Shipper's Responsibility; Placarding Vehicles Containing Explosives

This is in response to your letter dated November 25,1998, requesting clarification on the applicability of the hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 CFR Parts 171-180) to your liquid slurry mixture and requirements for placarding vehicle carrying Division 1.3 material.

Under 49 CFR 173.22, it is the shipper's responsibility to properly classify a hazardous material. Based on the information you provided, we are not able to determine the proper classification. We recommend that you evaluate and test your mixture to determine if it meets the hazard class defining criteria in Part 173. We want to emphasize that if this composition is intended to produce an explosive or pyrotechnic effect, it must be evaluate under the provisions in 173.56.

In reference to your question on placarding, a manufacturer carrying Division 1.3 materials in its own or rented vehicles in local or intrastate transportation, must placard the transport vehicle in accordance with 49 CFR 172.504. Effective October 1, 1998, the HMR now apply to both intrastate and intrastate transportation of hazardous materials in commerce.