ASTM Standards Development

WESTAR NSPS Meeting

Rick Curkeet, PE Chairman ASTM E06.54

18 NOVEMBER 2009

ASTM International

• Over 30,000 members from around the world.

• 120 Countries

• 152 Main Committees

• 11,000 Active Standards

ASTM E06

• Committee on Performance of Buildings

• About 1000 Members

• 24 Subcommittees

• 100’s of Standards

• Meets twice a year in April and October.

• Committee weeks start on Sunday and run through Wednesday.

ASTM E06.54 – Performance of Solid Fuel Burning Appliances

•52 Members as of 10/2009•9 Task Groups – 7 Active

E06.54.01 – Thermal and Emissions Performance of Wood heating Appliances –Bob FergusonE06.54.02 – Safety Practices and Procedures -InactiveE06.54.03 – Masonry Chimneys - InactiveE06.54.04 – Pellet Burning Appliances – Rick CurkeetE06.54.05 – Masonry Heaters – Rod ZanderE06.54.06 – Fireplace Emissions – Dan HenryE06.54.07 – Masonry Fireplace Performance – Jim BuckleyE06.54.08 – Outdoor Furnace Performance – Frank MooreE06.54.09 – Emissions Measurements – Bob Ferguson

ASTM Procedures

• Form and Style for ASTM Standards

• Regulations Governing ASTM Technical Committees

• Download from:

• www.astm.org

ASTM Procedures

ASTM Process

Subcommittee gets

request for new standard

activity

Chair Establishes

Task Group – Appoints TG

Chair

TG Drafts Standard

Once TG is satisfied –

Requests Ballot of

Subcommittee

Letter Ballot of Sub.

Ballot Main Committee

Revise Standard

Negatives or

Comments?

Persuasive & Not Editorial?

Editorial, Withdrawn or

Non-Persuasive

Resolve Negatives

& Comments

NO

YES

COS Review

Negatives or

Comments?

NO

YES

Procedure Outline

1. Subcommittee Chair creates Task Group with a specific scope of work that is generally to produce a standard for a particular purpose.

2. The task group drafts the document and goes through review & comment until the task group members are satisfied the document is ready for subcommittee ballot.

3. The document is sent to the entire subcommittee for ballot. Responses can be “Affirmative”, Affirmative with Comment”, “Abstain”, “Abstain with Comment”, or “Negative with Comment”. Negative votes submitted without comments are counted as abstentions.

Procedure Outline

4. A subcommittee ballot requires a 60% return and a 2/3’s majority of the total Affirmative and Negative votes from official voters.

5. All comments must be addressed as:• Persuasive

• Persuasive and editorial

• Not related

• Not persuasive

• Previously resolved

6. Any comments that are found to be persuasive which are not editorial require revision of the document and the balloting starts over.

Procedure Outline

7. Any comments found “non-persuasive” or “not-related” require a 2/3’s majority of the affirmative + negative votes of official voters. This can be done at a meeting or by ballot.

8. Once a successful subcommittee ballot is achieved, the document is balloted to the full committee (E06 in this case).

9. Requires a 60% return and a 90% affirmative vote of the affirmative/negative total.

10.Any new negatives require the subcommittee to address them as with the subcommittee ballot. Handling of negatives found non-persuasive must then go back to a ballot of the full committee.

11.Main Committee negatives previously dealt with can have the previous action applied and do not require an additional action by the subcommittee.

Procedure Outline

12. Once the sub and main ballots are successful the ASTM Standing Committee on Standards (COS) reviews the ballot results and all negatives and the handling of negatives. If they determine that the regulations have been followed the standard is approved for publication.

13.Not done yet! Once published a standard must undergo regular review and revision. Must start within 5 years of last publication. Must finish within 8 years. Failure to keep a standard up to date results in automatic withdrawal.

Note on Negative Ballots and Comments

• Negative ballots and comments should be based on technical issues and clarity of language.

• It is best to include specific recommended revisions that the voter believes would resolve the issue raised.

• Negatives based on cost, competitive advantage, or other non-technical issues are rarely found persuasive.

Committee and Subcommittee Balance

• Producer interests on voluntary consensus standards committees cannot be a majority.

• “Producers” include manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and vendors of affected products or materials and consultants representing producers and industry representatives.

• At least 50% of official votes must be held by “user”, “consumer”, or “general interest” members.

• This prevents undue influence in the outcomes from those with the most direct financial interests.

Membership Report

11/12/2009

ASTM Committee E065400

Committee Balance Producer Votes Available:

Producer User Consumer General Interest Unclassified Total

Official Voting Member

Non Official Voting Member

16

36

8 2 0 6 0

34 0 0 2 0

Total

0

42 2 0 8 0 52

Page 1

WE NEED MORE NON-PRODUCER MEMBERS – PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING. DUES ARE ONLY $75/YR AND YOU’LL GET A FREE VOLUME OF ASTM STANDARDS WORTH FAR MORE!

If you become a member.

• You will be placed in a membership category.– Producers

– Users

– Consumer

– General Interest

• Users and general interests combined must maintain a majority.

• If too many producers want to be members, some will not have an official vote. They can still submit ballots and comments which are dealt with as if the votes were official. They just don’t count toward the 60% return of the 2/3’s majority.

If you become a member.

• Be sure to vote on all ballots.

• ASTM Rules will now automatically drop members who fail to return more than 3 ballots in a row.

• You can get reinstated fairly easily if this happens, but it does take time and effort.

If you can’t join, you can still participate

• Non-members simply need to ask to be included as interested parties.

• You will receive all subcommittee notices and ballots.

• You can submit votes including negatives with comments which are considered equally to votes and comments from members.

• Official votes are only important in meeting ASTM ballot return percentage minimum and pass/fail super-majority criteria.

• You do not have to attend meetings to be an active participant.

• All meetings are open to anyone who wants to participate.

Summary

• The ASTM process is open to all and fully transparent.

• It allows for a full airing of all opinions and arguments.

• It achieves “CONSENSUS” which is far more demanding than more traditional “majority rule”.

• It produces standards that are recognized globally as the highest quality documents of their kind.

ASTM IP Policy and State Participation

• From Nov. 3, 2009 EPA Staff Draft Preliminary Conclusions

• 5.3.3.3  Use of ASTM or other Alternative Standards

            As described above, ASTM is in the process of revising some potentially relevant wood heater standards.  EPA is participating in the workgroup discussions, but it is not known if these revisions will be made final by the time a revised NSPS might be issued.  In addition, some stakeholders have expressed concerns about the overall ASTM standards development process.  Per state law, some states are not able to comply with the intellectual property requirements imposed by ASTM and thus cannot participate in ASTM standards development/review any longer.  They have also expressed concern that the development/review process effectively excludes state agency participation because of their budget constraints.  Other stakeholders (Catalytic Hearth Coalition) have expressed concerns that the committee make-up is too biased to certain technologies. 

ASTM’s IP Policy

• Simply put, ASTM participants agree that documents including draft and final standards are the intellectual property of ASTM and agree to honor ASTM copyrights.

Federal, State and Local Government Participation in Standards and Codes Development

• OMB Circular A119 (Per US Pub. L. 104-113) encourages participation in Voluntary Conesus Standards organizations by Federal Government Regulatory Agencies.

• Federal, State and Local building code officials are the primary participants in the International Code Council’s (ICC) creation of numerous model codes and standards that are copyrighted by the ICC and adopted as law by jurisdictions at every level of government.

• Similarly Fire Service Officials participate in development of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) development of copyrighted fire safety codes and standards.

• ASTM has active participation of numerous state representatives from all 50 states.

j. How should my agency reference voluntary consensus standards?

Your agency should reference voluntary consensus standards, along with sources of availability, in appropriate publications, regulatory orders, and related internal documents. In regulations, the reference must include the date of issuance. For all other uses, your agency must determine the most appropriate form of reference, which may exclude the date of issuance as long as users are elsewhere directed to the latest issue. If a voluntary standard is used and published in an agency document, your agency must observe and protect the rights of the copyright holder and any other similar obligations.

From OMB Circular A-119

State Government Participation in Standards and Codes Development

• State agencies with Organizational Memberships in ASTM include:– ILLINIOS – DOT

– KENTUCY – Dept. of Agriculture

– LOUISIANA – DOT

– NEVADA – DOT

– NEW YORK – Dept. of Agriculture

– VERMONT – DOT

– WASHINGTON – DOT

– WEST VIRGINA – DOT

– ARIZONA – DOT

– ARKANSAS – State Highway Dept.

– COLORADA – DOT

– MASSECHUSETTS – Highway Dept.

– MICHIGAN - DOT

Government Participation (Note from Jeff Grove – ASTM)

Dear Rick;ASTM International is very fortunate to have a number of state government officials actively engaged

in the standards development work of ASTM technical committees.  Much like the US Code of Federal Regulations where there are over 2173 references to ASTM standards, there are also numerous references to ASTM standards in State laws.  This is especially true in areas where regulation is primarily left to the states.  For instance, 41 states reference ASTM D4814 as requirement for automotive fuel quality in the absence of a Federal regulation.

Regarding participation, I am aware of State government representatives active in ASTM committees in areas such petroleum, consumer products, water, air quality, and waste management.  The Chairman of the 2005 ASTM Board of Directors was N. David Smith, Chief Deputy Commissioner of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.  And Randy F. Jennings, Executive Assistant in the Regulatory Services Division of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture has been nominated to serve a three-year term on the ASTM Board beginning in January of 2010.  In summary, State officials are represented and active in the leadership at all levels of ASTM International.

Finally, I am not aware of the intellectual property requirements referenced in the paragraph that prevents participation or that is otherwise inconsistent with State laws.  I would welcome any additional information that you might have on this point.  It would also be helpful if you could explain the context of the paragraph and the upcoming stakeholders meeting.  

Jeff GroveVP - Global Policy & Industry AffairsASTM International