[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 7 (Friday, January 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1302-1305]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-00205]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


National Conference on Weights and Measures Interim Meeting

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Interim Meeting of the National Conference on Weights and 
Measures (NCWM) will be held in Riverside, CA, from Sunday, January 26, 
2020, through Wednesday, January 29, 2020. 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.

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DATES: The meeting will be held from Sunday, January 26, 2020, through 
Wednesday, January 29, 2020. The meeting schedule will be available on 
the NCWM website at www.ncwm.com.

ADDRESSES: This meeting will be held at The Mission Inn & Spa, 3649 
Mission Inn Avenue Riverside, CA 92501.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Douglas Olson, NIST, Office of 
Weights and Measures, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 2600, Gaithersburg, MD 
20899-2600. You may also contact Dr. Olson at (301) 975-2956 or by 
email at [email protected]. The meeting is open to the public, but 
a paid registration is required. Please see the NCWM website 
(www.ncwm.com) 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 and does not itself constitute 
an endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology 
(NIST) of the content of the notice. NIST participates in the NCWM as 
an NCWM member and pursuant to 15 U.S.C. 272(b)(10) and (c)(4) and in 
accordance with Federal policy (e.g., OMB Circular A-119 ``Federal 
Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus 
Standards'').
    The NCWM is an organization of weights and measures officials of 
the states, counties, and cities of the United States, and 
representatives from the private sector and federal agencies. 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 in state 
laws, regulations, and testing procedures used in the regulatory 
control of commercial weighing and measuring devices, packaged goods, 
and for other trade and commerce issues.
    The NCWM has established multiple committees, task groups, and 
other working bodies to address legal metrology issues of interest to 
regulatory officials, industry, consumers, and others. The following 
are brief descriptions of some of the significant agenda items that 
will be considered by some of the NCWM Committees 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 will be 
developed for consideration and possible adoption at the NCWM 2020 
Annual Meeting. The Committees may withdraw or carryover items that 
need additional development.
    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'' (NIST HB 44). 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 Areas of Legal Metrology and Fuel Quality'' and NIST Handbook 133, 
``Checking the Net Contents of Packaged Goods.''

NCWM S&T Committee

    The following items are proposals to amend NIST Handbook 44:

SCL--Scales Code

Item SCL-17.1 S.1.8.5. Recorded Representations, Point of Sale Systems, 
Appendix D--Definitions: Tare
    This item is a carry-over item from the 2019 NCWM Annual Meeting 
that has been on the S&T Committee's Agenda since 2017. The S&T 
Committee will consider a proposal requiring additional sales 
information to be recorded by cash registers interfaced with a weighing 
element for items that are weighed at a checkout stand. This item was 
assigned for further development by a Task Group in July 2018. The Task 
Group has provided two different versions of the proposal to the S&T 
Committee. One version is retroactive and the other is a nonretroactive 
version. The version that will be adopted is expected to be part of the 
NCWMs 2020 voting process. The retroactive version would be enforceable 
on all systems, and the nonretroactive version will be enforceable on 
only those systems manufactured and placed in service on or after the 
effective date specified. These systems are currently required to 
record the net weight, unit price, total price, and the product class, 
or in a system equipped with price look-up capability, the product name 
or code number. The change proposed would add ``tare weight'' to the 
list of sales information currently required.
Item SCL-16.1 Sections Throughout the Code To Include Provisions for 
Commercial Weigh-in-Motion Vehicle Scale Systems
    This item is another carry-over item originally appearing on the 
S&T's agenda in 2016. The S&T Committee will consider a proposal 
drafted by the NCWM's Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) Task Group (TG) to amend 
various sections of NIST HB 44, Scales Code to address WIM vehicle 
scale systems used for commercial applications. The TG is made up of 
representatives of WIM equipment manufacturers, the U.S. Department of 
Transportation Federal Highway Administration, NIST Office of Weights 
and Measures, truck weight enforcement agencies, state weights and 
measures agencies, and others.
    The WIM TG was first formed in February 2016 to consider a proposal 
to expand NIST HB 44, Weigh-In-Motion Systems Used for Vehicle 
Enforcement Screening--Tentative Code to also apply to legal-for-trade 
(commercial) and law enforcement applications.
    The focus of the TG since July 2016 has been to concentrate on the 
development of test procedures that can be used to verify the accuracy 
of a WIM vehicle scale system given the different axle and tandem axle 
configurations of vehicles that will typically be weighed by a system 
and a proposed maintenance and acceptance tolerance of 0.2 percent on 
gross (total) vehicle weight. Members of the TG, to date, have been 
unsuccessful in agreeing on test procedures, and, as a result, the TG 
recently developed a ``White Paper'' during the summer of 2017, which 
it distributed to the different regional weights and measures 
associations requesting feedback from their fall 2017 conferences on 
some different draft test procedures being considered and some other 
concerns. The TG is awaiting evidence that will substantiate the 
submitter's claims that these types of WIM systems are capable of 
meeting NIST HB 44 Scales Code Class III L tolerances.

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SCL-20.12 Multiple Sections To Add Vehicle Weigh-in-Motion to the Code 
and Appendix D--Definitions; Vehicle Scale and Weigh-in-Motion Vehicle 
Scale
    This new item to be considered by the S&T Committee is similar to 
the previous SCL-16.1 item in that it proposes to add WIM systems for 
motor vehicles to the NIST HB 44 Scales Code. This new proposal differs 
from SCL-16.1 however, since it would not apply to axle-load type 
scales but instead, would apply to a full-length vehicle scale used for 
WIM.
SCL-20.10 S.1.2.2.2. Class I and II Scales Used in Direct Sale and 
S.1.2.2.3. Deviation of a ``d'' Resolution.
    The S&T Committee will consider a new proposal to replace two 
current requirements (S.1.2.2.2. and S.1.2.2.3.) with a new, amended 
version of S.1.2.2.2. ``Class III and IIII Scales.'' This item is also 
related to two other items (individual item SCL-20.11 and SCL-20.2 that 
is included as part of Block 2 on the agenda) on the S&T Agenda in 2020 
in that all three items address the value of ``e'' and ``d'' in 
precision scales. In 2017, the NCWM adopted a proposal adding a new 
paragraph (S.1.2.2.2.) requiring the value of the scale division (d) 
and verification scale interval (e) to be equal on Class I and Class II 
scales installed into commercial service as of January 1, 2020, when 
used in a direct sale application (i.e., both parties of a weighing 
transaction are present when the quantity is determined). The S&T 
Committee will now consider a new proposal that, if adopted, would 
eliminate the requirement adopted in 2017. This item would instead 
state that on Class III and IIII scales, the value of ``e'' will be 
specified by the manufacturer, and that (except on dynamic monorail 
scales) ``e'' must be less than or equal to ``d''. The absence of any 
requirement included in this proposal regarding the value of ``e'' and 
``d'' for Class I and Class II scales would imply that for those 
scales, the values of e and d may differ. The other two items 
mentioned, SCL-20.11 and SCL-20.2, propose different approaches on how 
the values of ``e'' and ``d'' should be addressed in scales used in 
direct sales applications.

LMD--Liquid Measuring Devices

LMD-20.1 Table S.2.2. Categories of Device and Methods of Sealing
    The S&T Committee will consider a new proposal to permit the use of 
an electronic log in lieu of a printed copy of a Category 3 sealing 
method on liquid measuring devices. Current NIST HB 44 LMD requirements 
specify that a printed copy of an event logger must be available and 
only state that an electronic version of this log can be additionally 
provided. This new proposal would amend the language in Table S.2.2. 
``Categories of Device and Methods of Sealing'' to permit either form 
(printed or electronic) of the event logger to be made available.

VTM--Vehicle Tank Meters

VTM-18.1 S.3.1.1. Means for Clearing the Discharge Hose and UR.2.6. 
Clearing the Discharge Hose
    The S&T Committee will again consider this carry-over item that 
proposes to provide specifications and user requirements for manifold 
flush systems designed to eliminate product contamination on VTMs used 
for multiple products. This proposal would add specifications on the 
design of VTMs under S.3.1.1., ``Means for Clearing the Discharge 
Hose,'' and add a new user requirement UR.2.6., ``Clearing the 
Discharge Hose.'' During open hearings at previous NCWM meetings, 
comments were heard about the design of any system to clear the 
discharge hose of a product prior to the delivery of a subsequent 
product which could provide opportunities to fraudulently use this type 
of system.

EVF--Electric Vehicle Fueling Systems

EVF-20.1 S.1.3.2. EVSE Value of the Smallest Unit
    The S&T Committee will consider a new proposal that would specify 
the maximum value of the indicated and/or recorded electrical energy 
unit used in an EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment). This proposal 
would reduce (by a factor of 10) the current specified values of these 
units. The current maximum values of 0.005 MJ and 0.001 kWh would be 
changed to 0.0005 MJ and 0.0001 kWh respectively. The submitters 
contend that testing of these systems would be expedited through these 
changes and reduce the amount of time necessary to complete official 
tests.

GMA--Grain Moisture Meters 5.56 (A)

GMA-19.1 Table T.2.1. Acceptance and Maintenance Tolerances Air Oven 
Method for All Grains and Oil Seeds
    The S&T Committee will consider a proposal that would reduce the 
tolerances for the air oven reference method. The proposed new 
tolerances would apply to all types of grains and oil seeds. This item 
is a carry-over proposal from 2019 and would replace the contents of 
Table T.2.1. with new criteria. Additional inspection data will be 
collected and reviewed to assess whether the proposed change to the 
tolerances are appropriate.
Block 3 Items
    The S&T Committee will consider changes included in this block 
affecting the NIST HB 44 Taximeters Code (Section 5.54.) and the 
Transportation Network Measurement Systems (TNMS) Code (Section 5.60.) 
that would amend the value of tolerances allowed for distance tests. 
The changes proposed in this item would change the Taximeters Code 
requirement T.1.1. ``On Distance Tests'' by increasing that tolerance 
to 2.5% when the test exceeds one mile. The change to the TNMS Code 
affects requirement T.1.1. ``Distance Tests'' by reducing the tolerance 
allowed on overregistration under T.1.1.(a) from the current 2.5% to 1% 
when the test does not exceed one mile and would increase the tolerance 
for underregistration in T.1.1.(b) from 2.5% to 4%. These changes if 
adopted would align the tolerances values for distance tests allowed 
for taximeters and TNMS.

NCWM L&R Committee

NIST Handbook 130 and NIST Handbook 133

    The following items are proposals to amend NIST Handbooks 130 and 
133:
Block 1 (B1) Items
    NIST Handbook 133, ``Checking the Net Contents of Packaged Goods,'' 
and NIST Handbook 130, Uniform Packaging and Labeling Regulation 
(UPLR), Section 2.8. Multiunit Package.
    The L&R Committee will consider a proposal to add a test procedure 
in NIST Handbook 133 for addressing the total quantity declaration on 
multiunit or variety packages. In addition, in NIST Handbook 130, it 
will clarify the definition of Section 2.8. Multiunit package.

NIST Handbook 130, Uniform Method of Sale of Commodities (MOS)

Item MOS-20.4. 2.XX. Ink and Toner Cartridges
    The L&R Committee will consider a proposed method of sale for 
adoption to clarify the labeling requirements for packaged inkjet and 
toner cartridges to ensure that consumers are informed about the net 
quantity of contents of these products, value comparisons can be made, 
and quantities can be verified to ensure equity between buyer and 
seller and fair competition between sellers, including original 
equipment manufacturers. Page verification would

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be in accordance to the ISO/IEC standard.

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

Item NET-20.2. 4.5. Polyethylene Sheeting, Bags, and Liners
    The L&R Committee will consider a proposal under Item NET 20.2. to 
consider changes to the equipment that is used to test the thickness of 
polyethylene sheeting, bags, and liners. This modification would allow 
for electronic instruments to be used for thickness measurements. In 
addition, changes to the test procedure would need to be modified for 
the use of electronic instruments.
    Under Item ODR NEW, the L&R Committee will consider a recommended 
proposal to remove the Open Dating Regulation in its entirety from NIST 
Handbook 130.

Kevin A. Kimball,
Chief of Staff.
[FR Doc. 2020-00205 Filed 1-9-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-13-P