Global Technical Regulations Forum Held in Washington, DC
by Karen Hall

The European Union is developing global technical regulations for hydrogen vehicles. Through a UN committee, the US and other non-European countries have opportunities to comment.

The NHA held an Ideas Forum on Global Technical Regulations on Thursday, March 31 (parallel Session IV) at the NHA's Annual Conference in Washington, DC. Susan Townsend, the Chairman of the NHA's Codes and Standards Committee, moderated.

The NHA Hydrogen Safety, Codes and Standards Committee Work Group 9 (WG9) seeks to analyze potential impacts of Global Technical Regulations for hydrogen vehicles. The scheduled Forum provided views from government and industry stakeholders, and attempted to answer the questions posed by WG 9.

Some concerns had been raised about differences in regulatory structures between Europe and the United States. For example, Type approval (Europe) versus Self-certification processes (U.S.); and Regulatory structure difference: 'If there is no law against it, you can do it' (U.S.) versus 'If it isn't specifically approved, you can't do it' (Europe).

The purposes of the forum were to discuss issues relating to GTRs, and determine if there is a need for support, which NHA is uniquely qualified to fill.

Martin Koubek, from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, took the opportunity to provide an accurate and up to date account of what WP.29 is about and the United States' role in it. He explained the GTR criteria require the regulations to be comprehensive, performance-based, have a global scope, and allow implementation in diverse regulatory regimes. The target date for a single, global fuel cell vehicle regulation is 2010-2013.

Dr. Koubek suggested a potential role for the NHA to consider. The NHA could communicate the nature and implications of the GTR and options for FMVSS development in U.S. He also provided a technical resource now available that explains the GTR process and describes the regulatory regimes in various countries. A new guideline has been produced by the Economic Commission for Europe and the United Nations called "World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29): How it Works: How to Join It. It can be obtained online by clicking here.

Christine Sloane gave an automotive manufacturers perspective of the need for consensus system-level, performance-based requirements for technology innovation. She indicated that the consensus process is an important opportunity to reach a global market. General Motors has championed global acceptance of systems-based performance requirements and testing. This is a potential role for the NHA, SAE, and others as well.

The conclusion of the forum was that GTRs provide a consensus-based pathway for global regulations that can be adopted into each countries existing regulatory framework. GTRs provide an opportunity to develop world-wide agreement on safety regulations for fuel cell vehicles from the beginning, thereby reducing regulatory inconsistencies and accelerating commercialization.

The next steps for the NHA are a report from the NHA WG9 to the Codes and Standards Steering Committee with recommendations, and a decision on how the NHA should proceed with this work item.