Vianna Zimbel Consultting — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation

Page 1Vianna Zimbel Consulting 97 Foote Road South Glastonbury, CT 06073 Reference No. 17-0027 Dear Ms. Zimbel: This letter is in response to your March 16, 2017, email requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to the Materials of Trade (MOTs) exceptions. Specifically, you ask whether your client, Home Medical Equipment Suppliers, is eligible for MOTs exceptions under the HMR when transporting and delivering medical oxygen cylinders to customer residences. You describe a scenario in which your client delivers the medical oxygen in cylinders weighing less than 100 kg (220 Ibs) each and transports no more than 200 kg (440 Ibs) of hazardous materials on each motor vehicle. Based on this transportation scenario, you ask whether your client meets the definition of a private carrier under MOTs and if shipping paper requirements apply. It is the opinion of this Office that your client is eligible for the MOTs exceptions under the scenario described in your email. Section 171.8 defines MOTs to include a private motor carrier transporting hazardous materials in direct support of a principal business that is other than transportation by motor vehicle. A private motor carrier is a carrier who transports the business's own products and does not provide such transportation service to other businesses. In addition to meeting the definition of MOTs in § 171.8, the applicable requirements in § 173.6 must be met. For example- • Paragraph (b)(5) states a cylinder must conform to the packaging, qualification, maintenance, and use requirements under the HMR and must be leak tight, securely closed, secured against movement, and protected against damage. • Paragraph (c)(3) states a DOT specification cylinder must be marked and labeled in accordance with the HMR. • Paragraph (c)(4) states the operator of the motor vehicle must be informed of the presence of the hazardous material. • Paragraph (a)(2) limits a Division 2.2 material in a cylinder to a gross weight not over 100 kg (220 lbs). • Paragraph (d) limits the aggregate gross weight of all hazardous materials on one motor vehicle to not more than 200 kg (440 Ibs).#

Page 2Sincerely, lenn Taster T. Glenn Foster Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch Standards and Rulemaking Division#

Page 3Please submit this as a letter of interpretation. I spoke with Ms. Zimbel. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, Jordan From: Vianna Zimbel [mailto:vzimbel@vzimbel.com] Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2017 4:06 PM To: INFOCNTR (PHMSA) < INFOCNTR.INFOCNTR@dot.gov> Subject: Request for Materials of Trade Interpretation Office of the Chief Counsel Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Attn: PHC-10, U.S. Department of Transportation East Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE. Washington, DC 20590-0001 I am requesting a formal letter of interpretation regarding the Materials of Trade exemption for shipping papers (hazardous manifest) when quantities of oxygen that are less than a total of 440 Ibs and no containers greater than 220 Ibs. are transported. Specifically, the regulation in question is HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180. I am writing on behalf of many Home Medical Equipment Suppliers that I work with as a consultant. Do these businesses fall within the scope of private carriage and providing specialized door-to-door service incidental to transportation and thus exempted from shipping papers? These companies transports medical devices to the patient's residence. The medical equipment on the van or small truck typically includes hospital beds, wheelchairs, oxygen concentrator machines, and small amounts of compressed oxygen gas cylinders (less than a total of 440 Ibs and no containers greater than 220 Ibs, in accordance with §173.6). These smaller oxygen tanks are provided to the patient as backup systems in case the oxygen concentrator machine fails or there is a power outage.#

Page 4Vianna Zimbel Consulting 97 Foote Road South Glastonbury, CT 06073 860-657-9530 www.vzimbel.com This communication is intended solely for the addressee and is confidential. Third party distribution is UNAUTHORIZED, and will be prosecuted as copyright infringement. "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." Charles Darwin#