Hazmat in Intrastate Commerce

On 01/8/97 the US Department of Transportation issued a new final rule titled "Hazardous Materials in Intrastate Commerce." This rule extends federal authority to the intrastate transportation of hazardous materials, and creates several exceptions for transporters of hazardous materials. These exceptions include:

•	use of non-specification packaging in intrastate transportation;

•	transportation of hazardous agricultural chemicals by farmers.

A MOT is a hazardous material, other than a hazardous waste, that is carried on a motor vehicle:

•	for the purpose of protecting the health and safety of the vehicle operator or passengers (e.g., self-contained breathing apparatus or insecticide);

•	for the purpose of supporting the operation or maintenance of a motor vehicle including its auxiliary equipment (e.g., engine starting fluid or spare wet batteries); or

•	by a private motor carrier, including a vehicle operated by a rail carrier, in direct support of a principal business that is other than transportation by motor vehicle (e.g., cylinders of compressed gas carried by a plumber for use with a cutting torch).

The MOT exceptions apply to both interstate and intrastate carriers. A hazardous material transported in compliance with the MOT exception is not subject to additional hazardous material regulation.

Non-bulk liquid or solid HM packaged as MOT must be marked with the proper DOT shipping name or the common name of the material including the letters "RQ" if the package contains a reportable quantity of a hazardous substance. Compressed gas cylinders must be marked and labeled as required in the hazardous material regulations (HMR). A MOT that is properly classed, packaged, and transported, does not require shipping papers, package labeling (except cylinders of compressed gasses), or placarding of vehicles.

•	Hazard Classes 3 (flammable liquids), 8 (corrosives), 9 (miscellaneous hazardous material), and ORM-D (Consumer Commodities)

•	Hazard Divisions 2.1 (flammable gases), 2.2 (nonflammable gases), 4.1 (flammable solids), 5.1 (oxidizers), 6.1 (poison liquids or solids).

Note: HM that is self-reactive or poisonous by inhalation is specifically excluded from the MOT provisions. Check the HM regulations to confirm that a particular product is authorized as a MOT. MOT Packaging Requirements.

Materials of trade are restricted to the following package sizes based on packing groups:

•	Packing Group I: packaging not over 0.5 kg (1 pound) or 0.5 L (1 pint)

•	Packing Groups II or III, and ORM-D: packaging not over 30 kg (66 pounds) or 30 L ( 8 gallons)

Cylinders of compressed gas must be no larger than 100 kg (220 pounds) gross weight each, and must conform to the qualification and use requirements of the HMR.

Packages of MOT must be leak tight, sift proof, closed, and secured in the vehicle against movement and damage. The package should be the original manufacturer's package, or one of equal or greater strength.

Gasoline transported as MOT must be packaged in metal or plastic containers that meet either the UN packaging standards or OSHA requirements.

No more than 200 kg (440 pounds) aggregate gross weight of MOT may be transported on a single vehicle (e.g., a tow truck driver could carry a 150 pound cylinder of division 2.1 acetylene and a 150 pound cylinder of 2.2 oxygen, two 8 gallon cans of gasoline weighing 60 pounds each and 20 pound battery and use the MOT exception).

Drivers transporting MOT must be aware of the presence of MOT in their vehicle, must be informed of the requirements of the MOT rule, and be able to identify the HM to truck inspectors or emergency response personnel.

One type of bulk packaging may be transported as a MOT. A tank with a capacity of 1500 L (400 gallons) or less and containing a Class 9 HM in a dilute mixture not exceeding a 2% concentration, may be transported as a MOT. This exception is designed to allow Class 9 pesticides or herbicides that would qualify for the MOT exception in a small package, to be mixed with water in small cargo or portable tanks and moved as a materials of trade. These bulk packages must be marked on two opposite sides with the ID number of the material on orange panels or white square on point devices.

HM-200 prohibits shipment of hazardous waste as a MOT. The Office of Motor Carrier Services received a written interpretation from US DOT stating that wastes excepted from the Uniform Hazardous Waste Manifest requirements may be carried as MOT if the waste is an allowed hazard class or division, and is packaged, marked, secured, and transported in conformance with the requirements of Code of Federal Regulations, title 49, section 173.6.

Many electric utilities and used-oil haulers use test kits containing very small quantities of Division 4.3, Dangerous When Wet materials. HM-200 allows the transportation of test kits containing Packing Group II or III material in packaging having a gross capacity not exceeding 30 ml (1 ounce).