Clarification of the Requirements for Incident Reporting Under the HMR
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration · Dec 15, 2010 · Reference No. 10-0232
Interprets: 49 CFR § 171.15, 49 CFR § 171.16
Reggie’s quick take
A shipper asked whether it must check on an incident that happened while a carrier had the hazmat. PHMSA says no, and the same goes for anyone who knows about an incident while another party holds the shipment. Under §§ 171.15 and 171.16, the person in physical possession of the hazardous material must give notice of the incident. No one else has to make sure that happens, and a shipper does not have to follow up with DOT to confirm the carrier filed its report.
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 May 5, 2010 request for clarification of the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180). Specifically, you request clarification regarding the incident reporting requirements in §§ 171.15 and 171.16. Your questions are paraphrased and answered as follows:
Q1. If a person knows that an incident occurred while another party was in physical possession of a hazardous materials shipment, is that person required to investigate whether an incident report was filed by the party that was in possession of the material?
A1. The answer is no. As required in §§ 171.15 and 171.16, it is the responsibility of the person in physical possession of the hazardous material to provide notice of an incident. There is no requirement of a third party to ensure that the person in possession of the hazardous material provides notice of an incident.
Q2. If a shipper offers a shipment of hazardous materials to a carrier and that shipment is involved in an incident while in the carrier’s possession, is the shipper required to follow-up with the DOT to ensure that the carrier properly reported the incident?
A2. The answer is no. It is not the responsibility of the offeror or shipper of the hazardous material involved in an incident to follow-up with the DOT to ensure that the incident is properly reported by the carrier in physical possession of the hazardous material.
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.