is Stink Tech, Hawaii. Community matters here. Aloha. This is Monday. Aloha from Mina, Marco and me. And today, as you can see, it's not Jay, but it's Sharon Moriwaki, co-chair of the Hawaii Energy Policy Forum, co-hosting with Mina Morita, also co-hosting, as well as being our guest, as usual. And we have Marco from the Big Island, from Provision Solar. Marco, say hello. Say hello, Marco. Namaste. Happy Aloha Monday. Welcome, and Aloha. So, today we have an interesting discussion on the International Trade Commission decision last Friday that I'm going to ask Mina to tell us more about and what the implications are of that decision. Mina? Yeah, I guess on Friday there was a huge ruling by the U.S. International Trade Commission, where they voted 4-0 to find cause that the importation of crystalline silicon PV modules had an unfair import, these imported modules had an unfair, unfairly disadvantaged to domestic companies. Those two companies that filed the ruling was Geneva and Solar World, but what I find really interesting is these aren't U.S. companies. These are, I think, a Chinese company. Is that a Chinese company? Singapore? Oh, Singapore. And a German company manufacturing in the U.S., but Marco, I know this just creates more uncertainty in the solar industry as I think over 90% of panel modules are imported, so can you give us your take on it? Sure. I mean, the kind of taking a big step back here as I've been teaching my students in my energy apologies class over the years, there ain't no such thing as a level playing field in energy, and there never will be. There's just too much at stake, there's too much money, there's too much in terms of political power and influence at stake in the energy arena, so it really comes down to if you buy my premise of the energy field, never going to be even, there are going to be some who are going to be supported more than others. And over the past six years now, Solar World, which is based in Germany, has been leading the charge against the importation of cheaper foreign imports coming into the U.S. They have had a facility in Hillsborough, Oregon for Solar World America that has been manufacturing product there over the past years. And they, as long as well as others, in this case, Sun Eva, like you said, Mina, based in Georgia, however majority owned by a Chinese company by the name of Sean Fong, based in Hong Kong, that the attempts, they've made attempts over the past five, six years to try to penalize in terms of increased import duties and tariffs, solar modules coming into the U.S. from outside the U.S. The overall trend line over the past years has been remarkable in terms of the price of PV modules has come down very dramatically. I mean, it wasn't that long ago when I was paying four dollars or so per watt for photo will take modules. And now the average selling price is probably somewhere in the 40 to 50 cents a watt range. So it's come down by 90 percent or so 80, 90 percent. So I think, sorry, Marco, I think Department of Energy announced that their SunShop targets were achieved, was it their 2020 targets were achieved in reducing costs. And that was an announcement that just came out recently, like last week, too. So, yeah, I think with, you know, definitely, that's a great indication that that prices were dropping. So I'm sorry, Marco, go ahead. Well, it's become all but impossible for a module maker or a module assembler or module assembler to make a go of things in the U.S. If you look at a map of the U.S. that the solar world prepared and presented to the Commission, the ITC, when there was the public hearings on it a month or so five, six weeks ago, it was a graphic indication of all the solar assemblers in the United States who had gone out of business over the years. So it's hard to make a case that assembling solar modules in the U.S. is sustainably profitable. That said, Solar World and Suniva brought this complaint to the ITC and the ITC, like you said, being a voted for to nothing, essentially supporting Suniva and Solar World's position. What's thought to me is that there are six members of that body, six members of the Commission, and I don't know why two of them decided not to vote, but be that as it may, they voted for to nothing in favor of the complainants. And then the next step is for them to come up with a quote remedy, which there'll be another hearing hearing from the parties on both sides in terms of what such a remedy should look like, the remedy being a tariff placed on solar modules coming from outside the U.S. And then whatever remedy that the ITC decides on will be forwarded to President Trump for his ultimate decision on what to do about the recommendations of the remedy or remedies that are proposed to him. Interestingly, in the decision from the ITC, they noted that a number of companies, a number of countries in terms of modules possibly produced or solar cells produced in these countries will apparently be outside or exempt from any type of remedy or tariffs, including places like Australia, Peru, Columbia, and Singapore. So most likely many other countries, Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and so forth will will be affected. But apparently some countries such as REC, which is a solar company based in Norway, but they produce solar modules in Singapore. So it would appear at least the first glance, there will be some some of these countries that will be spared the the imposition of tariffs. Now what it's going to mean to us here in Hawaii, both as solar contractors and customers or homeowners and business owners who still want to go with with installing solar PV is a likely increase in the overall cost of the system. But none of us are able to be able to foretell what that increase will be because it's still very much the game is still very much afoot. So the actual impacts on us collectively still remain to be seen, but it's certainly unwelcome information or unwelcome decision on the part of the ITC's part. And there was a lot of heavy lobbying on both sides, but ultimately, the folks at SunEvent Solar World prevailed. So so, Marco, just in terms of process, is there such a thing as an appeal of the decision? Or is that a done deal? And, you know, it just goes forward. If you say that there's so many people that are going to it's going to negative impact having more solar on roofs and actually getting to our goals and renewable, sustainable energy for the nation. Is there any way for an appeal from folks who do the installing? That's a great question, Sharon. And I'm not enough of an expert on the ITC International Trade Commission to be able to give you a definitive answer. There could be an appeal kind of on procedural grounds, perhaps, but I mean, it seems to me, and I haven't read any analysis, even mentioning the possibility of an appeal. Often is the case that the Department of US Department of Commerce will come up with a decision imposing a tariff or some type of fee on imported goods coming into the US, and then the ITC actually acts as kind of the court of appeals. But when the ITC essentially fast tracks the decision like they did with this one, in other words, it didn't go to the US Department of Commerce first, but went directly to the ITC. As far as I know, there's no other body above it, other than the president, who will make the ultimate decision as to what degree of remedy is imposed on imported or importers of solar modules. And one of kind of interesting thing that the complainant asked for was essentially what referred to as global safeguard protection, global safeguard protection. What does that mean? It's part of the, I'm just reading the decision here, Section 202 of the Trade Act of 1974. And that means that these particular parties and even Solar World were wanting and asking for protection against the importation of any and all solar modules coming from outside the US, whether it's coming from our friends in Canada or Mexico or anywhere that's outside US territory, and that's about as broad and deep protection as you could possibly ask for. But the commission decided not to agree to global safeguard protection across the board, but like I said earlier, carve out a number of countries in the so-called free trade agreement countries that would likely be exempt from duties for solar modules coming in from these countries. So I guess in today's utility dive, talking about going back to the question about process, it indicated in that article that there would have to be a procedural defect in order for the ITC to take up an appeal that it's nothing of the substance, the decision itself, it would be procedural. The other thing is this is such a complex issue and it's made a lot of strange bedfellows, like for example, the Solar Energy Industry Association is aligned with Duke Utility and also the Heritage Foundation and also the Alec, the American Legislative Exchange Council, which are extremely conservative groups. And then like I said, the two companies that filed petitions to NEVA and Solar World are not U.S. companies or owned by U.S. interests. They're actually foreign companies doing business. So could that be a procedural error in a sense that you're really protecting the interests of the United States? And here you have the two, I guess you call them petitioners or plaintiffs or whatever you call them. They're the ones coming in who are foreign. I don't think so.  So it doesn't matter who does the manufacturing. It's domestic. And so, yeah, you have these strange bedfellows.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but I read, Marco, I read that the tariff they're seeking is 40 cents a watt, and the floor price that they're seeking is 78 cents a watt. That's what my understanding is, well, I mean, they were seeking a minimum import price of 78 cents a watt, which, like I mentioned earlier, if the average price right these days is somewhere in the 40 to 50 cents a watt range that certainly is substantial increase in a sense per watt basis for solar modules. And I agree. I mean, the irony of having companies that are completely owned, wholly owned or majority owned by outside companies based in places like Germany and China, I'm sure that was pointed out in the arguments made by our side, by the solar party side, or by the other folks who were opposed to Suniva and Solar Worlds Complaint. That was made abundantly clear, I'm sure, in their oral and written arguments to the ITC, but that didn't didn't apparently hold any sway or enough sway.  So what do you think to port 10 going forward, Marco? If it is double the price that the floor is going to be with this decision, what does that mean for the solar industry here in Hawaii, and for a consumer? Because we can see that higher prices are going to mean less usage and installation, perhaps. I think the price per watt, the install price per watt of PV systems certainly would be affected and go up with a higher import price or import tariff. There's no doubt about that. But in the grand scheme of things, I think those of us in the industry here have just as important, if not bigger concerns on our minds these days in terms of tariff or interconnected agreement options that are in flux right now for those homeowners and business owners who still want to go solar who have yet to do so, solar electric. The parties on the distributed energy resources docket or the dirt docket, along with the commission are all working hard to try to come up with something in the weeks and months to come as the customer grid supply program sunsets and less than a month from now in October 21st. So in a sense, this decision from last Friday kind of adds insult to injury and the injury being or the injuries being that we're already in a very difficult situation with fewer sales with fewer interconnect options with more and more circuits across the island's utilities. Hiko, Helco, Miko and KI you see more and more circuits that are essentially heavily saturated or penetrated by existing rooftop solar. So it's a combination of a number of things that lead to a very challenging time to be in the solar business and just kind of FYI of the top 10 solar electric providers here in this island over the past several years, well, 2015, 2016, of those top 10 of which my company is one of them, of the top 10, five of them have either left the island, left the state, dramatically downsized to the point of doing very little solar electric or actually filed for bankruptcy protection. So the attrition rate right now is very high. And certainly to me kind of brings up the broader question of just how valuable is having a viable healthy solar electric industry here in terms of being able to do rooftop solar. And that's that's a question that, you know, I have an opinion on others do, but it's the kind of the rubber saying the road, so to speak, in terms of where do we collectively go from here with so much in the air up in the air. Okay, so I think the other big news that came up last week was solar city resolving with the US Treasury Department it the allegation of false claims act violations where solar city allegedly submitted in inflated claims on behalf of itself and affiliated investment funds to the US Treasury. And this has a lot to do with our grants that were allocated in 2009 and just unsetted at the end of December 2016. So apparently, solar city overstated costs and agreed to pay $29.5 billion back to the US Treasury. So any insight on that, Marco? Well, their decision was a while and coming. Mina, I know this investigation has been going on for years. The Treasury is also investigating other solar finance companies, including Sun Run, if I'm not mistaken, as well. And in terms of number one and number two in the country, solar city has been number one in Sun Run number two. So I expect another shoe to fall essentially with some type of determination regarding Sun Run, perhaps not in the too far distant future. But like you said, the allegation was that solar world violated the false claims act by inflating the amount of money they said they were claiming in the grant program, the rebate program under section 1603 of the Ara American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. And interestingly, in reading the press release from the US Department of Justice, this is one of those situations where a large corporation agrees to pony up a substantial amount of money to an I $29.5 million. But they explicitly determine or explicitly say that there's no they don't they don't accept any liability. You know, they were they're willing to pay the money to quote resolve allegations without admitting guilt. So I've had some feedback from some friends of mine who know this stuff a lot more than I do in terms of the ins and outs of these kind of actions. And the belief is that solar city probably got off quite easy by paying $29.5 million compared to the amount that was alleged by by the investigators, in terms of just how much money Solar City made by inflating their their cost to be able to take advantage of this of this rebate program. So the point being is the 29.5 million sounds like a lot of money. But it probably is a very relatively small sum compared to what they were alleged to have profited by inflating their their numbers. So imagine that these these settlements, they don't actually tell you what they inflated. So it's just a settlement. So it's a wash. Nobody I mean, is that just sort of none of that information is out to the public to be aware of? You know, I'm not sure how I'm not sure how much of it is public information. I guess you could get an inkling of the amount for on the initial charges, what they're charged with. But Marco, how does this affect lease systems? So does it translate to the cost of these lease systems are also inflated? That's a good question. I mean, I really don't know. I don't see how, you know, a lease agreement between Solar City and homeowners is a is a contract is a legal contract. I don't see how they could go back retroactively and say we need to make an adjustment. But again, that's subject to lawyers. And I don't I don't have the actual agreements. I'm not privy to them. So I really don't know. Well, I think, yeah, I think that's really interesting. Because again, you know, it's a settlement admitting no liability if they had if they were held culpable for these kinds of actions, I would think that, you know, there would be some recourse in reexamining these lease agreements. So yeah, that would be interesting, because, you know, I don't believe we're talking just about utility scale projects, but any type of installation was eligible for these grants. Well, it would be good to know what the claims were then. In fact, if customers were really damaged by it, I mean, that they were paying overpaying for systems that they bought well. Yeah, they don't I don't believe they distinguish between utility systems or owner owned systems, just that these systems were installed, and they were eligible for these grants. Well, I'm just looking at the last line of the press release from Treasury on Friday, our Department of Justice and quote the claims resolved by the settlement agreement are allegations only. And there has been no determination of liability. Yeah, he sent in. Okay, I guess we're getting close to the hour. Are we robbed? So I just wanted to see whether there was any last words on what it is for the industry for our consumers with the decision from the ITC, the International Trade Commission, as well as these kinds of over over, I guess rated contracts that that the industry representatives actually do. Is there anything that we can look at for a policy perspective or consumer beware perspective? What can we tell the listening audience? There's just a lot of turbulence right now, Fina, and I think in the industry and amongst the buying public, and a lot of uncertainty and and hard to thrive in an environment in a sales environment that has so many important things up in the air like we're dealing with right now. I think it's one of the fallouts from exponential growth. And then the industry trying to write itself. And then also the challenge of the integration of these kinds of systems into the grid in general. Again, there's still 75% of utility customers that are not being served by any type of rooftop system. And so, you know, the larger question is, how do we develop systems where everybody can benefit from from from renewable systems, affordability, accessibility? So is there anything a little more positive the future, other than uncertainty, uncertainty? What what can we kind of work toward to reduce the uncertainty, whether on a state level or a county level or industry level or people level, what could we sort of work on toward that? Oh, I mean, the issues that need to be worked on are really, really tough issues. Highly technical and a lot of cost issues in making sure that we have the correct rate designs to incentivize keep incentivizing the import from from these systems or exports or exports from these systems to the grid that they're fairly priced and again, beneficial to the system. And like I said earlier, these are really technical complex issues that need to be worked through. But I think one of the things that maybe for the next time, really taking a hard look on has has solar rooftop solar contributed to resiliency and covering from these huge disasters in in Texas, Florida and the Caribbean. That's a really important topic. And I hope that you can cover that. I think we're getting close to the hour. But if you can cover that next time as to how solar rooftop can can help us and how might we be more resilient with solar to withstand hurricanes and if God for now, I mean, I think everybody's looking at cat two storms. But now I mean, really, we need to prepare for cat four and cat five storms. So, Marko, any closing thoughts, closing comments? Yeah, I agree with with you all this having battery storage, I think it's a very timely and critical discussion to have, especially in light place like Puerto Rico, which has been hit now by one by two hurricanes. And I've seen us to miss anywhere between six to 12 months before the power grid comes close to being fully restored six to 12 months. I mean, imagine if that were to be the situation on one of our islands, let alone the whole state. So I think it urges a discussion about whether the time for battery backup for on an individual basis. In other words, homeowners getting their own Tesla powerwall or some other comparable product is something that's now or should be considered to be an insurance policy like we pay for our home and for our life and our car and our other possessions is an insurance policy to have backup power if the grid goes down or is hit to be able to provide that to homeowners. So I think that's another very interesting discussion that we could have. And do you want to summarize Mina have today's show and looking forward to next week's show? No, just, you know, I think within 72 hours, we've created much more uncertainty for the solar sector, not only in Hawaii, but throughout the country. Okay, great. Thank you, Mark Cole from the Big Island and Mina for edifying us and keeping us on track with the happenings on the federal level and how it impacts us in Hawaii. So mahalo aloha. Thank you, Sharon. Thanks for stepping in. Thank you very much, guys. Always a pleasure. Thank you. Bye bye.


In the construction and maintenance work areas on our highways, safety depends on cooperation among the motorists, the Department of Transportation, and the work crew. At the center of this cooperation is the flagger, cities, farm and range land, wide open country. Utah is a big state with thousands of miles of streets and highways. We are all motorists with places to go and schedules to keep. Because time is precious, we allow as little of it as necessary for travel, accustomed as we are to reaching our destinations without delays. Planned or anticipated stops usually fit in with our travel schedules. We accept them without complaint, or even look forward to them. But an unexpected delay always bothers us, whether it's a mechanical problem, bad weather, or road work. Although we realize that roads must be constructed, maintained and repaired, we all prefer that the work be done some of the time and place, not when and where we travel. So when we see those road construction signs, our reaction is immediate. Doggone it now, I'm really going to be late.  We're irritated knowing that our travel will be interrupted, our arrival delayed. It's no wonder then that those people up ahead holding stop-slow signs are targets for our hostility. They are symbols of the cause of the delay and of the most accessible representatives of the work crew. It's easy to blame them for the backup, detour, rough road, road oil, loose gravel, and so on. Although flaggers protect motorists and workers and keep the traffic flowing, they aren't given much credit. Little thanks for the hundreds of accidents they prevent, but certain blame for the occasional mishap. No, the flagger's job isn't easy, but it definitely is important. The responsibilities are great for lives and property at stake. This presentation was produced as part of the Utah Department of Transportation's Flagger Certification Training Program. The Department wants you to appreciate the importance of flagging, understand the responsibilities you will have as a flagger, be familiar with the tools and attire needed on the job, and know the correct flagging procedures for various road and job situations. So I'll cover these points, the qualities of the ideal flagger, the flagger's attire, flagging tools, the flagging station, using the stop-slow sign and hand signals, advanced warning signs, and different flagging situations you'll experience. So first, what kind of person is the ideal flagger? The answer is important because certain personality and character traits are essential to your success as a flagger. I'll go over them. The flagger's must be alert, always aware of the situation. That awareness includes both the work behind them and the traffic approaching them. Watchful is another word for it. At times it's easy to be lulled into thinking that nothing will go wrong. The proper advanced warning signs are up. The motorists seem to be paying attention, obeying the signs, following your signals, and proceeding cautiously. And the work is going smoothly. But there is always that departure from the normal, something that you'll react to in time only if you're constantly on guard. The motorist driving too fast as he approaches the work area, another one failing to see or heed your signal, a worker or a piece of equipment straying into the traffic lanes. Stay alert. You can't afford not to be. Important as it is, alertness by itself is not enough. Your good judgment is required too. For many situations we'll demand your quick evaluation and decision. When to stop traffic, when to release it, which lane to direct it into. And even when you're not pressed for a fast decision, you'll still have to use good judgment, always. Besides the physical signals you'll frequently use to tell motorists what to do, you'll often need to give them verbal information as well. This requires flaggers to be helpful. Sometimes you'll have to give motorists special instructions to get them through the work zone. Other times you'll need to give them a short but courteous explanations for the work underway and why it's delaying traffic, maybe in response to their questions. But maybe just because you want to be helpful. And that's my point. Flagging is a chance for real service. Good public relations for the agency or company you work for. It pays to be cheerful, polite, and informative. Of course there are those motorists who simply prefer to let off steam at you. Hey, you crazy people, always get in my way. Here it helps to be patient, as well as to keep you cool. Angry taxpayers are taxpayers nonetheless. So smile. And if your response is called for, answer in a positive and tactful way. Remember, you're responsible for their safety, no matter what mood they're in. Patience will see you through some other difficulties of flagging too, like the punishment of working in the hot sun. Cold wind or soaking downpour for hours on end. Or the tension of having heavy traffic swarm around you. Or even the loneliness of working on some low volume road, where there is little to break the monotony. Keep in mind that until you're relieved by another certified flagger, the flagger's station is your guard post. It's just that serious. Never leave your station until you're relieved by another certified flagger. And one final trait. Show that you're in command. As a flagger, you'll have a lot of responsibility, so look and act like you can handle it. I don't mean to strut around and bark like a drill sergeant, but be firm and clear in your actions. Motorists shouldn't be confused about what you want them to do. Good posture, eye contact with the drivers, and easily understood hand signals show the public who's in charge and protect both them and the workers from accident. So in summary, flaggers are alert, they use good judgment, they try to be helpful, they exercise patience, and they show they're in command. Now a few words about the flagger's attire, the clothing and safety gear you should wear. Every worker should be dressed properly and use the correct tools. Flaggers are no exception. I'll start with the regular clothing you wear to the job. Take this flagger, for example. Most long or short sleeve shirts or blouses are fine as long as they're comfortable and workman-like. But no tank tops or halters. They're just too distracting to motorists and workers to the point of causing accidents. And no bare chests either.  If you work for the Department of Transportation, the DOT issued orange shirts are very appropriate for flagging. As for pants, long pants only, no shorts of any kind. Wear sturdy work shoes or boots. Sandals are unacceptable, and tennis shoes won't give you much protection either. Don't worry about style, just about safety and comfort. Dress with your public image in mind. That's right, picture how motorists will see you. As a flagger who is responsible, prepared, and efficient, or is one who is unconcerned, unprepared, and lazy. In addition to your regular clothing, put on your safety attire. You must wear an orange hard hat. It not only protects your head, but also helps to draw the motorist's attention to you. You also must wear an orange vest. In daylight hours, you aren't required to wear the vest if you're wearing an orange shirt, jacket, or overalls. But it's a good idea to wear them both anyway. For night flagging, both the hard hat and vest must be reflecturized, so that approaching headlights will make you more visible to the motorists. Dress for the conditions at the work site, light clothing for summer, heavier clothing for the other seasons, rain gear for wet weather. One more point here, sun glare can be a real problem for flaggers, so sunglasses are sometimes needed. And there you have it. Dressing properly for the job is an important preparation for flagging. Now, tools. Your flagging equipment. I'm mainly talking about the 24-inch stop-slow sign, sometimes called a paddle. This is the only device you should use for actual flagging. It replaces the old red flags that tended to confuse motorists. Since it's your most important tool, be sure that the sign is a standard one, 24 inches wide, seven feet tall, eight-sided. And painted just like the one you see here. Colors, borders, right down to the eight-inch high letters. Make sure, too, that it's in good condition, not scratched up or dirty beyond recognition. For night flagging, a flashlight with a six- to eight-inch red sleeve is required. This wand is a valuable supplementary tool for alerting motorists. Other equipment related to flagging includes advanced warning signs, arrow boards, barrels, jersey barriers, combs, barricades, and, for night time flagging, flashlights to place on the advanced signs and working lights to illuminate the flagger station. Sometimes you'll need to use a walkie-talkie to communicate with other flaggers or some kind of a baton for the last car's driver to carry through the work zone. Anyway, that gives you the picture. Your main tool is the stop-slow sign, but your safety clothing is necessary equipment, too, as well as the required signs, warners, cones and barricades, and so on. Okay, you're properly dressed and equipped. So now what? The first thing is to get in position at your flagging station. Your main position is on the shoulder of the road, just outside the right traffic lane, or about three to four feet from the edge of the pavement. At this location, you're close enough to the road to be seen clearly by motorists, but far enough away to avoid being run over. Your flagging station must be approximately 100 feet in advance of the work site, but always be sure you'll be seen by motorists. If at 100 feet, you'll be in the shadow of a bridge or the shade of a large tree, move a few feet until you're clearly visible. To traffic approaching on two-lane highways, you must be visible for at least 500 feet, and on high-speed, high-volume roads, for at least 1,000 feet. Don't leave this station until you're properly relieved. Of course, when you work on jobs that move along the roadway, you'll occasionally have to move down the shoulder ways and reestablish your station at intervals. Your work station should be uncluttered, no obstacles to get in your way or distract motorists. Keep your thermos, launch, coat, and so on close by, but not underfoot, and no books, radios, chairs, or other distractions. Park your own car and any work equipment at least 100 feet from the station. This is for your safety as well as the public's. You'll obviously be more visible to motorists and you'll have clear paths of escape should you suddenly have to jump out of the way of some car or truck. All right, you're in position. You're where you have to be, but what do you do? How do you use the stop-slow sign plus hand signals to direct traffic safely through the work zone? Well, first, always face the oncoming traffic. Hold a sign vertically in your right hand so that it's between you and the road, and be sure the sign fully faces the motorists. When you just want to keep traffic moving slowly through the work area, show the slow sign. If drivers don't slow down enough, motion like this with your free hand. To stop traffic, turn the sign to stop. Look directly at the approaching driver and raise your free arm with the palm of the hand facing out. Do this when the vehicle is still far enough from you that he has time to stop normally, or else you'll have either a worried motorist running your stop sign or an angry one screeching to a halt to avoid running it. Don't move from your position until the vehicle stops completely. Then pick up the sign and walk in front of the vehicle and over to the center line. Keep your left arm up if more traffic is approaching behind the stopped vehicle. Be sure to stand where approaching motorists can see you and the stop sign clearly. Don't stand directly in front of the first vehicle where you'll be hidden. Stay in this position with both you and the stop sign facing the stop traffic. You'll often need to look over your shoulder to see what's happening, but never turn your back to the traffic. No, it's not bad manners. It's just totally unsafe to do so. When it's your turn to release the traffic and let it pass through the work area, first return to the shoulder of the road, then turn the sign to slow and motion the motorist forward with your free hand. And that's the basic procedure. But here's a slight variation.  Well, don't do this. Instead, back up to a point in front of his car, keeping the stop sign facing the traffic and your left arm upraised, and then move out to the center line. When you can do it safely, move back to your original position. Okay, you've seen the three most common hand signals already for slowing down the traffic, for stopping it, and for moving it forward. Flaggers should always use standard hand signals. The more uniform they are from flagger to flagger, the better. This is no place for personal style or inventiveness. Motorists need to know immediately and without doubt what they're supposed to do. You can communicate quite well with hand signals. Take the slow down signal. If you want the traffic to slow down slightly, you can use a motion like this. If a greater speed reduction is called for, increase your motion. And if an extreme slowing down is required, move that left hand with real emphasis. Getting motorists to slow down enough may often seem like the biggest part of your job, but holding up traffic is not your real purpose. Keeping the traffic moving is, moving safely of course. So because of motorists' rubbernecking, uncertainty about whether or not they're going to have to stop, or excessive caution, there are times that they actually slow down too much. When they do, you'll need to signal them to keep moving with the move forward signal. The same as when you release stop traffic. In certain situations, you'll have to indicate which lane the traffic should travel in. Use this hand signal. Make it clear and unmistakable. Do you know what this signal indicates? Well, it means that the deer flies are driving the flagger crazy. But it does go to show that you have to be careful about your gestures. The eyes of many motorists will be on you, looking for direction. In addition to using the stop, slow sign and hand signals, you'll sometimes need to pass on information verbally to motorists. Here's where the helpful attitude I talked about earlier is so important. More about this later in the program. A few minutes ago, I referred to the other equipment related to flagging. Well, I want to point out a few things about the three main advanced warning signs that aid you in your job. These signs catch the motorist's attention, prepare them for the road conditions ahead, and make them watch for you. Federal regulations require all advanced warning signs to be orange with black lettering. They're diamond shaped, and usually are 48 inches on each side. On roads carrying little traffic, or sometimes in urban areas, the signs need only be 36 inches on a side. The signs should be eight feet high from the ground stand to the top of the flag holding device. Each sign should have three attention flags inserted in the top. Sandbags on the stands may be used to keep the signs from blowing over, but not rocks or other hazardous objects. The first sign that the motorists see should be at least 1500 feet ahead of the flagger. It indicates that there is road work ahead, or perhaps it will say road construction ahead. The second sign should be 1000 feet ahead of the flagger. This second sign is occasionally identical to the first, but usually it gives added information. Lane change, truck crossing, detour, shoulder work, or utility work. The third sign is the flagger symbol sign set at 500 feet ahead of the flagger's station. At this point, the flagger should be visible to the motorists. Now on interstates or other high-volume, multiple-lane roads, these distances should be doubled, 3000, 2000, and 1000 feet ahead of the flagger. The 100 feet from the flagger's station to the work area should be maintained. These advanced signs are extremely important. Imagine having no advanced warning in the work area until the motorists reach your flagging station. Just 100 feet ahead of the work area, detour, or equipment crossing. The danger to the motorists, to work crews, and to you would be tremendous. Signing is the responsibility of the traffic engineer, project engineer, contractor, or station supervisor. Every flagging situation may be different, and you as a flagger are not required to say what signs are needed. But you do need to be sure every day that they are set up properly before any work begins. Notify your supervisor if the signs are not in their proper places, or if they blow over, lose their attention flags, or get dirty or illegible. You are further responsible for turning the flagger symbol sign away from the motorist's view whenever the work shuts down and no flagger is on duty. For example, during lunch hour. Other appropriate advanced warning signs, however, should stay in place, facing the traffic. The signs should only indicate what's actually ahead. So to repeat, turn the flagger symbol sign, or any other sign as appropriate, when no one is flagging. When work stops at the end of the day, take the advanced warning signs down, with the exception of the permanent signing indicating the situation ahead, such as road work ahead. When you take signs down, remove them and the bases away from the traveled portion of the road. If they're left too close, they can be a hazard to vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians. But always remember, when work is in progress, never leave your station. When you have to be relieved, it must be by another trained, fully qualified flagger. To this point, I've covered the basics of flagging. However, to give one standard procedure that covers all flagging would be impossible. Each flagging situation is affected by the terrain, the type of road, the traffic, and the work itself. Construction, maintenance, utility, surveying. So now let's look at different flagging situations. For example, highway construction work is typically long-term, so the flagging situations for it often go on months at a time. Bridge deck repairs, new bridges, resurfacing, shoulder upgrading, roadway realignment, pipe installations, and so on. Road maintenance, on the other hand, usually is shorter term as our utility work and surveying. So the flagging situations often last for just hours or days. Operations move as potholes are patched, cracks are sealed, or pavements are leveled. So the flagging stations, as well as the advance warning signs, traffic cones, and so on, are moved too. Freeway flagging presents its own considerations, whether it's construction or maintenance work. Because of the high volume and speed of the traffic, the advance warnings must be given sooner. That's the reason for the 1,000-foot sign spacings I mentioned a few moments ago. It's also the reason for signing on both sides of the highway, and for proper channelization to move motorists safely into the lanes that remain open to traffic. It's also the reason for use of early-warner arrow boards to alert motorists well in advance of the work sites and get them to merge before they reach the lane closures. Some situations require an advance flagger. Advance flaggers are needed when there is limited site distance to the work area, or where special instructions must be given to motorists. So as an advance flagger, you are to slow or stop each vehicle as it approaches. And if necessary, give the motorist instructions for driving through the work area. In this case, a truck crossing. As motorists approach this truck crossing, they drive down a long steep grade, and around a sharp curve. Conditions that make that early warning by the advance flagger so critical, especially to heavily loaded trucks. And while I'm on the subject of truck crossings, let me make a few more points about these situations. They're quite common. Many truck crossings carry a continual flow of heavy equipment traffic across streets or highways. The operators of trucks and other heavy equipment need to keep moving. They can't easily or safely slow down, wait for a gap in the traffic, and then zip across the road. So they normally are given preference in crossing the highway. The flagger's purpose is to watch constantly for the trucks and stop the highway traffic to let them cross over. The flagger has to stay alert 100% of the time. Sometimes these are brief stoppages of traffic, and other times they're longer, as when the trucks remain on the road, or just off it, loading or unloading. Flagging at truck crossings involves the same basic use of the stop-slow sign and hand signals I showed you earlier. So let me review. You're just off the edge of the pavement, the sign held between you and the road. When it's time to stop the traffic, you turn the sign to stop and raise your left hand to bring the first vehicle to a complete stop. Then you move out to the center line where all the approaching motorists can see you. You keep an eye on the trucks at the crossing, and when it's all clear, you return to the side of the road, where you turn the sign back to slow and motion the traffic to proceed. Both you and the other flagger should be well synchronized with the stopping and releasing of traffic. Now another flagging situation, one way or alternating traffic. On two lane roads, where the work requires that one lane be blocked, the traffic can move in only one direction at a time and must alternate back and forth. When the two flaggers are hidden from each other, or they're too far apart to communicate by voice, there are three basic ways of alternating the traffic safely. One is by using a walkie-talkie to describe the last car through to the other flagger, who watches for that last car and then releases the traffic at the other end when it goes by. Another way is the use of a baton. The first flagger gives it to the last driver passing by with instructions to return it to the other flagger and then stops and holds all traffic after that. When that last driver reaches the other end of the job, he gives the baton to the second flagger, who then releases the traffic waiting there. And later gives the baton to the last driver going through from that end. The third way is a pilot car to guide motorists safely through the work area. Batons or walkie-talkies are not needed in such situations because the traffic goes through the work zone bunched up, staying right behind the pilot car. It's easy to tell when the last car comes by you're a flagging station. When the pilot car reaches the other flagging station, it pulls off, turns around, waits for the last car to go by, and then leads the waiting group of cars back through the work area in the opposite direction. These situations are opportunities for the flaggers to be helpful to the motorists and patient with them too. A good chance to explain what's going on and to help them understand that the procedure is for their safety and the protection of their vehicles. Here's another situation that's not nearly as common as the others I've shown you, but equally as dangerous. Blasting zones. The traffic must be stopped when the blasts are set off and held until all is clear. And remember this, two-way radios, hand-held or otherwise, cannot be used at certain times in blasting zones. The transmissions could set off explosions. Okay, daytime flagging poses enough difficulties of its own, but night flagging presents a whole new set of challenges. The problem, of course, revolves around visibility. And the main concern is for you and your sign to be seen by approaching motorists. So there are some additional requirements. First, your sign must be reflectorized, as well as your hard hat and vest. It's smart to wear light-colored clothing too. You're required to have a flashlight with a six to eight-inch red sleeve on it, as I mentioned early in the program. And there have to be lights to illuminate you and your flagging station to show your position on the roadway. Now let's approach the flagger station. The advanced warning signs must be reflectorized and can be illuminated or have flashers mounted on them. Car headlights will provide the rest of the needed lighting, but to avoid glare, the signs should be slanted a little toward the roadside. The flagging procedure is the same, except that you've got the flashlight in your left hand to wave and alert the motorists. This flagger is stationed at a truck crossing. Given the extreme darkness and the way those trucks barrel nonstop across the highway, the flaggers are indispensable in these cases. And one final situation, urban flagging. Heavy traffic and obstacles that limit sight distances are problems occurring in urban work areas. The spacing between advanced warning signs can be reduced because of lower speed limits, but the visibility of the signs will often be more difficult to ensure since typically there's more clutter along city streets and along shoulders of highways out in the open. Here the flagger isn't needed because of work on the street itself, but because of construction equipment entering and leaving a building site. The flagger follows the same procedures I've discussed before to ensure that the traffic gets through the work area safely and with as little delay as possible. So you've seen a few of the situations you're likely to encounter as flaggers. Your instructors will answer any questions you have on these situations, explain additional cases as well, and discuss other points necessary for your training as flaggers. Don't hesitate to ask any question. This is the time for it. Your questions will probably help your fellow trainees. Now let me summarize the important topics I've discussed with you. Your primary purpose as a flagger is to control traffic and provide safety for the motorists and workers. To do the job, you have to be properly dressed and equipped. You have to be in the right position, remaining alert at all times, day or night. You must handle the stop-slow sign correctly and give standard clearly understandable hand signals. You need to keep an eye on the advance warning signs and attention flags. In other conditions that affect safety in the work area. And you must do your best to ensure good public relations, whether you work for the state, a contractor, a city or county, or a utility company. Work with your public image in mind. Motorists will range from slightly irritated to outright angry at being delayed in their travel. Since you're the nearest representative of the people causing the inconvenience, they'll look to you to vent their frustrations. So don't give them any more reason to be upset. Stay alert and at your station. Use the stop-slow sign properly and give proper hand signals. Your attitude and actions can lessen or even prevent ill will by enabling you to help motorists understand and accept what's going on. Even your posture and facial expressions can affect the motorist's reaction. If you're slouching and not paying much attention, the drivers probably won't be too concerned either. And the less serious that the public takes the situation, the more serious the dangers actually become.


Wyoming is known for supporting some of North America's largest sagebrush ecosystems. While this may look like another sagebrush patch, I'm standing next to antelope bitterbrush, another very important shrub in this community. With so many other beautiful plant species in Wyoming, it's understandable why antelope bitterbrush is often overlooked as a common Wyoming plant species. Antelope bitterbrush is a perennial evergreen shrub that serves a critical role in sagebrush ecosystems. Sagebrush grows on a variety of soils, elevation, and precipitation zones. Antelope bitterbrush is an important food source for livestock and wildlife. Large ungulates, especially mule deer, depend on bitterbrush during winter months as a food source. Small mammals such as chipmunks also rely on bitterbrush for food and are believed to be the main distributor of the plant. Chipmunks collect seeds and then bury seeds in caches. Forgotten or uneaten seeds eventually turn into new plants. Antelope bitterbrush is also a nitrogen fixing plant, which means it is able to use root nodules to collect nitrogen from the atmosphere and then place that nitrogen into the soil. Nitrogen placed into the soil is an important nutrient used by other plants. Next time you're out walking, take a closer look to see if you can find this evergreen shrub antelope bitterbrush. From the University of Wyoming Extension, I'm Mae Smith, Exploring the Nature of Wyoming.


I think it captures everyone, yeah, whether it might be a recording thing, that's fine. I just welcome the media. We're very fortunate to welcome the Honourable Senator Wong from Australia, Minister of Foreign Affairs. So very soon after the new administration has taken over, and also she arrives as we begin our celebrations of our 60th anniversary independence. I'd also just like to mention that another key milestone, which is aptly commemorated during this visit is that we're celebrating 50 years of diplomatic ties with Australia. So, Minister, I'd like to invite you to make your remarks. If I need to, I'll say something. Otherwise, I understand the media, you have five questions. Well, thank you very much, Prime Minister, and thank you for receiving me. I'm very grateful, as the Prime Minister said. We obviously have a new government in Australia. We were elected on the 20th something of May, and I was sworn in 10 days ago. So this is my second bilateral visit, the first being to Fiji, and I want to thank the Prime Minister and the government for making us very welcome, and I want to thank your country for 50 years of partnership with Australia. It's a relationship we value deeply. I also extend my congratulations for your 60th anniversary of independence. I'm sure that was a very stirring celebration for some of us. We've had a very good meeting, I think, and I've been very pleased today to see some of the ways in which we're working together in areas such as health and development. If I may, Prime Minister, just to say, a new Australian government has been formed. We want to put more energy and more resources into the Pacific. We have made a commitment to engage more closely and to listen respectfully. We understand we need to work together as part of the Pacific family in ways we are called on to do so now more than ever. We want to make a uniquely Australian contribution to the Pacific family, and most importantly, I want to be very clear that we are deeply committed to taking stronger action on climate. We were elected with a mandate to do so, and we understand how important climate change is to this Prime Minister, to the leaders and peoples of all Pacific nations. When I was climate minister and I was climate change minister many years ago, 2007 to 2010, the experience of island nations was crystal clear, and your voices have become even stronger since that time. So I want to be very clear with you, there is a lot of bipartisanship in the relationship. Both parties of government in Australia value our relationship with the Pacific family deeply, but on this issue there is a change in direction, and we look forward to working with you. So thank you for your hospitality Prime Minister and for your welcome, and for your leadership in the region. Thank you. As the senator has intimated, climate change of course is very high on the priorities of both our respective governments. We are very pleased in Samoa and no doubt the Pacific region that with the new Australian government the policy shift brings them closer to alignment with the Pacific advocacy for climate change. We feel that this will strengthen the Pacific positions on climate change, and of course we've worked closely with Australia, especially in responses to climate impact, and I do want to recognize your former administrations. We agree to differ, but then as we do as partners in development we keep moving forward in ways that we are able to move forward, but we feel that senator with your policy stance we are greatly encouraged not only in Samoa, but I'm sure for the other Pacific countries. I have indicated Samoa's appreciation of Australia's assistance to us, especially in our COVID response, together with our other partners, and part of her visit here as you've seen in the press release. She was able to participate in an event to further our collaboration in the health sector, but more generally too under the project of the Tautua for All. We've covered a range of issues, RSE workers, the security issues that seem to be high on the media attention, and most importantly we have discussed the unity of the region and how important that is to carry forward the positions of our region, but to also ensure that with unity we can bring a higher level of development to our respective countries. So once again I'm very happy to receive this visit from the Minister of Foreign Affairs from Australia, and I wish you all the best in your in your work and I look forward to collaborating with you further. So should we go to questions? The Minister has one more particular announcement. On one issue obviously support from Australia for maritime patrols, but patrol boats has been an important part of our relationship, and I was pleased to advise the Prime Minister today that Australia was that we would announce today a replacement Guardian class patrol boat to replace the Napa Nua II. I know that this this will occur in about I think it's the 20th next year, so we obviously have some production time, but we're very busy with our replacement. We do understand how important these maritime these maritime assets are to island nations, so I was pleased to advise the Prime Minister that we would be doing so. Can we all take? Yeah, can I just say that our government is very appreciative of this further development in our partnership with Australia. I think it's very generous on the part of the Australian government and people that they are gifting us yet another patrol boat despite the unfortunate circumstances of our last boat, and I hope that the lessons learned from that unfortunate appearance will help us ensure that we can keep these assets that are generously gifted by our partners and especially in a very critical area of our maritime security. So thank you very much Senator. Yeah, go for CD. Well, the current rules I was referring to was the war in our domestic politics that we've seen or the conflict in our domestic politics on climate that we've seen over the last 10 years, which the Australian people have voted to end. And that that's I think a very reasonable assessment of the election. But you ask a policy question. I think we'll do we are committed to doing a number of things. The first is we will lodge a much more ambitious NDC under the Paris agreement. Our commitment is a 43% reduction by 2030 along with the net zero emissions. We will legislate the 2050 target. We will put in place stronger mechanisms to actually achieve the target. For example, and I know some eyes been very focused on renewable energy. Obviously, Australia being has a has had a very reasonably carbon intensive economy. So we understand we have to transition. The market has been doing that transitioning, but government certainty, government policy will accelerate that and will actually reduce electricity prices compared to what they would otherwise be. We anticipate under our policy framework around about 83% of our national grid will be powered by renewable energy by the end of the decade. So that's a very substantial change in our plans. So during the election, you're correct and thank you for being aware of what we said during the election. We made a number of commitments. We made a number of commitments on the Pacific. And they were driven by the desire to ensure that the policy, the result, the investment, the resources, the energy and the policy framework for the Pacific reflected a uniquely Australian contribution. And one of the things we can offer as a member of the Pacific family is access to our labour market as you know, but we did listen to what the criticisms or the concerns raised by some stakeholders. And one of them is the difficulty for people to take their family to Australia. So we did propose as part of our election policies that for the longer visa, so there's the shorter term visa, eight to nine months, which is the seasonal workers program, the Pacific labour scheme visa, which is longer, that we would change those visa conditions to enable people to bring their families with them because many workers and representatives from participant nations that said to us that is a real barrier to people participating. I've only been in this job for 10 days, but we will work through that. We will also work with those countries whose workers, whose citizens do come to Australia on the implementation, because there are some, you know, issues which... Right, so I'll answer the second part of that question first, if I may. The Pacific exchange visa is an election policy that we were without, you know, that is government policy. And we announced that in order to provide a limited number of Pacific Island citizens with the option of a pathway to permanent residency in Australia. So we identified it as 3000. It's modeled on, and you might know this better than I, a New Zealand visa arrangement. We will work with the region on the details of that implementation, because obviously we would not want to have a situation where you might have too many applicants from a particular nation that might not be sustainable. So we will work through that with the region, which would go to issues such as the one you just identified. Just a minute. You, and then back to you. And there will be five, right? I'm going to bring the Prime Minister to Australia. She can do all my press conferences. Yes. Did you watch it? Oh, that's good. Yes, two questions. I can expect that could be changed in your government's implementation of this place. Okay. Second question first. Well, I was the shadow trade minister, so I have had some engagement with some of the issues you speak about. I would make the point that obviously Sinspacer Plus was ratified. We have had COVID. So the utilisation by virtue of that is going to be less. It's always implementation of a trade agreement is always challenging. The negotiation of a trade agreement is challenging, and then the implementation is challenging. So we understand that. So I was at the High Commission today, and people spoke about the establishment of an implementation unit for Sinspacer Plus. I think here in Tamil will be guided by Pacific priorities, and particularly the exporters and their engagement with us about what could be done to pick up utilisation. We do have, if the non-trade barrier you're referring to is our quarantine and biosecurity arrangements, I mean that they are things which apply to all nations, so that this is a long-standing position of Australia. You asked what is the one issue I have been itching to, I thought, to implement this climate. I spent a lot of years trying to change our country's position on climate. I was at Copenhagen. I have two daughters. I would like us to be able to say to our children that we did something. I think that matters. Senator, our Prime Minister has recommended a proposed China regional agreement which is a meaningful discussion, but the island nations with the Pacific Island forum is, so what's the decision in Australia's decision? Do you want me to? Well I think if I may, your Prime Minister has shown a lot of leadership and wisdom, not only now, but I think in many of her statements about the importance of robust regional architecture, respectful regional processes, to deal with some of the external circumstances we all find ourselves in. We have taken the view that regional security is an issue for the Pacific family. We have taken, consistently taken the view that what sovereign nations do, and sovereign nations are sovereign, but ultimately have the potential to affect the nature of the security arrangements of the region. So having a collective consideration of those matters is important. I think that's a long-winded way of saying I think it was a very wise intervention. If I could just add a little bit more. You know it's been reported that apparently supposedly we had signed on to this proposal from the Chinese government. I think that's been a misrepresentation. I want to use the press conference just to clarify that. The signing that took place here last week that some of you came to were bilateral programs, projects. Most of them had started a number of years ago and it was a formalizing process, which is a normal process. It just seemed a bit abnormal because the Minister of Foreign Affairs was here and there was this particular proposal from the Chinese that they were seeking regional agreement on. So our position was that you cannot have regional agreement when the region hasn't met to discuss it and to be called in to have that discussion and have an expectation that there would be a comprehensive decision or outcome was something that you know we could not agree to. So I think the region has come to that conclusion that you know this we need to meet as a region to consider any proposal that's put to us by our development partners that requires a regional agreement. So I just hope that's clear. Well I think there's five questions. Thank you, thank you Minister.


Hi, I'm John Keras, Rapporteur of Telebiometrics in question nine of study group 17, the ITUT. I'm here to talk about telebiometrics and what we're doing here at ITU. Telebiometrics is the ability to measure and communicate biology over an open network. There are many applications. Primarily at ITU, we focus on four things. We have four goals. We'd like to reduce, number one, the risk of logical physical attack, number two, the availability of natural resources, number three, reduce accidents or natural disasters, and four, to monitor health for disease. These are the four risks to life. So telebiometrics, we work on draft and developing draft recommendations that become recommendations for the industry. Currently, we have a number of recommendations that define telebiometrics. One of them being that telebiometrics is a combination of hardware, software, and wetware, wetware being the human body. The human body is by far the most complex computational system in the universe, and we would like the ability to quantify it correctly. We see applications in the future that will need to identify life in order to interact with it, whether it be autonomous vehicles or robotic equipment in industry. We also find that it's extremely important in patient monitoring, even home healthcare, where elderly parents are living at home and we can monitor their activity at a distance and know that if they're in trouble. Currently, we have a new work out and proposal. It has to do with biosignals, which is effectively heart rate monitoring or ECG, EKG, and the excitement around that is it goes from looking at static biometrics, which is typically fingerprints and iris prints, and it's now dynamic. So we can look at the electrical activity that the body generates between the brain and the heart, and effectively looking at internet of the body. So by looking at the ECG signal, we're able to measure things like the quality of the heart. We're looking at the potassium level, oxygen level, hydration, and can provide a lot of feedback to the mobile user.