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(3) Neither the Department of Commerce nor any officer or employee thereof, shall be liable for any payment made from moneys due from, or payable by, the Department of Commerce to any individuals pursuant to notice regular on its face, if such payment is made in accordance with this subpart. If a designated official receives notice based on support which, on its face, appears to conform to the law of the jurisdiction from which it was issued, the designated official shall not be required to ascertain whether the authority that issued the orde had obtained personal jurisdiction over the member.

(4) Effective date of allotment. The allotment shall start with the first pay period beginning after the officer has had a consultation with an attorney from the Office of the Assistant General Counsel for Administration but not later than the first pay period beginning after 30 days have elapsed since the notice required in paragraph (d)(1) of this section is given to the affected officer. The Department of Commerce shall not be required to vary its normal NOAA Corps allotment payment cycle to comply with the notice.

(g) Designated official. Notice should be sent to: The Assistant General Counsel for Administration, Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230, (202) 377-5387.

Subpart D-Statement of Policy and Procedures Regarding Indemnification of Department of Commerce Employees

SOURCE: 62 FR 19670, Apr. 23, 1997, unless otherwise noted.

§ 15.31 Policy.

(a) The Department of Commerce may indemnify a present or former Department employee who is personally named as a defendant in any civil suit in state or federal court, or other legal proceeding seeking damages against a present or former Department employee personally, for any verdict, judgment or other monetary award which is rendered against such employee, provided that the conduct giv

ing rise to the verdict, judgment or award was taken within the scope of his/her employment and that such indemnification is in the interest of the Department as determined by the Secretary or his/her designee.

(b) The Department may settle or compromise a personal damage claim against a present or former employee by the payment of available funds at any time provided the alleged conduct giving rise to the personal property claim was taken within the employee's scope of employment and such settlement is in the interest of the Department as determined by the Secretary or his/her designee.

(c) Absent exceptional circumstances, as determined by the Secretary or his/her designee, the Department will not consider a request either to indemnify or to settle a personal damage claim before entry of an adverse verdict, judgment or award.

(d) Any payment under this section either to indemnify a present or former Department employee or to settle a personal damage claim shall be contingent upon the availability of appropriated funds of the Department of Commerce.

§ 15.32 Procedures for the handling of lawsuits against Department employees arising within the scope of their office or employment.

The following procedures shall be followed in the event that a civil action or proceeding is brought, in any court, against a present or former employee of the Department (or against his/her estate) for personal injury, loss of property or death, resulting from the Department employee's activities while acting within the scope of his/her office or employment:

(a) After being served with process or pleadings in such an action or proceeding, the employee (or the executor(rix) or administrator(rix)) of the estate shall within five (5) calendar days of receipt, deliver all such process and pleadings or an attested true copy thereof, together with a fully detailed report of the circumstances of the incident giving rise to the court action or proceeding to the General Counsel. Where appropriate, the General Counsel, or his/her designee, may request

that the Department of Justice provide legal representation for the present or former Department employee.

(b)(1) Only if a present or former employee of the Department has satisfied the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section in a timely fashion, may the employee subsequently request indemnification to satisfy a verdict, judgment, or award entered against that employee.

(2) No request for indemnification will be considered unless the employee has submitted a written request, with appropriate documentation, including copies of the verdict, judgment, appeal bond, award, or settlement proposal through the employee's supervisory chain to the head of the employee's component. The written request will include an explanation by the employee of how the employee was working within the scope of employment and whether the employee has insurance or any other source of indemnification.

(3) The head of the component or his/ her designee will forward the employee's request with a recommendation to the General Counsel for review. The request for indemnification shall include a detailed analysis of the basis for the recommendation. The head of the component will also certify to the General Counsel that the component has funds available to pay the indemnification.

(c) The General Counsel or his/her designee will review the circumstances of the incident giving rise to the action or proceeding, and all data bearing upon the question of whether the employee was acting within the scope of his/her employment. Where appropriate, the agency shall seek the views of the Department of Justice and/or the U.S. Attorney for the district embracing the place where the action or proceeding is brought.

(d) The General Counsel shall forward the request, the accompanying documentation, and the General Counsel's recommendation to the Secretary or his/her designee for decision.

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particular advantages of their products. These objectives are accomplished by:

(1) Selecting or developing standardized test methods by which selected product performance characteristics can be measured;

(2) Developing labeling methods by which information concerning product performance can be transmitted in useful form to consumers at the point of sale;

(3) Encouraging manufacturers and other participants in the program voluntarily to test and label their products according to the selected or developed methods; and

(4) Encouraging consumers through various informational and educational programs to utilize the product performance information provided.

(b) The program involves voluntary labeling by enrolled participants of selected categories of consumer products with information concerning selected performance characteristics of those products. The performance characteristics selected are those that are of demonstrable importance to consumers, that consumers cannot evaluate through mere inspection of the product, and that can be measured objectively and reported understandably to consumers. The consumer products covered include those for which incorrect purchase decision can result in financial loss, dissatisfaction, or inconvenience. The program seeks to avoid the duplication of other Federal programs under which performance characteristics are labeled by exempting those performance characteristics from this program. However, where the Federal agency concerned agrees, the Department of Commerce may include information about those performance characteristics in CPILP labels if, by doing so, product comparison at the point of sale is simplified for consumers, and the complexity of product labeling is reduced for the manufacturers by enabling them to comply with the labeling requirements of other Federal agencies through participation in CPILP.

(c) For selected categories of consumer products, the program includes advertising guidelines covering situations where quantitative performance

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(a) The term Secretary means the Secretary of Commerce or her designee.

(b) The term consumer means the first person who purchases a consumer product for purposes other than resale.

(c) The term participant means a manufacturer, assembler or private brand labeler of consumer products or an importer of such products for resale and who participates in the program.

(d) The term consumer product means any article produced or distributed for sale to a consumer for the use, consumption, or enjoyment of such consumer. The term does not include products customarily intended primarily for business, commercial, or industrial

use.

(e) The term person means an individual; a manufacturer; distributor; retailer; importer; private brand labeler; government agency at the Federal (including any agency of the Department of Commerce), State and local level; consumer organization; trade association; standards writing body; professional society; testing laboratory; or educational institution.

(f) The term performance characteristic means a performance characteristic of a consumer product that can be measured in an objective manner with respect to a given consumer product.

(g) The term Specification means a Performance Information Labeling Specification developed under § 16.5.

(h) The term label means printed matter affixed to or otherwise provided with a consumer product and containing all of the performance characteristics as prescribed by the Specification applicable to that product.

(i) The term designated agent means a person as defined in paragraph (e) of this section, who has been designated by the Secretary to carry out appropriate operational procedures on behalf of more than one participant in this program in accordance with rules set out under § 16.9.

§ 16.4 Finding of need to establish a specification for labeling a consumer product.

(a) Any person may request the Secretary to find that there is a need to label a particular consumer product with information concerning one or more specific performance characteristics of that product.

(b) Such a request shall be in writing and will, to the extent practicable, include the following information:

(1) Identification of the consumer product;

(2) Extent that the product identified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section is used by the public and, if known, what the production or sales volume is of such product;

(3) Nature and extent of difficulty experienced by consumers in making informed purchase decisions because of a lack of knowledge regarding the performance characteristics of the identified consumer product;

(4) Potential or actual loss to consumers as a result of an incorrect decision based on an inadequate understanding of the performance characteristics of the identified consumer product;

(5) Extent of incidence of consumer complaints arising from or reasonably traceable to lack of knowledge regarding the performance characteristics of the identified consumer product;

(6) If known, whether there currently exist test methods which could be used to test the performance characteristics of the identified consumer product and an identification of those test methods;

(7) Reasons why it is felt, in cases where existing test methods are identified in responding to paragraph (b)(6) of this section, that such test methods

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nizations, and others. The Secretary shall act expeditiously on all requests and shall notify the requester of her decision in writing. If the Secretary determines that there is no need to establish a Specification for labeling the requested consumer product performance characteristics, or because of a lack of resources, she will decline to act further on the request. In those instances where the Secretary declines a request, she shall state the reasons for so declining.

(d) If the Secretary finds that a need exists to establish a Specification for labeling a consumer product under this program, she shall publish a notice in the FEDERAL REGISTER setting out such finding and its basis and stating that she is developing a proposed Specification in accordance with § 16.5.

§ 16.5 Development of performance information labeling specifications.

(a) If the Secretary makes a finding of need pursuant to § 16.4, she will publish a proposed Performance Information Labeling Specification in the FEDERAL REGISTER with a notice giving the complete text of the proposed Specification and any other pertinent information. The notice will invite any interested person to submit written comments on the proposed Specification within 45 days after its publication in the FEDERAL REGISTER, unless another time limit is provided by the Secretary. Interested persons wanting to express their views in an informal hearing may do so, if within 15 days after the proposed Specification is published in the FEDERAL REGISTER, they request the Secretary to hold a hearing. Such informal hearings shall be held so as to give all interested persons an opportunity for the oral presentation of data, views, or arguments in addition to the opportunity to make written submissions. Notice of such hearings shall be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER. A transcript shall be kept of any oral presentations.

(b) Each Specification shall as a minimum include:

(1) A description of the performance characteristics of the consumer product covered;

(2) An identification by reference of the test methods to be used in measuring the performance characteristics. The test methods, where they exist and are deemed appropriate for inclusion in the particular Specification involved, shall be those which are described in nationally-recognized voluntary standards. Where appropriate test methods do not exist, they will be developed by the Department of Commerce in cooperation with interested parties and set out in full in the Specification;

(3) A prototype label and directions for displaying the label on or with the consumer product concerned. Such directions will not prohibit the display of additional information by the participant on space adjacent to the marked boundaries of the label; and

(4) Conditions of participation.

(c) The Secretary, after consideration of all written and oral comments and other materials received in accordance with paragraph (a) of this section, shall publish in the FEDERAL REGISTER within 30 days after the final date for receipt of comments, or as soon as practicable thereafter, a notice either:

(1) Giving the complete text of a final Specification, including conditions of use, and stating that any prospective participant in the program desiring voluntarily to use the Department of Commerce Mark developed under § 16.10 must advise the Department of Com

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(a) The Secretary in conjunction with the use of the Working Capital Fund of the National Institute of Standards & Technology, as authorized under section 12 of the Act of March 3, 1901, as amended (15 U.S.C. 278b), for this program, shall establish fees and charges for use of the Department of Commerce Label and Mark on each product. Such fees and charges shall be related to the number of units of products labeled, where appropriate. The fees and charges established by the Secretary, which may be revised by her

when she deems it appropriate to do so, shall be in amounts calculated to make the operation of this program as selfsufficient as reasonable. A separate notice will be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER Simultaneously with the notice of each proposed Specification referred to in §16.5(a). Such notice will set out a schedule of estimated fees and charges the Secretary proposes to establish. The notice would be furnished for informational and guidance purposes only in order that the public may evaluate the proposed Specification in light of the expected fees to be charged. (b) At such time as the Secretary publishes the notice announcing the final Specification referred to in §16.5(c)(1), she shall simultaneously publish a separate notice in the FEDERAL REGISTER setting forth the final schedule of fees that will be charged participants in the program. The effective date of such final schedule of fees shall be the same as the date on which the final Specification takes effect.

(c) Revisions, if any, to the fees and charges established by the Secretary under paragraph (b) of this section shall be published in subsequent FEDERAL REGISTER notices and shall take effect not less than thirty (30) days after the date of publication of such notice.

(d) The establishment of fees and charges under this section may, at any time, be suspended by the Secretary for any length of time.

[42 FR 26648, May 25, 1977, as amended at 42 FR 57686, Nov. 4, 1977, 55 FR 38315, Sept. 18, 1990]

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