86868 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 240 / Friday, December 15, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

99.5 percent neodymium oxide by mass; 

or 

(iii) Purified to a minimum purity of 

99.9 percent neodymium by mass. 

(19) Nickel. The term nickel means 

nickel that is— 

(i) Converted to nickel sulphate; or 

(ii) Purified to a minimum purity of 

99 percent nickel by mass. 

(20) Niobium. The term niobium 

means niobium that is— 

(i) Converted to ferronibium; or 

(ii) Purified to a minimum purity of 

99 percent niobium by mass. 

(21) Tellurium. The term tellurium 

means tellurium that is— 

(i) Converted to cadmium telluride; or 

(ii) Purified to a minimum purity of 

99 percent tellurium by mass. 

(22) Tin. The term tin means tin that 

purified to low alpha emitting tin that— 

(i) Has a purity of greater than 99.99 

percent by mass; and 

(ii) Possesses an alpha emission rate 

of not greater than 0.01 counts per hour 

per centimeter square. 

(23) Tungsten. The term tungsten 

means tungsten that is converted to 

ammonium paratungstate or 

ferrotungsten. 

(24) Vanadium. The term vanadium 

means vanadium that is converted to 

ferrovanadium or vanadium pentoxide. 

(25) Yttrium. The term yttrium means 

yttrium that is— 

(i) Converted to yttrium oxide that is 

purified to a minimum purity of 99.999 

percent yttrium oxide by mass; or 

(ii) Purified to a minimum purity of 

99.9 percent yttrium by mass. 

(26) Other minerals. The following 

minerals are also applicable critical 

minerals provided that such mineral is 

purified to a minimum purity of 99 

percent by mass: 

(i) Arsenic. 

(ii) Bismuth. 

(iii) Erbium. 

(iv) Gallium. 

(v) Hafnium. 

(vi) Holmium. 

(vii) Iridium. 

(viii) Lanthanum. 

(ix) Lutetium. 

(x) Magnesium. 

(xi) Palladium. 

(xii) Platium. 

(xiii) Praseodymium. 

(xiv) Rhodium. 

(xv) Rubidium. 

(xvi) Ruthemium. 

(xvii) Samarium. 

(xviii) Scandium. 

(xix) Tantalum. 

(xx) Terbium. 

(xxi) Thulium. 

(xxii) Titanium. 

(xxiii) Ytterbium. 

(xxiv) Zinc. 

(xxv) Zirconium. 

(c) Credit amount—(1) In general. For 

any applicable critical mineral, the 

credit amount is equal to 10 percent of 

the costs incurred by the taxpayer with 

respect to production of such mineral. 

(2) Production processes for 

applicable critical minerals—(i) 

Conversion. For purposes of section 

45X, the term conversion means a 

chemical transformation from one 

species to another. 

(ii) Purification. For purposes of 

section 45X, the term purification 

means increasing the mass fraction of a 

certain element. 

(3) Production costs incurred. Costs 

incurred by the taxpayer with respect to 

the production of applicable critical 

minerals includes all costs as defined in 

§ 1.263A–1(e) that are paid or incurred 

within the meaning of section 461 of the 

Code by the taxpayer for the production 

of an applicable critical mineral only, 

except direct or indirect materials costs 

as defined in § 1.263A–1(e)(2)(i)(A) and 

(e)(3)(ii)(E), respectively, and any costs 

related to the extraction of raw 

materials. Section 263A of the Code and 

the regulations in this chapter under 

section 263A apply solely to identify the 

types of costs that are includible in 

production costs incurred for purposes 

of computing the amount of the section 

45X credit, but do not apply for any 

other purpose, such as to determine 

whether a taxpayer is engaged in 

production activities. 

(4) Substantiation. The taxpayer must 

document that an applicable critical 

mineral meets the requirements of 

section 45X(c)(6) with a certificate of 

analysis provided by the taxpayer to the 

person to which the taxpayer sold the 

applicable critical mineral. 

(d) Severability. The provisions of this 

section are separate and severable from 

one another. If any provision of this 

section is stayed or determined to be 

invalid, it is the agencies’ intention that 

the remaining provisions shall continue 

in effect. 

(e) Applicability date. This section 

applies to eligible components for 

which production is completed and 

sales occur after December 31, 2022, and 

during a taxable year ending on or after 

[date of publication of the final 

regulations in the Federal Register]. 

Douglas W. O’Donnell, 

Deputy Commissioner for Services and 

Enforcement. 

[FR Doc. 2023–27498 Filed 12–14–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4830–01–P 

POSTAL SERVICE 

39 CFR Part 111 

New Mailing Standards for Hazardous 

Materials Outer Packaging and 

Nonregulated Toxic Materials 

AGENCY: Postal ServiceTM. 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Postal Service is 

proposing to amend Publication 52, 

Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable 

Mail (Pub 52) by requiring specific outer 

packaging strength standards when 

mailing hazardous materials or 

dangerous goods and remove quantity 

restrictions for nonregulated toxic 

materials. Additionally, the Postal 

Service proposes to allow mailers to use 

poly or padded bags as outer packaging 

for shipments containing lithium 

batteries installed in the equipment they 

operate if the shipment does not display 

hazardous text, markings or labels as 

permitted in sections 349 and 622. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

January 16, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Mail or deliver written 

comments to the Director, Product 

Classification, U.S. Postal Service, 475 

L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room 4446, 

Washington, DC 20260–5015. If sending 

comments by email, include the name 

and address of the commenter and send 

to PCFederalRegister@usps.gov, with a 

subject line of ‘‘New Mailing Standards 

for Hazardous Materials Outer 

Packaging and Nonregulated Toxic 

Materials.’’ Faxed comments will not be 

accepted. 

You may inspect and photocopy all 

written comments, by appointment 

only, at USPS® Headquarters Library, 

475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, 11th Floor 

North, Washington, DC 20260. These 

records are generally available for 

review Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. 

to 4 p.m., by calling 202–268–2906. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dale 

Kennedy, (202) 268–6592, or Jennifer 

Cox, (202) 268–2108. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: All 

submitted comments and attachments 

are part of the public record and subject 

to disclosure. Do not enclose any 

material in your comments that you 

consider to be confidential or 

inappropriate for public disclosure. 

The Postal Service proposes to amend 

Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, 

and Perishable Mail (Pub 52), with the 

provisions set forth herein. While not 

codified in Title 39, Code of Federal 

Regulations (CFR), Publication 52 is a 

regulation of the Postal Service, and 

changes to it may be published in the 

Federal Register. 39 CFR 211.2(a)(2). 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 240 / Friday, December 15, 2023 / Proposed Rules 86869 

Moreover, Publication 52 is 

incorporated by reference into Mailing 

Standards of the United States Postal 

Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) 

section 601.8.1, which is incorporated 

by reference, in turn, into the Code of 

Federal Regulations. 39 CFR 111.1, 

111.3. Publication 52 is publicly 

available, in a read-only format, via the 

Postal Explorer® website at https://

pe.usps.com. In addition, links to Postal 

Explorer are provided on the landing 

page of USPS.com, the Postal Service’s 

primary customer-facing website, and 

on Postal Pro, an online informational 

source available to postal customers. 

Proposal 

Except as otherwise specified, the 

Postal Service proposes to require 

mailers shipping hazardous materials 

(HAZMAT) or dangerous goods (DG) to 

utilize rigid outer packaging that meets 

minimum edge crush test requirements 

as part of its ongoing efforts to improve 

safety within the Postal Service 

network. The Postal Service is 

proposing these requirements to 

increase the capability of packages to 

withstand normal processing and 

handling from induction to delivery 

point while reducing potential 

HAZMAT or DG incidents. 

Additionally, the Postal Service 

proposes to allow mailers to use padded 

or poly bags as outer packaging for 

shipments containing lithium batteries 

installed in the equipment they operate 

that do not display hazardous text, 

marks or labels as permitted in sections 

349.221a6, 622.51f and 622.52g, but 

only when packed in an inner container 

that can withstand a 1.7-meter drop test. 

Currently, the use of padded and poly 

bags as outer packaging is permitted 

only when the mailpiece contains 

button cell batteries installed in the 

equipment they operate. 

The Postal Service is cognizant that 

the existing regulations in Pub 52 

pertaining to other nonregulated toxic 

materials (Pub 52, section 346.232) are 

more stringent than other transportation 

regulatory agencies and commercial 

carriers and is therefore proposing to 

align its regulations with the 

transportation industry. If the proposal 

is adopted, the Postal Service will 

amend Pub 52 to remove quantity 

restrictions for nonregulated liquid and 

solid toxic materials, for products such 

as pesticides, insecticides and 

herbicides. The Postal Service believes 

this proposal will provide mailers a 

clearer understanding of its rules when 

shipping nonregulated toxic materials 

and align its regulations with the 

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety 

Administration (PHMSA). 

The Postal Service proposes to adopt 

the following changes to Publication 52, 

Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable 

Mail, incorporated by reference into 

Mailing Standards of the United States 

Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual 

(DMM) section 601.8.1, which is further 

incorporated by reference in the Code of 

Federal Regulations. Publication 52 is 

also a regulation of the Postal Service, 

changes to which may be published in 

the Federal Register. Accordingly, for 

the reasons stated in the preamble, the 

Postal Service proposes to amend 

Publication 52 as follows: 

Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted 

and Perishable Mail 

* * * * * 

1 Introduction 

13 Additional Information 

[Add new section 131 to read as 

follows:] 

131 Hazardous Materials Outer 

Packaging 

Except as otherwise specified, rigid 

outer packaging must be used for 

shipments containing hazardous 

materials. Outer packaging, as defined 

in Appendix D, is the outer most 

enclosure that holds the primary 

receptacle, and if applicable, secondary 

packaging, absorbent and/or cushioning 

material. 

When shipping hazardous materials, 

the following rigid outer packaging is 

required: 

(a) Hazardous materials shipments 

weighing 20 pounds or less, the outer 

package must be 200 lb. burst test or 32- 

edge crush test package or equivalent, at 

minimum. 

(b) Hazardous materials shipments 

weighing more than 20 pounds, outer 

packages must be 275 lb. burst test or 

44-edge crush test or equivalent, at 

minimum. 

Lithium batteries installed in the 

equipment they operate that are 

permitted to be mailed under section 

349, are afforded adequate protection by 

that equipment, and do not display 

hazardous text, markings or labels as 

permitted in 349.221a6, 622.51f and 

622.52g may utilize padded or poly bags 

as outer packaging, provided they are 

within a container that can withstand a 

1.7-meter drop test before placing inside 

the padded or poly bag. See 

349.221.a(3). 

* * * * * 

3 Hazardous Materials 

* * * * * 

34 Mailability by Hazard Class 

* * * * * 

346 Toxic Substances and Infectious 

Substances (Hazard Class 6) 

* * * * * 

346.232 Other Nonregulated Toxic 

Materials 

[Revise paragraph to read as follows:] 

Liquids and solids such as pesticides, 

insecticides, herbicides and irritating 

material (346.11e), that are not regulated 

as hazardous materials under 49 CFR 

172.101 are mailable but must be 

packaged in rigid outer packaging (see 

131) and be able to withstand normal 

transit and handling. Liquids must also 

follow 451.3a. 

* * * * * 

349 Miscellaneous Hazardous 

Materials (Hazard Class 9) 

* * * * * 

[Insert new 349.221 to read as 

follows:] 

349.221 Lithium Batteries 

a. General. The following applies to 

the mailability of all lithium batteries: 

1. Each cell or battery must meet the 

requirements of each test in the UN 

Manual of Tests and Criteria, part III, 

and subsection 38.3 as referenced in 49 

CFR 171.7. 

2. Lithium battery outer packaging 

must be rigid (see 131), sealed and of 

adequate size. 

3. The use of padded or poly bags as 

outer packaging is permitted only when: 

a. Mailpieces contain lithium batteries 

properly installed in the equipment/ 

product they intend to operate. 

b. The batteries are afforded adequate 

protection by the equipment/product, 

and 

c. The secondary container (e.g., 

original manufacturer packaging), 

containing the equipment or product 

prevents damage and accidental 

activation, can retain the product 

without puncture of the packaging 

under normal conditions of transport 

and can withstand a 1.7-meter drop test. 

Button cell batteries, meeting the 

classification criteria in 349.11d, 

installed in the device they operate are 

not required to be within a secondary 

container that can withstand a 1.7-meter 

drop test prior to utilizing a padded or 

poly bag as outer packaging. 

d. The package containing batteries 

does not display hazardous materials 

text, marks. 

4. All outer packages must have a 

complete delivery and return address. 

5. Lithium battery marks are required 

on mailpieces containing 5 to 8 lithium 

cells installed in the equipment they 

operate. 

a. The marks must be applied to the 

address side without being folded or 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1
86870 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 240 / Friday, December 15, 2023 / Proposed Rules 

applied in such a manner that parts of 

the mark appear on different sides of the 

mailpiece. See 325.1. 

b. The mark must be a DOT-approved 

lithium battery mark, as specified in 49 

CFR 173.183(c)(3)(i) and Exhibit 325.2a. 

c. The mark must include a telephone 

number for those who need to obtain 

additional information. 

d. Lithium metal cells or batteries 

must be marked with UN3090. 

e. Lithium metal cells or batteries 

installed in or packed with the 

equipment they intend to operate must 

indicate UN3091. 

f. Lithium-ion cells or batteries must 

be marked UN3480. 

g. Lithium-ion cells or batteries 

installed in or packed with the 

equipment they intend to operate must 

indicate UN3481. 

6. Lithium battery marks are not 

required on packages containing only 

lithium button cell batteries, no more 

than 4 lithium cells or 2 lithium 

batteries installed in the equipment they 

operate. 

7. All used, damaged, or defective 

electronic devices with lithium cells or 

batteries contained in or packed with 

device (excluding electronic devices 

that are new in original packaging, and 

manufacturer-certified new or 

refurbished devices) must be marked 

with the text ‘‘Restricted Electronic 

Device’’ and ‘‘Surface Transportation 

Only’’ on the address side of the 

mailpiece. 

* * * * * 

[Renumber existing section 349.221 to 

349.222] 

349.222 Lithium Metal 

(Nonrechargeable) Cells and Batteries— 

Domestic 

[Revise item a. as follows:] 

a. General. The following restrictions 

apply to the mailability of all lithium 

metal (or lithium alloy) cells and 

batteries: 

1. Each cell must contain no more 

than 1.0 gram (g) of lithium content per 

cell. 

2. Each battery must contain no more 

than 2.0 g aggregate lithium content per 

battery. 

* * * * * 

[Renumber existing section 349.222 to 

349.223] 

349.223 Lithium-Ion (Rechargeable) 

Cells and Batteries—Domestic 

[Revise item a. as follows:] 

a. General. The following additional 

restrictions apply to the mailability of 

all secondary lithium-ion or lithium 

polymer cells and batteries: 

1. The watt-hour rating must not 

exceed 20 Wh per cell. 

2. The watt-hour rating must not 

exceed 100 Wh per battery. 

3. Each battery must bear the ‘‘Watthour’’ or ‘‘Wh’’ marking on the battery 

to determine if it is within the limits 

defined in items 1 and 2. 

* * * * * 

62 Hazardous Materials: International 

Mail 

621 General Requirements 

* * * * * 

[Insert new section 621.2 and 

renumber existing 621.2 through 621.4 

as 621.3 through 621.5] 

621.2 Outer Packaging Requirements 

Except as otherwise specified, rigid 

outer packaging must be used for 

shipments containing dangerous goods 

following the instructions in 131. 

* * * * * 

Appendix C 

USPS Packaging Instruction 9D 

[Revise third bullet in the Required 

Packaging section to read as follows:] 

Required Packaging 

Lithium Metal and Lithium-Ion 

Batteries 

D Lithium batteries permitted to be 

mailed under section 349 that are 

installed in the device they operate, are 

afforded adequate protection by that 

equipment, and do not display 

hazardous text, markings or labels as 

permitted in 349.221a6, 622.51f and 

622.52g may utilize padded and poly 

bags as outer packaging provided the 

device is within a secondary container 

that can withstand a 1.7-meter drop test. 

Button cell batteries, meeting the 

classification criteria in 349.11d, 

installed in the device they operate are 

not required to be within a secondary 

container that can withstand a 1.2-meter 

drop test prior to utilizing a padded or 

poly bag as outer packaging. 

* * * * * 

USPS Packaging Instruction 9E 

[Insert new second bullet in the 

Required Packaging section to read as 

follows:] 

Required Packaging 

Lithium Metal and Lithium-Ion 

Batteries 

D Lithium batteries installed in the 

device they operate that are permitted to 

be mailed under section 622.5, may 

utilize padded and poly bags as outer 

packaging provided the device is within 

a secondary container that can 

withstand a 1.7-meter drop test. Button 

cell batteries, meeting the classification 

criteria in 349.11d, installed in the 

device they operate are not required to 

be within a secondary container that can 

withstand a 1.7-meter drop test prior to 

utilizing a padded or poly bag as outer 

packaging. 

* * * * * 

Appendix D 

Hazardous Materials Definitions 

* * * * * 

[Revise definition of Rigid to read as 

follows:] 

Rigid means unable to bend or be 

forced out of shape; not flexible. Rigid 

outer packaging is generally interpreted 

to mean a fiberboard (cardboard) box or 

outer packaging of equivalent strength, 

durability, and rigidity. See 131. 

* * * * * 

Colleen Hibbert-Kapler, 

Attorney, Ethics and Legal Compliance. 

[FR Doc. 2023–27643 Filed 12–14–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7710–12–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R09–OAR–2023–0588; FRL–11585– 

01–R9] 

Air Plan Revisions; California; 

Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality 

Management District 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) is proposing to approve a 

revision to the Sacramento Metropolitan 

Air Quality Management District 

(SMAQMD) portion of the California 

State Implementation Plan (SIP) 

concerning a rule submitted to address 

section 185 of the Clean Air Act (CAA 

or the Act). We are taking comments on 

this proposal and plan to follow with a 

final action. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before January 16, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket ID No. EPA–R09– 

OAR–2023–0588 at https://

www.regulations.gov. For comments 

submitted at Regulations.gov, follow the 

online instructions for submitting 

comments. Once submitted, comments 

cannot be edited or removed from 

Regulations.gov. The EPA may publish 

any comment received to its public 

docket. Do not submit electronically any 

information you consider to be 

Confidential Business Information (CBI) 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with PROPOSALS1