Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 60 / Tuesday, March 29, 2011 / Proposed Rules 17367 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Institute of Standards and 

Technology 

15 CFR Part 285 

[Docket No: 110125063–1062–02] 

RIN 0693–AB61 

National Voluntary Laboratory 

Accreditation Program; Operating 

Procedures 

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards 

and Technology (NIST), Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking: 

Request for comments. 

SUMMARY: The Director of the National 

Institute of Standards and Technology 

(NIST), United States Department of 

Commerce, requests comments on a 

proposed amendment to regulations 

pertaining to the operation of the 

National Voluntary Laboratory 

Accreditation Program (NVLAP). NIST 

proposes to revise the description of 

how NVLAP establishes laboratory 

accreditation programs (LAPs). The 

amendment is needed to clarify the 

original intent of this section and to 

improve the readability and 

understanding of the agency’s 

regulations. 

DATES: Submit comments on or before 

April 28, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may 

submit comments, identified by RIN 

0693–AB61, by any one of the following 

methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal at 

http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• E-mail: NVLAP@nist.gov. 

• Mail: Sally S. Bruce, Chief, National 

Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation 

Program, National Institute of Standards 

and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 

2140, Gaithersburg, MD 20899–2140. 

• Fax: (301) 926–2884, Attention: 

Sally S. Bruce. 

Instructions: All comments received 

must include the agency name and 

Regulatory Information Number (RIN 

0693–AB61) for this proposed 

rulemaking. Comments will be posted 

without change to http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided. All 

Personal Identifying Information (for 

example, name, address, etc.) 

voluntarily submitted by the commenter 

may be publicly accessible. Do not 

submit Confidential Business 

Information or otherwise sensitive or 

protected information. NIST will accept 

anonymous comments (please enter 

N/A in the required fields if you wish 

to remain anonymous). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sally S. Bruce, Chief, National 

Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation 

Program, National Institute of Standards 

and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 

2140, Gaithersburg, MD 20899–2140; 

telephone number: (301) 975–4016; 

e-mail address: sally.bruce@nist.gov; 

NVLAP Web site: http://www.nist.gov/ 

nvlap. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Title 15 Part 285 of the Code of 

Federal Regulations sets out procedures 

and general requirements under which 

the National Voluntary Laboratory 

Accreditation Program (NVLAP) 

operates as an unbiased third party to 

accredit both testing and calibration 

laboratories. NVLAP establishes 

laboratory accreditation programs 

(LAPs) in response to legislation or 

requests from government agencies and 

private sector entities. 

The NVLAP procedures were first 

published in the Federal Register on 

February 25, 1976, and have been 

revised several times. In 2001, major 

revisions to the procedures were 

published to ensure their consistency 

with certain international standards and 

guidance documents, and to reorganize 

and simplify part 285 for ease of use and 

understanding. While the existing 

regulations were accurate, the language 

was complex and difficult to 

understand; therefore, the procedures 

were rewritten in plain English and 

their subparts consolidated in order to 

make the regulations more user friendly. 

Description and Explanation of 

Proposed Change 

The purpose of this rule is to amend 

section 285.4, Establishment of 

laboratory accreditation programs 

(LAPs) within NVLAP, so that it 

conforms to the intent of the 2001 

revisions to Part 285 of Title 15 of the 

CFR and makes the regulations easier to 

understand. NIST proposes to amend 

the last sentence in section 285.4 as 

follows: change the third instance of the 

word ‘‘and’’ to ‘‘or,’’ and add the words 

‘‘to ensure open participation’’ after the 

phrase ‘‘other means.’’ 

As a signatory to the International 

Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation 

(ILAC) Mutual Recognition 

Arrangement (MRA), NVLAP complies 

with the requirements of ISO/IEC 17011, 

Conformity assessment—General 

requirements for accreditation bodies 

accrediting conformity assessment 

bodies. The proposed change will allow 

NVLAP more flexibility in determining 

how to best fulfill the requirements for 

impartiality found in ISO/IEC 17011, 

4.3.2, by assuring a balanced 

representation of interested parties 

when evaluating the need for a 

requested LAP. 

The original intent of the last sentence 

of section 285.4 was to allow NVLAP 

the flexibility to employ the most 

appropriate means to ensure open 

participation of stakeholders; however, 

the use of the word ‘‘and’’ may be 

misinterpreted to mean that a public 

workshop is required for each and every 

LAP request There are numerous means 

by which consultation with interested 

parties may be accomplished exclusive 

of a workshop, which include, but are 

not limited to, meeting with government 

and individual industry stakeholders on 

a frequent basis, attending consortia and 

conferences at which regulators, 

specifiers, and requesters are in 

attendance, and soliciting public 

comments via public notices, electronic 

communications, and news articles. 

Further, the use of the word ‘‘or’’ does 

not preclude the use of both workshops 

and other means to collect the necessary 

information. 

Request for Comments 

The Director of the National Institute 

of Standards and Technology, United 

States Department of Commerce, 

requests comments on the proposed 

amendments to regulations found at 15 

CFR part 285 pertaining to the National 

Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation 

Program. 

Interested parties may submit 

comments by any one of several 

methods (see ADDRESSES). All comments 

received in response to this notice will 

become part of the public record and 

will be posted without change to 

http://www.regulations.gov. 

Classification 

Executive Order 12866 

This proposed rule is not a significant 

rule for the purposes of Executive Order 

12866. 

Executive Order 12612 

This proposed rule does not contain 

policies with Federalism implications 

sufficient to warrant preparation of a 

Federalism assessment under Executive 

Order 12612. 

Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Chief Counsel for Regulation, 

Department of Commerce, has certified 

to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy, 

Small Business Administration, under 

the provisions of the Regulatory 

Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 605(b)), that 


wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with PROPOSALS_PART 1
17368 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 60 / Tuesday, March 29, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

this proposed rule will not have a 

significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities for 

the following reasons: (1) The regulation 

is procedural and has no impact on any 

entity unless that entity chooses to 

participate, in which case, the cost to 

the participant is the same cost for any 

size participant; (2) access to NVLAP’s 

accreditation system is not conditional 

upon the size of a laboratory or 

membership of any association or group, 

nor are there undue financial conditions 

to restrict participation; and (3) the 

technical criteria, against which 

individual laboratories are assessed, are 

not changed by this proposal. 

Paperwork Reduction Act 

This proposed rule does not involve 

a new collection of information subject 

to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). 

The collection of information for 

NVLAP has been approved by the Office 

of Management and Budget (OMB) 

under control number 0693–0003. 

Notwithstanding any other provision of 

the law, no person is required to 

comply, nor shall any person be subject 

to penalty for failure to comply with, a 

collection of information, subject to the 

requirements of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act, unless that collection of 

information displays a currently valid 

OMB Control Number. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

This proposed rule will not 

significantly affect the quality of the 

human environment. Therefore, an 

environmental assessment or 

Environmental Impact Statement is not 

required to be prepared under the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969. 

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 285 

Accreditation, Business and industry, 

Calibration, Commerce, Conformity 

assessment, Laboratories, Measurement 

standards, Testing. 

For the reasons set forth in the 

preamble, it is proposed that title 15 of 

the Code of Federal Regulations be 

amended as follows: 

PART 285—NATIONAL VOLUNTARY 

LABORATORY ACCREDITATION 

PROGRAM 

1. The authority citation for 15 CFR 

part 285 continues to read as follows: 

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 272 et seq. 

2. Section 285.4 is amended by 

revising the last sentence to read as 

follows: 

§ 285.4 Establishment of laboratory 

accreditation programs (LAPs) within 

NVLAP. 

* * * * * 

For requests from private sector 

entities and Government agencies, the 

Chief of NVLAP shall analyze each 

request, and, after consultation with 

interested parties through public 

workshops or other means to ensure 

open participation, shall establish the 

requested LAP, if the Chief of NVLAP 

determines there is need for the 

requested LAP. 

Dated: March 21, 2011. 

Charles H. Romine, 

Acting Associate Director for Laboratory 

Programs. 

[FR Doc. 2011–7336 Filed 3–28–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R06–OAR–2010–0404; FRL–9287–4] 

Approval and Promulgation of Air 

Quality Implementation Plans; 

Louisiana; Determination of 

Termination of Section 185 Fees 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: The EPA is proposing to 

determine that the State of Louisiana is 

no longer required to submit a section 

185 fee program State Implementation 

Plan (SIP) revision for the Baton Rouge 

ozone nonattainment area to satisfy antibacksliding requirements for the 1-hour 

ozone standard. This proposed 

determination (‘‘Termination 

Determination’’) is based on complete, 

quality-assured monitoring data 

showing attainment of the 1-hour ozone 

National Ambient Air Quality Standard 

(NAAQS), which is due to permanent 

and enforceable emission reductions 

implemented in the area. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before April 28, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by Docket No. EPA–R06– 

OAR–2010–0404, by one of the 

following methods: 

Federal Rulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line 

instructions for submitting comments. 

U.S. EPA Region 6 ‘‘Contact Us’’ Web 

site: http://epa.gov/region6/ 

r6coment.htm. Please click on 

‘‘6PD’’(Multimedia) and select ‘‘Air’’ 

before submitting comments. 

E-mail: Mr. Guy Donaldson at 

donaldson.guy@epa.gov. Please also 

send a copy by e-mail to the person 

listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT section below. 

Fax: Mr. Guy Donaldson, Chief, Air 

Planning Section (6PD–L), at fax 

number 214–665–7263. 

Mail: Mr. Guy Donaldson, Chief, Air 

Planning Section (6PD–L), 

Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 

Ross Avenue, Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas 

75202–2733. 

Hand or Courier Delivery: Mr. Guy 

Donaldson, Chief, Air Planning Section 

(6PD–L), Environmental Protection 

Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200, 

Dallas, Texas 75202–2733. Such 

deliveries are accepted only between the 

hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays 

except for legal holidays. Special 

arrangements should be made for 

deliveries of boxed information. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

Docket ID No. EPA–R06–OAR–2010– 

0404. 

EPA’s policy is that all comments 

received will be included in the public 

docket without change and may be 

made available online at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

the disclosure of which is restricted by 

statute. Do not submit information 

through http://www.regulations.gov or 

e-mail that you consider to be CBI or 

otherwise protected from disclosure. 

The http://www.regulations.gov Web 

site is an anonymous access system, 

which means EPA will not know your 

identity or contact information unless 

you provide it in the body of your 

comment. If you send an e-mail 

comment directly to EPA without going 

through http://www.regulations.gov, 

your e-mail address will be 

automatically captured and included as 

part of the comment that is placed in the 

public docket and made available on the 

Internet. If you submit an electronic 

comment, EPA recommends that you 

include your name and other contact 

information in the body of your 

comment and with any disk or CD–ROM 

you submit. If EPA cannot read your 

comment due to technical difficulties 

and cannot contact you for clarification, 

EPA may not be able to consider your 

comment. Electronic files should avoid 

the use of special characters, any form 

of encryption, and be free of any defects 

or viruses. 

Docket: All documents in the docket 

are listed in the http:// 

www.regulations.gov index. Although 

listed in the index, some information is 


wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with PROPOSALS_PART 1