"Grounding electrode conductors and grounding electrode bonding jumpers shall not be required to comply with 300.5."
I located this in the 2014 NEC, Section 250.64 (B). Thanks ! Very helpful, we have not adopted this version yet. This confuses me somewhat. I could make the argument of burial depth being used as physical protection for the GEC in pre-2014 NEC. This change takes away the protection that it had previously received from 300.5 and validates the original concern of installing a grounding electrode 7' from the foundation. How is the GEC protected at this point? Somewhere else in the code? Obviously protection from physical damage is important, as 250.64 (B) indicates. Is the following, quoted part of that section implying that the GEC installed underground is to be installed in a protective covering that doesn't have to comply with burial depths?
"otherwise, it shall be protected in rigid metal conduit RMC, intermediate metal conduit (IMC), rigid polyvinyl chloride conduit (PVC), reinforced thermosetting resin conduit (RTRC), electrical metallic tubing EMT, or cable armor. Grounding electrode conductors smaller than 6 AWG shall be protected in (RMC),
IMC, PVC, RTRC, (EMT), or cable armor."
Any idea where we find reason statements for code changes to the NEC?