[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 82 (Wednesday, April 29, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23851-23852]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-09937]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

[Docket No. PHMSA-2015-0119; Notice No. 15-12]


Hazardous Materials: Safety Advisory--Unauthorized Certification 
of Compressed Gas Cylinders

AGENCY: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), 
DOT.

ACTION: Safety Advisory Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: PHMSA is issuing this safety advisory to notify the public 
that Liberty Industrial Gases and Welding Supplies Inc., located at 600 
Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231, also known as Liberty Industrial 
Gases and Welding Supply, Inc., marked ICC, DOT-Specification, and DOT-
Special Permit high pressure compressed gas cylinders as authorized for 
hazardous materials transportation without properly testing the 
cylinders and without authorization to do so.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Patrick Durkin, Hazardous 
Materials Investigator, Eastern Region, Office of Hazardous Materials 
Safety, Pipeline

[[Page 23852]]

and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 820 Bear Tavern Road, Suite 306, West Trenton, NJ 
08034. Telephone: (609) 989-2256, Fax: (609) 989-2277 or, via email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Public Actions Requested

    If ICC, DOT-Specification, or DOT-Special Permit cylinders have 
been taken to or received from Liberty Industrial Gases and Welding 
Supplies Inc., from April 1986 through October 2014, these cylinders 
may not have been properly tested as prescribed by the Hazardous 
Materials Regulations (HMR). These cylinders should be considered 
unsafe and not authorized for the filling of hazardous materials unless 
the cylinder is first properly tested by an individual or company 
authorized to requalify DOT-Specification and DOT-Special Permit 
cylinders. Cylinders described in this safety advisory notice that are 
filled with atmospheric gas should be vented or otherwise safely 
discharged. Cylinders that are filled with a material other than an 
atmospheric gas should not be vented but instead should be safely 
discharged.
    Prior to refilling or continued use, the cylinders must be taken to 
a DOT-authorized cylinder requalifier to ensure their suitability for 
continued service. A list of authorized requalifiers may be obtained at 
the following Web site: http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat/regs/sp-a/approvals/cylinders.

II. Background

    A cylinder requalification consisting of a visual inspection and a 
hydrostatic test, conducted as prescribed in the HMR, specifically 49 
CFR Sec.  173.301, is used to verify the structural integrity of a 
cylinder. If the requalification is not performed in accordance with 
the regulations, a cylinder with compromised structural integrity may 
not be detected and 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.
    Investigators from PHMSA's Office of Hazardous Materials Safety 
(OHMS) recently conducted a compliance inspection of Liberty Industrial 
Gases and Welding Supplies Inc. after the company self-reported 
improper marking of cylinders. As a result of that inspection, PHMSA 
determined that Liberty Industrial Gases and Welding Supplies Inc. 
marked an unknown number of high pressure compressed gas cylinders with 
unauthorized markings and certified an unknown number of high pressure 
compressed gas cylinders as being properly requalified when it had not 
conducted the required testing.
    The evidence suggests that Liberty Industrial Gases and Welding 
Supplies Inc. marked Requalifier Identification Number (RIN) A890 on 
these cylinders. However, Liberty Industrial Gases and Welding Supplies 
Inc. does not hold a RIN approval authorizing it to requalify 
cylinders. RIN A890 was issued by PHMSA to another company, Hi Pressure 
Technologies, located in Newark, NJ, granting it authority to requalify 
cylinders under the terms of the RIN approval supplied to it. Thus, if 
the cylinders were serviced by the approved RIN holder, Hi Pressure 
Technologies, they are not subject to this notice. Only cylinders 
serviced by Liberty Industrial Gases and Welding Supplies Inc. bearing 
these markings are affected.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on April 17, 2015 under authority 
delegated in 49 CFR Part 106.
Magdy El-Sibaie,
Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety, Pipeline and 
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
[FR Doc. 2015-09937 Filed 4-28-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4910-60-P