[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 12 (Thursday, January 18, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4896-4897]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-1553]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Research and Special Programs Administration

[Docket No. RSPA-01-8587; Notice No. 01-01]


Hazardous Materials Safety Advisory: Unauthorized Marking of 
Compressed Gas Cylinders

AGENCY: Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA), DOT.

ACTION: Safety Advisory Notice.

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SUMMARY: This is to notify the public that RSPA is investigating the 
apparent unauthorized and improper marking of high-pressure compressed 
gas cylinders by FESS, Inc. d/b/a Fire Extinguisher Service and Sales, 
3303 Superior Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, during the period 1995 to the 
present. Those cylinders may pose a safety risk to the public. Under no 
circumstances should a cylinder described in this safety advisory be 
filled, refilled or used for any purpose other than scrap until it is 
reinspected and retested by a DOT-authorized retest facility.
    RSPA requires that compressed gas cylinders undergo a visual 
reinspection and a hydrostatic retest on a periodic basis, in 
accordance with the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR), in order to 
verify that a cylinder has the structural integrity for continued use. 
If the required visual reinspection and hydrostatic retest are not 
performed properly, a cylinder with compromised structural integrity 
may fail (leak or burst) in continued service, when it should have been 
condemned. Serious personal injury, death, and property damage could 
result from rupture of a cylinder. Cylinders that have not been 
retested in accordance with the HMR may not be charged or filled with a 
hazardous material (compressed gas).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Guadalupe ``Lupe'' Castellanos, 
Hazardous Materials Enforcement Specialist, Central Region, Office of 
Hazardous Materials Enforcement, Research and Special Programs 
Administration, US Department of Transportation, 2350 East Devon 
Avenue, Des Plaines, Illinois 60018. Telephone: (847) 294-8580; Fax: 
(847) 294-8590.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Until March 19, 1998, FESS held a retester 
identification number (RIN) issued by RSPA, authorizing FESS to 
requalify DOT and ICC specification compressed gas cylinders for 
continued use in accordance with the requirements in 49 CFR 173.34(e) 
of the HMR for performing a periodic visual inspection and hydrostatic 
retest. In its most recent application for renewal of its RIN, FESS 
stated that it reinspected and retested approximately 800 DOT 
specification 3A, 3AA, and 3AL cylinders each year. When used as fire 
extinguishers, the retest period for these cylinders can be as long as 
12 years. 49 CFR 173.34(e)(19)(ii).
    During a recent inspection at FESS's facility in Cleveland, Ohio, 
RSPA determined that FESS had marked an undetermined number of 
cylinders after its RIN expired on March 19, 1998. RSPA also concluded 
that FESS had marked many cylinders, both before and after that date, 
which may not have been properly reinspected and retested. It appeared 
to RSPA's inspector that FESS was not able to assure that its 
hydrostatic retest equipment was accurate to the required degree, based 
on its failure to have documentation showing the test pressures and 
readings for its calibrated cylinder and based on the condition of its 
retest apparatus and calibrated cylinder at the time of the inspection. 
FESS acknowledged that it customarily marked cylinders before 
inspecting and testing them, and its test records were incomplete in a 
number of regards, including lack of entries for certain cylinders 
observed during RSPA's inspection; the dates on which cylinders were 
purportedly reinspected and retested; and the initial retest attempt 
when a cylinder was retested a second time due to equipment failure on 
the first retest attempt. In addition, FESS did not have the current 
version of the requirements for requalification of compressed gas 
cylinders in 49 CFR

[[Page 4897]]

173.34(e), and it did not hold pamphlets published by the Compressed 
Gas Association and incorporated by reference in the HMR that apply to 
its operations.
    The current owner stated that he had assumed control of FESS during 
1995. Because there has not been an inspection by an independent 
inspection agency since that date and FESS failed to renew its RIN when 
it expired, the matters discovered during RSPA's recent inspection 
raise questions as to the condition of any cylinder marked by FESS with 
a test date/year of ``95'' or later. These cylinders are marked with 
FESS's RIN number B404, bracketed by the month and year of the 
purported reinspection and retest date, in the following pattern:

                                   B 4
                              Month    Year
                                   4 0
 

    Any person holding a compressed gas cylinder that is marked as 
having been last inspected and retested by FESS since 1995 should not 
charge or fill the cylinder without first having it inspected and 
retested by a cylinder requalification facility holding a currently 
effective RIN. Any filled cylinder that is marked as having been last 
inspected and retested by FESS since 1995 should be properly and safely 
evacuated and purged (a cylinder filled with an atmospheric gas may be 
vented), and taken to a DOT-authorized cylinder retest facility for 
visual reinspection and hydrostatic retest to determine if it qualifies 
for continued use in accordance with the HMR. Under no circumstances 
should a cylinder described in this safety advisory be filled, refilled 
or used for any purpose other than scrap until it is reinspected and 
retested by a DOT-authorized retest facility.
    Cylinder requalification facilities holding a currently effective 
RIN are listed on the internet web site of RSPA's Office of Hazardous 
Materials Safety, at

``http://hazmat.dot.gov/files/approvals/hydro/hydro_retesters.htm''.

    Persons finding or possessing cylinders described in this safety 
notice may contact Ms. Guadalupe Castellanos for additional 
information.

    Issued in Washington, D.C. on January 11, 2001.
Robert A. McGuire,
Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety.
[FR Doc. 01-1553 Filed 1-17-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-60-P