Fee Assessment Program

This is in response to your letter of May 13, 1992, requesting clarification on the new hazardous materials transportation registration and fee assessment program (a copy of the final rule is enclosed). Your questions are paraphrased and answered as follows:

Q1. Will chemical tankers, oil tankers, and vessels which are transporting hazardous solid bulk cargo be required to register?

A1. Except for transportation in a bulk packaging (e.g. a cargo tank or portable tank; see 49 CFR 171.8), the bulk carriage of hazardous materials by water is governed by 46 CFR, chapter 1. Therefore, under the exception from the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) provided in § 171.1(a)(1) for bulk transportation by water, tankers are not subject to the registration program. However, if a hazardous material or activity subject to registration is offered for transportation in a containerized shipment, a break-bulk shipment, or a bulk packaging for transportation by vessel, the shipment would be subject to the registration program

Q2. Will motor vehicles, conventional vessels, car carrier vessels, highway carriers and railway carriers be required to register?

A2. The registration program is focused on persons who offer for transportation or transport certain hazardous materials which pose a heightened safety risk either because of their hazardous nature or because they are packaged in larger quantities. The registration requirements apply to any person offering for transportation or transporting any of the specified hazardous materials by highway, rail, vessel or aircraft.

Q3. Will foreign importers, exporters, terminal operators and carriers be subject to the registration requirements?

A3. Foreign carriers are subject to the registration requirements and must register by August 31, 1992. Foreign offerors, including foreign subsidiaries of domestic corporations and foreign governments, have been granted a two-year implementation delay until July 1, 1994.

Q4. Will a vessel transiting the Panama Canal or calling at a U.S. and trusteeship,and such as Puerto Rico, be required to register?

Q5.Will a vessel calling at a U.S. port for bunkering or transhipment be subject to registration requirements?

A4. The term "United States" as defined in § 171.8, means a State, and the District of and Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana

A5. Islands, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa or Guam. The Panama Canal is not included in this definition; therefore, a vessel transiting the Panama Canal would not be subject to the registration program. However, a vessel transporting a hazardous material subject to the registration requirements must be registered before calling at a Puerto Rican port. A merchant vessel carrier transporting any specified hazardous materials in United States territorial seas is subject to the registration program and must register with RSPA before entering the U.S. with any of these materials.

Q6. Will registrants receive any special benefits in regard to the new training requirements for HM-181?

A6. There are no special benefits attached to being properly registered under this program. The money collected as a result of this registration program will fund hazardous materials transportation enforcement, compliance, planning, training, emergency response and cleanup programs of States, Indian tribes, and local governments, which will benefit all registrants. Currently, we are not offering any training materials or classes specifically covering the new HM-181 requirements. DOT' s Transportation Safety Institute at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma offers a basic hazardous materials compliance and enforcement course which includes new HM-181 requirements. For further information on this course and for information concerning upcoming HM-181 training materials and courses, you may contact our Office of Hazardous Materials Initiatives and Training at (202) 366-4900.

I hope this information is helpful. If you require additional assistance, please contact this office.