[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 110 (Tuesday, June 9, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32535-32537]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-14007]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Institute of Standards and Technology
National Conference on Weights and Measures 100th Annual Meeting
AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The 100th Annual Meeting of the National Conference on Weights
and Measures (NCWM) will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from
Sunday, July 19, 2015, through Thursday, July 23, 2015. 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 19, 2015, through
Thursday, July 23, 2015. The complete meeting schedule is available at
www.ncwm.net.
ADDRESSES: This meeting will be held at the Sheraton Philadelphia
Society Hill Hotel, 1 Dock Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Carol Hockert, Chief, Office of
Weights and Measures, National Institute of Standards and
Technology,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 the NCWM Web site (www.ncwm.net)
to view the meeting agendas, registration forms, and hotel reservation
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
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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 at the NCWM Annual Meeting.
Comments will be taken on these and other issues during several public
comment sessions. This meeting also includes work sessions in which the
Committees may also accept comments, and where they will finalize
recommendations for possible adoption at this 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. These notices are intended to make interested
parties aware of these development projects and to make them aware that
reports on the status of the project will 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.'' 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 products or
services sold among businesses. Issues on the agenda of the NCWM Laws
and Regulations Committee (L&R Committee) relate to proposals to amend
NIST Handbook 130, ``Uniform Laws and Regulations in the area of Legal
Metrology and Engine Fuel Quality'' and NIST Handbook 133, ``Checking
the Net Contents of Packaged Goods.''
NCWM Specifications and Tolerances Committee
The following items are proposals to amend NIST Handbook 44:
Scales (Including Weigh-in-Motion Vehicle Scales for Use in the
Enforcement of Highway Load Limits)
Item 320-4 Weigh-in-Motion Vehicle Scales for Use in Highway Weight
Enforcement
The S&T Committee is recommending adoption of a new tentative code
to be included in NIST Handbook 44 that will include the
specifications, tolerances, and other technical requirements for the
vehicle scales used by highway weight enforcement agencies to determine
the axle loads, tandem axle loads, and gross vehicle weights of trucks
and other large highway vehicles while they are in motion. A tentative
code has a trial or experimental status. It is not intended to be
enforced until adopted as a permanent code by the NCWM. The proposed
tentative code includes recommended tests and tolerances for vehicle
scales used to weigh vehicles in motion as well as user requirements
that will ensure devices are maintained and operated properly, allowing
weighing results to be used to carry out highway weight enforcement
programs across the nation. The intended application of these scales is
to weigh vehicles, while in motion, for the purpose of screening and
sorting the vehicles to determine if a static weighment is necessary.
Belt-Conveyor Scale Systems
Item 321-1 Belt-Conveyor Scale Systems
Belt-conveyor scales are used in a wide variety of applications for
weighing coal, grain, ore, and many other raw materials or products.
Currently, only scales that are fully integrated into a conveyor system
are permitted under NIST Handbook 44. The S&T Committee is recommending
for adoption new definitions and proposals to broaden the scope of the
requirements to allow fully ``self-contained weigh-belt systems'' to be
covered by the specifications, tolerances, and other technical
requirements in NIST Handbook 44 so these devices may be utilized in
commercial transactions.
Liquid Measuring Devices
Item 330-2 S.2.2. Categories of Device and Methods of Sealing
The S&T Committee is recommending for adoption language that would
allow device manufacturers to supply required security and
configuration related data in ``event loggers'' (i.e., digital systems
that keep track of the number of times a calibration event occurs) to
weights and measures officials and service personnel utilizing digital
communications (e.g., cellular or Internet connections) or other
electronic means (e.g., USB flash memory drive) in addition to the
current requirement to provide a printed record of this information.
This information is used to ascertain how many and what type of
calibrations and configuration changes were made to a weighing and
measuring device since the last official inspection or service. The S&T
Committee originally considered a proposal which would allow the
information to be provided in lieu of a printed record. However, based
on comments received and an evaluation of the costs, practicality, and
other aspects of the proposal including the data security and privacy
concerns that may arise, the Committee agreed that the electronic form
of the information is only permitted as a supplement to the printed
record.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas and Anhydrous Ammonia Liquid-Measuring Devices
Item 332-2 N.3. Test Drafts--Use of Transfer Standards for Calibration
and Verification
The S&T Committee has designated a ``Developing'' item on its
agenda to allow the development of a proposal that would recognize the
use of calibrated transfer standards (also called ``master meters'') in
the verification and calibration of Liquefied Petroleum Gas and
Anhydrous Ammonia Liquid-Measuring Devices. Currently, most official
tests of these devices are conducted using volumetric test measures or
using gravimetric testing. The proposal outlined in this item includes
requirements for a minimum test draft, and would allow the use of
``master meters'' in both service-related and official testing. This
item is also intended to explore the possibility of expanding the use
of transfer standards to other types of measuring devices, including
those used to measure petroleum at terminals and retail outlets and to
meters used to deliver home heating fuel and other products.
Mass Flow Meters
Item 337-1 Diesel Energy Equivalents for Compressed and Liquefied
Natural Gas
Natural gas is sold in the marketplace in both compressed (CNG) and
liquefied (LNG) states as alternative fuel choices to gasoline and
diesel fuel. The S&T Committee has recommended revisions to NIST
Handbook 44 to define volume units for CNG and LNG in terms of the
energy equivalents for a liter or gallon of diesel fuel. The
availability of these
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values should enable consumers to compare the cost and mileage economy
of different fuels, and so enable informed purchasing decisions when
considering the use, purchase, or lease of vehicles equipped to operate
on different fuels.
Taximeters (and GPS Devices When Used in Transportation Services)
Items 354-1, 354-2, 354-3, 354-4, and 354-5
The S&T Committee is recommending for adoption this group of
proposals (listed above), which includes proposed revisions and updates
to the Taximeter Code in NIST Handbook 44 to address changes in
technology related to indicating and recording elements (i.e.,
printers) and operational features including the indications required
to be presented to passengers.
Item 354-6 U.S. National Working Group on Taximeters and Global
Positioning System-Based Systems for Time and Distance Measurement
The S&T Committee will hear a progress report from a national
working group that is studying the use of Global Positioning Systems
and smart phone/web based applications in transportation services in
order to develop proposed specifications, tolerances, and other
technical requirements to ensure accuracy and transparency for
passengers, drivers, and businesses for inclusion in NIST Handbook 44.
This item is designated as a ``Developing Item'' on the Committee's
agenda to allow further study and refinement of these issues.
Other Items
Item 360-5 Electric Vehicle Fueling and Submetering
The S&T Committee is recommending adoption of a tentative code for
use in electric vehicle charging and submetering for inclusion in NIST
Handbook 44. The code was developed by a NIST U.S. National Working
Group that continues to further refine the specifications, tolerances,
and other technical requirements to ensure accuracy and transparency
for drivers of electric vehicles and power resellers. The S&T Committee
is also recommending for adoption proposed changes to the Section 5.55.
``Timing Devices'' in NIST Handbook 44 to address requirements for the
timing mechanisms that are likely to be used in some recharging systems
to determine additional charges for other services (e.g., parking).
NCWM Laws and Regulations Committee (L&R Committee)
The following items are proposals to amend NIST Handbook 130 or
NIST Handbook 133:
NIST Handbook 130--Section on Uniform Regulation for the Method of Sale
of Commodities
Item 232-3 Animal Bedding
The L&R Committee is recommending the adoption of a uniform method
of sale for animal bedding that will enhance the ability of consumers
to make value comparisons and will ensure fair competition. Animal
Bedding is generally defined as any material, except for baled straw,
that is kept, offered or exposed for sale or sold to retail consumers
for primary use as a medium for any pet or companion or livestock
animal to nest or eliminate waste. If adopted, the proposal will
require packers to advertise and sell packages of animal bedding on the
basis of the expanded volume of the bedding. Most packages of animal
bedding are compressed during packaging and the expanded volume is the
amount of product that consumers will recover through unwrapping and
decompressing the bedding according to the instructions provided by the
packer. See also Item 260-3 for proposed Test Procedures for Verifying
the Expanded Volume Declaration on Packages of Animal Bedding.
NIST Handbook 133--``Checking the Net Contents of Packaged Goods''
Item 260-1 Chitterling Test Procedure
The L&R Committee is recommending for adoption a proposal that will
add a test procedure and purge allowance to NIST Handbook 133 so the
drainage equipment and methods used by state and local weights and
measures officials are identical to those used by the Food Safety and
Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in packing
plants. This test procedure will also be used in verifying the amount
of purge from beef tripe.
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 272(b)(6).
Richard Cavanagh,
Acting Associate Director for Laboratory Programs.
[FR Doc. 2015-14007 Filed 6-8-15; 8:45 am]
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