{"operation":"document","citation":"22-0139","title":"WM Pacific Northwest — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2023-08-24","effective_on":null,"summary":"22-0139 response to WM Pacific Northwest concerning 172.504, 172.508, 172.516.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-22-0139.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-22-0139.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-22-0139","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2025-05/220139.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nAdministration\nAugust 24, 2023\nHaydon Morris\nTransportation & Logistics Manager\nWM Pacific Northwest\n720 4th Avenue, Suite 400\nKirkland, WA 98033-8136\nReference No. 22-0139\nDear Mr. Morris:\nThis letter is in response to your December 19, 2022, email requesting clarification of the\nHazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) regarding the requirements for\nvisibility and display of placards on “half high” intermodal containers loaded with hazardous\nwaste that move on “well cars” by rail. Specifically, you ask whether—in the event that “half\nhigh” (5-ft. tall) intermodal container placards are not visible when placed in a “well car”—does\nthe well car itself need to be placarded on all four sides.\nThe answer is yes. Generally, in accordance with § 172.504(a), each bulk packaging, freight\ncontainer, unit load device, transport vehicle, or rail car containing any quantity of a hazardous\nmaterial must be placarded on each side and each end. For rail transportation, § 172.508(a)\nallows placards displayed on a transport container to satisfy the requirements for affixing\nplacards on a rail car. However, in this scenario, the placards on the “half high” intermodal\ncontainers in the rail car (i.e., well car) will not be visible and therefore, both the intermodal\ncontainers and the rail cars must be placarded.\nFurthermore, § 172.516(a) states that each placard on a rail car must be clearly visible from the\ndirection it faces, except from the direction of another rail car to which the rail car is coupled.\nTherefore, in a scenario such as this where the “half high” intermodal container placards are not\nvisible when placed in a well car, the well car placards must be displayed so that they are clearly\nvisible from the direction it faces—except from the direction of another rail car to which it is\ncoupled.\nI hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.\nSincerely,\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nWashington, DC 20590\nDirk Der Kinderen\nChief, Standards Development Branch\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nCardez\n2-0139\nFrom: INFOCNTR (PHMSA)\nTo: Date: Dodd, Alice (PHMSA); Hazmat Interps\nSubject: FW: Request For Interpretation\nWednesday, December 21, 2022 9:08:10 AM\nHi Alice and team,\nPlease see the LOI request below. Thank you.\n-Rachel (HMIC)\nFrom: Morris, Haydon <hmorris@wm.com>\nSent: Monday, December 19, 2022 5:47 PM\nTo: INFOCNTR (PHMSA) <INFOCNTR.INFOCNTR@dot.gov>\nSubject: Request For Interpretation\nCAUTION: This email originated from outside of the Department of Transportation (DOT). Do\nnot click on links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content\nis safe.\nGood Afternoon,\nWe are looking for clarification on placard requirements when it comes to hazardous waste loaded\ninto half high intermodal containers that move on well cars via railroad. Within our operation, these\ncontainers carrying haz waste have placards on all 4 sides and move over the road to Union Pacific\nRail Yard in Seattle where they have been loaded on rail cars for final transport to our Landfill in\nArlington, Oregon.\nPlease confirm the following: In the event these half high (5ft tall) intermodal container placards\nare not visible when placed in the well car, does the well car itself need to have placards on all 4\nsides to keep within DOT regulation in addition to the container with hazardous material? WM and\nUP had been operating under the pretense it was acceptable to placard the wells in these instances\nbut ODOT continues to advise this is not acceptable.\nThanks,\nHaydon Morris\nTransportation & Logistics Manager\nPacific Northwest\nhmorris@wm.com\n720 4th Avenue, Suite 400\nKirkland, WA 98033-8136\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nAccess WM 24/7 with MyWM\nRecycling is a good thing. Please recycle any printed emails.","truncated":false,"body_characters":3898}