, Cheryl (PHMSA)\nThe Dow Chemical Company respectfully submits the attached request for an interpretation letter. Your prompt\nprocessing is necessary and would be greatly appreciated.\nPlease contact me with any questions or need for additional information.\nSincerely,\nJohn Heater\nTransportation Safety and Security Specialist\nThe Dow Chemical Company\n100 Independence Mall West\nPhiladelphia, PA 19106\nPhone: (215) 592-3157\nEmail: jheater@dow.com\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\nFor the testing, destroy\nDow\n:\nrankcar\nThe Dow Chemical Company\nMidland, Mi 48674\nU.S.A.\nJune 29, 2016\nVia Email\nU.S. DOT\nPHMSA Office of Hazardous Materials Standards\nAttn: PHH-10\nEast Building\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE.\nWashington, DC 20590-0001\nphmsa.hm-infocenter@dot.gov\nSubject: Request for Interpretation\n117J VS IITP\nThe Dow Chemical Company (\"Dow\") respectfully submits this request for an interpretation\nletter.\nDow's request for an interpretation is with regard to the materials of construction authorized for a\nDOT Specification 117 tank car in §179.200-7 of the Hazardous Material Regulations (\"HMR\").\nas adopted in the HM-251 Final Rule, only TC-128 Grade B carbon steel is an authorized\nDow has a need to build DOT Specification 117 tank cars constructed of stainless steel; however,\ndecision to exclude stainless steel as an authorized\nmaterial of construction for a DOT Specification 117 tank car. «Was it an oversight or a deliberate,\nbof construction\ninputapproval frum\nFollowing are the reasons in support of stainless steel as an authorized material of construction:\nFRA\nIn the HM-251 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, first footnote under \"Table 2: Safety\nFeatures by Tank Car Option\" in the preamble on page 45019, it was implied that stainless\npurposes of this figure, TC-128 Grade B normalized steel is used to provide a consistent\nsteel would be an authorized material of construction by stating the following: \"For the\ncomparison to the proposed options. Section 179.200-7 provides alternative materials which\nare authorized for the DOT Specification 111. \" As such, it doesn't appear that the intent was\nto exclude the use of alternative steels; however these were not included in the final rule,\nwhich supports Dow's belief that this was an oversight, not a deliberate exclusion.\nAdditionally, for the Transport Canada proposed TC 140 Specification tank car (later adopted\nas the TC 117 Specification tank car), stainless steel was a proposed material of construction;\nhowever Transport Canada only adopted TC-128 Grade B normalized steel.\n• In the unpublished February 2016 Advanced Tank Car Collaborative Research Program\n(\"ATTCRP\") Final Technical Report for Project TWP-10, sponsored by the American\nChemistry Council, the Association of American Railroads (\"AAR\"), The Chlorine Institute,\nThe Fertilizer Institute and the Railway Supply Institute (\"RSI\"'), it was reported that 304L\nstainless steel produces the highest average normalized puncture energy, which represents a\n55% improvement over TC-128 Grade B carbon steel, and a 17% improvement in average\nnormalized puncture force over TC-128 Grade B carbon steel. Additionally, on page 88 of\nthe report, Figure 66 indicates a 24% increase in puncture speed resistance for 304L stainless\nsteel; therefore, a 9/16 inch thick stainless steel plate would at a minimum be equal in\n\n<<<PAGE 5>>>\n\nDow\nThe Dow Chemical Company\nMidland, MI 48674\nU.S.A.\nperformance to TC-128 Grade B carbon steel, and stainless steel could actually be thinner\nbased on puncture energy absorption.\n• There are some flammable liquids that are not compatible with either carbon steel or any\nlining Dow is aware of that is suitable for application to a carbon steel tank car, consequently\na stainless steel DOT Specification 117 tank car would be required.\nDow recently has brought forth this issue for discussion at the April 2016 AAR Tank Car\nCommittee meeting, as well as during the Transport Canada meeting of the TP14877 Consultative\nCommittee in May 2016. During these meetings, all parties seemed to be in support of the need\nto add stainless steel as an authorized material of construction for the DOT Specification 117 tank\ncar.\nFor the aforementioned reasons, Pow requests that PHMSA and FRA collaborate with Transport\nobtalia\nThank you for consideration of our request. Dow welcomes the opportunity to continue the\nnot hesitate to contact the undersigned at your convenience.\ndiscussion on this issue. If you have any questions or require additional information please do\nSincerely,\nJohn Heater\nJohn Heater\nTransportation Safety and Security Specialist\nThe Dow Chemical Company\n100 Independence Mall West\nPhiladelphia. PA 19106\nPhone: (215) 592-3157\nEmail: jheater@dow.com\nCc: Charles Betts, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nCc: Leonard Majors, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nCc: Cheryl West Freeman, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nCc: Karl Alexy, Federal Railroad Administration\nCc: Randy Keltz, Federal Railroad Administration","truncated":false,"body_characters":8609}