NFPA Drafts Available for Review
by Karen Hall
Vice President, Technical Operations of the
National Hydrogen Association

The NFPA Vehicular Alternative Fuels Technical Committee has developed a draft edition of the 2005 edition of NFPA 52: Vehicular Fuel System Code 2005 Edition. This extensive revision will apply to the design and installation of compressed hydrogen and liquefied compressed hydrogen vehicle fueling systems, as well as liquefied natural gas, compressed natural gas, and blends of hydrogen and natural gas, as defined in the scope.

The draft proposal for “NFPA 55, Storage, Use, and Handling of Compressed Gases and Cryogenic Fluids in Portable and Stationary Containers, Cylinders, and Tanks” is also available for review.

The NFPA Website describes how these proposals are developed:

Proposals can be submitted for text to be amended or included in NFPA Codes and Standards. Following the Call for Proposals period, the responsible technical committee holds meetings over the course of three months to consider all the submitted proposals and listen to anyone wishing to address the committee regarding a proposal. The committee also develops its own proposals and incorporates them into their report. A two-thirds approval vote by letter ballot of the members of the Committee eligible to vote is required for Committee approval of the actions on the Proposals. Should the Committee revise or reject a Proposal in whole or in part, it must include in its report the reasons for this change or rejection. All the proposals are presented in the Report on Proposals (ROP). The ROP is published and widely distributed and anyone may download or request a copy. The committee members vote to approve or reject their report in the ROP by letter ballot, and if two-thirds of all committee members eligible approve, the process continues to the next step. If the ROP does not receive two-thirds approval, their report in the ROP returns to the committee.