NATA Seeks Fire Protection Fueling Requirement Change

 - November 6, 2020, 3:02 PM
NATA's proposed changes to the NFPA's 407 Standard for Aircraft Fuel Servicing seek to help FBO's and other fuel providers avoid tens of thousands of dollars in retroactive safety equipment costs.

With the public comment window on the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) 407 revision to its standards for aircraft fuel servicing set to close on November 9, NATA is urging industry members to support its Tentative Interim Amendment (TIA) to the national fire code adopted by most airports in the U.S.  

The proposed change TIA 1539 seeks to remove the requirement for hundreds of general aviation airports and FBOs to retrofit their fuel farms and mobile refuelers with automatic shutdown systems. NATA’s proposed TIA removes the retroactive language in the current NFPA 407, and instead applies it to only new fuel farm/fuel truck installations. Without the change proposed by NATA, airports and FBOs would face bills of up to $10,000 per fuel farm loading rack and $2,500 to $3,500 per fuel truck, with all equipment required to be retrofitted by June 2021.    

Stakeholders can send their thoughts on the matter to the NFPA and the 407 Technical Committee via email to tias_errata_fis@nfpa.org