{"operation":"document","citation":"99-0208","title":"City of San Diego — Hazardous Materials Safety Interpretation","source_type":"guidance","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"guidance","official":true,"published_on":"2000-02-10","effective_on":null,"summary":"99-0208 response to City of San Diego concerning 173.6.","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-99-0208.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-99-0208.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-interpretation-99-0208","source_url":"https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/sites/phmsa.dot.gov/files/legacy/interpretations/Interpretation%20Files/1999/990208.pdf","body":"<<<PAGE 1>>>\n\nJ.S. Departmen\nof Transportatior\n400 Seventh Street, S.W.\nWashington, D.C. 20590\nPipeline and\nHazardous Materials Safety\nAdministration\nMs. Joan N. McNamara\nRef No.: 99-0208\nDeputy City Attorney\nCity of San Diego\n1200 Third Avenue, Suite 700\nSan Diego, California 92101-4106\nDear Ms. McNamara:\nThis is in further reference to your letter dated July 20, 1999 and our reply dated\nFebruary 10, 2000, regarding the materials of trade (MOTs) exception found in § 173.6\nof the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). Specifically,\nyou ask whether a company may use the MOTs exception for private delivery of\nhazardous materials purchased by its customers.\nIn our February 10, 2000 reply to your letter we indicated that a company that routinely\ntransports and delivers hazardous materials to customers may not take advantage of the\nmaterials of trade exception. That interpretation was intended to be consistent with the\ndefinition of MOTs provided in § 171.8; however, it actually narrowed the intended\nscope of the exception. As indicated by more recent interpretations (example enclosed),\nit is acceptable for companies that routinely transport and deliver hazardous materials to\nuse the MOTs exception. Therefore, provided the hazardous material meets the MOTs\ndefinition in § 171.8 and all applicable conditions in § 173.6, a company may use the\nMOTs exception for delivery to its customers.\nI hope this information is helpful.\nSincerely,\nSusan Gorsky\nActing Director Hazardous Materials Standards\nOffice of Hazardous Materials Standards\nEnclosure\n990208\n1718\n13.4\n\n<<<PAGE 2>>>\n\nS1.6\nANITA M. NOONE\nLESLIE E. DEVANEY\nOFFICE OF\nLESLIE J. GIRARD\nTHE CITY ATTORNEY\nCONSUMER AND ENVIRONMENTAL\nGAEL B. STRACK\nSUSAN M. HEATH\nCITY OF SAN DIEGO\n1200 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 700\nASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEYS\nSAN DIEGO, CALIFORNTA 92101-410\nCasey Gwinn\nTELEPHONE (619) 533-5500\nCITY ATTORNBY\nFAX (619) 533-5504\nJuly 20, 1999\nMr. Edward T. Mazzullo, Director of OHMS\nOffice of Hazardous Materials Standards\n400 - 7th Street SW\nUnited States DOT/RSPA (DHM-10)\nWashington, DC 20590-0001\nDear Mr. Mazzullo:\nMaterials of Trade Exception\nRecently a case was submitted to our office with the following facts. A company, using\ntheir own vehicle, was delivering to a customer sixty buckets of a product labeled corrosive.\nAlthough each bucket weighed twenty-two pounds, each bucket was a combination package\nwhich contained only 1.3 pounds of corrosive material (UN 2735). Therefore, they were\ntransporting approximately seventy-eight pounds of corrosives. The product had not been re-\nclassified as ORM-D. The shipping papers did not identify the product as hazardous material.\nThe company argued they were entitled to the materials of trade exception because their\n\"principal business\" was selling products and solutions, not transportation. Among other things,\nthe company sells and distributes bearings, mechanical and electrical drive system products,\nindustrial rubber products and maintenance and specialty repair items (manufactured by others).\nThey are described as wholesale trade - industrial suppliers.\nThe company relied on an April 4, 1997, DOT opinion letter to Degussa Corporation\nfurther relied on the preamble to the materials of trade regulation which expressly states that\nwhich expressly states that salespeople are entitled to the materials of trade exception. They\ndoor-to-door salesmen of consumer goods are entitled to the exception.\nHere, to our knowledge, the company does not sell door-to-door. However, customers do\norder products from them which are delivered using a company owned vehicle. We request that\n\n<<<PAGE 3>>>\n\nEdward T. Mazzullo\n-2.\nJuly 20, 1999\nyou provide an opinion as to whether the materials of trade exception would apply to the delivery\nof hazardous materials as described above. Thank you for your attention to this matter.\nSincerely yours,\nCASEY GWINN, City Attorney\nBy\nJon 1. MA-\nJoan N. McNamara\nDeputy City Attorne\nJNM:mt","truncated":false,"body_characters":3984}