Registration program

Scope

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) administers a national registration program for persons offering and transporting certain hazardous materials.

Regulatory citations

• 49 CFR 107 Subpart G — Registration of persons who offer or transport hazardous materials

Key definitions

• Hazardous material: A substance or material that the Secretary of Transportation has determined is capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety, and property when transported in commerce, and has designated as hazardous under section 5103 of Federal hazardous materials transportation law (49 U.S.C. 5103). The term includes hazardous substances, hazardous wastes, marine pollutants, elevated temperature materials, materials designated as hazardous in the Hazardous Materials Table, and materials that meet the defining criteria for hazard classes and divisions in Part 173 of the Hazardous Materials Regulations.
• Transportation or Transport: The movement of property and loading, unloading, or storage incidental to that movement.

Summary of requirements

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) administers a national registration program and annual fee-collection system for persons offering and transporting certain hazardous materials. The annual fee funds a nationwide emergency response training and planning grant program for state and local governments.

Who must register and pay? (107.601) The registration and fee requirements apply to any person who offers for transportation or transports, in foreign, interstate or intrastate commerce, any of the following:

• Any highway route-controlled quantity of a Class 7 (radioactive) material, defined in 173.403;
• More than 25 kg (55 lb) of a Division 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 (explosive) material;
• More than one L (1.06 qt) per package of a material extremely toxic by inhalation (i.e., “material poisonous by inhalation,” as defined in 171.8, that meets the criteria for “hazard zone A,” as specified in 173.116(a) or 173.133(a));
• A hazardous material in a bulk packaging, having a capacity equal to or greater than 13,248 L (3,500 gal) for liquids or gases, or more than 13.24 cubic meters (468 cubic feet) for solids;
• A shipment (offered or loaded at one loading facility using one transport vehicle) in other than a bulk packaging, of 2,268 kg (5,000 lb) gross weight or more, of one class of hazardous materials for which placarding is required; or
• A quantity of hazardous material that requires placarding (does not apply to farmers activities in direct support of farming operations).

Exceptions from registration (107.606). The following do not have to register or pay the fee even though they meet one of the above criteria:

• An agency of the federal government;
• A state agency;
• An agency of a political subdivision of a state;
• An Indian tribe;
• An employee of any of the above agencies;
• A hazmat employee, as defined at 171.8, including the owner/operator of a motor vehicle that transports hazardous materials and is leased to a registered motor carrier under a 30-day or longer lease (or an equivalent contractual relationship); and
• A person domiciled outside the U.S., who offers solely from locations outside the U.S., hazardous materials for transportation in commerce, provided the country in which the person is domiciled does not require U.S. persons to register or pay a fee.

General requirements (107.608). A person required to register must mail a complete and accurate Hazardous Materials Registration Statement (DOT Form F 5800.2) and the required fee to PHMSA. PHMSA will then issue a Certificate of Registration to the person.

A registration year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 of the following year. A registration statement must be submitted to PHMSA by June 30 for each registration year, or before a hazardous material requiring registration is offered or transported.

If a registrant’s name or principal place of business changes during the registration year they must notify PHMSA of the change by submitting an amended registration statement no later than 30 days after the change.

Amount of fee (107.612). There are different fee levels for different sized businesses and not-for-profit organizations. Fees also vary depending on the registration year. See 107.612 for amount of fee.

Recordkeeping requirements (107.620). Each person who must register must maintain at his/her principal place of business (for three years from the date of issuance of the Certificate) the following:

• A copy of the registration statement filed with PHMSA, and
• The Certificate of Registration issued by PHMSA.

Motor carriers subject to the registration requirements must carry, on board each vehicle that is transporting a hazardous material requiring registration, the following:

• A copy of the carriers’ current Certificate of Registration, or
• Another document bearing the registration number identified as the “U.S. DOT Hazmat Reg. No.”