[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 249 (Friday, December 27, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78819-78821]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-31092]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


National Conference on Weights and Measures 99th Interim Meeting

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The 99th Interim Meeting of the National Conference on Weights 
and Measures (NCWM) will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, January 19 
to 22, 2014. 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 19 to 22, 2014.

ADDRESSES: This meeting will be held at the Hotel Albuquerque, 800 Rio 
Grande Boulevard, NW., Albuquerque, NM 87104.

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

[[Page 78820]]

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 recommendations for NCWM 
consideration and possible adoption at its 2014 Annual Meeting will be 
developed. The Committees may withdraw or carryover items that need 
additional development. The 99th Annual Meeting of the NCWM will be 
held July 13 to 17, 2014, at the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit, 1114 
Washington Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48226.
    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 the retail sales of engine 
fuels and the establishment of approximate gallon and liter equivalents 
to diesel fuel that would be used in marketing both compressed and 
liquefied natural gas. Also included is a notice about efforts to 
establish a method of sale for pressurized containers that utilize bag-
on-valve technology. 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:

General Code

    Item 310-2 G.S.5.6. Recorded Representations.
    A variety of commercial weighing and measuring devices are required 
to provide paper receipts for consumers at the end of a transaction. 
These receipts provide important information for consumers (e.g., 
seller identity, date, product identity, and amount delivered, along 
with the unit price and total price of the transaction). Sometimes 
receipts include details of transaction that are often not readily 
apparent to consumers at the time of the transaction (e.g., such as 
when a point of sale system in a grocery store deducts for the tare 
weight on a package of apples). These documents help consumers 
understand a transaction and reconcile the transaction with billing 
invoices or credit card bills in the future. Detailed receipts are 
especially important in transactions where the customer is often not 
present, such as when a delivery of heating fuel is made when the 
consumer is not at home. Receipts describing transaction details help 
prevent fraud and provide valuable protections for buyers and sellers 
alike. This item is a proposal to revise the General Code requirement 
to allow sellers to offer consumers the choice of receiving receipts 
via digital communications such as email or online account access.

Scales

    Item 320-1 S.2.1.6. Combined Zero-Tare Key.
    Some manufacturers of high-precision balances that are typically 
used by precious metal and gem buyers have built balances that have a 
single pushbutton that combines two functions: (1) Function used to 
keep the balance on zero and (2) the function used to deduct for the 
tare weight of a tray or weighing pan. Regulations adopted by most 
states prohibit the use of weighing devices with this type of feature 
in direct buying and selling transactions (i.e., where the customer is 
present). Consumers in direct sale transactions have a legal right 
under the laws of most states to view the balance indications and 
weighing operation to prevent fraud. Most states also require scales 
and balances to automatically indicate that tare has been deducted. 
Such features benefit both the consumer and the device user since the 
indication helps to ensure the accuracy of the transaction. Because 
many devices with the combined zero-tare key feature have found their 
way into direct sale applications, some manufacturers are now 
requesting a change to the requirement based on the assumption that 
there is no evidence that a combined feature key on some balances has 
led to an increase in fraud in these types of transactions. This item 
includes a proposal to amend existing regulations to allow scales and 
balances to be equipped with a combined ``zero/tare'' pushbutton if it 
is designed to operate within narrow limits and there are indications 
or controls built into the device to provide consumers with information 
about the zero condition of the scale or balance.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Anhydrous Ammonia Measuring Devices

    Item 332-1 Proposed amendments to device specifications and user 
requirements. This item includes several proposals that will amend the 
specifications and other requirements for liquid measuring devices used 
to sell LPG and Anhydrous Ammonia to require electronic measuring 
devices to be equipped with the means to retain detailed transaction 
information in the event of a power failure. Another proposal would 
require the posting of unit price and product identity adjacent to 
stationary devices in retail outlets. In addition, the proposed 
specifications would require that measuring devices used in retail 
applications to fill motor vehicles have a zero-setback interlock in 
operation to ensure that the product indications would be returned to 
zero following each completed transaction (note: zero-setback 
interlocks have been required to be provided on retail gasoline and 
diesel dispensers for more than 50 years). Another proposal would add 
requirements for measuring devices used in wholesale and contractual 
transactions for unit price and product identity posting as well as 
special requirements for devices used to sell the same products at 
different unit prices (e.g., discount unit price for sales where the 
customer purchases an optional car wash).

Mass Flow Meters

    Item 337-1 (and others): Appendix D--Definitions: Diesel Liter and 
Diesel Gallon Energy Equivalents for Liquefied and Compressed Natural 
Gas.
    In response to a request from a coalition of natural gas providers, 
the NCWM adopted Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) ``equivalents'' to a 
liter and gallon of gasoline in 1994. At that time those equivalents 
were based on the ``approximate'' value of energy in a

[[Page 78821]]

gallon of gasoline and were recommended by the CNG industry to promote 
broader acceptance and use of CNG as a vehicle fuel base on value. The 
``Gasoline Liter/Gallon Equivalents'' were intended to provide a means 
for consumers to make accurate value comparisons between gasoline and 
CNG and to facilitate fuel economy comparisons. In a number of 
instances since the adoption of these ``equivalents,'' some state 
weights and measures officials and several CNG providers have expressed 
the concern that the energy equivalent values adopted in 1994 do not 
provide an accurate estimate of the true energy content of natural gas. 
Another concern with the 1994 ``equivalents'' is that the equivalents 
have not been reevaluated to ensure that they accurately correlate with 
the energy content of today's gasoline and gasoline-oxygenate blends or 
other alternative fuels such as E85. Consequently, many weights and 
measures officials are reluctant to consider adding other energy 
``equivalency'' values for additional fuels unless some mechanism is 
established to ensure that all of these energy equivalency values are 
routinely updated to reflect the current energy content (i.e., Joules/
BTUs) of gasoline and diesel fuels and various blends of these products 
with alternative fuels. The need for such a mechanism is important 
considering the many blends of fuels that are currently in the 
marketplace and others that are anticipated to enter the fuel arena in 
the future (e.g., 15% or higher ethanol blends with gasoline and 
biodiesel blends greater than 5%). These new proposals would establish 
a ``diesel liter equivalent (DLE)'' and a ``diesel gallon equivalent 
(DGE)'' and specify equivalent mass values for these units when they 
are used in retail vehicle refueling applications. The proponents of 
these proposals indicate that the purpose of these units is to educate 
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. Most sellers of 
these products believe 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 energy ``equivalent'' 
liter or gallon of compressed natural gas and everyday diesel fuel. See 
also Items 337-2, 337-3, 337-4, and 337-5 on the Specifications and 
Tolerances Committee Agenda and Items 232-2 and 232-3 in the Laws and 
Regulations Committee Agenda regarding proposed methods of sale for the 
DLE and DGE.

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 item includes a proposal to establish a method of sale for 
pressurized containers that utilize Bag-on-Valve (BOV) technology that 
have their net content declarations in terms of fluid volume. Unlike 
most aerosol containers, packages fitted with BOV technology do not 
expel a propellant with the product when the valve is activated. 
Currently, under the Uniform Packaging and Labeling Regulation (UPLR) 
adopted by many states, products sold in aerosol or similar pressurized 
containers must be offered for sale by weight. BOV packaging, which has 
been in the marketplace for many years, is used to sell the same 
products sold in aerosol containers (e.g., sunscreen, wound wash, 
shaving cream, and car-care products). Because BOV containers (with 
their net contents declared in fluid volume) are used to sell the same 
type of products dispensed from aerosol containers (with their net 
contents declared by weight), consumers are unable to make value 
comparisons between similar products. The L&R Committee is aware that 
most countries in the European Union require aerosol and pressurized 
containers to display net contents in terms of fluid volume, but other 
countries permit these types of containers to display net contents 
declarations in terms of both net weight and volume.

    Dated: December 19, 2013.
Willie E. May,
Associate Director for Laboratory Programs.
[FR Doc. 2013-31092 Filed 12-26-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P