[NHCOLL-L:3413] FW: Shipping in ethanol

[Bentley, Andrew Charles]

Hi all

 

See Ellen Paul's message below.  The response letter received by the Field Museum from DOT about shipping moistened specimens has been posted on their website as an interpretation.  This gives the interpretation some legal basis and by my reckoning means that specimens packaged in this way (specimens wrapped in cheesecloth and moistened with less than 30ml of fluid) are exempt from any DOT requirements i.e. postage within the US.  The two big questions that still remain are whether USPS will follow this ruling (they don't necessarily have to) and whether IATA would be willing to do so too.  I have a contact at IATA that I will be forwarding this information to for his ruling and will inform all when I get a response.  I will also endeavor to get a ruling from USPS regarding the same information.

 

Good news indeed though...

 

Andy

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Andy Bentley
Ichthyology Collection Manager/Specify Usability Lead
University of Kansas
Natural History Museum & Biodiversity Research Center
Dyche Hall
1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561
USA

Tel: (785) 864-3863
Fax: (785) 864-5335
Email: ABentley at ku.edu       
                                                
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________________________________

From: Scientific Permits issues [mailto:PERMIT-L at SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU] On Behalf Of Ellen Paul
Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 3:44 PM
To: PERMIT-L at SI-LISTSERV.SI.EDU
Subject: Shipping in ethanol

 

Linda Ford made me aware of a letter obtained by the Field Museum in August 2005, issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation, pertaining to shipment in ethanol.

The letter is posted on the DOT website at http://www.myregs.com/dotRSPA/  .... then you have to click on DOT interpretations in the upper left hand corner....and then on view by information date....then 2005.... then August....the August 9....Field Museum.

So basically, the letter says:

The museum's current shipping procedure is a two-step process. The specimens are removed from their storage jars and wrapped in cheesecloth moistened with ethanol to protect the specimen from drying out. The cheesecoth-wrapped specimens are then placed into a plastic bag that is closed with a heat sealer. This bag is then heat-sealed inside a second bag, which is then heat-sealed inside a third bag, with sufficient absorbent material. There is no visible or free-flowing liquid at the time they are sealed. The bags are then packed in cardboard boxes and cushioned with styrofoam packing (peanuts). 

A material described as "Ethanol solutions, UN1170" is classed as a Class 3 (flammable liquid), and is subject to the HMR for purposes of transportation in commerce. Although the cheesecloth-wrapped specimens are moistened with ethanol to protect the specimens from drying out, it is our opinion that the packaging procedures and methods you use for shipment of the dry specimens mitigate the minimal hazard that may be present during transportation. Therefore, in accordance with § 73.120(d), shipments of the zoology specimens preserved in ethanol that are packaged as described above are not subject to regulation under the HMR. 

I was planning to ask DOT to incorporate this standard into formal regulation, but it is apparent that their practice is (much like the IRS) to issue interpretation letters, make those letters public, and then the regulated community can rely on those interpretations as though they were regulations. This actually makes sense when you consider how long and complex the regulations are, and how many different questions about very specific issues must come up for decisions. 

HOWEVER, this is only a DOT interpretation (e.g., shipping within the United States). It would be great if the U.S. representative to IATA sought to have this interpretation incorporated into the IATA standards. To that end, I plan to write to the U.S. .rep and to IATA to ask them to consider having this standard incorporated into the IATA regs (if it is already there, I'm sure someone will tell me in a heartbeat, but in my quick spin through the IATA manual today, I didn't see it). 

The question I was originally asked was whether this letter meant that you don't have to go through training and certification if you ship this way. The answer would be yes - if this is the only way you ship and only within the U.S.

Meanwhile, it is great to know about these letter interpretations...good tool for all of us. I'm going to hunt through them and see what else of interest there might be.

Ellen

-- 
Ellen Paul 
Executive Director 
The Ornithological Council 
Mailto:ellen.paul at verizon.net 
"Providing Scientific Information about Birds"
Ornithological Council: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET 

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