[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 110 (Tuesday, June 9, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32535-32537]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-14007]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


National Conference on Weights and Measures 100th Annual Meeting

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The 100th Annual Meeting of the National Conference on Weights 
and Measures (NCWM) will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 
Sunday, July 19, 2015, through Thursday, July 23, 2015. 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 19, 2015, through 
Thursday, July 23, 2015. The complete meeting schedule is available at 
www.ncwm.net.

ADDRESSES: This meeting will be held at the Sheraton Philadelphia 
Society Hill Hotel, 1 Dock Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Carol Hockert, Chief, Office of 
Weights and Measures, National Institute of Standards and 
Technology,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 the NCWM Web site (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

[[Page 32536]]

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 at the NCWM Annual Meeting. 
Comments will be taken on these and other issues during several public 
comment sessions. This meeting also includes work sessions in which the 
Committees may also accept comments, and where they will finalize 
recommendations for possible adoption at this 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. 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 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.'' 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 products or 
services 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 (Including Weigh-in-Motion Vehicle Scales for Use in the 
Enforcement of Highway Load Limits)

Item 320-4 Weigh-in-Motion Vehicle Scales for Use in Highway Weight 
Enforcement
    The S&T Committee is recommending adoption of a new tentative code 
to be included in NIST Handbook 44 that will include the 
specifications, tolerances, and other technical requirements for the 
vehicle scales used by highway weight enforcement agencies to determine 
the axle loads, tandem axle loads, and gross vehicle weights of trucks 
and other large highway vehicles while they are in motion. A tentative 
code has a trial or experimental status. It is not intended to be 
enforced until adopted as a permanent code by the NCWM. The proposed 
tentative code includes recommended tests and tolerances for vehicle 
scales used to weigh vehicles in motion as well as user requirements 
that will ensure devices are maintained and operated properly, allowing 
weighing results to be used to carry out highway weight enforcement 
programs across the nation. The intended application of these scales is 
to weigh vehicles, while in motion, for the purpose of screening and 
sorting the vehicles to determine if a static weighment is necessary.

Belt-Conveyor Scale Systems

Item 321-1 Belt-Conveyor Scale Systems
    Belt-conveyor scales are used in a wide variety of applications for 
weighing coal, grain, ore, and many other raw materials or products. 
Currently, only scales that are fully integrated into a conveyor system 
are permitted under NIST Handbook 44. The S&T Committee is recommending 
for adoption new definitions and proposals to broaden the scope of the 
requirements to allow fully ``self-contained weigh-belt systems'' to be 
covered by the specifications, tolerances, and other technical 
requirements in NIST Handbook 44 so these devices may be utilized in 
commercial transactions.

Liquid Measuring Devices

Item 330-2 S.2.2. Categories of Device and Methods of Sealing
    The S&T Committee is recommending for adoption language that would 
allow device manufacturers to supply required security and 
configuration related data in ``event loggers'' (i.e., digital systems 
that keep track of the number of times a calibration event occurs) to 
weights and measures officials and service personnel utilizing digital 
communications (e.g., cellular or Internet connections) or other 
electronic means (e.g., USB flash memory drive) in addition to the 
current requirement to provide a printed record of this information. 
This information is used to ascertain how many and what type of 
calibrations and configuration changes were made to a weighing and 
measuring device since the last official inspection or service. The S&T 
Committee originally considered a proposal which would allow the 
information to be provided in lieu of a printed record. However, based 
on comments received and an evaluation of the costs, practicality, and 
other aspects of the proposal including the data security and privacy 
concerns that may arise, the Committee agreed that the electronic form 
of the information is only permitted as a supplement to the printed 
record.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas and Anhydrous Ammonia Liquid-Measuring Devices

Item 332-2 N.3. Test Drafts--Use of Transfer Standards for Calibration 
and Verification
    The S&T Committee has designated a ``Developing'' item on its 
agenda to allow the development of a proposal that would recognize the 
use of calibrated transfer standards (also called ``master meters'') in 
the verification and calibration of Liquefied Petroleum Gas and 
Anhydrous Ammonia Liquid-Measuring Devices. Currently, most official 
tests of these devices are conducted using volumetric test measures or 
using gravimetric testing. The proposal outlined in this item includes 
requirements for a minimum test draft, and would allow the use of 
``master meters'' in both service-related and official testing. This 
item is also intended to explore the possibility of expanding the use 
of transfer standards to other types of measuring devices, including 
those used to measure petroleum at terminals and retail outlets and to 
meters used to deliver home heating fuel and other products.

Mass Flow Meters

Item 337-1 Diesel Energy Equivalents for Compressed and Liquefied 
Natural Gas
    Natural gas is sold in the marketplace in both compressed (CNG) and 
liquefied (LNG) states as alternative fuel choices to gasoline and 
diesel fuel. The S&T Committee has recommended revisions to NIST 
Handbook 44 to define volume units for CNG and LNG in terms of the 
energy equivalents for a liter or gallon of diesel fuel. The 
availability of these

[[Page 32537]]

values should enable consumers to compare the cost and mileage economy 
of different fuels, and so enable informed purchasing decisions when 
considering the use, purchase, or lease of vehicles equipped to operate 
on different fuels.

Taximeters (and GPS Devices When Used in Transportation Services)

Items 354-1, 354-2, 354-3, 354-4, and 354-5
    The S&T Committee is recommending for adoption this group of 
proposals (listed above), which includes proposed revisions and updates 
to the Taximeter Code in NIST Handbook 44 to address changes in 
technology related to indicating and recording elements (i.e., 
printers) and operational features including the indications required 
to be presented to passengers.
Item 354-6 U.S. National Working Group on Taximeters and Global 
Positioning System-Based Systems for Time and Distance Measurement
    The S&T Committee will hear a progress report from a national 
working group that is studying the use of Global Positioning Systems 
and smart phone/web based applications in transportation services in 
order to develop proposed specifications, tolerances, and other 
technical requirements to ensure accuracy and transparency for 
passengers, drivers, and businesses for inclusion in NIST Handbook 44. 
This item is designated as a ``Developing Item'' on the Committee's 
agenda to allow further study and refinement of these issues.

Other Items

Item 360-5 Electric Vehicle Fueling and Submetering
    The S&T Committee is recommending adoption of a tentative code for 
use in electric vehicle charging and submetering for inclusion in NIST 
Handbook 44. The code was developed by a NIST U.S. National Working 
Group that continues to further refine the specifications, tolerances, 
and other technical requirements to ensure accuracy and transparency 
for drivers of electric vehicles and power resellers. The S&T Committee 
is also recommending for adoption proposed changes to the Section 5.55. 
``Timing Devices'' in NIST Handbook 44 to address requirements for the 
timing mechanisms that are likely to be used in some recharging systems 
to determine additional charges for other services (e.g., parking).

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--Section on Uniform Regulation for the Method of Sale 
of Commodities

Item 232-3 Animal Bedding
    The L&R Committee is recommending the adoption of a uniform method 
of sale for animal bedding that will enhance the ability of consumers 
to make value comparisons and will ensure fair competition. Animal 
Bedding is generally defined as any material, except for baled straw, 
that is kept, offered or exposed for sale or sold to retail consumers 
for primary use as a medium for any pet or companion or livestock 
animal to nest or eliminate waste. If adopted, the proposal will 
require packers to advertise and sell packages of animal bedding on the 
basis of the expanded volume of the bedding. Most packages of animal 
bedding are compressed during packaging and the expanded volume is the 
amount of product that consumers will recover through unwrapping and 
decompressing the bedding according to the instructions provided by the 
packer. See also Item 260-3 for proposed Test Procedures for Verifying 
the Expanded Volume Declaration on Packages of Animal Bedding.

NIST Handbook 133--``Checking the Net Contents of Packaged Goods''

Item 260-1 Chitterling Test Procedure
    The L&R Committee is recommending for adoption a proposal that will 
add a test procedure and purge allowance to NIST Handbook 133 so the 
drainage equipment and methods used by state and local weights and 
measures officials are identical to those used by the Food Safety and 
Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in packing 
plants. This test procedure will also be used in verifying the amount 
of purge from beef tripe.

    Authority:  15 U.S.C. 272(b)(6).

Richard Cavanagh,
Acting Associate Director for Laboratory Programs.
[FR Doc. 2015-14007 Filed 6-8-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-13-P