HSB 169 (LSB 2317HC (1) 85)

HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE BILL BY CHAIRPERSON COWNIE)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to boiler inspections.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 89.3, subsection 5, paragraph a, subparagraph (4), Code 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   (4)  Either
 
Any of the following:
   (a)  The owner or user is a participant in good standing in the Iowa occupational safety and health voluntary protection program and has achieved star status within the program, which is administered by the division of labor in the department of workforce development.
   (b)  The object is an unfired steam pressure vessel and is part of or integral to the continuous operation of a process covered by and compliant with the occupational safety and health administration process safety management standard contained in 29 C.F.R. § 1910.119 and the owner demonstrates such compliance to a special inspector or the commissioner. The unfired steam pressure vessel must also be included as process safety management process equipment in the owner of the unfired steam pressure vessel’s process safety management program.
   (c)  The owner or user is a public utility subject to rate regulation under chapter 476.
    Sec. 2.  Section 89.3, subsection 8, Code 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   8.  Internal inspections
 
Inspections of unfired steam pressure vessels operating in excess of fifteen pounds per square inch
 
and low pressure steam boilers shall be conducted once every two years. External inspections shall be conducted annually
 
at least once each calendar year.

The inspections conducted over each two-year period shall include an external inspection conducted while the boiler is operating and an internal inspection, where construction permits. No more than one inspection shall be conducted over a six-month period. An internal inspection of an unfired steam pressure vessel
 
or low pressure steam boiler may be required at any time by the commissioner upon the observation by an inspector of conditions, enumerated by the commissioner through rules, warranting an internal inspection.
    Sec. 3.  Section 89.4, subsection 1, Code 2013, is amended by adding the following new paragraphs:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  j.  An electric boiler with a water capacity of six gallons or less that is used as an integral part of an espresso coffee machine, cappuccino coffee machine, or cleaning machine.
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  k.  Continuous coil-type boilers used only for steam vapor cleaning, to which all of the following apply:
   (1)  The size of the tubing or pipe, with no drums or headers attached, does not exceed three-fourths of one inch in diameter.
   (2)  Nominal water capacity of the boiler does not exceed six gallons.
   (3)  Water temperature in the boiler does not exceed three hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit.
   (4)  Steam is not generated within the coil.
EXPLANATION
   This bill provides an additional criterion to determine the boilers or pressure vessels that are required to be inspected by the labor commissioner or a designee at least once each year externally while under pressure and at least once every four years internally while not under pressure, unless the commissioner determines an earlier inspection is warranted. The bill provides that this inspection requirement also applies if the owner or user of the boiler or pressure vessel is a public utility subject to rate regulation under Code chapter 476.
   The bill provides for required inspections of unfired steam pressure vessels operating in excess of 15 pounds per square inch to occur at least once a year. The bill provides that such inspections shall include one internal inspection and one external inspection in each two-year period. The bill provides that such inspections shall occur no more than once every six months. The bill also applies this requirement to low pressure steam boilers.
   The bill provides for two additional exemptions from Code chapter 89 governing boilers and unfired steam pressure vessels. The bill exempts an electric boiler with a water capacity of six gallons or less that is used as an integral part of an espresso coffee machine, cappuccino coffee machine, or cleaning machine. The bill also exempts continuous coil-type boilers used only for steam vapor cleaning that meet certain criteria.