{"operation":"document","citation":"19-0073","title":"MISTRAS Group, Inc. — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2019-08-27","effective_on":null,"summary":"19-0073 response to MISTRAS Group, Inc. concerning 171.8, 175.75.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-19-0073.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-19-0073.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-19-0073","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/docs/standards-rulemaking/hazmat/interpretations/72171/190073.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nINTERPRETATION LETTERS\nRequester\nDavid Boudreaux\nDate Received: 6/6/2019\nCompany\nMISTRAS Group, Inc.\nTracking\n19-0073\nPhone\n985.262.4630\nRevision Date: 6/6/2019\nDate Assigned\n6/6/2019\nDate of Letter\n6/6/2019\nStaff\nEdmonson\nEirst Draft Due:\n6/27/2019\nSection\nFirst Draft Date\nSubject\nConcurrence\nStatus\nPHH-10-Specialist\nStatus Date\n6/6/2019\nSign Date\nSignor\nComment\nHBP\nCopy to Docket\nCopy to DHM-60\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nEdmonson\nDodd, Alice (PHMSA)\n19-0073\nSent:\nFrom:\nEdmonson, Eileen (PHMSA)\nThursday, June 06, 2019 2:55 PM\nTo:\nDodd, Alice (PHMSA)\nSubject:\nFW: Interpretation Response #17-0114\nHello Alice,\nPlease process this letter for response and assign it to me.\nThank you,\nEileen Edmonson\nTransportation Regulations Specialist\nU.S. Department of Transportation/PHMSA\n(w) 202-366-4481\n(f) 202-366-7041\n(email) eileen.edmonson@dot.gov\n(Hazmat Info Center) 800-467-4922\n(website) https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/\nFrom: David Boudreaux <David.Boudreaux@mistrasgroup.com>\nSent: Thursday, June 6, 2019 2:51 PM\nTo: Edmonson, Eileen (PHMSA) <eileen.edmonson@dot.gov>\nSubject: Interpretation Response #17-0114\nMs. Edmonson,\nI am contacting you for an expanded interpretation to Response #17-0114, in particular, Q2 and A2.\nIn Q.2 it states: You ask if §175.75(e)(3) allows for an x-ray technician and his or her assistant to accompany a\npiece of x-ray equipment shipped as \"UN2916, Radioactive Material, Type B(U) package non-fissile-excepted\"\nby cargo-only aircraft.\nIn response, A2 stated: The answer is no. The provisions of $175.75(3)(3) only apply to the transportation of\nhazardous materials carried on a single pilot cargo-only aircraft in which no person is carried on the aircraft\nother than the pilot, an FAA inspector, the shipper or consignee of the material, a representative of the\nshipper or consignee so designated in writing, or a person necessary for the handling the material. Based on\nthe scenario that you describe, PHMAS does not believe that the provisions of §175.75(e)(3) would apply to\nthe X-ray technician and his or her assistant.\nAs the question is written I believe the interpretation was correct, but not all the pertinent information was\ngiven in the question.\nThe \"X-Ray Technician and his or her assistant\" are part of an Industrial Radiography Crew that utilized\nRadioactive Materials to conduct services for our offshore clients. These personnel hand-carry the Radioactive\nMaterials in a Type B(U) package which is approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The\n1\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nIndustrial Radiography Crew presents the package and Shippers Declaration of Dangerous goods paperwork to\nthe Heliport Dispatchers to be able to board a helicopter. Also, due to license conditions imposed either by\nthe NRC or an Agreement State (Louisiana DEQ), the licensee shall comply with the regulations for the physical\nprotection of radioactive materials. So the crew must have Unescorted access deemed by security clearance\nbackground checks to possess and transport Radioactive Materials over a certain activity. So due to this\ninformation, I believe that our personnel would meet the criteria of §175.75(e)(3) in two ways.\n#1) Our company (MISTRAS) would be the shipper and as an employee of MISTRAS they are supplying the\nShippers Declaration of Dangerous Goods, signed by one of the personnel on the Industrial Radiography Crew,\nso then by definition, they are a representative of the shipper or consignee so designated in writing as per\n§175.75(e)(3).\n#2) Due to the license conditions imposed either by the NRC or an Agreement State (Louisiana DEQ) for\nphysical protection of radioactive materials the Industrial Radiography Crew would also meet the definition of\na person necessary for handling the material.\nResponthe in -omation is helpful in getting an expanded interpretation for 5175.75 te/3) in interpretation\nRegards,\nDavid\nDavid Boudreaux\nQA/QC Manager / Radiation Safety Officer\nP: 985.262.4630\nM: 985.414.4628\nF: 985.262.4793\nDavid.Boudreaux@mistrasgroup.com\nMISTRAS\n108 Lois Rd - Houma - LA 70363\nMISTRAS Group, Inc.\nwww.mistrasgroup.com\nO\nThis electronic mail is intended only for the use of the addressee(s) named herein and may contain legally privileged and confidential information. If you\nare not the intended recipient of this electronic mail, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this electronic mail is\n2\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\nelectronic mail from your system.\nstrictly prohibited. If you have received this electronic mail in error, please immediately notify us by return electronic mail or telephone and delete this\n3\n\n<<<PAGE 5>>>\n\nof Transportation\nU.S. Department\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nWashington, DC 20590\nPipeline and Hazardous\nAdministration\nMaterials Safety\nAUG 2 7 2019\nMr. David Boudreaux\nQA/QC Manager and\nRadiation Safety Officer\nMISTRAS Group, Inc.\n108 Lois Road\nHouma, LA 70363\nReference No. 19-0073\nDear Mr. Boudreaux:\nThis letter is in response to your June 6, 2019, email requesting clarification of the Hazardous\nMaterials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to transporting radioactive\nmaterials aboard cargo aircratt only. Specitically, you ask for additional clarification of question\n\"Q2\" and answer \"A2\" in Letter of Interpretation Reference No. 17-0114 issued by the Pipeline\nand Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) on February 27, 2018. We have\nparaphrased your background discussion and answered your questions in the order you provided.\nYou state question \"Q2\" in Ref. No. 17-0114 concerns whether § 175.75(e)(3) permits an x-ray\ntechnician and his or her assistant to accompany a piece of x-ray equipment shipped as\n\"UN2916, Radioactive material, Type B (U) package non-fissile or fissile-excepted\" by cargo\naircraft only. PHMSA answered no in answer \"A2,\" with which you agree. However, you state\nthe x-ray technician and his and/or her assistant are part of a larger Industrial Radiography Crew\nthat utilizes this equipment to conduct services for offshore clients.\nYou also state the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requires that Industrial Radiographers\nobtain appropriate security clearances to have unescorted access to hand-carry equipment that\ncontains Class 7 (radioactive) material over a certain activity level in Type B(U) packages\napproved by the NRC. Further, you state that due to licensing requirements imposed by the NRC\nor an Agreement State (e.g., the State of Louisiana's Department of Environmental Quality\n(DEQ)), the Industrial Radiographers must comply with requirements to physically protect the\nClass 7 materials and present the packages that contain this equipment and applicable shipper's\ndeclaration of dangerous goods to the heliport dispatchers to obtain permission to board a\nhelicopter.\nYou ask whether the following two scenarios comply with § 175.75(e)(3):\nS1: Our company, MISTRAS, is the shipper. The Industrial Radiography Crew are\nemployees of MISTRAS. MISTRAS employees supply the shipper's declaration of\n\n<<<PAGE 6>>>\n\ndangerous goods. The shipper's declaration is signed by one of the members of the\ndeclaration in a location other than the certifying signature as persons \"necessary for\nIndustrial Radiography Crew. The members of the crew are listed on the shipper's\nhandling the material.\" Is the crew member who signs the shipper's declaration\nconsidered a representative of the shipper \"so designated in writing\" as prescribed in\n§ 175.75(e)(3)(i)? Do the other crew members listed on the shipper's declaration also\nmeet the criteria for representatives of the shipper so designated in writing as prescribed\nin § 175.75(e)(3)(i)?\nA1:\nThe crew member who signs the shipper's declaration is considered a representative of\nthe shipper \"so designated in writing.\" However, the crew members listed on the\nshipper's declaration as necessary for handling the material who do not sign the shipper's\ncertification on the shipper's declaration do not perform a function of the shipper and,\ntherefore, are not considered representatives of the shipper so designated in writing.\nS2:\nDue to the licensing conditions imposed by either the NRC or an Agreement State (e.g.,\nLouisiana DEQ) for physical protection of radioactive materials, does the Industrial\nRadiography Crew listed on the shipper's declaration also meet the definition of a\n\"person necessary for handling the material\" prescribed in § 175.75(e)(3)(i)?\nA2:\nThe answer is yes, the crew members listed on the shipping paper are considered\n\"persons necessary for handling the material\" and may be transported onboard the aircraft\nwith the x-ray equipment provided the conditions in § 175.75(e)(3) are met. For\nclarification, the conditions for packages of hazardous materials carried on small, single\npilot, cargo aircraft are: (i) no person is carried on the aircraft other than the pilot, an\nFAA inspector, the shipper or consignee of the material, a representative of the shipper or\nconsignee so designated in writing, or a person necessary for handling the material; (ii)\nthe pilot is provided with written instructions on the characteristics and proper handling\nof the materials; and (iii) whenever a change of pilots occurs while the material is on\nboard, the new pilot is briefed under a hand-to-hand signature service provided by the\noperator of the aircraft. The HMR defines \"cargo aircraft only\" as an aircraft that is used\nto transport cargo and is not engaged in carrying passengers. This definition further\nstates under the HMR the terms \"cargo aircraft only,\" \"cargo-only aircraft,\" and \"cargo\naircraft\" have the same meaning. See § 171.8.\nI hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.\nSincerely,\nTHen Foot\nT. Glenn Foster\nChief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch\nStandards and Rulemaking Division","truncated":false,"body_characters":9818}