{"operation":"document","citation":"18-0158","title":"Electric Bike Technologies LLC — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2019-05-02","effective_on":null,"summary":"18-0158 response to Electric Bike Technologies LLC concerning 171.8.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-18-0158.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-18-0158.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-18-0158","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/docs/standards-rulemaking/hazmat/interpretations/71351/180158.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nAdministration\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nWashington, DC 20590\nMAY O 2 2019\nAlec Burney\nElectric Bike Technologies LLC\n1021 Washington Ave.\nCroydon, PA 19021\nReference No. 18-0158\nDear Mr. Burney:\nThis letter is in response to your December 12, 2018, email requesting clarification of the\nHazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to hazardous\nmaterials training. Specifically, you seek confirmation of your understanding that your\ncustomers may ship lithium batteries back to your company by ground transportation without\nhaving received formal hazardous materials training.\nYour understanding is correct, provided the customer is not considered a hazmat employee as\ndefined by§ 171.8. For purposes of the HMR, \"hazmat employee\" means a person who is\nemployed by a hazmat employer and who, in the course of employment, directly affects\nhazardous materials transportation safety. An individual or private citizen does not meet the\ndefinition of a hazmat employee and is not required to have hazardous materials training.\nHowever, an individual or private citizen must still comply with all applicable HMR\nrequirements when offering hazardous materials to a commercial carrier for transportation in\ncommerce. If the customer is considered a hazmat employee (e.g., a distributor, retailer, etc.),\nthe person is fully subject to the training requirements in Part 172, Subpart H.\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\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nL0 ~\nJanuary, lkeya CTR {PHMSA)\nFrom:\nSent:\nTo:\nSubject:\nI 't,,Ol:58\nINFOCNTR (PHMSA)\nThursday, December 13, 2018 4:49 PM\nHazmat Interps\nFW: Interpretation Letter Request\nHello Alice and lkeya,\nI talked with Alec and gave him letter of interpretation 16-0109. He would still like a letter of interpretation on his\nspecific situation.\nThanks,\nLynsie Patschke\n· Transportation Regulatory Specialist\nHazardous Materials Information Center {HMIC)\nFrom: Alec Burney [mailto:alec@electricbiketech.com]\nSent: Wednesday, December 12, 2018 4:20 PM\nTo: INFOCNTR (PHMSA) <INFOCNTR.INFOCNTR@dot.gov>\n, Cc: Jason Kraft <jason@electricbiketech.com>\nSubject: Interpretation Letter Request\nTo:\nthe Standards Office for clarification on a rule\nFrom:\nElectric Bike Technologies\n1021 Washington Ave.\nCroydon, PA 19021\nHello,\nWe currently ship Lithium Ion Batteries contained in equipment or packed with equipment using UPS's dangerous\ngoods shipping program as Hazardous Materials Class 9 UN3481. We only ship using ground transportation for this.\nThe batteries are 350 - 950 watt-hours and ship in tested class packaging systems with emergency contact\nphone number labeling and Offerer-signed hazardous materials shipping papers included.\nWe would like to be able to accept return shipments of batteries from our customers by ground transportation. This\nwould be just a few batteries a year being shipped by an end user back to us - I believe this should be possible if we\nsend the customer the correct tested box with labels and class markings, packing materials and closures, ready to accept\nthe battery. We would offer them instructions on how to place the battery in the box and use the closure. As the offerer,\nthey would then sign and date the shipping papers.\n1\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nUPS suggested that we ask for clarification from you in order to help with the matter. We want to do this safely and\nlegally, so we are contacting you for advice on how this relates to the law.\nUPS requires employees handling hazardous materials for shipping to take training courses in order to ship hazardous\nmaterials within their system, but for people at home, we believe it is within the requirements of 49 CFR if a person is\nnot shipping batteries as part of their business or employment and is not doing it frequently - in our example an\nindividual would just be shipping a battery once.\nGoal: We want to allow a customer that has our lithium battery (class 9) to mail that lithium battery back to us.\nWe believe that in the scope of 49 CFR 107 it is specifying that training is required only for shipments processed by\ncompanies and the people that they employ, not for private citizens.\nCan you please let us know if this sounds correct? We would like to clarify with UPS:\na. We do not see anything in the 49 CFR that would prevent us from having a customer return a battery to us\n- it appears to be accepted and legal to send class 9 packages in non-bulk quantities without training as\nlong as the other packaging and handling regulations are followed - so there's no need for a special permit\nexempting us from any 49 CFR regulation\ni. the 49 CFR requires training programs only for people who handle hazardous materials as part of\ntheir employment\nii. iii. and it does not require permits or registration for this, as detailed in 49 CFR 107.601\nso my understanding of the situation is that it is not that it is federally regulated for an individual\nto occasionally ship a battery that is correctly packed and labeled, but that it is UPS's policy\niv. see 49 CFR 173.1 (b) and 49 CFR 177.800(c) for specific language that it is the employees of the\nparties involved that are the people who require training, and 171.8 (definition of hazmat\nemployee)\n1. 171.8 defines a person and a hazmat employee as different\n2. Since our customers are not engaged in this full or part time and aren't paid for it, they are\npersons, not hazmat employees.\n3. 49 CFR 172 (Hl continues to specify that hazmat employees need training, not that persons\nneed training\nAlec Burney\nElectric Bike Technologies LLC\nEBikeKit.com I LibertyTrike.com I ElectricTrike.com\n1021 Washington Ave. I Croydon I PA 19021\nToll FREE: +1888.220.6736\n2","truncated":false,"body_characters":5888}