E7-20841. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Proposes To Revise Codes and Standards

AGENCY:

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) proposes to revise some of its safety codes and standards and requests proposals from the public to amend existing or begin the process of developing new NFPA safety codes and standards. The purpose of this request is to increase public participation in the system used by NFPA to develop its codes and standards. The publication of this notice of request for proposals by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on behalf of NFPA is being undertaken as a public service; NIST does not necessarily endorse, approve, or recommend any of the standards referenced in the notice.

The NFPA process provides ample opportunity for public participation in the development of its codes and standards. All NFPA codes and standards are revised and updated every three to five years in Revision Cycles that begin twice each year and take approximately two years to complete. Each Revision Cycle proceeds according to a published schedule that includes final dates for all major events in the process. The process contains five basic steps that are followed both for developing new documents as well as revising existing documents. These steps are: Calling for Proposals; Publishing the Proposals in the Report on Proposals (ROP); Calling for Comments on the Committee's disposition of the proposals and these Comments are published in the Report on Comments (ROC); having a Technical Report Session at the NFPA Annual Meeting; and finally, the Standards Council Consideration and Issuance of documents.

Note:

Under new rules effective Fall 2005, anyone wishing to make Amending Motions on the Technical Committee Reports (ROP and ROC) must signal their intention by submitting a Notice of Intent to Make a Motion by the Deadline stated in the ROC. Certified motions will then be posted on the NFPA website. Documents that receive notice of proper Amending Motions (Certified Amending Motions) will be presented for action at the annual June Association Technical Meeting. Documents that receive no motions will be forwarded directly to the Standards Council for action on issuance.

For more information on these new rules and for up-to-date information on schedules and deadlines for processing NFPA Documents, check the NFPA Website at http://www.nfpa.org or contact the NFPA Codes and Standards Administration.

DATES:

Interested persons may submit proposals on or before the dates listed with the standards.

ADDRESSES:

Milosh Puchovsky, Secretary, Standards Council, NFPA, 1 Batterymarch Park, Quincy, Massachusetts 02269-7471.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Milosh Puchovsky, Secretary, Standards Council, at the above address, [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) develops building, fire, and electrical safety codes and standards. Federal agencies frequently use these codes and standards as the basis for developing Federal regulations concerning safety. Often, the Office of the Federal Register approves the incorporation by reference of these standards under 5 U.S.C. 552(a) and 1 CFR Part 51.

When a Technical Committee begins the development of a new or revised NFPA code or standard, it enters one of two Revision Cycles available each year. The Revision Cycle begins with the Call for Proposals, that is, a public notice asking for any interested persons to submit specific written proposals for developing or revising the Document. The Call for Proposals is published in a variety of publications. Interested parties have approximately twenty weeks to respond to the Call for Proposals.

Following the Call for Proposals period, the Technical Committee holds a meeting to consider and accept, reject or revise, in whole or in part, all the submitted Proposals. The Committee may also develop its own Proposals. A document known as the Report on Proposals, or ROP, is prepared containing all the Public Proposals, the Technical Committees' action and each Proposal, as well as all Committee-generated Proposals. The ROP is then submitted for the approval of the Technical Committee by a formal written ballot. If the ROP does not receive approval by a two-thirds vote calculated in accordance with NFPA rules, the Report is returned to the Committee for further consideration and is not published. If the necessary approval is received, the ROP is published in a compilation of Reports on Proposals issued by NFPA twice yearly for public review and comment and the process continues to the next step.

The Reports on Proposals are sent automatically free of charge to all who submitted proposals and each respective committee member, as well as anyone else who requests a copy. All ROPs are also available for free downloading at http://www.nfpa.org.

Once the ROP becomes available, there is a 60-day comment period during which anyone may submit a Public Comment on the proposed changes in the ROP. The committee then reconvenes at the end of the comment period and acts on all Comments.

As before, a two-thirds approval vote by written ballot of the eligible members of the committee is required for approval of actions on the Comments. All of this information is compiled into a second Report, called the Report on Comments (ROC), which, like the ROP, is published and made available for public review for a seven-week period.

The process of public input and review does not end with the publication of the ROP and ROC. Following the completion of the Proposal and Comment periods, there is yet a further opportunity for debate and discussion through the Technical Report Sessions that take place at the NFPA Annual Meeting.

The Technical Report Session provides an opportunity for the final Technical Committee Report (i.e., the ROP and ROC) on each proposed new or revised code or standard to be presented to the NFPA membership for the debate and consideration of motions to amend the Report. Before making an allowable motion at a Technical Report Session, the intended maker of the motion must file, in advance of the session, and within the published deadline, a Notice of Intent to Make a Motion. A Motions Committee appointed by the Standards Council then reviews all notices and certifies all amending motions that are proper. Only these Certified Amending Motions, together with certain allowable Follow-Up Motions (that is, motions that have become necessary as a result of previous successful amending motions) will be allowed at the Technical Report Session.

For more information on dates/locations of NFPA Technical Committee meetings and NFPA Annual Technical Report Sessions, check the NFPA Web site at: http://www.nfpa.org/​itemDetail.asp?​categoryID=​822&​itemID=​22818.

The specific rules for the types of motions that can be made and who can make them are set forth in NFPA's Regulation Governing Committee Projects which should always be consulted by those wishing to bring an issue before the membership at a Technical Report Session.

Interested persons may submit proposals, supported by written data, views, or arguments to Milosh Puchovsky, Secretary, Standards Council, NFPA, 1 Batterymarch Park, Quincy, Massachusetts 02269-7471. Proposals should be submitted on forms available from the NFPA Codes and Standards Administration Office or on NFPA's Web site at http://www.nfpa.org.

Each person must include his or her name and address, identify the document and give reasons for the proposal. Proposals received before or by 5 p.m. local time on the closing date indicated will be acted on by the Committee. The NFPA will consider any proposal that it receives on or before the date listed with the codes or standard.

Document- edition	Document title	Proposal closing date
NFPA 10-2007	Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers	5/30/2008
NFPA 101-2007	Guide on Alternative Approaches to Life Safety	11/26/2007
NFPA 105-2007	Standard for the Installation of Smoke Door Assemblies and Other Opening Protectives	11/26/2007
NFPA 110-2005	Standard for Emergency and Standby Power Systems	11/26/2007
NFPA 111-2005	Standard on Stored Electrical Energy Emergency and Standby Power Systems	11/26/2007
NFPA 1124-2006	Code for the Manufacture, Transportation, Storage, and Retail Sale of Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles	11/26/2007
NFPA 1201-2004	Standard for Providing Emergency Services to the Public	4/1/2008
NFPA 1221-2007	Standard for the Installation, Maintenance, and Use of Emergency Services Communications Systems	11/26/2007
NFPA 1250-2004	Recommended Practice in Emergency Service Organization Risk Management	4/1/2008
NFPA 130-2007	Standard for Fixed Guideway Transit and Passenger Rail Systems	11/26/2007
NFPA 1620-2003	Recommended Practice for Pre-Incident Planning	5/30/2008
NFPA 1710-2004	Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Career Fire Departments	11/26/2007
NFPA 1720-2004	Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations and Special Operations to the Public by Volunteer Fire Departments	11/26/2007
NFPA 1801-P*	Standard on Thermal Imagers for the Fire Service	1/25/2008
NFPA 1936-2005	Standard on Powered Rescue Tools	4/1/2008
NFPA 1977-2005	Standard on Protective Clothing and Equipment for Wildland Fire Fighting	2/8/2008
NFPA 1991-2005	Standard on Vapor-Protective Ensembles for Hazardous Materials Emergencies	11/30/2007
NFPA 1992-2005	Standard on Liquid Splash-Protective Ensembles and Clothing for Hazardous Materials Emergencies	11/30/2007
NFPA 2-P*	Hydrogen Technologies Code	5/30/2008
NFPA 20-2007	Standard for the Installation of Stationary Pumps for Fire Protection	11/26/2007
NFPA 214-2005	Standard on Water-Cooling Towers	5/30/2008
NFPA 25-2008	Standard for the Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems	5/30/2008
NFPA 255-2006	Standard Method of Test of Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials	11/26/2007
NFPA 302-2004	Fire Protection Standard for Pleasure and Commercial Motor Craft	11/26/2007
NFPA 495-2006	Explosive Materials Code	5/30/2008
NFPA 498-2006	Standard for Safe Havens and Interchange Lots for Vehicles Transporting Explosives	5/30/2008
NFPA 556-P*	Guide for Identification and Development of Mitigation Strategies for Fire Hazard to Occupants of Passenger Road Vehicles	11/26/2007
NFPA 70-2006	Recommended Practice for Electrical Equipment Maintenance	5/30/2008
NFPA 72-2007	National Fire Alarm Code®	11/2/2007
NFPA 750-2006	Standard on Water Mist Fire Protection Systems	5/30/2008
NFPA 80-2007	Standard for Fire Doors and Other Opening Protectives	11/26/2007
NFPA 804-2006	Standard for Fire Protection for Advanced Light Water Reactor Electric Generating Plants	5/30/2008
NFPA 805-2006	Performance-Based Standard for Fire Protection for Light Water Reactor Electric Generating Plants	5/30/2008
NFPA 806-P*	Performance Based Standard for Fire Protection for Advanced Nuclear Reactor Electric Generating Plants	5/30/2008
NFPA 850-2005	Recommended Practice for Fire Protection for Electric Generating Plants and High Voltage Direct Current Converter Stations	5/30/2008
NFPA 851-2005	Recommended Practice for Fire Protection for Hydroelectric Generating Plants	5/30/2008
NFPA 99-2005	Standard for Health Care Facilities	11/26/2007
NFPA 99-2005	Standard for Hypobaric Facilities	11/26/2007
NFPA 99-2005	Standard on Gas and Vacuum Systems	11/26/2007
*P Proposed NEW drafts are available from NFPA's Web site—http://www.nfpa.org or may be obtained from NFPA's Codes and Standards Administration, 1 Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269-7471.

Dated: October 17, 2007.

Richard F. Kayser,

Acting Deputy Director.