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§ 10.7 Procedure when a recommended standard is not supported by a con

sensus.

If the Department determines that a recommended standard is not supported by a consensus, the Department may:

(a) Return the recommended standard to the Standard Review Committee for further action, with or without suggestions;

(b) Terminate the development of the recommended standard under these procedures; or

(c) Take such other action as it may deem necessary or appropriate under the circumstances.

§ 10.8 Standing Committee.

(a) The Department shall establish and appoint the members of a Standing Committee prior to the publication of a standard. The committee may include members from the Standard Review Committee, and shall consist of qualified representatives of producers, distributors, and users or consumers of the product covered by the standard, and representatives of appropriate general interest groups such as municipal, State, and Federal agencies. When requested by the Standing Committee, the Department shall appoint one voting member from among the representatives of the Federal agencies, other than the Department of Commerce. When requested by the Standing Committee for PS 20-70, "American Softwood Lumber Standard," the Department shall appoint two voting members from among the representatives of the Federal agencies, other than the Department of Commerce. All other representatives of Federal agencies shall be advisory nonvoting members of Standing Committees. (Alternates to committee members may be designated by the Department.) When deemed appropriate by the Department, project funds under §10.2, may be made available to assure participation by consumer interests on the committee at required meetings.

(b) Appointments to a Standing Committee may not exceed a term of 5 years. However, the committee may be reconstituted by the Department whenever appropriate, and members may be reappointed by the Department to suc

ceeding terms. Appointments to the committee will be terminated upon the withdrawal of the standard.

(c) The Department shall be responsible for the organization of the committee. Any formal operating procedures developed by the committee shall be subject to approval by the Department. The committee may conduct business either in a meeting or through correspondence, but only if a quorum participates. A quorum shall consist of two-thirds of all voting members of the committee. A majority of the voting members of the committee participating shall be required to approve any actions taken by the committee except for the approval of revisions of the standard which shall be governed by the provisions of §10.5 (b), (c), and (d), (d) The members of a Standing Committee should be knowledgeable about: (1) The product or products covered by the standard;

(2) The standard itself; and

(3) Industry and trade practices relating to the standard.

(e) The committee shall:

(1) Keep itself informed of any advancing technology that might affect the standard;

(2) Provide the Department with interpretations of provisions of of the standard upon request;

(3) Make recommendations to the Department concerning the desirability or necessity of revising or amending the standard;

(4) Receive and consider proposals to revise or amend the standard; and

(5) Recommend to the Department the revision or amendment of a standard.

§ 10.9 Publication of a standard.

A Voluntary Product Standard published by the department under these procedures shall be assigned an appropriate number for purposes of identification and reference. Public notice shall be given regarding the publication and identification of the standard. A voluntary standard by itself has no mandatory or legally binding effect. Any person may choose to use or not to use such a standard. Appropriate reference in contracts, codes, advertising, invoices, announcements, product labels, and the like may be made to a

Voluntary Product Standard published under these procedures. Such reference shall be in accordance with such policies as the Department may establish, but no product may be advertised or represented in any manner which would imply or tend to imply approval or endorsement of that product by the Department or by the Federal Government.

§ 10.10 Review of published standards.

(a) Each standard published under these or previous procedures shall be reviewed regularly to determine the feasibility of transferring sponsorship to a private standards-writing organization. While the Department encourages the development of standards to replace Voluntary Product Standards by private standards-writing organizations, withdrawal of a Voluntary Product Standard, which meets the requirements of §10.0(b), shall not be considered until a replacement standard is published.

(b) Each standard published under these or previous procedures shall be reviewed by the Department, with such assistance of the Standing Committee or others as may be deemed appropriate by the Department, within 5 years after initial issuance or last revision and at least every 5 years thereafter. The purpose of this review shall be to determine whether the standard has become obsolete, technically inadequate, no longer acceptable to or used by the industry, or inconsistent with law or established public policy.

(c) If any of the above conditions is found to exist, the Department shall initiate action to amend, revise, or withdraw the standard in accordance with § 10.11 or § 10.13. If none is found to exist, the standard shall be kept in effect provided adequate funding is maintained.

$10.11 Revision or amendment of a standard.

(a) A published standard shall be subject to revision or amendment when it is determined to be inadequate by its Standing Committee or by the Department of one or more of the following reasons or for any other appropriate

reasons:

(1) Any portion of the standard is obsolete, technically inadequate, or no longer generally acceptable to or used by the industry;

(2) The standard or any part of it is inconsistent with law or established public policy; or

(3) The standard or any part of it is being used to mislead users or consumers or is determined to be against the interest of users, consumers, or the public in general.

(b) A revision of a standard shall be considered by the Department to include changes which are comprehensive in nature, which have a substantive effect on the standards, which change the level of performance or safety or the design characteristics of the product being standardized, or which cannot reasonably be injected into a standard without disturbing the general applicability of the standard. Each suggestion for revision shall be submitted by the Department to the Standing Committee for appropriate consideration. The Standing Committee shall serve the same functions in the revision of a standard as the Standard Review Committee serves in the development of a new standard. The processing of a revision of a standard shall be dependent upon the age of the standard as computed from its effective date and shall be accomplished as follows:

(1) A proposed revision of a standard older than 5 years at the time such proposed revision is submitted to the Standing Committee by the Department shall be processed as a new standard under these procedures and, when approved for publication, the standard shall be republished and reidentified to indicate the year in which the revision became effective. The revised standard shall supersede the previously published standard.

(2) A proposed revision of a standard less than 5 years at the time such proposed revision is submitted to the Standing Committee by the Department shall be processed as a new standard except that:

(i) Distribution for acceptance or rejection shall be made to an appropriate list of producers, distributors, and users and consumers compiled by the Department;

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(ii) If the revision affects only one subsection of the requirement section and/or only one subsection of the test methods section, it may be circulated separately for determining consensus and subsequently published as an addendum to the standard with appropriate dissemination and public notice of the addendum; and

(iii) If the revision does not change the level of performance or safety or the design characteristics of the product being standardized, the standard need not be reidentified.

(c) An amendment to a standard shall be considered by the Department to be any non-editorial change which is not comprehensive in nature, which has no substantive effect on the standard, which does not change the level of performance or safety or the design characteristics of the product being standardized, and which reasonably can be injected into a standard without disturbing the general applicability of the standard. Each suggestion for amendment shall be submitted by the Department to the Standing Committee for appropriate consideration. An amendment to a standard recommended by not less than 90 percent of the members of the committee eligible to vote and found acceptable by the Department, shall be published as an addendum (until the standard is republished) and distributed to acceptors of record. Public notice of the amendment shall be given and copies of the amendment shall be distributed to those filing written requests.

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(a)(1) of this section and after public notice, the Director determines that the standard is: Obsolete; technically inadequate; no longer generally acceptable to and used by the industry; inconsistent with law or established public policy; not in the public interest; or otherwise inappropriate; and revision or amendment is not feasible or would serve no useful purpose. Additionally, a standard may be withdrawn if it cannot be demonstrated that a particular standard has substantial public impact, that it does not duplicate a standard published by a private standards-writing organization, or that lack of government sponsorship would result in significant public disadvantage for legal reasons or for reasons of domestic and international trade. The Director may withdraw a standard if costs to maintain such a standard are not reimbursed by the proponent or other government agencies.

(1) Before withdrawing a standard published under these procedures, the Director will review the relative advantages and disadvantages of amendment, revision, development of a new standard, or withdrawal with the members of the Standing Committee, if such committee was appointed or reappointed within the previous five years.

(2) Public notice of intent to withdraw an existing standard published under these procedures shall be given and a 30-day period will be provided for the filing with the Director or written objections to the withdrawal. Such objections will be considered and analyzed by the Director before a determination is made to withdraw the standard. If the Director determines that a particular standard does not meet the criteria set out in §10.0(b), the standard will be withdrawn.

(b) The filing under paragraph (a) of this section of a request to retain a standard or standards shall operate to stay the withdrawal of such standard or standards until the Director's determination has been made. If the Director determines that the requested standard or standards shall be withdrawn, the stay will remain in effect, if an appeal is filed in accordance with the requirements of § 10.14, until the decision of the Director is announced in

the FEDERAL REGISTER. If, however, no appeal is received, the Director shall announce withdrawal of the particular standard or standards.

(c) Notice of the withdrawal action will be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER and such withdrawal will take effect 60 days from the date the withdrawal notice is published.

[51 FR 22497, June 20, 1986, as amended at 55 FR 38315, Sept. 18, 1990]

§ 10.14 Appeals.

(a) Any person directly affected by a procedural action taken by NIST or the Standard Review Committee under §§ 10.5, 10.6 or 10.7 regarding the development of a standard, by NIST or the Standing Committee under §10.10 regarding the review of a published standard, or under §10.11 regarding the revision of a standard, or under $10.13 regarding the withdrawal of a standard, may appeal such action.

(b) Such appeal shall be filed in written form with the body taking the action complained of (NIST, the Standard Review Committee, or the Standing Committee) within 30 days after the date of announcement of the action.

(c) If appeal is filed with the Standard Review Committee or the Standing Committee, the Committee shall attempt to resolve the appeal informally. If the appeal is filed with NIST, NIST with the consultation and advice of the Standard Review Committee or the Standing Committee, whichever is appropriate, shall attempt to resolve the appeal informally.

(d) If the appeal is to the Standard Review Committee or the Standing Committee and the Committee is unable to resolve such an appeal informally, the Committee shall hold a hearing regarding the appeal. Announcement of the hearing shall be made to members of the Standard Review Committee or the Standing Committee and all the acceptors of record, when appropriate, as well as other known interests. Notice of the hearing shall be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER. The hearing will be an informal, nonadversary proceeding at which there will be no formal pleadings or adverse parties. Written statements will be furnished by witnesses prior to the hearing. A record of the hearing will be

made. Copies of the written statements and the record of the hearing will be available at cost.

(e) Those members of the Committee hearing the appeal will develop a recommendation to the Committee concerning the resolution of the appeal. NIST will review the recommendation and if found acceptable will subject it to a letter ballot of the Committee. Approval by three-fourths of the members of the Committee eligible to vote will constitute acceptance by the Committee and by NIST. Notice of the Committee decision will be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER.

(f) If the appeal is to NIST and the attempt to resolve the appeal informally under paragraph (c) of this section is not successful, the Deputy Director of NIST will schedule a hearing with an appeals panel at an appropriate location. Announcement of the hearing shall be made to members of the Standard Review Committee Committee or Standing Committee and all acceptors of record, when appropriate, as well as to other known interests. Notice of the hearing shall be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER.

(g) The Deputy Director of NIST will name two other persons, who have not been directly involved in the matter in dispute and who will not be directly or materially affected by any decision made or to be made in the dispute, to sit on the panel with the Deputy Director, who will act as presiding officer. The presiding officer will have the right to exercise such authority as necessary to ensure the equitable and efficient conduct of the hearing and to maintain an orderly proceeding.

(h) The hearing will be an informal, nonadversary proceeding at which there will be no formal pleadings or adverse parties. The hearing will be open to the public. Witnesses shall submit a written presentation for the record seven days prior to the hearing. A record will be made of the hearing. Copies of the written statements and the record of the hearing will be available at cost.

(i) The appeals panel will make a recommendation to the Director of NIST. The Director's decision on the appeal

will be announced within 60 days following the hearing and will be communicated to the complainant and other interested parties by letter. Notice of the Director's decision shall be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER.

[51 FR 22497, June 20, 1986, as amended at 55 FR 38315, Sept. 18, 1990]

§ 10.15 Interpretations.

(a) An interpretation of a Voluntary Product Standard may be obtained through the submission of a written request. The request shall identify the specific section of the standard involved.

(b) In the case of PS 20-70, the "American Softwood Lumber Standard," interpretations shall be made by the American Lumber Standards Committee (ALSC) under the procedures developed by the ALSC and found acceptable to NIST.

(c) In the case of the other Voluntary Product Standards, interpretations shall be made by the appropriate Standing Committees under procedures developed by those committees and found acceptable to NIST.

[51 FR 22497, June 20, 1986, as amended at 55 FR 38315, Sept. 18, 1990]

§ 10.16 Effect of procedures.

Nothing contained in these procedures shall be deemed to apply to the development, publication, revision, amendment. or withdrawal of any standard which is not identified as a "Voluntary Product Standard" by the Department. The authority of the Department with respect to engineering standards activities generally, including the authority to publish appropriate recommendations not identified as "Voluntary Product Standards," is not limited in any way by these procedures.

PART 11-UNIFORM RELOCATION ASSISTANCE AND REAL PROPERTY ACQUISITION FOR FEDERAL AND FEDERALLY ASSISTED PROGRAMS

AUTHORITY: Section 213, Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, Pub. L. 91-646, 84 Stat. 1894 (42 U.S.C. 4601) as amended by the

Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987, Title IV of Pub. L. 100-17, 101 Stat. 246-256 (42 U.S.C. 4601 note).

EDITORIAL NOTE: For additional information, see related documents published at 50 FR 8953, Mar. 5, 1985, 52 FR 18768, May 19, 1987, and 52 FR 45667, Dec. 1, 1987.

§ 11.1 Uniform Uniform relocation and real property acquisition.

Regulations and procedures for complying with the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 (Pub. L. 91-646, 84 Stat. 1894, 42 U.S.C. 4601), as amended by the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987 (Title IV of Pub. L. 100-17, 101 Stat. 246-255, 42 U.S.C. 4601 note) are set forth in 49 CFR Part 24.

[52 FR 48018, Dec. 17, 1987 and 54 FR 8912, 8913, Mar. 2, 1989]

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(a) These procedures apply to the discharge of the responsibility given to the Secretary of Commerce by sections 5(d) and 5(e) of the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (Pub. L. 89-755, 80 Stat. 1299), hereinafter called the "Act". The word "Secretary", as used hereinafter, shall refer to the Secretary of Commerce or his authorized delegate.

(b) The Secretary does not have the responsibility or the authority under the Act to issue any regulations governing the packaging or labeling practices of private industry.

(c) The Secretary does have the responsibility and authority to:

(1) Determine whether the reasonable ability of consumers to make value

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