385 

Pipeline and Haz. Matls. Safety Admin., DOT 

§ 172.201 

439 UN1972 is not authorized for transpor-

tation by rail tank car until either issuance 
of a final rule concluding the rulemaking ac-
tion proceeding under RIN 2137–AF54, or 
June 30, 2025, whichever occurs first. For in-
formation and the status of RIN 2137–AF54, 
please refer to the Office of Management and 
Budget’s Office of Information and Regu-
latory Affairs at 

www.reginfo.gov. 

* * * * * 

Subpart C—Shipping Papers 

§ 172.200

Applicability. 

(a) 

Description of hazardous materials 

required. 

Except as otherwise provided 

in this subpart, each person who offers 
a hazardous material for transpor-
tation shall describe the hazardous ma-
terial on the shipping paper in the 
manner required by this subpart. 

(b) This subpart does not apply to 

any material, other than a hazardous 
substance, hazardous waste or marine 
pollutant, that is— 

(1) Identified by the letter ‘‘A’’ in col-

umn 1 of the § 172.101 table, except 
when the material is offered or in-
tended for transportation by air; or 

(2) Identified by the letter ‘‘W’’ in 

column 1 of the § 172.101 table, except 
when the material is offered or in-
tended for transportation by water; or 

(3) A limited quantity package unless 

the material is offered for transpor-
tation by aircraft or vessel. 

(4) Category B infectious substances 

prepared in accordance with § 173.199. 

[Amdt. 172–29A, 41 FR 40677, Sept. 20, 1976, as 
amended by Amdt. 172–58, 45 FR 34697, May 
22, 1980; Amdt. 172–74, 47 FR 43065, Sept. 30, 
1982; Amdt. 172–112, 53 FR 17160, May 13, 1988; 
Amdt. 172–127, 57 FR 52938, Nov. 5, 1992; 71 FR 
32258, June 2, 2006; 76 FR 3365, Jan. 19, 2011; 78 
FR 1112, Jan. 7, 2013; 87 FR 79772, Dec. 27, 
2022] 

§ 172.201

Preparation and retention of 

shipping papers. 

(a) 

Contents. 

When a description of 

hazardous material is required to be in-
cluded on a shipping paper, that de-
scription must conform to the fol-
lowing requirements: 

(1) When a hazardous material and a 

material not subject to the require-
ments of this subchapter are described 
on the same shipping paper, the haz-
ardous material description entries re-

quired by § 172.202 and those additional 
entries that may be required by 
§ 172.203: 

(i) Must be entered first, or 
(ii) Must be entered in a color that 

clearly contrasts with any description 
on the shipping paper of a material not 
subject to the requirements of this sub-
chapter, except that a description on a 
reproduction of a shipping paper may 
be highlighted, rather than printed, in 
a contrasting color (the provisions of 
this paragraph apply only to the basic 
description required by § 172.202(a)(1), 
(2), (3), and (4)), or 

(iii) Must be identified by the entry 

of an ‘‘X’’ placed before the basic ship-
ping description required by § 172.202 in 
a column captioned ‘‘HM.’’ (The ‘‘X’’ 
may be replaced by ‘‘RQ,’’ if appro-
priate.) 

(2) The required shipping description 

on a shipping paper and all copies of 
the shipping paper used for transpor-
tation purposes must be legible and 
printed (manually or mechanically) in 
English. 

(3) Unless it is specifically authorized 

or required in this subchapter, the re-
quired shipping description may not 
contain any code or abbreviation. 

(4) A shipping paper may contain ad-

ditional information concerning the 
material provided the information is 
not inconsistent with the required de-
scription. Unless otherwise permitted 
or required by this subpart, additional 
information must be placed after the 
basic description required by 
§ 172.202(a). 

(5) 

Electronic shipping papers. 

For 

transportation by rail, a rail carrier 
may accept shipping paper information 
either telephonically (i.e., voice com-
munications and facsimiles) or elec-
tronically (EDI) from an offeror of a 
hazardous materials shipment in ac-
cordance with the provisions in para-
graphs (a)(5)(i)–(a)(5)(iv) of this section. 
See § 171.8 for the EDI definition. 

(i) When the information applicable 

to the consignment is provided under 
this requirement the information must 
be available to the offeror and carrier 
at all times during transport, and the 
carrier must have and maintain a 
printed copy of this information until 
delivery of the hazardous materials on 
the shipping paper is complete. When a