On October 8, 2019, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration ("PHMSA") overturned two earlier interpretations concerning the applicability of the Hazardous Materials Regulations ("HMR" [49 CFR 171-180]) to persons who manufacture "packaging components" for use on railroad tank cars. In the two earlier interpretations, PHMSA stated that manufacturers of a packaging component installed on a tank car met the definition of a "tank car facility "; and therefore, required an AAR approved quality assurance program.2 PHMSA's new interpretation clearly removes manufacturers of a packaging component from the definition of a tank car facility, because these manufacturers do not "represent" that a tank car is qualified for use in the transportation of a hazardous material in commerce (e.g., by marking the tank with a specification identification that includes the letters "DOT" or by marking the tank with test dates associated with the specification. PHMSA stated that it would remove the two earlier interpretation letters from its website and replace them with this new interpretation.
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