[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 2 (Thursday, January 3, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 290-292]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-31596]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


National Conference on Weights and Measures 98th Interim Meeting

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The 2013 Interim Meeting of the National Conference on Weights 
and Measures (NCWM) will be held January 27 to 30, 2013. 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 January 27 to 30, 2013.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Francis Marion Hotel located 
at 387 King Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29403.

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 at (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) 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 or other information 
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 representatives from the private sector. 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 encourage cooperation between 
federal agencies and the states in the development of legal metrology 
requirements. NIST also promotes uniformity among the states in laws, 
regulations, methods, and testing equipment that comprise the 
regulatory control of commercial weighing and measuring devices, 
packaged goods, 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 
2013 Annual Meeting that will be held at the Seelbach Hilton Hotel 
located at 500 South Fourth Street in Lexington, Kentucky, on July 14-
18, 2013. The Committees may withdraw or carryover items that need 
additional development.
    Some of the items listed below provide notice of projects under 
development by groups working to develop specifications, tolerances, 
and other requirements for devices used in retail sales of electricity 
for recharging vehicles and in sub-metering applications and the use of 
Global Positioning System (GPS) devices for fare determinations in the 
vehicle-for-hire industry (e.g., taxis and limousines). Also included 
are notices about efforts to establish methods of sale for pressurized 
containers and to develop test procedures for verifying the net 
contents of printer ink and toner cartridges. These notices are 
intended to make interested parties aware of these development projects 
and to make them aware that reports on the status of the project will 
be given at the Interim Meeting. The notices are also presented to 
invite the participation of manufacturers, experts, consumers, users 
and others who may be interested in these efforts.
    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:
Scales
Item 320-1: S.6.4. Railway Track Scales and Appendix D--Definitions
    Railway track scales are used throughout the country for the 
determination of freight charges and for commercial transactions for a 
wide variety of commodities (e.g., coal, grains and chemicals) totaling 
billions of dollars each year. The intent of this proposal is to amend 
NIST Handbook 44 to recognize changes to the definition of how nominal 
capacity is determined for railway track scales. The new definition was 
recently developed by Committee 34--Scales, of the American Railway 
Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association and approved for 
inclusion

[[Page 291]]

in the American Association of Railroads (AAR) Scale Handbook. Adoption 
of the proposed revision will ensure that NIST Handbook 44 is 
consistent with the AAR Scale Handbook, thus, ensuring uniformity in 
state laws and regulations, which apply to railway scales, that are 
used extensively in interstate commerce.
Vehicle Tank Meters
Item 331-2: T.4. Product Depletion Test
    The vehicle tank meters mounted on multi-compartment tank trucks 
are used to deliver a wide variety of fuels and other products to 
businesses and consumers alike (e.g., diesel fuel, home heating fuel). 
A product depletion test is conducted to ensure that the performance 
accuracy of a meter remains within tolerance when one compartment in 
the tank truck empties of product and the delivery is continued from 
another compartment. This proposal would amend NIST Handbook 44 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 intent of this proposal is to ensure consistent application of the 
tolerances to product depletion tests conducted on older and newer 
meters. It will also eliminate an unintentional gap that allows an 
unreasonably large tolerance to be applied to small meters.
Mass Flow Meters
Item 337-1: Appendix D--Definitions: Diesel Liter and Diesel Gallon 
Equivalents of Natural Gas
    In 1994 both liter and gallon equivalents for gasoline (based on an 
``average'' equivalent energy content developed by the industry) were 
established by the NCWM based on the industry's request to provide a 
means for consumers to make value and fuel economy comparisons between 
compressed natural gas (CNG) and a liter or gallon of gasoline in order 
to promote broader acceptance and use of CNG as a vehicle fuel. This 
proposal would establish a ``diesel liter equivalent (DLE)'' and a 
``diesel gallon equivalent (DGE)'' and equivalent mass values for these 
units when they are used in retail vehicle refueling applications. The 
use of these units is to inform consumers that a DLE or DGE of 
``compressed'' or ``liquefied'' natural gas contains approximately the 
same amount of energy they would receive if they purchased a liter or 
gallon of diesel fuel. The submitter of this proposal believes that 
adoption and use of the DLE or DGE in retail fuel sales would make it 
easier for consumers to make price, value, and fuel economy comparisons 
between an equivalent liter or gallon of compressed natural gas and 
diesel fuel. See also Item 337-2: S.1.2. Compressed Natural Gas 
Dispensers, S.1.3.1.1., Compressed Natural Gas Used as an Engine Fuel, 
and S.5.2. Marking of Gasoline Volume Equivalent Conversion Factor, and 
Item 232-1: Section 2.27. Retail Sales of Natural Gas Sold as a Vehicle 
Fuel in the Laws and Regulations Committee Agenda.
Use of GPS Systems for Fare Determinations--Developing Item
Item 360-6: Global Positioning Systems for Fare Determinations in the 
Vehicle for Hire Industry
    This item is presented to raise awareness of work that is underway 
to amend Section 5.54. ``Taximeters'' to incorporate specifications, 
tolerances, user and other technical requirements for devices that 
incorporate Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) systems, and associated 
software commercially to compute fares or fees based upon distance and/
or time measurements. GPS systems and applications designed to compute 
fares based upon distance and/or time measurements are being introduced 
into the vehicle for-hire industry (e.g., taxicabs, limousines) across 
the country. Appropriate technical and device accuracy requirements 
must be developed for manufacturers and users of these devices, and for 
weights and measures officials so that consumers can be assured of 
accurate fares associated with the transportation service provided and 
to enable consumers to make value comparisons between competing 
services.
NCWM Laws and Regulations Committee (L & R Committee)
    The following items are proposals to amend NIST Handbook 130 or 
NIST Handbook 133:
NIST Handbook 130--Uniform Regulation for the Method of Sale of 
Commodities
Item 231-2: Section 10.3. Aerosols and Similar Pressurized Containers
    This proposal is intended to provide an appropriate method of sale 
(i.e., the product must be offered for sale by either weight or fluid 
volume but not both) for packages utilizing the Bag on Valve (BOV) 
technology. BOV means a pressurized package where a propellant is not 
expelled with the product when the valve is activated. BOV packaging 
has been in the marketplace for many years and is used to sell the same 
products sold in aerosol containers (e.g., sunscreen, wound wash, 
shaving cream, and car products). Some BOV packages have their net 
contents declared in terms of fluid volume. Section 10.3. currently 
requires aerosols and similar pressurized containers to disclose their 
net quantity in terms of weight. Because BOV containers (net contents 
in fluid volume) are being used to sell the same type of products 
dispensed from aerosol containers (net contents in weight), consumers 
are unable to make value comparisons.
Item 232-6: Packaged Printer Ink and Toner Cartridges
    This proposal was originally intended to establish a method of sale 
for inkjet and toner cartridges to ensure that consumers are informed 
about the net quantity of contents of packages and so they can make 
value comparisons. The original proposals would have required 
manufacturers (and aftermarket refillers) to declare net quantities to 
facilitate both value comparison by consumers and verification by 
weights and measures officials, and to ensure equity between buyer and 
seller and fair competition between sellers, manufacturers and 
refillers. At the 2012 NCWM Annual Meeting a newly formed Printer Ink 
and Toner Cartridge Gravimetric Package Testing Task Group (Task Group) 
met to consider test methods that could be used to verify the net 
contents of packages. The Task Group will report on its progress at the 
meeting. See also Item 260-3 Gravimetric Testing of Printer Ink and 
Toner Cartridges for more information.
Retail Sale of Electricity for Vehicle Recharging--Developing Item
Item 270-2: Uniform Method of Sale Regulation, Section 2.XX. Retail 
Sale of Electricity/Vehicle
    A workgroup on retail sales of electricity for vehicle recharging 
has been formed to engage manufacturers, users and others involved in 
vehicle recharging and the weights and measures community in helping to 
develop a proposed method of sale for electricity sold at the retail 
level to recharge vehicles. Any stakeholder, including vehicle and 
device manufacturers, consumers, public utility commissions, weights 
and measures officials, smart grid experts, and all others interested 
in the development of a method of sale for electricity and other 
requirements for devices use to sell electricity to recharge vehicles 
are invited to participate in this effort. In addition to method of 
sale

[[Page 292]]

requirements, the workgroup will consider proposals for specifications, 
tolerances, and user requirements for measuring devices, and possible 
requirements for device security and information posting requirements 
(e.g., information on service fees, charging rates and how to contact 
the party responsible for the device). A work group report will be 
presented at the meeting.
Uniform Engine Fuels and Automotive Lubricants Regulation
Item 237-2: Section 2.1.4. Minimum Antiknock Index (AKI), Section 
2.1.5. Minimum Motor Octane Number and Table 1. Minimum Antiknock Index 
Requirements
    This is a proposal to discontinue the obsolete practice of altitude 
de-rating of octane, to establish a national octane baseline, and to 
establish uniform octane labeling requirements. The proposal will amend 
the Engine Fuels and Automotive Lubricants Regulation to bring it into 
agreement with efforts underway in the ASTM Gasoline and Oxygenates 
Subcommittee to include a minimum motor octane number (MON) performance 
limit in its specifications for gasoline. Vehicles manufactured after 
1984 include engine computer controls that maintain optimal performance 
when they use gasoline with an octane of 87 AKI or higher. The current 
practice of altitude de-rating of octane, results in octanes below 87 
AKI which reduces a vehicle's efficiency and fuel economy. 
Increasingly, more vehicles are boosted (turbocharged/supercharged) 
eliminating the intake air effects caused by altitude. Additionally, 
consumers using gasoline with an octane AKI below 87 may void their 
vehicle warranty.

    Dated: December 28, 2012.
Willie E. May,
Associate Director for Laboratory Programs.
[FR Doc. 2012-31596 Filed 1-2-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P