Arizona Administrative Code › Title 13 - PUBLIC SAFETY › Chapter 13 - DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY SCHOOL BUSES › Article 2 - MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR SCHOOL BUSES OPERATED ON ALTERNATIVE FUEL › Section R13-13-201 - Minimum Standards for Compressed Natural Gas Fuel Systems

Current through Register Vol. 30, No. 28, July 12, 2024
A. In addition to
				the definitions in
				R13-13-101, in this
				Article, unless otherwise specified:
"AGA" means the American Gas Association.
"ANSI" means the American National Standards
				  Institute.
"Angle of departure" means the area above an imaginary line
				  that extends from the bottom outside edge of the rear bumper on a vehicle to
				  the point at which a tire on the vehicle's rear drive axle touches the
				  ground.
"Appurtenance" means an item connected to an opening of a
				  natural-gas pressure vessel to make the natural-gas pressure vessel gas-tight.
				  This includes pressure relief devices, shutoff, backflow, excess-flow, and
				  internal valves, liquid-level and pressure gauges, and plugs.
"Approved" means acceptable to the Department.
"ASE" means National Institute of Automotive Service
				  Excellence.
"Bracket" means rubber-lined, hoop and cradle mounting
				  hardware supplied or approved by a pressure-vessel manufacturer to hold a
				  natural-gas pressure vessel in a rack.
"CNG" means compressed natural gas, a combustible mixture of
				  hydro-carbon gases and vapors, principally methane, that is reduced in volume
				  by pressure for use as a vehicular fuel.
"Fuel-distribution assembly" means a device that regulates
				  the flow of fuel from a natural-gas pressure vessel to a vehicle engine.
"Fuel line" means a pipe, tubing, or hose, and all related
				  fittings through which natural gas passes on a vehicle.
"Installer" means a person who converts a school bus from the
				  use of gasoline to the use of CNG by attaching a natural-gas fuel system to the
				  school bus after the school bus is manufactured.
"Listed" means included in a publication of an approved
				  organization that is concerned with product evaluation, conducts periodic
				  inspection of equipment or material, and includes equipment or material in the
				  approved organization's publication only if the equipment or material complies
				  with appropriate standards or performs in a specified manner.
"NFPA" means the National Fire Protection Association, which
				  is located at 1 Batterymarch Park, P.O. Box 9101, Quincy, MA 02269-9101, and
				  which is accessible at (617) 770-3000 and
www.nfpa.org
.
"NGV-1" means specific standards set by the American National
				  Standards Institute and American Gas Association for the refueling connection
				  device of a natural-gas vehicle.
"NGV-2" means specific standards set by the American National
				  Standards Institute and American Gas Association for a vehicle-on-board
				  natural-gas pressure vessel.
"Natural gas" means a combustible mixture of hydrocarbon
				  gases and vapors, principally methane.
"Natural-gas fuel system" means a group of items including a
				  pressure vessel and all attached valves, piping, and appurtenances that form a
				  network for distributing natural gas to a vehicle engine.
"Operating pressure" means the internal force that a
				  manufacturer intends for a natural-gas pressure vessel to achieve during normal
				  operation of the vehicle to which the natural-gas pressure vessel is
				  attached.
"Out-of-service" means not compliant with these rules, NFPA
				  52, or manufacturer's instructions for installation, maintenance, or
				  repair.
"Owner" means a private business, school, or school district
				  that owns a school bus.
"PSI" means pound per square inch.
"Pressure-relief device" means a mechanism that is installed
				  in a natural-gas pressure vessel or integrated with a valve, that is operated
				  by temperature, pressure, or both, and that releases the CNG in the natural-gas
				  pressure vessel in specific emergency conditions. A pressure-relief device for
				  a U.S. Department of Transportation or Canada Transport natural-gas pressure
				  vessel also includes a mechanism capable of protecting a partially charged
				  natural-gas pressure vessel.
"Pressure vessel" means a cylinder that is part of a
				  natural-gas fuel system and that is constructed, inspected, and maintained in
				  accordance with U.S. Department of Transportation or Canada Transport
				  regulations or ANSI/AGA NGV2, Basic Requirements for Compressed Natural Gas
				  Vehicle (CNGV) Fuel Containers, or CSA B51, Boiler, Pressure Vessel and
				  Pressure Piping Code.
"Pressure-vessel valve" means a mechanical device connected
				  directly to a natural-gas pressure vessel opening that regulates the flow of
				  CNG from the natural-gas pressure vessel to the vehicle engine.
"Rack" means a metal structure that surrounds a natural-gas
				  pressure vessel mounted on a vehicle and is secured to the vehicle frame by a
				  method capable of withstanding a static up, down, left, right, forward, or
				  backward force of eight times the weight of the fully pressurized natural-gas
				  pressure vessel.
"UL" means the Underwriters' Laboratory, Inc.
B. Applicability and enforcement
				date of this Section
1. This Section applies
				to school buses that are manufactured to use only gasoline or diesel fuel and
				are converted to use CNG, in whole or in part.
2. The Department shall enforce this Section
				beginning 180 days after it is filed with the Office of the Secretary of State.
				After the beginning enforcement date, a school bus that is manufactured to use
				only gasoline or diesel fuel and is converted to use CNG, in whole or in part,
				shall meet the requirements of this Section when the school bus is introduced
				into Arizona or when the school bus is converted to natural-gas power. A school
				bus introduced into Arizona and powered in whole or in part by CNG before the
				beginning enforcement date of this Section shall meet the requirements of this
				Section or those at A.A.C.
				R17-4-611.
				3. After the beginning enforcement date of this Section, the Department shall
				not approve a school bus manufactured to use only gasoline or diesel fuel and
				converted to use CNG, in whole or in part, unless the natural-gas fuel system
				meets the requirements of this Section.