National Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Codes & Standards Coordinating Committee Teleconference

MEETING DATE: January 6, 2006
TIME: 3:30 (EDT)

1.0 PARTICIPANTS
The list of meeting participants is provided in Attachment A.

2.0 REVIEW OF ANTI-TRUST POLICY
Karen reminded USFCC members to review their Anti-Trust Guidelines

Antitrust Guidelines (27Kb PDF)

and

Memo on Antitrust Guidelines (24Kb PDF)

3.0 REVIEWED AND APPROVED THE AGENDA

4.0 REVIEWED AND APPROVED THE PREVIOUS MINUTES

5.0 OPPORTUNITY FOR PAT DAVIS TO PROVIDE THE LATEST INFORMATION ON ACTIVITIES IN AND THE FUNDING FOR THE SAFETY, CODES AND STANDARDS SUBPROGRAM FOR FY06, INCLUDING SUBCONTRACTS

Antonio Ruiz provided an update:
The DOE budget was $25M short of the expected amount, with an additional $42M in earmarks further debilitating the DOE Program. Everyone suffered due to the ensuing cuts. Safety Codes & Standards was kept fairly flat at approximately $4.8M. One area cut was sensor work, or rather postponed again. Hydrogen Quality will also not be funded. High pressure (10,000 psi) testing will also not be funded, except for the demonstration budget. The Sub-Contracts will be similar to last year.

Update from Jesse Schneider: High pressure testing may be picked up by the demonstration part of the budget so it will move forward somewhat.

Antonio Ruiz: Still some work is being done in hydrogen quality. Just not new work.

The Codes & Standards Solicitation will be funded by the end of this fiscal year. It is not new money.

Carolyn Elam remarked that Intelligent Optical Systems has an earmark for sensors. So there will be some work done there as well.

Antonio Ruiz remarked that taxes will further reduce the $4.8M by about $0.5M.

6.0 DISCUSSION OF THE GLOBAL TECHNICAL REGULATIONS PROCESS AS IT RELATES TO HYDROGEN AND FUEL CELL VEHICLES BY NHA NGUYEN

Nha Nguyen's report (100Kb PDF)

At the June 2005 WP 29 meeting it was decided to have two subgroups: One for Environmental Issues and one for Global Technical Regulations for Vehicles. WP_29 is meeting again in March. The GTR Sub-Group is working now. They expect to have a final full set of Global Technical Regulations, including Fuel Cell Vehicles, by 2010 - 2012. At completion, NHTSA will adopt GTRs into the standards for domestic US use. The first meeting of the GTR Sub-Group was in Japan in October to go over the Japanese Regulations. Fuel Cell Vehicles must comply with these regulations to be on the road in Japan. Nha Nguyen will forward the presentation for the information of the group. Germany, Japan and the US are co-sponsors. They are currently deciding on chairs for subgroups. The next meeting is going to be this summer. The Road Map is being updated. See WP29 web site for more information. Bill Chernicoff has provided the web site address.

• Safety Regulation Article 1 (35kb PDF)
  
• Safety Regulation Article 1-3 (21kb PDF)
• Safety Regulation Article 17 (22kb PDF)
• Safety Regulation Article 17-2 (21kb PDF)

Question - What kind of GTR, whole car or components or system?
We (NHTSA) prefer that the whole vehicle be covered.

Question - Will the Japanese Regulations be used as a model?
Possibly. Also SAE and others might be used. The GTR process will use all national and international standards that the parties would like the group to consider. It is not necessary to use just one. The Japanese will not have any weight in this consideration because they have already adopted a regulation.

Question - Is it preferred to adopt by reference or to write the GTR from scratch?
It is preferred to write the GTR in from scratch rather than reference something else.

Question - Will NHTSA adopt US Fuel Cell Vehicle Regulations prior to GTR development?
No.

Question - Is this the first time that the US NHTSA has deferred to an outside agency?
No, NHTSA is in process of adopting the Door and Door Retention GTR. Since we have signed the agreement we are contractually required to adopt it. In the future, if a GTR is approved, the US NHTSA is obligated to start the GTR adoption process. Upon a successful adoption, existing regulations may be revised as a result. One year is allowed for adoption. In addition, there are provisions in the event that the GTR adoption is not successful. For further information on the GTR adoption process, please review Article 7 of Annex III of the 1998 Agreement. The Agreement can be found at this website.

Question: Do OEMs need to comply with the Japanese regulation to sell cars in Japan?
Yes, to sell tanks, you have to go through their certification program. No one is really selling cars.

7.0 DISCUSSION OF THE "CODES AND STANDARDS FOR THE HYDROGEN ECONOMY" COMPETITIVE SOLICITATION BEING MANAGED BY THE DOE GOLDEN FIELD OFFICE (CAROLYN ELAM OF DOE/GOLDEN)

Carolyn Elam's report (726Kb PDF)

Elam: Review of objectives. Dec 7 to March 10. Purpose is one award to manage subcontracts in C&S to improve coordination. Looking for prime and sub contractors needed for management. Other subs to do C&S work would be done later.

Cost-share is required by the subcontractors, not the prime contractor. Cost share for the prime contractor is waived.

Cooperative agreement -- The winner will participate in coordination, but leadership of projects will not necessarily change.

They are not trying to recreate the expertise. Principal capability required is project management capability, not technical expertise.

Merit Review Committee will balance someone who is relatively removed from the hydrogen community (no financial incentive to give money to certain groups) with knowledge about the subject area.

Question - Will this contractor provide technical direction?
Perhaps. The major skill-set will involve project management.

Question - Must the Prime Contractor be outside the hydrogen or fuel cell industry?
Yes, all conflicts must be revealed.

Question - Is the cost-share only for the subcontractors?
Yes.

8.0 REPORT ON IEC/TC105 ACTIVITIES AND CODES & STANDARDS DOCUMENTS IN THE "COMMENTS" PROCESS (KELVIN HECHT)

Kelvin Hecht's report (75Kb PDF)

• TC 105 WG#8 on micro fuel cells will meet in New York City during the period 31 January - 2 February.
  
  
• SAE will meet next week in Troy.
  
  
• Two standards are open for voting or comment
  
  - TC 105 WG#4 - Stationary Fuel Cells - Performance (final vote), comments not being accepted. The US position should be developed by February 2nd. Closing date is February 10th.
  
  - TC 105 WG#5 - Stationary Fuel Cells - Installation. Looking for initial comments. US position should be developed by February 17th, Closing date, February 24th.

9.0 REPORT ON ISO/TC197 ACTIVITIES AND CODES & STANDARDS DOCUMENTS IN THE "COMMENTS" PROCESS (BOB MAURO)

Bob Mauro's report (57Kb PDF)

1. ISO TC 197 WG#6 and SAE will work together on tanks. A meeting was held on this topic. The meeting was held at SAE to resolve issues regarding tanks with everyone concerned on December 5th, where Bob Mauro asked for a delay of the standard. Good representation was obtained at the meeting.

ISO TC 197 WG#6 and SAE meeting synopsis (118Kb PDF)

Cycle, strength and bonfire testing were discussed. There is still debate on a "cycle life counter" which will continue at SAE on January 17th.

2. Vote due at the end of the week with regard to hydrogen generators - safety.

3. Five year review of connector system for liquid hydrogen due now.

4. Hydride Tanks - vote due in February.

5. FDIS on J2600 corollary is out for vote.

6. WG#13 on sensors is meeting soon. The subject is stationary sensors (not on a vehicle), like in refineries or fueling stations. We are not aware of anyone else working on this. We need a good low-cost sensor. (Note, there are already sensor standards published by both UL and IEC).

7. WG#12 on Hydrogen Quality is meeting soon. Mike Steele remarked that for ISO TS 14687 (Hydrogen Quality), Sylvie Gingras (Secretary to ISO TC 197) wants hydrogen test standards to be ISO standards, not ASTM or Japanese standards. Is it permissible to put out an international standard referencing national standards? Bob Mauro replied in the affirmative, if there's not an International Standard. Europe won't like it, but you can also just write it into the international standard with permission of whoever had the language first. This is probably not the easiest way to go. Robert Wichert remarked that there are already ISO standards that reference national standards, such as ISO 15649 - 2001 that references ANSI/ASME B31.3 directly.

10.0 PROPOSED MODIFICATIONS TO THE NATIONAL TEMPLATES FOR CODES & STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT (JIM OHI)

Jim Ohi's report (93Kb PDF)

Jim Ohi noted that the template has been revised to show SAE as the lead agency for hydrogen tanks, with CSA in support. This will come up for voting at the next In-Person meeting. Julie Cairns remarked that the CSA NGV-2 documents will not be withdrawn, and this may lead to lack of harmony in the future. Julie suggested a co-lead instead of a change to give SAE the lead. Jim Ohi proposes that we vote on needed changes to the template at the next In-Person meeting.

SAE 2578 is the only standard doing a system wide safety evaluation work.

11.0 REPORTS FROM CDOS AND SDOS AS THEY RELATE TO COORDINATION (ESPECIALLY ICC AND NFPA -- AND OTHERS TOO)

11.0.1 NFPA
i. Carl Rivkin mentioned that the NFPA Standards Council, who oversees all standards efforts at NFPA, has approved the creation of a Hydrogen Technology Committee to put hydrogen requirements into a single document. This is now going to be a Technical Committee, not just a correlating committee. The Standards Council is now taking applications for the Technical Committee. This new Code will be NFPA 2. This new Technical Committee will take existing requirements and put them into the new document and identify gaps, and then fill them. This new Technical Committee should be able to not only correlate, but create new requirements. Applicants should get their application in. Applications are available on the NFPA web site. The Standards Council will have meetings in March and July meetings to appoint new members, finishing in July with a good balance of representation. A meeting will be held later this year for NFPA 2, the consolidated code. No appointments will be made until the next meeting in March

Background Information: NFPA Hydrogen Technologies Technical Committee (71Kb PDF)

Proposed Scope of New Project
The scope of a new Hydrogen Technologies Technical Committee is intended to directly address the primary and most common applications of Hydrogen in today's world, and is proposed as follows: Committee Scope: This Committee shall have primary responsibility for documents on the storage, transfer, and use of hydrogen. The use of Hydrogen would include stationary, portable, and vehicular applications.

ii. Some members spoke up regarding NFPA 55 and a concern about blends with up to 25% Hydrogen causing embrittlement and degradation to some approved materials. Rivkin is generally unaware of this issue although he recalls some discussions. Seiff and others will address this issue with the NFPA later.

10.02. ASME Hydrogen Steering Committee
Robert Wichert reported that the ASME has disbanded their Hydrogen Steering Committee. The work started by this Steering Committee continues as part of the normal ASME process. Patrick Serfass pointed out that there are other groups that are still operational. Robert Wichert will provide an update of groups who are still active in this area. Bill Collins noted that face-to-face meeting for B31.12 are scheduled for the end of January, and the work is transitioning into working groups.

Summary of ASME Activities
- The ASME H2 Steering Committee, which reported to the ASME Codes and Standards Board of Directors, was formally sunset in November 2005. The committee had accomplished its mission of evaluating the need for and initiating standards actions supporting H2 infrastructure development. Efforts resulted in formation of project teams under the B31 and Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) standards committees.

- The ASME B31.12 Project Team on H2 Piping and Pipelines is developing a new standard for H2 piping and pipelines in industrial, commercial, and residential applications. The project next meets January 31-February 1, 2006 in Tampa, FL. A nice article by the chair, Lou Hayden, was posted on the recent NHA Safety Report.

- The ASME BPVC Project Team on H2 Tanks is developing new rules for stationary, transportable, and portable tanks in hydrogen service at pressures up to 15ksi. The scope includes metallic and composite materials as well as pressure vessels for metal hydride storage. The project team meets next on February 15, 2006 in Portland, OR.

- ASME has formed a new task force on H2 Codes and Standards that reports to the ASME Board on Pressure Technology Codes and Standards (BPTCS). This task force is coordinating the standards activities between the B31 and BPVC project teams.

- ASME is also active on the new Materials for the H2 Economy Coordinating Group, which was formed last August during the workshop hosted by ASME and Savannah River National Lab in Augusta, GA.

Submitted by John Koehr

12.0 ITEMS FOR THE AGENDA FOR THE FEBRUARY TELECONFERENCE MEETING AND THE PLANNED MARCH IN-PERSON MEETING
a. Voting on needed changes to the national Codes & Standards Template (see discussion above).

b. Discussion of vehicle level safety standards - suggested by Rhodes Stephenson. Jesse Schneider disagrees with putting this on the agenda and suggests that some discussion of testing done and reports on SAE Working Groups from Mike Steele would be a better use of our time.

c. Safety C&S Activities at the NHA Conference (19Kb PDF)

• Parallel Sessions
  
• Face-To-Face Meeting on Wednesday
• It was noted that the NHA conference conflicts with the SAE meeting planned for the same week.

• DATE: February 1 (First Wednesday)
  
• TIME: 3:00 - 4:30 pm EDT
  2:00 - 3:30 pm CDT
  1:00 - 2:30 pm MDT
  Noon - 1:30 pm PDT
  
• CALL-IN NUMBER AND PASSCODE

MEETING PARTICIPANTS
National Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Codes and Standards Coordinating Committee: Members that Participated in the March 2006 Meeting