Results of the ICC Code Development Hearings
Patrick Serfass, National Hydrogen Association
With contributions from Darren Meyers, International Code Council
The ICC Code Development hearings held September 20-October 1, 2006 at Disney's Coronado Spring Resort, Walt Disney World®, Florida had mixed results for the 15 code changes relating to hydrogen. Just less than half of the proposals were “recommended for approval” at the Final Action Hearings which are scheduled for May 21-27, 2007 in Rochester, NY.
 Although some proposals were recommended for approval and others were not, the “recommendation” means that the code proposals have neither been officially approved or disapproved yet. That will happen at the Final Action Hearings in May. Rather, each proponent (and opponents, if any) had the chance to present their proposal before the ICC membership and the appropriate code development committee to get reactions to and debate the suggested changes. This allows the proponent to make necessary modifications to his/her proposal before the ICC membership votes on it at the Final Action Hearings. At this point, the main difference between a proposal that was recommended for disapproval or approval is that proposals recommended for approval only need a simple majority vote (50% + 1) to be finally approved; on the other hand, proposals recommended for disapproval at the Code Development Hearings need a 2/3 vote to become approved at the Final Action Hearings.
The results of the September hearings and further explanation of the process are included below.
Official reasoning from the Code Development Committee on why certain proposals were recommended for disapproval will be published by Nov 7, 2006. After these are available, NHA staff will provide a more verbose explanation of how each proposal fared at September’s Code Development Hearings and further analysis on what needs to be accomplished in order for proposals to be approved in May.
2006/07 Code Development Hearing Results for Hydrogen
Legend:
AS - Approved as Submitted
AM - Approved as Modified by the Code Committee at Code Development Hearing
D - Disapproved
ASF - Approved as Submitted by Assembly Floor Action at Code Development Hearing
AMF - Approved as Modified by Assembly Floor Action at Code Development Hearing
DF - Disapproved by Assembly Floor Action at Code Development Hearing
WP - Withdrawn by Proponent
**D-ASF: Disapproved (by the code development committee). However, there was a motion from the floor for "As Submitted," and it was successful. Thus, “As Submitted from the Floor.” Both actions will proceed forward to the Final Action Hearings in May.
 More on Code Development Hearings vs. Final Action Hearings
As explained in the August issue of the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Safety Report (HFCSR, AUG 06), the Code Development Hearings are the first of two stages to either approve or disapprove code changes. The second stage is the Final Action Hearings.
The key differences between the two stages are that in the Code Development Hearings the code change proposals are heard by a committee and the result of their decision is a recommendation on how the ICC membership (code enforcement and fire officials, architects, engineers, builders, contractors, elected officials, manufacturers and others in the construction industry) might want to vote at the Final Action Hearings-approve or disapprove.
In the second stage, the Final Action Hearings, as you might expect, the proposals are heard by the ICC membership and their vote is the final decision on whether a code change proposal is approved or disapproved. At the Final Action Hearings, the same committee who recommended an outcome at the earlier Code Development Hearings will hear the proposals again, but this time in more of a moderating/advisory role.
 At both the Code Development Hearings and Final Action Hearings, the proponent, supporters and opponents are allowed a short time to speak to the committee and ICC membership about any code change. Anyone, ICC members and non-members, may speak in favor of or opposition against a proposal, but only ICC members can vote at the later Final Action Hearings. Proposals can also be withdrawn by the proponent at any time.
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