Dear EHS Committee,

Thank you for your participation in the EHS Working Groups.  Given that we have no action items for this month’s EHS Committee call, we are providing an e-mail update in lieu of a teleconference.

The Board of Directors recently approved additional funding for Codes & Standards work for the remainder of 2012.  These funds will primarily be used to promote industry consensus regarding the 2015 International Building Code, state-level implementation of the 2012 International Building Code, and revisions to UL 1703 fire test protocol. 

We also included the Solar Commitment in the Rio+20 initiative, and pledged to recruit 20 members to the Solar Commitment by 2013.  We appreciate the support of the Founding Members and the Working Group in this effort.

We have also set forth below a list of active issues for each EHS Working Group.  To be engaged in these projects, any member may join the relevant Working Group call.  For more details, please feel free to contact myself or John Smirnow.

Codes & Standards Working Group

1. UL 1703 – We are participating in the process for updating UL 1703 through several avenues, including official SEIA representation in the UL1703 STP, participation in the Solar ABCs stakeholder group, and informal collaboration with UL and SolarABCs during testing.
2. 2015 IBC – We are working with our consultant Tom Meyers to develop responses for the next hearing and update our proposals.
3. NEC – We are preparing for release of the Report on Proposals, which should occur in the next few weeks.

Environmental & Social Responsibility Working Group

1. Development of Advisory Group – The roster of the Advisory Group is almost complete, and contains Amy Galland (As You Sow), Steven Heim (Boston Common), and Sasha Radovich (BSR).  We are also reaching out to other EICC contacts, and environmental NGOs to round out the group.
2. Development of KPIs – The Working Group has developed a preliminary list of KPIs, and is now refining each specific KPI and reporting metric.  The list will soon be reviewed by the Advisory Group.
3. SPI – We are preparing to expand the Solar Commitment at SPI through recruiting new members, and additional PR on the Solar Commitment.  We will discuss further details of this effort on upcoming Working Group calls.

PV Recycling Working Group

1. White Paper – We are continuing to draft and edit the PV Recycling Policy Options white paper.  We plan to host a review meeting within the next few months.
2. CA-DTSC Regulations – We are tracking the release of the official CA-DTSC regulations, which will be discussed in detail on our next Working Group call.

Installer Safety & Workforce Development

1. OSHA Safety Guidance Document – We are coordinating with OSHA to develop a guidance document to the industry which will outline applicable solar regulations.  The draft is currently being reviewed by the Working Group.
2. Webinar Series – We are currently developing our third webinar, which will cover OSHA training and certifications.
3. Training & Certification factsheet – We are developing a factsheet to act as a guide to training and certification options.  The factsheet is currently being reviewed by the Working Group.

IEA Task 12

1. Next meeting – We in the process of scheduling the next meeting of the IEA Task 12 Experts.
2. SEIA Projects – We are submitting to the IEA Task 12 for consideration projects on Installer Safety.

Thanks to each of you for your support!

Sincerely, Christine