Public Comments on the ICC Committee Recommendations from the April 7-14 , 2024 Code Hearings Due on July 8.

In the June 7^th Update on End Use Codes and Standards,  we reported that the ICC announced that comments on the recommendations out of the Committee Action hearings held on April 7-14, 2024 are open for public comments.  The report of the hearings and committee recommendations as well as information on filing public comments are found here.  Our major interest for natural gas applications were the recommendations on proposals on the International Fuel Gas Code (IFGC). At the hearing, proposals to add hydrogen blending coverage in the IFGC were not adopted but based on BECS Committee recommendations,  AGA plans to support or file comments to add the hydrogen blending coverage to the IFGC. In addition, the BECS Committee recommended clarifying that Chapter 7 of the IFGC is applicable only to 95% or more hydrogen and not blended hydrogen natural gas that currently is limited to no more than 20% hydrogen.  AGA staff and BECS Committee representatives on the IFGC Committee have reviewed the attached proposal on adding hydrogen blending developed by BECS Committee member Bob Torbin of Omegaflex and Ted Williams of Natural Gas Direct that provide the needed hydrogen blending  (hydrogen admixture coverage) coverage and rationale for the adding the coverage. The added coverage will help advance the recognition of hydrogen blending and code official acceptance as a step forward of the natural gas industries efforts to reduce carbon in natural gas distribution systems.  We plan to support the proposal during the public review process.  The final decision on approving, modifying or rejecting the proposal will be decided by the ICC membership at the October 20 -23, 2024 Annual Conference Expo & Hearings in Long Beach, CA.