{"operation":"document","citation":"25-0013","title":"KVAC Environmental — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2025-09-23","effective_on":null,"summary":"25-0013 response to KVAC Environmental concerning 172.101.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-25-0013.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-25-0013.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-25-0013","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/2026-01/250013.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nAdministration\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE\nWashington, DC 20590\nSeptember 23, 2025\nMr. Kyle McLaughlin\nCompliance Manager\nKVAC Environmental\nPO Box 1505\nRancho Cucamonga, CA 91729\nReference No. 25-0013\nDear Mr. McLaughlin:\nThis letter is in response to your January 2, 2025 letter requesting clarification of the Hazardous\nMaterials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) applicable to hazardous substance\ndeterminations and shipping descriptions.\nWe have paraphrased and answered your questions as follows:\nQ1. How can an offeror of hazardous materials reconcile differences between Appendix A to\nthe § 172.101 table and 40 CFR § 302.4 when determining the reportable quantity of a\nhazardous substance, specifically when dealing with materials listed due to constituents\nvs. hazard characteristics?\nA1. The Department of Transportation (DOT) is required by the Superfund Amendments and\nReauthorization Act of 1986 to regulate as hazardous materials those materials\ndesignated as hazardous substances under Section 101(14) of the Comprehensive\nEnvironmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). However,\nthe Department was not given authority to determine what is or is not a hazardous\nsubstance or the appropriate reportable quantity (RQ) for materials designated as\nhazardous substances. This authority is vested in the Environmental Protection Agency\n(EPA). The list of hazardous substances, designated under Section 101(14) of CERCLA,\nhas been prescribed by the EPA under 40 CFR § 302.4. DOT's corresponding list of\nhazardous substances and reportable quantities is found in Appendix A to § 172.101 of\nthe HMR. As stated in the previous Letter of Interpretation you referenced (Reference\nNo. 04-0182), when the specific constituent of the hazardous waste and its respective\nconcentration is known, the RQ for the constituent should be used when determining\nwhether a reportable quantity has been met.\nQ2. Must similar containers of a material be listed separately on a shipping paper when only\nsome exceed the reportable quantity?\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nA2. No. Packages may be described under one line entry on a shipping paper using the “RQ”\ndesignator provided some of the packages contain a reportable quantity.\nIn addition, please note on July 1, 2025, PHMSA published a notice of proposed rulemaking\ntitled “Hazardous Materials: Remove Redundant List of U.S. EPA CERCLA Hazardous\nSubstances” under Docket HM-268E.1 PHMSA proposes to revise the HMR to remove\nredundant pages contained in an Appendix that repeats references already listed in EPA\nregulations. If adopted, HM-268E would direct readers to the 40 CFR § 302.4 list to determine\nwhether a material meets or exceeds the RQ.\nI hope this information is helpful. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.\nSincerely,\nAlexander Wolcott\nActing Chief, Regulatory Review and Reinvention Branch\nStandards and Rulemaking Division\n1 90 FR 28544 (Jul 1., 2025).\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nENVIRONMENTAL\ne ceu 909-476- 2308 G info@kvacenv.com\nQ Fax: 909-476- 2408 • kvacenv.com\n0 PO Box 1505 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91729\nPollack\n25-0013\nJanuary 2, 2025\nMr. Shane Kelly\nDirector, Standards and Rulemaking Division\nUS DOT/PHMSA (PHH-10)\n1200 New Jersey Ave SE East Building 2nd Floor\nWashington, DC 20590\nRe: Request for Interpretation on Questions Relating to Hazardous Substances\nTo Whom It May Concern:\nI am writing on behalf of K-VAC Environmental Services, Inc. to request regulatory\ninterpretation on the following matters:\n1. The reconciliation between Appendix A to 49 CFR 172.101 and 40 CFR 302.4\n2. The potential differentiation of containers on shipping papers as it relates to reportable\nquantity\nI am aware of Interpretation Response #04-0182 but would appreciate more guidance on how\nthis reconciles with 40 CFR 302.4. I will similarly use acetone and sulfuric acid as examples.\nAppendix A to 49 CFR 172.101 seems not to account for the nuances found within 40 CFR 302.4,\nwhich contains more information and is the original table listing hazardous substances.\nFor the purposes of this letter, I provide the following contracted table from 40 CFR 302.4:\nHazardous substance CASRN1 Statutory RCRA Final RQ\ncode11 Waste N2 [pounds (kg)]\nAcetone 67-64-1 4 U002 5000 (2270)\nSulfuric acid 7664-93-9 1 1000 (454)\n8014-95-7\nUnlisted Hazardous Waste N.A. 4 D002 100 (45.4)\nCharacteristic of Corrosivity\nUnlisted Hazardous Waste N.A. 4 D001 100 (45.4)\nCharacteristic of lgnitability\nThe \"Statutory code\" column provides the source for the inclusion of that hazardous substance.\nNote II of that table states, \"The 'RCRA waste No.' column provides the waste identification\nnumbers assigned by RCRA regulations.\"\nPage 1 of 3\n\n<<<PAGE 4>>>\n\n'9 Cell: 909-476-2308 G info@kvacenv.com\n@ Fax: 909-476- 2408 • kvacenv.com\n0 PO Box 1505 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91729\nENVIRONMENTAL\nThis table, which I understand to be the foundational source of Appendix A to 49 CFR 172.101,\nindicates the following to me:\n1. Acetone is a listed hazardous substance insofar as it carries RCRA Waste Code U002,\nwhich by the nature of that code would mean it is in the form of an unused commercial\nchemical.\n2. Sulfuric acid is a listed hazardous substance due to it being a Clean Water Act Hazardous\nSubstance, waste or not.\nFrom this, I conclude the following:\n1. Acetone is only a listed hazardous substance with a reportable quantity of 5,000 lb\nwhen it is a waste carrying a U002 code. Because acetone would also have the\ncharacteristic of flammability, it would necessarily carry the D001 code, but as a listed\nhazardous substance, it would use the specific reportable quantity. Waste acetone\nsolely carrying the D001 code would have a reportable quantity of 100 lb.\n2. A product hazardous due to its acetone constituent, be it pure or a mixture, could not\nbe a hazardous substance. The statutory source for acetone's inclusion in the table is\nRCRA. As a product, not a RCRA waste, the hazardous material in question would carry\nneither a U002 nor D001 code and therefore could not be considered a hazardous\nsubstance.\n3. Sulfuric acid is a listed hazardous substance without regard to RCRA Waste Codes. It will\nhave a reportable quantity of 1,000 lb whether it is a product or waste.\nI came to these conclusions prior to being made aware of Interpretation Response #04-0182. I\nappreciate the reasoning of that response because it does offer a simpler and easier to\nunderstand solution, but I'm not sure I see how it is fully supported by the relevant regulatory\nlanguage.\nPlease elaborate on how Appendix A to 49 CFR 172.101 reconciles with 40 CFR 302.4. I have\nsearched the Federal Register but have not found anything useful in clarifying the relationship\nor discrepancies between the two tables. In my view, the tables and their accompanying codes\nare fundamentally linked. To support that assertion, I would point out that the entire purpose\nof the RQ designation is facilitating notification to the National Response Center, the complete\nrequirements of which are found in 40 CFR 302.6.\nMy question on shipping papers stems from the definition of a hazardous substance found in 49\nCFR 171.8. Let's say, for example, we have two containers of the same D001 Unlisted\nPage 2 of 3\n\n<<<PAGE 5>>>\n\n\"' Cell 909-476- 2308 S info@kvacenv.com\n\" Fax 909-476-2408 • kvacenv.com\n0 PO Box 1505 Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91729\nENVIRONMENTAL\nHazardous Waste, whose reportable quantity is 100 lb. However, one container weighs more\nthan 100 lb and the other less. Because, as provided in Point 2 of the definition, the hazardous\nsubstance determination depends on the quantity in one package, should the two containers\nbe listed as separate line items on the shipping paper, one with \"RQ\" in the description and the\nother without?\nTo reiterate, our questions are as follows:\n1. 2. How does Appendix A to 49 CFR 172.101 reconcile with the detailed table in 40 CFR\n302.4 in determining an applicable reportable quantity?\nShould otherwise identical containers of a particular material be listed as separate line\nitems on a shipping paper if the weights of only some of them exceed the reportable\nquantity?\nYour regulatory interpretation will greatly assist us in identifying hazardous substances and\nachieving our goal of complete regulatory compliance. We thank the personnel at the PHMSA in\nadvance for their time and energy in crafting a response to this letter.\nSincerely,\nKyle Mclaughlin\nCompliance Manager\nkyle.mclaughlin@kvacenv.com\n+1 (540) 514-8299\nPage 3 of 3","truncated":false,"body_characters":8582}