[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 135 (Friday, July 15, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40984-40985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-13992]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology

[Docket No. 050329087-5087-01]


Proposed Withdrawal of Ten (10) Federal Information Processing 
Standards (FIPS)

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

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 
proposes to withdraw ten (10) Federal Information Processing Standards 
(FIPS) from the FIPS series. The standards proposed for withdrawal 
include FIPS 161-2, FIPS 183, FIPS 184, FIPS 192 and 192-1, which adopt 
voluntary industry standards for Federal government use. These FIPS are 
obsolete because they have not been updated to reference current or 
revised voluntary industry standards. In addition, FIPS 4-2, FIPS 5-2, 
FIPS 6-4, and FIPS 10-4, adopt specifications or data standards that 
are developed and maintained by other Federal government agencies or by 
voluntary industry standards organizations. These FIPS have not been 
updated to reflect

[[Page 40985]]

the changes and modifications that have been made by the organizations 
that develop and maintain the specifications and data representations. 
FIPS 113, Computer Data Authentication, specifies an algorithm for 
generating and verifying a Message Authentication Code (MAC). Since the 
algorithm is based on the Data Encryption Standard, which has been 
recommended for withdrawal, NIST plans to recommend the use of newer 
techniques for data authentication based on more secure algorithms.
    Prior to the submission of this proposed withdrawal of FIPS to the 
Secretary of Commerce for review and approval, NIST invites comments 
from the public, users, the information technology industry, and 
Federal, State and local governments government organizations 
concerning the withdrawal of the FIPS.

DATES: Comments on the proposed withdrawal of the FIPS must be received 
no later than 5 p.m. on October 13, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Written comments concerning the withdrawal of the FIPS 
should be sent to: Information Technology Laboratory, ATTN: Proposed 
Withdrawal of 10 FIPS, Mail Stop 8930, National Institute of Standards 
and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD 20899. Electronic 
comments should be sent to: [email protected].
    Information about the FIPS is available on the NIST Web pages: 
http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/index.htm.
    Comments received in response to this notice will be published 
electronically at http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/index.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Shirley M. Radack, telephone (301) 
975-2833, MS 8930, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 
Gaithersburg, MD 20899 or via e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following Federal Information Processing 
Standards (FIPS) Publications are proposed for withdrawal from the FIPS 
series:
    FIPS 4-2, Representation of Calendar Date to Facilitate Interchange 
of Data Among Information Systems.
    FIPS 5-2, Codes for the Identification of the States, the District 
of Columbia and the Outlying Areas of the United States, and Associated 
Areas.
    FIPS 6-4, Counties and Equivalent Entities of the U.S., Its 
Possessions, and Associated Areas.
    FIPS 10-4, Countries, Dependencies, Areas of Special Sovereignty, 
and Their Principal Administrative Divisions.
    FIPS 113, Computer Data Authentication.
    FIPS 161-2, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).
    FIPS 183, Integration Definition for Function Modeling (IDEF0).
    FIPS 184, Integration Definition for Information Modeling (IDEFIX).
    FIPS 192, Application Profile for the Government Information 
Locator Service (GILS).
    FIPS 192-1 (a)&(b), Application Profile for the Government 
Information Locator Service (GILS).
    These FIPS are being proposed for withdrawal because they are 
obsolete, or have not been updated to adopt current voluntary industry 
standards, federal specifications, or federal data standards. Federal 
agencies are responsible for using current voluntary industry standards 
and current federal specifications and data standards in their 
acquisition and management activities.
    The Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996 (Division 
E of Pub. L. 104-106) and Executive Order 13011 emphasize agency 
management of information technology and Government-wide interagency 
support activities to improve productivity, security, interoperability, 
and coordination of Government resources. Under the National Technology 
Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-113) Federal agencies 
and departments are directed to use technical standards that are 
developed in voluntary consensus standards bodies. Voluntary industry 
standards are the preferred source of standards to be used by the 
Federal government. The use of voluntary industry standards eliminates 
the cost to the government of developing its own standards, and 
furthers the policy of reliance upon the private sector to supply goods 
and services to the government. Federal Information Processing 
Standards (FIPS) are developed only when interoperability of different 
systems, for the portability of data and software, and for computer 
security.
    FIPS 161-2, FIPS 183, and FIPS 184 are voluntary consensus 
standards, and current versions of these specifications are available 
from voluntary standards organizations.
    FIPS 192 and 192-1 are being withdrawn because agencies use 
commercial sources to aid citizens in locating government information.
    Per Section 207(d) of the E-Government Act of 2002, OMB will issue 
policies requiring agencies use standards, which are open to the 
maximum extent feasible and interoperable across agencies, to enable 
effective categorization and organization of Government information in 
a way that is searchable electronically, including by searchable 
identifiers.
    The policy will define categories of Government information which 
shall be required under the standards so agencies can continue to use 
aids, including Federal or nonfederal sources, for locating agency 
information dissemination products to reasonably achieve agency 
information dissemination objectives.
    FIPS 4-2, FIPS 5-2, FIPS 6-4, and FIPS 10-4 are Federal data 
standards and specifications that have been and will continue to be 
developed and maintained by Federal government agencies other than 
NIST. Current versions of these data standards and specifications are 
available through the developing Federal agencies' web pages. NIST will 
keep references to these withdrawn FIPS on its FIPS web pages, and will 
link to current versions of these standards and specifications where 
appropriate.
    Withdrawal means that these FIPS would no longer be part of a 
subscription service that is provided by the National Technical 
Information Service. NIST will continue to provide relevant information 
on standards and guidelines by means of electronic dissemination 
methods.

    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 (Pub. L. 104-106), and the Federal Information Security 
Management Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-347).
    Classification: Executive Order 12866: This notice has been 
determined not to be significant for the purposes of Executive Order 
12866.

    Dated: July 11, 2005.
Hratch G. Semerjian,
Acting Director, NIST.
[FR Doc. 05-13992 Filed 7-14-05; 8:45 am]
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