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[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 247 (Wednesday, December 27, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61265-61266]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27891]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology

NIST Special Publication 2000-01: ABC's of Conformity Assessment

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 
requests comments on the draft Special Publication (SP) 2000-01 ABC's 
of Conformity Assessment document. The draft ABC's of Conformity 
Assessment document is posted on the NIST website at: https://www.nist.gov/standardsgov/special-publications-conformity-assessment.

DATES: NIST requests comments on the draft ABC's of Conformity 
Assessment document. Comments must be received by February 26, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted to NIST in the following ways:
     Electronic comments: Online submissions in electronic form 
may be sent to [email protected] in any of the following formats: 
HTML; ASCII; Word; RTF; or PDF. Please include your name, 
organization's name (if any), and cite ``Comments on Draft ABC's of 
Conformity Assessment'' in all correspondence. Comments containing 
references, studies, research, and other empirical data that are not 
widely published should include copies of the referenced materials. The 
proposed update to the ABC's of Conformity Assessment document is 
available for review at https://www.nist.gov/standardsgov/special-publications-conformity-assessment. Comments submitted electronically, 
including attachments, will be posted to the NIST website unchanged.
     Written comments may be submitted by mail to Amy Phelps, 
National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 
2100, Gaithersburg, MD 20899.

[[Page 61266]]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions regarding the draft ABC's of 
Conformity Assessment document or this Request for Comments should be 
directed to Amy Phelps, by email at [email protected], or by phone at 
301-975-4143.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
recently revised Circular A-119, ``Federal Participation in the 
Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity 
Assessment Activities,'' in light of changes that have taken place in 
the world of regulation, standards, and conformity assessment since the 
Circular was last revised in 1998.\1\ NIST is revising its conformity 
assessment materials to align with the updated Circular.
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    \1\ See ``OMB Circular A-119: Federal Participation in the 
Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in 
Conformity Assessment Activities,'' which was published on January 
27, 2016 and may be found at: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/omb/inforeg/revised_circular_a-119_as_of_1_22.pdf.
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    On February 28, 2017, NIST hosted a workshop to engage the 
conformity assessment community in the development of its conformity 
assessment materials. Updates to the conformity assessment materials 
reflect growth and evolution in the conformity assessment community as 
well as updates to the guidance in the revised OMB Circular A-119.
    Taking into consideration the feedback received from workshop 
participants as well as input received from conformity assessment 
stakeholders in both the public and private sectors, NIST has developed 
a draft of the following materials:

     Conformity Assessment Considerations for Federal Agencies
     ABC's of Conformity Assessment

    The purpose of the draft ABC's of Conformity Assessment document is 
to introduce conformity assessment concepts and information on how 
various conformity assessment activities are interlinked as well as the 
impact on the marketplace. The document highlights some of the 
important aspects of conformity assessment and serves as background for 
using available conformity assessment resources. The draft ABCs of 
Conformity Assessment document discusses the use of standards in 
conformity assessment activities; describes the types of conformity 
assessment activities; and identifies some of the interrelationships 
among conformity assessment activities.
    Request for Public Comments: Persons interested in commenting on 
the draft ABCs of Conformity Assessment document can submit their 
comments by following the instructions in the DATES and ADDRESSES 
sections.
    All comments will be made publicly available; therefore, personal, 
proprietary or confidential information should not be included. When 
submitting comments, inclusion of name, affiliation, and contact 
information (phone number and/or email address in case of questions 
about the comment) are optional. Comments containing references, 
studies, research, and other empirical data that are not widely 
published should include copies of the referenced materials.

Kevin Kimball,
NIST Chief of Staff.
[FR Doc. 2017-27891 Filed 12-26-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P
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