{"operation":"document","citation":"98-0361","title":"Shell Chemical Company — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"1999-01-06","effective_on":null,"summary":"98-0361 response to Shell Chemical Company concerning 171.8.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-98-0361.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-98-0361.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-98-0361","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/1998/980361.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nof Transportation\nU.S. Department\nWashington, D.C. 20590\n400 Seventh Street, S.W.\nResearch and\nSprints retions\nJAN - 6 1999\nMr. William Reinike\nRef. No. 98-0361\nShell Chemical Company\n2982 Washington Blvd.\nBelpre, Ohio 45714\nDear Mr. Reinike:\nThis is in response to your letter of December 2, 1998, requesting clarification on the requirements for\nmaterials of trade (MOTs) under the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR parts 171-\n180). You presented the following scenario and would like confirmation that the MOTs exception in\n§ 173.6 applies.\nA barge of butadiene arrives at your Ohio River dock facility. A technician draws 500 ml of butadiene\nfrom the barge into a small cylinder. He uses a company pickup truck to transport the cylinder to your\nmain plant. At the plant the butadiene is analyzed to ensure the material in the barge meets you\nmanufacturing specifications.\nYou also presented the following proposed scenario:\nA barge stops at Neal's Landing in Vienna, WV, before proceeding to your plant. You would like to\ndraw a sample of material at this time so that by the time the barge reaches your dock facility the\nmaterial would have already been analyzed. The difference in this scenario is that the trip is 10 miles\neach way and crosses state lines.\nBoth scenarios you present are suitable for the MOTs exception. You are a private carrier transporting\nsmall amounts of hazardous material in direct support of your business and you state that all provisions\nof § 173.6 are met.\nI hope this information is helpful.\nSincerely,\nWhen Hell.\nDelmer F. Billing\nChief, Standards Development\nOffice of Hazardous Materials Standards\n980361\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\n12/03/98 THU 10:13. FAX 423 2647\nSHELL CHEMICAL\n41002\n98-0361\n•\nLavalle\n517B.te\nDecember 2, 1998\n171.8 MOT\nWilliam Reinike\n2982 Washington Blvd.\nShell Chemical Company\nBelpre, OH 45714\nMs Diane LaValle\nTransportation Specialist\nU.S. Department of Transportation\nResearch and Special Programs Administration\nWashington, DC 20590\nDear Ms LaValle,\nThank you, again, for providing an interpretation of the \"material of trade\" definition. I would like to once\nagain explain the situations or scenarios affecting our sampling and transportation prooesses to ensure that\nwe will meet the intent of the material of trade definition. Shell's Belpre, OH, plant is solely a\nmanufacturing facility. We do ship our finished product by contract carrier, but we are not in the\ntransportation business. Here are the scenarios as I described in our telephone conversation.\nliquefied flammable gas that meets the DOT definition of a 2.1 material.) Our dock facility is separated\nIn one situation we receive butadiene (BD) by barge at our Ohio River dock facility, (Butadiene is a\nbarge into a small cylinder. He (she) then uses a company pickup truck to transport the cylinder across the\nfrom the main plant by a two-lane state highway. A technician draws a 500 MIL (13.8 oz.) of BD from the\nhighway and into the main plant where our laboratory is located. Butadiene is a key ingredient or raw\nmaterial in our manufacture of synthetic rubber. Our laboratory analyzes the BD sample to ensure that the\nmaterial in the barge will meet our manufacturing specifications. We do not realize or receive revenue\nfrom the laboratory analysis. The analysis is part of the plant operating cost instead.\nmet before we act on the idea. Butadiene barges stop at Neal's Landing in Vienna, WV, before proceeding\nThe second scenario represents a proposed idea. We want to be sure that all regulatory requirements are\nbefore the barge finally arrives at our dock facility. This idea allows us to begin unloading the barge\nto our plant. If we can draw material samples when the barge stops at Vienna, we can have them analyzed\nimmediately when it arrives at Shell, and eliminates a three hour delay.\nTwo small cities. The trip also means that our technician will enter West Virginia, then return to Ohio.\nquantities, and the mode of transportation are the same. But this time the trip is 10 miles each way through\nAs the DOT focal point for our plant I want to be very sure that we continue to meet all 49CFR\nrequirements for shipping hazardous materials. On the other hand, I want to help make our current and\nproposed sampling processes as user friendly as the regulations will allow. That is my primary reason for\nmeet item three (3) in the \"material of trade\" definition stated in 49CFR 171.8.\nwanting to use the \"material of trade\" exception. I believe that the material and our mode of transportation\nmotor carriage and the material is used in direct support of a principal business that is other chan\n• We are using private\ntransportation by motor vehicle. We also meet the hazard class, quantity, and packaging requirements\nfound in the material of trade exception [49CFR 173.6(a)(2) and (b)(I) and (5)]. 'The quantity is far less\nand secured in the bed of the pickup truck during transportation.\nthan the 220 pound limit, and we do use an approved leak tight DOTE cylinder. The cylinder is protected\nmaterials subchapter (171 - 180), except those included in the exception itself. The cylinders must be\nAccording to the opening statement of 173.6, we are not subject to the requirements of the hazardous\n!\n!\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\n12/03/98 THU,10:13, FAX 423 2647\n4. H\nSHELL CHEMICAL\n0003\nmarked with the identity of the material. The hazard communioation requirement does not mention hazard\nclass labels for non-bulk packaging. However, we will apply or attach the appropriate label to the\nexception omits the requirements for shipping papers, training, and emergency response information.\nylinders. The cylinders conform to packaging, qualification, maintenance, and use requirements. The\nHowever, 29CFR 1910.1200 does require warning labels (such as a hazard class label), emergency\ndoes not apply to 29CFR. Regardless of which agency mandates the requirements, a shipper would be\nresponse information (specifically, an MSDS), and employee training. The material of trade exception\nor response information. Our people who do the sampling have received DOT GA&F and Function\nvery foolish to send out any hazardous material using untrained personnel and no appropriate material data\nSpecific training, and other training covering response to spills, leaks, and more.\nfollowed correctly. Thank you for your continued help and cooperation.\nSincerely,\nBill Reinike\nWilliam Reinike\nPhone: (740) 423-2261\nShell Chemical Company\nFAX: (740) 423-2386","truncated":false,"body_characters":6490}