[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 247 (Wednesday, December 27, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Page 61265]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27892]



[[Page 61265]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


NIST Special Publication 2000-02: Conformity Assessment 
Considerations for Federal Agencies

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 
requests comments on the draft Special Publication (SP) 2000-02 
Conformity Assessment Considerations for Federal Agencies 
(Considerations) document. The draft Considerations document is posted 
on the NIST website at: https://www.nist.gov/standardsgov/special-publications-conformity-assessment.

DATES: NIST requests comments on the draft Considerations document. 
Comments must be received by February 26, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted to NIST in the following ways:
     Electronic comments: Online submissions in electronic form 
may be sent to [email protected] in any of the following formats: 
HTML; ASCII; Word; RTF; or PDF. Please include your name, 
organization's name (if any), and cite ``Comments on Draft Conformity 
Assessment Considerations for Federal Agencies'' in all correspondence. 
Comments containing references, studies, research, and other empirical 
data that are not widely published should include copies of the 
referenced materials. The proposed update to the Considerations 
document is available for review at https://www.nist.gov/standardsgov/special-publications-conformity-assessment. Comments submitted 
electronically, including attachments, will be posted to the NIST 
website unchanged.
     Written comments may be submitted by mail to Lisa 
Carnahan, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau 
Drive, Stop 2100, Gaithersburg, MD 20899.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding the draft 
Considerations document or this Request for Comments should be directed 
to Lisa Carnahan by email at [email protected], or by phone at 301-
975-3362.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
recently revised Circular A-119, ``Federal Participation in the 
Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity 
Assessment Activities,'' in light of changes that have taken place in 
the world of regulation, standards, and conformity assessment since the 
Circular was last revised in 1998.\1\ NIST is revising its conformity 
assessment materials to align with the updated Circular.
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    \1\ See ``OMB Circular A-119: Federal Participation in the 
Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in 
Conformity Assessment Activities,'' which was published on January 
27, 2016 and may be found at: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/inforeg/revised_circular_a-119_as_of_1_22.pdf.
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    On February 28, 2017, NIST hosted a workshop to engage the 
conformity assessment community in the development of its conformity 
assessment materials. Updates to the conformity assessment materials 
reflect growth and evolution in the conformity assessment community as 
well as updates to the guidance in the revised OMB Circular A-119.
    Taking into consideration the feedback received from workshop 
participants as well as input received from conformity assessment 
stakeholders in both the public and private sectors, NIST has developed 
a draft of the following materials:

 Conformity Assessment Considerations for Federal Agencies
 ABC's of Conformity Assessment

    The purpose of the draft Considerations document is to provide the 
basics on conformity assessment concepts and activities as well as 
provide considerations to those who use, rely on, develop, manage or 
operate conformity assessment programs within federal departments and 
agencies. The information contained within the draft Considerations 
document seeks to help federal agencies develop, operate, and use 
conformity assessment programs in order to provide confidence that 
requirements in regulation, federal procurement or federal agency 
programs are met and reduce conformity assessment redundancy and burden 
on regulated entities.
    Request for Public Comments: Persons interested in commenting on 
the draft Considerations document can submit their comments by 
following the instructions in the DATES and ADDRESSES sections.
    All comments will be made publicly available; therefore, personal, 
proprietary or confidential information should not be included. When 
submitting comments, inclusion of name, affiliation, and contact 
information (phone number and/or email address in case of questions 
about the comment) are optional. Comments containing references, 
studies, research, and other empirical data that are not widely 
published should include copies of the referenced materials.

Kevin Kimball,
NIST Chief of Staff.
[FR Doc. 2017-27892 Filed 12-26-17; 8:45 am]
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