# Presentation: 282624

## Federal Agency Obligations under OMB Circular A-119and Benefits of The NTTAA

***Federal Agency Obligations under OMB Circular A-119******and****** Benefits of The NTTAA***

- Kevin McIntyre
- Senior Standards Specialist
- Office of Standards Services, NIST

## Commerce/NIST’s Role

- Coordinate federal implementation of the Circular and provide administrative guidance
- Chair the ICSP; serve as secretariat
- Report to OMB on implementation of the Circular
- Establish procedures for developing participant directories
- Issue Conformity Assessment guidance

## Responsibilities of Agency Heads 

- Implement policies of the Circular
- Ensure agency compliance
- Appoint a Standards Executive to serve on the ICSP
- Transmit information to NIST for the annual report to OMB

## Responsibilities of Standards Executives

- Promote effective use of agency resources and participation
- Promote development of appropriate agency positions on standards that
- Are clearly defined
- Do not conflict with each other
- Are in the public interest
- Are consistent with administration policy

**Notes:**
Promote:
...appropriate policies and positions on standards 
in the public interest
do not conflict with each other
consistent with administration policy
clearly defined and known in advance of all participation on a committee

## Responsibilities of Standards Executives (cont.)

- Assure agency participation consistent with agency mission, authority, goals, and budget
- Assure that agency participants understand and accurately represent agency positions
- Coordinate multi-agency committee participation
- Assure that necessary internal policies are in place for managing standards use and participation

**Notes:**
Coordinate/assure that...
Agency participation is consistent with agency mission, authority, goals, and budget
Agency participants are knowledgeable about and accurately represent agency positions
Participation across government agencies is coordinated
Developing internal policies for managing standards use and participation as appropriate
Cooperating with DOC/NIST in implementing the circular, participant database, 
Preparing the report to OMB
Establishing a process for ongoing review and update of agency standards use 
Establishing processes to ensure that participation is properly reviewed (legal, budgetary) for compliance with applicable law

## Responsibilities of Standards Executives (cont.)

- Cooperate with DOC/NIST in implementing the Circular, including participant database
- Prepare agency input to OMB report
- Develop processes for ongoing review and update of agency standards use
- Develop processes to ensure that participation is properly reviewed (legal, budgetary) for compliance with applicable law

**Notes:**
Coordinate/assure that...
Cooperating with DOC/NIST in implementing the circular, participant database, 
Preparing the report to OMB
Establishing a process for ongoing review and update of agency standards use 
Establishing processes to ensure that participation is properly reviewed (legal, budgetary) for compliance with applicable law

## General Agency Requirements

- Use voluntary consensus standards (VCS) in lieu of government-unique standards except where inconsistent with law or otherwise impractical
- Participate in standards bodies where appropriate to agency mission
- Report on use of government-unique standards
- Report on participation in the development and use of voluntary consensus standards

**Notes:**

All agencies must use VCS’s in lieu of government-unique standards in their procurement and regulatory activities except where inconsistent with law or otherwise impractical.

However, agency may develop one internally only in cases where no suitable consensus standard exists in the private sector.

USE - Present definition
“Use” means incorporation of a standard in whole or in part or by reference for procurement purposes, and the inclusion of a standard in whole, in part, or by reference in regulation(s).

Revised Definition:
“Use” means (a) for procurement purposes, incorporation of a standard in whole, in part, or by reference or by adoption into an index of preferred standards and made available for repetitive use; or (b) for regulatory purposes, the inclusion of a standard in whole, in part, or by reference in rules and regulation(s).

## Participation in Standards Bodies

- Agencies must:
- Consult with voluntary consensus bodies, both domestic and international
- Participate in standards development when
- In the public interest
- Compatible with agency mission, authority, priorities, budget resources

## Agency Support of VCS Activities

- Must not be contingent on the outcome of the activity
- Can be no greater than that of other participants except when
- In the direct and predominant interest of the government
- Development or revision is otherwise unlikely
-  Forms of Support
- Participation of agency personnel
- Joint planning with SDOs to identify needed standards
- Direct financial, administrative, technical

**Notes:**

Agency participation does not prima facie imply agency endorsement 

## Limitations on Agency Participation

- Agencies must not:
- Get involved in internal management issues
- Dominate standards activities
- Exert undue influence

***Participation must be in compliance with all applicable federal laws***

## Annual Reporting Requirements

- List of government-unique standards used in lieu of voluntary standards
- Number of bodies in which agency participates
- Number of agency participants
- Number of voluntary standards used
- Identification of voluntary standards substituted for government-unique standards
- Evaluation of the effectiveness of the Circular

## Successful Implementation Strategies

- Several presented at ANSI World Standards Week workshop
- Defense
- Energy
- NASA
- NRC
- NIST
- Presentations available on-line
- NTTAA website: _***http://ts.nist.gov/ts/htdocs/210/nttaa/nttaa.htm***_
- ANSI Online: _***http://www.ansi.org***_

## Results of NTTAA Efforts Thus Far

- Greater use of voluntary consensus standards
- Federal agency activity levels increasing
- Greater knowledge of standards
- More focused participation in specific, relevant standards activities
- Greater involvement with SDOs
- Mounting anecdotal evidence of positive outcomes

## Number of Voluntary Standards Used by Federal Agencies

## Voluntary Standards Bodies in Which Agencies Participate

## Agency Employees Participating on SDO Committees

## OMB Circular: Goals for Government Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards

- Eliminate costs of developing in-house standards
- Decrease the cost of goods procured
- Minimize burden of complying with agency regulation
- Provide incentives/opportunities to establish standards that serve national needs
- Encourage long-term growth for US enterprises
- Promote efficiency and economic competition
- Further policy of reliance upon the private sector

**Notes:**

 ...add costs of maintaining and updating 
 ...procured to agency specific regulation

Encourage long-term growth for US enterprises and economic competition through harmonization of standards
  Further policy of reliance upon the private sector to supply Government needs for goods and services

## Significant Procurement Cost Savings

- Case studies - DoD
- Aircraft batteries
- Total reported savings $454.7 million
- Total investment $9.3 million
- Mechanically attached pipe fittings
- Total 10-year savings - over $58 million
- Investment during the same period - $750,000

## Additional Benefits

- Decreased in-house costs
- Attention shifted from regulatory process to technical issues
- Reduced time spent in preparation of regulations
- Agencies can focus more on mission oriented activities
- Improved communications with standards developing organizations
- Process of replacing government-unique standards
- Strategic alliances with SDOs
- DOT/ITS with AASHTO, ASTM, IEEE, ITE, SAE