[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 17 (Thursday, January 27, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3976-3977]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-1507]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration

[Docket No. RSPA-04-18975; Notice No. 04-009]


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 has determined that a 
number of DOT specification compressed gas cylinders seized by the 
State of Maine, Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP), may have 
been marked as requalified in

[[Page 3977]]

accordance with the HMR when the cylinders were not subjected to 
testing. During property seizure proceedings, MDEP took possession of 
numerous cylinders owned by Harry J. Smith, Jr., and his daughter, Dawn 
Smith, of Meddybemps, Maine, in accordance with a state mandated 
environmental clean-up of the Smiths' property. RSPA has gathered 
evidence that suggests the high-pressure DOT specification industrial 
gas cylinders owned by the Smiths may have been marked, certified and 
returned to service when the cylinders had not been properly 
requalified in accordance with the Hazardous Materials Regulations 
(HMR).
    A hydrostatic retest and visual inspection are used to verify the 
structural integrity of compressed gas cylinders. If a hydrostatic 
retest and visual inspection are not performed within the time period 
required by the HMR, cylinders with compromised structural integrity 
may be returned to service when they should be condemned. Extensive 
property damage, serious personal injury, or death could result from 
rupture of a cylinder.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Through its investigation, RSPA believes 
that an undetermined number of DOT specifications cylinders owned by 
the Smiths may have been marked as having been requalified in 
accordance with the HMR, without being properly requalifed by an 
authorized retest facility. The HMR require that a cylinder 
requalification facility hold a current Retester Identification Number 
(RIN) issued by RSPA. The Smiths have never applied for or received a 
RIN, therefore they are not an authorized cylinder requalification 
facility.
    Cylinders in the Smiths' possession were marked as having been 
requalified years after the corresponding RIN numbers had expired. RINs 
that expire and are not renewed by the authorized holder are never 
reissued to any other party. So far, RSPA discovered at least four 
examples of expired RIN markings during the course of its 
investigation. These RINs are as follows: (1) RIN B773, which expired 
on August 28, 1995 and was not renewed by the RIN holder, was marked on 
a cylinder represented as having been requalified in June 1999 and on a 
cylinder represented as having been requalified in July 1999; (2) RIN 
B775, which expired on December 4, 1991 and was not renewed, was marked 
on a cylinder represented as having been requalified in August 1999; 
(3) RIN B872, which expired on July 31, 1995 and was not renewed, was 
marked on cylinders represented as having been requalified in May 2000, 
May 2001, July 2001 and January 2002; and (4) A012, which expired on 
November 7, 1998 and was not renewed, was marked on a cylinder 
represented as having been requalified in September 1999.
    The RIN and date of retest are marked on the shoulders of cylinders 
in the following pattern: 
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN27JA05.003

    M is the month of retest (e.g., 12), and Y is the year of the 
retest (e.g., 04).
    A RIN is read in a clockwise manner. For example, the above RIN 
pattern is for RIN A803.
    This safety advisory covers all high-pressure DOT specification 
cylinders obtained from the Smiths or serviced by the Smiths at any 
time in the past. These cylinders may pose a safety risk to the public 
and should be considered unsafe for use in hazardous materials service 
until requalified by an authorized retest facility. Furthermore, 
cylinders described in this safety advisory must not be filled with a 
hazardous material unless the cylinders are first properly retested by 
an authorized retest facility. A list of authorized requalification 
facilities sorted by state or by RIN number may be obtained at RSPA's 
Web site: http://hazmat.dot.gov/files/approvals/hydro/hydro_retesters.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anthony Lima, Senior 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, 
West Trenton, NJ 08628. Telephone: (609) 989-2252.

    Issued in Washington, DC on January 21, 2005.
Robert A. McGuire,
Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety.
[FR Doc. 05-1507 Filed 1-26-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P