Definition of Hazmat Employee; Registration Applicability
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration · Sep 11, 2006 · Reference No. 06-0174
Interprets: 49 CFR § 171.8
Reggie’s quick take
A waste generator that doesn't meet the registration thresholds still counts as an offeror if it signs the hazardous waste manifest. The asker, a company that owns a facility generating hazardous waste, asked whether a generator can be a generator and not a shipper, and how the registration rules in § 107.601 apply when its facility falls below the thresholds. PHMSA's answer is that the company is an offeror, because it certifies on the manifest that the shipment meets the HMR. That is true even though a contractor packs, marks, labels and prepares the manifest. The company still does not have to register if the amounts it offers or transports are below the § 107.601 thresholds.
Written by AI (Claude) on Oct 22, 2026. Robots make mistakes and leave things out, so the letter below is what counts. Not legal advice.
This responds to your July 31, 2006, letter requesting clarification of the applicability of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 100-185) to a hazardous waste generator. Specifically, you ask if a hazardous waste generator can be a generator and not a shipper, and, how the registration requirements under § 107.60 1 apply for a facility that does not meet applicability requirements.
According to your letter, ATK is the owner of a facility that generates hazardous waste. The type and amount of hazardous waste being transported does not meet applicability requirements of § 107.601 for DOT registration. You contract with a company to pack, mark and label the hazardous waste, as well as prepare the hazardous waste manifest. However, ATK provides the signature on the hazardous waste manifest, verifying compliance with the HMR.
As defined in § 171.8, an "offeror" is any person who performs or is responsible for performing, any pre-transportation function required under the HMR for transportation of the hazardous material in commerce, or tenders or makes a hazardous material available to a carrier for transportation in commerce. Pre-transportation functions include: (1) determining the hazard class or the material; (2) selecting a packaging; (3) filling the packaging and securing its closures; (4) marking and labeling the package; (5) preparing the shipping paper; and (6) certifying that the hazardous material shipment is in proper condition for transportation in conformance with HMR requirements. Because ATK signs the hazardous waste manifest to certify that the shipment conforms to all applicable HMR requirements, ATK is an offeror for purposes of the HMR.
Under § 107.601, a person who offers or transports hazardous materials in the amounts
listed must register. However, if ATK does not offer or transport hazardous materials for transportation the amounts listed in § 107.601, then ATK is not required to register.
A letter of interpretation applies the regulations to the facts the requester described. It isn’t a regulation and isn’t legal advice. The agency’s copy.