[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 248 (Tuesday, December 28, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77728-77730]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-28350]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


Announcement of Public Meeting of the National Conference on 
Weights and Measures

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology.

ACTION: Announcement of public meeting of the National Conference on 
Weights and Measures.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Interim Meeting of the 
National Conference on Weights and Measures will be held January 23 
through 26, 2004, at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel, Santa Monica, CA. This 
meeting is open to the public. Meeting registration and hotel 
information can be found on the NCWM Web site (http://www.ncwm.net). 
The National Conference on Weights and Measures is an organization of 
weights and measures enforcement officials of the States, counties, and 
cities of the United States, and private sector representatives. The 
interim meeting of the Conference brings together enforcement 
officials, other government officials, and representatives of business, 
industry, trade associations, and consumer organizations to discuss 
subjects related to the field of weights and measures technology and 
administration. Pursuant to (15 U.S.C. 272(b)(6)), the National 
Institute of Standards and Technology supports the National Conference 
on Weights and Measures in order to promote uniformity among the States 
in the complexity of laws, regulations, methods, and testing equipment 
that comprises regulatory control by the States of commercial weighing 
and measuring.

DATES: January 23-26, 2004.

ADDRESSES: The Fairmont Miramar Hotel, Santa Monica, CA.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Conference on Weights and 
Measures (NCWM) has the following topics scheduled for discussion and 
development at the Interim Meeting in January. This is a work session 
of the NCWM Committees to finalize recommendations for items that are 
considered sufficiently developed for a vote in July 2005 or to modify 
or withdraw from committee agendas those items that need additional 
development or are not considered adequately developed for vote in 
July. The NCWM will have a special joint session of the Laws and 
Regulations Committee and the Specifications and Tolerances Committee 
to receive input on the temperature compensation of refined petroleum 
products. The temperature compensation issues have been on the agenda 
for several years, but there hasn't been a clear majority position to 
resolve the specific items before the NCWM. Please see NCWM Publication 
15, which is available on the NIST Web site (http://www.nist.gov/owm) 
and the NCWM Web site (http://www.ncwm.net) for additional information. 
Written comments may be submitted to the Chief, NIST Weights and 
Measures Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 2600, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-
2600, or via e-mail at [email protected].
    The following provides a brief description of the agenda items. At 
this stage, the items are proposals. The Committees will decide which 
items will move forward as recommendations for vote in July 2005, which 
ones will be withdrawn, and which ones will be information items for 
further development. The NCWM Specifications and Tolerances Committee 
addresses proposed changes or amendments to NIST Handbook 44, 
``Specifications, Tolerances, and other Technical Requirements for 
Weighing and Measuring Devices.'' The items address commercial weighing 
and measuring devices that may be used in commercial measurement 
applications, that is, devices that are normally used to buy from or 
sell to the general public or used for determining the quantity of 
product sold among businesses. Issues on the agenda of the NCWM Laws 
and Regulations Committee relate to 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

General Code

    Item 310-1: The issue addresses an extensive series of marking 
requirements for commercial measurement systems. In particular, the 
topic examines which marking requirements should apply to electronic 
instruments that are not specifically designed for weighing or 
measuring systems, but which increasingly are being used in commercial 
weighing and measuring systems.
    Item 310-2: Clarify the tolerances to be applied during the type 
evaluation of weighing and measuring instruments, that is, whether or 
not special test tolerances should apply to instruments undergoing type 
evaluation.

Scales Code

    Item 320-1: Clarify the requirement's original intent for marking 
zero indications on scales and point-of-sale systems, where a zero-
balance condition is represented by other than a digital zero 
indication.
    Item 320-2: The proposal is to drop the ``'' mark as a 
symbol for ``pound'' on a receipt printed by a point-of-sale system, 
i.e., a cash register interfaced with a scale.
    Item 320-3: Add new device-specific requirements to the Scales Code 
to address the proper interface of computing scales with electronic 
cash registers (ECR).
    Item 320-4: Change the zero-tracking requirement (the amount of 
weight that can automatically be rezeroed) for class III scales to be 
consistent with the international standard recommended by the 
International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML).
    Item 320-5: Provide guidelines on the placement of the required 
nominal capacity and scale division information on scales.
    Item 320-6: Delete the definitions for bench and counter scales, 
because current scale designs no longer distinguish between these two 
types of scales. Additionally, the proposal is to change the test load 
and test positions for the shift test for scales, particularly for 
small capacity scales.
    Item 320-7: The proposal is to drop the fourth tolerance step for 
Class III and Class IIII scales to align the tolerances with the OIML 
standard. This is a significant issue because there are

[[Page 77729]]

many scales to which these tolerances apply.
    Item 320-8: Align the U.S. requirements for the time dependence 
(creep) test for scales and load cells with the OIML requirements.
    Item 320-9: Include in NIST Handbook 44 the list of accepted 
international symbols for marking operational controls, indications and 
features on scales.

Belt-Conveyor Scale Systems

    Item 321-1: Add a requirement for users of belt-conveyor scales to 
prevent the reweighing of material that has already been weighed, but 
which may have fallen off the belt-conveyor before delivery to the 
customer. Additionally, another user requirement would be changed to 
require that records be maintained for 3 years regarding the 
calibration and adjustment of belt-conveyor scales.

Automatic Bulk Weighing Systems

    Item 322-1: The proposal is to specify the tolerance for automatic 
bulk weighing systems in terms of scale divisions rather than as a 
percentage of the test load. The concern is that, based upon the amount 
of test weights that are normally available to test these weighing 
systems, this may result an tolerance that is effectively larger than 
what is currently being applied to these scales.

Liquid-Measuring Devices

    Item 330-1: This item is to address ``computer jump'' on gasoline 
and diesel fuel dispensers as the price of gasoline and diesel fuel 
continues to increase.
    Item 330-2: Change the value of the rated flow rate for retail 
motor fuel (gasoline and diesel fuel) dispensers at which special tests 
are to be conducted at low flow rates to be consistent with other 
requirements in the code. The proposal also clarifies that dispensers 
are not to operate at flow rates below the rated minimum flow rate 
stated by the meter manufacturer.

Vehicle-Tank Meters

    Item 331-1: Add a number of specifications, test notes, and 
tolerances to recognize automatic temperature compensation on vehicle-
tank meters and specify the tests to be conducted on meters equipped 
with automatic temperature compensation. This subject is the focus of a 
special joint session of the Laws and Regulations Committee and the 
Specifications and Tolerances Committee to receive input on the 
temperature compensation of refined petroleum products
    Item 331-2: Clarify that the unit price on a vehicle-tank meter 
does not have to be displayed continuously on a price-computing meter 
register. However, the unit price must be clearly displayed and 
understood by the operator and an observer of the delivery.
    Item 331-3: The proposal is to require an automatic zero-set-back 
interlock on vehicle-tank meters to force meters to be set back to zero 
for each delivery. Complications that must be considered are multiple 
deliveries in one location to a single customer and deliveries for 
aircraft refueling.
    Item 331-4: Modify the ``split-compartment'' test for vehicle-tank 
meters and rename the test as a ``product depletion'' test. A specific 
tolerance is specified for the performance of the vapor (air) 
eliminator system.

Other Items

    Item 360-1: Add a tentative code for livestock, meat, and poultry 
evaluation systems used to measure the fat content on carcasses and 
other quality characteristics that affect the price paid for the 
commodities. The proposed tentative code is based upon four recently 
completed ASTM standards that have been developed over the past three 
years.
    Item 360-2: Amend the Fundamental Considerations in Handbook 44 to 
recognize additional standards that are acceptable for field standards 
and update the terminology and references for field standards, 
reference and secondary standards, corrections, and uncertainties. 
These changes are related to items 221-1 and 234-1 on the agenda of the 
Laws and Regulations Committee.
    Item 360-3: Contact information is provided for current OIML 
activities regarding the development of international legal metrology 
standards.
    Item 360-4: The proposal is to add the OIML terminology to Handbook 
44 for features and operational controls on commercial weighing and 
measuring devices.
    Item 360-5: Two issues are identified for continued development. 
The first is General Code paragraph G-S.5.6.1. Recorded Representation 
of Metric Units on Equipment with Limited Character Sets. The second is 
Scales Code Table 4. Minimum Test Weights and Test Loads; Device 
Capacity 500,000 lb.

NCWM Laws and Regulations Committee

    Item 221-1: Amend the Uniform Weights and Measures Law to modify 
definitions for different types of physical standards to be consistent 
with current international terminology, add definitions regarding 
traceability, accreditation, calibration, uncertainty, and other 
technical terms to recognize current roles of accredited laboratories. 
Additionally, amendments to the Uniform Weights and Measures Law are 
proposed to allow the recognition of calibrations performed by 
accredited laboratories and to broaden references to documentary 
standards to allow the recognition and use of documentary standards 
developed by other national and international standards developing 
organizations.
    Item 232-1: Amend the Uniform Method of Sale Regulation to address 
the temperature compensation of refined petroleum products to the 
volume at 15 [deg]C (60 [deg]F) for deliveries from wholesale through 
retail (service station) transactions. This subject is the focus of a 
special joint session of the Laws and Regulations Committee and the 
Specifications and Tolerances Committee to receive input on the 
temperature compensation of refined petroleum products.
    Item 234-1: Amend the Uniform Regulation for the Voluntary 
Registration of Servicepersons and Service Agencies regarding the 
references to the physical standards that are used and to expand the 
reference to national and international documentary standards that may 
be acceptable for the physical standards used by these service 
agencies. The proposed changes would also broaden the range of 
laboratories that could verify compliance of the physical standards to 
these documentary standards.
    Item 237-1: This item examines the identification and labeling of 
biodiesel fuels and blends at the service station for sale to the 
general public.
    Item 237-2: This item is to modify the lubricity requirement for 
premium diesel fuel to be current with the evolving ASTM standard for 
this product.
    Item 260-1: The item is to reexamine proposed changes to the 
maximum allowable variations for meat and poultry products subject to 
USDA regulations.
    Item 260-2: This proposal seeks to have the maximum allowable 
variations apply to packages of wood shavings.
    Item 260-3: This item proposes that a work group be established to 
examine all of the maximum allowable variations stated in NIST Handbook 
133 to see if they should be modified based upon current packaging 
methods and international standards for these products.
    Item 270-1: Since more meat and poultry products are being packaged 
in

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centralized locations and then distributed to stores for sale, the 
proposal explores if tare weights should be required to be printed on 
the individual ``case-ready'' packages.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Henry V. Oppermann, Chief, NIST, 
Weights and Measures Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 2600, 
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-2600. Telephone (301) 975-4004, or email: 
[email protected].

    Dated: December 17, 2004.
Hratch G. Semerjian,
Acting Director.
[FR Doc. 04-28350 Filed 12-27-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P