{"operation":"document","citation":"18-0012","title":"United Kingdom Ministry of Defence — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2018-06-29","effective_on":null,"summary":"18-0012 response to United Kingdom Ministry of Defence concerning 173.56.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-18-0012.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-18-0012.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-18-0012","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/docs/standards-rulemaking/hazmat/interpretations/58671/180012.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nof Transportation\nWashington, DC 20590\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nAdministration\nJUN 2 9 2018\nMr. Richard Hope\nUnited Kingdom Ministry of Defence\nDefence General Munitions Project Team\nFir 1C\nMailpoint 4115\nBristol\nMOD Abbey Wood\nBS34 8JH\nReference No. 18-0012\nDear Mr. Hope:\nThis letter is in response to your January 23, 2018, email requesting clarification of the\nHazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to the shipment of\nammunition into the United States by the United Kingdom (UK) Ministry of Defence (MOD).\nYour questions are paraphrased and answered below.\nQ1:\nYou state that UK MOD is seeking to transport ammunition into the United States for use\nin joint training exercises and that you have applied for EX numbers in the past only to be\ntold that EX numbers are not required for certain ammunition types. You ask if the\nammunition UK MOD is transporting into the United States is required to have an EX\nnumber.\nA1:\nProvided you are shipping ammunition that meets the exceptions in § 173.56(h), an EX\nnumber is not required. As stated in § 173.56(h), the requirements of § 173.56 do not\napply to cartridges, small arms that are:\n- Not a forbidden explosive under § 173.54;\n- Ammunition for rifle, pistol, shotgun, or tools;\n- Ammunition with inert projectile or blank ammunition; and\nAmmunition not exceeding 50 caliber for rifle or pistol cartridges or 8 gauge for\nshotgun shells.\n\"Cartridges, small arms\" meeting these criteria may be assigned a classification code of\n1.45 by the manufacturer (see § 173.56(h)). The exception applies to domestically or\ninternationally manufactured \"Cartridges, small arms\" that transit the United States.\nHowever, this provision does not relieve a manufacturer outside of the United States from\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nobtaining any necessary competent authority approvals from the country of origin, transit,\nor overflight when the ammunition is transported.\nQ2:\nYou ask if UK MOD, as a government competent authority, can obtain an approval from\nthe Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety for the transportation of all\nUK MOD owned ammunition having a current UK competent authority certificate to and\nwithin the United States in accordance with § 173.56(f) and (g).\nA2:\nThe answer is yes. UK MOD may apply for a blanket approval for the shipment of its\nammunition to and within the United States. Such requests should be submitted to\nAssociate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety (PHH-32), Department of\nTransportation, East Building, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington DC\n20590-0001. Alternatively, the application in an appropriate format may be submitted by\nfax to: (202) 366-3753 or (202) 366-3308 or by email to: approvals@dot.gov.\nI hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.\nSincerely,\nT. Glenn Foster\nChief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nAndrewes\n§ 173.56\nExplosives\nDodd, Alice (PHMSA)\n18-0012\nFrom:\nINFOCNTR (PHMSA)\nSent:\nTo:\nThursday, January 25, 2018 12:11 PM\nHazmat Interps\nSubject:\nAttachments:\nFW: interpretation letter\nFW: ESTC Classification\nHello All,\nPlease see the below and attached request for interpretation.\nRegards,\n-Breanna\nFrom: Hope, Richard C2 (DES WpnsDGM-Dismounted-Eng1b) [mailto:Richard.Hope101@mod.gov.uk]\nSent: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 5:24 AM\nTo: INFOCNTR (PHMSA) <INFOCNTR.INFOCNTR@dot.gov>\nSubject: interpretation letter\nDear Sir/Madam,\nI am writing from the UK Ministry of Defence with 2 requests for clarification, 1 am after letter(s) of interpretation to\nclarify what products we use that require an EX number and which are already covered under the rules such as below.\n§173.56 New explosives-definition and procedures for classification and approval.\n(h) The requirements of this section do not apply to cartridges, small arms which are:\n(1) Not a forbidden explosive under §173.54 of this subchapter,\n(2) Ammunition for rifle, pistol, shotgun, or tools;\n(3) Ammunition with inert projectile or blank ammunition; and\n(4) Ammunition not exceeding 50 caliber for rifle or pistol cartridges or 8 gauge for shotgun shells.\nCartridges, small arms meeting the criteria of this paragraph (h) may be assigned a classification code of 1.4S\nmanufacturer.\nRequest 1\nIn a recent discussion with one of your Transportation Specialists I was informed that the above paragraph (173.56)\nwould apply to all Small arms calibre not exceeding .50 or 8 gauge classified as 1.4S and as such we would not require an\nEX number.\nJust to clarify the situation we have some ammunition that while not new to us might be the first time we have wanted\nto transport within the USA due to a combined UK and USA special forces exercise. And as such we had applied for EX\nnumbers only to be told they are no longer required for certain ammunition items. Due to the rules and regulations that\nwe use some of our logistic transport companies are reluctant to transport unless they have an EX number or official\nletter saying that an EX number is not required. If we can get an interpretation letter to clarify this matter it would be\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\nRequest 2\nOn a different note but similar direction and might cover the above request, going by the 2 paragraphs below from the\nsame section (173.56) would we as a foreign government competent authority be able to gain an\napproval/interpretation letter from the Associate Administrator approving transportation of all UK MoD owned\nammunition that has a current UK competent authority certificate and pursuant to the provisions of the UN\nRecommendations, the ICAO Technical Instructions, the IMDG Code (IBR, see §171.7 of this subchapter), or other\nnational or international regulations based on the UN Recommendations?\nAs stated in para (f and g) below if these provisions are met and the Associate Administrator has acknowledged in\nwriting the acceptability of an approval issued by the competent authority of a foreign government we would not have\nto apply for EX numbers for the 1,080 different ammunition items we currently have in service we would just need a\ncopy of the foreign competent authority approval, and a copy of the written acknowledgement of its acceptance must\naccompany each shipment of that explosive?\n(t) Notwithstanding the requirements of paragraphs (b) and (d) of this section, the Associate\nAdministrator may approve a new explosive on the basis of an approval issued for the explosive by the\ncompetent authority of a foreign government, or when examination of the explosive by a person\napproved by the Associate Administrator is impracticable, on the basis of reports of tests conducted by\ndisinterested third parties, or may approve the transportation of an explosives sample for the purpose of\nexamination by a person approved by the Associate Administrator.\n(g) An explosive may be transported under subparts B or C of part 171 or §176.11 of this subchapter\nwithout the approval of the Associate Administrator as required by paragraph (b) of this section if the\nAssociate Administrator has acknowledged in writing the acceptability of an approval issued by the\ncompetent authority of a foreign government pursuant to the provisions of the UN Recommendations,\nthe ICAO Technical Instructions, the IMDG Code (IBR, see §171.7 of this subchapter), or other national\nor international regulations based on the UN Recommendations. In such a case, a copy of the foreign\ncompetent authority approval, and a copy of the written acknowledgement of its acceptance must\naccompany each shipment of that explosive.\nIt seems quite clear to me from para (g) that if we can get the Associate Administrator to supply in writing the\nacceptability of an approval issued by the UK competent authority this would then save both UK and US DoT a lot of\nunnecessary time and effort. I am not sure why this has never been requested before especially as an example we\npurchase some ammunition from US companies (which would obviously already have either an EX number or no\nrequirement to have been transported to us) we then repack the ammunition to even more stringent Safety\nrequirements as per our guidelines and regulations and then have to apply for EX numbers on a safer product because\nthe packaging has changed.\nIf it helps all 1,080 different ammunition items that we (UK Armed Forces) use and would want to transport within the\nUSA will always have a current UK Competent Authority certificate (confirmation of competent authority policy and\nregime attached) before we will allow it to be transported anywhere.\nPlease let me know if any further information is required.\nRegards\nRichard Hope\n2\n\n<<<PAGE 5>>>\n\nMr Richard Hope BSc MIExpE | SAA Engineer | Defence General Munitions Project Team\nMil: 9679 84012 | Civ: 030 679 84012 | Fax 9352 39949 ||\nFir 1C | Mailpoint 4115 | MOD Abbey Wood | Bristol | BS34 8JH|\nRichard.hope101@mod.gov.uk Find Me On Communicator Please consider the environment before printing this email\nThis e-mail was sent from an e-mail address under the control of MOD. Privileged/in confidence information may be contained in\nthis message. If you have received this e-mail in error, please destroy all copies in your possession or control and kindly notify the\nsender by reply e-mail. The addressee (or individual responsible for delivery of the message to such person) may not forward,\nchanges made to this e-mail after it was sent. Please advise immediately if you or your employer do not consent to Internet e-mail\ndisclose or copy this e-mail to any third party without the prior consent of MOD. Furthermore, MOD does not accept liability for any\nfor messages of this kind.\nWithout Commitment or Prejudice\nI am not a commercially-empowered individual, and any statements are without prejudice to the Authority's rights and are without\ncommitment.\n3\n\n<<<PAGE 6>>>\n\nDodd, Alice (PHMSA)\nFrom:\nHope, Richard C2 (DES WpnsDGM-Dismounted-Eng1b) < Richard. Hope101\n@mod.gov.uk>\nSent:\nTuesday, January 23, 2018 5:12 AM\nTo:\nHope, Richard C2 (DES WpnsDGM-Dismounted-Eng1b)\nSubject:\nFW: ESTC Classification\nFrom: Cooke, Mark C2 (DSA-DOSR-PRG-4)\nSent: 23 January 2018 10:03\nTo: Hope, Richard C2 (DES WpnsDGM-Dismounted-Eng1b)\nSubject: RE: ESTC Classification\nRichard\nI have taken over the Classification work from Jo now:\nIn terms of your question I can confirm that MOD Defence Safety Authority (DSA) Defence OME Safety\nRegulator holds the following:\nDOSR Authority\nThe DOSR is an independent regulator within Defence who holds a personal letter of delegation from the 3*\nDirector General of the DSA which defines his authority and responsibilities. This directs the DOSR to regulate\nOrdnance, Munitions and Explosives (OME) safety across Defence activities in accordance with the Secretary\nof State's policy statement and to maintain a regulatory regime.\nThe Defence OME Safety Regulator is the United Kingdom Competent Authority for the classification of\nMilitary Explosives in accordance with Statutory Instruments 2011 No. 1885, The Carriage of Dangerous Goods\nand Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment (Amendment) Regulations 2011.\nThis enables DOSR to issue an approval as the competent authority, pursuant to the provisions of the UN\nRecommendations, the ICAO Technical Instructions, the IMDG Code, or other national or international\nregulations based on the UN Recommendations.\nRegards\nMark Cooke\nMARK COOKE MIEXpE\n0796 7751684\nDSA-DOSR-PRG-4 | Defence Safety Authority | #5004 Juniper Level 0, Wing 1 | MOD Abbey Wood | Bristol | B534 8QW | Telephone\nDSA VISION - Demonstrably safe, environmentally sound, effective and available Defence capability.\nPLEASE NOTE MY NEW NUMBER 0796 7751684\n1","truncated":false,"body_characters":11761}