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Regulation and Initiatives

Codes and Standards

Fuel cells represent a new area where in many cases, no applicable regulations exist. There are a multitude of regulatory agencies and a multitude of different aspects of fuel cells that must be regulated and standardized in order to insure the quality and safety of these systems.

Regulatory codes and standards are developing around a number of areas and applications, including:

General

Stationary / Building Specific

Mobile Specific

Portable Specific

General Resources

Overseeing and developing these standards are agencies as well as certifying facilities. Below is a list of the individual agencies governing particular aspects. Organizations that provide oversight or overviews of these standards include:

US Fuel Cell Council
Through its Codes & Standards Working Group, their mission is to become aware of all Codes & Standards activities, gather information from all possible sources, and provide information to the members of the Council in order to encourage participation and commentary. The Codes & Standards Working Group will serve as the communication conduit for member commentary on Codes & Standards at the local, regional, national, and international levels. The Codes & Standards Working Group will also make recommendations to codes and standards bodies with the concurrence of the Council Board.

US Department of Energy Distributed Power Program
This section describes activities underway at the national and state level to address interconnection issues.

Agencies

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
The Institute's mission is to enhance both the global competitiveness of U.S. business and the U.S. quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems, and safeguarding their integrity.

American Society of Mechanical Engineers International (ASME)
ASME International is a nonprofit educational and technical organization serving a worldwide membership of 125,000. Conducts one of the world's largest technical publishing operations; holds some 30 technical conferences and 200 professional development courses each year; and sets many industrial and manufacturing standards.

Code of Federal Regulations
The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is a codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the Executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government.

Independent Electrical Contractors, Inc. (IEC)
IEC has built a reputation as the premier trade association for America's independent electrical contractors

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Through its technical publishing, conferences and consensus-based standards activities, the IEEE produces 30 percent of the world's published literature in electrical engineering, computers and control technology; holds annually more than 300 major conferences and has nearly 900 active standards with 700 under development.

International Code Council (ICC)
ICC was established to develop a single set of comprehensive and coordinated national model construction codes. The mission of the ICC is to promulgate a comprehensive and compatible regulatory system for the built environment, through consistent performance-based regulations that are effective, efficient and meet government, industry and public needs.

National Evaluation Service, Inc.
NES is an independent, not-for-profit organization that conducts a voluntary and advisory program of evaluation for both traditional and innovative building materials, products, and systems. The evaluation reports issued by the NES facilitate the acceptance of new building technology by those in the U.S. building regulatory community as well as by those who design and construct buildings.

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)
The mission of the international nonprofit NFPA is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by providing and advocating scientifically-based consensus codes and standards, research, training and education.

National Hydrogen Association
The mission of the NHA is to foster the development of hydrogen technologies and their utilization in industrial and commercial applications and promote the transition role of hydrogen in the energy field. Technology Transition Corporation provides analytical support and demonstration planning consulting services in the areas of vehicles and transportation systems, commercial aircraft, electric utility generation, and energy storage.

NSSN: A National Resource for Global Standards
NSSN is setting the pace worldwide in promulgating standards information to a broad constituency. Whether it's searching for a specific standard, tracking the status of a new development project, or identifying a contact person who can interpret a standard, NSSN serves as your one-s[top of page] information repository.

Society of Automotive Engineers Fuel Cell Standards Committee (SAE)
The purpose is to establish standards and test procedures for fuel cell powered vehicles. The standards will cover the safety, performance, reliability and recyclability of fuel cell systems in vehicles with emphasis on efficiency and environmental impact. The standards will also establish test procedures for uniformity in test results for the vehicle/systems/components performances, and define interface requirements of the systems to the vehicle.

Certifying and Testing Organizations

CSA International
CSA International test products for compliance to national and international standards, and issue certification marks for qualified products

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
ISO is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies from more than 140 countries, one from each country. ISO is a non-governmental organization established in 1947. The mission of ISO is to promote the development of standardization and related activities in the world with a view to facilitating the international exchange of goods and services, and to developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity. ISO's work results in international agreements which are published as International Standards.

Underwriters Laboratory
Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) is an independent, not-for-profit product safety testing and certification organization.

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