A question.  December 5, 2017:

Good afternoon, I’m looking for some clarification on class 9 hazmat material.

One of our customers, their product is considered a class 9 Marine Pollutant, we have always been instructed that this only needed to be classified as a pollutant if going over international waters.  All I can find online is that it does not need to be placard, only marked and identified on the BOL.   My question is when getting quotes from or LTL carriers do we need to be getting this quoted as hazmat material, or can we quote as normal material since we do not cross any bodies of water, except rivers.

Reading through your sight has cleared a lot of things up, one question I do have is on the Bulk.  Our customers packaged: 1) plastic bag, then in a box. 2) in a box.  Most boxes are packaged at 25kg. then shipments are pallatized, boxes per pallet range from 5-40 boxes (100 kg to 1000 kg).  Since each form of the product is boxed in 25kg packages is this considered bulk even though it is not all “together”

My reply that same day:

Thank you for contacting me.  I will try to answer your question below.

A question posted to pcjr101@yahoo.com [hazmat101] hazmat101@yahoogroups.com on November 1, 2017:

Is Stoddard Solvent a marine pollutant per DOT or IMDG Code? Under what scenarios? What about a mixture with it?  References to guidance documents are appreciated.

Stoddard Solvent is sometimes referred to a White Spirit or Turbine Substitute

49 CFR Appendix B to 172.101 (List of Marine Pollutants):

• Lists “White Spirit, low (15-20%) aromatic) as a Marine pollutant.
• Lists “Turbine” (UN299) as a Marine Pollutant
• Does not list “Turpentine Substitute” (UN1300) as a Marine Pollutant.

The IMDG  Code Index:

• Lists “White Spirit, low (15-20%) aromatic) (UN1300) as a Marine pollutant.
• Lists “White Spirit” (UN1300)  as a Marine pollutant.
• Lists “Turpentine” (UN1299) as a Marine pollutant.
• Lists “Turpentine Substitute” (UN1300) as a Marine pollutant.

The IMDG Code Dangerous Goods List:

• Lists UN1299 (Turpentine) as a marine pollutant
• Does not list UN1300 (Turpentine Substitute) as a marine Pollutant.

Thanks in advance.

Note: this group allows its members to post questions like this one and then hope for answers from others within the group.  What follows are some of those answers with mine at the end.

First to answer…

Stoddard Solvent is Mineral Spirits. UN 1268, PETROLEUM DISTILLATES , N.O.S. (Naphtha solvent), 3, PG III, combustible liquid

And…

Check the SDS for that product

And then me:

I will try to answer your question.  Please see below.

This is a question from a customer of mine.  I had provided them with HazMat Employee Training (to meet USDOT regulations), training for the shippers and packers of dangerous goods by air as required by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and also training for shore-based personnel for dangerous goods by vessel per the International Maritime Organization (IMO).  Afterwards, they had some questions for me about specific shipping challenges.  Like all of my customers, I happily answered their questions at no cost.  For this particular question the customer had already sent me a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for the product they wished to ship.  We had had a brief telephone conversation where I informed them the product was a marine pollutant and was subject to an exception.

The question (01.09.17):

Daniel –

My reply the same day:

Some follow-up from the customer:

My reply:

The purpose of this article is not to identify and explain a marine pollutant as regulated by the Hazardous Material Regulations of the PHMSA/USDOT; you can read all about that here:  What is a Marine Pollutant?  But, a brief summary will help; a marine pollutant is…

• Defined at 49 CFR 171.8.
• Listed by name in appendix B to the Hazardous Materials Table at §172.101.
• If in a mixture or solution of one or more substances is at or above the following threshold concentrations:
  • 10% by weight for a regular marine pollutant
  • 1% by weight for a severe marine pollutant (identified with “PP”).

And…

• Not excepted from regulation as a marine pollutant at §171.4(c).

The purpose of this article is also not to identify and explain all of the situations where the marine pollutant marking is not required on a packaging containing a regulated marine pollutant.  Those can be found at §172.322(d) and will have to wait to a later article.

Note:  To be quite frank, I find the exceptions from the marine pollutant mark detailed at §172.322(d)(1) and (2) to be contradictory and confusing.

The purpose of this article is to identify and explain just one of the four situations – found at §172.322(d)(3) – where the marine pollutant mark is not required on a bulk packaging, freight container or transport vehicle that already bears a HazMat label or placard.

(more…)

Here’s a question someone posted to Hazmat101, a Yahoogroup on December 1, 2015:

To  compare notes.

1. Are marine pollutant placards required on a truck that contains non-bulk packages on its way to the port per 49 CFR? What if the truck has placards for Flammable packages?
2. Are marine pollutant placards required on a freight  container with non-bulk packages shipped by water from the continental  U.S. to Hawaii  under 49 CFR (not the IMDG code)? What if the freight containers has placards for Flammable packages?
3. Are marine pollutant placards required on a freight  container with non-bulk packages shipped by water under  the IMDG code? What if the freight container has placards for Flammable packages?

Citations appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

My reply that day (I must have been in the office!):

• Just a point of clarification, the Marine Pollutant marking is not a label nor a placard even if it is the size of one or the other.  It is a marking (49 CFR 172.322).
• The marine pollutant marking is not required on a vehicle that is transporting non-bulk packagings by highway since per 49 CFR 171.4 the hazardous material regulations do not apply to a Marine Pollutant transported by highway (or rail or air) in a non-bulk packaging.  It might be OK to display the Marine Pollutant marking on the vehicle even if it is not required, but I am not certain.  The presence of the Flammable Liquid placard does not impact display of the Marine Pollutant marking.
• A non-bulk packaging of a Marine Pollutant shipped by vessel is subject to the hazardous material regulations and therefore the non-bulk packaging and the freight container must bear the Marine Pollutant marking.  Marine Pollutant marking is not required on some non-bulk packagings of less than or equal to 5 L or 5 Kg (172.322(d)), however, a freight container of non-bulk packagings that do not have the Marine Pollutant marking due to 49 CFR 172.322(d) will still need to be marked with a placard-sized Marine Pollutant marking on all four sides (172.322(c)).The presence of the Flammable Liquid placard does not impact display of the Marine Pollutant marking.
• IMDG code requirements are the same as USDOT/PHMSA.  Non-bulk packaging of 5 liters or less or 5 Kg or less need not display the Marine Pollutant marking (5.2.1.6).  However, the freight container they are packed in must display the Marine Pollutant marking (5.3.2.3).  The presence of the Flammable Liquid placard does not impact display of the Marine Pollutant marking.