Compliance Basics Series

U.S. Department 

of Transportation

Pipeline and 

Hazardous Materials

Safety Administration

Hazardous Materials Regulations and 

Safely

Agricultural Operations

Transporting 

Agricultural 

Products
M

any fertilizers, pesticides, and soil amendments, as

well as gasoline, diesel fuel, and propane used in

farming are hazardous materials. If you transport

a hazardous material on a public road in the course of

your business, the Hazardous Materials Regulations may

apply to you.

Hazardous Materials Regulations

The Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) are the rules

you must follow if you ship or transport a hazardous material in

the course of your business. The HMR tell you:

• how to classify and package a hazardous

material;

• how to select the proper packaging;

• how the package must be marked and

labeled;

• how to complete a shipping paper;

• how to provide emergency response

information that must accompany a

hazardous material shipment;

• whether the vehicle carrying a hazardous material shipment

requires placarding and identification of the placards when

required;

• about training requirements for persons who transport

hazardous materials or prepare hazardous materials for

shipment; and

• when a security plan is required for a business which offers

hazardous materials and/or transports hazardous materials

in commerce.

The HMR are published in Title 49, Code of Federal

Regulations, (49CFR) Parts 100-185. You will see references 

to different sections listed throughout this brochure. Those

references can be found in the HMR. The HMR and other

pertinent information can be accessed through the Pipeline and

Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) Hazmat

Safety Homepage at http://hazmat.dot.gov or by purchasing

from a private vendor. A list of suppliers can be found in the

publications section on the same homepage.
Farmers, Agricultural Products, and the HMR

You’re a “Farmer” according to the HMR, if you engage in

the production or raising of crops,

poultry, or livestock. Many agricultural

products used in the course of farming,

such as fertilizers, pesticides, soil

amendments, and fuels are hazardous

materials and are identified by hazard

classes in the HMR:

• Flammable and non-flammable gases (Class 2)

• Flammable or combustible liquids (Class 3)

• Oxidizers (Division 5.1)

• Poisons (Division 6.1)

• Corrosive materials (Class 8)

• Miscellaneous hazardous materials (Class 9), or

• Consumer commodities (ORM-D)

Agricultural Operations Exceptions

Section § 173.5 provides exceptions from the regulations for

farming operations when the specific conditions listed in the

HMR are met.

Transporting between fields (Local roads)

If you are a farmer transporting agricultural products other

than gases (Class 2) between fields of the same farm using local

roads, you need not comply with any of the requirements listed on

the reverse side of this panel (excluding security plan if your gross

income is $500,000 or more) if the following conditions are met:

• you are a farmer who is an intrastate private motor carrier;

and

• you are moving your agricultural product in conformance

to requirements of the State in which you transport and is

specifically authorized by a State statute or regulation in

effect before October 1, 1998.

Class 2 material, such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)

transported as above and meeting the same conditions must

follow all the requirements other than emergency response

information and training as identified in the appropriate sections

of the HMR.
Quantity

y Amount

ams/1001 pounds

aggregate gross

weight 

bulk packages 

OR

 containers

of more than 450

119 gallons, 

more than 

grams/882 lbs,

ardless of 

me or weight 

contents)

Placard

or

Propane

Gasoline

ies of Hazardous Materials

lacard

cate Hazards

Ammonium 

Nitrate Fertilizer

Pesticides/Herbicides

AnhydrousAmmonia

) 

p

p

y

ion 5.1, PG III, in a bulk packaging, or 1900 L

r liquids or gases, or 2,300 kg 

solids, of any other agricultural product;

 packaging of agriculture products conform

s of the state it is transported in and

horized by a state statute or regulation 

 October 1, 1998; and

 responsibility for transporting the

oduct or preparing it for shipment has

he HMR requirements.
Additional Exceptions

Relating to Agricultural

Operations

Sections referenced for the

following exceptions are listed in

the HMR. These additional

exceptions pertain to:

• a private motor carrier

transporting formulated

liquid agricultural products

in specification packagings

of 220 L (58 gals) capacity, or

less, with closures

manifolded to a closed mixing system and equipped with

positive dry disconnect devices between a final distribution

point and an ultimate point of application or for loading

aboard an airplane for aerial application (See § 173.5(c))

• nurse tanks of anhydrous ammonia (See § 173.315(m))

• materials of trade (See § 173.6)

Security Plan Exception for Farmers

Security Plans are required

for persons who offer for

transportation in

commerce or transport in

commerce the hazardous

materials as listed in 

§ 172.800 of the HMR.

Some agricultural

operations are excepted

from this requirement. 

If you are a farmer 

and answer yes to any of the questions below, you need a

security plan.

• Do you make $500,000 or more annually in gross receipts

from sale of agricultural commodities and products?

• Do you transport hazardous materials not in direct support

of your farming operation?

• Do you transport hazardous materials by highway or rail

outside a 150 mile radius of your farming operations?
Security Plan Requirements (unless excepted)

If your agricultural operation does not fall under the

exception, a security plan must be developed which includes

measures to address personnel, unauthorized access, and en

route transportation issues. The plan can be tailored to your

operation. A sample security plan can be accessed by going to

DOT webpage http://hazmat.dot.gov/riskmgmt/rmsef/rmsef.htm.

Additional information can be found in § 172.800 of the HMR.

Personnel Security

If you use employees to pick up 

and transport placarded hazardous

materials from your supplier to your

farm, your security plan must

include measures to confirm

information provided by the employee on his/her job

application or resume. Note that this requirement only applies

to employees hired after September 25, 2003, who are involved

in the actual shipment or transportation of the materials covered

by the plan.

Unauthorized Access

Your security plan must

include measures to protect

against unauthorized access

by using locks or physical/visual observation. For example, 

if you stop on the way back to your farm for a snack or a meal,

you should keep your vehicle in sight and/or lock or secure

the material in the vehicle.

En Route Security

Your plan must include measures to ensure the security of

the materials between the time you pick them up and the time

you arrive at your farm. In this

case, the most effective security

measure would be to minimize

the time that the shipment is in

transit by going directly from

your supplier to your farm.
TO LEARN MORE...

For information about hazmat

publications 

and other training materials:

Visit our web site:

http://hazmat.dot.gov

Write:

Office of Hazardous Materials 

Initiatives and Training

400 Seventh Street, SW 

PHH-50, RM 7424

Washington, DC 20590-0001

Fax: (202) 366-7342

E-mail: training@dot.gov

Phone: (202) 366-2301

For information about 

Hazmat Regulations:

Contact our Hazmat INFO-LINE:

Phone: 1-800-467-4922

E-mail: infocntr@dot.gov

http://hazmat.dot.gov

INFO-LINE

1-800-467-4922

GOT A

HAZMAT

QUESTION?

PHH50-0083-1106