Charcoal reclassed as Consumer commodity, ORM-D
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration · Oct 23, 2008 · Reference No. 08-0169
Interprets: 49 CFR § 172.600
Reggie’s quick take
Someone asked whether charcoal sold through a distributor needs to follow the hazmat training rules in Subpart H of Part 172, after the distributor got a violation notice. The asker's supplier said 2006 tests showed the charcoal is not a hazardous material. PHMSA says that if those tests show the charcoal meets none of the HMR hazard classes, such as Class 4, it is not regulated for transport. In that case it should not be described as Consumer commodity, ORM-D, and shippers would not need Subpart H training.
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 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.
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.