[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 249 (Wednesday, December 28, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81477-81479]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-33276]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


National Conference on Weights and Measures 97th Interim Meeting

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Interim Meeting of the 97th National Conference on Weights 
and Measures (NCWM) will be held January 22 to 25, 2012. 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 on January 22-25, 2012.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Hotel Monteleone located at 
214 Royal Street, New Orleans, LA 70130-2201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Carol Hockert, Chief, NIST, Office 
of Weights and Measures, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 2600, Gaithersburg, MD 
20899-2600. You may also contact Ms. Hockert by telephone (301) 975-
5507 or by email at [email protected]. The meetings are open to 
the public, but a paid registration is required. Please see NCWM 
Publication 15 ``Interim Meeting Agenda'' (www.ncwm.net or http://www.nist.gov/pml/wmd/index.cfm) 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 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 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. 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 trade and commerce issues.
    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 
97th Annual Meeting that will be held in Portland, Maine, on July 15-
19, 2012. The Committees may withdraw or

[[Page 81478]]

carryover items that need additional development.
    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 product 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:

Item 320-4, UR.1.2. Grain Hopper Scales.

    The intent of this proposal is to add language to NIST Handbook 44 
to clarify the requirement that hopper scales used to weigh grain must 
be Accuracy Class III weighing devices. The submitter of this proposal 
believes that this revision is needed to help ensure that weights and 
measures officials uniformly apply the handbook's tolerances and other 
technical and use requirements to grain hopper scales.

Liquid Measuring Devices

    Some gasoline and fuel retailers offer a variety of discounts to 
consumers on fuel prices in connection with marketing services and 
dispensing product. The items that follow include proposals to modify 
Section 3.30. Liquid-Measuring Devices to require that retailers 
provide consumers with adequate transaction information to assist them 
in making value comparisons and ensure transparency when fuel purchases 
are discounted after a delivery.

Item 330-1, S.1.6.4.1. Unit Price

    This proposal would modify the device specification to recognize 
current marketing practices that offer post delivery discounts on fuel 
prices and require final unit price information.

Item 330-2, S.1.6.5.4. Selection of Unit Price

    This proposal would allow device manufacturers greater flexibility 
in the design and operation of customer operated controls on motor-fuel 
dispensers by recognizing the use of new technology in the selection of 
a unit price.

Item 330-3, S.1.6.6. Agreement between Indications

    This proposal would exempt ``total money values'' displays on the 
dispenser and auxiliary equipment (such as the display on a remote 
control console in an operator's kiosk) from agreement requirements 
when retailers offer post delivery discounts for a fuel sale.

Item 330-4, S.1.6.7. Recorded Representations

    This proposal would ensure that fuel dispensers provide receipts 
with sufficient price and other information to allow customers to 
understand any post delivery discounts and recognize the use of either 
digitally transmitted or printed receipts.

Item 330-5, UR.3.2. Unit Price and Product Identity

    This proposal is intended to clarify the requirements for 
displaying or posting the final unit price of a fuel offered at a 
discount and periods where the highest unit price shall be displayed.

Item 330-6, UR.3.3. Computing Device

    This proposal would require that customer receipts include adequate 
information to allow the customer to understand and verify any post 
delivery discounts the retailer provides in connection with a fuel 
sale.

Vehicle Tank Meters

Item 331-1, T.4. Product Depletion Test

    This proposal would amend the handbook to base the product 
depletion test tolerances on the meter's maximum flow rate (a marking 
required on all meters), rather than the marked meter size (this 
marking is required for meters manufactured in 2009 or later). The 
justifications for this proposal are that it will improve the 
consistency of the tolerance application to older meters that are not 
required to be marked with the meter size and correct the application 
of tolerances applied to small meters.

Electronic Livestock, Meat and Poultry Carcass Evaluation Systems

Item 359-1, Tentative Status of Code 5.59. Electronic Livestock, Meat, 
and Poultry Evaluation Systems and/or Devices

    The intent of this proposal is to make tentative Code 5.59. in 
Handbook 44 enforceable so that it can be used to control the accuracy 
and use of electronic carcass evaluation equipment. The equipment in 
this code is used commercially in livestock procurement operations to 
determine the value of the animals being purchased. Currently, there is 
no independent, third party verifying the accuracy of these devices. In 
2010, 106.9 million hogs weighing 21.8 billion pounds with a total 
value of $15.7 billion were commercially purchased. Of these purchases, 
about 80 percent were made on a carcass yield weight basis using an 
electronic carcass evaluation device. The use of these devices in the 
beef industry is just emerging so no data on the level of use is 
available for that application. In addition, electronic evaluation 
devices are used to measure composition or quality constituents in 
individual cuts of meat for further sale to consumers. Studies have 
shown that improper use of electronic carcass evaluation equipment can 
change the value of livestock, meat, and poultry. The impact of 
calibration, machine, and formula errors is unknown. Because the 
revenues of livestock and poultry producers in every state are, or will 
be, affected by the use of these devices, adoption of a final code that 
defines specifications, tolerances, and other technical requirements 
for these devices will help ensure equity between buyer and seller and 
fair competition between businesses.

NCWM Laws and Regulations Committee

    The following items are proposals to amend NIST Handbook 130 or 
NIST Handbook 133:

Uniform Regulation for the Method of Sale of Commodities

Item 232-1., Polyethylene Products--Method of Sale Regulation--Section 
2.13.4. ``Declaration of Weight.''

    The Committee will consider a proposal to revise the density values 
used to calculate the net weights on some packages of polyethylene 
products to recognize that heavier density plastics are now being used 
in some sheeting and bags. (See also Item 260-4, Handbook 133, Chapter 
4.7.

[[Page 81479]]

Polyethylene Sheeting--Test Procedure--Footnote to Step 3.)

Item 232-6, Packaged Printer Ink and Toner Cartridges

    A proposed method of sale will be considered for adoption to 
clarify the labeling requirements for packaged inkjet and toner 
cartridges to ensure that consumers are informed about the net quantity 
of contents of these products, and that value comparisons can be made, 
and quantities can be verified to ensure equity between buyer and 
seller and fair competition between sellers, including original 
equipment manufacturers and refillers.

Uniform Engine Fuels and Automotive Lubricants Regulation

Item 237-9, Requirements for Hydrogen, and Item 237-10, Definition for 
Hydrogen Fuel for Internal Combustion Engines and Fuel Cell Vehicles

    These two proposed regulations are being considered to adopt a 
national quality standard for commercial hydrogen fuel and to adopt 
hydrogen related definitions. Both proposals would apply to hydrogen 
fuel when it is sold through dispensing equipment for use in fuel cell 
and internal combustion engine vehicles. The first proposal would add 
the most recent version of SAE International's Standard J2719 
``Hydrogen Fuel Quality for Fuel Cell Vehicles'' to specify the quality 
standards that hydrogen fuel would have to meet, and the second 
proposal would define the hydrogen-related terms of ``fuel cell,'' 
``hydrogen fuel,'' and ``internal combustion engine.''

    Dated: December 22, 2011.
Willie E. May,
Associate Director for Laboratory Programs.
[FR Doc. 2011-33276 Filed 12-27-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P