[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 130 (Tuesday, July 8, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38493-38495]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-15798]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Conference on Weights and Measures 99th Annual Meeting
AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The 99th Annual Meeting of the National Conference on Weights
and Measures (NCWM) will be held in Detroit, Michigan, from Sunday,
July 13, 2014, to Thursday, July 17, 2014. This notice contains
information about significant items on the NCWM Committee agendas, but
does not include all agenda items. As a result, the items are not
consecutively numbered.
DATES: The meeting will be held from Sunday, July 13, 2014, to
Thursday, July 17, 2014. Meeting hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
(ET) daily.
ADDRESSES: This meeting will be held at the Westin Book Cadillac
Detroit located at 1114 Washington Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48226
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Carol Hockert, Chief, NIST, Office
of Weights and Measures, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 2600, Gaithersburg, MD
20899-2600. You may also contact Ms. Hockert at (301) 975-5507 or by
email at [email protected]. The meeting is open to the public, but
a paid registration is required. Please see NCWM Publication 16
``Committee Reports for the 99th Annual Meeting'' (www.ncwm.net) to
view the meeting agendas, registration forms, and hotel information.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Publication of this notice on the NCWM's
behalf is undertaken as a public service; NIST does not endorse,
approve, or recommend any of the proposals or other information
contained in this notice or in the publications of the NCWM.
The NCWM is an organization of weights and measures officials of
the states, counties, and cities of the United States, federal
agencies, and representatives from the private sector. These meetings
bring together government officials and representatives of business,
industry, trade associations, and consumer organizations on subjects
related to the field of weights and measures technology,
administration, and enforcement. NIST participates to encourage
cooperation between federal agencies and the states in the development
of legal metrology requirements. NIST also promotes uniformity among
the states in laws, regulations, methods, and testing equipment that
comprise the regulatory control of commercial weighing and measuring
devices, packaged goods, and other trade and commerce issues.
The following are brief descriptions of some of the significant
agenda items that will be considered along with other issues at the
NCWM Annual Meeting. Comments will be taken on these and other issues
during several public comment sessions. At this stage, the items are
proposals. This meeting also includes work sessions in which the
Committees may also accept comments and discuss the recommendations up
for adoption at the 2014 Annual Meeting. The Committees may withdraw or
carryover items that need additional development.
Some of the items listed below provide notice of projects under
development by groups working to develop specifications, tolerances,
and other requirements for devices used in the retail sales of engine
fuels and the establishment of approximate gallon and liter equivalents
to diesel fuel that would be used in marketing both compressed and
liquefied natural gas. Also included is a notice about efforts to
clarify a method of sale for pressurized containers that utilize bag-
on-valve technology. These notices are intended to make interested
parties aware of these projects and additional information on each item
may be given at the Annual Meeting. The notices are also presented to
invite the participation of manufacturers, experts, consumers, users,
and others who may be interested in these efforts.
The Specifications and Tolerances Committee (S&T Committee) will
consider proposed amendments to NIST Handbook 44, ``Specifications,
Tolerances, and other Technical Requirements for Weighing and Measuring
Devices'' (HB44). Those items address weighing and measuring devices
used in commercial applications, that is, devices that are used to buy
from or sell to the public or used for determining the quantity of
product sold among businesses. Issues on the agenda of the NCWM Laws
and Regulations Committee (L&R Committee) relate to a proposal to amend
the ``Uniform Method of Sale of Commodities Regulation'' and other
uniform regulations in NIST Handbook 130 ``Uniform Laws and Regulations
in the area of Legal Metrology and Engine Fuel Quality'' (HB130).
[[Page 38494]]
NCWM Specifications and Tolerances Committee
The following items are proposals to amend NIST Handbook 44:
General Code
Item 310-2 G.S.5.6. Recorded Representations
A variety of commercial weighing and measuring devices are required
to provide paper receipts for consumers at the end of a transaction.
These receipts provide important information for consumers (e.g.,
seller identity, date, product identity, and amount delivered, along
with the unit price and total price of the transaction). Sometimes
receipts include details of transaction that are often not readily
apparent to consumers at the time of the transaction (e.g., such as
when a point of sale system in a grocery store deducts for the tare
weight on a package of apples). These documents help consumers
understand a transaction and reconcile the transaction with billing
invoices or credit card bills in the future. Detailed receipts are
especially important in transactions where the customer is often not
present, such as when a delivery of heating fuel is made when the
consumer is not at home. Receipts describing transaction details help
prevent fraud and provide valuable protections for buyers and sellers
alike. This item is a proposal to revise the General Code requirement
to allow sellers to offer consumers the choice of receiving receipts
via digital communications such as email or online account access.
Scales
Item 320-2 User Requirement--UR.2.4. Foundations, Supports, and
Clearance
The S&T Committee is recommending an amendment to this User
Requirement to allow an in-motion railroad scale to use continuous
rails extending throughout the approach and weighing areas. Currently
use of continuous rails is not permitted under paragraph HB44-UR.2.4.
that reads ``clearance shall be provided around all live parts to the
extent that no contacts may result when the load-receiving element is
empty, nor throughout the weighing range of the scale.'' This proposal
was made in response to a request from a scale manufacturer that offers
a scale that determines the weight of railcars moving over continuous
rails. This railroad scale design is used in other countries where it
has received approval from legal metrology officials under regulations
that differ from the requirements in HB44.
Mass Flow Meters
Item 337-2 Appendix D--Definitions: Diesel Liter Equivalent (DLE) and
Diesel Gallon
Equivalent (DGE) for Compressed Natural Gas and Liquefied Natural
Gas; Definition of Gasoline Gallon Equivalent (GGE) and Gasoline Liter
Equivalent (GLE) for Compressed Natural Gas; S.1.2. Compressed Natural
Gas and Liquefied Natural Gas Dispensers; S.1.3.1.1. Compressed Natural
Gas Used as an Engine Fuel; S.1.3.1.2. Liquefied Natural Gas Used as an
Engine Fuel; S.5.2. Marking of Diesel and Gasoline Volume Equivalent
Conversion Factor; Compressed Natural Gas, S.5.3. Marking of Diesel
Volume Equivalent Conversion Factor; Liquefied Natural Gas, UR.3.1.1.
Marking of Equivalent Conversion Factor for Compressed Natural Gas,
UR.3.1.2. Marking of Equivalent Conversion Factor for Liquefied Natural
Gas, and UR.3.8. Return of Product to Storage, Retail Compressed
Natural Gas and Liquefied Natural Gas.
In 1994, in response to a request from a coalition of natural gas
providers and subsequent fuel study, the NCWM adopted conversion
factors for use in converting a delivery of Compressed Natural Gas
(CNG) vehicle fuel to an equivalent liter or gallon of gasoline. At
that time those equivalents were based on averaged regional CNG energy
values and the approximate lower heating value for a gallon of gasoline
(indolene). The equivalent values were recommended by the CNG industry
to promote greater use of CNG as a vehicle fuel. The ``Gasoline Liter/
Gallon Equivalents'' were developed as a means to facilitate value
comparisons between gasoline and CNG and to permit fuel economy
comparisons. In a number of instances since the adoption of these
``equivalents,'' some state weights and measures officials and several
CNG providers have expressed the concern that the energy equivalent
values adopted in 1994 do not provide an accurate estimate of the
energy content of natural gas. Another concern with the 1994
``equivalents'' is that the specified values have not been reevaluated
to ensure that they correlate with the energy content of today's
gasoline and gasoline-oxygenated blends or other alternative fuels such
as E85. Consequently, many weights and measures officials are reluctant
to consider adding more energy ``equivalency'' values for additional
fuels unless some mechanism is established to ensure that all of these
energy equivalency values are routinely updated to reflect the current
energy content (i.e., Joules/BTUs) of gasoline and diesel fuels and
various blends of these products with alternative fuels. The need for
such a mechanism is important considering the many blends of fuels that
are currently in the marketplace and others that are anticipated to
enter the fuel arena in the future (e.g., 15% or higher ethanol blends
with gasoline and biodiesel blends greater than 5%). The proposals
would establish new equivalents identified as the ``diesel liter
equivalent (DLE)'' and a ``diesel gallon equivalent (DGE)'' for both
CNG and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) that correspond to specific mass
values for these units when they are used in retail vehicle refueling
applications. The proponents of these proposals indicate that the
purpose of these units is to educate consumers to the fact that a DLE
or DGE of ``compressed'' or ``liquefied'' natural gas would contain
approximately the same amount of energy as a liter or gallon of diesel
fuel. Many sellers of these products believe that adoption and use of
the DLE or DGE in retail fuel sales would make it easier for consumers
to make price, value, and fuel economy comparisons between an energy
based ``equivalent'' liter or gallon of compressed natural gas and
diesel fuel. See also Items 337-3, and 337-5 on the Specifications and
Tolerances Committee Agenda and Items 232-3 and Item 237-2 on the Laws
and Regulations Committee Agenda regarding proposed methods of sale for
the DLE and DGE.
The Clean Vehicle Education Foundation (CVEF) submitted proposals
in 2012 and 2013 for rule changes to allow compressed natural gas (CNG)
and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be sold as a retail engine fuel in
liter or gallon equivalent units. The NCWM established the Natural Gas
Steering Committee (NGSC) in July 2013 to address concerns over the
proliferation of equivalent units and resolve other technical issues
involved with the proposed changes to HB44 and HB130.
At the January 2014 NCWM Interim Meeting, the Chairman of the NGSC
advised the S&T and L&R Committees that the NGSC planned to consolidate
the proposals to modify HB44 and HB130 and that the NGSC supported
recognition of the new diesel energy equivalent units for both
compressed and liquefied natural gas. The NGSC completed its work in
March 2014 and its recommendations are included in NCWM Publication 16
as voting items for adoption at the July 2014 NCWM Annual Meeting.
[[Page 38495]]
NCWM Laws and Regulations Committee (L & R Committee)
The following item is a proposal to amend NIST Handbook 130:
NIST Handbook 130--Uniform Regulation for the Method of Sale of
Commodities
Item 231-2 Section 10.3. Aerosols and Similar Pressurized Containers
This item includes a proposal to clarify that a current method of
sale applies to aerosol containers, and containers that utilize Bag-on-
Valve (BOV) technology and other self-pressurized packages that have
their net content declarations presented in terms of fluid volume.
Currently, under the Uniform Packaging and Labeling Regulation (UPLR)
adopted by many states and under regulations issued by both the Food
and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission, products sold
in aerosol or similar pressurized containers must be offered for sale
by net weight. BOV packaging, which has been in the marketplace for
many years, is used to sell the same products sold in aerosol
containers (e.g., sunscreen, wound wash, shaving cream, and car-care
products). Because BOV containers (with their net contents declared in
fluid volume) are used to sell the same type of products dispensed from
aerosol containers (with their net contents declared by weight),
consumers are unable to make value comparisons between similar
products. The L&R Committee proposal will allow the companies which
currently label containers by volume in conflict with the existing
method of sale at least three years (the deadline for compliance is
January 1, 2018) to bring their labeling into compliance.
Dated: June 26, 2014.
Willie E. May,
Associate Director for Laboratory Programs.
[FR Doc. 2014-15798 Filed 7-7-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P