This is a question we get asked a lot (or some variation of the question). The short answer is yes. If you ship, receive, or handle ANY hazardous materials in the US, you fall under the requirements of 49 CFR . I know, it sounds super official and scary. But now that you know you are one of millions of people who need training, you must figure out what hazmats are.
Effective as of April 1, 2016 there are two new significant changes for IATA in regards to lithium batteries.
1. Under packing instructions 965 in regards to shipping Lithium ion batteries (stand alone) in Section IA, IB, and II the state of charge of these batteries cannot exceed 30% of the cells rated design capacity. If these batteries would need to be shipped out a charge of greater than 30% you would have to obtain the approval by the state of orgin and the state of the operator to do so.