[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 134 (Monday, July 14, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37638-37639]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-18385]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration
[Notice 97-6]


Safety Advisory: Certified IM 101 and IM 102 Steel Portable Tanks 
With Bottom Outlets Without Internal Discharge Valves or Shear Sections

AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT.

ACTION: Safety advisory notice.

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SUMMARY: This is to notify owners and users of DOT specification IM 101 
and IM 102 portable tanks with filling or discharge connections below 
the normal liquid level that these tanks may be used for shipping 
hazardous materials only if they have internal discharge valves and 
shear sections. Internal discharge valves and shear sections are safety 
devices required on bottom-outlet IM tanks in hazardous material 
service to prevent significant release of lading when damage is 
sustained at the filling/discharge connection. Without those safety 
features, damage to a bottom outlet is far more likely to result in 
loss of a tank's entire lading.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas S. Smith, telephone, (202) 
366-4700, Office of Hazardous Materials Enforcement, or Charles 
Hochman, telephone (202) 366-4545, Office of Hazardous Materials 
Technology, Research and Special Programs Administration, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 
20590-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During compliance inspections in Southern 
Louisiana, inspectors from the RSPA's Office of Hazardous Materials 
Enforcement have observed portable tanks marked and certified as 
meeting DOT specifications IM 101 and IM 102 that had bottom outlets, 
but no internal discharge valves or shear sections. Until January 1, 
1997, the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR, 49 CFR Parts 171-180) 
did not specifically require internal discharge valves or shear 
sections for IM 101 or IM 102 portable tanks with bottom outlets. See 
RSPA's final rule under Docket No.

[[Page 37639]]

HM-181H, 61 FR 50628 (September 26, 1996), amending 49 CFR 178.270-
12(a) effective January 1, 1997, and the discussion in the preamble to 
the final rule, 61 FR 50621, and the notice of proposed rulemaking, 61 
FR 33223 (June 26, 1996).
    The HMR provide that a hazardous material may not be loaded in an 
IM portable tank with filling or discharge connections located below 
the normal liquid level of the tank unless:

    (1) Each filling or discharge connection located below the 
normal liquid level of the tank has at least two serially-mounted 
closures consisting of an internal discharge valve and a bolted 
blank flange or other suitable, liquid-tight closure on each filling 
or discharge connection; or
    (2) When this paragraph [173.32c(g)(2)] is specified for a 
hazardous material through [a special provision in] 
Sec. 171.102(c)(7) of [the HMR], each filling or discharge 
connection located below the normal liquid level of the tank, or 
compartment thereof, has three serially-mounted closures consisting 
of an internal discharge valve remote from the valve itself, an 
external valve, and a bolted blank flange or other suitable liquid-
tight closure on the outlet side of the external valve.


49 CFR 173.32c(g).
    Accordingly, an IM 101 or IM 102 portable tank with a bottom outlet 
may not be filled with any hazardous material if it does not have an 
internal discharge valve and shear section. Because the primary purpose 
of certifying any packaging to a DOT specification or performance 
standard is to authorize that packaging to be used for transporting a 
hazardous material, RSPA believes it is appropriate to fully inform all 
owners and users of IM portable tanks that certain of these tanks exist 
that may not be filled with hazardous materials.

    Issued at Washington, DC on July 8, 1997.
Alan I. Roberts,
Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety.
[FR Doc. 97-18385 Filed 7-11-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P