{"operation":"document","citation":"16-0207","title":"Kinross EMS — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2017-08-15","effective_on":null,"summary":"16-0207 response to Kinross EMS concerning 175.1, 175.9, 177.823.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-16-0207.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-16-0207.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-16-0207","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2017/160207.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\n5220 W M-80\nKincheloe, MI 49788\nReference No. 16-0207\nDear Ms. McBane:\nThis letter is in response to your December 27, 2016, email requesting clarification of the\nHazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to exceptions for\ntransportation of Category A infectious substances. You provide a scenario where a hospital\ntransports patients infected with Category A infectious substances in an ambulance to the local\nairport for air ambulance services. Then, the hospital transports the ambulance and Category A\ninfectious waste to a site for decontamination. You ask whether the exception in § 177.823(a)(3)\nfor emergency movement of a \"transport vehicle containing hazardous materials\" when\n\"necessary to protect life or property\" may be used for this situation. You cite a frequently asked\nquestion (FAQ) in the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA)\n\"DOT Guidance for Preparing Packages of Ebola Contaminated Waste for Transportation and\nDisposal,\" as support for use of this exception.\nThe answer is yes. Section 177.823(a) permits a carrier to move a transport vehicle (e.g., an\nambulance) that contains a hazardous material (e.g., a patient contaminated with a Category A\ninfectious substance) in an emergency when necessary to protect life or property. This provision\nalso permits moving a transport vehicle that contains a Category A infectious substance to a\nlocation where this material can be removed and disposed of safely. Hazardous materials\ntransported under this provision are excepted from the HMR.\nPHMSA published a final rule on June 2, 2016 [Docket No. PHMSA-2013-0225 (HM-218H);\n81 FR 35483] pertaining to the transportation of infectious waste generated during air ambulance\nservices. The final rule revised § 175.1(d) (formerly § 175.9(b)(4)) to clarify that staging\noperations related to dedicated air ambulance, firefighting, or search and rescue operations are\nintended to be excepted from the HMR when in compliance with the Federal Aviation\nRegulations (FAR).\nI hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.\nSincerely,\nTHen Taster\nT. Glenn Foster\nChief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nPlease submit this as a letter of interpretation. Please let me know if you have any questions. Ms. McBane spoke with\nme in the HMIC.\nThanks,\nEamonn\nFrom: Deb McBane [mailto: dsmcbane@gmail.com]\nSent: Tuesday, December 27, 2016 3:24 PM\nTo: INFOCNTR (PHMSA) <INFOCNTR.INFOCNTR@dot.gov>\nSubject: Request for Interpretation\nStandards and Rulemaking Division:\nKinross Emergency Medical Services is based in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We may transfer patients potentially\ninfected with a Category A pathogen from Upper Peninsula hospitals to local airports. The patient will be picked up at\nthe hospital by Kinross EMS, and transferred to an airport where the Air Ambulance crew will continue transport of the\npatient to an appropriate treatment center.\nDecontamination at the airport is almost impossible, so we want to transport any waste produced by the patient back to\nthe hospital we picked the patient up from and dispose of waste and decontaminate the ambulance back at the\nhospital.\nMy question: Must the place of waste removal and decontamination be the same location that the patient is off loaded\n(in this case an airport) or can it wait until immediate return to the hospital we picked the patient up from?\nPlease provide Kinross EMS with an \"Interpretation\" of 177.823(a)(3) specifically the following information:\nIs waste generated during the care of a patient during emergency medical services regulated by the HMR?\nSuspected Ebola waste generated while performing emergency medical services on a patient known to be infected or\nsuspected of being infected with Ebola is excepted from the HMR under §177.823(a)(3). This exception applies to all\nsegments of emergency transport: from the pick-up of a patient in an ambulance to the hospital; after delivery of the\npatient and until the ambulance arrives at a decontamination site; and during the transfer of a patient from one medical\nfacility to another. Once an ambulance or emergency motor vehicle is at a location where decontamination of the\nvehicle is performed, any suspected Ebola waste offloaded from the vehicle must be packaged and transported in\naccordance with the HMR, or transported under a special permit granted by PHMSA\nHazardous materials, including suspected Ebola waste, carried by air and used during dedicated air ambulance,\nfirefighting, or search and rescue operations are also excepted from the HMR under § 195.9(b)(4).\nThank you in advance.\nRespectfully,\nDeb McBane, EMS Manager\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>","truncated":false,"body_characters":4763}