In the 1970’s, I labored in fields of frozen steel drilling pipe, south of Edmonton, Alberta, running x-ray inspection machinery with my older brother Tim, then as a steelworker in a rolling mill that welded steel into pipes serviced to drilled and carry crude from Alaska’s North Slope to the Port of Valdez. Next month we have two live, on-line steel mill in-house seminars, and my first pickup truck was made of steel.

Don’t worry this is not about steel. 
It’s about 40 CFR Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),  hazardous waste when shipped for disposal as a  49 CFR Department of Transportation, (DOT), Class 9 miscellaneous hazardous material.

DOT hazardous materials regulations make clear that only after a shipper or generator matches a hazardous material’s hazard classes, packing group and hazard labels, are they authorized to select the correct Pure Chemical, End-use, Specific n.o.s. or Generic n.o.s. proper shipping name. 

So if that is the case, the NA3077 Hazardous Waste, Solid n.o.s. 9, PG III’s specific shipping name is more descriptive than UN3077 Waste Environmentally Hazardous Substance, Solid n.o.s, 9, PG III’s generic shipping name, for domestic shipments of hazardous waste that meet no hazard classification under DOT, like EPA sludge or baghouse toxic hazardous waste (K061), from the production of steel in electrical furnaces.

There are three times and up to six chemicals or waste codes that could be required to be listed, in association with some hazardous material shipping descriptions. The first, in 172.203(c) for the top 2 hazardous substances with lowest value, (“RQ”). The second, in 173.203(k) for the top 2 most dangerous chemicals, when a “G” appears in column number 1 of the 172.101 Hazardous Materials Table, and finally in 172.203(l) the top 2 marine pollutants, in bulk containers and water shipments.

40 CFR EPA 261.32 
Hazardous Waste From Specific Sources

EPA, (K061) baghouse hazardous waste produced from the production of steel in electric furnaces, is a 49 CFR Departmental of Transportation (DOT) hazardous material and is shipped for disposal as a 173.140, Class 9 miscellaneous hazardous material as it does not meet a hazard class definition and would not be regulated as a DOT hazardous material when shipped, if not for the fact that it is a EPA toxic waste and a hazardous substance (“RQ”) with a value of 10 pounds for each container.

I think both shipping names would be legal for a (K061) on a waste manifest. However, the international shipping name with the UN3077 number would not fall under the exception listed below. So, what does that mean? It means if you were to use the domestic NA3077 shipping name you would not have to list the top two chemicals in your (K061) waste that make it dangerous, only waste codes like (K061).

As the 40 CFR 172.203(k) exception states, the provisions of paragraph (k) do not apply to a material that is a hazardous waste and described using the proper shipping name “Hazardous waste, liquid or solid, n.o.s.”, classed as a miscellaneous Class 9, provided the EPA hazardous waste number is included on the shipping paper in association with the basic description.

RQ, NA3077, Hazardous Waste, Solid n.o.s. 9, PG III, (K061)

By using the domestic NA3077 shipping name and listing the waste codes, you could meet both requirements in 172.203(k), the names of the top two most dangerous hazardous materials and (c), the names of the top two hazardous substances with lowest value, which again would conclude me to believe that the NA 3077, Hazardous waste, solid n.o.s., would be more appropriate as  172.203(c) states that waste codes like (K061) may be used to identify the name of the hazardous substances.

One last note. Check out column 7 of the 172.101 Hazardous Materials Table for the two shipping names we’ve been discussing here. You might notice that some of the special provisions in 172.102 are the same, like “B45” for bulk containers, “IB8” for IBC containers and “T1” for tanks, but others are not. Be careful when selecting one shipping name over another; it might restrict you to certain types of containers in different modes or have additional requirements based on domestic regulations or international recommendations.

But, that’s not the reason that steel is in my blood. It's hereditary, my mother is made of titanium.

Thank you for your support.

Robert J. Keegan

Publisher and President

Hazardous Materials Publishing Company

Transportation Skills Programs Inc

hazmat.tsp@gmail.com

610-587-3978