Table I-Continued Various laboratory activities - Treasury Department, Tennessee Valley Authority, Government Printing Office Scientific documentation - Office of Science & Technology, National Science Foundation R and D contract assistance - Small Business Administration In activities closely related to science: Health and mental health services - Department of HEW, Veterans Administration Nuclear reactor engineering – Maritime Administration Nuclear plant planning, procurement, fueling-Tennessee Valley Authority In other engineering activities: Electronic - Office of Telecommunications, Department of Commerce; Office of Telecommunications, Department of Transportation; Federal Communications Commission; Office of Telecommunications Policy Marine electrical and electronic - Maritime Administration Voluntary engineering standards (most include metric equivalents) Engineering Standards Service in NBS In science and engineering: Atomic Energy Commission, NASA (see text) In connection with international communications, cooperation, trade: Communications-U.S. Information Agency Overseas contractual services-State Department, USIA Design of buildings to be built in metric countries-State Department Design and construction of intermodal containers and handling equipment - Maritime Administration Formulation of international rules for ships-Maritime Administration Evaluation of foreign ship components - Maritime Administration Trade statistics - Department of Agriculture U.S. tariff schedules - U.S. Tariff Commission Freight tariffs on file - Federal Maritime Commission Table I-Continued International engineering involvement and cooperation - Tennessee Valley Authority Emergency planning regarding maritime shipping-Office of Emergency Preparedness Attendant to use of foreign-made equipment: Communications, optical-U.S. Postal Service Surveying, topographic mapping, photogrammetric - Tennessee Valley Authority Power generation, transmission, distribution - Tennessee Valley Authority Dictated by U.S. industry practice: Control of dangerous drugs - Department of Justice Assistance to drug and pharmaceutical businesses - SBA Labor statistics and standards-Department of Labor Regulatory provisions - Office of Hazardous Materials in Department of Transportation With increasing amounts of U.S. manufactured equipment and instruments designed and calibrated in metric - Tennessee Valley Authority Particularly noteworthy is the measurement situation in the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), both of which reported heavily mixed (customary and metric) measurement usage. Nuclear science and most electronic, chemical and nuclear engineering activities are done in metric; mechanical engineering activities in AEC are largely - but not entirely-in customary measurements, while plant engineering is almost exclusively customary. Since all of these activities are intimately mixed in AEC's work, dual measurement usage, with its attendant conversion and interfacing problems and possibilities for error, is the prevailing situation. NASA has a similar measurement environment, with metric widely used in basic research, laboratory analyses, electronics, fluid mechanics, in certain hardware (e.g., optical equipment), and in areas where international programs are important, while such usage is rare in mechanical engineering and design, fabrication, technical and support facilities and plant engineering. Understandably most of the respondents reporting current metric usage listed one or another advantage thereof in the areas of intercourse with scientific activities, international communications and cooperation, operational improvement through easier calculations and reduced errors, and in some cases cost savings. Several offices in the Department of Agriculture necessarily make extensive use of metric measures in connection with international trade and statistics for international comparisons. The Maritime Ad 421-813 O-71-2 ministration in the Department of Commerce derives improved capability for evaluating foreign competition from its use of metric. The Department of Labor employs metric units in some of its standards and statistics to conform to certain U.S. industry practices. The U.S. Coast Guard finds its use of the metric system advantageous in regard to review of drawings and specifications, particularly in the field of marine safety. In the Library of Congress, the Prints and Photographs Division measures print sizes and motion picture film gauges in metric, asserting it can thereby "obtain greater measurement accuracy." Some respondents reported such disadvantages as confusion resulting from dual usage, cost increases (e.g., for maintenance of extra tools), difficulties in obtaining metric-sized replacement parts, and the present preference of most U.S. industry and engineering for the customary system. The only widely-reported disadvantage was employee unfamiliarity with the metric system. It should be noted that these reported difficulties have been imposed by strictly laissez faire metrication, and it would not appear practical to eliminate them by an attempt to arbitrarily return to entirely customary usage. Besides, since metric usage has been adopted for good reasons, such an attempt to reverse the trend would impose its own costs, economic or otherwise. Anticipated Situation in the Absence of Coordinated National Metrication -The Federal agencies were asked to predict probable changes in their measurement language or engineering standards practice, under the assumption that there is no concerted national program to increase use of the metric system in the United States-that our laissez faire policy toward measurement usage continues within an increasingly metric world (Assumption I). In this eventuality, 84 of the 394 individual respondents expect to increase their use of metric measurements and/or metric-based engineering standards. Most of these offices mentioned the increasing worldwide and domestic usage as a reason for their expecting to make these changes. Of the 84 respondents, 17 listed improved quality of work or performance, 10 mentioned time and/or cost savings, and 22 cited an expectation that their suppliers may force change on them as further reasons for expecting to increase their own metric usage. In the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries expects virtually complete metrication of its operations by 1980. The Bonneville Power Administration expects increased use of metric units and standards in view of increasing international trade in the kinds of equipment it purchases. The National Park Service plans to convert its civil engineering activities to metric by 1982 for the resultant time and cost savings. A number of respondents either already have policies for or plan to move in the direction of increased use of metric in their publications, including the Bureau of Reclamation, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the National Bureau of Standards, all units in the Environmental Health Service (Department of Health, Education and Welfare), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. In the Treasury Department, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing anticipates growing metric usage attendant to increasing international interchange of supplies and equipment. The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in the Department of Justice is encouraging the drug industry toward total metrication to enable more effective and efficient control of these substances. The Department of Agriculture observed that the product of one-fourth of U.S. farm acreage goes to markets which are going to be metric, and the units of trade must be provided on the buyer's terms. This is affecting the Marketing Economics Division, the Foreign Development and Trade Division, the Export Marketing Service and the Foreign Agricultural Service. In the Environmental Science Services Administration (now incorporated in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA), the National Environmental Satellite Center is pressured between the metrication demands of increased international exchange of satellite data and the preference of those with whom it interfaces domestically for customary measures, and expects slow growth in its use of metric. All (24) surveyed divisions of the National Bureau of Standards expect to increase their use of metric measures and 10 of these their use of SI-based engineering standards, at least in their publications and in many cases also in their research activities. The Office of Ports and Intermodal Systems in the Maritime Administration anticipates increased metrication as a consequence of international agreements. The Office of Telecommunications (Department of Commerce), largely metric already, plans to eliminate one vestige of customary usage by converting miles to meters in frequency management and radio station location records. Four offices in the National Air Pollution Control Administration foresee their metric usage necessarily increasing due to increasing cooperation with international standards organizations and the demands of national consistency in data reporting- the Bureau of Criteria and Standards expects to be entirely converted to SI in 1973. In the Health Services and Mental Health Administration of HEW, metric usage is expected to grow along with that of the health professions at large. In the Department of Transportation, the Office of Harzardous Materials anticipates a regulatory provision for free choice of units in the activities under its purview, because of pressure from suppliers and increasing worldwide use. The Office of International Aviation Affairs and the Systems Research and Development Service in FAA expect increasing metric usage for the same reasons. In the Atomic Energy Commission four divisions plan to increase employment of SI units and standards, among them: Isotopes Development-"to eliminate the attention required by [use of] the dual system," and Space Nuclear-for "uniformity and consistency, and increased clarity and efficiency of programs." The General Services Administration (GSA) and the Government Printing Office point out that they must, of necessity, follow U.S. suppliers' practice on measurement usage, and the Federal Supply Service and the Standardization Division in GSA expect this to force growing metric usage on their agency. Nine of the 10 NASA Centers anticipate increasing metrication, giving such reasons as "increasing influence of science on engineering," "increased participation in international programs" and "international standardization," and the "advantage of a single system." Three of the Centers expect improved quality of performance of activities, and one (Marshall Space Flight Center) even expects time or cost savings from this unilateral metrication. In the Veterans Administration, the Office of the Assistant Chief Medical Director for Professional Services expects to expand metric usage in the Administration to reduce the confusion of the dual system. The Engineering Division in the Government Printing Office foresees growing involvement with the SI in connection with purchase of foreign equipment. Two offices in the Library of Congress plan metrication for the advantages of "universal terminology," "accuracy in communications," and "elimination of dual usage." The third set of data sought under Assumption I pertains to the extent to which the Federal civilian agencies would encounter growing measurementrelated problems if the U.S remains officially on the customary system while worldwide metrication proceeds. Of the 394 individual subunit respondents, 168 (43%) replied that they do not plan to increase their use of metric measures unilaterally, and they do anticipate growing measurement-related problems. Such respondents were found in 38 of the 50 surveyed agencies. (An additional 39 respondents who expect to expand their own metric usage, nevertheless anticipate growing problems as a consequence of worldwide metrication.) Difficulties will affect the general areas of: training personnel, dual dimensioning of products, dual inventories, conversions and interfacings between the two measurement systems, and international communications and cooperation. All surveyed agencies which are significantly involved with international relations (including the Department of State, the Department of Agriculture, the United States Information Agency, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) foresee growing international communications difficulties. The Department of Agriculture pointed out that the present situation already requires conversions or dual dimensioning of statistics on production and international trade for nearly all commodities. Nearly all exporting countries use or have announced plans to use metric measurements for international trade statistics, as is the case with international organizations. This Department also pointed out that there are problems other than cost and inconvenience: for example, confusion or error as to whether a pesticide spray residue tolerance is given in grains or grams could have serious consequences. The Department of Transportation, including the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Public Roads, and the United States Tariff Commission expect increasing legal difficulties as a consequence of the rest of the world's adoption of metric. More than half of the respondents in the General Services Administration and most respondents in the Government Printing Office expect problems including increased inventories in this situation. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration expects some failure of equipment and errors in manufacture due to incompatibility or discrete differences resulting from dual dimensioning if it does not extend its own use of metric measurements. (See app. 4 for numbers of respondents, by agency, anticipating growing problems under Assumption I.) Anticipated Impacts of a Planned National Program to Increase the Use of Metric Measurement Units - The next set of questions in the survey of Federal Government agencies pertained to the assumption of a nationally |