[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 44 (Wednesday, March 6, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Page 10254]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-5344]



[[Page 10254]]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration

[Docket No. RSPA-2002-11270, Notice No. 02-2]


Safety Advisory: Unauthorized Marking of Compressed Gas Cylinders

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

ACTION: Safety advisory notice.

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SUMMARY: This is to notify the public that RSPA and the Department of 
Transportation's Office of Inspector General (OIG) are investigating 
the unauthorized marking of high-pressure compressed gas cylinders by 
Fire Safety Products, Inc. Fire Safety Products, Inc. has two 
facilities: 203 Depot Street, Christiansburg, VA 24073, and 101 Beckley 
Road, Princeton, WV 24605. RSPA and the OIG determined that Fire Safety 
Products marked and certified an undetermined number of high pressure 
DOT specification and exemption cylinders as properly tested in 
accordance with the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR), when the 
cylinders were not hydrostatically retested or visually inspected, or 
when the cylinders were improperly tested and inspected.
    A hydrostatic retest and visual inspection, conducted as prescribed 
in the HMR, are used to verify the structural integrity of a cylinder. 
If the hydrostatic retest and visual inspection are not performed in 
accordance with the HMR, a cylinder with compromised structural 
integrity may be returned to service when it should be condemned. 
Extensive property damage, serious personal injury, or death could 
result from rupture of a cylinder. Cylinders not retested in accordance 
with the HMR may not be charged or filled with compressed gas or other 
hazardous material and offered for transportation in commerce.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anthony Lima, Hazardous Materials 
Enforcement Specialist, Eastern Region, Office of Hazardous Materials 
Enforcement, Research and Special Programs Administration, U.S. 
Department of Transportation, 820 Bear Tavern Road, Suite 306, W. 
Trenton, NJ 08034. Telephone: (609) 989-2256, Fax: (609) 989-2277.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Through its investigation of Fire Safety 
Products, RSPA and the OIG determined that Fire Safety Products marked 
and certified an undetermined number of cylinders as properly tested in 
accordance with the HMR without conducting proper testing of the 
cylinders. RSPA and the OIG also discovered that Fire Safety Products 
destroyed all records of retest and reinspection created prior to April 
2001. As a result of this destruction of records, it is impossible to 
determine, at this time, the number of cylinders in question. The 
cylinders detailed on Fire Safety Products' records from April 2001 to 
August 2001 may only represent a limited number of the total number of 
cylinders that Fire Safety Products apparently marked and certified as 
in compliance with the HMR, without properly testing and inspecting 
them. Therefore, all cylinders marked and certified as requalified by 
Fire Safety Products after August 1998, may pose a safety risk to the 
public and should be considered unsafe for use in hazardous materials 
service until retested by a DOT-authorized facility.
    Fire Safety Products' Retester Identification Number (RIN) is C716. 
The cylinders in question are stamped with RIN C716 in the following 
pattern:

                                   C 7
                                 M    Y
                                   61
 

M is the month of retest (e.g., 10), and Y is the year of the retest 
(e.g., 01).

    Anyone who has a cylinder serviced by Fire Safety Products since 
August 3, 1998, and has not retested the cylinder since then, should 
consider the cylinder unsafe and not fill it with a hazardous material 
unless the cylinder is first properly retested by a DOT-authorized 
retest facility. Cylinders described in this safety advisory that are 
filled with an atmospheric gas should be vented or otherwise safely 
discharged and then taken to a DOT-authorized cylinder retest facility 
for proper retest . This action is to determine compliance with the HMR 
and to ensure the cylinders' suitability for continuing service. 
Cylinders described in this safety advisory that are filled with a 
material other than an atmospheric gas should not be vented, but 
instead should be safely discharged. Upon discharge, the cylinders 
should be taken to a DOT-authorized cylinder retest facility for proper 
retest to determine compliance with the HMR and to ensure their 
suitability for continuing service. The inspector can provide a list of 
authorized retest facilities in your area, or you may obtain the list 
at the following website: http://hazmat.dot.gov. Under no circumstance 
should a cylinder described in this safety advisory be filled, refilled 
or used for its intended purpose until it is reinspected and retested 
by a DOT-authorized retest facility.
    RSPA requests that any person possessing a cylinder described in 
this safety advisory telephone or provide a facsimile to Inspector Lima 
with the following information for each cylinder: (1) The cylinder 
manufacturer's name, (2) the serial number of the cylinder, (3) the DOT 
specification or exemption information for the cylinder, and (4) the 
month and year of the last marked retest by Fire Safety Products.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on February 28, 2002.
Frits Wybenga,
Deputy Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety.
[FR Doc. 02-5344 Filed 3-5-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P