[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 130 (Tuesday, July 8, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 38493-38495]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-15798]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


National Conference on Weights and Measures 99th Annual Meeting

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The 99th Annual Meeting of the National Conference on Weights 
and Measures (NCWM) will be held in Detroit, Michigan, from Sunday, 
July 13, 2014, to Thursday, July 17, 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 from Sunday, July 13, 2014, to 
Thursday, July 17, 2014. Meeting hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 
(ET) daily.

ADDRESSES: This meeting will be held at the Westin Book Cadillac 
Detroit located at 1114 Washington Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48226

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 meeting is open to the public, but 
a paid registration is required. Please see NCWM Publication 16 
``Committee Reports for the 99th Annual Meeting'' (www.ncwm.net) to 
view the meeting agendas, registration forms, and hotel 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 Annual 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 discuss the recommendations up 
for adoption at the 2014 Annual Meeting. 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 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 
clarify a method of sale for pressurized containers that utilize bag-
on-valve technology. These notices are intended to make interested 
parties aware of these projects and additional information on each item 
may be given at the Annual 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'' (HB44). 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 a proposal to amend 
the ``Uniform Method of Sale of Commodities Regulation'' and other 
uniform regulations in NIST Handbook 130 ``Uniform Laws and Regulations 
in the area of Legal Metrology and Engine Fuel Quality'' (HB130).

[[Page 38494]]

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 320-2 User Requirement--UR.2.4. Foundations, Supports, and 
Clearance

    The S&T Committee is recommending an amendment to this User 
Requirement to allow an in-motion railroad scale to use continuous 
rails extending throughout the approach and weighing areas. Currently 
use of continuous rails is not permitted under paragraph HB44-UR.2.4. 
that reads ``clearance shall be provided around all live parts to the 
extent that no contacts may result when the load-receiving element is 
empty, nor throughout the weighing range of the scale.'' This proposal 
was made in response to a request from a scale manufacturer that offers 
a scale that determines the weight of railcars moving over continuous 
rails. This railroad scale design is used in other countries where it 
has received approval from legal metrology officials under regulations 
that differ from the requirements in HB44.

Mass Flow Meters

Item 337-2 Appendix D--Definitions: Diesel Liter Equivalent (DLE) and 
Diesel Gallon

    Equivalent (DGE) for Compressed Natural Gas and Liquefied Natural 
Gas; Definition of Gasoline Gallon Equivalent (GGE) and Gasoline Liter 
Equivalent (GLE) for Compressed Natural Gas; S.1.2. Compressed Natural 
Gas and Liquefied Natural Gas Dispensers; S.1.3.1.1. Compressed Natural 
Gas Used as an Engine Fuel; S.1.3.1.2. Liquefied Natural Gas Used as an 
Engine Fuel; S.5.2. Marking of Diesel and Gasoline Volume Equivalent 
Conversion Factor; Compressed Natural Gas, S.5.3. Marking of Diesel 
Volume Equivalent Conversion Factor; Liquefied Natural Gas, UR.3.1.1. 
Marking of Equivalent Conversion Factor for Compressed Natural Gas, 
UR.3.1.2. Marking of Equivalent Conversion Factor for Liquefied Natural 
Gas, and UR.3.8. Return of Product to Storage, Retail Compressed 
Natural Gas and Liquefied Natural Gas.
    In 1994, in response to a request from a coalition of natural gas 
providers and subsequent fuel study, the NCWM adopted conversion 
factors for use in converting a delivery of Compressed Natural Gas 
(CNG) vehicle fuel to an equivalent liter or gallon of gasoline. At 
that time those equivalents were based on averaged regional CNG energy 
values and the approximate lower heating value for a gallon of gasoline 
(indolene). The equivalent values were recommended by the CNG industry 
to promote greater use of CNG as a vehicle fuel. The ``Gasoline Liter/
Gallon Equivalents'' were developed as a means to facilitate value 
comparisons between gasoline and CNG and to permit 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 
energy content of natural gas. Another concern with the 1994 
``equivalents'' is that the specified values have not been reevaluated 
to ensure that they correlate with the energy content of today's 
gasoline and gasoline-oxygenated blends or other alternative fuels such 
as E85. Consequently, many weights and measures officials are reluctant 
to consider adding more 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%). The proposals 
would establish new equivalents identified as the ``diesel liter 
equivalent (DLE)'' and a ``diesel gallon equivalent (DGE)'' for both 
CNG and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) that correspond to specific 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 to the fact that a DLE 
or DGE of ``compressed'' or ``liquefied'' natural gas would contain 
approximately the same amount of energy as a liter or gallon of diesel 
fuel. Many 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 
based ``equivalent'' liter or gallon of compressed natural gas and 
diesel fuel. See also Items 337-3, and 337-5 on the Specifications and 
Tolerances Committee Agenda and Items 232-3 and Item 237-2 on the Laws 
and Regulations Committee Agenda regarding proposed methods of sale for 
the DLE and DGE.
    The Clean Vehicle Education Foundation (CVEF) submitted proposals 
in 2012 and 2013 for rule changes to allow compressed natural gas (CNG) 
and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be sold as a retail engine fuel in 
liter or gallon equivalent units. The NCWM established the Natural Gas 
Steering Committee (NGSC) in July 2013 to address concerns over the 
proliferation of equivalent units and resolve other technical issues 
involved with the proposed changes to HB44 and HB130.
    At the January 2014 NCWM Interim Meeting, the Chairman of the NGSC 
advised the S&T and L&R Committees that the NGSC planned to consolidate 
the proposals to modify HB44 and HB130 and that the NGSC supported 
recognition of the new diesel energy equivalent units for both 
compressed and liquefied natural gas. The NGSC completed its work in 
March 2014 and its recommendations are included in NCWM Publication 16 
as voting items for adoption at the July 2014 NCWM Annual Meeting.

[[Page 38495]]

NCWM Laws and Regulations Committee (L & R Committee)

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

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 clarify that a current method of 
sale applies to aerosol containers, and containers that utilize Bag-on-
Valve (BOV) technology and other self-pressurized packages that have 
their net content declarations presented in terms of fluid volume. 
Currently, under the Uniform Packaging and Labeling Regulation (UPLR) 
adopted by many states and under regulations issued by both the Food 
and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission, products sold 
in aerosol or similar pressurized containers must be offered for sale 
by net 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 proposal will allow the companies which 
currently label containers by volume in conflict with the existing 
method of sale at least three years (the deadline for compliance is 
January 1, 2018) to bring their labeling into compliance.

    Dated: June 26, 2014.
Willie E. May,
Associate Director for Laboratory Programs.
[FR Doc. 2014-15798 Filed 7-7-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P