171.15—Immediate notice of certain hazardous materials incidents.
(a) General.
As soon as practical but no later than 12 hours after the occurrence of any incident described in paragraph (b) of this section, each person in physical possession of the hazardous material must provide notice to the National Response Center (NRC) by telephone at 800-424-8802 (toll free) or 202-267-2675 (toll call) or online at http://www.nrc.uscg.mil. Notice involving an infectious substance (etiologic agent) may be given to the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Public Health Service, Atlanta, GA, 800-232-0124 (toll free), in place of notice to the NRC. Each notice must include the following information:
(6)
Class or division, proper shipping name, and quantity of hazardous materials involved, if such information is available; and
(7)
Type of incident and nature of hazardous material involvement and whether a continuing danger to life exists at the scene.
(b) Reportable incident.
A telephone report is required whenever any of the following occurs during the course of transportation in commerce (including loading, unloading, and temporary storage):
(2)
Fire, breakage, spillage, or suspected radioactive contamination occurs involving a radioactive material (see also § 176.48 of this subchapter);
(3)
Fire, breakage, spillage, or suspected contamination occurs involving an infectious substance other than a regulated medical waste;
(4)
A release of a marine pollutant occurs in a quantity exceeding 450 L (119 gallons) for a liquid or 400 kg (882 pounds) for a solid;
(5)
A situation exists of such a nature (e.g., a continuing danger to life exists at the scene of the incident) that, in the judgment of the person in possession of the hazardous material, it should be reported to the NRC even though it does not meet the criteria of paragraphs (b)(1), (2), (3) or (4) of this section; or
(6)
During transportation by aircraft, a fire, violent rupture, explosion or dangerous evolution of heat (i.e., an amount of heat sufficient to be dangerous to packaging or personal safety to include charring of packaging, melting of packaging, scorching of packaging, or other evidence) occurs as a direct result of a battery or battery-powered device.
(c) Written report.
Each person making a report under this section must also make the report required by § 171.16 of this subpart.
Code of Federal Regulations
[68 FR 67759, Dec. 3, 2003, as amended at 72 FR 55684, Oct. 1, 2007; 74 FR 2233, Jan. 14, 2009; 74 FR 53186, Oct. 16, 2009]