{"operation":"document","citation":"21-0074","title":"Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2022-01-24","effective_on":null,"summary":"21-0074 response to Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance concerning 171.8, 172.602, 172.704, 177.817.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-21-0074.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-21-0074.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-21-0074","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/docs/standards-rulemaking/hazmat/interpretations/76176/210074.pdf","body":"<<>>\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nAdministration\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nWashington, DC 20590\nJanuary 24, 2022\nCollin B. Mooney\nExecutive Director\nCommercial Vehicle Safety Alliance\n6303 Ivy Lane\nSuite 310\nGreenbelt, MD 20770\nReference No. 21-0074\nDear Mr. Mooney:\nThis letter is in response to your July 14, 2021, letter requesting clarification of the Hazardous\nMaterials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to emergency response training\nrequirements.\nWe have paraphrased and answered your questions as follows:\nQ1. You ask how detailed the safety training requirement in § 172.704(a)(3)(i) must be.\nA1. Section 172.704(a)(3)(i) requires that each hazmat employee- as defined in § 171.8- must\nreceive safety training concerning emergency response information required by subpart G\nof part 172. The HMR does not prescribe the detail or specificity of this requirement, as\nit is a performance-based standard.\nA hazmat employee training program meets the requirements of § 172.704(a)(3)(i) if it\nincludes training on emergency response information and complies with the requirements\nof subpart G of part 172. Please note that an employer’s hazmat training program should\nmeet all applicable requirements of § 172.704, not just § 172.704(a)(3)(i).\nQ2. You ask whether a driver or other carrier hazmat employee is required to provide\nemergency response information to emergency responders when a related hazardous\nmaterials incident occurs involving the hazmat employee that is transporting or\nhandling the hazardous material.\n\n<<>>\n\nA2. The answer is yes, emergency response information must be readily available\nto authorities in the event of an incident or inspection. Section 172.602(c)(1) requires that\neach carrier shall maintain emergency response information in the same manner as\nprescribed for shipping papers. Section 177.817(e) details storage and\naccessibility requirements for shipping papers. Therefore, the emergency response\ninformation must also be stored and available to authorities in the event of an accident or\ninspection in accordance with § 177.817(e)\nQ3. You ask how much detail a driver or other carrier hazmat employee must give to\nemergency responders regarding the hazardous materials involved in the incident.\nA3. Section § 172.602(c)(1) requires that no person—that is subject to subpart G of part\n172—may offer for transportation, accept for transportation, transfer, store, or otherwise\nhandle during transportation a hazardous material unless emergency response information\nconforming to subpart G of part 172 is: (1) immediately available for use at all times the\nhazardous material is present; and (2) immediately available to any person who—as a\nrepresentative of a Federal, State, or local government agency—responds to an incident\ninvolving a hazardous material, or is conducting an investigation that involves a\nhazardous material.\nSection 172.602(c)(1) requires that each carrier shall maintain emergency response\ninformation in the same manner as prescribed for shipping papers. Section 177.817(e)\ndetails storage and accessibility requirements for shipping papers. Therefore, the\nemergency response information must also be stored and available to authorities in the\nevent of an accident or inspection in accordance with § 177.817(e).\nQ4. You ask whether the amount of hazmat safety training on emergency response\ninformation is dependent on the hazardous material being transported. You provide the\nexample of a driver of a propane truck only needing training regarding propane while a\ndriver of a transport vehicle that carries multiple hazard classes needing training on all\nhazardous materials they transport.\nA4. See answer A1.\nQ5. You ask whether compliance with the emergency response information, conforming to\nsubpart G of part 172, should be verified by a roadside inspector during a roadside\ninspection, or should it only be checked during a compliance investigation or facility\ninspection.\n\n<<>>\n\nA5. The HMR prescribes the requirements for the safe and secure transportation of hazardous\nmaterials in commerce, as the Secretary considers appropriate. Pursuant to\n§ 172.602(c)(1), emergency response information required under subpart G of Part\n172 must be immediately available to any person who, as a representative of a Federal,\nState, or local government agency responding to an incident involving a hazardous\nmaterial or is conducting an investigation which involves a hazardous\nmaterials. A roadside inspector may check for compliance with this requirement.\nI hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.\nSincerely,\nDirk Der Kinderen\nChief, Standards Development Branch\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<>>\n\nGeller\n21-0074\nFrom: DerKinderen, Dirk (PHMSA)\nTo: Hazmat Interps\nSubject: FW: Request For Clarification Interpretation 15-0129\nDate: Wednesday, July 14, 2021 3:53:41 PM\nAttachments: CVSA Request for Clarification Regarding Interpretation 15-0129.pdf\nimage002.png\nPer the below instruction from Duane, please log as a request.\nFrom: Pfund, Duane (PHMSA) \nSent: Wednesday, July 14, 2021 3:51 PM\nTo: adrienneg cvsa.org \nCc: Bill Reese ; collinm cvsa.org ; DerKinderen, Dirk (PHMSA)\n; Foster, Glenn (PHMSA) ; Nickels, Matthew\n(PHMSA) \nSubject: RE: Request For Clarification Interpretation 15-0129\nThank you Adrienne – we’ll will log it into our system as an interpretation request.\nv/r\nDuane A. Pfund\nInternational Program Coordinator, Office of Hazardous Materials Safety\nUS Department of Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\n1200 New Jersey Ave SE, Washington DC, 20590\nOffice: 202.366.4471 ◊ Mobile: 202.680.0704\nPHMSA Home | LinkedIn | Twitter | HAZMAT | OPS\nFrom: Adrienne Gildea \nSent: Wednesday, July 14, 2021 1:46 PM\nTo: Pfund, Duane (PHMSA) \nCc: Bill Reese ; collinm cvsa.org \nSubject: Request For Clarification Interpretation 15-0129\nCAUTION: This email originated from outside of the Department of Transportation (DOT). Do not click on links or\nopen attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.\nGood afternoon Mr. Pfund,\n\n<<>>\n\nAttached, please find a request for clarification regarding Interpretation 15-0129.\nThank you,\nAdrienne Gildea\nDeputy Executive Director\nCommercial Vehicle Safety Alliance\n6303 Ivy Lane, Suite 310\nGreenbelt, MD 20770\n301-830-6157 - office\n202-213-5890 - cell\n\n<<>>\n\nJuly 14, 2021\nDuane Pfund\nActing Director\nStandard and Rulemaking (PHH-10)\nU.S. Department of Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration\n1200 New Jersey Ave., SE\nWashington, DC 20590\nDear Mr. Pfund,\nAt the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) 2021 Virtual Spring Workshop, the Hazardous\nMaterials Committee discussed PHMSA interpretation 15-0129, which addresses driver emergency\nresponse training. The group concluded that clarification regarding the interpretation is necessary.\nCVSA is a nonprofit association comprised of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal commercial\nmotor vehicle safety officials and industry representatives. The Alliance aims to achieve uniformity,\ncompatibility and reciprocity of commercial motor vehicle inspections and enforcement by certified\ninspectors dedicated to driver and vehicle safety. Our mission is to improve commercial motor vehicle\nsafety and uniformity throughout Canada, Mexico and the United States, by providing guidance and\neducation to enforcement, industry and policy makers.\nCVSA requests that PHMSA re-address interpretation 15-0129, so it can be uniformly enforced, and the\nmotor carrier industry has a clear understanding of the requirements. Specifically, we would like the\nfollowing questions answered.\n1) In interpretation 15-0129, PHMSA states, “The HMR do not require a hazmat employee to have\nproficiency or familiarity with a specific source of emergency response information such as the ERG\nas part of safety training.” Safety training in §172.704(a)(3)(i) requires hazmat employees to receive\ntraining on emergency response information required by subpart G of part 172. What is PHMSA’s\nexpectation on the detail of this required training?\n2) Is a driver or other hazmat employee required to provide emergency response information to\nemergency responders when a hazmat incident occurs involving the hazmat employee and hazardous\nmaterial the hazmat employee is transporting or responsible for?\n\n<<>>\n\n3) If the answer to question 2 is yes, how much detail is the hazmat employee required to give\nemergency responders regarding the hazardous materials involved in the incident?\n4) Is the amount of training on emergency response information required for a hazmat employee\ndependent on the hazardous material transported? For example, the driver of a bob-tail propane\ntruck only needs emergency response training on propane, while the driver who works for an LTL\ncarrier transporting multiple hazard classes or divisions of hazardous materials would need more\ntraining.\n5) Is compliance with emergency response information required by subpart G to part 172 something a\nroadside inspector should be verifying during a roadside inspection, or should it only be checked\nduring a compliance investigation or facility inspection?\nCVSA works to closely monitor, evaluate and identify potentially unsafe transportation processes and\nprocedures as well as to help facilitate and implement best practices for enhancing safety on our\nhighways. Commercial motor vehicle safety continues to be a challenge and we need the involvement of\nall affected parties to help us better understand these issues and put into place practical solutions. We\nappreciate the opportunity to comment on this proposal and the agency’s commitment to safety and\nstakeholder involvement.\nIf you have further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me by phone at 301-830-\n6149 or by email at collinm@cvsa.org.\nRespectfully,\nCollin B. Mooney, MPA, CAE\nExecutive Director\nCommercial Vehicle Safety Alliance\n2","truncated":false,"body_characters":10319}