National Fireworks Association — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation

Page 1U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 October 27, 2021 Mr. Steve Houser President National Fireworks Association 8224 NW Bradford Court Kansas City, MO 64151 Reference No. 21-0053 Dear Mr. Houser: This letter is in response to your inquiry received by this Office on May 18, 2021, requesting clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to the marking requirements for EX-numbers on packages containing consumer fireworks. Specifically, you ask whether the HMR require the marking of EX-numbers on a finished consumer firework device or on the packaging if the device is too small to accommodate the marking. On November 25, 2020, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) published a final rule in the Federal Register [85 FR 75680] titled “Hazardous Materials: Adoption of Miscellaneous Petitions to Reduce Regulatory Burdens” under Docket No. PHMSA-2017-0120 (HM-219C). In this final rule, PHMSA incorporated by reference the January 1, 2018, edition of the American Pyrotechnics Association (APA) Standard 87–1 A, B, C, “Standard for Construction and Approval for Transportation of Fireworks, Novelties, and Theatrical Pyrotechnics,” excluding certain appendices. In accordance with the HM-219C final rule, after November 26, 2021, fireworks must be designed and approved under the standards of the 2018 APA standard. The HMR do not directly specify where an EX‑number must be marked on a finished consumer fireworks device or its packaging, as described in your scenario. However, as provided by § 173.64(a)(1), after November 26, 2021 fireworks must be manufactured in accordance with the requirements in APA Standard 87-1A, 87-1B, or 87-1C (as applicable), which are incorporated by reference in § 171.7.#

Page 2Furthermore, under the January 1, 2018, edition of APA Standard 87-1A, section 2.4, finished consumer fireworks must be marked with the EX- (or FC) number on the device itself or the device’s packaging if the device is too small. I hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance. Sincerely, T. Glenn Foster Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch Standards and Rulemaking Division#

Page 3Pollack 21-0053 From: Pollack, Arthur (PHMSA) To: Hillman, Kenetha CTR (PHMSA); Dodd, Alice (PHMSA) Cc: Foster, Glenn (PHMSA) Subject: FW: Interpretation Request from NFA regarding revised APA 87-1 A,B,C Date: Tuesday, May 18, 2021 8:26:36 AM Importance: High Hi Kenetha/Alice, did we ever get this request for interp (below)? Vallary Maxey asked me the status of it yesterday and I could not find it in FMP. I’m thinking they didn’t send it to you/HMIC asking for it to be logged in as in interp and just forwarded it to Shane on a Friday afternoon and it wasn’t clear they expected an interp. Since it is a firework issue that I am familiar with I don’t mind if its assigned to me. -Arthur From: Maxey, Vallary (PHMSA) Sent: Monday, May 17, 2021 1:52 PM To: Pollack, Arthur (PHMSA) <arthur.pollack@dot.gov> Cc: Singh, Harpreet (PHMSA) <harpreet.singh@dot.gov>; Gasser, Neal (PHMSA) <neal.gasser@dot.gov>; Maxey, Vallary (PHMSA) <Vallary.Maxey@dot.gov> Subject: FW: Interpretation Request from NFA regarding revised APA 87-1 A,B,C Importance: High FYI From: Steve Houser [mailto:shouser@nationalfireworks.com] Sent: Friday, February 19, 2021 3:00 PM To: Kelley, Shane (PHMSA) <shane.kelley@dot.gov> Cc: Maxey, Vallary (PHMSA) <Vallary.Maxey@dot.gov>; Singh, Harpreet (PHMSA) <harpreet.singh@dot.gov>; Gasser, Neal (PHMSA) <neal.gasser@dot.gov>; Bob Kellner <bkellner@kellfire.com> Subject: Interpretation Request from NFA regarding revised APA 87-1 A,B,C Importance: High CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the Department of Transportation (DOT). Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Mr. Kelley: In follow up to a team meets conference held on 1/25/21 between myself as President and Bob Kellner, Treasurer representing the National Fireworks Association (NFA) and Vallary Maxey, Harpreet Singh and Neal Gasser representing PHMSA/DOT the NFA ,on behalf of our members, is requesting some clarification regarding the finished firework device. Specifically where it requires the EX number to be on the device, or on the package if the device is too small. After discussions with members of the NFA over the past weeks it has become necessary, for illustrative purposes, to include photos of example items in this discussion. Since the number of and file size of the photos is approximately 24MB I was wondering if this would clear your email system or if I need to arrange another method of getting these to you along with our#

Page 4specific questions relating to the interpretation request(s) we and our members have. Please advise and thank you in advance for your assistance. Sincerely, Steve Houser President National Fireworks Association#