Form 1: Proposal for a new field oftechnical activity
Circulation date:2018-02-28
Closing date for voting:2018-05-23

Reference number(to be given by Central Secretariat)

Proposer :ISO/TS/P 272

SAC

A proposal for a new field of technical activity shall be submitted to the Central Secretariat, which willassign it a reference number and process the proposal in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives(part 1, subclause 1.5). The proposer may be a member body of ISO, a technical committee,
subcommittee or project committee, the Technical Management Board or a General Assemblycommittee, the Secretary-General, a body responsible for managing a certification system operating
under the auspices of ISO, or another international organization with national body member ship.
Guidelines for proposing and justifying a new field of technical activity are given in the ISO/IEC
Directives (part 1, Annex C).
The proposal (to be completed by the proposer)
Title of the proposed new committee (The title shall indicate clearly yet concisely the new
field of technical activity which the proposal is intended to cover.)Technical Committee on Karst
Scope statement of the proposed new committee (The scope shall precisely define thelimits of the field of activity. Scopes shall not repeat general aims and principles governing
the work of the organization but shall indicate the specific area concerned .)Standardization in the field of karst terminology, sustainable development of karst
resources, environmental protection and management of karst environment, as well asinvestigation and assessment (including modeling methods and mapping of karst systems).

FORM 1 – Proposal for a new field of technical activity
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Proposed initial programme of work (The proposed programme of work shall correspond toand clearly reflect the aims of the standardization activities and shall, therefore, show therelationship between the subject proposed. Each item on the programme of work shall bedefined by both the subject aspect(s) to be standardized (for products, for example, theitems would be the types of products, characteristics, other requirements, data to besupplied, test methods, etc.). Supplementary justification may be combined with particular
items in the programme of work. The proposed programme of work shall also suggest
priorities and target dates.

The compilation and revision of international standards on karst containing thestandardization of terminology, sustainable development of karst resources, environmental
protection and management of karst environment, as well as investigation and assessment.
The aim of management of karst environment is to facilitate sustainable development ofkarst resources and protection of the environment. Management of karst environment should
be followed by investigation and assessment.
Investigation and assessment will focus mainly on karst, water resources, tourism, caves,geomorphology, and environmental or ecological vulnerability. Methods may include
traditional ones such as slug, pumping, and tracing tests, as well as monitoring (e.g. cavemapping).
The standards are composed of three parts: the first part focuses on the terminology of karst,including the features, structure, formation and functions of karst systems; the second part
focuses on sustainable development of karst resources (e.g. water, minerals, biologicalresources, tourism), environmental protection (e.g. karst desertification, surface collapse
and depression, leakage, water pollution, seawater intrusion) and management of karst
environment (e.g. prevention and mitigation); and the third part focuses on investigation
and assessment (including modeling methods and mapping of karst systems).
If the new technical committee is approved, the first and second parts are highly
recommended to be put forth. The establishment of international standards on terminology
and sustainable development of karst resources, environmental protection and managementof karst environment will be the basis for the development of other future related standards.
Lastly, it is also highly recommended to develop standards related to investigation andassessment.
Indication(s) of the preferred type or types of deliverable(s) to be produced under theproposal (This may be combined with the "Proposed initial programme of work" if moreconvenient.)(1) Karst terminology.
(2) Sustainable development of karst resources, environmental protection and management ofkarst environment.
(3) Investigation, assessment (including modeling methods and mapping of karst systems).

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A listing of relevant existing documents at the international, regional and national levels.
(Any known relevant document (such as standards and regulations) shall be listed,regardless of their source and should be accompanied by an indication of theirsignificance.)

There isn’t any direct standards or documents on karst under ISO; however, some national,
industrial or local standards have been published by China as follows:
GB 12329-1990 Karst geology terminology
YS/T 762-2011 Technical specification for mined area regeneration of karst accumulatingtype of bauxite
SL461-2009 Technical standards of integrated treatment to water loss and soil erosion inkarst area
LY/T 2191-2013Indexes system of observation at fixed station on rocky desertification
ecosystem in karst area of Southwest China
DBJ/T45 Basic technical specification of building foundation in karst area of Guangxi
These standards played an important role to karst investigations and assessment, andprovided experiences and technical basis for the serial standards’ compilation in future.

A statement from the proposer as to how the proposed work may relate to or impact on
existing work, especially existing ISO and IEC deliverables. (The proposer should explain how
the work differs from apparently similar work, or explain how duplication and conflict wi ll beminimized. If seemingly similar or related work is already in the scope of other committees ofthe organization or in other organizations, the proposed scope shall distinguish between theproposed work and the other work. The proposer shall indicate whether his or her proposal
could be dealt with by widening the scope of an existing committee or by establishing a newcommittee.)As the organization in charge of the Committee’s operation, the International ResearchCentre on Karst (IRCK) under the Auspices of UNESCO and the Institute of Karst Geologyof China (IKG) have been endowed with a professional team and staff on karst research,especially presided 6 IGCP (including currently executing ”IGCP661”) on global karst
comparative studies; it bears the missions and demands to establish standards for karst.
So far, there hasn’t been a TC nor a PC related to karst directly within the framework ofISO or IEC, hence there isn’t any duplication or conflict.

A listing of relevant countries where the subject of the proposal is important to theirnational commercial interests.

China, USA, UK, Germany, France, Canada, Australia, Russia, South Africa, Bosnia andHerzegovina, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Austria, Brazil, Iran,Indonesia, and Turkey have abundant resources and serious environmental problems dueto the large karst distribution area. Karst scientists and experts from these countries haveexpressed their support for the creation of a TC on Karst.

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A listing of relevant external international organizations or internal parties (other ISO and/or
IEC committees) to be engaged as liaisons in the development of the deliverable(s). (Inorder to avoid conflict with, or duplication of efforts of, other bodies, it is important toindicate all points of possible conflict or overlap. The result of any communication withother interested bodies shall also be included.)

IRCK (International Research Center on Karst), UIS (Union of International Speleology)
and IKG (Institute of Karst Geology of China) can be engaged as liaisons in thedevelopment of the deliverables.
No ISO and IEC committees are known to be impacted.

A simple and concise statement identifying and describing relevant affected stakeholder
categories (including small and medium sized enterprises) and how they will each benefit
from or be impacted by the proposed deliverable(s).
On a global scale, the karst area is estimated to reach 22 million sqm. It is now suffering fromsevere environmental degradation. The establishment of standards on terms, investigation,assessment, sustainable development of karst resources, as well as environmental protection
and management of karst environment will facilitate the sustainable development,international academic exchange in the field of karst. Great social value and potentialcommercial value will thus be generated.
China is one of the most widespread countries of carbonate rocks in the world, with a total
karst area of 3.44 million square kilometers. Diverse karst (including bare, covered andburied karst) is developing extensively, which can provide good examples for global
scientists to carry out karst comparative studies.
The IKG has extensively and deeply cooperated with related research institutions from theUSA, UK, Germany, France, Canada and other countries in the fields of karst carbon cycle,
karst desertification control, speleology, karst water investigation and assessment, k arst
microorganisms and environmental remediation, and surface collapse monitoring andcontrol, during the executions of IGCPs (e.g. IGCP-299, -379, -488, -513, -598 and -P661)
and operation of IRCK under UNESCO.

An expression of commitment from the proposer to provide the committee secretariat if theproposal succeeds.

Should ISO approve the implementation of a technical committee, China is willing toundertake the secretariat of the new technical committee on karst.

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Purpose and justification for the proposal. (The purpose and justification for the creation ofa new technical committee shall be made clear and the need for standardization in thisfieldshall be justified. Clause C.4.13.3 of Annex C of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 contains amenu of suggestions or ideas for possible documentation to support and purpose andjustification of proposals. Proposers should consider these suggestions, but they are notlimited to them, nor are they required to comply strictly with them. What is most important isthat proposers develop and provide purpose and justification information that is mostrelevant to their proposals and that makes a substantial business case for the market
relevance and the need for their proposals. Thorough, well-developed and robust purpose andjustification documentation will lead to more informed consideration of proposals andultimately their possible success in the ISO IEC system.)

1. To provide uniform standards for karst investigation and assessment all over the world.
Karst is an extremely complicated system with high heterogeneity and anisotropy, many
terms and methods applied to other mediums do not apply to karst, or may require specificadaptations. In addition, karst investigation and assessment are essential perquisites forresource development and environment protection, thus uniform standards should beestablished for such objectives.
2. International standardization of karst technologies would facilitate sustainable
development and environment protection.
The karst environment is among the most fragile and vulnerable on earth due to its
specialty. The peculiarities of karst environment make it highly vulnerable to a number ofgeo-hazards. For example, the main categories of natural hazards are sinkholes, slope
movements, and floods. In addition to these, anthropogenic hazards also have to be taken
into account, such as pollution events, land use changes resulting in loss of karst landscape,karst desertification, destruction of karst landforms, etc. Standardization of karst
technologies would promote geo-hazards mitigation, environment protection, and sustainabledevelopment.
3. To foster international academic exchange and commercial cooperation on karst.
Taking the international standardization of karst as a platform to attract and retain experts
engaged in the fields of karst standardization. It will strengthen the international exchange
and cooperation among related universities, research institutions and enterprises, with morechances for S&T cooperation and commerce being created.

Signature of the proposer
Li YubingDirector General
Department of International Cooperation,SAC

Further information to assist with understanding the requirements for the items above can be foundinthe Directives, Part 1, Annex C.

FORM 1 – Proposal for a new field of technical activity
Version 01/2015