{"operation":"document","citation":"17-0027","title":"Vianna Zimbel Consultting — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2017-06-01","effective_on":null,"summary":"17-0027 response to Vianna Zimbel Consultting concerning 171.8, 173.6.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-17-0027.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-17-0027.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-17-0027","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/2017/170027.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nVianna Zimbel Consulting\n97 Foote Road\nSouth Glastonbury, CT 06073\nReference No. 17-0027\nDear Ms. Zimbel:\nThis letter is in response to your March 16, 2017, email requesting clarification of the Hazardous\nMaterials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to the Materials of Trade\n(MOTs) exceptions. Specifically, you ask whether your client, Home Medical Equipment\nSuppliers, is eligible for MOTs exceptions under the HMR when transporting and delivering\nmedical oxygen cylinders to customer residences. You describe a scenario in which your client\ndelivers the medical oxygen in cylinders weighing less than 100 kg (220 Ibs) each and transports\nno more than 200 kg (440 Ibs) of hazardous materials on each motor vehicle. Based on this\ntransportation scenario, you ask whether your client meets the definition of a private carrier\nunder MOTs and if shipping paper requirements apply.\nIt is the opinion of this Office that your client is eligible for the MOTs exceptions under the\nscenario described in your email. Section 171.8 defines MOTs to include a private motor carrier\ntransporting hazardous materials in direct support of a principal business that is other than\ntransportation by motor vehicle. A private motor carrier is a carrier who transports the\nbusiness's own products and does not provide such transportation service to other businesses.\nIn addition to meeting the definition of MOTs in § 171.8, the applicable requirements in\n§ 173.6 must be met. For example-\n• Paragraph (b)(5) states a cylinder must conform to the packaging, qualification,\nmaintenance, and use requirements under the HMR and must be leak tight, securely\nclosed, secured against movement, and protected against damage.\n• Paragraph (c)(3) states a DOT specification cylinder must be marked and labeled in\naccordance with the HMR.\n• Paragraph (c)(4) states the operator of the motor vehicle must be informed of the\npresence of the hazardous material.\n• Paragraph (a)(2) limits a Division 2.2 material in a cylinder to a gross weight not over\n100 kg (220 lbs).\n• Paragraph (d) limits the aggregate gross weight of all hazardous materials on one motor\nvehicle to not more than 200 kg (440 Ibs).\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nSincerely,\nlenn Taster\nT. Glenn Foster\nChief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nPlease submit this as a letter of interpretation. I spoke with Ms. Zimbel.\nPlease let me know if you have any questions.\nThanks,\nJordan\nFrom: Vianna Zimbel [mailto:vzimbel@vzimbel.com]\nSent: Thursday, March 16, 2017 4:06 PM\nTo: INFOCNTR (PHMSA) < INFOCNTR.INFOCNTR@dot.gov>\nSubject: Request for Materials of Trade Interpretation\nOffice of the Chief Counsel\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nAttn: PHC-10, U.S. Department of Transportation\nEast Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE.\nWashington, DC 20590-0001\nI am requesting a formal letter of interpretation regarding the Materials of Trade exemption for\nshipping papers (hazardous manifest) when quantities of oxygen that are less than a total of 440 Ibs\nand no containers greater than 220 Ibs. are transported. Specifically, the regulation in question is\nHMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180.\nI am writing on behalf of many Home Medical Equipment Suppliers that I work with as a\nconsultant. Do these businesses fall within the scope of private carriage and providing specialized\ndoor-to-door service incidental to transportation and thus exempted from shipping papers?\nThese companies transports medical devices to the patient's residence. The medical equipment on\nthe van or small truck typically includes hospital beds, wheelchairs, oxygen concentrator machines,\nand small amounts of compressed oxygen gas cylinders (less than a total of 440 Ibs and no\ncontainers greater than 220 Ibs, in accordance with §173.6). These smaller oxygen tanks are\nprovided to the patient as backup systems in case the oxygen concentrator machine fails or there is a\npower outage.\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\nVianna Zimbel Consulting\n97 Foote Road\nSouth Glastonbury, CT 06073\n860-657-9530\nwww.vzimbel.com\nThis communication is intended solely for the addressee and is confidential. Third party\ndistribution is UNAUTHORIZED, and will be prosecuted as copyright infringement.\n\"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive\nto change.\"\nCharles Darwin","truncated":false,"body_characters":4392}