{"operation":"document","citation":"17-0071","title":"A123 Systems, LLC — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2018-03-06","effective_on":null,"summary":"17-0071 response to A123 Systems, LLC concerning 173.185.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-17-0071.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-17-0071.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-17-0071","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/docs/standards-rulemaking/hazmat/interpretations/57401/170071.pdf","body":"<<>>\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nAdministration\n1200 New Jersey Avenue. SE\nWashington, DC 20590\nFEB 1 C 2018\nJoe Shi\nA123 Systems, LLC\n3 9000 Seven Mile Road\nLivonia, MI 48152\nReference No. 17-0071\nDear Mr. Shi:\nThis letter is in response to your July 12, 2017, email requesting clarification of the\nHazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to the\ntransportation of low production runs of lithium batteries.\nWe have paraphrased and answered your questions as follows:\nQ 1. You ask if the year for an annual low production run of lithium batteries corresponds\nto the calendar year (e.g., January 1 to December 31 ), or if it begins the date the\nmanufacturer produces the first battery.\nA 1. The low production run year begins the date the manufacturer produces the first\nbattery.\nQ2. A manufacturer produces 150 batteries in a single run. You ask ifthe manufacturer\nmay ship the first 100 batteries in accordance with the provisions in§ 173.185(e) and\nthe following 50 batteries under another authorized provision in § 173.185.\nA2. The answer is no. Section 173 .185( e) applies only to production runs of not more\nthan 100 lithium batteries. If an annual production run is greater than 100 batteries,\nthe exceptions in§ 173.185(e) do not apply.\nQ3. A manufacturer produces and assembles 150 batteries in a production run. The first\n100 batteries are shipped upon assembly, and the following 50 batteries are stored in\nthe warehouse. In the following year, the manufacturer produces 45 batteries of the\nsame type. You ask if the 45 batteries produced in the second year may be\nconsidered a low production run and shipped under the provisions in § 173 .185( e ).\nA3. Since more than 100 batteries were produced in the first year, those batteries may not\nbe transported in accordance with § 173 .185( e ). Prior to transport these batteries\nmust be must be of the type proven to meet the criteria in part III, sub-section 38.3 of\nthe UN Manual of Tests and Criteria as required by§ 173.185(a). In the scenario\n\n<<>>\n\npresented, the subsequent production run of the 45 batteries in the second year could\nutilize the provisions of§ l 73.185(e), although there is no need to do so.\nQ4. Regarding the scenario in Q3, you ask if the 50 batteries from the first year that were\nstored in the warehouse may be shipped with the 45 batteries produced in the second\nyear under the provisions in § 173 .185( e ).\nA4. See A2 and A3.\nQ5. A manufacturer produces over 100 batteries, but does not ship each one after\nassembly. You ask ifthe manufacturer may ship 100 batteries under the provisions\nin § 173 .185( e) even if more than 100 batteries are produced during that year.\nAS. The answer is no. See A2.\nI hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.\nSincer~ l y? . ..// /J ~/\n.. / . L\n•' i ~ -/ '\n. ,\n· . / -i/I· /l. r ;~ ~\n, ...... (./ ,/ ./\n~ / /\n~k De~nderen'\nChief, Standards Development Branch\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<>>\n\n(', (_,()-'{'/OV' < ?-:.'-Q\nJ. /?..?.~ / \n; ---/-clu ~71\nDodd, Alice (PHMSA) From: Leary, Kevin (PHMSA)\nSent: To:\nSubject: Wednesday, July 12, 2017 2:32 PM\nDodd, Alice (PHMSA)\nFW: Questions on low production of lithium ion batteries\nAlice, please enter the below email into the interps DB for a response and assign to a specialist.\nThank you,\nKevin\nFrom: Joe Shi [mailto:joeshi@al23systems.com]\nSent: Wednesday, July 12, 2017 1:36 PM\nTo: Leary, Kevin (PHMSA) \nSubject: Questions on low production of lithium ion batteries\nKevin:\nIt was so nice to meet you last month in DC at PRBA's seminar.\nI have some confusions on how to understand the Low Production term, which I would appreciate very much that you\ngive me some guidance.\nI have prepared the following scenarios, which we might encounter in our real life, so please help me out as much as you\ncan. Your help and guidance is greatly appreciated!\nPer CFR 173.185(e), the definition of Low Production Run (LPR):\nLow production runs, i.e., annual production runs consisting of not more than 100 lithium cells or batteries.\n1. Does the year count from 1/1to12/31 of the same year or it counts from the starting of the production at any\ndate of the year until exactly the same date 1 year later, for example: 4/24/2016 to 4/24/2017?\n2. Consider this scenario: we start the low production run; we ship each battery immediately after it is assembled.\nWe keep doing this until we manufactured and shipped 100. The #101 and any batteries after that will NO\nlonger belong to the low production run and we have to take actions accordingly, for example: finish and pass\nthe UN38.3 tests before we ship batteries #101 and all after that. But the first 100 batteries that we have\nshipped can still be legally considered low production run because we do not know how many we would\nproduce annually then. Is this understanding and practice, correct?\n3. Consider this scenario: we start the low production run in year A; we mark each of our products sequentially, for\nexample: Al, A2 .... ; we ship each battery immediately after it is assembled. We keep doing this until we\nmanufactured and shipped 100. The #AlOl and any batteries after that will NO longer belong to the low\nproduction run in year A. In year A we make total of 150 (from Al to Al50) but we only shipped 100 in year A.\nWe kept the remaining AlOl to Al50 in our warehouse. Next year, the year B, we only produce 45 batteries, we\nnumber them Bl to B45. Question #3A: can the 45 batteries mfged in year B still can be claimed as low\nproduction given the fact that the same product already has an occasion to be manufactured more than 100\nannually in year A, but it is produced less than 100 in year B?\n1\n\n<<>>\n\n4. Question #3B: If the answer to question #3A is yes, can the AlOl to A150, which are in our warehouse, be\ntreated together with Bl to B45 all as low production products because the total of AlOl to A150 and Bl to B45\nis still less than 100 for year B?\nConsider this scenario: we start the low production run; we did not ship each battery immediately after it is\nassembled. Instead, we accumulated the batteries or some of the batteries in our warehouse after they are\nproduced. After we produced 145 units, we suddenly realized that we have already passed the threshold of 100\nfor low production. Question: can we still come back to treat the first 100 units as low production knowing that\nwe have already produced more than 100 total that year?\nJoe (Zhong-You) Shi, Ph. D. -~)i!':,ffi: t.W:±\nGlobal Corporate Compliance Manager and Sr. Powder SQE\nA123 Systems, LLC\n39000 Seven Mile Road\nLivonia, Ml 48152 USA\nTel. 734-772-0356\nMobile: 734-883-2756\n9=i OO'f-;ffl(China cell): 182-1092-8061\n2","truncated":false,"body_characters":6823}