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I don't think I am: 'Ever operated a tank barge and wondered what power source you would need for your cargo tank’s liquid overfill protection system to comp

I don't think I am: 'Ever operated a tank barge and wondered what power source you would need for your cargo tank’s liquid overfill protection system to comply with the law? Probably not. But if you did, you might consider thumbing through the Code of Federal Regulations, where you would discover that one option is to hook up to an off-barge facility, provided that your system has “a 120-volt, 20-ampere explosion-proof plug that meets . . . NFPA 70, Articles 406.9 and 501-145.” 46 C.F.R. § 39.2009(a)(1)(iii)(B). Dig deeper and you would learn that NFPA 70 is not some obscure rule or regulation or agency guidance document but is instead another name for the “National Electrical Code,” a multi-chapter technical standard prepared by the National Fire Protection Association (the eponymous “NFPA”), detailing best practices for “electrical installations.” Complaint ¶ 66, American Society for Testing & Materials v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc. (ASTM), No. 1:13-cv- 01215 (D.D.C. Aug. 6, 2013) (“ASTM Compl.”), Dkt. No. 1, Joint Appendix (J.A.) 86. Parts of NFPA 70 have been incorporated into the statutes or regulations of at least forty- seven states and, as we have just seen, the federal government. American Insurance Ass’n Amicus Br. 5.' So an SDO develops a standard. No problem, that's private and copyright is theirs. Then than standard is incorporated into statues. The incorporated language is now public domain. I'm 100% ok compensating SDOs for their work, which is necessary and important. But that needs to happen before it becomes law.

howard941 8y ago
I agree. Other than test code we develop internally for use in develop, every product I work on is subject to some level of testing at Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory for standards compliance. Qualification makes our products easier to sell, and the system works fairly well because they're developed by voting in our industrial membership groups such as IEEE and NEMA, then written into safety codes like the NEC published by NFPA. The adoption as express law by whichever body has jurisdiction over the product is the heart of the problem because At every one of those steps my employer is paying something. Except for the adoption by the authority having jurisdiction, which along with the public it represents appears to be free riders despite providing a public benefit and having taxing authority. I suppose my employer could foot part of the bill for the SDOs as a cost of doing business in all of those jurisdictions but I'm not sure how difficult it would be given that these govt entities vary in size from states down to municipalities. Nor is it clear how equitable it would be to tax only domestic OEMs but not the foreign ones. How are the overseas SDOs funded?

howard941 8y ago

I agree. Other than test code we develop internally for use in develop, every product I work on is subject to some level of testing at Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory for standards compliance. Qualification makes our products easier to sell, and the system works fairly well because they're developed by voting in our industrial membership groups such as IEEE and NEMA, then written into safety codes like the NEC published by NFPA. The adoption as express law by whichever body has jurisdiction over the product is the heart of the problem because At every one of those steps my employer is paying something. Except for the adoption by the authority having jurisdiction, which along with the public it represents appears to be free riders despite providing a public benefit and having taxing authority. I suppose my employer could foot part of the bill for the SDOs as a cost of doing business in all of those jurisdictions but I'm not sure how difficult it would be given that these govt entities vary in size from states down to municipalities. Nor is it clear how equitable it would be to tax only domestic OEMs but not the foreign ones. How are the overseas SDOs funded?