{"operation":"document","citation":"18-0140","title":"Thatcher Company — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2019-03-01","effective_on":null,"summary":"18-0140 response to Thatcher Company concerning 173.154.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-18-0140.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-18-0140.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-18-0140","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/docs/standards-rulemaking/hazmat/interpretations/70876/180140.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\n0\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nAdministration\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nWashington, DC 20590\n· MAR O 1 2019\nBrent Olsen\nSenior Safety Advisor\nThatcher Company\n1905 Fortune Road\nSalt Lake City, UT 84104\nReference No. 18-0140\nDear Mr. Olsen:\nThis letter is in response to your November 5, 2018, letter and subsequent phone conversations\nrequesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180)\napplicable to the transportation of Class 8 corrosive material via highway. Specifically, you seek\nclarification of Special Provision (SP) 3 86 and § 173 .154(b )(2) limited quantity exceptions for\nClass 8 corrosives.\nWe have paraphrased and answered your questions as follows:\nQ 1. You ask if a sister company that primarily serves your own company-but occasionally\ntransports hazardous materials for other manufacturers-would be considered a \"private\nmotor carrier\" for the purposes of SP 386.\nAl. The answer is no. Although the HMR do not specifically define \"private motor carrier,\"\nthis Office has interpreted this term to mean a carrier that transports a business's own\nproducts and does not provide such transportation service to other businesses. Based on\nthe information you provided, we do not consider the sister company to be a \"private\nmotor carrier.\" (See Letter of Interpretation Ref. No. 13-0068 for additional clarification\non this subject.)\nQ2. You ask if SP 386 provides any allowances to ship the authorized Class 8 corrosive\nliquids in bottles that weigh less than 140 grams.\nA2. The answer is no. SP 386 requires that authorized corrosive liquids be placed in bottles\nthat weigh no less than 140 grams when empty and have a minimum thickness of not less\nthan 0.020 inch (0.508 mm).\nQ3. You ask if\"UNl 791, Hypochlorite solutions, 8, Packing Group (PG) III,\" may be\nshipped in I-gallon bottles lighter than 140 grams packaged in high-density polyethylene\ncrates.\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nA3. Q4. The answer is yes. In accordance with§ 173.154(b), Class 8, PG III corrosive materials\nare excepted from specification packaging when packaged in a combination packaging\nthat meets packaging limits in§ 173.154(b)(2). Paragraph (b)(2) places no minimum\nweight restrictions on the inner packagings.\nYou ask if the limited quantity exceptions in§ 173.154(b)(2) allow you to ship \"UNI 791,\nHypochlorite solutions, 8, PG III,\" in I-gallon bottles lighter than 140 grams in\nnon-specification fiberboard boxes.\nA4. The answer is yes. See A3.\nI hope this infomiation is helpful. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nC ,CA~\n) y- O/c/o\n11/5/2018\nHazardous Materials Info Center\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\nSubject: Request for Interpretation\nHM Info Center,\nWe are a chemical manufacturing and packaging company, and we would appreciate some\nguidance regarding certain provisions of Special Provision 386 and Subparagraph\n173.154(b)(2). All questions are in reference to packaging Hydrochloric acid, PG II and\nHypochlorite solutions, PG III, 12.5% for consumer pool use.\nQuestion #1: In the opening sentence of SP 386, it states: \"When transported by private\nmotor carrier only, the following corrosive liquids may be packaged in polyethylene bottles\nwith a capacity no greater than 3. 785 liters (one gallon) .... \"\nWe have a sister company (Thatcher Transportation, Inc., MC 556486-P) that primarily\nserves our own chemical plants, but occasionally transports backhauls for other\nmanufacturers. Does this preclude our transportation company from being considered a\nPrivate Motor Carrier for the purposes of Special Provision 386?\nQuestion #2: In provision b. of Special Provision 386, it states \"Each empty bottle must\nhave a minimum weight of not less than 140 grams and a minimum wall thickness of not\nless than 0.020 inches.\"\nSome of our customers have requested lighter bottles and assure us that \"other vendors are\npackaging their product in lighter bottles\". Are we missing anything in this regulation that\nwould allow us to ship in bottles lighter than 140 grams in high-density polyethylene\ncrates?\nQuestion #3: Could we package and ship Hypochlorite solutions, PG III, 12.5% in high-\ndensity polyethylene crates in one-gallon bottles lighter than 140 grams?\nQuestion #4: Would the limited quantity exceptions of 173.154(b)(2) allow us to ship\nHypochlorite solutions, PG III, 12.5% in one-gallon bottles lighter than 140 grams in non-\nspecification fiberboard boxes?\nBrent L. Olsen\nSenior Safety Advisor\nThatcher Company\n1905 Fortune Road\nSalt Lake City, UT 84104\n(801)972-4587 X 1354\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\nDodd, Alice (PHMSA)\nFrom:\nSent:\nTo:\nSubject:\nAttachments:\nINFOCNTR (PHMSA)\nTuesday, November 06, 2018 2:03 PM\nHazmat Interps\nFW: Request for Interpretation\nPHMSA - Request for lnterpretation.docx\nHello Alice and lkeya,\nAttached is a request for an official letter of interpretation. We discussed the answers to the questions yet the caller still\ninsisted on a letter.\nThanks,\nJonathon\nFrom: Brent Olsen [mailto:Brent.Olsen@tchem.com]\nSent: Monday, November 05, 2018 3:02 PM\nTo: PHMSA HM lnfoCenter <PHMSAHMlnfoCenter@dot.gov>\nSubject: Request for Interpretation\nInfo Center,\nAttached please find our request for guidance on Special Provision 386 (shipping polyethylene bottles in high-density\npolyethylene crates) and 173.154(b)( 2) (Lim ited Quantity exceptions for Corrosive Materials). Your help is greatly\nappreciated. Thank you.\nBrent L. Olsen\nSenior Safety Advisor\nThatcher Company\nP: 801-972-4590 x 1354 I M : 801-833-5148\n\"/(we don 't get . mfe~)' right, nothing else matters\"\nThe information contained in this e-mail message, and any attachments to it, contain confidential, proprietary,\nprivileged, or otherwise secret information. If you are not the intended recipient, or believe that you may have received\nthis email or attachments in error, any dissemination, use, review, distribution, printing or copying of the information\ncontained in this e-mail message and any attachments to it are strictly prohibited. If you have received this\ncommunication in error, please notify us by reply e-mail or telephone and immediately and permanently delete the\nmessage and any attachments. Please include in your notice that the message and any attachments have been deleted.\nThank you .\n1","truncated":false,"body_characters":6344}