Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

Who Must Register

Categories of Activities that Require Registration

1. A highway route controlled quantity of a Class 7 (radioactive) material, as defined in 49 CFR 173.403. A “highway route controlled quantity” may be shipped by highway, rail, air, or water.
2. More than 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of a Division 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3 (explosive) material (see 49 CFR 173.50) in a motor vehicle, rail car, or freight container.
3. More than one liter (1.06 quarts) per package of a “material extremely toxic by inhalation” (that is, a “material poisonous by inhalation” that meets the criteria for “hazard zone A” as specified in 49 CFR 173.116(a) for gases or 173.133(a) for liquids).
4. A hazardous material (including hazardous wastes) in a bulk packaging having a capacity equal to or greater than 13,248 liters (3,500 gallons) for liquids or gases or more than 13.24 cubic meters (468 cubic feet) for solids. Please note that persons who offer or transport hazardous materials that do not require placarding (that is, Class 9 materials) in a bulk packaging with a capacity greater than 3,500 gallons or 468 cubic feet, must register.
5. A shipment in other than a bulk packaging of 2,268 kilograms (5,000 pounds) gross weight or more of one class of hazardous materials (including hazardous wastes) for which placarding of a vehicle, rail car, or freight container is required for that class.
6. A quantity of hazardous material that requires placarding. A summary of the placarding requirements is provided here. Note that the transporting of any quantity of a hazardous material, other than Division 6.2 and Class 9 materials, in a bulk packaging requires placarding and therefore registration. This includes residues that remain in an unpurged tank truck or rail tank car. Persons who return such packagings are required to register as offerors of a placarded shipment of hazardous materials.

Since the beginning of the program in 1992, activities in Categories A through E above have required registration by law. Category F was added by regulation beginning with the 2000-2001 registration year.

Exceptions: The following are specifically excepted by statute or regulation from the registration requirements:

1. Agencies of the federal government.
2. Agencies of states.
3. Agencies of political subdivisions of states.
4. Indian tribes.
5. Employees of those entities listed in [A], [B], [C], or [D] who offer or transport hazardous materials as part of their official duties.
6. Hazmat employees, including the owner-operator of a motor vehicle that transports hazardous materials in commerce if that vehicle, at the time of those activities, is leased to a registered motor carrier under a 30-day or longer lease as prescribed in 49 CFR Part 376 or an equivalent contractual relationship.
7. A person who offers hazardous materials for transportation to the United States from locations outside of the United States, when that person
   1. is domiciled outside the United States, in a country that does not impose registration or a fee on U.S. companies for offering hazardous materials into that country, and
   2. does not transport hazardous materials to, within, or from the United States in the types and quantities that require registration.
8. A farmer who offers or transports only hazardous materials that are used in direct support of his or her farming operations and who is not engaged in activities included in Activity Categories A through E described above.

A farmer must register if he or she:

1. Offers or transports hazardous materials that require placarding that are not in direct support of his or her farming operation. For example, a farmer who offers or transports home heating fuel for commercial purposes in quantities requiring placarding must register.
2. Offers or transports for any purpose any of the hazardous materials included in Activity Categories A through E above. For example, a farmer who transports 55 lbs or more of a Division 1.1 explosive, even if the explosive is to be used in direct support of his farming operations, must register.

Clarifications: The HMR apply to persons who offer for transportation or transport by highway, rail, water, or air. Water transportation does not include hazardous materials loaded or carried on board a vessel without benefit of containers or labels and received and handled by the vessel carrier without mark or count. This type of shipment, for which the vessel is the container, such as LNG or oil tanker vessels, is under the authority of the U.S. Coast Guard (now part of the Department of Homeland Security).

Each person who acts as an intermediary in the transportation of hazardous materials, such as a freight forwarder or agent, is subject to the registration requirements if that person performs or contracts to perform any of the functions of an offeror of hazardous materials. These activities include all of the “Pre-Transportation Functions” identified in the “Definitions of Terms Used in the Registration Program.”

Each person engaged in a specified hazardous materials activity is required to register even if a parent company is also subject to registration. Both the parent and subsidiary must register if both engage in the specified activities. LLC’s and LP’s are considered persons.

You must also register if you engage in any of the Activity Categories A through F above, and you are:

1. A merchant vessel carrier transporting, transiting, or transhipping hazardous materials within 12 miles of the U.S. coast; or
2. A federal, state, or local government contractor.

Requirements for Hazardous Waste Generators: All hazardous wastes subject to the Hazardous Waste Manifest Requirements of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are hazardous materials. A hazardous waste generator must register if you meet the requirements identified above.