[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 38 (Friday, February 25, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10049-10051]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-4512]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology

[Docket No. 981013257-9194-01]
RIN 0692-ZA 25


Announcing Approval of Withdrawal of Thirty-Three Federal 
Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Publications

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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[[Page 10050]]

SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is to announce that the Secretary 
of Commerce has approved the withdrawal of thirty-three Federal 
Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Publications.
    These FIPS are being withdrawn because they are obsolete, or have 
not been updated to adopt current voluntary industry standards. Most of 
these FIPS adopt voluntary industry standards for Federal government 
use. In some cases, the FIPS documents have not been updated to adopt 
current or revised voluntary industry standards. This situation 
preserves obsolete, but mandatory, standards for agency use. In other 
cases, commercial products implementing the voluntary industry 
standards are widely available; as a result it is no longer necessary 
for the Government to mandate standards that duplicate industry 
standards.
    The Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 (Division 
E of Public Law 104-106) and Executive Order 13011 signed by the 
President emphasize agency management of information technology and 
Government-wide interagency support activities to improve productivity, 
security, interoperability, and coordination of Government resources. 
Federal agencies and departments are directed by the National 
Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, Public Law 104-113, to 
use technical standards that are developed in voluntary consensus 
standards bodies.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This withdrawal is effective February 25, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Shirley M. Radack, telephone (301) 
975-2833, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, 
MD 20899.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On November 13, 1998, notice was published 
in the Federal Register (63 FR 9199) proposing the withdrawal of 
thirty-one Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 
Publications, because the technical specifications that they adopt are 
obsolete and are no longer supported by industry. No comments from 
industry, Government, or the public were received concerning this 
proposed withdrawal. In addition, FIPS 103, Codes for the 
Identification of Hydrologic Units in the United States and the 
Caribbean Outlying Areas, and FIPS 160, C, are also being withdrawn. 
These FIPS had been proposed for withdrawal in the Federal Register (61 
FR 46444-46445 dated September 3, 1996). FIPS 103 was retained until 
the U.S. Geological Survey developed revised codes for hydrologic 
units. Since these revised codes are now available, FIPS 103 is no 
longer needed. FIPS 160 was retained until the NIST validation program 
for the FIPS ended. Since the program has ended, FIPS 160 is no longer 
needed.
    Withdrawal means that the FIPS will no longer be part of a 
subscription series that is provided by the National Technical 
Information Service, and that NIST will no longer be able to support 
the standards by answering implementation questions or updating the 
FIPS when the voluntary industry standards are revised.
    This notice provides the FIPS publication number, title, and the 
technical specifications number for each of the thirty-three FIPS 
Publications being withdrawn:

--FIPS 21-4, COBOL (ANSI X3.23-1985,X3.23a-1989&X3.23b-1993)
--FIPS 29-3, Interpretation Procedures for Federal Information 
Processing Standards for Software
--FIPS 101, Guideline for Lifecycle Validation, Verification, and 
Testing of Computer Software
--FIPS 103, Codes for the Identification of Hydrologic Units in the 
United States and the Caribbean Outlying Areas
--FIPS 106, Guideline on Software Maintenance
--FIPS 119-1, Ada (ANSI/ISO/IEC 8652:1995)
--FIPS 132, Guideline for Software Verification and Validation Plans 
(ANSI/IEEE 1012-1986)
--FIPS 137, Analog to Digital Conversion of Voice by 2,400 Bit/Second 
Linear Predictive Coding
--FIPS 139, Interoperability and Security Requirements for Use of the 
Data Encryption Standard in the Physical Layer of Data Communications
--FIPS 141, Interoperability and Security Requirements for Use of the 
Data Encryption Standard with CCITT Group 3 Facsimile Equipment
--FIPS 144, Data Communication Systems and Services User-Oriented 
Performance Parameters (ANSI X3.102-1983/R1990
--FIPS 150, Facsimile Coding Schemes and Coding Control Functions for 
Group 4 Facsimile Apparatus (EIA-538-1988)
--FIPS 151-2, Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX)--System 
Application Program Interface [C Language] (ISO/IEC 9945-1:1900)
--FIPS 155, Data Communication Systems and Services User-Oriented 
Performance Measurement Methods (ANSI X3.141-1987)
--FIPS 160, C (ANSI/ISO 9899:1992).
--FIPS 162, 1,200 Bits Per Second Two-Wire Duplex Modems for Data 
Communications Use on Telephone-Type Circuits
--FIPS 163, 2,400 Bits Per Second Two-Wire Duplex Modems for Data 
Communications Use on Telephone-Type Circuits
--FIPS 164, 2,400 Bits Per Second Four-Wire Duplex and Two-Wire Half-
Duplex Modems for Data Communications Use on Telephone-Type Circuits
--FIPS 165, 4,800 Bits Per Second Four-Wire Duplex and Two-Wire Half-
Duplex Modems for Data Communications Use on Telephone-Type Circuits
--FIPS 166, 4,800 and 9,600 Bits Per Second Two-Wire Duplex Modems for 
Data Communications Use on Telephone-Type Circuits
--FIPS 167, 9,600 Bits Per Second Four-Wire Duplex Modems for Data 
Communications Use on Telephone-Type Circuits
--FIPS 168, 12,000 and 14,400 Bits Per Second Four-Wire Duplex Modems 
for Data Communications Use on Telephone-Type Circuits
--FIPS 169, Error Correction in Modems Employing Asynchronous-To-
Synchronous Conversion
--FIPS 170, Data Compression in Modems Employing CCITT Recommendation 
V.42 Error Correction
--FIPS 172-1, VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL) (ANSI/IEEE 
1076-1993)
--FIPS 175, Federal Building Standard for Telecommunications Pathways 
and Spaces (ANSI/EIA/TIA-569-1990)
--FIPS 176, Residential and Light Commercial Telecommunications Wiring 
Standard (ANSI/EIA/TIA-570-1991)
--FIPS 182, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)
--FIPS 187, Administration Standard for the Telecommunications 
Infrastructure of Federal Buildings (ANSI/TIA/EIA-606-1993)
--FIPS 189, Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX)--Part 2: Shell 
and Utilities (ISO/IEC 9945-2:1993)
--FIPS 193, SQL Environments
--FIPS 194, Open Document Architecture (ODA) Raster Document 
Application Profile (DAP) (ISO/IEC 12064-1 ISP/FOD112)
--FIPS 195, Federal Building Grounding and Bonding Requirements for 
Telecommunications (ANSI/TIA/EIA-607-1994)

    NIST recommended that the Secretary approve the withdrawal of the 
thirty-

[[Page 10051]]

three FIPS Publications, and prepared a detailed justification document 
for the Secretary's review in support of that recommendation.

    Authority: Federal Information Processing Standards Publications 
(FIPS PUBS) are issued by the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology after approval by the Secretary of Commerce pursuant to 
Section 5131 of the Information Technology Management Reform Act of 
1996 and the Computer Security Act of 1987, Public Law 100-235.

    Dated: February 17, 2000.
Karen H. Brown,
Deputy Director, NIST.
[FR Doc. 00-4512 Filed 2-24-00; 8:45 am]
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