[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 243 (Tuesday, December 19, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75944-75945]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-21607]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


Notice of a Public Meeting of the Interim Meeting of National 
Conference on Weights and Measures in January 2007

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of a public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The Interim Meetings of the 92nd National Conference on 
Weights and Measures (NCWM) will be held January 21 to 24, 2007, in 
Jacksonville, Florida. The majority of the meetings are open to the 
public but registration is required. The NCWM is an organization of 
weights and measures officials of the states, counties, and cities of 
the United States, Federal Agencies, and private sector 
representatives. 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. Pursuant to (15 U.S.C. 
272(b)(6)), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 
supports the NCWM as one of the means it uses to solicit comments and 
recommendations on revising or updating a variety of publications 
related to legal metrology. NIST participates to promote uniformity 
among the States in laws, regulations, methods, and testing equipment 
that comprise the regulatory control of commercial weighing and 
measuring devices and other practices used in trade and commerce. 
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 contained in this notice or in the publications of the NCWM 
mentioned below. Please see NCWM Publication 15 which contains detailed 
meeting agendas and schedules, registration forms and hotel reservation 
information at http://www.ncwm.net.

DATES: January 21-24, 2007.

ADDRESSES: The Omni Jacksonville, Jacksonville, Florida.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following are brief descriptions of some 
of the significant agenda items that will be considered along with 
other issues at the NCWM Interim 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 where 
they will finalize recommendations for NCWM consideration and possible 
adoption at its Annual Meeting to be held July 8 to 12, 2007, at the 
Snowbird Resort in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Committees may withdraw or 
carry over items that need additional development.
    The Specifications and Tolerances Committee will consider proposed 
amendments to NIST Handbook 44, ``Specifications, Tolerances, and other 
Technical Requirements for Weighing and Measuring Devices (NIST 
Handbook 44).'' Those items address weighing and measuring devices 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 
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.'' This notice 
contains information about significant items on the NCWM Committee 
agendas, and several issues are not presented in this notice. As a 
result, the following items are not consecutively numbered.

NCWM Specifications and Tolerances Committee

    The following items are proposals to amend NIST Handbook 44:

General Code

    Item 310-3. Multiple Weighing and Measuring Elements with a Single 
Provision for Sealing: this item would require new commercial weighing 
and measuring devices with multiple weighing or measuring elements to 
be equipped with one of several means to indicate when changes are made 
to individual elements that affect metrological parameters.

Scales Code

    Item 320-1. Zero Indication; Requirements for Markings or 
Indications for Other than Digital Zero Indications: This proposal 
would clarify the requirement's original intent for marking zero 
indications on scales and point-of-sale systems when there is no load 
on the load receiving element of a scale and where zero is represented 
by other than a digital zero (e.g., scrolling messages, dashes etc.)
    Item 320-5. Tare Rounding on a Multiple Range Scale: This proposal 
would modify indication and rounding requirements for scales which 
change the value of the scale division at different weight loads. The 
requirement will prescribe how a multi-range scale may operate to round 
and indicate the weight of packaging material which must not be 
included in the net weight of the commodity bought or sold over the 
device.
    Item 320-9. Definitions for Tare Mechanism, Gross Weight Value, Net 
Weight, Net Weight Value, Tare, and Tare Weight Value: This proposal is 
one of several that would adopt new or modify existing definitions for 
terms for weight values (net, tare, and gross) indicated by a scale 
during a weighing transaction to reduce the possibility of 
misinterpretation or misapplication of requirements in either type 
evaluation or field applications of commercial weighing devices.

Liquid-Measuring Devices

    Item 330-1. Value of Smallest Unit of Measure for Meters with Flow-
Rates up to or more than 750 liters (200 gallons)

[[Page 75945]]

per-minute and Stationary Jet Refueling Systems with maximum Flow Rates 
of 375 liters (100 gallons) per-minute or more: This proposal would 
provide an exemption and prescribe the conditions in which the handbook 
would allow 5 liter (1 gallon) increments to be used to indicate the 
quantity of fuel delivered by the specific devices covered by this 
proposal.
    Item 330-2. Display of Quantity and Total Price in Aviation 
Refueling Applications: This is a proposal to revise requirements 
related to the display of delivered quantity and total price for the 
stationary liquid measuring devices (typically those used at small or 
midsized airports) to fuel small aircraft.

Vehicle-Tank Meters

    Item 331-1. Temperature Com pen sation: This is a proposal to add 
provisions to Handbook 44 to allow vehicle-mounted measuring devices to 
be equipped with the automatic means to deliver product with the volume 
compensated to a reference temperature. (See also Item 232-1 below 
under the Laws and Regulations Committee).

NCWM Laws and Regulations Committee

    The following item is a proposal to amend NIST Handbook 130:

Method of Sale of Commodities Regulation

    Item 232-1. Temperature Compensation for Petroleum Products: 
Several proposals will be considered that would allow temperature 
compensation to take place on a voluntary basis or limit compensation 
to metering systems with certain flow capacities or specific sales 
applications. Most of the proposals allow compensation to occur only if 
certain conditions are met by the seller.
    Item 232-2. Biodiesel and Fuel Ethanol Labeling: This item requires 
the identification and labeling of biodiesel fuels and blends at retail 
service stations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol Hockert, Chief, NIST, Weights 
and Measures Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 2600, Gaithersburg, MD 
20899-2600. Telephone (301) 975-5507, or e-mail: 
[email protected].

    Dated: December 13, 2006.
James E. Hill,
Acting Deputy Director.
 [FR Doc. E6-21607 Filed 12-18-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P