PHMSA Response Letter

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Mr. Kurt Knaack
President
Berger Brothers, Inc.
1176 N. Cherry Avenue
Chicago, IL 60622

Ref. No.: 08-0169

Dear Mr. Knaack:

This responds to your letter regarding the applicability of training requirements of Subpart H of Part 172 of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) to shipments of charcoal reclassed as Consumer commodity, ORM-D.

According to your letter, Berger Brothers, Inc., a distributor of charcoal, received a Notice of Probable Violation for failure to meet the training requirements in Subpart H of Part 172 of the HMR. You state that your company receives the charcoal already packaged and the product is stored in your warehouse and distributed to various stores and industrial companies. Your supplier advised you that based on test results conducted in 2006, charcoal is not regulated as a hazardous material. You ask if your supplier is correct that charcoal is not regulated as a hazardous material.

Provided the tests conducted in 2006 indicate or prove that your supplier’s product (charcoal) is not a hazardous material in accordance with any of the classification criteria (e.g., for Class 4) in the HMR, it is not subject to the requirements of HMR and not regulated for purposes of transportation in commerce. If this is the situation, the charcoal should not be described as a Consumer commodity, ORM-D. Therefore, a shipper would not be required to comply with the training provisions contained in Subpart H of Part 172.
I hope this information is helpful. If we can be of further assistance, please contact us on (202) 366-8553.

Sincerely,

Susan Gorsky
Acting Chief, Standards Development
Office of Hazardous Materials Standards

172.600, 173.151(c)