Addendum to the 

Eleventh (2007) Annual Report on 

Federal Agency Use of Voluntary 

Consensus Standards and 

Conformity Assessment 
Table of Contents for Supplemental Appendices 

Note: Appendices A, B, and C are contained in the full report to the Office of Management 

and Budget 

Department of Agriculture (USDA) ............................................................................ 3 

Department of Commerce (DOC) ............................................................................... 7 

Department of Defense (DoD) .................................................................................... 25 

Department of Education (ED) .................................................................................. 34 

Department of Energy (DOE) .................................................................................... 37 

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ................................................. 43 

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ................................................................ 60 

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) ....................................... 69 

Department of the Interior (DOI) ............................................................................. 73 

Department of Justice (DOJ) ..................................................................................... 87 

Department of Labor (DOL) ...................................................................................... 90 

Department of State (DOS) ........................................................................................ 96 

Department of Transportation (DOT) ...................................................................... 99 

Department of the Treasury (TRES) ...................................................................... 108 

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ..................................................................... 111 

Appendix E – Individual, Unabridged Commission and other Agency Reports .... 114 

Access Board (ACCESS) .......................................................................................... 114 

U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID) ......................................... 117 

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) .................................................... 118 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ............................................................... 122 

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ....................................................... 138 

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) .......................................................................... 143 

General Services Administration (GSA) ................................................................. 146 

Government Printing Office (GPO) ........................................................................ 151 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) .................................... 154 

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) ..................................... 158 

National Science Foundation (NSF) ........................................................................ 161 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) ................................................................ 164 

Appendix F – Federal Agency Activities Related to Conformity Assessment ......... 168 

Appendix G – Federal Agency Activities Related to Use of Private Sector Standards

......................................................................................................................................... 178 

Appendix H – The Interagency Committee on Standards Policy (ICSP) ................ 199 

Appendix I – Publications Related to the National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act (NTTAA) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 

Circular A-119 ............................................................................................................... 200 

2
Appendix D – Individual, Unabridged Departmental Reports 

Note: This appendix contains the unabridged reports submitted to NIST by the Cabinet level 

Departments as they were submitted to NIST. 

Department of Agriculture (USDA)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

The United States Department of Agriculture follows various voluntary consensus 

standards adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies such as the International 

Organization for Standardization (ISO). The benefits of utilizing consistent standards are 

significant. For example, conforming to the international standards adopted by ISO has 

allowed USDA to interface more readily with other industry partners within and outside 

of the United States. They agree on specifications and criteria to be applied consistently 

in the classification of materials, in the manufacture and supply of products, in testing 

and analysis, with sharing data, in terminology and in the provision of services. In this 

way, the standards provide a reference framework, or a common technological language, 

between USDA and USDA stakeholders that facilitates trade and the transfer of 

technology. In utilizing these standards, the time and cost spent in translating and 

converting data are significantly reduced. Using and conforming to standards and 

embracing widely accepted methods, promotes professional credibility and acceptance. 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

1 

Government Unique Standard: 

Name: WILDLAND FIRE FOAM Number: USDA Forest Service Specification 5100-

307; July, 2000 Title: International Specification for Fire Suppressant Foam for Wild 

land Fires, Aircraft or Ground Application) (Incorporated: 2005) 

 

Voluntary Standard 

NFPA 1150 - Standard on Fire-Fighting Foam Chemicals for Class A Fuels in Rural, 

Suburban, and Vegetated Areas. 

 

Rationale 

Foam fire suppressants contain foaming and wetting agents. The foaming agents affect 

the accuracy of an aerial drop, how fast the water drains from the foam and how well the 

product clings to the fuel surfaces. The wetting agents increase the ability of the drained 

water to penetrate fuels. Foam fire suppressants are supplied as wet concentrates. 

This standard was developed with international cooperation for Class A Foam used in 

wildland fire suppression situations and equipment. Standard created by the USDA Forest 

3
Service in cooperation with the Department of Interior (DOI), the State of California, 

Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire 

Center. 

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) does have a standard for Class A 

Foam, (NFPA 1150 - Standard on Fire-Fighting Foam Chemicals for Class A Fuels in 

Rural, Suburban, and Vegetated Areas). The Forest Service has not chosen to utilize 

NFPA 1150 as it is designed specifically for application by municipal fire agencies in the 

wildland-urban interface, utilizing apparatus and situations that they are likely to 

encounter. The Forest Service’s GUS for foam products is specific to use by wildland fire 

equipment and situations that are unique, e.g. helicopter use of foams, remote storage 

situations, and varied quality of water sources in the wildland settings. The agency feels 

this standard more accurately reflects the needs and mission of the federal wildland fire 

suppression agencies. 

 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards:

247 

Other Technical Standards:

0 

Rationale: 

N/A 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

34 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

3-A Sanitary Standards, Inc 3-A SSI 

American Association of Cereal Chemists AACC 

American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists AATCC 

4
American National Standards Institute ANSI 

American Oil Chemists Society AOCS 

American Railway Engineering & Maintenance-of-Way Association AREMA 

American Society of Agricultural Engineers ASAE 

AOAC International AOAC 

Association of American Seed Control Officials AASCO 

Association of Official Analytical Chemists International AOAC 

Association of Official Seed Analysts AOSA 

Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies AOSCA 

ASTM International ASTM 

Codex Alimentarius Commission CODEX 

Industry-wide Cooperative Meat Identification Standards Committee ICMISC 

International Dairy Federation IDF 

International Organization for Standardization ISO 

International Organization for Standardization/International 

Electrotechnical Commission 

ISO/IEC 

International Plant Protection Convention/International Standards for 

Phytosanitary Measures 

IPPC/ISPM 

International Seed Testing Association ISTA 

International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants UPOV 

Meat and Poultry Business-to-Business Data Standards Organization mpXML 

Meat and Poultry Equipment Standards MPES 

National Conference of Weights and Measures NCWM 

National Cooperation for Laboratory Accreditation NACLA 

National Fire Protection Association NFPA 

National Information Standards Organization NISO 

National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST 

National Type Evaluation Program NTEP 

North American Plant Protection Organization/Regional Standards for 

Phytosanitary Measures 

NAPPO/RSPM 

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD 

Project Management Institute PMI 

The Open Group TOG 

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe WP .29/GRSP UNECE 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

98 

5
7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

N/A 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

Generally, the OMB Circular A-119 policy is considered sufficient. 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

No additional comments. 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

No additional comments. 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

Yes 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

C 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

Yes 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

1 

6
Department of Commerce (DOC)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

Standards have been an integral part of the mission of the National Institute of Standards 

and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce, since its establishment in 1901. NIST 

staff contributes to the development of voluntary consensus standards by providing 

laboratory research for technical content and by participating on standards developing 

committees. This participation supports NIST's mission to promote U.S. innovation and 

industrial competitiveness. 

Reducing Standards-Related Barriers to Trade 

The National Center for Standards and Certification Information (NCSCI) is the U.S. 

source for standards and standards-related information at home and abroad. The Center 

provides bibliographic information on U.S., foreign, regional, and international voluntary 

standards, mandatory government regulations, and conformity assessment procedures for 

nonagricultural products. Resources include an extensive collection of electronic 

reference materials, including U.S. military and other Federal Government specifications, 

U.S. industry and national standards, international standards, and selected foreign 

national standards. NCSCI responds to requests for specialized standards information, 

provides contact points for translations of foreign standards and regulations, and 

disseminates information concerning proposed foreign regulations and general standards 

issues. 

In fulfillment of U.S. obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement 

on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and the North American Free Trade Agreement 

(NAFTA), NCSCI serves as the U.S. national Inquiry Point and national Notification 

Authority. Signatories to the WTO TBT Agreement are required to notify the WTO 

Secretariat in Geneva of proposed technical regulations that could affect world trade and 

provide a 60-day comment period for review and comment by other WTO Members. 

Since July 1, 2005, NCSCI has offered a web-based service, Notify U.S., to disseminate 

WTO summary notifications at no charge to U.S. entities (citizens, industries, 

organizations)and other WTO TBT Inquiry Points on request. Notify U.S. provides U.S. 

industry with an opportunity to review and comment on proposed foreign technical 

regulations that can affect their businesses and their access to international markets. 

NCSCI acquires the full texts of the proposed technical regulations from the relevant 

foreign inquiry points and distributes them via Notify U.S. to interested U.S. industries. 

Further details regarding Notify U.S. can be viewed at www.nist.gov/notifyus. 

NCSCI is the U.S. member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 

Information Network (ISONET). NCSCI networks with other national standards 

organizations to exchange standards-related information and share access to foreign 

7
trade-related standards, technical regulations, and conformity assessment procedures. 

In 2007, NCSCI staff processed over 36,000 requests: for standards (~1400+) and 

technical barriers to trade (~35,000+) information. NCSCI hosted or participated in 

training for 18 U.S. and foreign visiting delegations interested in the operations of a 

WTO TBT Inquiry Point. NCSCI presented at two sessions during the 5th WTO TBT 

Special Meeting on Procedures for Information Exchange in Geneva. 

The Standards in Trade (SIT) program, in operation since 1994, is a major activity of the 

NIST Standards Services Division's Global Standards and Information Group (GSIG). 

The workshops are designed to provide timely information to foreign standards officials 

on U.S. practices in standards and conformity assessment. Participants are introduced to 

U.S. technology and principles in metrology, standards development and application, and 

conformity assessment practices. The workshop agenda includes briefing panels on 

strategies to enhance trade between the United States and the invited countries. 

NIST works closely with the private sector including small and medium sized companies 

to develop a program offering a comprehensive overview of the roles of the U.S. 

Government, private sector, and regional and international organizations involved in 

standards development and conformity assessment practices that impact trade. SIT offers 

an excellent opportunity where U.S. stakeholders, including small and medium sized 

enterprises, make professional contacts of great value in facilitating exports of their 

products and services to countries where standards related requirements have to be met. 

Since 2003 when then Secretary of Commerce Evans launched the Department of 

Commerce Standards Initiative, NIST has organized 18 SIT workshops. In Fiscal Year 

2007, the first overseas SIT workshop was held in Beijing, China. The success of this 

first time initiative provides the impetus to carry out future workshops in-country. SIT 

Workshops held in FY 2007 were: 

NIST Standards in Trade (SIT) Workshop on Oil and Gas for South America 

Date: March 27 - 30, 2007 

Location: NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland 

Overview: The SIT workshop on Standards and Conformity Assessment for the Oil and 

Gas sector in South America addressed the role of standards and conformity assessment 

in this sector and the impact of standards and conformity assessment on trade. The 

objectives of the workshop were to facilitate an information exchange on the regulatory 

framework pertaining to the oil and gas sector in the U.S. and invited countries; facilitate 

an information exchange on how standards, conformity assessment, and regulatory 

requirements are developed and used in the U.S. and invited countries; promote the 

adoption and use of U.S. based international standards to meet regulatory requirements; 

identify existing and emerging trends in oil and gas standards, oil and gas pipelines, 

petroleum and petroleum products for transportation, and encourage mutually cooperative 

efforts in standards development and conformity assessment programs. 

NIST Standards in Trade (SIT) Workshop on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) 

8
for Chinese Officials 

Date: May 28-29, 2007 

Location: Beijing, China 

Overview: The SIT Workshop on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) for Chinese 

Officials addressed the role of standards, conformity assessment, and regulations in 

transportation technology specifically addressing Intelligent Transportation Systems 

(ITS), Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC), Advance Traffic Management 

Systems (ATMS), system control systems, and public transportation (transit). The 

objectives of this workshop were to provide a forum for the discussion of standards and 

codes, their development, conformity assessment and regulation in the U.S. and China as 

they relate to intelligent transportation systems and their components; to discuss the role 

of standards and best practices that address safety, security, communication, congestion 

and incident management, while contributing to enhanced trade of associated goods and 

services; to address the role and authority of relevant agencies and organizations; to 

identify and address barriers to development, use and adoption of international standards 

pertinent to this sector; to identify current and future technical areas in which the U.S. 

and China could cooperate, and where appropriate, identify possible venues to facilitate 

such cooperation; to establish peer-to-peer contacts and programs, where appropriate; and 

to further extend the knowledge of participants on available resources. 

NIST Standards in Trade Workshop In Support of the Asia Pacific Partnership (APP) On 

Harmonization of Test Procedures 

Date: August 27-31, 2007 

Location: NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland 

Overview: The SIT Workshop in Support of the Asia Pacific Partnership (APP) on 

Harmonization of Test Procedures provided a forum for the discussion of standardization 

issues, in particular, harmonization of test procedures for electronics and HVAC systems 

being addressed by the Asia Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (APP). 

Objectives of this workshop were to provide a forum for the discussion of standardization 

issues, particularly those related to the harmonization of test procedures for electronics 

and Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVAC/R) systems being 

addressed within the Asia Pacific Partnership (APP) on Clean Development and Climate; 

to identify challenges to the development of globally-accepted test procedures, as well as 

potential means to address them; to identify potential opportunities for collaboration in 

both pre-standardization research and during standardization, and to identify avenues to 

facilitate such collaboration; to establish peer-to-peer contacts and programs, where 

appropriate; and to further extend participants' knowledge of available resources, 

including existing standards, guides, best practices and other similar resources. 

More detailed information about the SIT program can be found at 

http://ts.nist.gov/Standards/Global/sit/index.cfm 

9
2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

0 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

 0 

Other Technical Standards: 

 0 

Rationale: 

 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

108 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

Acoustical Society of America ASA 

Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute ARI 

Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions ATIS 

American Association of Physicists in Medicine AAPM 

American Concrete Institute ACI 

American Dental Association ADA 

American Gas Association AGA 

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics AIAA 

American National Standards Institute ANSI 

American Nuclear Society ANS 

American Society for Quality ASQ 

American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE 

10
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning 

Engineers 

ASHRAE 

American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME 

American Society of Safety Engineers ASSE 

American Vacuum Society AVS 

American Welding Society AWS 

ASC X9, Inc. ASC X9 

Association for Information and Image Management AIIM 

Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation AAMI 

Association of Biomolecular Research Facilities ABRF 

Association of Official Analytical Chemists International AOAC 

ASTM International ASTM 

Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms Technical Forum BLAS 

Biometrics Application Programming Interface Consortium BioAPI 

British Standards Institution BSI 

Canadian General Standards Board CGSB 

Center for Applied Special Technology CAST 

Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute CLSI 

Codex Alimentarius Commission CODEX 

Committee on Data for Science and Technology CODATA 

Common Criteria Management Committee CCMC 

Consumer Electronics Association CEA 

Council for Optical Radiation Measurements CORM 

Council on Ionizing Radiation Measurements and Standards CIRMS 

Electronic Industries Alliance EIA 

Engineering Sciences Data Unit International ESDU 

Health Level 7 HL7 

Health Physics Society HPS 

Illuminating Engineering Society of North America IESNA 

Industrial Truck Association ITA 

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE 

Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society ISA 

Inter-American Accreditation Cooperation IAAC 

Inter-American Metrology System SIM 

International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam IAPWS 

International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA 

International Bureau of Weights and Measures BIPM 

International Cartographic Association ICA 

11
International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO 

International Code Council ICC 

International Commission on Illumination CIE 

International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements, Inc. ICRU 

InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards INCITS 

International Committee for Weights and Measures CIPM 

International Council for Science ICSU 

International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service IERS 

International Electrotechnical Commission IEC 

International Federation on Information Processing IFIP 

International Hydrographic Organization IHO 

International Imaging Industry Association I3A 

International Organization for Standardization ISO 

International Organization for Standardization/International 

Electrotechnical Commission 

ISO/IEC 

International Organization of Legal Metrology OIML 

International Telecommunication Union ITU 

International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Materials, System 

and Structures/International Council for Research and Innovation in 

Building and Construction 

RILEM/CIB 

International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Materials, Systems 

and Structures 

RILEM 

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry IUPAC 

Internet Engineering Task Force IETF 

Internet Software Consortium ISC 

IPC - Association Connecting Electronics Industries IPC 

Java Grande Forum JGF 

JEDEC - Solid State Technology Association JEDEC 

Laser Institute of America LIA 

National Conference on Weights and Measures NCWM 

National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements NCRP 

National Electrical Manufacturers Association NEMA 

National Fire Protection Association NFPA 

National Fluid Power Association NFLPA 

NCSL International NCSLI 

North American Open Math Initiative NAOMI 

Object Management Group OMG 

Open Applications Group OAGi 

Open DeviceNet Vendor Association ODVA 

12
Open Geospatial Consortium OGC 

Optical Internetworking Forum OIF 

Optical Laboratories Association OLA 

Optical Society of America OSA 

Optical Storage Technology Association OSTA 

Optics and Electro-Optics Standards Council OEOSC 

Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards OASIS 

Pan-American Standards Commission COPANT 

Robotics Industries Association RIA 

Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International SEMI 

Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization SISO 

Society of Automotive Engineers SAE 

Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers SMPTE 

Standards Engineering Society SES 

Telecommunications Industry Association TIA 

U.S. Product Data Association US PRO 

Underwriters Laboratories UL 

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe WP .29/GRSP UNECE 

Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards VAMAS 

Video Electronics Standards Association VESA 

Web3D Consortium Web3D 

World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO 

World Meteorological Organization WMO 

World Wide Web Consortium W3C 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

464 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

 

National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) 

The National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) provides thirdparty accreditation to testing and calibration laboratories. NVLAP's accreditation 

programs are established in response to Congressional mandates or administrative actions 

by the Federal Government or from requests by private-sector organizations. NVLAP is 

13
in full conformance with the standards of the International Organization for 

Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), 

including ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO/IEC 17011. NVLAP identifies its laboratories in its 

NVLAP-Accredited Laboratories Directory which is published online and updated 

monthly at www.nist.gov/nvlap. NVLAP is a signatory to the International Laboratory 

Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the Asia-Pacific Laboratory Accreditation 

Cooperation (APLAC) Mutual Recognition Arrangements. By participating in these 

cooperations, NVLAP facilitates the mutual recognition of accredited test and 

measurement results of its signatory partners, reducing the need for redundant testing and 

lowering costs to customers. 

New NVLAP Certificate of Accreditation 

In October 2006, NVLAP began using a new version of the Certificate of Accreditation 

to ISO/IEC 17025:2005, General requirements for the competence of testing and 

calibration laboratories. The certificate now includes the following statement to convey 

that an accredited laboratory management system meets the principles of ISO 9001:2000. 

"This laboratory is accredited in accordance with the recognized International Standard 

ISO/IEC 17025:2005. This accreditation demonstrates technical competence for a defined 

scope and the operation of a laboratory quality management system (refer joint ISOILAC-IAF Communique dated 18 June 2005)" 

NVLAP-accredited laboratories may use the above statement on their test reports and 

calibration certificates if they supply, or provide access to via a website, the Joint ISOILAC-IAF Communique as part of the package for their laboratory customers. 

The Joint ISO-ILAC-IAF Communique was issued to counter a perception that 

accredited laboratories do not operate a recognized quality management system. Many 

accredited laboratories have had difficulty convincing their customers that they should be 

asking laboratories to be accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 rather than be certified (or 

registered) to ISO 9001. The situation became more acute with the publication of ISO 

9001:2000, as some customers continually asked laboratories to be certified, when they 

really meant accredited. It is anticipated that the use of the above statement by both 

accreditation bodies and accredited laboratories will help to address the market issues 

caused by the confusion between these two terms. 

New Accreditation Program for Body Armor Testing 

At the request of the National Institute of Justice, NVLAP has established a laboratory 

accreditation program to support the voluntary minimum performance standard for the 

ballistic- and stab-resistance of personal body armor, developed for the National Institute 

of Justice (NIJ) by the NIST Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES). 

The program will address ballistic- and stab-resistant body armor submitted to the 

NIJ/National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) for 

14
testing and certification in accordance with applicable NIJ standards. Laboratory test 

results will be used for the purposes of preparing NIJ's Personal Body Armor Consumer 

Product List. NVLAP-accredited laboratories testing the equipment for certification by 

NLECTC must be independent of body armor manufacturers, NIJ, NLECTC, and OLES, 

and be able to perform all of the selected tests as specified in the applicable NIJ standard. 

NVLAP Labs Meet ISO/IEC 17025:2005 

All NVLAP-accredited laboratories have met ISO/IEC 17025:2005. In a memo dated 

September 14, 2005, NVLAP laboratories were informed of the transition plan and 

timeline for implementation of the requirements of the new edition of ISO/IEC 

17025:2005, General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration 

laboratories. Laboratories were given two years to transition to the new requirements. As 

of September 30, 2007, all NVLAP-accredited laboratories met the deadline. 

National Voluntary Conformity Assessment System Evaluation (NVCASE) Program 

The National Voluntary Conformity Assessment System Evaluation (NVCASE) Program 

enables U.S. industry to satisfy mandated foreign technical requirements using the results 

of U.S.-based conformity assessment programs that perform technical evaluations 

comparable in their rigor to practices in the receiving country. Under this program, the 

Department of Commerce, acting through the National Institute of Standards and 

Technology, evaluates U.S.-based conformity assessment bodies in order to be able to 

give assurances to a foreign government that qualifying bodies meet that government's 

requirements and can provide results that are acceptable to that government. The program 

provides a technically-based U.S. approval process for U.S. industry to gain foreign 

market access; the acceptability of conformity assessment results to the relevant foreign 

government will be a matter for agreement between the two governments. Additional 

information about the NVCASE Program can be found at 

http://ts.nist.gov/Standards/Global/nvcase.cfm. 

Conformity Assessment Activities under Mutual Recognition Agreements/Arrangement 

(MRAs) 

The United States and the European Community Mutual Recognition Agreement (US - 

EU MRA) is a multi-sector bilateral government-to-government agreement between the 

United States and the 25 Member States of the European Union. Under this MRA, NIST 

is responsible for designating organizations in the US Conformity Assessment Bodies 

(CABs) for three product sectors: 1) Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), 2) 

Telecommunications, and 3) Recreational Craft. After a lengthy review process, CABs 

that meet certain criteria are formally recognized and may operate as a CAB as described 

in the U.S. - EU MRA and the specific technical regulations of the EU governing the 

appropriate product sectors. The U.S.-EU MRA is an important regulatory and trade 

agreement which provides greater market access in a timelier manner for U.S. 

manufacturers exporting to Europe and European manufacturers exporting to the United 

States. Further information can be obtained at 

15
http://ts.nist.gov/Standards/Global/mra.cfm. 

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Mutual Recognition Arrangement for 

Conformity Assessment of Telecommunications Equipment is intended to streamline the 

Conformity Assessment Procedures for a wide range of telecommunications and 

telecommunications-related equipment and thereby to facilitate trade among the parties. 

It provides for the mutual recognition by the importing parties of CABs and mutual 

acceptance of the results of testing and equipment certification procedures undertaken by 

those bodies in assessing conformity of equipment to the importing parties’ own technical 

regulations. 

Under Phase-I of the APEC Mutual Recognition Arrangement, NIST-designated CABs 

are able to produce test data in their facilities that are accepted as evidence that the tested 

product satisfies an APEC economy's appropriate technical requirements. CABs 

operating under Phase-II of the MRA are able to approve products as being in compliance 

with the technical and administrative requirements of the importing economy. The 

general and specific requirements that must be met in order to be nominated as a CAB 

under the APEC Tel MRA, as well as the text of the MRA, can be found at 

http://ts.nist.gov/Standards/Global/mra.cfm. 

The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) Mutual Recognition 

Agreement is almost identical to the APEC Tel MRA in purpose and structure. The goal 

of the CITEL MRA is to facilitate trade among the 34 Member States of the Organization 

of American States. The conformity assessment activities under this Agreement have yet 

to become operational. When operational, NIST will serve as the Designating Authority 

of U.S. CABs. In the meantime, NIST continues to work towards implementation of the 

Agreement. More information on the CITEL Agreement can be found on 

http://ts.nist.gov/Standards/Global/mra.cfm. 

NIST Committee Participation in Conformity Assessment Activities 

NIST's Standards Services Division (NIST/SSD) participates in the American National 

Standards Institute's (ANSI) International Conformity Assessment Committee (ICAC). 

This committee serves as the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to ISO's Council 

Committee on Conformity Assessment (CASCO). SSD staff is also active on CASCO's 

ad hoc Regulators Interface Group. 

NIST/SSD is a member of ANSI's Conformity Assessment Policy Committee (CAPC), 

which is the primary focal point for developing, coordinating, and maintaining ANSI's 

policies and accreditation activities. The committee makes policy recommendations to 

the ANSI Board related to conformity assessment and provides oversight for ANSI's 

conformity assessment programs. 

In the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) area, NIST/SSD personnel serve 

on the U.S. National Committee to the IECEE (IEC System for Conformity Testing and 

Certification of Electrical Equipment). The latter is a worldwide scheme that allows 

16
manufacturers to obtain a test certificate from an approved U.S. National Certification 

Body (NCB) and to use that test report to obtain certification marks in other participating 

countries. 

Additionally, NIST provides technical support to the Standards Related Measures (SRM) 

Committee under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The SRM 

Committee serves as a forum for the resolution of standards and conformity assessment 

issues that impact trade among the three NAFTA partners. NIST also provides technical 

support for the InterAmerican Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC). Such 

arrangements/agreements are designed to harmonize conformity assessment practices and 

promote the global acceptance of conformity assessment results from qualified bodies to 

minimize the need for and cost of redundant conformity assessments. 

Coordination of Conformity Assessment Activities 

Under the NTTAA, NIST is responsible for coordinating conformity assessment 

activities with private sector technical standards activities and conformity assessment 

activities, with the goal of eliminating unnecessary duplication and complexity. Current 

NIST activities in this area include: 

1. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Conformity Assessment Activities - NIST’s 

Technology Services is working with the Department of Homeland Security Standards 

Executive to develop the DHS Science and Technology standards and conformity 

assessment infrastructure as well as requirements, standards, testing protocols, and 

conformity assessment methods. 

2. Radiation Detectors - NIST’s Technology Services, in cooperation with NIST’s 

Radiation Physics Division is working on developing a conformity assessment program 

for radiation detectors for DHS’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office including 

accreditation for testing laboratories. Laboratories have begun applying to the NVLAP 

laboratory accreditation program and accredited laboratories are expected to be available 

in 2008. 

3. Business Continuity and Preparedness Management – NIST Technology Services is 

working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to develop a private 

sector certification program for organizations to demonstrate their compliance with the 

requirements of adopted standards. This program is being developed under the authority 

of the Implementing the 9/11 Commissions Recommendations Act of 2007. 

4. Body Armor - NIST’s Technology Services, in cooperation with NIST’s Office of Law 

Enforcement Standards (OLES), the Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice 

(NIJ), and the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center 

(NLECTC) developed a significant enhancement to the current body armor certification 

program and is revising NIJ's performance standard for the safety of law enforcement 

officers. NVLAP, at the request of NIJ, has implemented a laboratory accreditation 

program to accredit body armor testing laboratories. Several laboratories have applied. 

17
5. Interoperable Public Safety Communications Equipment - NIST’s Technology 

Services, in cooperation with TIA Project 25, the NIST OLES, the Institute for 

Telecommunication Sciences, and DHS Project SAFECOM established the P25 

Conformity Assessment Working Group to obtain industry input and buy-in for the 

development of a complex conformity assessment program for public safety land mobile 

radios. The working group has developed a conformity assessment program based on 

recognition of testing competence, standardized test report forms, and the implementation 

of a supplier’s declaration of conformity. NIST has published NIST Handbook 153 - 

Laboratory Recognition Process for Project 25 - Compliance Assessment. NIST National 

Voluntary Laboratory staff will have a lead role in the administration of the laboratory 

recognition program. NIST staff is also working closely with the stakeholders on the 

procedures for the declarations of conformity. 

6. NIST's Technology Services is working with NIST Radiation Physics to develop a 

series of IEEE Standards for the performance of non-intrusive inspection equipment. The 

Standard for the Performance and Evaluation of Checkpoint Cabinet X-Ray Imaging 

Security-Screening Systems is currently in public review. 

7. Toy Safety Initiative - NIST’s Technology Services is providing technical leadership 

in the development of a private sector model certification program to address toy safety 

issues. Stakeholders in the process include consumer interests, the Consumer Product 

Safety Commission, the toy industry, test laboratories and others. 

8. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Project on Electronics Recycling – NIST’s 

Technology Services is participating in an electronic recycling working group, with broad 

participation from stakeholders, to develop a standard and certification program for 

recycling of electronic waste. The EPA Office of Solid waste is supporting this work in 

an effort to avoid the need to regulate this sector. NIST has provided standards and 

conformity assessment guidance to EPA and the working group. 

9. EPA WaterSense Project – NIST’s Technology Services assisted EPA staff in the 

development of a conformity assessment plan for its WaterSense program. Watersense 

certified products are now available in the marketplace. 

10. Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPV6) – NIST assisted the Office of Management and 

Budget and the General Services Administration in developing a innovative conformity 

assessment approach for equipment vendors to demonstrate compliance with IPV6 

requirements for Federal Agency procurement. 

Finally, NIST/SSD has published a number of directories and reports on conformity 

assessment-related issues. NIST/SSD also maintains a Web site (http://ts.nist.gov) that 

provides a one-stop-shopping source for information on various conformity assessment 

issues. 

 

18
8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

None at this time. 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

DOC BUREAUS (EXCLUDING NIST) - SUMMARY OF STANDARDS-RELATED 

ACTIVITIES (2007) 

International Trade Administration (ITA) - The ITA participates in eight CODEX 

committees, two ISO technical committees, and one ICAO committee. ITA also 

participates in several potentially trade-related ISO activities for secondhand goods, 

aquaculture, and social responsibility standardization. ITA was also active in standards 

capacity building in ASEAN, and standards harmonization efforts in the Strategic 

Partnership for Prosperity. In the automotive sector, ITA works closely with the 

regulatory agencies EPA and DOT/NHTSA on their work in the United Nations 

Economic Commission of Europe's (UN/ECE) WP29 for developing global technical 

regulations (GTRs). By closely coordinating with industry, ITA is well-poised to alert 

regulators of potential technical barriers to trade and ensure true trade facilitation in 

global standards development. 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – Standardization of data acquisition and data 

management practices are vital to the mission at NOAA. NOAA seeks to establish 

voluntary standards with selected industrial associations, academia, and national 

organizations of state and local governments (e.g., the American Association of State 

Climatologists), as well as through participation in professional societies (e.g., American 

Meteorological Society). All NOAA line organizations participate in standards 

development activities. In general, standards used in many NOAA activities are 

established in conjunction with other federal agencies (e.g., DOD, Federal Aviation 

Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Federal Geographic Data 

Committee) either through joint participation in international organizations such as the 

World Meteorological Organization, or by means of bilateral and multilateral agreements 

with other nations. These standardization activities apply to all phases of environmental 

data acquisition, processing, and distribution. 

National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) - The NTIA 

contributes to the development and application of national and international 

telecommunication standards by participating and holding leadership roles in various 

voluntary standards committees at the national and international levels e.g., 

Telecommunications Industry Association, International Telecommunication Union, and 

ATIS (Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions.) These standards enhance 

the quality and reliability of the domestic telecommunications infrastructure, promote 

healthy competition in telecommunications products and services, and expand 

international trade opportunities for U.S. telecommunications firms. 

19
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) - The USPTO participates and 

contributes to the resolution of identified requirements for international standards, 

primarily through the Standing Committee on Information Technologies of the World 

Intellectual Property Organization. USPTO staff also participates in standardization 

activities of the International Patent Classification Union. 

Bureau of the Census - DOC's Bureau of the Census is active in the development of 

standards and specifications for: (1) the capture and storage of geographic information in 

computer-readable formats along with metadata documenting the characteristics of those 

data; and (2) the definitions of statistical, economic, and geographic terms. The Census 

Bureau participates in the following groups: Federal Geographic Data Committee -- 

various subcommittees and working groups including the Standards Working Group, the 

Marine Boundary Working Group, the Cadastral Subcommittee, the Geodetic 

Subcommittee, and the Address Data Content Standard Working Group. Census Bureau 

staff are active with the Geospatial Line of Business participating on Working Groups for 

the Joint Business Case, Lifecycle Management, and Performance Management; 

ANSI/INCITS-L1 - Geographic Information; ISO Technical Committee 211; Ad hoc 

Baseline Committee on the U.S. International Boundary; U.S.G.S. Spatial Data Transfer 

Standards (SDTS)Technical Review Board; International Cartographic Association, U.S. 

National Committee for the International Cartographic Association, Commission on 

National and Regional Atlases; U.S.G.S. National Atlas of the United States Steering 

Committee; the Open GIS Consortium (OGC); and the U.S. Board on Geographic 

Names. 

Commercial Law Development Program - CLDP provides consultative and training 

support to developing and transitional nations that are working to enhance their economic 

growth by improving the legal environment for doing business in their countries. CLDP 

staff provided the following standards-related assistance in FY2007: 

• Workshop on the Coordination of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Procedures and Working 

Group Meetings in Romania, which brought together Stability Pact-wide regional 

working groups covering the areas of food safety, animal health, and plant health. During 

the program, members of the working groups had the opportunity to discuss working 

group-specific issues using the expertise of the United States Department of Agriculture, 

Codex Alimentarius, and the WHO/FAO. 

• Workshop on World Trade Organization Sanitary and Phytosanitary Procedures (WTO 

SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade Agreements for officials in Bosnia-Herzegovina 

(BiH). The workshop aimed to: 1) increase the knowledge of BiH officials in fulfilling 

the obligations of the WTO SPS agreement; and 2) determine the impediments and 

solutions to developing a national food control system. 

• Consultations in the U.S. on Inquiry Point and Notifications for BiH officials and 

officials from the Ukraine WTO Information Processing Center. 

OTHER NIST STANDARDS ACTIVITIES 

20
E-GOV STANDARDS 

NIST, in cooperation with other agencies responsible for implementing E-Gov services, 

has undertaken work to validate standards for E-Gov Initiatives and Lines of Business 

(LoB). NIST has worked with specific E-Gov Initiatives and LoBs that are well advanced 

in their standard development, selection, and deployment of their standards-based 

implementations. These efforts have formed the foundation of knowledge of the specific 

standards and types of standards that have already been adopted and are, in many cases, 

already being used to successfully implement specific E-Gov services. NIST is reviewing 

the ongoing selection and adoption of private sector standards by the E-Gov Initiatives 

and Lines of Business and identify specific standards that are needed for government 

wide use, and developed recommendations on specific mechanisms to promulgate 

government policy for the standards associated with each E-Gov Initiative and LoBs. 

NIST also developed the E-Gov Standards Resource Center which is a comprehensive 

USG portal for NIST-validated E-Gov standards – http://ts.nist.gov/standards/e-gov/. 

FEDERAL INFORMATION PROCESSINGS STANDARDS (FIPS) 

Under the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), TITLE III of the EGovernment Act of 2002, The Secretary of Commerce approves standards and guidelines 

that are developed by NIST for federal computer systems. This includes standards and 

guidelines needed to ensure the cost-effective security and privacy of sensitive 

information in federal computer systems. These standards and guidelines are issued by 

NIST as FIPS for use government wide. FIPS are issued when there are compelling 

federal government requirements such as for security and interoperability and there are 

no acceptable industry standards or solutions. When FIPS are considered necessary, 

NIST announces proposed FIPS in the Federal Register for public review and comment. 

During FY2007, NIST made the following FIPS announcements: 

Federal Register notice dated January 23, 2007, announced The Development of New 

Hash Algorithm(s) for the Revision of Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 

180–2, Secure Hash Standard. Widely used by the federal government and industry in 

digital signatures and message authentication applications, FIPS 180-2 specifies five 

cryptographic hash algorithms. Recent attacks against the current algorithms necessitate 

the development of a more secure hash standard. To begin the process, ITL requested 

comments from the public on recently published draft algorithm requirements and 

evaluation criteria for candidate algorithms. NIST is addressing comments received in the 

public review process. 

Federal Register notice dated June 12, 2007, announced for public review and comment a 

proposed draft of Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Publication 180-3, the 

Secure Hash Standard. For a more secure hash standard, the draft specifies five secure 

hash algorithms (SHAs) called SHA-1, SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384 and SHA-512, 

which are used to condense input messages to fixed-length messages, called message 

digests. These algorithms produce 160, 256, 384, and 512-bit message digests, 

21
respectively. NIST is currently reviewing comments received. 

Federal Register notice dated June 12, 2007, announced for public review and comment a 

proposed draft of Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Publication 198-1, the 

Keyed-Hash Message Authentication Code. A proposed revision of FIPS 198, the draft 

specifies a keyed-hash message authentication code, a mechanism for message 

authentication using cryptographic hash functions and shared secret keys. Comments 

received from the public are being considered prior to issuing the revised FIPS. 

Federal Register notice dated July 13, 2007, announced for public review and comment a 

proposed draft of Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Publication 140-3, 

Security requirements for Cryptographic Modules. FIPS 140-3 will replace the current 

FIPS 140-2, Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules. In addition to updates 

and clarifications, draft FIPS 140-3 addresses the issue of protecting smart cards from 

power analysis attacks. Comments from the public are being considered by NIST. 

HOMELAND SECURITY STANDARDS 

The Conformity Assessment Advisor - Homeland Security of the Standards Services 

Division of NIST serves as co-Chair on the American National Standards Institute's 

Homeland Security Standards Panel (ANSI-HSSP). The mission of the HSSP is to 

identify existing consensus standards, or, if none exist, assist the Department of 

Homeland Security (DHS) and those sectors requesting assistance to accelerate 

development and adoption of consensus standards critical to homeland security. The 

ANSI-HSSP promotes a positive, cooperative partnership between the public and private 

sectors in order to meet the needs of the nation in this critical area. 

The 2007 HSSP plenary, held October 3 and 4, 2007, was held in conjunction with an 

October 4 and 5, 2007 International Standards Workshop on Transit Security at NIST's 

Gaithersburg, MD campus. The meetings brought together a cross section of 

professionals, experts and leaders from the homeland security standards and conformity 

assessment community to address the various security issues facing the nation and the 

world today. Dr. Bert Coursey, standards executive, U.S. Department of Homeland 

Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate, provided an update on the DHS 

standards technical program and its efforts in the several priority areas. 

The plenary sessions examined accomplishments and gaps in homeland security 

standards. The International Standards Workshop on Transit Security provided a forum 

for professionals, experts and leaders in the transit security sector to share approaches, 

focus areas and gaps in standardization to enhance transit security. The workshop focused 

on transit security issues outside the aviation sector. The ANSI-HSSP also held a 

domestic workshop on transit security and initiated a series of workshops on 

credentialing and identity management. 

22
TELEMEDICINE STANDARDS 

The mission of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) is to promote access to 

medical care by consumers and health professionals via information and 

telecommunications technology. An important element of this mission is to advance the 

use of telemedicine through the development or identification of technology, clinical, and 

administrative standards related to the ongoing delivery of health and medical care. 

Telemedicine allows patients to gain access to healthcare professionals electronically, 

regardless of their location. It can provide faster, more affordable healthcare services, 

especially when telemedicine is integrated into the entire health and medical care a 

patient receives via the traditional in-person environment. 

Working to accomplish this mission, on December 13, 2006, NIST’s Information 

Technology Laboratory and Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory cosponsored a workshop, Advancing Telemedicine: Next Steps Toward Standards and 

Interoperability, to address the major challenges faces the telemedicine community. Other 

co-sponsors included the American Telemedicine Association, the National Library of 

Medicine, and the Health Resources and Services Administration. The workshop was 

attended by a wide variety of stakeholders, including health care providers and 

researchers from both private and public institutions, vendors, professional organizations, 

consortia, and academicians. The presentations reviewed the current state of the art in 

telemedicine and defined the major technical, clinical, and administrative standards and 

interoperability challenges facing the telemedicine community. (Presentation may be 

viewed at the following URL: (http://www.itl.nist.gov/Telemedicine/presentations.htm) 

The discussions focused on the American Telemedicine Association’s five initial use 

case/clinical application priorities: teledermatology, home telehealth, telemental health, 

ocular telehealth, and telepathology, though most of the challenges are pervasive across 

telemedicine. Participants in the meeting provided a prioritization of the challenges and 

developed a work plan to address the technical and standards issues. 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

No 

23
10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

E 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

No 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

0 

24
Department of Defense (DoD)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

The Department of Defense (DoD) has as its primary goal to support the warfighter by 

relying on efficient, effective and fiscally responsible tools to ensure mission 

requirements are met within specified timeframes. One of these tools in the DoD toolbox 

is standards and standardization. Standardization has been relied upon throughout the 

Department to help reduce costs, ensure interoperability, and sustain readiness. For 

example, standardization in the battery arena has produced substantial savings by 

reducing logistics and acquisition costs while improving interoperability and reducing 

parts proliferation. 

Specifically, the Defense Standardization Program Office (DSPO) provides an integrated 

link to DoD acquistion, operational and related sustainment military and civil 

communities. This linkage enhances the opportunities for technological cross 

fertilization, improved interoperability of joint and coalition forces, and increased use of 

standarized parts which lower costs while reducing inventories. 

The following case study illustrates how standardization contributes to the DoD's goal of 

supporting the warfighter. 

The Virginia Class Submarine Program - The Navy has been achieving tremendous 

savings in the Virginia class submarine program by turning to standardization initiatives 

such as engineered standardization, and process consistency to help reduce total life-cycle 

costs, including design, construction, operation and disposal. Standardization also 

contributed to minimizing the program's overall logistics footprint and reducing the class 

parts library. 

To find out more about the above case study or to locate other case studies and 

standardization information which illustrate how DoD relies on standards and 

standardization to meet its goals and objectives go to the DSPO website: 

www.dsp.dla.mil. 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

This agency reports voluntary consensus standards usage on a category basis 

25
3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

67 

Voluntary Standard Government Standard 

ASTM-B138 QQ-B-728 NOT 2 

ASTM-B666/B666M FED-STD-184B NOT 2 

ASTM-D6255/D6255M MIL-C-9897C(1) NOT 3 

ASTM-D6255D6255M MIL-C-9897C(1) NOT 3 

ASTM-D6256/D6256M MIL-B-26195C(1) NOT 3 

ASTM-D6880 PPP-B-621D(3) NOT 3 

ASTM-F2162 MS17131H NOT 2 

ASTM-F2163 MS17130F NOT3 

ASTM-F2511 MIL-R-22440 NOT 3 

ASTM-F2590 MS17169A NOT 2 

ASTM-F2591 DS3225NOT 3 

NEMA-11 MIL-!-21070B(1) NOT 1 

NEMA-F11 MIL-I-19917A NOT 2 

NEMA-F11 MIL-I-21070B(1) NOT 1 

PIA-C-7515 MIL-C-7515F NOT 2 

QPL-AS21608 QPL-21608-13 NOT 1 

QPL-AS81044 QPL-81044-17 NOT 1 

QPL-AS81659 QPL-81659-16 NOT 1 

QPL-AS85028 QPL-85028-4 NOT 1 

SAE-AMS2808 FED-STD-184B NOT 2 

SAE-AMS2809 FED-STD-184B NOT 2 

SAE-AMS2817 MIL-P-4861C NOT 2 

SAE-AS1044/7 MIL-W-81044/7B NOT 1 

SAE-AS81044 MIL-W-81044B(3) SUP 1A NOT 

SAE-AS81044/10 MIL-W-81044/10B NOT 1 

SAE-AS81044/11 MIL-W-8104411C NOT 4 

SAE-AS81044/12 MIL-W-81044/12B NOT 1 

SAE-AS81044/13 MIL-W-81044/13B NOT1 

SAE-AS81044/6 MIL-W-81044/6C(2) NOT 1 

SAE-AS81044/8 MIL-W-81044/8C(1) NOT 4 

SAE-AS81044/9 MIL-W-81044/9B(1) NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659 MIL-C-81659B(2) Sup 1 NOT 1 

26
SAE-AS81659/29 MIL-C-1659/29B NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/31 MIL-C-1659/31B NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/33B MIL-C-1659/33B NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/35B MIL-C-1659/35B NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/37 MIL-C-81659/37B NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/39 MIL-C-81659/39B NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/41 MIL-C-81659/41B NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/43 MIL-C-81659/43B NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/53 MIL-C-81659/53B NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/56 MIL-C-81659/56A NOT 2 

SAE-AS81659/57 MIL-C-81659/57A NOT 2 

SAE-AS81659/58 MIL-C-81659/58A NOT 2 

SAE-AS81659/61 MIL-C-81659/61A NOT 2 

SAE-AS81659/62 MIL-C-81659/62A NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/63 MIL-C-81659/63A NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/64 MIL-C-81659/64A NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/65 MIL-C-81659/65A NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/66 MIL-C-81659/66A NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/67 MIL-C-81659/67A NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/68 MIL-C-81659/68 NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/69 MIL-C-81659/69 NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/70 MIL-C-81659/70 NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/71 MIL-C-81659/71 NOT 1 

SAE-AS81659/9 MIL-C-81659/9B NOT 2 

SAE-AS85028 MIL-C-85028 SUP 1 NOT 1 

SAE-AS85028/1 MIL-C-85028/1 NOT 1 

SAE-AS85028/2 MIL-C-85028/2 NOT 1 

SAE-AS85028/3 MIL-C-85028/23NOT 1 

SAE-AS85028/4 MIL-C-85028/4 NOT 1 

SAE-AS85028/5 MIL-C-85028/5 NOT 1 

SAE-AS85028/6 MIL-C-85028/6 NOT 1 

SAE-AS9401 MS9401 NOT 2 

SAE-J1231 MS24518B NOT 3 

SAE-J1231 MS24519C NOT 2 

SAE-J1231 MS24522B NOT 2 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

27
began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

57 

Other Technical Standards: 

 0 

Rationale: 

 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

123 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

Aerospace & Defense Industries Association of Europe ASD 

Aerospace Industries Association of America AIA 

Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Institute ARI 

Air Movement and Control Association AMCA 

Alliance for Telecommunication Industry Solutions ATIS 

Aluminum Association AA 

AMCA International AMCA 

American Architectural Manufacturers Association AAMA 

American Association for Laboratory Accreditation A2LA 

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials AASHTO 

American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists AATCC 

American Bearing Manufacturers Association ABMA 

American Bureau of Shipping ABS 

American Concrete Institute ACI 

American Dental Association ADA 

American Gas Association AGA 

American Gear Manufacturers Association AGMA 

American Hardboard Association AHA 

American Industrial Hygiene Association AIHA 

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics AIAA 

American Institute of Steel Construction AISC 

American Institute of Timber Construction AITC 

American Leather Chemists Association ALCA 

28
American National Metric Council ANMC 

American National Standards Institute ANSI 

American Petroleum Institute API 

American Plywood Association APA 

American Railway Engineering & Maintenance-of-Way Association AREMA 

American Society for Nondestructive Testing ASNT 

American Society for Quality ASQ 

American Society of Cinematographers ASC 

American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE 

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning 

Engineers 

ASHRAE 

American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME 

American Society of Safety Engineers ASSE 

American Society of Sanitary Engineering ASSE 

American Water Works Association AWWA 

American Welding Society AWS 

American Wood Preservers Association AWPA 

APA - The Engineering Wood Association APA 

Architectural Woodwork Institute AWI 

Association for Automatic Identification & Mobility AIM 

Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation AAMI 

Association of Automatic Identification and Data Capture 

Technologies 

AIM 

ASTM International ASTM 

British Standards Institution BSI 

Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association BHMA 

Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc BOCA, 

International 

Canadian General Standards Board CGSB 

Cast Iron Soil Pipe Institute CISPI 

Compressed Gas Association CGA 

Construction Specifications Institute CSI 

Cooling Technology Institute CTI 

Cordage Institute CI 

Data Interchange Standards Association, Inc. DISAI 

Deep Foundations Institute DFI 

Deutsches Institut fur Nomung - German Institute for Standardization DIN 

Electronic Commerce Code Management Association ECCMA 

Electronic Components Assemblies & Materials Association ECAMA 

29
Electronic Industries Alliance EIA 

Electrostatic Discharge Association EDA 

FM Global FMG 

Government Electronics & Information Technology Association GEITA 

Graphic Communications Association GCA 

Gypsum Association GYP 

Hardwood Plywood & Veneer Association HPVA 

High Frequency Industry Association HFIA 

Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Inc. HFESI 

Illuminating Engineering Society of North America IESNA 

Information Technology Industry Council ITI 

Institute for Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits IPC 

Institute of Clean Air Companies ICAC 

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE 

Institute of Environmental Sciences & Technology IEST 

Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society ISA 

Insulated Cable Engineers Association ICEA 

International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials IAPMO 

International Code Council ICC 

International Committee for Information Technology Standards INCITS 

International Electrotechnical Commission IEC 

International Organization for Standardization ISO 

International Telecommunication Union ITU 

IPC - Association Connecting Electronics Industries IPC 

Joint Electron Device Engineering Council JEDEC 

Machinery Information Management Open Systems MIMOSA 

Magnetic Materials Producers Association MMPA 

Manufacturers Standardization Society of the Valve and Fittings 

Industry 

MSSVFI 

National Aerospace Standards Committee NASC 

National Association of Chain Manufacturers NACM 

National Association of Corrosion Engineers International NACE 

National Association of Relay Manufacturers NARM 

National Electrical Manufacturers Association NEMA 

National Fire Protection Association NFPA 

National Fluid Power Association NFLPA 

National Information Standards Organization NISO 

National Petroleum Management Association NPMA 

30
NCSL International NCSLI 

NSF International NSFI 

Optics and Electro-Optics Standards Council OEOSC 

Parachute Industry Association PIA 

Pipe Fabrication Institute PFI 

Plastic Pipe Institute PPI 

Plumbing and Draining Institute PDI 

Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association PHCCA 

Quarter-Inch Cartridge Drive Standards, Inc. QCDS 

Rack Manufacturers Institute RMI 

Resistance Welders Manufacturers Association RWMA 

Rubber Manufacturers Association RMA 

Scientific Apparatus Makers Association SAMA 

Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association SMACNA 

Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization SISO 

Society of Allied Weight Engineers SAWE 

Society of Automotive Engineers SAE 

Standards Engineering Society SES 

Steel Door Institute SDI 

Steel Founders Society of America SFSA 

Steel Window Institute SWI 

The Instrumentation Systems and Automation Society ISAS 

The Soap and Detergent Association SDA 

The Tire and Rim Association, Inc. TRAI 

Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association TTMA 

Underwriters Laboratories UL 

Window and Door Manufacturers Association WDMA 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

0 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

 

The Department does not collect this information. 

31
8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

Since the OMB A-119 report does not appear to command a great deal of interest from 

either OMB or Congressional staff members, it is questionable the effectiveness of 

collecting report data. 

Conversely, the tenents and spirit of the NTTAA text can effectively be used to leverage 

interest and increased participation in non-government standards body activities and 

further reliance on non-government standards. 

DoD recommends reviewing the OMB A-119 reporting requirements with the goal of 

producing a meaningful Congressional report. It is recommended the report request 

documented examples of how participation in non-governments standards activities and 

reliance on non-government standards resulted in a positive outcome. 

 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

In consideration of government security restrictions, the Department is unable to collect 

actual personnel information related to participation in non-government standards body 

activities. 

 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

No 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

C 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

Yes 

32
10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

5 

33
Department of Education (ED) 

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the principal statistical agency 

within the U.S. Department of Education uses standards to provide high quality, reliable, 

useful, and informative statistical information to public policy decision makers and to the 

general public. In particular, the standards that NCES follows are intended for use by 

NCES staff and contractors to guide them in their data collection, analysis, and 

dissemination activities. These standards are also intended to present a clear statement for 

data users regarding how data should be collected in NCES surveys, and the limits of 

acceptable applications and use. Beyond these immediate uses, NCES hope that other 

organizations involved in similar public endeavors will find the contents of some of 

NCES standards useful in their work. (Source: NCES Statistical Support Standards: 

NCES 2003-601) 

The Department of Education also uses standards in the implementation of Information 

Technology for the Department which ultimately enhances the delivery of Department 

Education services to citizens. The Department of Education uses Information 

Technology Standards to implement common enabling services and infrastructure 

services. These Information Technology standards used in the Department of Education’s 

Enterprise Architecture also fulfill OMB’s requirement for a Standards Profile. (Source: 

Department of Education Enterprise Standards and Guidelines Technology Standards 

Profile, Volume I: Enterprise Standards Profile Version 1.0) 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

0 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

34
Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

0 

Other Technical Standards

 0 

Rationale: 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

5 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

National Forum on Education Statistics NCES Forum 

Post Secondary Electronic Standards Organization PESC 

School Interoperability Framework Association SIFA 

Semantic Interoperability Commmunity of Practice SICOP 

XML Community of Practice xmlCOP 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

4 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

 

None 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

No comment 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

No comment 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

35
10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

Yes 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

C 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

Yes 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

1 

36
Department of Energy (DOE)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

DOE uses VCSs extensively in managing, operating, and regulating our diverse sites, 

laboratories, operations, facilities, and activities – over a range that includes nuclear 

weapons and materials production, energy research, energy efficiency, oil storage, 

hydroelectric power, accelerator operations, nuclear facility decommissioning, and fusion 

experiments. VCSs are consulted, referenced and applied in mission-related design, 

procurement, construction, operations, maintenance, emergency operations, and 

decommissioning efforts; in environment, safety and health management; in DOE 

research and development activities; in security and safeguards programs; and in overall 

business operations and management. 

Other areas where DOE and its contractors use VCSs at DOE facilities and activities that 

may not be fully documented and reported include: 

 

1) writing procedures; 

2) establishing safety criteria (e.g., for worker job task analyses, fire protection, nuclear 

criticality safety, nuclear facility safety); and 

3) citing supporting references in internal DOE Technical Standards. 

Examples/Case Studies: 

1. The Department of Energy (DOE) has historically used voluntary consensus standards 

(VCS) promulgated by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) in the 

development and implementation of fire safety and emergency response programs at its 

sites. DOE and its predecessor agencies (AEC, ERDA) have done so for a number of 

reasons. NFPA is universally recognized for the diverse expertise of the members of its 

technical committees. (DOE and its contractor employees are widely represented within 

these committees.) The scope of fire safety issues with the Department is vast. 

Attempting to address these issues solely with internal directives would be cost 

prohibitive. NFPA codes and standards, through the “Equivalency” principle, allows for 

the flexible and cost-effective implementation of requirements. DOE has saved literally 

hundreds of thousands of dollars in the inspection and testing of fire protection systems 

through the adaptation of this principle, as delineated in NFPA Standards 251

 and 722 to 

site circumstances. 

2. This is not a specific case, however it is important to mention that because of DOE's 

 

1

 Inspection, Testing and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems 

2

 National Fire Alarm Code 

37
use of VCSs, local contractors performing work for the Department's National Labs have 

been more successful when bidding for jobs than if DOE used only internally generated 

standards. We feel that VCSs are responsible because they provide more universally 

accepted approaches to getting work completed. 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

0 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

1624 

Other Technical Standards: 

0 

Rationale: 

This represents an increase of 150 additional standards being used this year (2007). 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

81 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Institute ARI 

Air Movement and Control Association AMCA 

American Architectural Manufacturers Association AAMA 

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials AASHTO 

American Chemical Society ACS 

American Concrete Institute ACI 

American Industrial Hygiene Association AIHA 

38
American Institute of Steel Construction AISC 

American Iron and Steel Institute AISI 

American Medical Association AMA 

American National Standards Institute ANSI 

American Nuclear Society ANS 

American Petroleum Institute API 

American Public Health Association APHA 

American Railway Engineering & Maintenance-of-Way Association AREMA 

American Society for Nondestructive Testing ASNT 

American Society for Quality ASQ 

American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE 

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning 

Engineers 

ASHRAE 

American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME 

American Water Works Association AWWA 

American Welding Society AWS 

Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association ARMA 

Associated Air Balance Council AABC 

Association for Information and Image Management AIIM 

Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering AACEI 

ASTM International ASTM 

Building Officials and Code Administrators International BOCA 

Ceilings and Interior Systems Construction Association CISCA 

Compressed Gas Association CGA 

Construction Safety Association of Ontario CSAO 

Cooling Technology Institute CTI 

Crane Manufacturing Association of America CMAA 

Electronic Industries Alliance EIA 

Glass Association of North America GANA 

Gypsum Association GA 

Illuminating Engineering Society of North America IESNA 

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE 

Institute of Makers of Explosives IME 

Institute of Transportation Engineers ITE 

Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society ISA 

Insulated Steel Door Systems Institute ISDSI 

International Air Transport Association IATA 

International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials IAPMO 

39
International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA 

International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO 

International Code Council ICC 

International Commission of Non-ionizing Radiation Protection and 

Measurements 

ICNIRP 

International Commission on Radiation Protection ICRP 

International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements, Inc. ICRU 

International Conference of Building Officials ICBO 

International Electrotechnical Commission IEC 

International Organization for Standardization ISO 

Metal Lath/Steel Framing Association, A Division of NAAMM MLSFA 

National Association of Architectural Metal Manufacturers NAAMM 

National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements NCRP 

National Electrical Manufacturers Association NEMA 

National Fire Protection Association NFPA 

National Ground Water Association NGWA 

National Information Standards Organization NISO 

National Safety Council NSC 

National Window and Door Association NWDA 

NCSL International NCSLI 

Painting and Decorating Contractors of America PDCA 

Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association PHCCA 

Portland Cement Association PCA 

Post-Tensioning Institute PTI 

Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute PCI 

Resilient Floor Covering Institute RFCI 

Scaffolding, Shoring, and Forming Institute, Inc. SSFI 

Screen Manufacturers Association SMA 

Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association SMACNA 

Single Ply Roofing Institute SPRI 

Society of American Value Engineers SAVE 

Society of Automotive Engineers SAE 

Society of Fire Protection Engineers SFPE 

Steel Door Institute SDI 

Steel Joist Institute SJI 

Steel Window Institute SWI 

Underwriters Laboratories UL 

Water Environment Federation WEF 

40
6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

895 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

This number is unchanged from previous years. 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

OMB A-119 continues to be adequate. 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

As in recent years, due to competing priorities for declining resources, DOE’s 

participation in voluntary consensus standards (VCS) development committees during 

2007 was on a limited and selective basis. Efforts are being made to increase DOE 

participation and sponsorship in VCS initiatives to ensure that its needs and interests are 

better represented in national and international VCS initiatives important to the success of 

DOE’s mission, programs and operations. 

 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

Yes 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

B 

41
10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

Yes 

10-7. 

How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such use? 

[enter the number of years]: 

5 

42
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 

Standards developed through interactions with various standard development bodies, 

including voluntary consensus standard organizations and or industry consortia can 

provide benefit to both the Agency and our stakeholders in multiple ways. FDA 

interactions with these organizations have resulted in development of several standards 

that can affect various aspects (e.g., materials, engineering, risk management, biological 

safety, clinical, CMC, pharmacology/toxicology, statistical, inspectional, information 

technology) for products FDA regulates and ultimately facilitate development, approval 

and improvements in new products, and appropriate regulation including compliance 

activities with existing products. Typically standards provide a generally acceptable path 

that developers and manufacturers can follow in product development and approval. 

Given the diversity of products, the suitability of the standard has to be reviewed in 

context with the specific application and product. The option almost always remains for 

developers and manufacturers to adapt general standards to specific products and/or to 

follow a more acceptable approach. 

Establishment and use of standards result in benefits to FDA that include: standards that 

can assist reviewers with assessment of product applications; international standards that 

can be used by multiple regulatory regions, following our legal mandate to facilitate 

harmonization on an international level; standards that often result in better utilization of 

limited internal resources; and direct participation by various stakeholders in 

development of standards that results in a consensus among users, manufacturers and 

government regulators on safety and effective use of regulated products. 

One FDA Center has developed a standards website. The Center for Devices and 

Radiological Health (CDRH), following the 1997 FDA Modernization Act, has 

developed the following web site to enable the industry to access the list of “Recognized 

Standards”: http://www.cdrh.fda.gov/science/standards/constand.htm 

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) 

AHRQ funds and participates with the National Quality Forum (NQF) in the endorsement 

of standards for performance measures of quality among various providers. This effort 

brings all stakeholders together to make a determination founded in a membership-driven 

NTAA-compliant consensus process. In 2003, AHRQ incorporated NQF standards in its 

National Quality Report that was mandated by Congress. The AHRQ Director has a 

permanent seat on the Board of Directors of NQF and participates in the endorsement of 

the consensus driven standards (measures) through a voting process. AHRQ provides 

43
support to NQF and, in 2006, submitted 39 hospital quality measures to NQF along with 

funding to evaluate the use of these measures in quality and efficiency enhancing actions, 

so that they might be considered for public reporting and pay-for-performance as well as 

for further development of research tools. These measures are being evaluated in 2007 

and those passing NQF’s evaluation process are expected to be endorsed in 2008. 

AHRQ chairs the Steering Committee of AQA (formerly the Ambulatory Care Quality 

Alliance) and HQA (Hospital Quality Alliance) [In 2008, PQA (Pharmacy and 

Pharmacists Quality Alliance) may also join]. This Steering Committee reaches 

agreement on standard quality and performance measures for health providers and sends 

them to NQF for consensus evaluation and endorsement. 

AHRQ is a member and supports the meetings of the ANSI Health Informatics Standards 

Board (HISB), a board that coordinates the U.S. standards developing organizations for 

health information exchange. Other federal agencies, professional health organizations, 

and vendors are members. Duplication and overlap of health data standards domains and 

other issues are voluntarily resolved through ANSI HISB. This Board has been subsumed 

into the ANSI Health Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP). AHRQ supports 

the choosing of standards and specified data elements to perform the functions of use 

cases proposed by the American Health Information Community (AHIC) and developed 

by the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC) as 

part of the President’s Executive Order of August 22, 2006. These Interoperability 

Standards will be mandatory for federal agencies upon “recognition” by the HHS 

Secretary—expected December 2007. 

AHRQ is a member and supports the meetings of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group 

(TAG) to ISO Technical Committee 215, Health Informatics. The U.S. TAG formulates 

and reaches consensus on the U.S. position on health data issues taken at ISO TC 215 

meetings. 

AHRQ supported the Institute of Medicine's letter report recommending eight functions 

be included in the definition of an electronic health record. These functions were used by 

Health Level Seven (HL7) to produce a balloted standard on the functional definition of 

an EHR in September 2003. The ballot reached consensus in 2004 and is being used by 

clinical information software vendors to disclose their support of specific functions 

defined in these standards. Specifically, the Certification Commission for Healthcare 

Information Technology (CCHIT) used this standard to produce criteria for certifying 

ambulatory electronic health records (EHRs) in 2006 and used it to develop criteria for 

certifying hospital EHRs in 2007, and will be using it for certifying health information 

systems in 2008. 

AHRQ participates as a formal liaison to the National Committee on Vital and Health 

Statistics (NCVHS), an advisory committee that advises the Secretary of HHS on health 

information policy. NCVHS recommended adoption of four ANSI standards to the 

Secretary for use in federal health program information exchange. On February 21, 2003, 

the Secretary adopted 5 messaging standards. In FY 2004, NCVHS recommended a core 

44
set of terminology standards to the Secretary for adoption. The Secretary adopted 15 

more clinical data standards in Spring 2004 for federal government sector use. In FY 

2006-07, AHRQ supported the production and adoption of two more clinical domain data 

standards in the areas of imaging and of functional and health status. 

AHRQ participated in one of the administration's 24 e-Government initiatives-the 

Consolidated Health Informatics (CHI) initiative. In 2003, CHI recommended four 

messaging standards and one terminology standard to the Secretary of HHS for adoption. 

He adopted all five. CHI worked in selecting voluntary consensus standards for a total of 

24 domain areas. With the disbanding of CHI in 2006, AHRQ strongly supported the 

ANSI Health Information Technology Standards Panel at the meetings of its Board and 

its Panel, plus a major contributor to the Biosurveillance Technical Committee that 

produced recommended standards to meet the needs of the Biosurveillance use case sent 

to ANSI by AHIC, a federal advisory committee to the HHS Secretary, and by the 

Secretary’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. 

Additionally, AHRQ strongly supports the Secretary’s AHIC with participation in its 

meetings and its work groups. The Director of AHRQ is the co-chair of AHIC’s Quality 

Work Group and prepared a Quality Measures use case that was sent to ANSI HITSP in 

2007. The standards and data elements specified in the Quality Interoperability 

Specification of ANSI HITSP are expected to be adopted by the HHS Secretary in 

December 2007, in preparation for their “recognition” in December 2008. 

AHRQ supported the founding of the Health Level Seven Special Interest Group on 

Patient Safety to begin the process of developing standards for reporting patient safety 

events across the nation in a uniform format, and continues to support its work. 

AHRQ supports ASTM’s Continuity of Care Record (CCR) standard for health 

information to be exchanged among providers and given to patients following an office 

visit. AHRQ promotes the combination of ASTM’s CCR and HL7’s Care Record 

Summary (CRS) to form a Clinical Care Document (CCD) of the two. 

AHRQ devoted $10 million of its $300 million budget in 2004 and 2005, with $4 million 

in 2006, to the development and implementation of health care data standards to improve 

patient safety and quality of care. This includes funding FDA’s development of an 

electronic structured product labeling system, an electronic product listing of all products 

approved by FDA for sale in the U.S., a coding system for all drug components—active 

and inactive ingredients, and improvements in the National Drug Code; and funding for 

transmission of this information in electronic form to the National Library of Medicine 

(NLM). Additionally, AHRQ funded NLM to develop a system to post this information 

on its DailyMed web site quarterly and to map selected terminologies (ICD, CPT, 

MedDRA, others) to SNOMED. Also AHRQ funded National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop 

web-based, publicly available systems for displaying the landscape of standards 

developing activities in the U.S. and the data components of specific data standards. 

AHRQ supports the standards work of the Secretary’s Office of the Assistant Secretary 

45
for Planning and Evaluation. AHRQ is studying how patient safety event data reported by 

24 states may use existing American National Standards (ANS) and what ANS standards 

need to be developed to make this information more uniform and accurate. AHRQ is 

working with federal partners to combine their expertise and standards used for patient 

safety event reporting. 

The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) 

required testing and adoption of e-prescribing standards for use under the Medicare Part 

D prescription drug program. AHRQ, working cooperatively with CMS, developed, 

evaluated, and reported on a pilot program testing foundation and additional e-prescribing 

standards in 2006-2007. The results from the pilot (see AHRQ’s HIT web site) provided 

the basis for the Secretary’s adoption of final e-prescribing standards (2008). These 

standards must be used by Medicare health providers who engage in electronic 

prescribing. 

AHRQ funds and participates in the development of uniform voluntary consensus driven 

standards for the acquisition and reporting of information on services and costs by 

individual assisted living providers. Known as the Assisted Living Disclosure 

Collaborative this effort brings national stakeholders organizations together (e.g., assisted 

living providers, consumers, clinicians, state regulators, quality improvement 

organizations, and the disability community) to an make a determination founded in a 

membership-driven NTTAA-compliant consensus process. From the consensus process a 

uniform instrument will be developed and subjected to scientific testing. The uniform 

instrument will be distributed to the stakeholder community; the information obtained 

with the instrument will be used by consumers to select which assisted living facilities 

meet their individual needs. Together with the with the Center for Excellence in Assisted 

Living (CEAL) AHRQ serves on the Steering Committee of the Disclosure 

Collaborative. AHRQ funds are primarily used to support the testing of the consensus 

developed instrument. 

AHRQ supports the orderly compilation and relation of the data elements that have been 

adopted, endorsed, accepted, and recognized by the HHS Secretary in a public metadata 

registry—United States Health Information Knowledgebase (USHIK). This metadata 

registry will publish the data elements specified by ANSI HITSP and recognized by the 

HHS Secretary in 2008 to benefit federal agencies and the private sector, and speed their 

adoption of the President’s Interoperability Standards. 

AHRQ supports the work of the Federal Health Architecture in the HHS Office of the 

National Coordinator for HIT and of the HHS Health Enterprise Architecture initiative in 

the HHS Office of Enterprise Architecture through participation of AHRQ experts in 

numerous work groups for strategic planning, development, and coordination of health 

architecture and health data standards across federal departments and within HHS 

agencies. 

46
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 

CMS recognizes the value of adopting standards and is committed to encouraging their 

adoption as they are approved by the Secretary HHS. Since most of CMS’ business 

processes depend to a large degree on contractor systems, as well as other industry 

stakeholder systems, it is vital that the standards creation and adoption process involves 

these entities and that careful analysis is done to minimize risk. 

CMS is working closely with the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health 

Information Technology (ONC) to determine how we can promote interoperability 

through a common set of standards. Additionally, CMS is a member of standards setting 

organizations such as HL7, NCPDP, and X12, and regularly participates in meetings of 

these as well as other organizations. A CMS representative serves as the lead staff 

member on the NCVHS Subcommittee on Standards and Security. We also work closely 

with the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) to harmonize 

standards. 

CMS is involved in standards development, adoption and implementation activities in the 

following areas: 

* Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Standards Adoption – 

CMS has been actively involved in standards adoption as a regulator and health plan for 

over a decade. Besides writing regulations related to HIPAA, CMS has conducted 

extensive outreach to educate and promote the adoption of HIPAA transactions that 

standardize administrative transactions. CMS has also worked with its contractors to 

make the systems changes necessary to accommodate HIPAA compliant transactions. 

* E-Prescribing Standards – The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and 

Modernization Act of 2003 (the MMA) established a process for adopting e-prescribing 

standards for use under the Medicare Part D prescription drug program. In November 

2005, HHS adopted a set of foundation standards for e-prescribing that took effect with 

the start of the Medicare Part D program on January 1, 2006, and we also conducted a 

pilot program in 2006 testing additional e-prescribing standards. Results from the pilot 

were the basis for the selection of two additional standards developed by Voluntary 

Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB), which were proposed through a Notice of 

Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in November 2007. We hope to adopt these additional 

standards through a final rule in the spring of 2008. 

* National Standards - CMS’ mission is “To ensure effective, up-to-date health care 

coverage and to promote quality care for beneficiaries.” The agency strategic action plan 

to accomplish that mission incorporates usage of national standards, not only for 

electronic data interchange (EDI) transaction, code set and identifier standards, but also 

for electronic prescribing, maintenance of beneficiary (and all patient) medical records, 

and interoperability of usage of standards to enable all facets of the health care industry 

to freely exchange medical information where warranted to avoid unnecessary 

duplicative tests, reduce medical errors, and allow beneficiaries and health care providers 

47
to make informed health care decisions. 

* Voluntary Consensus Standards - CMS’ participation in Voluntary Consensus 

Standards is predominately restricted to implementation and development of those 

standards designated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act 

(HIPAA) of 1996 adopted as national EDI standards. 

National Institutes of Health / National Library of Medicine (NLM) 

For more than four decades, NLM has conducted and supported groundbreaking research 

and development related to the representation, interpretation, and use of biomedical 

knowledge in electronic forms including electronic health records. Numerous reports by 

the Institute of Medicine and other experts in the health care industry have stated that 

health data standards are key to the development of a successful electronic health record 

system. In 2004, following recommendations of the National Committee on Vital and 

Health Statistics and the Institute of Medicine to the Secretary of Health and Human 

Services, NLM was designated the central coordinating body for clinical terminology 

standards within HHS. In this role, NLM is the official depository and distribution center 

for clinical terminologies, responsible for integrating them within the UMLS 

Metathesaurus, and responsible for the development and maintenance of mappings 

between designated standard clinical terminologies and important related terminologies, 

including the HIPAA code sets. 

NLM is working with (and, in some cases, providing funding to) vocabulary developers, 

message standards development organizations, other Federal agencies, and users of 

standards to respond to these recommendations. NLM produces the UMLS 

Metathesaurus, which incorporates many different vocabularies, classifications, and code 

sets; funds the ongoing maintenance and distribution of LOINC (Logical Observations 

Identifiers Names and Codes); pays the annual membership fee that permits U.S.-wide 

use of SNOMED CT within the UMLS Metathesaurus; and produces and distributes 

RxNorm both within the UMLS Metathesaurus and separately. LOINC, SNOMED CT, 

and RxNorm have all been designated as U.S. Government-wide clinical standards via 

the Consolidated Health Informatics (CHI) eGov project for use in U.S. Federal 

Government systems. They have subsequently been identified in various interoperability 

specifications of the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) for 

use throughout the U.S. healthcare spectrum. 

In 2007 the International Health Terminology Standards Development Organization 

(IHTSDO) was established to assume ownership, maintenance, and distribution of 

SNOMED CT in order to significantly promote global standardization of health 

information. NLM, on behalf of HHS, participated in the negotiations and is now the U.S. 

Member of the IHTSDO. This new organization will allow NLM, on behalf of the U.S. to 

establish a new process for input to SNOMED CT development. In addition NLM will 

work with the IHTSDO to facilitate negotiations for the alignment and harmonization 

between SNOMED CT and key health terminologies including LOINC and RxNorm. 

48
NLM currently has projects under way to align the HL7 standard with CHI standard 

vocabularies and to create mappings between standard clinical vocabularies, HIPAA code 

sets, and other key vocabularies used in Federal health information systems. The initial 

projects are focused on creating maps between the core clinical vocabularies 

recommended by the NCVHS (SNOMED CT, LOINC, and RxNorm) and the required 

HIPAA code sets (CPT and ICD-9-CM). Availability of these mappings will facilitate 

development and implementation by health care providers of electronic health records 

that capture clinical data at the point of care and subsequently generate required HIPAA 

code set data for claims and other administrative transactions. 

National Institutes of Health / National Cancer Institute (NCI) 

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) established the Clinical Proteomic Technologies for 

Cancer (CPTC) to accelerate the translation of proteomics from a research tool into a 

reliable and robust clinical application. This program is designed to accelerate the 

translation of proteomics from a research tool into a reliable and robust clinical 

application by improving protein measurement capabilities and evaluating promising 

technologies for applicability in both analytical and clinical validation studies. This is to 

be achieved through identifying major sources of experimental variability and optimizing 

existing proteomic platforms to enable labs to compare data and results; developing 

innovative and advanced proteomic technologies capable of identifying rare cancerrelated proteins circulating in body fluids such as blood; and developing a much needed 

clinical reagents and resources core of well-characterized biological samples, reagents, 

reference sets, and standards available to the scientific community. 

Indian Health Service (IHS) 

Standards are an integral part of the effective operations of the Indian Health Service 

(IHS). Health-related standards, such as Health Level Seven, allow interoperability 

among health information systems improving the standard of patient care for the 

American Indian/Alaskan Native populations, the primary mission of the IHS. Other 

standards provide for the efficient transmission of insurance data for revenue generation 

and interoperability among disparate systems for information sharing, such as 

immunization data. IHS currently exchanges immunization data with 8 states and plans to 

increase that number to 20 states by the end of FY2010. IHS participates fully in 

activities to incorporate recognized interoperability specifications into IHS systems, in 

accordance with recent Executive Orders. The improved interoperability should enable 

IHS and the Veterans Health Administration to exchange medical information in support 

of the recommendations from the Global War on Terror Returning Heroes commission. 

IHS adopted and uses standards for security and privacy of patient and employee data, for 

communication of biomedical diagnostic and therapeutic information for digital imaging, 

for technical specifications used in telemedicine and technical services, for national drug 

codes, and for reporting medical services and procedures. 

49
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) 

SAMHSA’s mission is to provide “a life in the Community for Everyone" and to “build 

resilience and facilitate recovery for people with or at risk for substance abuse and mental 

illness.” To support this mission, the Agency administers a combination of competitive 

and formula/block grant programs and data collection activities to assure the availability 

of quality prevention and treatment services across the nation. 

The first area in which SAMHSA participates in voluntary consensus standards (VCS) 

bodies is related to Electronic Health Records (EHRs). EHRs are viewed as a technical 

innovation that can reduce costs and improve the efficiency of data reporting, 

accountability and improved outcomes. In addition, EHRs can support improvements in 

clinical care and foster more effective coordination of care between the mental health and 

substance use specialty treatment sectors and general health care. To assure the capability 

for health information exchange while maintaining appropriate confidentiality protections 

for substance abuse and mental health records, SAMHSA joined voluntary consensus 

organizations to create technical options for patient consent in an e-health environment. 

Membership in Health Level Seven (HL7) and Healthcare Information Technology 

Standards Panel (HITSP) allows SAMHSA to utilize a far wider range of expertise than 

allowed for by limited numbers of agency staff. In both HL7 and HITSP, SAMHSA 

participates in creating usable, consensus driven products that can support the health 

information exchange of sensitive information through all health care environments. In 

addition, SAMHSA supported the development of a behavioral health EHR profile which 

was selected for review by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information 

Technology. This work supports uniformity of standards for behavioral health across the 

public and private sectors. 

SAMHSA is also a member of the National Quality Forum (NQF), a voluntary consensus 

body for performance measurement. Over several years, SAMHSA developed clinical 

process of care performance measures for mental health and substance use treatment 

services. Two of these measures were successfully submitted for NQF endorsement. 

Additional measures, including a consumer perception of care assessment instrument, 

will be submitted in FY 2008. National endorsement allows states and providers in the 

public and private sectors to have common standards that can be used for reporting 

activities related to quality and accountability, thereby reducing data and reporting 

burden on providers who report to different funders. 

 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

4 

Government Unique Standard:

FDA Dosage Form and Route of Administration (Incorporated: 2006) 

50
Voluntary Standard 

HL7 Dosage Form and Route of Administration 

 

Rationale 

FDA uses some government-unique standards such as 'dosage form' and 'route of 

administration' in lieu of voluntary consensus standards. FDA had considered using 

HL7's 'dosage form' and 'route of administration' voluntary standards, but rejected such 

voluntary standards for several reasons, including (1) pre-coordination of disparate terms, 

(2) cumbersome and untimely terminology maintenance, and (3) inadequate terminology 

coding and versioning. The government-unique standards (developed by FDA and jointly 

maintained by FDA and NCI) for 'dosage form' and 'route of administration' adequately 

address all of these HL7 'deficiencies'. These particular government-unique standards 

were chosen as a CHI standard and mandated throughout the federal government, which 

is yet another compelling reason why FDA chose to continue to use them. 

Government Unique Standard: 

FDA Guidelines on Asceptic Processing (2004) (Incorporated: 2004) 

 

Voluntary Standard 

ISO 13408-1 Asceptic Processing of Health Care Products, Part 1, General Requirements 

 

Rationale 

FDA is not using the ISO standard because the applicability of these requirements is 

limited to only portions of aseptically manufactured biologics and does not include 

filtration, freeze-drying, sterilization in place, cleaning in place, or barrier-isolator 

technology. There are also significant issues related to aseptically produced bulk drug 

substance that are not included in the document 

Government Unique Standard:

FR Notice dated June 17, 1994 Tentative Final Monograph for Health Care Antiseptic 

Drug Products; Proposed Rule (Incorporated: 1997) 

 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM Standard E1115 - Test Method for Evaluation of Surgical Hand Scrub 

Formulations 

Rationale 

Sensitivity and bias of the ASTM Standard has not been established. 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM Standard E1173-93 - Standard Test Method of an Evaluation of Preoperative, 

precatheterization, or Preinjection Skin Preparations 

Rationale 

Sensitivity and bias of the ASTM Standard has not been established. 

51
Voluntary Standard 

ASTM Standard E1174-00 - Standard Test method for the Evaluation of the 

Effectiveness of Health Care Personnel or Consumer Handwash Formulations 

 

Rationale 

Sensitivity and bias of the ASTM Standard has not been established. 

 

Government Unique Standard:

Government eligibility inquiry and response standards (Incorporated: 2006) 

Voluntary Standard 

X12 270/271 standards 

Rationale 

Pending completion of a system to support real-time use of the X12 270/271, CMS has 

permitted providers and our contractors to continue to use government eligibility inquiry 

and response standards. Use of these GUSs is not in lieu of, but in addition to the X12 

270/271 standards to avoid industry disruption prior to full transition to use of the HIPAA 

X12 270/271 standards with Medicare via the Internet and an Intranet. 

 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

962 

Other Technical Standards: 

0 

Rationale: 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

170 

52
Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

3-A Sanitary Standards, Inc 3-A SSI 

Accredited Standards Committee X12 X12 

Acoustical Society of America ASA 

Adeno Associated Virus Reference Materials Working Group ARMWG 

Adeno Associated Virus Reference Standard Working Group AAVSWG 

Almond Board of California ABC 

American Academy of Pediatrics AACP 

American Association for Clinical Chemistry AACC 

American Association of Blood Banks AABB 

American Association of Physicists in Medicine AAPM 

American Association of Tissue Banks AATB 

American Backflow Prevention Association ABPA 

American Bureau of Shipping ABS 

American Chemical Society ACS 

American College of Surgeons ACOS 

American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists ACGIH 

American Foundation for the Accreditation of Haematopoietic Cell 

Therapy 

FAHCT 

American Healthcare Information Community AHIC 

American Industrial Hygiene Association AIHA 

American Institute of Ultrasound Manufacturers AIUM 

American Joint Commission on Cancer AJCC 

American National Standards Institute ANSI 

American Pacific Economic Conference APEC 

American Public Health Association APHA 

American Society for Gene Therapy ASGT 

American Society for Healthcare Engineering ASHE 

American Society for Reproductive Medicine ASRM 

American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers ASABE 

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning 

Engineers 

ASHRAE 

American Society of Mass Spectrometry ASMS 

American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME 

American Society of Safety Engineers ASSE 

American Society of Sanitary Engineering ASSE 

American Veterinary Medical Association AVMA 

American Water Works Association AWWA 

53
Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal 

Care International 

AAALAC 

Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation AAMI 

Association of Official Analytical Chemists International AOAC 

ASTM International ASTM 

Baking Industry Sanitary Standards Committee BISSC 

Brighton Collaboration BC 

California Strawberry Commission CSC 

Canadian Standards Association CSA 

Cantaloupe Board of California CBC 

Central Laboratory for Blood Transfusion CLBT 

Certification Commission for Health Information Technology CCHIT 

Chocolate Manufacturers Association CMS 

Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute CLSI 

Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium CDISC 

Clinical Laboratory for Blood Transfusion CLBT 

Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute CLSI 

Codex Alimentarius Commission CODEX 

College of American Pathologists CAP 

Committee on Operating Rules CORE 

Conference for Food Protection CFP 

Congress of International Organizations of Medical Sciences CIOMS 

Consolidated Health Informatics CHI 

Corn Refiners Association CRA 

Cosmetic Ingredient Review CIR 

Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association CTFA 

Designated Standards Maintenance Organizations Board DSMO 

Electronic Products Codes Global EPCG 

European Centre for Validation of Alternative Methods ECVAM 

European Directorate for Quality of Medicines EDQM 

External RNA Controls Consortium ERCC 

Eye Bank Association of America EBAA 

Federal Facilities Council FFC 

Federal Health Architecture FHA 

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO 

Foundation for Accreditation of Cellular Therapies FACS 

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association FFVA 

Fresh Produce Association of America FPA 

54
Gelatin Manufacturers of America GMA 

Global Harmonization Task Force GHTF 

Health Canada Advisory Committee on Causality Assessment HCAA 

Health Level Seven HL7 

Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society HIMSS 

Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel HITSP 

Honey Board HB 

Industrial Safety and Equipment Association ISEA 

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE 

International Association of Cancer Registrars IACR 

International Association of Color Manufacturers IACM 

International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials IAPMO 

International Blood Group Reference Laboratory IBRGL 

International Bottled Water Association IBWA 

International Cellular Therapy Coding and Labeling Advisory Group ICCBBA 

International Commission for Illumination CIE 

International Commission on Harmonization of Technical 

Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Veterinary Use 

VICH 

International Commission on the Harmonization of Technical 

Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use 

ICH 

International Committee for Cosmetic Harmonization and International 

Cooperation 

CHIC 

International Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative 

Methods 

ICCVAM 

International Council for Commonality in Blood Banking Automation ICCBA 

International Crystal Foundation ICF 

international Dairy Federation IDF 

International Dairy Foods Association IDFA 

International Electrotechnical Commission IEC 

International Federation of Fruit Juice Producers IFFJP 

International Fragrance Association IFRA 

International Fresh-cut Produce Association IFPA 

International Health Terminology Standard Development Organization IHTSDO 

International Life Sciences Institute ILSI 

International Natural Sausage Casing Association INSCA 

International Nomenclature Committee INC 

International Organization for Standardization ISO 

International Organization for Standardization/International 

Electrotechnical Commission 

ISO/IEC 

55
International Pharmaceutical Excipients Council IPEC 

International Society for Analytical Cytology ISAC 

International Society for Blood Transfusion ISBT 

International Society for Cardiovascular Surgery ISCVS 

International Society for Cell Therapy ISCT 

International Society of Oncology Pharmacy Practitioners ISOPP 

International Society on Thrombosis and Homeostasis ISTH 

International Sprout Growers Association ISGA 

International Union Against Cancer UICC 

International Working Group on Standardization of Genomic 

Amplification Techniques 

SoGAT 

Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference ISSC 

Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives JECFA 

Logical Observation Identifier Names and Codes LOINC 

National Academies of Science Institute of Medicine IOM 

National Automatic Merchandising Association NAMA 

National Cancer Registrar Association NCRA 

National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics NCVHS 

National Conference for Interstate Milk Shipments NCIMS 

National Council for Prescription Drug Program NCPDP 

National Egg Regulators Association NERO 

National Electrical Manufacturers Association NEMA 

National Fire Protection Association NFPA 

National Food Processors Association NFPA 

National Institute for Biological Sciences and Controls NIBSC 

National Marrow Donor Program NMDP 

National Oilseed Processors Association NOPA 

National Quality Forum NQF 

National Toxicology Program NTP 

National Uniform Billing Committee NUBC 

National Uniform Claim Committee NUCC 

National Uniform Claim Reason and Status Code Maintenance 

Committee 

NUCRSCMC 

North America Free Trade Association NAFTA 

North America Millers Association NAMA 

North American Association of Central Cancer Registries NAACCR 

Northwest Horticultural Council NHC 

NSF International NSFI 

56
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD 

Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards OASIS 

Pan American Health Organization PAHO 

Pan American Network for Drug Regulatory Harmonization PANDRH 

Parenteral Drug Association PDA 

Produce Marketing Association PMA 

Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North 

America 

RESNA 

Remittance Advice Remarks Code Committee RARCC 

Research Institute for Fragrance Materials RIFM 

Society for Glassware and Ceramic Decorations SGCD 

Society for Toxicology SOT 

Society of Automotive Engineers SAE 

Society of Cosmetic Chemists SCC 

Standard for Exchange of Nonclinical Data SEND 

Strategic National Implementation Process SNIP 

Tea Association of America TAA 

Technical Committee for Juice and Juice Products TCJJP 

U.S. Adopted Names Council USANC 

Underwriters Laboratories UL 

United Egg Producers UEP 

United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association UFFVA 

United States Adopted Names Council USANC 

United States Animal Health Association USAHA 

United States Egg and Poultry Association USEPA 

United States Pharmacopoeia USP 

Western Growers Association WGA 

Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange WEDI 

World Health Organization WHO 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

793 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

 

57
In 2007, HHS has no conformity assessment activities to report. 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

CDC 

All areas of CDC work extensively with outside partner organizations for routine work. 

The Circular wording constrains our reporting to just that activity with Standard 

Development Organizations as formally defined by the circular. The effect of this 

constraint is an under-reporting of our activity with outside partners. Complete reporting 

of our activities with outside partners, however, would be burdensome and impossible to 

obtain as essentially all professional staff interacts with a diverse group of partners on a 

daily basis. If the main intent of the circular is to report the use of outside SDO developed 

standards for commerce, the data in this report reflects that information. If the intent of 

the Circular is to reflect government interactions with all non-government organizations 

involved in policy decisions our data reflects severe under-reporting. 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

None. 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

None. 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed to 

compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

Yes 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

C 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

58
Yes 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

1 

59
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has many components and programs that 

use standards. While some of the Department’s programs use standards in a manner 

consistent with the OMB Circular, e.g. purchasing equipment for DHS operational 

components and rulemaking, the Department does use standards for procurement 

somewhat indirectly. Part of the Department’s mission to develop and implement systems 

to develop a national capability for domestic preparedness and response. DHS executes 

these missions through programs that provide assistance to state and local governments. 

The assistance empowers state and local procurement officials to acquire technology and 

DHS manages the risk by developing qualified equipment lists and conformity 

assessment systems which utilizes VCS. For example, the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency’s (FEMA) Grants Program is responsible for preparing the nation 

against terrorism by assisting states, local and tribal jurisdictions, and regional authorities 

as they prevent, deter, and respond to terrorist acts. They provide a broad array of 

assistance to America's first responders through funding, coordinated training, exercises, 

equipment acquisition, and technical assistance. FEMA administers the Homeland 

Security Grants Program (HSGP), which awards more than $1.6 billion to enhance the 

ability of states, territories, and urban areas to prepare for, prevent, and respond to 

terrorist attacks and other major disasters. HSGP funds can be used for preparedness 

planning, equipment acquisition, training, exercises, management, and administration in 

order to obtain resources that are critical to building and sustaining capabilities that are 

aligned with the Interim National Preparedness Goal and respective State and Urban Area 

Homeland Security Strategies. FEMA maintains an Authorized Equipment List (AEL) 

which provides identify allowable equipment categories purchases under the HSGP. The 

AEL references VCS adopted by the Department. 

The National Communication System administratively falls under the DHS National 

Protection and Programs. The NCS, the National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) and 

the Office of Emergency Communications (OEC) are the three elements under the 

Assistant Secretary for Cyber Security and Communications. The mission of the National 

Communications System (NCS) is to assist the President, the National Security Council, 

the Homeland Security Council, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 

Policy and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget in (1) the exercise of 

telecommunications functions and responsibilities including both wartime and nonwartime emergency functions, and (2) the coordination and planning for and provisioning 

of national security and emergency preparedness (NS/EP) communications for the 

Federal government under all circumstances, including crisis or emergency, attack & 

recovery and reconstitution. The NCS seeks to ensure that the national 

telecommunications infrastructure is: 

60
1. Is responsive to the NS/EP needs of the President and the Federal departments, 

agencies and other entities, including telecommunications in support of national security 

leadership and continuity of government; 

2. Is capable of satisfying priority telecommunications requirements under all 

circumstances through the use of commercial, government and privately owned 

telecommunications resources; 

3. Incorporates the necessary hardness, redundancy, mobility, connectivity, 

interoperability, restorability and security to obtain, to the maximum extent practicable, 

the survivability of national security and emergency preparedness telecommunications in 

all circumstances, including conditions of crisis or emergency; and 

4. Is consistent, to the maximum extent practicable, with other national 

telecommunications policies. 

Because the priority telecommunications services provided by the NCS rely on the public 

infrastructure, Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) play an important role in fulfilling 

the Agency’s mission. Pursuant to the Federal Standardization Program of the General 

Services Administration, and in consultation with other appropriate entities of the Federal 

government including the NCS Committee of Principals, the Manager of the NCS 

manages the Federal Telecommunications Standards Program, ensuring that existing 

and/or evolving industry standards support NS/EP capabilities. 

The NCS offers a wide range of NS/EP communications services that support qualifying 

federal, state, and local government, industry, and non-profit organization personnel in 

performing their NS/EP missions. Services include: 

(1) Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) GETS is a White 

House-directed emergency phone service provided by the National Communications 

System (NCS) in the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Division of the 

Department of Homeland Security. GETS supports federal, state, local, and tribal 

government, industry, and non-governmental organization (NGO) personnel in 

performing their NS/EP missions. GETS provides emergency access and priority 

processing in the local and long distance segments of the Public Switched Telephone 

Network (PSTN). GETS is used in an emergency or crisis situation when the PSTN is 

congested and the probability of completing a call over normal or other alternate 

telecommunication means has significantly decreased. GETS was developed as a result of 

NCS participation in the Alliance for Telecommunication Industry Solutions (ATIS) and 

is based on U.S. industry standards. 

(2) Wireless Priority Service (WPS) WPS is a White House-directed NCS NS/EP 

program that provides priority access to cellular networks. The FCC approved WPS for 

NS/EP requirements on a call-by-call priority basis. The NCS executes the program on 

behalf of the Executive Office of the President. Only individuals in NS/EP key leadership 

positions are authorized to use WPS. The nationwide WPS capability was developed with 

industry; it is the result of an Industry Requirements (IR) process that defined specific 

WPS requirements. The active and cooperative participation of all stakeholders, including 

61
major wireless equipment vendors and service providers, successfully produced these IR 

documents. 

(3) Telecommunication Service Priority (TSP) TSP provides NS/EP users priority 

authorization of telecommunications services that are vital to coordinating and 

responding to crises. The TSP Program provides service vendors with a Federal 

Communications Commission (FCC) mandate for prioritizing service requests by 

identifying those services critical to NS/EP. A telecommunications service with a TSP 

assignment is assured of receiving full attention by the service vendor before a non-TSP 

service. It is another example of how the NCS works with VCS committees to fulfill it 

mission. 

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is part of DHS and is committed to developing and 

adopting nationally and internationally recognized standards as a means to improve 

maritime safety and marine environmental protection, and to promote an internationally 

competitive U.S. maritime industry. One of the goals of our Standards program is to 

develop a comprehensive set of nationally recognized, internationally compatible 

standards through active participation in national standards organizations. While the 

adoption of industry standards enables the Coast Guard to fulfill its regulatory functions 

more efficiently, this capability would be useless without the existence of meaningful 

standards. Recognizing this reality early on, the Coast Guard aggressively pursued 

membership on a full range of standards-organizations. Today we support at least 30 nongovernment organizations and actively participate on over 100 standards-committees. 

This active participation enables us to raise genuine issues of public safety and 

preservation of the marine environment. Additionally, where industry has not established 

suitable safety requirements, we catalyze their development. 

Becoming an integral part in this process has enabled the Coast Guard to avoid drafting 

unnecessarily detailed regulations and in some cases avoiding regulation completely. It 

has also helped us to evolve from a regulatory process which reacts to disaster to a more 

orderly process which recognizes technical innovation and progressive ideas aimed at 

preventing disaster. 

To date we have adopted over 450 industry standards, saving over 25,000 pages of 

federal regulations and the associated regulation maintenance, while specifying standards 

already familiar to the industry regulated. We estimate that our participation on standards 

committees saves us over $1.5M annually and increases our inspection and technical 

force 100 times. Visit our Regulatory Standards Development website at 

http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/regs/reghome.html. 

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Office of Security Technology/Chief 

Technology Officer Systems Engineering Branch (SEB) was established to define 

requirements for and guide the engineering of systems utilized by TSA and to ensure 

these systems meet the needs of the end-users and stakeholders. The SEB is an inherent 

part of TSA-CTO programs and projects, and works in partnership with them to help 

guide engineering execution, evaluate technical results, and prescribe corrective actions 

62
to keep projects on course. The SEB focuses on the system as a whole and emphasizes 

total operation. Concern is placed not only with the engineering design of the system, but 

also with external factors, such as VCS and/or GUS, that can significantly influence the 

design 

The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) uses consensus standards form the 

foundation for the detailed and specific performance specifications used in DNDO 

acquisition programs. The ANSI N42 series standards are referenced in on-going 

Advanced Spectroscopic Portal program and the Human Portable Radiation Detection 

Systems efforts. DNDO also employed ANSI N42.37-2006 last year in the development 

of preventive radiological and nuclear detection training courses and related train the 

trainer courses. Standards are also helpful for advising state and local radiological and 

nuclear detection equipment users in their acquisition decision, especially those funded 

by grants. 

FEMA’s Mitigation Directorate is committed to reducing the ever-increasing cost that 

natural disasters inflict on our country. Constructing or retrofitting buildings to withstand 

anticipated forces from these hazards is one of the key components of mitigation, and the 

only truly effective way of reducing this cost. Therefore, model building code and 

standards organizations play a critical role in helping FEMA to accomplish its mission. 

Through knowledge gained from the effects of disasters on the nation’s building stock 

and through FEMA’s work with its partner organizations, the Mitigation Directorate, 

FEMA has worked for several years to develop technical and practical information that 

can be used to strengthen model building codes and practices. The development of 

national consensus standards is an important part of that process and FEMA has worked 

with many of these organizations to help provide timely information. 

To remain compliant with statutory responsibilities under the National Earthquake 

Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) and in accordance with its mission to reduce 

losses from all hazards, FEMA supports the development of national volunteer consensus 

standards through its mitigation programs. 

The FEMA Incident Management Systems Division (IMSD) leads the federal effort to 

establish and implement the National Incident Management System (NIMS) nationwide. 

NIMS is a framework that provides guidelines and principals to first responders in effort 

to achieve a single nationwide system for managing incidents. NIMS ensures successful 

intra and interstate mutual aid activities and ensures a standard incident command 

structure across all jurisdictions, and establishes standards and guidelines for resource 

typing and multiagency coordination. NIMS is broad in scope and seeks to achieve 

information technology system interoperability as well as address the plan and people 

aspects of incident and emergency management. 

Part of the IMSD effort to promote NIMS and to provide guidance to first responders is 

to adopt existing standards that are consistent with NIMS doctrine, and recommend those 

standards for voluntary adoption by state and local jurisdictions for guidance in pursuit of 

63
full NIMS implementation. Our standard review process is conducted by a multidisciplinary field-based Practitioner Working Group (PWG) and Technical Working 

Group (TWG) to ensure the adopted NIMS standards are relevant, implementable, and 

useful, if adopted, in implementing NIMS. 

IMSD has adopted seven consensus standards to date. By adopting these voluntary 

consensus standards and recommending their adoption by state and local governments, 

IMSD has provided guidance and direction to first responders by further defining NIMS 

and providing established standards around which to build their respective incident 

management policies and programs. 

The mission of DHS’ Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) is to, “... train 

those who protect our homeland.” In order to facilitate this endeavor, the FLETC has 

developed all of the law enforcement training programs and subsequent courses of 

instruction following the processes outlined in various FLETC policies, directives, and 

procedures. These policies, directives and procedures all support the standards that are 

required by the Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation (FLETA). 

Over 30 years ago, the Presidential Commission Report, The Challenge of Crime in a 

Free Society, and a follow-up report, The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society: Looking 

Back Looking Forward, contained recommendations to increase professionalism and 

standardization of training. More recently, in a January 2000 report to the Congress, the 

Commission on the Advancement of Federal Law Enforcement reiterated and reinforced 

the need to develop and implement training standards. The Commission made it 

abundantly clear that core training in law enforcement functions, certification of the 

adequacy of training programs, and accreditation of agencies are all essential to 

maintaining public confidence in the professionalism of Federal agents and officers. 

Beginning in 2000, in an effort to increase the professionalism of Federal law 

enforcement training, a task force of key training leaders from principal Federal and state 

law enforcement agencies began work to collaboratively conduct research to establish a 

premier training accreditation model. In the development of the model, Federal law 

enforcement training professionals established standards and procedures to evaluate the 

training academies and training programs used to train Federal law enforcement agents 

and officers. The intent was to develop an independent accreditation process that 

provides law enforcement agencies with an opportunity to voluntarily demonstrate that 

they meet an established set of professional standards and receive appropriate 

recognition. This independent accreditation process has been developed and has been 

entitled FLETA. 

The accreditation of the FLETC academy and the various law enforcement training 

programs provides assurance to the agencies and citizens we serve, that the FLETC has 

voluntarily submitted to a process of self-regulation and have successfully achieved 

compliance with a set of standards that have been collectively established by our peers 

within the law enforcement community. 

64
To date, the FLETC was awarded FLETA’s Academy Accreditation and received 

Program Accreditation for nine basic and advanced law enforcement training programs to 

include; the Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP), the Physical Fitness 

Coordinator Instructor Training Program (PFCTP), the Inland Boat Operators Training 

Program (IBOT), the Law Enforcement Instructor In-Service Training Program 

(LEIISTP), the Boat Operator Anti-Terrorism Training Program (BOAT), the Driver 

Instructor Training Program (DITP), the Marine Law Enforcement Training Program 

(MLETP), the Law Enforcement Control Tactics Instructor Training Program (LECTITP) 

and the Law Enforcement Instructor Training Program (LEITP). This demonstrates the 

FLETC’s adherence to quality, effectiveness and integrity in meeting our organizational 

mission and providing the highest quality education and training to our students 

representing more than 80 Federal law enforcement agencies in addition to a multitude of 

state, local and international law enforcement agencies. For further information regarding 

FLETA, refer to www.fleta.gov 

Finally, the Science and Technology Directorate has an Office of Standard whose 

mission is to develop and coordinate the adoption of national standards and appropriate 

evaluation methods to meet homeland security mission needs. The Office of Standards 

works closely with Standards Development Organization to establish capabilities to 

support the Department’s need for VCS. The Office of Standards has created a Standards 

Council and standards adoption process that helps identify and socialize VCS for DHS. 

The Director of the Office is also the Department’s Standards Executive. 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

0 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

14 

Other Technical Standards: 

 0 

65
Rationale: 

 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

49 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

3rd Generation Partnership Project 3GPP 

Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions ATIS 

American Association for Budget and Program Analysis AABPA 

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials AASHTO 

American Boat and Yacht Council ABYC 

American Bureau of Shipping ABS 

American National Standards Institute ANSI 

American Railway Engineering & Maintenance-of-Way Association AREMA 

American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE 

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning 

Engineers 

ASHRAE 

American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME 

American Society of Naval Engineers ASNE 

American Towing Tank Conference ATTC 

American Welding Society AWS 

Association of Diving Contractors International ADCI 

ASTM International ASTM 

Chlorine Institute CI 

Compressed Gas Association CGA 

Council on Ionizing Radiation Measurements and Standards CIRMS 

Electronic Industries Alliance EIA 

Health Physics Society HPS 

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE 

Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society ISA 

International Association of Drilling Contractors IADC 

International Association of Lighthouse Authorities IALA 

International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA 

International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO 

International Committee for Information Technology Standards INCITS 

International Electrotechnical Commission IEC 

International Organization for Standardization ISO 

66
International Radio Consultative Committee IRCC 

International Ship and Offshore Structures Congress ISOSC 

International Telecommunication Union ITU 

Internet Engineering Task Force IETF 

Joint Aeronautical Commander's Group JACG 

Marine Technology Society MTS 

National Cargo Bureau, Inc NCB 

National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements NCRP 

National Defense Industrial Association NDIA 

National Fire Protection Association NFPA 

National Marine Electronics Association NMEA 

National Marine Manufacturers Association NMMA 

NSF International NSFI 

Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services RTCM 

Society of Automotive Engineers SAE 

Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers SNAME 

Telecommunications Industry Association TIA 

Telemanagement Forum TMF 

Underwriters Laboratories UL 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

125 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

 

The Coast Guard considers the use of VCS in all its rulemakings, uses VCS in its 

rulemakings whenever appropriate, and provides for public comment on such decisions. 

Further the Coast Guard continuously reviews its regulations to update outdated, obsolete 

or unnecessary standards. One rulemaking that is nearing completion in this regard is 

entitled, “Review and Update of Standards for Marine Equipment [RIN 1625-AA83]” 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

By collecting some of the information, our Agency learns more about its standards 

development activities across components and programs. However, the survey needs to 

be simplified and it needs to move away from counting standards and people. 

67
9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

None 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency currently 

reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

We have established a Standards Council and have given it the responsibility to collect 

the data. The data collected, harmonized, and reported by out Office of Standards, which 

headed by our Standards Executive. 

 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed to 

compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

Yes 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

C 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

Yes 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

5 

68
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

 

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

Generally, standards play a supporting role in the achievement of the HUD mission. In 

most cases, we are able to use standards developed in conjunction with other related 

users. Because there are only modest differences between HUD-assisted and marketbased development, standards such are building codes that are developed for the entire 

construction industry are appropriate. In some cases, HUD is responsible for the 

standards. This is the case with the Government Standard: 24 CFR 3280 – Manufactured 

Home Construction and Safety Standards, where HUD publishes and enforces the 

construction standard for manufactured housing. 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

3 

Government Unique Standard: 

24 CFR 200.935 - Administrator qualifications and procedures for HUD building 

products and certification programs (Incorporated: 2000) 

 

Voluntary Standard 

ANSI A119.1 N - Recreation Vehicles 

Rationale 

HUD Building-Product Standards & Certification Programs. HUD was required by 

legislation to “establish Federal construction and safety standards for manufactured 

homes and to authorize manufactured home safety research and development”. Recently, 

HUD retained a private consensus body (NFPA) to update and modernize the 

Manufactured Home Standards. At the conclusion of the development process, NFPA 

will submit the revised standard to HUD for regulatory adoption. 

Government Unique Standard: 

24 CFR 3280 - Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (Incorporated: 

2000) 

Voluntary Standard 

ANSI A119.1 - Recreation Vehicles and NFPA 501C - Standard on Recreational 

Vehicles 

69
Rationale 

HUD-Unique Manufactured Home Construction & Safety Standards. HUD was required 

by legislation to “establish Federal construction and safety standards for manufactured 

homes and to authorize manufactured home safety research and development”. Recently, 

HUD retained a private consensus body (NFPA) to update and modernize the 

Manufactured Home Standards. At the conclusion of the development process, NFPA 

will submit the revised standard to HUD for regulatory adoption. 

*Government Unique Standard:

 Model Manufactured Home Installation Standards - 24 CFR 3285 (Incorporated: 2007) 

Voluntary Standard 

Rationale 

This standard was required by the Manufactured Housing Improvement Act of 2000. It 

was developed in draft through a consensus process, tailored by the Department, and 

published as a draft rule for comment. It was released as a final rule on 19 October 2007. 

 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

0 

Other Technical Standards: 

1 

Rationale:

HUD adopted no Voluntary Consensus Standards during FY2007. During that period, 

HUD developed the Installation Standards for Manufactured Housing which was drafted 

through an industry consensus process. 

70
5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

5 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

American Lumber Standards Committee ALSC 

ASTM International ASTM 

Federal Geographic Data Committee FGDC 

International Code Council ICC 

National Fire Protection Association NFPA 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

4 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

This policy continues to be effective in replacing Federal Standards with public domain 

standards. Because many of the activities supported by HUD at the local level are similar 

to the activities in the commercial market, it is reasonable to rely on a common set of 

standards. The building codes are particularly notable in this regard. 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

n/a 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

71
10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

Yes 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

C 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

No 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

0 

72
Department of the Interior (DOI)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

The Department of the Interior (DOI) is the nation’s principal conservation agency. Our 

mission is to protect America’s treasures for future generations, provide access to our 

nation’s natural and cultural heritage, offer recreation opportunities, honor our trust 

responsibilities to American Indians and Alaska Natives and our responsibilities to island 

communities, conduct scientific research, provide wise stewardship of energy and 

mineral resources, foster sound use of land and water resources, and conserve and protect 

fish and wildlife. The work that we do affects the lives of millions of people; from the 

family taking a vacation in one of our national parks to the children studying in one of 

our Indian schools. Below are statements from some of DOI's Bureaus regarding the use 

of standards to deliver mission support: 

1) US Geological Survey (USGS) - The mission of the USGS is to serve the Nation by 

“providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize 

loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and 

mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life.” The nature of USGS 

scientific research and monitoring makes the use of voluntary consensus standards a 

required tool. Our science programs collaborate with partners and cooperators in the 

public and private sectors locally, nationally, and internationally. Thus, agreement on the 

use of standards is essential to our mission. 

The USGS National Geospatial Programs Office (NGPO) hosts Geodata.gov, a web 

portal that enables users to discover geospatial data and services, evaluate its fitness for 

use, access data through metadata records, and execute simple tasks through web 

services. Geodata.gov thus helps the USGS meet its mission of “providing reliable 

scientific information to describe and understand the Earth.” 

In addition, Geodata.gov fosters partnerships between organizations creating or providing 

data, and organizations searching for data by publishing requests for data and notices of 

data acquisitions. Outcomes include minimizing duplication of data collection, and by 

extension, cost savings. 

Users search metadata records to discover geospatial data and services. Once metadata 

records are accessed, the user can evaluate fitness of use of the referenced data set and 

often access the referenced data itself. 

Metadata records are prepared using the FGDC Digital Content Standard for Geospatial 

Metadata, FGDC-STD-001-1998, http://www.fgdc.gov/standards/projects/FGDCstandards-projects/metadata/base-metadata/index_html. This standard was developed 

73
when there were no equivalent voluntary consensus content standards for geospatial 

metadata. 

The USGS also regularly utilizes the Biological Data Profile, an FGDC approved profile. 

The profile was developed by the National Biological Information Infrastructure and 

approved in 1998. It adds value to the FGDC CSDGM by offering additional elements to 

the base standard specific to biological sciences. These elements include taxonomic 

information, methodology, and analytical tools. Metadata records including this profile 

number in the thousands, and can be found most prominently on the NBII Metadata 

Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse contains over 38,000 records contributed by 40 

partners throughout the United States and internationally. 

 

The NBII is developing a metadata profile for the ISO 19115 standard, and is working 

with the FGDC to achieve this goal. The profile will incorporate biological elements and 

will be associated with the North American Profile 

. 

2) Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) - Industry standards are incorporated into Reclamation 

Design and construction Specifications when applicable, and into Reclamation Safety of 

Dams and Security Construction Contracts. General Contractors are familiar with 

industry standards resulting in more economic bid packages and m ore uniform quality 

control. 

Standards are used in the management of design and construction contracts. Most design 

and construction specifications reference one or more sets of standards, and Design and 

Construction Services personnel must be familiar with the standards in order to ensure 

contract compliance. Contractors are more familiar with voluntary consensus standards 

and their use allows improved collaboration and cooperation with the private sector as 

well as the successful completion of design and construction contracts resulting in 

properly functioning facilities. 

The regulatory and consensus industry standards are also critical to establishing a 

scientific basis and validity for the engineering controls, administrative controls, 

exposure assessments, medical surveillance and personal protective equipment necessary 

to protect personnel, contractors and the public from safety and health hazards in 

Reclamation. 

The use of standards is the base requirement for the accurate communication of technical 

concepts. The use of standards is vital to ensure the results of facility inspections; the 

descriptions of potential concerns; both the development and results of investigation; the 

entire evaluation and design process; the creation of understandable contract 

specification; and the assurance of contract quality and control. Without the use of a well 

thought out standards system all technical language would be open to interpretation and 

may potentially compromise a facility’s continued safe and productive function. 

The geotechnical, water resources, environmental, infrastructure, and other scientific 

communities in Reclamation have a vast array of nomenclature; sampling and testing 

74
methodology, sampling and testing procedures; and reporting and documentation 

alternatives from which to choose. Reclamation has selected specific sources, in some 

cases developed its own unique standard sources, to ensure a thorough understanding of 

Reclamation data. This has allowed Reclamation personnel to communicate and work 

effectively with other Reclamation staff and representatives from other governmental 

agencies and the public with maximum efficiency and minimal misunderstanding. 

Reclamation relies on consensus standards for geospatial activities related to Metadata 

for data documentation, maintenance, and data transfer; and also data acquisition and 

development. Voluntary Consensus Standards (BCS) through the International Standards 

Organization (ISO), the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), American Society 

for Testing Materials (ASTM), as well as state and local agencies have reduced the cost 

of geospatial data acquisition and development. Costs to coordinate efforts have risen in 

respect to the increased business needs activity, but are expected to drop as standards are 

adopted by all agencies over the next 5 years. 

For example, Facilities Instructions, Standards, and Techniques (FIST) Volumes are used 

throughout Reclamation in the conduct of power and water operations and maintenance 

(O&M). These volumes (83 in all) define Reclamation’s standards and expectations for 

O&M and are used by engineers, managers, and craftspeople. Each FIST volume is a 

highly specialized, single-source reference containing sufficient information in the form 

of procedures, guidelines, and standards to be a stand-alone document for planning and 

performing a specific activity or set of closely related activities. The FIST volume 

program is ongoing. Technology changes rapidly, and thus FIST volumes are revised or 

created to provide guidelines and instructions for new equipment and to take advantage 

of modern maintenance equipment and practices. The primary benefit of the FIST 

volumes are the continued reliability and efficiency of our operation and maintenance 

program and associated cost savings. There are other areas just as specialized that 

Reclamation relies on standards to most effectively and efficiently maintain our 

infrastructure. 

The Hydropower Technical Services Group within Reclamation is responsible for 

developmental research, computer model analysis, operational testing, and specification 

review for stability enhancement of Reclamation’s power system. As IEEE develops 

standards used by utilities throughout the world, coordination and development of 

electrical engineering standards is of value to Reclamation activities (i.e., need for 

compatibility between computer standards, electric power standards , and automation 

standards; standards which assist in obtaining satisfactory equipment and will save 

millions of dollars). Reclamation’s ability to have representation on standards committees 

has allowed us to develop and improve test procedures used in Reclamation’s governor 

adjustment and excitation alignment programs; to establish excitation system, power 

system stabilizer, and governor parameter settings at Reclamation powerplants, thus 

contributing to power system stability of the Western electric power grid (avoiding 

billion-dollar regional blackouts), as well as enhancing the safety of our hydroelectric 

facilities; and improving O&M testing, and diagnostics. Participation in these areas also 

allows us to properly interface with and meet our mandatory Western Electricity 

75
Coordinating Council requirements and ensures hydro-generated power needs are 

properly addressed in a predominately steam-generation electrical system. 

Department of State Vehicle Barrier Standards are utilized by Security for Reclamation 

anti-ram barriers. This provides for readily available commercial off the shelf items in 

which General Contractors are familiar installing. 

3) Minerals Management Service (MMS)- The Minerals Management Service’s mission 

is to manage the minerals resources on the Outer Continental Shelf and Federal and 

Indian minerals revenues to enhance public and trust benefits, promote responsible use, 

and realize fair value. In support of this mission, we have adopted the use of voluntary 

consensus standards to promote improved collaboration and cooperation with the private 

sector and the oil and gas industries we regulate on the Outer Continental Shelf as well as 

applying innovative and improved technology, such as Alternative Energy, as mandated 

by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. With the signing of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and 

OMB Circular A-16, the Minerals Management Service of the Department of Interior has 

been mandated to develop a digital web map viewer to enable federal, state, and local 

government and others to have web-based mapping tools to make more informed 

decisions to better manage the marine environment. Beginning in the fall of 2006, plans 

were laid to develop an internet mapping system that is capable of showing many 

different marine-related data layers in a seamless view, based on OGC (Open Geospatial 

Consortium) specifications. Work is in progress to produce WMS client sites at 

participating agencies, both government and private to feed into a central data viewer 

built specifically for this project. The same web services will also be available in the 

Geospatial One-Stop, under the ‘Oceans’ community. 

On November 5, 2007, the MMS announced in the Federal Register an interim policy for 

authorization of the installation of offshore data collection and technology testing 

facilities in federal waters. The MMS is accepting comments and nominations concerning 

the authorization of OCS activities involving the installation of meteorological or marine 

data collection facilities to assess alternative energy resources (e.g., wind, wave, and 

ocean current) or to test alternative energy technology. The interim policy is in effect 

until the MMS promulgates final rules for the Alternative Energy and Alternate Use 

(AEAU) program. 

In an effort to facilitate the nomination and commenting process, MMS is deploying a 

prototype web-mapping viewer. The purpose of the web-mapping viewer is to assist the 

public in nominating and commenting on specific areas. More information and access to 

the viewer is at: 

http://www.mms.gov/offshore/RenewableEnergy/WebMappingViewer.htm 

4) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) - The Bureau of Land Management’s mission 

statement is to “sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the 

use and enjoyment of present and future generations”. To that end, the BLM maintains 

relationships with the stakeholders and neighbors of the public lands and uses standards 

to provide common understanding and meaning behind its land management decisions. 

76
Since the resources associated with the land (soil, vegetation, insects, wildlife) are not 

limited to the agency boundaries, the BLM needs to share information with other land 

management agencies, whether federal, state, or local. 

The BLM participates in federal standards bodies, such as the Federal Geographic Data 

Committee (FGDC). While the membership is from federal agencies, the standards that 

are developed are often elevated to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and 

to the International Standards Organization (ISO) and will, therefore, receive wider 

review. The benefit of agreeing to these standards is that there is a consistency of 

geospatial metadata to accompany mapping products. Under Executive Order 12906, 

federal agencies make those standards accessible to the public through websites. The 

result is that the public has a greater understanding of federal standards and can use those 

standards in their mapping activities. In addition, non-federal participation in FGDC 

workgroups allows the federal agencies to determine if their standards can accommodate 

local governments and commercial interests. 

Compliance with data standards directives is of high importance to BLM. We actively 

develop standards for GIS data and processes to facilitate aggregation of data from field 

office to state wide datasets and to ensure data quality. Standardizing also allows a better 

understanding of the data requirements from a business perspective. As more business 

requirements include geospatial processes, accurate standardized data and analysis 

methods are critical for accurate reporting. FGDC compliant metadata documentation, 

including data collection and analysis methods, provide a level of understanding and trust 

in the data’s integrity. 

5) Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has 

established a formal process for developing, reviewing, and adopting data standards to 

increase the quality and compatibility of FWS data, improve data sharing, and reduce 

redundant data development efforts. The formal process for establishing FWS data 

standards is outlined at http://www.fws.gov/stand/standards/process_WWW.html. This 

site is also linked from the FWS Information Quality web site at 

http://www.fws.gov/informationquality/. To date, a total of 58 data standards have been 

formally adopted for Service-wide use and implementation, and at least one standard is 

currently in progress. A Service data steward is designated by the office responsible for 

maintaining both the content of the data standard and any applicable source data that is 

linked from the standard’s web page. A current list of adopted FWS data standards is 

available at http://www.fws.gov/stand/. 

FWS personnel also recognize the importance of using voluntary consensus standards 

(VCS) in the successful implementation of the Service mission. The FWS uses VCS 

whenever appropriate to ensure compliance with Federal codes and regulations, improved 

public health and safety, protection and safe transport of wild animals and plants, 

improved collaboration with the private sector, and the use/dissemination of consistent 

information with the Bureau and across the Department. Examples of the Service’s 

successful use of VCS include, but are not limited to, the following: 

77
FWS personnel in the Washington and Regional Offices who work in the areas of 

engineering, safety, law enforcement, and facilities management/maintenance use a wide 

variety of private and public standards and codes on facility design and construction, 

facilities maintenance, dam and bridge safety, seismic safety, and environmental 

compliance services in support of the Service mission. 

The Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) uses VCS in the application of its Law 

Enforcement Performance Monitoring Plan. As a result, the OLE is better able to directly 

map back to DOI and FWS Strategic Goals. Examples include: 

• Wildlife Protection -- protect the Nation’s fish, wildlife, and plants from unlawful 

exploitation and industrial hazards. 

• Global Wildlife Trafficking -- prevent the unlawful import/export and interstate 

commerce of foreign fish, wildlife and plants. 

• Facilitate Legal Trade -- facilitate the expeditious movement of legal wildlife. 

• Management Accountability -- create a strong management system and culture to 

improve program performance. 

The FWS uses the ANSI Z87.1 product standard for personal protective equipment and 

the Hazardous Materials Information System (HMIS) industry standard for proper 

labeling of hazardous chemical being used in the laboratory. Use of these standards 

ensures the safety of employees who provide analytical support on wildlife refuge 

investigations in support of the FWS mission and less lost time due to fewer injuries in 

the laboratory, which leads to cost/time savings. 

The FWS uses international guidelines and commercial standards developed by the 

International Air Transport Association (IATA) to ensure the safe transport and 

preparation for shipment of live wild animals and plants. 

FWS national wetlands standards continue to be widely used within and outside of the 

government for wetlands classification, mapping and data reporting purposes (i.e., nonregulatory purposes). The Service’s National Standards and Quality Components for 

Wetlands, Deepwater and Related Habitat Mapping, 2004, references ANSI/ASQC E4-

1994, American National Standard Specifications and Guidelines for Quality Systems for 

Environmental Data Collection and Environmental Technology Programs. 

The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (DCMES), Version 1.1, is being used to describe 

the FWS collection of digital photos, videos, and other media that are currently stored in 

the FWS National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) Digital Repository, which is 

linked from http://training.fws.gov/communicate/imagelib.htm. The DCMES Version 1.1 

has been formally endorsed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 

and the National Information Standards Organization (NISO): 

• ISO 15836-2003(E): http://www.niso.org/international/SC4/n515.pdf 

• NISO Z39.85-2001: http://www.niso.org/standards/resources/Z39-85.pdf 

6) National Parks Service (NPS)- National Park Service (“the Service”) mission 

statement: 

78
The National park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and 

values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this 

and future generations. The Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits 

of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this 

country and the world. 

The Service’s participation in standards bodies and its use of regulatory and consensus 

industry standards are critical to many aspects of the Service’s primary services and lines 

of business in support of the Service’s mission. For example, advances in information 

technology have created extraordinary opportunities for the Service to use the Web to 

inform and educate the public about the NPS mission and organization, the uniqueness of 

park resources, and the relevance of a national system of parks and partnership programs. 

The design and content of our web presence has the potential to deliver and communicate 

essential information about the identity of the National Park Service. 

The national park experience (which includes the “national park idea” as well as the 

cultural and natural resources of parks) provides us with a potent frame of reference for 

who we are as a people and as a country. NPS information provided via the Web is 

available globally to anyone who has access to the Web and who wants to learn about 

these American places; the many associated people, objects, and events; and the national 

values they represent. (See www.nps.gov) 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

6 

*Government Unique Standard: 

1. FWS Geospatial Metadata Standard (adopts the Content Standard for Digital 

Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM), Version 2.0 FGDC-STD-001-1998. 

2. Nomenclature of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants (FWS Dta Set 

Standard, Working Draft); proposed standard to adopt the Service's official list of 

scientific names, common names, and taxonomic group names for all species of wildlife 

and plants t (Incorporated: 2005) 

Voluntary Standard 

1. International Organization for Standardization (ISO, ISO 19115:2003, Published 

Standard on Geographic Information - Metadata 

2. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)of Wild Fauna and 

Flora, Checklist of CITES Species; provides the official alphabetical list of CITES 

species, their scientific synonyms, their common names in English, French, and Spanish, 

etc. 

79
Rationale 

1. The Federal Geographic Committee (FGDC) developed the Content Standard for 

Digital Geospatial Metada (CSDGM) in response to Executive Order 12906, which 

require3d all Federal agencies to document spatial data in a consistent manner to 

facilitate sharing data and to reduce duplication of effort. The FWS officially adopted the 

FGDC CSDGM, Version 2.0, in August 1998. ISO 19115, an abstract standard, specified 

general content for the metadata, but does not specify format for the metadata. The 

FGDC is working to harmonize the ISO 19115 metadata standard with the CSDGM 

Version 2.0. 

2. Different Service programs maintain species lists in compliance with several 

conservation laws and treaties, including the Endangered Species Act, Migratory Bird 

Treaty Act, Lacey Act, and Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species 

(CITES). In other words, there is no single species list that meets the needs of all Service 

programs. The list of scientific and common names for this data set is published in the 

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Title 50--Wildlife and Fisheries, Part 17--

Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants. These values, along with the associated 

species and population codes, are contained in the Service's official Threatened and 

Endangered Species System (TESS) database. 

3. Service personnel must comply with the adopted FWS data standard unless it confllicts 

with their primary responsibilities. for example, the FWS International Affairs Program is 

responsible for implementing CITE, a treaty with 153 member countries. In this capacity, 

the FWS is bound by resolution to use the ISO country codes in its permit numbers rather 

than the FIPS codes to ensure consistency in reporting. 

Government Unique Standard: Classification of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitats of the 

United States (FGDC-STD-004) (Incorporated: 2006) 

Voluntary Standard 

None to record. 

Rationale 

Use of FGDC standards are required under OMB Circular and Executive Order 12906. 

 

Government Unique Standard: 

 Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata Part 1: Biological Data Profile 

(FGDC-STD-001.1-1999 (Incorporated: 2006) 

 

Voluntary Standard 

None to record. 

Rationale 

Use of FGDC standards are required under OMB Circular and Executive Order 12906. 

80
Government Unique Standard: 

Geospatial Positioning Accuracy Standard, Part 2, Geodetic Control Networks (FGDCSTD-007.2-1998) (Incorporated: 2006) 

 

Voluntary Standard 

None to record. 

Rationale 

Use of FGDC standards are required under OMB Circular and Executive Order 12906. 

 

Government Unique Standard:

USGS Water Resources Discipline (WRD) has established its own standards for field 

measurement of streamflow, ground-water, and water-quality constituents, and 

computation of related records in the form of published USGS procedural manuals and 

reports. (Incorporated: 2007) 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM and ISO 

 

Rationale 

These documents are also often used to guide the efforts of other agencies and 

organizations, are frequently referenced in the discipline literature, and comprise the 

basis for standards published by the ASTM and ISO. Many of the laboratory analytical 

methods USGS creates and publishes are also provided to others through the National 

Environmental Methods Index (NEMI). 

 

Government Unique Standard:

Vegetation Classification Standard (FGDC-STD-005) (Incorporated: 2006) 

 

Voluntary Standard 

None to record. 

Rationale 

Use of FGDC standards are required under OMB Circular and Executive Order 12906. 

 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

81
using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

4 

Other Technical Standards: 

8 

Rationale:

The USGS implemented OpenGIS® Web Feature Service (WFS) Implementation 

Specification, http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/wfs, for the Geographic Names 

Information System (GNIS), http://geonames.usgs.gov/. USGS contractors established 

Web Feature Services for four data themes in the draft Geographic Information 

Framework Data Standard. This effort also supports schemas prepared using the Unified 

Modeling Language (UML), www.uml.org, developed by the Object Modeling Group, 

www.omg.org, and schemas prepared using ISO 19136:2007, Geography Markup 

Language, which is also OpenGIS® Geography Markup Language (GML) Encoding 

Standard, http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/gml. ANSI INCITS 415-2006, 

Homeland Security Mapping Standard – Point Symbology for Emergency Management. 

Rationale: This standard was initiated by the Federal Geographic Data Committee’s 

(FGDC) Homeland Security Working Group to establish a common set of symbols for 

use by mapmakers in support of emergency managers and first responders. The 

Emergency Response Symbology has already been implemented by ESRI as an integral 

component of ArcGIS 9.2, which is the primary GIS software being used by the FWS and 

other DOI Bureaus. Technical (VCS) standards reported for the first time in FY 2007 1. 

ANSI INCITS H2 Database committee. INCITS is the InterNational Committee for 

Information Technology Standards. 2. ANSI Y32.9-1972 American National Standard 

Graphic Symbols for Electrical Wiring and Layout Diagrams 3. ICEA S-80-576, 

Communications Wire and Cable for Wiring Premises, 1994 4. TIA-568, Commercial 

Building Telecommunication Cabling Standard 5. TIA-570, Residential 

Telecommunications Cabling Standard 6. TIA-606, Administration Standard for 

commercial Telecommunications Infrastructure 7. FDDI ISO (9314-X) and ANSI 

(X3T.9) Standards for Fiber Distribution Data Interfaces 8. TIA-455, Fiber Optic Testing 

Inclusion of Industry (Non-consensus) standard (by reference) in FWS regulations during 

FY 2007 50 CFR Part 23 of Title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, was amended by FWS 

to incorporate, by reference, the CITES Guidelines for transport and preparation for 

shipment of live wild animals and plants and the International Air Transport Association 

(IATA) Live Animals Regulations in 50 CFR 23.23(c)(7). Rationale: The first major 

update and compilation of regulations implementing the Convention on International 

Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 1977 became 

effective on September 24, 2007, and are available online at 

http://www.fws.gov/international/. The extensive revisions and additions clarify 

procedures and provide an easy-to-use guide to the requirements for international trade in 

plants and animals regulated by CITES. 

82
5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

63 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

Advisory Committee for water Information ACWI 

American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials AASHTO 

American Concrete Institute ACI 

American Concrete Pipe Association ACPA 

American Hardware Manufacturers Association AHMA 

American Institute of Steel Construction AISC 

American Institute of Timber Construction AITC 

American National Standards Institute ANSI 

American Petroleum Institute API 

American Rock Mechanics Association ARMA 

American Society for Industrial Security ASIS 

American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing ASPRS 

American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE 

American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME 

American Water Works Association AWWA 

American Welding Society AWS 

American Wood Preservers institute AWPI 

Architectural Woodwork Institute AWI 

ASCE Building Security Council BSC 

ASTM International ASTM 

Brick Industry Association BIA 

Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association BHMA 

Cast Iron Soil Pipe Institute CISPI 

Concrete Pipe Association CPA 

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild 

Fauna and Flora 

CITES 

Cultural Resources Standards with State Historic Preservation Offices SHPO 

Data Management Association DAMA 

Electronic Industries Alliance EIA 

Engineered Wood Association EWA 

European Petroleum Survey Group EPSG 

Federal Geographic Data Committee FGDC 

Forest Stewardship Council FSC 

83
Ground Water Protection Council GWPC 

Gypsum Association GA 

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE 

Insulated Cable Engineers Association ICEA 

Interagency Trails Data Standards ITDS 

International Air Transport Association IATA 

international Building Code Council IBCC 

International Committee for Information Technology Standards INCITS 

International Organization for Standardization ISO 

International Security Council ISC 

Metal Building Manufacturers Association MBMA 

Modular Systems Building Council MSBC 

National Association of Corrosion Engineers International NACE 

National Digital Elevation Program NDEP 

National Electrical Manufacturers Association NEMA 

National Environmental Methods Index NEMI 

National Trust Banking Industry NTBI 

National Water-Quality Monitoring Council NWQMC 

National Wildland Fire Coordinating Group NWCG 

North American Weeds Management Association NAWMA 

Northwest Environmental Data Network NED 

Open Geospatial Consortium OGC 

Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards OASIS 

Pacific Northwest Regional Geospatial Information Council PNW-RGIC 

Petrotechnical Open Standards Consortium, Inc. POSC 

Project Management Institute PMI 

Telecommunications Industry Association TIA 

The National Digital Orthophoto Program NDOP 

Urban and Regional Information Systems Association URISA 

Western Electricity Coordinating Council WECC 

World Wide Web Consortium W3C 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

300 

84
7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) with representation on Standards Working 

Groups and other associated committees. 

The FWS is actively implementing key security standards and guidelines developed or 

approved by NIST to support the implementation of and compliance with the Federal 

Information Security Management Act (FISMA) including: 

• Standards for categorizing information and information systems by mission impact. 

• Standards for minimum security requirements for information and information systems. 

• Standards for encrypting government data. 

• Standards for applying and enforcing secure configuration baselines. 

• Standards for secure remote access. 

• Guidance for mapping types of information and information systems to appropriate 

security categories. 

• Guidance for planning and conducting technical information security testing. 

• Guidance for assessing security controls in information systems and determining 

security control effectiveness. 

• Guidance for certifying and accrediting information systems. 

The FWS is currently using secure configuration benchmarks developed by the Center for 

Internet Security (CIS), a non-profit organization whose mission is to help organizations 

reduce the risk of business and e-commerce disruptions resulting from inadequate 

technical security controls. These benchmarks have been deemed as "NIST" approved. 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

Since its issuance, Circular A-119 has worked in a straightforward manner to encourage 

the use of voluntary consensus standards. 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

It would help agencies if NIST and/or OMB identify "high priority" VCS and Nonconsensus standards for implementation by Federal agencies, especially standards that 

pertain to E-Gov initiatives and IT security requirements. 

On another point, some folks believe an order of preference could be specified for 

voluntary consensus standards (for example, international VCS are to be preferred to 

domestic VCS). 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

85
10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4 . Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

Yes 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

C 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

Yes 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

1 

86
Department of Justice (DOJ)

 

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

The Department, in its primary mission roles, does not specify products requiring 

voluntary consensus standards. Because of the nature of the Department's missions, DOJ 

participates in the development of government standards for law enforcement information 

representation. The Department developed the National Information Exchange Model 

(NIEM) as a critical standard to facilitate the Law Enforcement Information Sharing 

Program. NIEM serves as a government standard for information that lacks voluntary 

consensus standards. 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

 0 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

0 

Other Technical Standards: 

0 

Rationale: 

 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your 

agency participated in during FY 2007: 

0 

87
6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

1 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

N/A 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

The Department of Justice offers no recommended changes to Circular A-119. 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

No additional comments. 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

 C 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

 D 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

No 

88
10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

0 

89
Department of Labor (DOL) 

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

The Department of Labor (DOL) develops and promulgates safety and health standards 

which are the minimum requirements for the protection of employees in the United 

States. 

 

DOL consults, and routinely relies on Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) whenever a 

Federal standard is written or updated. Since the VCS are on a shorter update cycle than 

Federal standards, the VCS provide a more current view of industry standards and 

practices than the Agency can efficiently or economically achieve. 

Furthermore, safety compliance officers use VCS during inspections and investigations 

when there are no Federal standards that apply in certain circumstances. 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

8 

Government Unique Standard: 

29 CFR 1910 Subpart S - Electrical Standard (Incorporated: 2007) (Incorporated: 2007) 

 

Voluntary Standard 

NFPA 70 - National Electric Code 

NFPA 70E - Electrical Safety Requirement for Employee Workplaces. 

ANSI/IEEE C2 - National Electrical Safety Code 

ANSI/ASME B30.4 - Portal, Tower, and Pedestal Cranes 

NFPA 33 - Spray Application Using Flammable or Combustible Materials 

ANSI Z133.1 Arboricultural Operations for Pruning, Repairing, Maintaining, and 

Removing Trees, and Cutting Brush 

Rationale 

Several voluntary consensus standards were relied upon for the various provisions in the 

final rule, however, no single VCS is available to cover all the workplace applications 

that are addressed by OSHA. The Agency believes that it would be less burdensome for 

the regulated community to use one OSHA standard rather than purchase and use the 6 

individual consensus standards it used to write the rule. 

 

Government Unique Standard: 29 CFR 1926.1002 Roll-Over Protective Structures 

(Incorporated: 2006) (Incorporated: 2006) 

 

90
Voluntary Standard 

SAE J1194-1999 

Rationale 

Many consensus standards were relied upon for various provisions in the final rule. The 

primary VCS that applies directly to ROPS is SAE J1194-1999 which incorporates by 

reference several other VCSs. If SAE J1194-1999 was adopted into the OSHA 

provisions, the regulated community would have to consult not only the primary VCS but 

all of the VCSs that are incorporated into it as well. OSHA believes it is less burdensome 

for the regulated community to use one OSHA standard rather than require the purchase 

and use of several VCSs. 

Government Unique Standard:

30 CFR Part 75 - Sealing of Abandoned Areas - Emergency Temporary Standard. 

(Incorporated: 2007) 

Voluntary Standard 

ACI 318-05 - Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete and 

Commentary 

ACI 440.2R-02 - Design and Construction of Externally Bonded FRP 

Systems for Strengthening Concrete Structures 

ASTM E119-07 - Standard Test Methods for Fire Tests of Building 

Construction and Materials 

ASTM E162-06 - Standard Test Method for Surface Flammability of Materials Using a 

Radiant Heat Energy Source 

Rationale

Four consensus standards were relied upon for various provisions in the emergency 

temporary standard, but no one consensus standard is available that covered all of the 

topics covered by MSHA's Emergency Temporary Standard. 

Government Unique Standard:

Electric Motor-Drive Equipment Rule (Incorporated: 2001) 

 

Voluntary Standard 

IEEE Standard 242-1986 Recommended Practice for Protection and Coordination of 

Industrial and Commercial Power Systems (IEEE Buff Book) and NFPA 70 - national 

Electric Code 

Rationale 

The MSHA rule is a design-specific standards. The NFPA and IEEE standards were used 

as a source for the rule; however, the exact requirements of the rule were tailored to apply 

specifically to electric circuits and equipment used in the coal mining industry. 

Government Unique Standard: Exit Routes, Emergency Action Plans, and Fire 

Prevention Plans, 29 CFR 1910, Subpart E (Incorporated: 2003) 

91
Voluntary Standard 

Life Safety Code, NFPA 101-2000 

Rationale 

The OSHA standard addresses only workplace conditions whereas the NFPA Life Safety 

Code goes beyond workplaces. However, in the final rule OSHA stated that it had 

evaluated the NFPA Standard 101, Life Safety Code, (NFPA 101-2000) and concluded 

that it provided comparable safety to the Exit Route Standards. Therefore, the Agency 

stated that any employer who complied with the NFPA 101-2000 instead of the OSHA 

Standard for Exit Routes would be in compliance. 

 

Government Unique Standard: 

 Fire Protection for Shipyards, 29 CFR Part 1915, Subpart P (Incorporated: 2004) 

Voluntary Standard 

NFPA 312-2000 Standard for Protection of Vessels During Construction, Repair, and 

Lay-Up 

NFPA 33-2003 Standard for Spray Application Using Flammable or Combustible 

Materials 

Rationale 

Many consensus standards were relied on for various provisions in OSHA's final rule, 

including 15 consensus standards that are incorporated by reference. However, OSHA 

and its negotiated rulemaking committee determined that there was no, one consensus 

standard available that covered all the topics in the rule. 

Government Unique Standard: 

Sanitary Toilets in Coal Mines, 30 CFR 71, Subpart E (Incorporated: 2003) 

 

Voluntary Standard 

Non-Sewered Waste Disposal Systems--Minimum Requirements, ANSI Z4.3-1987 

 

Rationale 

The ANSI standard was not incorporated by reference because certain design criteria 

allowed in the ANSI standard, if implemented in an underground coal mine, could 

present health or safety hazards. For instance, combustion or incinerating toilets could 

introduce an ignition source which would create a fire hazard. For certain other design 

criteria found in the ANSI standard, sewage could seep into the groundwater, or overflow 

caused by rain or run-off could contaminate portions of the mine. 

 

Government Unique Standard: 

Steel Erection Standards (Incorporated: 2002) 

 

Voluntary Standard 

ANSI A10.13 - Steel Erection; ASME/ANSI B30 Series Cranes Standards 

92
Rationale 

Many consensus standards were relied upon for various provisions in the final rule, but 

there was no one consensus standard available that covered all of the topics covered by 

OSHA's final rule. 

 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

0 

Other Technical Standards: 

0 

Rationale: 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

18 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

American Lift Institute ALI 

American National Standards Institute ANSI 

American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME 

American Society of Safety Engineers ASSE 

American Welding Society AWS 

Association for Machine Technology AMT 

ASTM International ASTM 

Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation CAOHC 

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE 

International Electrotechnical Commission IEC 

International Mine Rescue Body IMRB 

International Organization for Standardization ISO 

93
International Window Cleaning Association IWCA 

National Fire Protection Association NFPA 

National Floor Safety Institute NFSI 

National Safety Council NSC 

Society of Automotive Engineers SAE 

Underwriters Laboratories UL 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

60 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

 

No comment at this time. 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

No comment at this time. 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

No comment at this time. 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

No 

94
10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

 E 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; No 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

0 

95
Department of State (DOS)

 

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

The Department of State represents the U.S. at the International Telecommunication 

Union (ITU) where international telecommunication standards are agreed. This role is 

performed by the Bureau of Energy, Economic & Business Affairs, and International 

Communications & Information Policy. The Department of State coordinates this work 

internally in the Government with other Agencies such as the FCC, Dept of 

Commerce/NTIA, and Dept of Homeland Security/NCS, and externally with US industry 

through the International Telecommunication Advisory Committee, a Federal Advisory 

Committee. 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

0 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

0 

Other Technical Standards: 

0 

Rationale:

 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

1 

96
Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

International Telecommunication Union ITU 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

8 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

 

n/a 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

n/a 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

n/a 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards 

: 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed to 

compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

C 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

E 

97
10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

Yes 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

5 

98
Department of Transportation (DOT)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and its operating administrations rely 

upon an active consensus rulemaking program to support the Department's strategic 

goals: safety; reduced congestion; global connectivity; environmental stewardship; 

security, preparedness and response; and organizational excellence. In addition, DOT 

relies upon a consensus process with various stakeholders to advance innovative 

transportation technologies and operations, and to improve the state of transportation 

practice in all modes of transportation. Voluntary consensus standards, and the technical 

interchanges that occur during the process of developing and revising codes and 

standards, are an important element of meeting DOT's mission objectives. 

During 2007, DOT asked the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB’s) Committee for a 

Study of Options for Streamlining Standards for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) 

to identify the types of support needed for ITS standards deployment and to recommend 

the role USDOT should play in standards development and deployment. The study 

committee was convened in response to Section 5307(a)(4) of the Safe, Accountable, 

Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users. The full letter report 

dated June 18, 2007 may be viewed at: 

http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/reports/standards_its_june_2007.pdf. 

The essence of the committee’s advice is for USDOT to: 

• Articulate a strategic vision of the role of standards in furthering the development and 

use of ITS and define USDOT’s role in realizing this vision. The vision should be 

presented in a strategic plan that explains how standards are beneficial to ITS and defines 

USDOT’s roles in all phases of standards support, the expected benefits from this 

support, and means of evaluating performance and outcomes. 

• Systematically engage end users in all phases of standards support and explore a variety 

of processes that involve them to ensure timely and useful standards. Deployment must 

be viewed as an inseparable part of standards development rather than as a distinct 

follow-on activity. The users of standards, including government purchasers and the 

broad community of suppliers, developers, and integrators of ITS products, must be 

consulted on an ongoing basis and in ways that identify the changing need for standards. 

They must have a prominent role in all phases of standards development and deployment. 

The development processes must be suited to the product or service to which the standard 

applies and must take into account the special importance of timeliness and adaptability 

for standards pertaining to rapidly evolving technologies. All aspects of the program, 

from financing to contractual arrangements, must be compatible and aligned with these 

program goals. 

• Forge strong connections with other relevant standards activities in the federal 

government, in the private sector, and internationally. Consultation and coordination with 

99
other standards activities in the federal government is essential for tapping standards 

expertise and keeping abreast of standards activities in other agencies that may affect 

ITS. Participation in international ITS standards activities is vital in ensuring that 

information and technical barriers do not deprive U.S. purchasers and suppliers of ITS 

products and services of the benefits of a global marketplace. 

The committee’s advice stemmed from the following strongly held beliefs: 

• Standards are vital to the development and deployment of ITS and consequently to the 

achievement of the promise of ITS in improving transportation system safety, mobility, 

and efficiency. 

• USDOT should take a prominent role in support of standards to help bring about the 

benefits of ITS more quickly. 

• Budgetary decisions that have a lasting effect on USDOT’s role in support of ITS 

standards should be made on the basis of a clear strategy that articulates this role. 

• Standards setting in the field of ITS must be viewed as an ongoing process rather than a 

one-time activity that ends with the issuance of a select set of standards. 

DOT Standards Links 

Due to the varied nature of the standards activities and stakeholder communities of the 

DOT operating administrations, DOT has not developed a single standards website. 

Relevant operating administration websites include: 

• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airport Construction Standards: 

http://www.faa.gov/airports_airtraffic/airports/construction/construction_standards/ 

• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airport Design Standards: 

http://www.faa.gov/airports_airtraffic/airports/construction/design_standards/ 

• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Flight Standards Service: 

http://www.faa.gov/about/office%5Forg/headquarters%5Foffices/avs/offices/afs 

• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-Industry Training Standards: 

http://www.faa.gov/education_research/training/fits/ 

• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Design Standards: 

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/programadmin/standards.cfm 

• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) National Bridge Inspection Standards: 

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/nbis/ 

• Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Rules and Regulations: 

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/rules-regulations.htm 

• Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Regulations, Orders, Notices, and Significant 

Guidance: http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/49 

• Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Regulations: 

http://www.fta.dot.gov/laws/leg_reg_808.html 

• Hydrogen Fuel Safety R&D Codes and Standards: 

http://hydrogen.gov/fed_Act_Topic6.htm 

• Maritime Administration (MARAD) Marine Industry Standards Library: 

http://marad.dot.gov/NMREC/library/std_lib.html 

• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Regulations/Guidance: 

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/menuitem.e649cd1b2b018c71d8eca01046108a

100
0c/ 

• Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)/Hazardous 

Materials Safety Standards: http://hazmat.dot.gov/regs/intl/intstandards.htm 

• Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)/Pipeline Safety 

Standards: http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/SafetyStandards.htm 

• Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA)/Bureau of Transportation 

(BTS) Standards Manual: http://www.bts.gov/programs/statistical_policy_and_research/ 

bts_statistical_standards_manual/ 

• Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA)/Intelligent Transportation 

Systems (ITS) Standards Program: http://www.standards.its.dot.gov/default.asp. 

 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

 3 

Government Unique Standard: 63 FR 17976; April 13, 1998 - Product Safety Signs and 

Labels (Incorporated: 1998) 

Voluntary Standard 

ANSI Z535.4 - ANSI Requirements for Color Coded Header Messages for the Different 

Levels of Hazard 

Rationale 

NHTSA explained in the NPRM that the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) 

has a standard4 for product safety signs and labels (ANSI Z535.4) that identifies a 

hierarchy of hazard levels ranging from extremely serious to moderately serious and 

specifies corresponding hierarchies of signal words, i.e., “danger,” “warning,” and 

“caution,” and of colors. For the header, the ANSI standard specifies a red background 

with white text for “danger,” an orange background with black text for “warning,” and a 

yellow background with black text for caution.” 

The ANSI standard specifies that pictograms should be black on white, with occasional 

uses of color for emphasis, and that message text should be black on white. The agency 

noted in the NPRM that when it earlier updated the requirements for air bag warning 

labels to require the addition of color and pictograms, it had chosen not to adopt the 

colors specified in the ANSI standard. NHTSA chose to use yellow instead of orange in 

the background of the heading for the air bag warning label, even though the word 

“warning” was used, because of overwhelming focus group preference for yellow. Only 

two of the 53 participants preferred orange. Participants generally stated that yellow was 

more eye-catching than orange. Participants also noted that red (stop) and yellow 

(caution) had meaning to them, but not orange. 

NHTSA asked for comment on three color options for the revised utility vehicle rollover 

warning label. Proposed label 1 used the ANSI color format with the heading background 

in orange with the words in black. The remainder of the label had a white background 

101
with black text and drawings. Proposed label 2 used a color scheme like the air bag 

warning labels, which is the same as the ANSI color format except that the background 

color for the heading in the label is yellow. Proposed label 3 employed the color scheme 

used in the focus groups - the heading area had a red background with white text. The 

graphic areas had a yellow background with black and white drawings. The text area had 

a black background with yellow text. 

Despite focus group preference for the signal word “danger,” the agency proposed the use 

of the word “warning” as more appropriate to the level of risk. The agency also noted that 

the word “warning” is used in the air bag warning label. 

Recognizing that it might encounter additional conflicts between focus group preferences 

and the ANSI standard in future rulemakings, NHTSA requested comments in the NPRM 

on the extent to which any final choice regarding colors and signal words should be 

guided by the focus group preferences instead of the ANSI standard. NHTSA also 

requested comments on the broader issue of the circumstances in which it would be 

appropriate for agency rulemaking decisions to be guided by focus group results or other 

information when such information is contrary to a voluntary consensus standard such as 

the ANSI standard. 

At this time (February 22, 1999), a final decision is still pending regarding its proposal to 

upgrade the rollover warning label. As to the general questions it posed in the NPRM, 

NHTSA recognizes that ANSI’s mission differs somewhat from that of the agency’s 

focus groups with respect to the labeling of hazardous situations. ANSI’s mission is to 

develop and maintain a standard for communicating information about a comprehensive 

hierarchy of hazards, while the focus groups’ mission is to design an effective label for a 

specific hazard. The agency recognizes further that, given the difference in their 

missions, their conclusions about the appropriate manner of communication might differ 

on occasion. 

Since agency labeling decisions are highly dependent on the facts regarding the specific 

hazard being addressed, NHTSA anticipates making case-by-case determinations of the 

extent to which it should follow voluntary standards versus information from focus 

groups and other sources. NHTSA will rely on its own expertise and judgment in making 

determinations under the NTTAA and the statutory provisions regarding vehicle safety 

standards. 

 

Government Unique Standard:

Air Bag Warning Label (1997) (Incorporated: 1997) 

Voluntary Standard

ANSI ISO 

Rationale 

The Air Bag Warning Label uses yellow as the background color, instead of orange, in 

accordance with an ANSI standard and uses a graphic developed by Chrysler Corporation 

102
to depict the hazards of being too close to an air bag, instead of the graphic recommended 

by the ISO. These decisions were based on focus group testing sponsored by the agency 

which strongly indicated that these unique requirements would be far more effective with 

respect to safety than the industry standards. 

 

Government Unique Standard:

Brake Performance, 49 CFR 393.52 - FMCSA's Performance-Based Brake Testers 

(PBBTs) Requirement (Incorporated: 2002) 

Voluntary Standard 

SAE J667 - Brake Test Code Inertia Dynamometer (cancelled February 2002) 

SAE J1854 - Brake Force Distribution Performance Guide - Trucks and Buses 

Rationale 

FMCSA used government-unique standards in lieu of voluntary consensus standards 

when it implemented its final rule to allow inspectors to use performance-based brake 

testers (PBBTs) to check the brakes on large trucks and buses for compliance with federal 

safety standards and to issue citations when these vehicles fail (67 FR 51770, August 9, 

2002). The FMCSA evaluated several PBBTs during a round robin test series to assess 

their functional performance and potential use in law enforcement. The standard, a 

specific configuration of brake forces and wheel loads on a heavy-duty vehicle, was used 

to evaluate the candidate PBBTs and their operating protocols. The agency’s rationale for 

use of the government-unique standards was to verify that these measurements and new 

technology could be used by law enforcement as an alternative to stopping distance tests 

or on-road deceleration tests. PBBTs are expected to save time and their use could 

increase the number of commercial motor vehicles that can be inspected in a given time. 

Only PBBTs that meet specifications developed by the FMCSA can be used to determine 

compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. The final rule represents a 

culmination of agency research that began in the early 1990s. 

 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards:

 4 

103
Other Technical Standards: 

 0 

Rationale: 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

48 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

Aerospace Industries Association of America AIA 

American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators AAMVA 

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials AASHTO 

American Gas Association AGA 

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics AIAA 

American National Standards Institute ANSI 

American Petroleum Institute API 

American Public Transportation Association APTA 

American Pyrotechnics Association APA 

American Railway Engineering & Maintenance-of-Way Association AREMA 

American Society for Nondestructive Testing ASNT 

American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE 

American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME 

American Trucking Association ATA 

Association of American Railroads AAR 

Association of Public Health Laboratories APHL 

ASTM International ASTM 

Canadian General Standards Board CGSB 

Canadian Standards Association CSA 

Chlorine Institute CI 

Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance CVSA 

Compressed Gas Association CGA 

Gas Technology Institute GTI 

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE 

Institute of Transportation Engineers ITE 

Intelligent Transportation Society of America ITSA 

International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA 

International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO 

International Commission on Occupational Health ICOH 

104
International Maritime Organization IMO 

International Organization for Standardization ISO 

Manufacturers Standardization Society of the Valve and Fittings 

Industry 

MSSVFI 

NAFTA Land Transportation Standards Subcommittee NAFTA 

National Association of Corrosion Engineers International NACE 

National Association of State Fire Marshals NASFM 

National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors NBBPVI 

National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices NCUTCD 

National Electrical Manufacturers Association NEMA 

National Fire Protection Association NFPA 

North American Transport of Dangerous Goods Standards NATDGS 

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD 

Recreation Vehicle Industry Association RVIA 

Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North 

America 

RESNA 

Society of Automotive Engineers SAE 

Transportation Research Board TRB 

Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association TTMA 

United Nations Committee on the Transport of Dangerous Goods UNTDG 

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe WP.29/GRSP UNECE 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

198 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA): Under 15 CFR Part 287.4(i): FRA’s conformity 

assessment activities are visible internationally through expanded efforts in the area of 

safe, uniform international transport of hazardous materials by participation in the 

Canadian General Standards Board Tank Car Committee and the ASME Transportation 

Pressure Vessel Committee, as well as continuing to participate in the North American 

Transport of Dangerous Goods Standard (NATDGS) Working Group and the AAR Tank 

Car Committee. 

Under 15 CFR Part 287.4(j): Participation in the voluntary consensus standards bodies 

listed above as well as in numerous committees and sub-committees of those bodies gives 

105
FRA access to the developmental stages of private sector conformity assessment 

standards to ensure that the agency viewpoint is considered in the development of these 

standards. 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

DOT believes that Circular A-119 is working effectively. The use of voluntary standards 

provides efficiencies for regulatory agencies, and for regulated entities and industries. 

Due to the effective implementation of the standards-related sections of the National 

Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA), there is a low volume of 

government-unique standards being used in lieu of voluntary consensus standards within 

DOT, especially compared with the status when NTTAA was passed in 1996. DOT 

currently uses 1,741 voluntary consensus standards in its regulatory program. 

DOT recommends that OMB Circular A-119 be revised to require NTTAA reporting 

only on instances of government-unique standards being used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards. The Circular should continue the policy that there is no requirement 

to report on government-unique standards developed where a voluntary consensus 

standard is unavailable, per sections 6g and 9a of the Circular. 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

DOT offers no additional comments. 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

Standards referenced in the Code of Federal Regulations are periodically reviewed as part 

of the Section 610 reviews, and as a part of the continuing rulemaking process, including 

petitions for rulemaking. Some operating administrations also have an internal regulatory 

effectiveness review function, which provides a further opportunity to review both 

voluntary consensus and agency-unique standards. These avenues allow for both ad-hoc 

and periodic reviews. 

Standards incorporated into regulations for purposes of international harmonization are 

generally reviewed and updated every two years. 

 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

106
10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

Yes 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

C 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

Yes 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

5 

107
Department of the Treasury (TRES)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

Serve the American people and strengthen national security by managing the U.S. 

Government’s finances effectively, promoting economic growth and stability, and 

ensuring the safety, soundness, and security of U.S. and international financial systems. 

The Department of the Treasury’s mission highlights its role as the steward of the U.S. 

economic and financial systems, and as an influential participant in the world economy. 

The Department of the Treasury is the executive agency responsible for promoting 

economic prosperity and ensuring the financial security of the United States. The 

Department is responsible for a wide range of activities such as advising the President on 

economic and financial issues, encouraging sustainable economic growth, and fostering 

improved governance in financial institutions. 

The Department of the Treasury operates and maintains systems that are critical to the 

nation’s financial infrastructure, such as the production of coin and currency, the 

disbursement of payments to the American public, revenue collection, and the borrowing 

of funds necessary to run the Federal Government. The Department works with other 

federal agencies, foreign governments, and international financial institutions to 

encourage global economic growth, raise standards of living, and, to the extent possible, 

predict and prevent economic and financial crises. 

 

The Treasury Department also performs a critical and far-reaching role in enhancing 

national security by implementing economic sanctions against foreign threats to the U.S., 

identifying and targeting the financial support networks of national security threats, and 

improving the safeguards of our financial systems. 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

0 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

108
number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

104 

Other Technical Standards:

0 

Rationale

U.S. Treasury identified 104 technical standards within VCS which can be used by 

bureaus. - In addition, ISO Standards have been utilized. 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

2 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

Object Management Group OMG 

Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards OASIS 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

3 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

The Treasury was not involved in conformity assessment activates as described in 

"Guidance on Federal Conformity Assessment Activities" found in the Federal Register, 

Volume 65, Number 155, dated August 10,2000. 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

Treasury finds Circular A-199 effective in identifying standards for use in development 

and acquisition of information technology systems and equipment. 

109
9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

No other comments to add at this time. 

10 . Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

None. 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2 . Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

No 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

E 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

Yes 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

1 

110
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

The Department of Veterans Affairs accepts and conforms to standards developed by the 

Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization (JCAHO). Standards are 

crucial not only to obtain JCAHO certification for VA healthcare facilities but 

compliance must be maintained to allow facilities to operate. VA beneficiaries are cared 

for in community nursing homes under VA contract, state home facilities, and hospital 

based care programs standard requirements continue to be utilized in regulatory, 

contractual, and grant determinations executed by the VA. www1.va.gov/oamm/ 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

0 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards:

0 

Other Technical Standards:

0 

Rationale: 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

20 

111
Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

American Industrial Hygiene Association AIHA 

American Institute of Timber Construction AITC 

American National Metric Council ANMC 

American National Standards Institute ANSI 

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning 

Engineers 

ASHRAE 

American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME 

American Society of Safety Engineers ASSE 

ASTM International ASTM 

Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association BHMA 

Federal Facilities Council FFC 

Government Electronics & Information Technology Association GEITA 

InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards INCITS 

Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations JCAHO 

NAFTA Land Transportation Standards Subcommittee NAFTA 

National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics NCVHS 

National Fire Protection Association NFPA 

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health NIOSH 

National Institute of Building Sciences NIBS 

National Petroleum Management Association NPMA 

Society of Toxicological Pathologists STP 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

4 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

 

The VA does not engage in conformity assessment act ivies. VA strives to use industry 

based standards and commercial off the shelf products. 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

The Department of Veterans Affairs suggest Circular A-119 develop a method to 

encourage agencies to be more involved in identifying, and determining which standards 

112
are useful to the agencies activities and when standards are identified, direct the agency 

to be responsible in enforcing compliance. 

 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

Federal regulations prescribe standards that must be used (e.g., EPA laboratory standards 

and OSHA monitoring/sampling standards). Regardless of what may be developed by 

conformity assessment, VA is not relieved of its obligation to use standards prescribed by 

regulation. When not obligated to use a prescribed regulatory or other (e.g., JCAHO) 

standard, VA organizations must retain the flexibility to use the standard that best meets 

its programmatic needs. 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

NTTAA Annual Reporting 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

No 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

D 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

Yes 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

1 

113
Appendix E – Individual, Unabridged Commission and other Agency Reports 

Access Board (ACCESS)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

The Board seeks to make its guidelines more consistent with model building codes and 

industry standards in order to make compliance easier. It coordinates extensively with 

model code groups and standard-setting bodies so that differences are minimized or 

reconciled. In particular, the Board has sought to harmonize the guidelines for buildings 

and facilities with the International Building Code (IBC) and the ANSI A117.1 standard, 

a voluntary consensus standard, provides technical criteria referenced by the IBC. 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

1 

Government Unique Standard: 

36 CFR Part 1194 Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards 

(December, 2000) (Incorporated: 2006) 

Voluntary Standard 

ANSI/IEEE Standard for Hearing Aid Compatibility with Wireless Devices 

Rationale 

A provision in the Section 508 Standards requires that interference to hearing 

technologies be reduced to the lowest possible level that allows a user of hearing 

technologies to utilize a telecommunications product. Individuals who are hard of hearing 

use hearing aids and other assistive listening devices, but they cannot be used if products 

introduce noise into the listening aids because of electromagnetic interference. The 

ANSI/IEEE Standard for Hearing Aid Compatibility with Wireless Devices was not 

completed in time for reference by the agency in its final rule published in FY 2000. 

However, the agency will consider using the Standard in FY 20007. In the meantime, 

because the requirement in the agency rule is a performance standard, the agency 

considers compliance with the VCS to meet the agency Standard. 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

114
4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

0 

Other Technical Standards: 

0 

Rationale: 

The Access Board did not finalize any rules during the current reporting period. 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

 

6 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

Acoustical Society of America ASA 

American National Standards Institute ANSI 

American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME 

ASTM International ASTM 

International Code Council ICC 

National Spa and Pool Institute NSPI 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

5 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

 

None for this reporting period. 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

We have no changes to recommend. 

115
9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

None. 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

Our agency reviews referenced standards each time it revises a rule. However, we do not 

have a formal schedule for this activity. 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

Yes 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

C 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

No 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

0 

116
U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

USAID did not submit a report for 2007. 

117
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is responsible for protecting the 

American public from unreasonable risks of injury and death associated with 15,000 

types of consumer products. Since its inception in 1973, the Commission has promoted 

the development of voluntary product safety standards to help it accomplish this mission. 

From 1990 through 2007, the Commission staff supported the development of 390 

voluntary standards while the Commission issued 38 mandatory standards, approximately 

a ten-to-one ratio of voluntary to mandatory standards. Information on the Commission's 

involvement in voluntary standards activities can be found on CPSC's web page at 

www.cpsc.gov 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

2 

Government Unique Standard: 

CPSC CFR Parts 1213, 1500, and 1513 (Incorporated: 2000) 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM F1427-96 

Rationale 

The CPSC rule goes beyond the provisions of the ASTM voluntary standard to provide 

increased protection to children from the risk of death and serious injury from 

entrapment. 

Government Unique Standard: 

FR/Vol. 68, No. 75/Friday, April 18, 2003, pp. 19142-19147, Metal-Cored Candlewicks 

Containing Lead and Candles With Such Wicks (Incorporated: 2003) 

Voluntary Standard 

Voices of Safety International (VOSI) standard on lead in candle wicks 

Rationale 

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission found that the VOSI standard is 

technically unsound, and thus would not result in the elimination or adequate reduction of 

the risk, and that substantial compliance with it is unlikely. See FR/Vol. 68, No. 

75/Friday, April 18, 2003, pp. 19145-19146, paragraph H2, Voluntary Standards for 

further information on this finding. 

118
3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards:

1 

Other Technical Standards: 

0 

Rationale: 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

13 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

American National Standards Institute ANSI 

American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME 

Association of Pool and Spa Professionals APSP 

ASTM International ASTM 

Canadian Standards Association CSA 

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE 

International 2-Up ATV Manufacturers Association I2AMA 

International Safety Equipment Industries ISEA 

National Electrical Manufacturers Association NEMA 

National Fire Protection Association NFPA 

Specialty Vehicle Institute of America SVIA 

Underwriters Laboratories UL 

Window Covering Manufacturers Association WCMA 

119
6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

26 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

CPSC staff participated on the Steering Committee of the Toy Industry Association (TIA) 

- American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Toy Safety Cooperation Initiative. The 

goal of the Initiative is to implement new systems to bolster the safety testing and 

inspection of toys sold in the United States. TIA is working with ANSI to develop and 

standardize procedures that will be used industry-wide to verify that products comply 

with U.S. safety standards. It is also working with ANSI to develop criteria to confirm 

and certify that test laboratories are qualified to conduct the prescribed testing. 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

During FY 2007, the Commission staff efforts to enhance voluntary safety standards 

development were complemented by the overall Federal policy set forth in the Circular. 

There are no recommendations for changes in the Circular at this time. 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), as amended, requires the Commission to 

defer to issued voluntary standards, rather than promulgate mandatory standards, when 

the voluntary standards will eliminate or adequately reduce the risk of injury addressed 

and it is likely that there will be substantial compliance with the voluntary standards. In 

addition, the Commission is required, after any notice or advance notice of proposed 

rulemaking, to provide technical and administrative assistance to persons or groups who 

propose to develop or modify an appropriate voluntary standard. Additionally, the 

Commission is encouraged to provide technical and administrative assistance to groups 

developing product safety standards and test methods, taking into account Commission 

resources and priorities. 

Since its inception in 1973, the Commission has promoted the development of voluntary 

product safety standards. Policy statements in support of voluntary standards were 

published by the CPSC in 1975 and 1978. These policy statements were updated in 1988 

and 2006 (16 U.S.C. 1031). Staff directives on implementation of portions of these policy 

statements were promulgated in 1989 and updated in October 2001 and July 2006. Since 

the principles set forth in the OMB Circular A-119 were published, the Commission has 

consistently supported them. 

120
10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

The CPSC currently reports its use of voluntary standards in several documents including 

the: (1) Voluntary Standards Activities midyear and annual reports, (2) the Voluntary 

Standards Tracking and Access Report (V-STAR), and (3) the CPSC annual Performance 

and Accountability Report. 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

C 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

A 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

Yes 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

1 

121
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

EPA references voluntary standards as technical methods or testing procedures in 

relevant regulatory actions. Regulations typically set emission or exposure limits 

(referred to as regulatory standards) in order to achieve levels of environmental and 

health protection according to the laws mandated to the Agency. EPA incorporates into 

regulations testing methods and procedures for determining compliance to such limits. In 

accord with the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act EPA uses test 

methods and other protocols developed by private sector consensus organizations 

whenever such standards exist, they are applicable to the given regulation, and they are 

not otherwise prohibited by law. 

Regulations and consensus standards are not interchangeable, but EPA may substitute 

consensus-developed test procedures for government-developed procedures when the 

Agency determines it is appropriate. In some cases, the Agency may preferentially call 

for the use of a consensus standard because it is more rigorous than an existing Agency 

method, or more useful overall in achieving a specific level of protection. This is the case 

when it comes to guidance on radon detection in homes. EPA specificaly recommends 

the use of a consensus standard developed by ASTM International, rather than an EPA 

method, as the test procedure to use. 

EPA also uses voluntary consensus standards in partnership or voluntary programs 

developed by the Agency with stakeholder input from industry, state and local 

governments, NGOs, community groups and others. Agency voluntary programs are a 

way for EPA to enhance the basic mandates and goals for environmental and health 

protection through non-regulatory means. 

The following are three examples of EPA standards-related activities from 2007: 

1. Use of Private Sector Certification Program 

Relative to Clean Air Act certification requirements, EPA considered development of a 

certification program. However, as a first step, consistent with NTTAA requirements, 

EPA conducted a review to see if such standards or techniques were already developed 

and available. EPA identified the availability of the national MWC operator certification 

program that had been developed and implemented by the American Society of 

Mechanical Engineers (ASME). The ASME program satisfied EPA's needs. The program 

was titled ``Standards for the Qualification and Certification of Resource Recovery 

Facility Operators (QRO)1989.'' The ASME/QRO certification is MWC plantspecific and 

ASME certifies only the supervisory positions of chief facility operator and shift 

supervisor. As the first step toward certification, the individual must obtain an ASME 

122
provisional certification. 

2. Updating a Regulation based on an updated voluntary consensus standard. 

In 1997 EPA promulgated regulations that required the use of SAE (Society of 

Automotive Engineering) Standard J2210, HFC 134a Recycling Equipment for Mobile 

Air Conditioning Systems for certification of MVAC refrigerant handling equipment. 

SAE has replaced Standard J2210 with J2788, Recovery/Recycle and 

Recovery/Recycle/Recharging Equipment for HFC 134a Refrigerant. To avoid confusion 

with an outdated reference, EPA is updating its reference to the new SAE standards. This 

action reflects a change in inudstry standard practice. 

3. Participation in International Standardization 

EPA continues to provide expert leadership in significant international standards 

development, including the important work on nanotechnology underway through the 

ISO Technical Committee 229 on Nanotechnology. This work compliments international 

governmental work on nanotechnology through the Organization for Economic 

Cooperation and Development where EPA has a key leadership role. 

In addition to participation in voluntary standards development, the Agency brings its 

experts to the table in several Standards Panels administered by the American National 

Standards Institute (ANSI). These include panels for Homeland Security, 

Nanotechnology and Biofuels. EPA has initiated work with ANSI as the US national 

standards body to promote Agency programs such as EPEAT and Energy Star. 

 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

23 

Government Unique Standard:

EPA Method 1 – Traverse Points, Stationary Sources (Incorporated: 2001) 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM D3154-00, Standard Method for Average Velocity in a Duct (Pitot Tube Method) 

Rationale 

1. The standard appears to lack in quality control and quality assurance requirements. It 

does not include the following: (1) Proof that openings of standard pitot tube have not 

plugged during the test; (2) if differential pressure gauges other than inclined manometers 

(e.g., magnehelic gauges) are used, their calibration must be checked after each test 

series; and (3) the frequency and validity range for calibration of the temperature sensors. 

2. They are too general, too broad, or not sufficiently detailed to assure compliance with 

EPA regulatory requirements. 

123
Voluntary Standard 

ASTM D3154-91 (1995), Standard Method for Average Velocity in a Duct (Pitot Tube 

Method) 

Rationale 

Is too general, too broad, or not sufficiently detailed to assure compliance with EPA 

regulatory requirements. 

Government Unique Standard:

EPA Method 101 - Mercury Emissions, Chlor-Alkali Plants (Air) (Incorporated: 2001) 

 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM D6216-98 - Standard Practice for Opacity Monitor Manufacturers to Certify 

Conformance with Design and Performance Specifications 

. 

Rationale 

The EPA is incorporating ASTM D6216 (manufacturers certification) by reference into 

EPA Performance Specification 1, Sect. 5 & 6 in another rulemaking. ASTM D6216 does 

not address all the requirements specified in PS-1. 

Government Unique Standard: 

EPA Method 101a - Mercury Emissions Sewer/Sludge Incinerator (Incorporated: 2001) 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM D6216-98 - Standard Practice for Opacity Monitor Manufacturers to Certify 

Conformance with Design and Performance Specifications. 

Rationale 

The EPA is incorporating ASTM D6216 (manufacturers certification) by reference into 

EPA Performance Specification 1, Sect. 5 & 6 in another rulemaking. ASTM D6216 does 

not address all the requirements specified in PS-1. 

Government Unique Standard: 

EPA Method 10A – Carbon Monoxide for Certifying CEMS (Incorporated: 2001) 

Voluntary Standard 

CAN/CSA Z223.21-M1978, Method for the Measurement of Carbon Monoxide: 3—

Method of Analysis by Non-Dispersive Infrared Spectrometry. 

Rationale 

1. It is lacking in the following areas: (1) Sampling procedures; (2) procedures to correct 

for the carbon dioxide concentration; (3) instructions to correct the gas volume if CO2 

traps are used; (4) specifications to certify the calibration gases are within 2 percent of 

the target concentration; (5) mandatory instrument performance characteristics (e.g., rise 

time, fall time, zero drift, span drift, precision); (6) quantitative specification of the span 

value maximum as compared to the measured value: The standard specifies that the 

124
instruments should be compatible with the concentration of gases to be measured, 

whereas EPA Method 10 specifies that the instrument span value should be no more than 

1.5 times the source performance standard. 2. Is too general, too broad, or not sufficiently 

detailed to assure compliance with EPA regulatory requirements. 

Government Unique Standard:

EPA Method 12 – Inorganic Lead, Stationary Sources (Incorporated: 2000) 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM D4358-94 (1999), Standard Test Method for Lead and Chromium in Air 

Particulate Filter Samples of Lead Chromate Type Pigment Dusts by Atomic Absorption 

Spectroscopy 

Rationale 

These ASTM standards do not require the use of glass fiber filters as in EPA Method 12 

and require the use of significantly different digestion procedures that appear to be milder 

than the EPA Method 12 digestion procedure. For these reasons, these ASTM standards 

cannot be considered equivalent to EPA Method 12. Also, the subject ASTM standards 

do not require the use of hydrogen fluoride (HF) as in EPA Method 29 and, therefore, 

they cannot be used for the preparation, digestion, and analysis of Method 29 samples. 

Additionally, Method 29 requires the use of a glass fiber filter, whereas these three 

ASTM standards require cellulose filters and other probable nonglass fiber media, which 

cannot be considered equivalent to EPA Method 29. 

 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM E1741-95 (1995), Standard Practice for Preparation of Airborne Particulate Lead 

Samples Collected During Abatement and Construction Activities for Subsequent 

Analysis by Atomic Spectrometry 

Rationale 

These ASTM standards do not require the use of glass fiber filters as in EPA Method 12 

and require the use of significantly different digestion procedures that appear to be milder 

than the EPA Method 12 digestion procedure. For these reasons, these ASTM standards 

cannot be considered equivalent to EPA Method 12. Also, the subject ASTM standards 

do not require the use of hydrogen fluoride (HF) as in EPA Method 29 and, therefore, 

they cannot be used for the preparation, digestion, and analysis of Method 29 samples. 

Additionally, Method 29 requires the use of a glass fiber filter, whereas these three 

ASTM standards require cellulose filters and other probable nonglass fiber media, which 

cannot be considered equivalent to EPA Method 29. 

 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM E1979-98 (1998), Standard Practice for Ultrasonic Extraction of Paint, Dust, Soil, 

and Air Samples for Subsequent Determination of Lead 

125
Rationale 

These ASTM standards do not require the use of glass fiber filters as in EPA Method 12 

and require the use of significantly different digestion procedures that appear to be milder 

than the EPA Method 12 digestion procedure. For these reasons, these ASTM standards 

cannot be considered equivalent to EPA Method 12. Also, the subject ASTM standards 

do not require the use of hydrogen fluoride (HF) as in EPA Method 29 and, therefore, 

they cannot be used for the preparation, digestion, and analysis of Method 29 samples. 

Additionally, Method 29 requires the use of a glass fiber filter, whereas these three 

ASTM standards require cellulose filters and other probable nonglass fiber media, which 

cannot be considered equivalent to EPA Method 29. 

 

Government Unique Standard: 

EPA Method 17 - Particle Matter (PM) In Stack Filtration (Incorporated: 2001) 

Voluntary Standard 

ASME C00049 

Rationale 

EPA looked at this standard for both Pulp and Paper Hazardous Air Pollutant rules and 

for the Small Municipal Waste Combustion rule. Contains sampling options beyond 

which would be considered acceptable for Method 5. 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM D3685/3685M-95 - Standard Test method for Sampling and Determination of 

Particle Matter in Stack Gases 

Rationale 

EPA looked at this standard for both Pulp and Paper Hazardous Air Pollutant rules and 

for the Small Municipal Waste Combustion rule. Contains sampling options beyond 

which would be considered acceptable for Method 5. 

Government Unique Standard: 

 EPA Method 2 – Velocity and S-type Pitot (Incorporated: 1999) 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM D3464-96 (2001), Standard Test Method Average Velocity in a Duct Using a 

Thermal Anemometer 

Rationale 

Applicability specifications are not clearly defined, e.g., range of gas composition, 

temperature limits. Also, the lack of supporting quality assurance data for the calibration 

procedures and specifications, and certain variability issues that are not adequately 

addressed by the standard limit EPA's ability to make a definitive comparison of the 

method in these areas. 

126
Voluntary Standard 

ISO 10780:1994, Stationary Source Emissions-- Measurement of Velocity and Volume 

Flowrate of Gas Streams in Ducts 

Rationale 

The standard recommends the use of an L-shaped pitot, which historically has not been 

recommended by EPA. The EPA specifies the S-type design, which has large openings 

that are less likely to plug up with dust. 

Government Unique Standard: 

EPA Method 21 - Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Leaks (Incorporated: 2003) 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM E1211-97 - Standard Practice for Leak Detection and Location Using SurfaceMounted Acoustic Emission Sensors 

Rationale 

This standard will detect leaks but not classify the leak as VOC, as in EPA Method 21. In 

addition, in order to detect the VOC concentration of a known VOC leak, the acoustic 

signal would need to be calibrated against a primary instrument. Background noise 

interference in some source situations could also make this standard difficult to use 

effectively. 

Government Unique Standard: 

 EPA Method 25 – Gaseous Nonmethane Organic Emissions (Incorporated: 2001) 

 

Voluntary Standard 

EN 12619:1999 Stationary Source Emissions--Determination of the Mass Concentration 

of Total Gaseous Organic Carbon at Low Concentrations in Flue Gases--Continuous 

Flame Ionization Detector Method 

Rationale 

The standards do not apply to solvent process vapors in concentrations greater than 40 

ppm (EN 12619) and 10 ppm carbon (ISO 14965). Methods whose upper limits are this 

low are too limited to be useful in measuring source emissions, which are expected to be 

much higher. 

Voluntary Standard 

ISO 14965:2000(E) Air Quality--Determination of Total Nonmethane Organic 

Compounds--Cryogenic Preconcentration and Direct Flame Ionization Method 

 

Rationale 

The standards do not apply to solvent process vapors in concentrations greater than 40 

ppm (EN 12619) and 10 ppm carbon (ISO 14965). Methods whose upper limits are this 

low are too limited to be useful in measuring source emissions, which are expected to be 

much higher. 

127
Government Unique Standard: 

EPA Method 25A – Gaseous Organic Concentration, Flame Ionization (Incorporated: 

2001) 

Voluntary Standard 

EN 12619:1999 Stationary Source Emissions--Determination of the Mass Concentration 

of Total Gaseous Organic Carbon at Low Concentrations in Flue Gases--Continuous 

Flame Ionization Detector Method 

Rationale 

The standards do not apply to solvent process vapors in concentrations greater than 40 

ppm (EN 12619) and 10 ppm carbon (ISO 14965). Methods whose upper limits are this 

low are too limited to be useful in measuring source emissions, which are expected to be 

much higher. 

Voluntary Standard 

ISO 14965:2000(E) Air Quality--Determination of Total Nonmethane Organic 

Compounds--Cryogenic Preconcentration and Direct Flame Ionization Method 

Rationale 

The standards do not apply to solvent process vapors in concentrations greater than 40 

ppm (EN 12619) and 10 ppm carbon (ISO 14965). Methods whose upper limits are this 

low are too limited to be useful in measuring source emissions, which are expected to be 

much higher. 

Government Unique Standard: 

EPA Method 28 (Section 10.1) – Wood Heaters, Certificate and Auditing (Incorporated: 

2003) 

Voluntary Standard 

ASME Power Test Codes, Supplement on Instruments and Apparatus, part 5, 

Measurement of Quantity of Materials, Chapter 1, Weighing Scales 

Rationale 

It does not specify the number of initial calibration weights to be used nor a specific 

pretest weight procedure. 

 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM E319-85 (Reapproved 1997), Standard Practice for the Evaluation of Single-Pan 

Mechanical Balances 

Rationale 

This standard is not a complete weighing procedure because it does not include a pretest 

procedure. 

128
Government Unique Standard: 

EPA Method 29 – Metals Emissions from Stationary Sources (Incorporated: 2001) 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM D4358-94 (1999), Standard Test Method for Lead and Chromium in Air 

Particulate Filter Samples of Lead Chromate Type Pigment Dusts by Atomic Absorption 

Spectroscopy 

Rationale 

These ASTM standards do not require the use of glass fiber filters as in EPA Method 12 

and require the use of significantly different digestion procedures that appear to be milder 

than the EPA Method 12 digestion procedure. For these reasons, these ASTM standards 

cannot be considered equivalent to EPA Method 12. Also, the subject ASTM standards 

do not require the use of hydrogen fluoride (HF) as in EPA Method 29 and, therefore, 

they cannot be used for the preparation, digestion, and analysis of Method 29 samples. 

Additionally, Method 29 requires the use of a glass fiber filter, whereas these three 

ASTM standards require cellulose filters and other probable nonglass fiber media, which 

cannot be considered equivalent to EPA Method 29. 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM E1741-95 (1995), Standard Practice for Preparation of Airborne Particulate Lead 

Samples Collected During Abatement and Construction Activities for Subsequent 

Analysis by Atomic Spectrometry 

Rationale 

These ASTM standards do not require the use of glass fiber filters as in EPA Method 12 

and require the use of significantly different digestion procedures that appear to be milder 

than the EPA Method 12 digestion procedure. For these reasons, these ASTM standards 

cannot be considered equivalent to EPA Method 12. Also, the subject ASTM standards 

do not require the use of hydrogen fluoride (HF) as in EPA Method 29 and, therefore, 

they cannot be used for the preparation, digestion, and analysis of Method 29 samples. 

Additionally, Method 29 requires the use of a glass fiber filter, whereas these three 

ASTM standards require cellulose filters and other probable nonglass fiber media, which 

cannot be considered equivalent to EPA Method 29. 

 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM E1979-98 (1998), Standard Practice for Ultrasonic Extraction of Paint, Dust, Soil, 

and Air Samples for Subsequent Determination of Lead 

Rationale 

These ASTM standards do not require the use of glass fiber filters as in EPA Method 12 

and require the use of significantly different digestion procedures that appear to be milder 

than the EPA Method 12 digestion procedure. For these reasons, these ASTM standards 

cannot be considered equivalent to EPA Method 12. Also, the subject ASTM standards 

do not require the use of hydrogen fluoride (HF) as in EPA Method 29 and, therefore, 

they cannot be used for the preparation, digestion, and analysis of Method 29 samples. 

129
Additionally, Method 29 requires the use of a glass fiber filter, whereas these three 

ASTM standards require cellulose filters and other probable nonglass fiber media, which 

cannot be considered equivalent to EPA Method 29. 

Voluntary Standard 

CAN/CSA Z223.26-M1987, Measurement of Total Mercury in Air Cold Vapour Atomic 

Absorption Spectrophotometeric Method 

Rationale 

It lacks sufficient quality assurance and quality control requirements necessary for EPA 

compliance assurance requirements. 

Government Unique Standard:

EPA Method 306 - Chromium Emissions, Electroplating and Anodizing (Incorporated: 

2002) 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM D4358-94 (1999) - Standard Test Method for Lead and Chromium in Air 

Particulate Filter Samples of Lead Chromate Type Pigment Dusts by Atomic Absorption 

Spectroscopy 

Rationale 

This MACT standard (Petroleum Refineries) only cites Method 29. Therefore, the 

following EPA comment is only applicable for Method 29 not Method 12 and 306: 

Method 29 requires the use of hydrofluoric acid (HF) in its process of digestion of the 

sample. ASTM D4358-94 (1999) does not require the use of HF; therefore, it cannot be 

used in the preparation, digestion, and analysis of Method 29 samples. Additionally, 

Method 29 requires the use of a glass fiber filter, whereas the subject ASTM standard 

requires cellulose filters and other probable non-glass fiber media, and this further 

negates their use as Method 29 equivalent methods. (Same comment as provided for 

ASTM E1741 and ASTM E1979). 

Government Unique Standard:

EPA Method 306a - Chromium Emissions, Electroplating -- Mason Jar (Incorporated: 

2002) 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM D4358-94 (1999) - Standard Test Method for Lead and Chromium in Air 

Particulate Filter Samples of Lead Chromate Type Pigment Dusts by Atomic Absorption 

Spectroscopy 

Rationale 

This MACT standard (Petroleum Refineries) only cites Method 29. Therefore, the 

following EPA comment is only applicable for Method 29 not Method 12 and 306: 

Method 29 requires the use of hydrofluoric acid (HF) in its process of digestion of the 

sample. ASTM D4358-94 (1999) does not require the use of HF; therefore, it cannot be 

130
used in the preparation, digestion, and analysis of Method 29 samples. Additionally, 

Method 29 requires the use of a glass fiber filter, whereas the subject ASTM standard 

requires cellulose filters and other probable non-glass fiber media, and this further 

negates their use as Method 29 equivalent methods. (Same comment as provided for 

ASTM E1741 and ASTM E1979). 

Government Unique Standard:

 EPA Method 3A – Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen Concentrations, IAP (Incorporated: 

1999) 

Voluntary Standard 

ISO 12039:2001, Stationary Source Emissions-- Determination of Carbon Monoxide, 

Carbon Dioxide, and Oxygen--Automated Methods 

Rationale 

This ISO standard is similar to EPA Method 3A, but is missing some key features. In 

terms of sampling, the hardware required by ISO 12039:2001 does not include a 3-way 

calibration valve assembly or equivalent to block the sample gas flow while calibration 

gases are introduced. In its calibration procedures, ISO 12039:2001 only specifies a twopoint calibration while EPA Method 3A specifies a three-point calibration. Also, ISO 

12039:2001 does not specify performance criteria for calibration error, calibration drift, 

or sampling system bias tests as in the EPA method, although checks of these quality 

control features are required by the ISO standard. 

Government Unique Standard:

 EPA Method 515.4 – Chlorinated Acids in DW by LL Fast CG/ECD (Incorporated: 

2003) 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM D5317-98 -- Standard Test Method For Determination of Chlorinated Organic 

Acid Compounds in Water by Gas Chromatography With an Electron Capture Detector 

Rationale 

ASTM D5317-98 specifies acceptance windows for the initial demonstration of 

proficiency for laboratory fortified blank samples that are as small as 0 percent to as large 

as 223 percent recovery for picloram, with tighter criteria for other regulated 

contaminants. Therefore, this method permits unacceptably large control limits, which 

include 0 percent recovery. 

 

Voluntary Standard 

Standard Method 6640 B for the chlorinated acids 

Rationale 

The use of this voluntary consensus standard would have been impractical due to 

significant shortcomings in the sample preparation and quality control sections of the 

method instructions. Section 1b of Method SM 6640 B states that the alkaline wash 

131
detailed in section 4b2 is optional. The hydrolysis that occurs during this step is essential 

to the analysis of the esters of many of the analytes. Therefore, this step is necessary and 

cannot be optional. In addition, the method specifies that the quality control limits for 

laboratory-fortified blanks are to be based upon plus or minus three times the standard 

deviation of the mean recovery of the analytes, as determined in each laboratory. 

Therefore, this method permits unacceptably large control limits, which may include 0 

percent recovery. 

Government Unique Standard:

EPA Method 531.2 – N-Methylcarbamoylozimes/ates, Aqueous In/HPLC (Incorporated: 

2003) 

Voluntary Standard 

Standard Method 6610, 20th Edition 

Rationale 

Standard Method 6610, 20th Edition has recently been approved for compliance 

monitoring. Standard Method 6610, 20th Supplemental Edition permits the use of a 

strong acid, hydrochloric acid (HCL), as a preservative. The preservatives in all of the 

other approved EPA and Standard Methods procedures for these analytes are weak acids 

that adjust the pH to a specific value based upon the pKa of the preservative. The use of 

HCL would require accurate determinations of the pH of the sample in the field and 

could be subject to considerable error and possible changes in pH upon storage. Although 

not specifically observed for oxamyl or carbofuran during the development of similar 

methods, structurally similar pesticides have been shown to degrade over time when kept 

at pH 3. Therefore, approval of this method is impractical because it specifies the use of a 

strong acid (HCL) when positive control of the pH is critical. 

Voluntary Standard 

Standard Method 6610, 20th Supplemental Edition 

Rationale 

Standard Method 6610, 20th Edition has recently been approved for compliance 

monitoring. Standard Method 6610, 20th Supplemental Edition permits the use of a 

strong acid, hydrochloric acid (HCL), as a preservative. The preservatives in all of the 

other approved EPA and Standard Methods procedures for these analytes are weak acids 

that adjust the pH to a specific value based upon the pKa of the preservative. The use of 

HCL would require accurate determinations of the pH of the sample in the field and 

could be subject to considerable error and possible changes in pH upon storage. Although 

not specifically observed for oxamyl or carbofuran during the development of similar 

methods, structurally similar pesticides have been shown to degrade over time when kept 

at pH 3. Therefore, approval of this method is impractical because it specifies the use of a 

strong acid (HCL) when positive control of the pH is critical. 

Government Unique Standard: 

EPA Method 5i - Low Level Particulate Matter, Stationary Sources (Incorporated: 2001) 

132
Voluntary Standard 

ASTM D6331-98 

Rationale 

This standard does not have paired trains as specified in method 5 and does not include 

some quality control procedures specified in the EPA method and which are appropriate 

to use in this rule. 

Government Unique Standard:

EPA Method ALT 004 (Incorporated: 2002) 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM D5835-95 - Standard Practice for Sampling Stationary Source Emissions for 

Automated Determination of Gas Concentration 

Rationale 

Similar to Methods 3a, 6c, 7e, 10, ALT 004, CTM 022. Lacks in detail and quality 

assurance and quality control requirements. Very similar to ISO 10396. 

Voluntary Standard 

ISO 10396:1993 - Stationary Source Emissions: Sampling for the Automated 

Determination of Gas Concentrations 

Rationale 

Duplicates Method 3a, 6c, 7e, 10, ALT 004, CTM 022. Lacks in detail and quality 

assurance plus quality control requirements. Similar to ASTM D5835. 

Government Unique Standard:

EPA Method CTM 022 (Incorporated: 2002) 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM D5835-95 - Standard Practice for Sampling Stationary Source Emissions for 

Automated Determination of Gas Concentration 

Rationale 

Similar to Methods 3a, 6c, 7e, 10, ALT 004, CTM 022. Lacks in detail and quality 

assurance and quality control requirements. Very similar to ISO 10396. 

 

Voluntary Standard 

ISO 10396:1993 - Stationary Source Emissions: Sampling for the Automated 

Determination of Gas Concentrations 

Rationale 

Duplicates Method 3a, 6c, 7e, 10, ALT 004, CTM 022. Lacks in detail and quality 

assurance plus quality control requirements. Similar to ASTM D5835. 

133
Government Unique Standard:

EPA Performance Specification 2 (nitrogen oxide portion only) (Incorporated: 2001) 

 

Voluntary Standard 

ISO 10849:1996, Determination of the Mass Concentration of Nitrogen Oxides--

Performance 

Rationale 

Is too general, too broad, or not sufficiently detailed to assure compliance with EPA 

regulatory requirements. 

 

Government Unique Standard:

EPA Performance Specification 2 (sulfur dioxide portion only) (Incorporated: 2001) 

 

Voluntary Standard 

ISO 7935:1992, Stationary Source Emissions--Determination of the Mass Concentration 

of Sulfur Dioxide--Performance Characteristics of Automated Measuring Methods" 

Rationale 

Is too general, too broad, or not sufficiently detailed to assure compliance with EPA 

regulatory requirements. 

Government Unique Standard: 

SW846-6010b (Incorporated: 2002) 

 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM C1111-98 (1998) - Standard Test Method for Determining Elements in Waste 

Streams by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometers 

Rationale 

This standard lacks details for instrument operation QA/QC, such as optimizing plasma 

operating conditions; upper limit of linear dynamic range; spectral interference 

correction; and calibration procedures, which include initial and continuous calibration 

verifications. Also lacks internal standard and method of standard addition options for 

samples with interferences. 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM D6349-99 (1999) - Standard Test Method for Determining Major and Minor 

Elements in Coal, Coke, and Solid Residues from Combustion of Coal and Coke by 

Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometers 

Rationale 

This standard lacks details for instrument operation QA/QC, such as optimizing plasma 

operating conditions, upper limit of linear dynamic range, spectral interference 

correction, and calibration procedures, that include initial and continuous calibration 

134
verifications. Also lacks details for standard preparation, and internal standard and 

method of standard addition options for samples with interferences. 

 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

3 

Other Technical Standards:

0 

Rationale: 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

25 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

Acoustical Society of America ASA 

American Architectural Manufacturers Association AAMA 

American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators AAMVA 

American College of Radiology ACR 

American Gas Association AGA 

American National Standards Institute ANSI 

American Petroleum Institute API 

American Society for Quality ASQ 

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning 

Engineers 

ASHRAE 

American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME 

American Water Works Association AWWA 

ASTM International ASTM 

135
Electronic Industries Alliance EIA 

Illuminating Engineering Society of North America IESNA 

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE 

International Code Council ICC 

International Electrotechnical Commission IEC 

International Organization for Standardization ISO 

National Cooperation for Laboratory Accreditation NACLA 

NSF International NSFI 

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD 

Society of Automotive Engineers SAE 

Underwriters Laboratories UL 

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe WP .29/GRSP UNECE 

United States Pharmacopoeia USP 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

44 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

 

ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Body (ANAB) 

National Accreditation Council (NAC) 

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

No additional comments. 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

No additional comments. 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

Question 10/7 as worded continues to be non-applicable to EPA so our numerical 

response is misleading. We have reported this problem previously. 

EPA amends regulations as needed and authorized. Occasionally EPA must amend a 

136
regulation in order to update references to standards where such an update is necessary to 

maintain the purpose and integrity of the regulation without making any significant 

policy changes. Standards may be EPA methods or voluntary consensus standards or any 

other technical standards. 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

Yes 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

A 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

No 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

0 

137
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

The FCC references many standards in support of the Commission’s regulatory 

responsibilities. These standards, referenced in the FCC rules, range from referencing 

measurement methods and conformity assessment procedures to radio carriage 

requirements for oceangoing vessels to promote safety of life. In addition, standards are 

used to promote compatibility between radios and to achieve coordination among 

Commission licensees. 

For example: In the Hearing Aid Compatibility Report and Order (WT Docket No. 01-

309), the Commission required that digital wireless phones be capable of operating 

effectively with hearing aids based on certain performance measurement standards 

contained in the 2001 version of ANSI C63.19, “American National Standard for 

Methods of Measurement of Compatibility between Wireless Communication Devices 

and Hearing Aids, ANSI C63.19-2001.” Pursuant to the Hearing Aid Compatibility 

Report and Order, the Commission encouraged the relevant stakeholders to review the 

standard periodically to determine whether improvements to the standard are warranted. 

The Accredited Standards Committee on Electromagnetic Compatibility, C63 (ASC C63) 

has been working to revise C63.19-2001 and in a public notice (DA 06-1215) issued on 

June 6, 2006, the Commission recognized the use of either ANSI C63.19 standard, 2001, 

2005 or 2006 for rating wireless phones, consistent with 47 C.F.R. § 2.947 (b). Allowing 

the use of the new measurement and rating procedures now should assist manufacturers 

and carriers in providing handset models that comply with the hearing aid compatibility 

requirements of 47 C.F.R. § 20.19(b). 

Another example is the successful use of the Telecommunications Industry Association 

Telecommunications System Bulletin 10-F, "Interference Criteria for Microwave 

Systems." This standard, referenced within several Commission rule parts has become the 

cornerstone for applicants and licensees to successfully coordinate the use of microwave 

communications systems. 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

0 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

138
4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

157 

Other Technical Standards: 

0 

Rationale: 

N/A 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

13 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions ATIS 

American National Standards Institute ANSI 

Federal Geographic Data Committee FGDC 

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE 

Intelligent Transportation Society of America ITSA 

International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO 

International Electrotechnical Commission IEC 

International Maritime Organization IMO 

International Organization for Standardization ISO 

International Telecommunication Union ITU 

Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics RTCA 

Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services RTCM 

Telecommunications Industry Association TIA 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

28 

139
7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

 

Accredited Laboratory Recognition Program 

A2LA and NIST’s National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) are 

approved accreditation bodies under the U.S. Federal Communications Commission 

(FCC) program that requires manufacturers and suppliers of personal computers, 

computer peripherals and other Radio Frequency (RF) devices who intend to use a 

“Declaration of Conformity” on their products to have the products tested by an 

accredited Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) testing laboratory. 

The FCC also recognizes accredited testing laboratories that have been accredited by 

A2LA and NVLAP to perform testing on products subject to the Commission’s 

equipment authorization program on products subject to certification under Part 15.. 

The accreditation of a laboratory located outside of the United States, or its possessions, 

is acceptable to the Commission if the accredited laboratory has been designated by a 

foreign designating authority and recognized by the Commission under the terms of a 

government-to-government Mutual Recognition Agreement/Arrangement (MRA); or if 

the testing laboratory has been recognized by the Commission as being accredited by an 

organization that has entered into an arrangement between accrediting organizations and 

the arrangement has been recognized by the Commission. 

The FCC has recognized a total of 252 accredited laboratories. 101 are located in the 

United States and 151 are located outside of the United States. 

Telecommunications Certification Bodies (TCB) Program 

On December 17, 1998, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted rules 

for the establishment of Telecommunication Certification Bodies (TCB). A TCB is a 

private organization, which is authorized to issue grants, within its scope of designation, 

for equipment subject to the FCC’s certification procedure. Under these rules, a TCB has 

the authority to review and grant an application for certification to the FCC rules. This 

order also established procedures for foreign TCBs under the terms of a government-togovernment Mutual Recognition Agreement/Arrangement (MRA). Foreign TCBs, where 

recognized, certify equipment to U.S. requirements using test procedures and technical 

requirements under the FCC rules for purposes of U.S.-valid equipment authorization. 

There are two “phases” of mutual recognition. Phase I permits tests performed outside the 

U.S. to be used in support of equipment authorization of products subject to the FCC’s 

Declaration of Conformity (DoC) requirements; Phase II permits the certification of 

products subject to the FCC’s certification requirements by a TCB located outside of the 

U.S. 

In May 2000, NIST initially evaluated American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI) 

Conformity Assessment Program for compliance with ISO/IEC Guide 61 and the Federal 

140
Communications Commission (FCC) requirements for its TCB program. Every two years 

ANSI’s accreditation program is subject to re-evaluation by NIST. 

ANSI evaluates prospective TCBs for compliance with ISO/IEC Guide 65 and FCC 

requirements for the TCB program. FCC requires that a TCB must have core testing 

capability and that the testing laboratory must be accredited to ISO/IEC Standard 17025. 

NIST recommends accredited organizations to FCC for designation as TCBs. 

The FCC has recognized a total of 31 certification bodies under the TCB program. 17 are 

located in the United States and 13 are located outside of the United States. 

 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

N/A 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

N/A 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

No 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

C 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

No 

141
10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

0 

142
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States 

Government charged with enforcing competition and consumer protection laws. The 

Commission's only contact with voluntary consensus standards and the organizations that 

produce them is in connection with the enforcement of the Federal Trade Commission 

Act, which prohibits unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts and 

practices affecting commerce. The Commission does not promulgate its own standards or 

engage in other standards activities pertinent to OMB Circular A-119. 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

0 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards:

0 

Other Technical Standards:

0 

Rationale:

See response to Question 1. 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

0 

143
6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

0 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

See response to Question 1. 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

See response to Question 1. 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

N/A 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

10-1 Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3 . Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

C 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

E 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

No 

144
10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

0 

145
General Services Administration (GSA)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

Standards play a significant role in the Federal Supply program. They are used to 

establish baselines for product quality, performance and features; allow competitive 

procurement of functionally equivalent products and; when necessary ensure 

interchangeability of products produced under different contracts and across different 

contract periods. The most signification aspect of our use of standards is to ensure the 

safety and durability of the products purchased for government use. 

GSA maintains a standards website, http://www.gsa.gov Home>About 

GSA>Reference>Supply Standards 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

3 

Government Unique Standard:

Federal Specification KKK-A-1822E - Federal Specification for Ambulances 

(Incorporated: 2003) 

Voluntary Standard 

ASTM F2020 - Standard Practice for Design, Construction, and Procurement of 

Emergency Medical Services Ambulances 

Rationale 

The ASTM Standard Practice for Design, Construction, and Procurement of Emergency 

Medical Services (EMSS) Ambulances (ASTM F2020) is not practical for use, and 

therefore GSA uses the Federal Specification for Ambulances (KKK-A-1822E). GSA has 

determined the ASTM document is not practical for use for the following reasons: 

1) GSA has determined that ASTM F2020 contains specific practices that are technically 

and economically impractical to use for the acquisition of commercial based vehicles 

because the document is financially burdensome and technically ineffective. Specifically 

at issue is the ASTM Standard Specification for Medical Oxygen Delivery Systems for 

EMS Ground Vehicles, F1949-99 which is inclusive to ASTM F2020. 

2) GSA has determined that ASTM F2020 is impractical because it is defined as a 

standard practice which is ambiguous and an ineffective substitution for specifications or 

requirements for use in GSA contract documents. ASTM F1949-99, a Standard 

Specification for Medical Oxygen Delivery Systems for EMS Ground Vehicles is 

146
included in ASTM F2020. ASTM F1949-99 is defined as a “standard specification”. 

3) GSA has determined that ASTM F2020 is impractical because ASTM International 

does not provide interpretations and written guidance to their publications which is 

inadequate and less useful. ASTM members may only offer personal opinions. ASTM 

offers no mechanism to support timely resolution of conflicts between contractor and 

procurement organizations on technical subject matter. GSA provides interpretations, 

clarifications and engineering determinations when required. This is one of the most 

important concerns presented by the Ambulance Manufacturers Division (AMD). 

4) The AMD has determined through consensus that it is impractical to replace the 

Federal Specification for Ambulances, KKK-A-1822E with the ASTM Standard Practice, 

F2020. GSA initiated a survey to collect public responses from a wide range of 

constituent users of the Federal Ambulance Specification. The National Association of 

Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT), the International Association of Fire Chiefs 

(IAFC), the National Association of State EMS Directors (NASEMSD) and the National 

Association of EMS Physicians universally accept and support the continued use of the 

Federal Specification. The AMD and constituent users have determined that it is 

impractical to replace the Federal Specification for Ambulances, KKK-A-1822E with the 

ASTM Standard Practice, F2020 because rule promulgation is burdensome and costly. 

Staff and administration resources would need to be diverted in each state EMS office to 

implement the change in statutes, public health codes, rules and regulations. 

5) GSA has determined that ASTM F2020 is impractical because it is burdensome to 

GSA procurement efforts. While the current ASTM document recites many of the 

requirements from the Federal Specification, a future ASTM document would likely have 

diverging requirements unacceptable to the Government. This was verified by a member 

of the ASTM F2020 subcommittee at the September 4, 2003 meeting of the Federal 

Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Services. 

Government Unique Standard:

FF-L-2937 (Incorporated: 2006) 

Voluntary Standard 

UL 768 

Rationale 

Federal Specification FF-L-2937 – Combination Lock, Mechanical used in lieu of UL 

768 Combination Locks. The lock covered by the GUS is used for the protection of 

classified information and weapons. The UL specification did not meet identified 

government needs for dialing tolerance and bolt end pressure. 

Government Unique Standard:

MIL-G-9954 - Glass Beads for Cleaning and Peening (Incorporated: 2000) 

147
Voluntary Standard 

SAE/AMS 2431 - Peening Media, General Requirements 

Rationale 

This government-unique standard contains specific size & performance required for Air 

Force critical applications that are not present in the voluntary standards. 

 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

8 

Other Technical Standards:

0 

Rationale:

 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

26 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

Ambulance Manufacturers Division AMD 

American Gas Association AGA 

American National Standards Institute ANSI 

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning 

Engineers 

ASHRAE 

American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME 

ASTM International ASTM 

Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association BHMA 

Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association GAMA 

Institute of Packaging Professionals IOPP 

148
International Safe Transit Association ISTA 

Material Handling Equipment Industry Association MHIA 

National Fire Protection Association NFPA 

National Institute of Packaging, Handling Engineers NIPHLE 

National Sanitation Foundation NSF 

National Truck Equipment Association NTEA 

Network Address Space Working Group IPv6 

Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards OASIS 

Performance Review Institute PRI 

Qualified Products Management Council QPMC 

Society of Automotive Engineers SAE 

Technical Association for the Worldwide, Pulp Paper and Converting 

Industry 

TAPPI 

The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer's Association BIFMA 

The Maintenance Council of American Trucking Associations TMC/ATA 

The Society for Protective Coatings SSPC 

Underwriters Laboratories UL 

United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business UN/CEFACT 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

23 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

A variety of conformity assessment activities were used including direct inspection and 

testing, supplier and third party testing, and product qualification and listing. In addition 

GSA representatives in the GSA Automotive Center were actively engaged in performing 

technical reviews of new offers, participating in post award meetings, hosting in-process 

validation reviews, participating in on-site first article inspections at manufacturer’s 

plants and managing GSA’s quality defect reporting program. 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

The policy contained in OMB Circular A-119 provides the guidelines and incentive to 

partner with Industry in specifying material performance. The use of VCS is efficient and 

promotes a universal approach to the control of industrial product performance. 

149
9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

No comment 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

No 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

C 

10-6 Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

Yes 

10-7 . How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

1 

150
Government Printing Office (GPO)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

Standards are very important in our acquisition program of common items. In the testing 

laboratory, standards are also very important so that the test can be repeated. 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

1 

*Government Unique Standard: 

“Standard samples" for the procurement of printing paper (Incorporated: 2005) 

Voluntary Standard 

None 

Rationale 

Physical samples are required for procurement of printing papers. There is no consensus 

body to develop such a set. 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

0 

Other Technical Standards: 

100 

151
Rationale: 

Depending on what we are working on during the year, this number varies 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

0 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

3 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

We were not involved with conformity assessment activities this past year 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

Being a legislative agency our participation in Circular A119 is not mandatory 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

None 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

Yes 

152
10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

C 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

No 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

7 

153
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

(a) NASA’s science and technology based mission requires timely technical standards. 

They provide the basis for defining engineering, safety, and mission assurance 

requirements that are levied on both contracted activities as well as agency in-house 

developments. Standards are also used by programs for evaluating proposed approaches 

and assessing performance throughout system life cycles. The NASA Technical 

Standards Program supports the NASA Mission and serves all NASA’s Programs, 

Projects, and Facilities. 

(b) The Technical Standards Program's Website accessible at http://standards.nasa.gov 

provides direct access to NASA-developed standards, other government-developed 

standards, and to non-government Standards Development Organizations' (SDO) 

Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCSs). 

 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

This agency reports voluntary consensus standards usage on a category basis 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

1 

Voluntary Standard Government Standard 

None None 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

289 

Other Technical Standards:

70 

154
Rationale:

NASA Reports VCS Usage on a Categorical Basis. Specifically, NASA provides access 

to technical standards from all relevant sources but, as a “procurement agency”, does not 

monitor or control VCS standards used on individual procurements and programs. NASA 

does maintain a list of VCS “Preferred Technical Standards” (currently ~289) based on 

user recommendations as an aid to selection for users. Use of other standards – from all 

sources – is determined by users based on needs. NASA does maintain a set of NASA 

Technical standards (~70) to meet technical requirements not available in VCS, to 

provide implementation requirements for internal use, and to document lessons learned. 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

22 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

Aerospace Industries Association of America AIA 

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics AIAA 

American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers ASABE 

American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME 

American Welding Society AWS 

ASTM International ASTM 

Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems CCSDS 

Electrostatic Discharge Association ESDA 

Government Electronics & Information Technology Association GEITA 

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE 

Institute of Environmental Sciences & Technology IEST 

International Astronomical Union IAU 

International Organization for Standardization ISO 

IPC - Association Connecting Electronics Industries IPC 

JEDEC - Solid State Technology Association JEDEC 

National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Association NADCAP 

National Association of Corrosion Engineers International NACE 

National Conference of Standards Laboratories International Program NCSLI 

National Defense Industrial Association NDIA 

National Fire Protection Association NFPA 

Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards OASIS 

Society of Automotive Engineers SAE 

155
6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

105 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

 

NASA's Office of Safety and Mission Assurance remains involved in various conformity 

assessment activities. Most notable are the audits, assessments, and reviews processes 

according to NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) 8705.6, Safety and Mission 

Assurance Audits, Assessments, and Reviews. Conformity assessments of NASA 

contractors are based on requirements of NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 8730.5 and the 

NASA Quality Policy. These audits and reviews evaluate, among other items, compliance 

with both NASA-STDs and NASA mandated VCS. In addition, some of the activities 

supported by the OSMA and the Office of Chief Engineer participate with conformity 

assessment activities such as NASCAP. Conformity assessments activities involved 

included ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001:204, AS0100, and OSHA VPP Star. 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

OMB Circular A-119 and the preference for use of VCS are directly cited in policy 

(NASA Policy Directive (NPR) 8076) which requires consideration of VCS alternatives 

before a NASA Technical Standard is developed or re-certified. OMB Circular A-119 

directives also provides a basis for increasing NASA attention to VCS and has helped to 

maintain an effective level of participation of NASA personnel in VCS activities. 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

None 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

156
10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

Yes 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

C 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

Yes 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

5 

157
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

NARA uses standards to strengthen its records management and archival programs. We 

cite standards, which are incorporated by reference, in our regulations (Code of Federal 

Regulations). These provide direction to agencies about the records management and 

archival standards applicable to storage facilities, as well as for record media. 

Information about incorporation by reference is among our Federal Register web pages at 

http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/cfr/ibr-locations.html . 

For example, NARA uses ISO 15489 as a framework for Federal records management 

training. ISO 15489 provides a systematic strategy for capturing and maintaining records, 

regardless of media or format. The standard also defines characteristics needed to support 

a trustworthy recordkeeping system. 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

1 

Government Unique Standard: 

NARA data standard (Incorporated: 2000) 

Voluntary Standard 

Archives, Personal Papers, and Manuscripts (APPM); 

General International Standard Archival Description (ISAD(G)); 

International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons, and 

Families (ISAAR(CPF)); 

Encoded Archival Description (EAD); 

Machine Readable Cataloging (MARC) 

Rationale 

These voluntary standards do not meet the precise needs of the agency. 

 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

158
number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 

0 

Other Technical Standards: 

0 

Rationale: 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

13 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

American National Standards Institute ANSI 

ARMA International ARMA 

ASTM International ASTM 

Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems CCSDS 

Enterprise Content Management Association AIIM 

Federal Geographic Data Committee FGDC 

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE 

International Council on Archives ICA 

International Organization for Standardization ISO 

National Fire Protection Association NFPA 

National Information Standards Organization NISO 

Object Management Group OMG 

Product Data Exchange Standard, Inc. PDES 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

16 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

159
NARA did not participate in any conformity assessment activities in FY 2007. 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

We believe that the Circular is working effectively and have no recommendations for 

changes. 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

Rationale for the use of GUS (question 2), some of the voluntary standards: 

-Are library standards not suitable for NARA's use instead of archival standards; 

-Dictate a physical design solution that NARA does not find technically sound; and, 

-Focus on personal papers collections, not government records. 

NARA's archival description standard is one that NARA uses to describe its own 

holdings and is not a standard imposed externally. 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

No 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

A 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

Yes 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

3 

160
National Science Foundation (NSF)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

Standard are important to NSF. The agency's participation in standards-related activities 

is facilitated through its professional staff. About 30% of the NSF staff are on 1-3 year 

assignment to NSF from other organizations including government agencies, universities 

and colleges, and industry. As these people come onboard or leave, the profile for NSF 

participation in standards-related activities also changes. This report details the 2007 

profile for NSF. 

Additionally, we wish to note that NSF utilizes many of the Recommendations published 

by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). While such recommendations are 

not, strictly speaking, standards, they do describe internationally-accepted 

recommendations for the shared use of the radio spectrum. Some of these 

recommendations are beneficial to the mission of the National Science Foundation by 

helping to limit the amount of interference received by NSF-funded radio astronomy 

facilities. Some ITU Recommendations also protect the operations of remote sensing, 

wireless networking, meteorogical, polar, and/or oceanographic activities funded by the 

NSF. 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

0 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards: 0 

Other Technical Standards: 0 

Rationale: 

161
5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

3 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym

ASTM International ASTM 

International Telecommunication Union ITU 

ISO/IEC 11179 Metadata Registry Standard ISO/IEC 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

Agency Representatives: 4 

Activities: 4 

7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

None. 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

We consider Circular A-119 policy as effective. We recommend no change. 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

No comment. 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency currently 

reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed to 

compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

162
Yes 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

E 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

No 

10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

0 

163
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

1. Please describe the importance of standards in the achievement of your agency's 

mission, how your agency uses standards to deliver its primary services in support of its 

mission, and provide any examples or case studies of standards success. Please include 

relevant Internet links to your agency's standards website. 

Utilization of consensus codes and standards by the NRC provides effective replacements 

for NRC-generated regulations. Within the framework of Public Law 104-113, NRC 

performs reviews of its regulations and regulatory guidance to determine which 

regulations can be replaced by consensus standards. The NRC participates on many codes 

and standards development committees to provide staff input and guidance to help assure 

published codes and standards can be endorsed in the regulatory process. Contributing to 

the technical bases for national and international codes and standards is an important part 

of the regulatory process. The outcomes of these efforts significantly increase the 

assurance that published codes and standards can be endorsed in lieu of using NRC 

developed technical basis products, such as regulations, regulatory guides, or staff review 

guidance. 

An example of a standards success for NRC involves the endorsement of Sections III 

(Construction of Nuclear Facility Components) and XI (Inservice Inspection of Nuclear 

Power Plant Components) of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 

Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code and the ASME Code for Operation and Maintenance of 

Nuclear Power Plants (Inservice Testing of Nuclear Facility Pumps and Valves) in our 

regulations and regulatory guidance. These ASME Codes are developed through the 

consensus process, and endorsement of the ASME Code by the NRC provides a method 

of incorporating rules into the regulatory process that are acceptable to the NRC and have 

received industry participation in their development. If the NRC did not take action to 

endorse the ASME Code, the NRC would either have to develop independently the 

regulatory requirements for construction, inservice inspection (ISI), and inservice testing 

(IST) of Nuclear Power Plant Components or establish the acceptable criteria and 

methods for construction, ISI, and IST on a case-by-case basis. 

2. Please list the government-unique standards your agency used in lieu of voluntary 

consensus standards during FY 2007: 

0 

3. Please list the Voluntary Consensus Standards (VCS) your agency substituted for 

Government Unique Standards (GUS) in FY 2007 as a result of review under Section 

15(b)(7) of OMB Circular A-119: 

0 

4. Please provide the total number of Voluntary Consensus Standards your agency 

BEGAN to use during FY 2007: Optional: If possible, also please provide the total 

164
number of Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector your agency 

began to use during FY 2007. In addition, please provide your agency's rationale for 

using the Non-consensus Standards that are developed in the private sector counted in 

this question. 

Voluntary Consensus Standards:

4 

Other Technical Standards:

0 

Rationale: 

5. Please enter the Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies (VCSB) in which your agency 

participated in during FY 2007: 

16 

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

American Concrete Institute ACI 

American Institute of Steel Construction AISC 

American National Standards Institute ANSI 

American Nuclear Society ANS 

American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE 

American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME 

American Welding Society AWS 

ASTM International ASTM 

Health Physics Society HPS 

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE 

Institute of Nuclear Materials Management INMM 

Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society ISA 

International Electrotechnical Commission IEC 

International Organization for Standardization ISO 

National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements NCRP 

National Fire Protection Association NFPA 

6. Please provide the total number of your agency's representatives who participated in 

voluntary consensus standards activities during FY 2007 and the total number of 

activities these agency representatives participated in: 

163 

165
7. Please provide any conformity assessment activities (as described in “Guidance on 

Federal Conformity Assessment Activities” found in the Federal Register, Volume 65, 

Number 155, dated August 10, 2000) in which your agency was involved in FY 2007. 

No comment 

8. Please provide an evaluation of the effectiveness of Circular A-119 policy and 

recommendations for any changes: 

The NRC believes that the Circular provides appropriate direction and encouragement for 

federal agencies to develop internal agency-wide guidelines. The circular also provides 

sufficient and reasonable flexibility for each agency to make an independent 

determination relative to participation on voluntary consensus bodies and use of 

developed standards. 

9. Please provide any other comments you would like to share on behalf of your agency. 

No comment 

10. Please use this box to provide any additional comments on how your agency 

currently reports its use of voluntary consensus standards: 

10.6, 10.7 - Our agency reviews and updates its use of standards on a continuing basis. 

10-1. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-2. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-3. Removed [This question was deprecated in 2005] 

10-4. Does your agency report standards that it uses for guidance purposes (as opposed 

to compliance purposes)? (a) Yes; (b) No; (c) Not applicable; 

Yes 

10-5. Does your agency report use of standards from non-ANSI accredited standards 

developers, industry consortia groups, or both? (a) non-ANSI Accredited; (b) Consortia; 

(c) Both; (d) Neither; or (e) Not applicable; 

D 

10-6. Does your agency have a schedule for periodically reviewing its use of standards 

for purposes of updating such use? (a) Yes; (b) No; 

No 

166
10-7. How often does your agency review its standards for purposes of updating such 

use? [enter the number of years]: 

0 

**GUS in shaded text not in lieu of an existing voluntary standard and therefore not reported in 

the summary report.

167
Appendix F – Federal Agency Activities Related to Conformity Assessment 

FY 2007 – Federal Agency Activities Related to Conformity Assessment – Response 

to Question 7

Agency Response 

ACCESS None for this reporting period. 

CPSC CPSC staff participated on the Steering Committee of the Toy Industry 

Association (TIA) - American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Toy Safety 

Cooperation Initiative. The goal of the Initiative is to implement new systems 

to bolster the safety testing and inspection of toys sold in the United States. 

TIA is working with ANSI to develop and standardize procedures that will be 

used industry-wide to verify that products comply with U.S. safety standards. 

It is also working with ANSI to develop criteria to confirm and certify that test 

laboratories are qualified to conduct the prescribed testing. 

DHS The Coast Guard considers the use of VCS in all its rulemakings, uses VCS in 

its rulemakings whenever appropriate, and provides for public comment on 

such decisions. Further the Coast Guard continuously reviews its regulations to 

update outdated, obsolete or unnecessary standards. One rulemaking that is 

nearing completion in this regard is entitled, “Review and Update of Standards 

for Marine Equipment [RIN 1625-AA83]” 

DOC National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) 

The National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) provides 

third-party accreditation to testing and calibration laboratories. NVLAP's 

accreditation programs are established in response to Congressional mandates 

or administrative actions by the Federal Government or from requests by 

private-sector organizations. NVLAP is in full conformance with the standards 

of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the 

International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), including ISO/IEC 17025 

and ISO/IEC 17011. NVLAP identifies its laboratories in its NVLAPAccredited Laboratories Directory which is published online and updated 

monthly at www.nist.gov/nvlap. NVLAP is a signatory to the International 

Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the Asia-Pacific Laboratory 

Accreditation Cooperation (APLAC) Mutual Recognition Arrangements. By 

participating in these cooperations, NVLAP facilitates the mutual recognition 

of accredited test and measurement results of its signatory partners, reducing 

the need for redundant testing and lowering costs to customers. 

New NVLAP Certificate of Accreditation 

In October 2006, NVLAP began using a new version of the Certificate of 

Accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025:2005, General requirements for the 

competence of testing and calibration laboratories. The certificate now 

includes the following statement to convey that an accredited laboratory 

168
management system meets the principles of ISO 9001:2000. 

"This laboratory is accredited in accordance with the recognized International 

Standard ISO/IEC 17025:2005. This accreditation demonstrates technical 

competence for a defined scope and the operation of a laboratory quality 

management system (refer joint ISO-ILAC-IAF Communique dated 18 June 

2005)" 

NVLAP-accredited laboratories may use the above statement on their test 

reports and calibration certificates if they supply, or provide access to via a 

website, the Joint ISO-ILAC-IAF Communique as part of the package for their 

laboratory customers. 

The Joint ISO-ILAC-IAF Communique was issued to counter a perception that 

accredited laboratories do not operate a recognized quality management 

system. Many accredited laboratories have had difficulty convincing their 

customers that they should be asking laboratories to be accredited to ISO/IEC 

17025 rather than be certified (or registered) to ISO 9001. The situation 

became more acute with the publication of ISO 9001:2000, as some customers 

continually asked laboratories to be certified, when they really meant 

accredited. It is anticipated that the use of the above statement by both 

accreditation bodies and accredited laboratories will help to address the market 

issues caused by the confusion between these two terms. 

New Accreditation Program for Body Armor Testing 

At the request of the National Institute of Justice, NVLAP has established a 

laboratory accreditation program to support the voluntary minimum 

performance standard for the ballistic- and stab-resistance of personal body 

armor, developed for the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) by the NIST Office 

of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES). 

The program will address ballistic- and stab-resistant body armor submitted to 

the NIJ/National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center 

(NLECTC) for testing and certification in accordance with applicable NIJ 

standards. Laboratory test results will be used for the purposes of preparing 

NIJ's Personal Body Armor Consumer Product List. NVLAP-accredited 

laboratories testing the equipment for certification by NLECTC must be 

independent of body armor manufacturers, NIJ, NLECTC, and OLES, and be 

able to perform all of the selected tests as specified in the applicable NIJ 

standard. 

NVLAP Labs Meet ISO/IEC 17025:2005 

All NVLAP-accredited laboratories have met ISO/IEC 17025:2005. In a memo 

dated September 14, 2005, NVLAP laboratories were informed of the 

169
transition plan and timeline for implementation of the requirements of the new 

edition of ISO/IEC 17025:2005, General requirements for the competence of 

testing and calibration laboratories. Laboratories were given two years to 

transition to the new requirements. As of September 30, 2007, all NVLAPaccredited laboratories met the deadline. 

National Voluntary Conformity Assessment System Evaluation (NVCASE) 

Program 

The National Voluntary Conformity Assessment System Evaluation 

(NVCASE) Program enables U.S. industry to satisfy mandated foreign 

technical requirements using the results of U.S.-based conformity assessment 

programs that perform technical evaluations comparable in their rigor to 

practices in the receiving country. Under this program, the Department of 

Commerce, acting through the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 

evaluates U.S.-based conformity assessment bodies in order to be able to give 

assurances to a foreign government that qualifying bodies meet that 

government's requirements and can provide results that are acceptable to that 

government. The program provides a technically-based U.S. approval process 

for U.S. industry to gain foreign market access; the acceptability of conformity 

assessment results to the relevant foreign government will be a matter for 

agreement between the two governments. Additional information about the 

NVCASE Program can be found at 

http://ts.nist.gov/Standards/Global/nvcase.cfm. 

Conformity Assessment Activities under Mutual Recognition 

Agreements/Arrangement (MRAs) 

The United States and the European Community Mutual Recognition 

Agreement (US - EU MRA) is a multi-sector bilateral government-togovernment agreement between the United States and the 25 Member States of 

the European Union. Under this MRA, NIST is responsible for designating 

organizations in the US Conformity Assessment Bodies (CABs) for three 

product sectors: 1) Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), 2) 

Telecommunications, and 3) Recreational Craft. After a lengthy review 

process, CABs that meet certain criteria are formally recognized and may 

operate as a CAB as described in the U.S. - EU MRA and the specific 

technical regulations of the EU governing the appropriate product sectors. The 

U.S.-EU MRA is an important regulatory and trade agreement which provides 

greater market access in a timelier manner for U.S. manufacturers exporting to 

Europe and European manufacturers exporting to the United States. Further 

information can be obtained at http://ts.nist.gov/Standards/Global/mra.cfm. 

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Mutual Recognition 

Arrangement for Conformity Assessment of Telecommunications Equipment 

is intended to streamline the Conformity Assessment Procedures for a wide 

170
range of telecommunications and telecommunications-related equipment and 

thereby to facilitate trade among the parties. It provides for the mutual 

recognition by the importing parties of CABs and mutual acceptance of the 

results of testing and equipment certification procedures undertaken by those 

bodies in assessing conformity of equipment to the importing parties’ own 

technical regulations. 

Under Phase-I of the APEC Mutual Recognition Arrangement, NISTdesignated CABs are able to produce test data in their facilities that are 

accepted as evidence that the tested product satisfies an APEC economy's 

appropriate technical requirements. CABs operating under Phase-II of the 

MRA are able to approve products as being in compliance with the technical 

and administrative requirements of the importing economy. The general and 

specific requirements that must be met in order to be nominated as a CAB 

under the APEC Tel MRA, as well as the text of the MRA, can be found at 

http://ts.nist.gov/Standards/Global/mra.cfm. 

The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) Mutual 

Recognition Agreement is almost identical to the APEC Tel MRA in purpose 

and structure. The goal of the CITEL MRA is to facilitate trade among the 34 

Member States of the Organization of American States. The conformity 

assessment activities under this Agreement have yet to become operational. 

When operational, NIST will serve as the Designating Authority of U.S. 

CABs. In the meantime, NIST continues to work towards implementation of 

the Agreement. More information on the CITEL Agreement can be found on 

http://ts.nist.gov/Standards/Global/mra.cfm. 

NIST Committee Participation in Conformity Assessment Activities 

NIST's Standards Services Division (NIST/SSD) participates in the American 

National Standards Institute's (ANSI) International Conformity Assessment 

Committee (ICAC). This committee serves as the U.S. Technical Advisory 

Group (TAG) to ISO's Council Committee on Conformity Assessment 

(CASCO). SSD staff is also active on CASCO's ad hoc Regulators Interface 

Group. 

NIST/SSD is a member of ANSI's Conformity Assessment Policy Committee 

(CAPC), which is the primary focal point for developing, coordinating, and 

maintaining ANSI's policies and accreditation activities. The committee makes 

policy recommendations to the ANSI Board related to conformity assessment 

and provides oversight for ANSI's conformity assessment programs. 

In the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) area, NIST/SSD 

personnel serve on the U.S. National Committee to the IECEE (IEC System 

for Conformity Testing and Certification of Electrical Equipment). The latter 

is a worldwide scheme that allows manufacturers to obtain a test certificate 

171
from an approved U.S. National Certification Body (NCB) and to use that test 

report to obtain certification marks in other participating countries. 

Additionally, NIST provides technical support to the Standards Related 

Measures (SRM) Committee under the North American Free Trade Agreement 

(NAFTA). The SRM Committee serves as a forum for the resolution of 

standards and conformity assessment issues that impact trade among the three 

NAFTA partners. NIST also provides technical support for the InterAmerican 

Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC). Such arrangements/agreements are 

designed to harmonize conformity assessment practices and promote the 

global acceptance of conformity assessment results from qualified bodies to 

minimize the need for and cost of redundant conformity assessments. 

Coordination of Conformity Assessment Activities 

Under the NTTAA, NIST is responsible for coordinating conformity 

assessment activities with private sector technical standards activities and 

conformity assessment activities, with the goal of eliminating unnecessary 

duplication and complexity. Current NIST activities in this area include: 

1. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Conformity Assessment 

Activities - NIST’s Technology Services is working with the Department of 

Homeland Security Standards Executive to develop the DHS Science and 

Technology standards and conformity assessment infrastructure as well as 

requirements, standards, testing protocols, and conformity assessment 

methods. 

2. Radiation Detectors - NIST’s Technology Services, in cooperation with 

NIST’s Radiation Physics Division is working on developing a conformity 

assessment program for radiation detectors for DHS’s Domestic Nuclear 

Detection Office including accreditation for testing laboratories. Laboratories 

have begun applying to the NVLAP laboratory accreditation program and 

accredited laboratories are expected to be available in 2008. 

3. Business Continuity and Preparedness Management – NIST Technology 

Services is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA) to develop a private sector certification program for organizations to 

demonstrate their compliance with the requirements of adopted standards. This 

program is being developed under the authority of the Implementing the 9/11 

Commissions Recommendations Act of 2007. 

4. Body Armor - NIST’s Technology Services, in cooperation with NIST’s 

Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES), the Department of Justice’s 

National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and the National Law Enforcement and 

Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) developed a significant 

enhancement to the current body armor certification program and is revising 

172
NIJ's performance standard for the safety of law enforcement officers. 

NVLAP, at the request of NIJ, has implemented a laboratory accreditation 

program to accredit body armor testing laboratories. Several laboratories have 

applied. 

5. Interoperable Public Safety Communications Equipment - NIST’s 

Technology Services, in cooperation with TIA Project 25, the NIST OLES, the 

Institute for Telecommunication Sciences, and DHS Project SAFECOM 

established the P25 Conformity Assessment Working Group to obtain industry 

input and buy-in for the development of a complex conformity assessment 

program for public safety land mobile radios. The working group has 

developed a conformity assessment program based on recognition of testing 

competence, standardized test report forms, and the implementation of a 

supplier’s declaration of conformity. NIST has published NIST Handbook 153 

- Laboratory Recognition Process for Project 25 - Compliance Assessment. 

NIST National Voluntary Laboratory staff will have a lead role in the 

administration of the laboratory recognition program. NIST staff is also 

working closely with the stakeholders on the procedures for the declarations of 

conformity. 

6. NIST's Technology Services is working with NIST Radiation Physics to 

develop a series of IEEE Standards for the performance of non-intrusive 

inspection equipment. The Standard for the Performance and Evaluation of 

Checkpoint Cabinet X-Ray Imaging Security-Screening Systems is currently 

in public review. 

7. Toy Safety Initiative - NIST’s Technology Services is providing technical 

leadership in the development of a private sector model certification program 

to address toy safety issues. Stakeholders in the process include consumer 

interests, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the toy industry, test 

laboratories and others. 

8. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Project on Electronics Recycling 

– NIST’s Technology Services is participating in an electronic recycling 

working group, with broad participation from stakeholders, to develop a 

standard and certification program for recycling of electronic waste. The EPA 

Office of Solid waste is supporting this work in an effort to avoid the need to 

regulate this sector. NIST has provided standards and conformity assessment 

guidance to EPA and the working group. 

9. EPA WaterSense Project – NIST’s Technology Services assisted EPA staff 

in the development of a conformity assessment plan for its WaterSense 

program. Watersense certified products are now available in the marketplace. 

10. Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPV6) – NIST assisted the Office of 

Management and Budget and the General Services Administration in 

173
developing a innovative conformity assessment approach for equipment 

vendors to demonstrate compliance with IPV6 requirements for Federal 

Agency procurement. 

Finally, NIST/SSD has published a number of directories and reports on 

conformity assessment-related issues. NIST/SSD also maintains a Web site 

(http://ts.nist.gov) that provides a one-stop-shopping source for information on 

various conformity assessment issues. 

DoD The Department does not collect this information. 

DOE This number is unchanged from previous years. 

DOI Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) with representation on 

Standadrds Working Groups and other associated committees. 

The FWS is actively implementing key security standards and guidelines 

developed or approved by NIST to support the implementation of and 

compliance with the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) 

including: 

• Standards for categorizing information and information systems by mission 

impact. 

• Standards for minimum security requirements for information and 

information systems. 

• Standards for encrypting government data. 

• Standards for applying and enforcing secure configuration baselines. 

• Standards for secure remote access. 

• Guidance for mapping types of information and information systems to 

appropriate security categories. 

• Guidance for planning and conducting technical information security testing. 

• Guidance for assessing security controls in information systems and 

determining security control effectiveness. 

• Guidance for certifying and accrediting information systems. 

The FWS is currently using secure configuration benchmarks developed by the 

Center for Internet Security (CIS), a non-profit organization whose mission is 

to help organizations reduce the risk of business and e-commerce disruptions 

resulting from inadequate technical security controls. These benchmarks have 

been deemed as "NIST" approved. 

DOJ N/A 

DOL No comment at this time. 

DOS n/a 

DOT Federal Railroad Administration (FRA): Under 15 CFR Part 287.4(i): FRA’s 

conformity assessment activities are visible internationally through expanded 

efforts in the area of safe, uniform international transport of hazardous 

174
materials by participation in the Canadian General Standards Board Tank Car 

Committee and the ASME Transportation Pressure Vessel Committee, as well 

as continuing to participate in the North American Transport of Dangerous 

Goods Standard (NATDGS) Working Group and the AAR Tank Car 

Committee. 

Under 15 CFR Part 287.4(j): Participation in the voluntary consensus 

standards bodies listed above as well as in numerous committees and subcommittees of those bodies gives FRA access to the developmental stages of 

private sector conformity assessment standards to ensure that the agency 

viewpoint is considered in the development of these standards. 

ED None 

EPA ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Body (ANAB) 

National Accreditation Council (NAC) 

Underwriters Laboratories (UL) 

FCC Accredited Laboratory Recognition Program 

A2LA and NIST’s National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program 

(NVLAP) are approved accreditation bodies under the U.S. Federal 

Communications Commission (FCC) program that requires manufacturers and 

suppliers of personal computers, computer peripherals and other Radio 

Frequency (RF) devices who intend to use a “Declaration of Conformity” on 

their products to have the products tested by an accredited Electromagnetic 

Compatibility (EMC) testing laboratory. 

The FCC also recognizes accredited testing laboratories that have been 

accredited by A2LA and NVLAP to perform testing on products subject to the 

Commission’s equipment authorization program on products subject to 

certification under Part 15.. 

The accreditation of a laboratory located outside of the United States, or its 

possessions, is acceptable to the Commission if the accredited laboratory has 

been designated by a foreign designating authority and recognized by the 

Commission under the terms of a government-to-government Mutual 

Recognition Agreement/Arrangement (MRA); or if the testing laboratory has 

been recognized by the Commission as being accredited by an organization 

that has entered into an arrangement between accrediting organizations and the 

arrangement has been recognized by the Commission. 

The FCC has recognized a total of 252 accredited laboratories. 101 are located 

in the United States and 151 are located outside of the United States. 

Telecommunications Certification Bodies (TCB) Program 

On December 17, 1998, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 

adopted rules for the establishment of Telecommunication Certification Bodies 

175
(TCB). A TCB is a private organization, which is authorized to issue grants, 

within its scope of designation, for equipment subject to the FCC’s 

certification procedure. Under these rules, a TCB has the authority to review 

and grant an application for certification to the FCC rules. This order also 

established procedures for foreign TCBs under the terms of a government-togovernment Mutual Recognition Agreement/Arrangement (MRA). Foreign 

TCBs, where recognized, certify equipment to U.S. requirements using test 

procedures and technical requirements under the FCC rules for purposes of 

U.S.-valid equipment authorization. There are two “phases” of mutual 

recognition. Phase I permits tests performed outside the U.S. to be used in 

support of equipment authorization of products subject to the FCC’s 

Declaration of Conformity (DoC) requirements; Phase II permits the 

certification of products subject to the FCC’s certification requirements by a 

TCB located outside of the U.S. 

In May 2000, NIST initially evaluated American National Standards Institute’s 

(ANSI) Conformity Assessment Program for compliance with ISO/IEC Guide 

61 and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requirements for its 

TCB program. Every two years ANSI’s accreditation program is subject to reevaluation by NIST. 

ANSI evaluates prospective TCBs for compliance with ISO/IEC Guide 65 and 

FCC requirements for the TCB program. FCC requires that a TCB must have 

core testing capability and that the testing laboratory must be accredited to 

ISO/IEC Standard 17025. NIST recommends accredited organizations to FCC 

for designation as TCBs. 

The FCC has recognized a total of 31 certification bodies under the TCB 

program. 17 are located in the United States and 13 are located outside of the 

United States. 

FTC See response to Question 1. 

GPO We were not involved with conformity assessment activities this past year 

GSA A variety of conformity assessment activities were used including direct 

inspection and testing, supplier and third party testing, and product 

qualification and listing. In addition GSA representatives in the GSA 

Automotive Center were actively engaged in performing technical reviews of 

new offers, participating in post award meetings, hosting in-process validation 

reviews, participating in on-site first article inspections at manufacturer’s 

plants and managing GSA’s quality defect reporting program. 

HHS In 2007, HHS has no conformity assessment activities to report. 

HUD 

NARA NARA did not participate in any conformity assessment activities in FY 2007.

NASA NASA's Office of Safety and Mission Assurance remains involved in various 

176
conformity assessment activities. Most notable are the audits, assessments, and 

reviews processes according to NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) 

8705.6, Safety and Mission Assurance Audits, Assessments, and Reviews. 

Conformity assessments of NASA contractors are based on requirements of 

NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 8730.5 and the NASA Quality Policy. These 

audits and reviews evaluate, among other items, compliance with both NASASTDs and NASA mandated VCS. In addition, some of the activities supported 

by the OSMA and the Office of Chief Engineer participate with conformity 

assessment activities such as NASCAP. Conformity assessments activities 

involved included ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001:204, AS0100, and OSHA VPP 

Star. 

NRC No comment 

NSF None. 

TRES The Treasury was not involved in conformity assessment activites as described 

in "Guidance on Federal Conformity Assessment Activities" found in the 

Federal Register, Volumne 65, Number 155, dated August 10,2000. 

USDA N/A 

VA The VA does not engage in conformity assessment activies. VA strives to use 

industry based standards and commercial off the shelf products. 

177
Appendix G – Federal Agency Activities Related to Use of Private Sector Standards

FY 2007 Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies in which Federal Agencies 

Participated

Voluntary Consensus Standards Body Acronym 

3-A Sanitary Standards, Inc 3-A SSI 

3rd Generation Partnership Project 3GPP 

Accredited Standards Committee X12 X12 

Acoustical Society of America ASA 

Adeno Associated Virus Reference Materials Working Group ARMWG 

Adeno Associated Virus Reference Standard Working Group AAVSWG 

Advisory Committee for water Information ACWI 

Aerospace & Defense Industries Association of Europe ASD 

Aerospace Industries Association of America AIA 

**Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Institute ARI 

Air Movement and Control Association AMCA 

Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute ARI 

**Alliance for Telecommunication Industry Solutions ATIS 

Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions ATIS 

Almond Board of California ABC 

Aluminum Association AA 

Ambulance Manufacturers Division AMD 

AMCA International AMCA 

American Academy of Pediatrics AACP 

American Architectural Manufacturers Association AAMA 

American Association for Budget and Program Analysis AABPA 

American Association for Clinical Chemistry AACC 

178
American Association for Laboratory Accreditation A2LA 

American Association of Blood Banks AABB 

American Association of Cereal Chemists AACC 

American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators AAMVA 

American Association of Physicists in Medicine AAPM 

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials AASHTO 

**American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials AASHTO 

American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists AATCC 

American Association of Tissue Banks AATB 

American Backflow Prevention Association ABPA 

American Bearing Manufacturers Association ABMA 

American Boat and Yacht Council ABYC 

American Bureau of Shipping ABS 

American Chemical Society ACS 

American College of Radiology ACR 

American College of Surgeons ACOS 

American Concrete Institute ACI 

American Concrete Pipe Association ACPA 

American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists ACGIH 

American Dental Association ADA 

American Foundation for the Accreditation of Haematopoietic Cell 

Therapy 

FAHCT 

American Gas Association AGA 

American Gear Manufacturers Association AGMA 

American Hardboard Association AHA 

American Hardware Manufacturers Association AHMA 

American Healthcare Information Community AHIC 

179
American Industrial Hygiene Association AIHA 

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics AIAA 

American Institute of Steel Construction AISC 

American Institute of Timber Construction AITC 

American Institute of Ultrasound Manufacturers AIUM 

American Iron and Steel Institute AISI 

American Joint Commission on Cancer AJCC 

American Leather Chemists Association ALCA 

American Lift Institute ALI 

American Lumber Standards Committee ALSC 

American Medical Association AMA 

American National Metric Council ANMC 

American National Standards Institute ANSI 

American Nuclear Society ANS 

American Oil Chemists Society AOCS 

American Pacific Economic Conference APEC 

American Petroleum Institute API 

**American Plywood Association APA 

American Public Health Association APHA 

American Public Transportation Association APTA 

American Pyrotechnics Association APA 

American Railway Engineering & Maintenance-of-Way Association AREMA 

American Rock Mechanics Association ARMA 

American Society for Gene Therapy ASGT 

American Society for Healthcare Engineering ASHE 

American Society for Industrial Security ASIS 

180
American Society for Nondestructive Testing ASNT 

American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing ASPRS 

American Society for Quality ASQ 

American Society for Reproductive Medicine ASRM 

American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers ASABE 

American Society of Agricultural Engineers ASAE 

American Society of Cinematographers ASC 

American Society of Civil Engineers ASCE 

American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning 

Engineers 

ASHRAE 

American Society of Mass Spectrometry ASMS 

American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME 

American Society of Naval Engineers ASNE 

American Society of Safety Engineers ASSE 

American Society of Sanitary Engineering ASSE 

American Towing Tank Conference ATTC 

American Trucking Association ATA 

American Vacuum Society AVS 

American Veterinary Medical Association AVMA 

American Water Works Association AWWA 

American Welding Society AWS 

American Wood Preservers Association AWPA 

American Wood Preservers institute AWPI 

AOAC International AOAC 

APA - The Engineering Wood Association APA 

Architectural Woodwork Institute AWI 

ARMA International ARMA 

181
ASC X9, Inc. ASC X9 

**ASCE Building Security Council BSC 

Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association ARMA 

Associated Air Balance Council AABC 

Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal 

Care International 

AAALAC 

Association for Automatic Indentification & Mobility AIM 

Association for Information and Image Management AIIM 

Association for Machine Technology AMT 

Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering AACEI 

Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation AAMI 

Association of American Railroads AAR 

Association of American Seed Control Officials AASCO 

Association of Automatic Indentification and Data Capture 

Technologies 

AIM 

Association of Biomolecular Research Facilities ABRF 

Association of Diving Contractors International ADCI 

**Association of Official Analytical Chemists International AOAC 

Association of Official Seed Analysts AOSA 

Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies AOSCA 

Association of Pool and Spa Professionals APSP 

Association of Public Health Laboratories APHL 

ASTM International ASTM 

Baking Industry Sanitary Standards Committee BISSC 

Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms Technical Forum BLAS 

Biometrics Application Programming Interface Consortium BioAPI 

Brick Industry Association BIA 

182
Brighton Collaboration BC 

British Standards Institution BSI 

Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association BHMA 

**Building Officials and Code Administrators International BOCA 

**Building Officials and Code Administrators International, Inc BOCA, 

International 

California Strawberry Commission CSC 

Canadian General Standards Board CGSB 

Canadian Standards Association CSA 

Cantaloupe Board of California CBC 

Cast Iron Soil Pipe Institute CISPI 

Ceilings and Interior Systems Construction Association CISCA 

Center for Applied Special Technology CAST 

Central Laboratory for Blood Transfusion CLBT 

Certification Commission for Health Information Technology CCHIT 

Chlorine Institute CI 

Chocolate Manufacturers Association CMS 

Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute CLSI 

Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium CDISC 

Clinical Laboratory for Blood Transfusion CLBT 

**Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute CLSI 

Codex Alimentarius Commission CODEX 

College of American Pathologists CAP 

Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance CVSA 

Committee on Data for Science and Technology CODATA 

Committee on Operating Rules CORE 

Common Criteria Management Committee CCMC 

183
Compressed Gas Association CGA 

Concrete Pipe Association CPA 

Conference for Food Protection CFP 

Congress of International Organizations of Medical Sciences CIOMS 

Consolidated Health Informatics CHI 

Construction Safety Association of Ontario CSAO 

Construction Specifications Institute CSI 

Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems CCSDS 

Consumer Electronics Association CEA 

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild 

Fauna and Flora 

CITES 

Cooling Technology Institute CTI 

Cordage Institute CI 

Corn Refiners Association CRA 

Cosmetic Ingredient Review CIR 

Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association CTFA 

Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation CAOHC 

Council for Optical Radiation Measurements CORM 

Council on Ionizing Radiation Measurements and Standards CIRMS 

Crane Manufacturing Association of America CMAA 

Cultural Resources Standards with State Historic Preservation Offices SHPO 

Data Interchange Standards Association, Inc. DISAI 

Data Management Association DAMA 

Deep Foundations Institute DFI 

Designated Standards Maintenance Organizations Board DSMO 

Deutsches Institut fur Nomung - German Institute for Standardization DIN 

Electronic Commerce Code Management Association ECCMA 

184
Electronic Components Assemblies & Materials Association ECAMA 

Electronic Industries Alliance EIA 

Electronic Products Codes Global EPCG 

**Electrostatic Discharge Association EDA 

Electrostatic Discharge Association ESDA 

**Engineered Wood Association EWA 

Engineering Sciences Data Unit International ESDU 

Enterprise Content Management Association AIIM 

European Centre for Validation of Alternative Methods ECVAM 

European Directorate for Quality of Medicines EDQM 

European Petroleum Survey Group EPSG 

External RNA Controls Consortium ERCC 

Eye Bank Association of America EBAA 

Federal Facilities Council FFC 

Federal Geographic Data Committee FGDC 

Federal Health Architecture FHA 

FM Global FMG 

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO 

Forest Stewardship Council FSC 

Foundation for Accreditation of Cellular Therapies FACS 

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association FFVA 

Fresh Produce Association of America FPA 

Gas Appliance Manufacturers Association GAMA 

Gas Technology Institute GTI 

Gelatin Manufacturers of America GMA 

Glass Association of North America GANA 

185
Global Harmonization Task Force GHTF 

Government Electronics & Information Technology Association GEITA 

Graphic Communications Association GCA 

Ground Water Protection Council GWPC 

Gypsum Association GA 

**Gypsum Association GYP 

Hardwood Plywood & Veneer Association HPVA 

Health Canada Advisory Committee on Causality Assessment HCAA 

**Health Level 7 HL7 

Health Level Seven HL7 

Health Physics Society HPS 

Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society HIMSS 

Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel HITSP 

High Frequency Industry Association HFIA 

Honey Board HB 

Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Inc. HFESI 

Illuminating Engineering Society of North America IESNA 

Industrial Safety and Equipment Association ISEA 

Industrial Truck Association ITA 

Industry-wide Cooperative Meat Identification Standards Committee ICMISC 

Information Technology Industry Council ITI 

Institute for Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits IPC 

Institute of Clean Air Companies ICAC 

Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers IEEE 

Institute of Environmental Sciences & Technology IEST 

Institute of Makers of Explosives IME 

186
Institute of Nuclear Materials Management INMM 

Institute of Packaging Professionals IOPP 

Institute of Transportation Engineers ITE 

Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society ISA 

Insulated Cable Engineers Association ICEA 

Insulated Steel Door Systems Institute ISDSI 

Intelligent Transportation Society of America ITSA 

Inter-American Accreditation Cooperation IAAC 

Inter-American Metrology System SIM 

Interagency Trails Data Standards ITDS 

International 2-Up ATV Manufacturers Association I2AMA 

International Air Transport Association IATA 

International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam IAPWS 

International Association of Cancer Registrars IACR 

International Association of Color Manufacturers IACM 

International Association of Drilling Contractors IADC 

International Association of Lighthouse Authorities IALA 

International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials IAPMO 

International Astronomical Union IAU 

International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA 

International Blood Group Reference Laboratory IBRGL 

International Bottled Water Association IBWA 

international Building Code Council IBCC 

International Bureau of Weights and Measures BIPM 

International Cartographic Association ICA 

International Cellular Therapy Coding and Labeling Advisory Group ICCBBA 

187
International Civil Aviation Organization ICAO 

International Code Council ICC 

International Commission for Illumination CIE 

International Commission of Non-ionizing Radiation Protection and 

Measurements 

ICNIRP 

International Commission on Harmonization of Technical 

Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Veterinary Use 

VICH 

International Commission on Illumination CIE 

International Commission on Occupational Health ICOH 

International Commission on Radiation Protection ICRP 

International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements, Inc. ICRU 

International Commission on the Harmonization of Technical 

Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use 

ICH 

International Committee for Cosmetic Harmonization and International 

Cooperation 

CHIC 

InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards INCITS 

International Committee for Weights and Measures CIPM 

**International Conference of Building Officials ICBO 

International Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative 

Methods 

ICCVAM 

International Council for Commonality in Blood Banking Automation ICCBA 

International Council for Science ICSU 

International Council on Archives ICA 

International Crystal Foundation ICF 

international Dairy Federation IDF 

International Dairy Foods Association IDFA 

International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service IERS 

International Electrotechnical Commission IEC 

188
International Federation of Fruit Juice Producers IFFJP 

International Federation on Information Processing IFIP 

International Fragrance Association IFRA 

International Fresh-cut Produce Association IFPA 

International Health Terminology Standard Development Organization IHTSDO 

International Hydrographic Organization IHO 

International Imaging Industry Association I3A 

International Life Sciences Institute ILSI 

International Maritime Organization IMO 

International Mine Rescue Body IMRB 

International Natural Sausage Casing Association INSCA 

International Nomenclature Committee INC 

International Organization for Standardization ISO 

**International Organization for Standardization/International 

Electrotechnical Commission 

ISO/IEC 

International Organization of Legal Metrology OIML 

International Pharmaceutical Excipients Council IPEC 

International Plant Protection Convention/International Standards for 

Phytosanitary Measures 

IPPC/ISPM 

International Radio Consultative Committee IRCC 

International Safe Transit Association ISTA 

International Safety Equipment Industries ISEA 

International Security Council ISC 

International Seed Testing Association ISTA 

International Ship and Offshore Structures Congress ISOSC 

International Society for Analytical Cytology ISAC 

International Society for Blood Transfusion ISBT 

189
International Society for Cardiovascular Surgery ISCVS 

International Society for Cell Therapy ISCT 

International Society of Oncology Pharmacy Practitioners ISOPP 

International Society on Thrombosis and Homeostasis ISTH 

International Sprout Growers Association ISGA 

International Telecommunication Union ITU 

International Union Against Cancer UICC 

International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants UPOV 

**International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Materials, 

System and Structures/International Council for Research and 

Innovation in Building and Construction 

RILEM/CIB 

International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Materials, Systems 

and Structures 

RILEM 

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry IUPAC 

International Window Cleaning Association IWCA 

International Working Group on Standardization of Genomic 

Amplification Techniques 

SoGAT 

Internet Engineering Task Force IETF 

Internet Software Consortium ISC 

Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference ISSC 

IPC - Association Connecting Electronics Industries IPC 

**ISO/IEC 11179 Metadata Registry Standard ISO/IEC 

Java Grande Forum JGF 

JEDEC - Solid State Technology Association JEDEC 

Joint Aeronautical Commander's Group JACG 

Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations JCAHO 

**Joint Electron Device Engineering Council JEDEC 

190
Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives JECFA 

Laser Institute of America LIA 

Logical Observation Identifier Names and Codes LOINC 

Machinery Informaiton Management Open Systems MIMOSA 

Magnetic Materials Producers Association MMPA 

Manufacturers Standardization Society of the Valve and Fittings 

Industry 

MSSVFI 

Marine Technology Society MTS 

Material Handling Equipment Industry Association MHIA 

Meat and Poultry Business-to-Business Data Standards Organization mpXML 

Meat and Poultry Equipment Standards MPES 

Metal Building Manufacturers Association MBMA 

Metal Lath/Steel Framing Association, A Division of NAAMM MLSFA 

Modular Systems Building Council MSBC 

**NAFTA Land Transportation Standards Subcommittee NAFTA 

National Academies of Science Institute of Medicine IOM 

National Aerospace and Defence Contractors Association NADCAP 

National Aerospace Standards Commitee NASC 

National Association of Architectural Metal Manufacturers NAAMM 

National Association of Chain Manufacturers NACM 

National Association of Corrosion Engineers International NACE 

National Association of Relay Manufacturers NARM 

National Association of State Fire Marshals NASFM 

National Automatic Merchandising Association NAMA 

National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors NBBPVI 

National Cancer Registrar Association NCRA 

National Cargo Bureau, Inc NCB 

191
National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices NCUTCD 

National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics NCVHS 

National Conference for Interstate Milk Shipments NCIMS 

**National Conference of Standards Laboratories International 

Program 

NCSLI 

**National Conference of Weights and Measures NCWM 

National Conference on Weights and Measures NCWM 

National Cooperation for Laboratory Accreditation NACLA 

National Council for Prescription Drug Program NCPDP 

National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements NCRP 

National Defense Industrial Association NDIA 

National Digital Elevation Program NDEP 

National Egg Regulators Association NERO 

National Electrical Manufacturers Association NEMA 

National Environmental Methods Index NEMI 

National Fire Protection Association NFPA 

National Floor Safety Institute NFSI 

National Fluid Power Association NFLPA 

National Food Processors Association NFPA 

National Forum on Education Statistics NCES Forum 

National Ground Water Association NGWA 

National Information Standards Organization NISO 

National Institute for Biological Sciences and Controls NIBSC 

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health NIOSH 

National Institute of Building Sciences NIBS 

National Institute of Packaging, Handling Engineers NIPHLE 

National Institute of Standards and Technology NIST 

192
National Marine Electronics Association NMEA 

National Marine Manufacturers Association NMMA 

National Marrow Donor Program NMDP 

National Oilseed Processors Association NOPA 

National Petroleum Management Association NPMA 

National Quality Forum NQF 

National Safety Council NSC 

**National Sanitation Foundation NSF 

National Spa and Pool Institute NSPI 

National Toxicology Program NTP 

National Truck Equipment Assocation NTEA 

National Trust Banking Industry NTBI 

National Type Evaluation Program NTEP 

National Uniform Billing Committee NUBC 

National Uniform Claim Committee NUCC 

National Uniform Claim Reason and Status Code Maintenance 

Committee 

NUCRSCMC 

National Water-Quality Monitoring Council NWQMC 

National Wildland Fire Coordinating Group NWCG 

National Window and Door Association NWDA 

NCSL International NCSLI 

Network Address Space Working Group IPv6 

North America Free Trade Association NAFTA 

North America Millers Association NAMA 

North American Association of Central Cancer Registries NAACCR 

North American Open Math Initiative NAOMI 

North American Plant Protection Organization/Regional Standards for NAPPO/RSPM 

193
Phytosanitary Measures 

North American Transport of Dangerous Goods Standards NATDGS 

North American Weeds Management Association NAWMA 

Northwest Environmental Data Network NED 

Northwest Horticultural Council NHC 

NSF International NSFI 

Object Management Group OMG 

Open Applications Group OAGi 

Open DeviceNet Vendor Association ODVA 

Open Geospatial Consortium OGC 

Optical Internetworking Forum OIF 

Optical Laboratories Association OLA 

Optical Society of America OSA 

Optical Storage Technology Association OSTA 

Optics and Electro-Optics Standards Council OEOSC 

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD 

Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information 

Standards 

OASIS 

Pacific Northwest Reginal Geospatial Information Council PNW-RGIC 

Painting and Decorating Contractors of America PDCA 

Pan American Health Organization PAHO 

Pan American Network for Drug Regulatory Harmonization PANDRH 

Pan-American Standards Commission COPANT 

Parachute Industry Association PIA 

Parenteral Drug Association PDA 

Performance Review Institute PRI 

Petrotechnical Open Standards Consortium, Inc. POSC 

194
Pipe Fabrication Institiute PFI 

Plastic Pipe Institute PPI 

Plumbing and Draining Institute PDI 

Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association PHCCA 

Portland Cement Association PCA 

Post Secondary Electronic Standards Organization PESC 

Post-Tensioning Institute PTI 

Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute PCI 

Produce Marketing Association PMA 

Product Data Exchange Standard, Inc. PDES 

Project Management Institute PMI 

Qualified Products Management Council QPMC 

Quarter-Inch Cartridge Drive Standards, Inc. QCDS 

Rack Manufacturers Institute RMI 

Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics RTCA 

Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services RTCM 

Recreation Vehicle Industry Association RVIA 

Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North 

America 

RESNA 

Remittance Advice Remarks Code Committee RARCC 

Research Institute for Fragrance Materials RIFM 

Resilient Floor Covering Institute RFCI 

Resistance Welders Manufacturers Association RWMA 

Robotics Industries Association RIA 

Rubber Manufacturers Association RMA 

Scaffolding, Shoring, and Forming Institute, Inc. SSFI 

School Interoperability Framework Association SIFA 

195
Scientific Apparatus Makers Association SAMA 

Screen Manufacturers Association SMA 

Semantic Interoperability Commmunity of Practice SICOP 

Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International SEMI 

Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association SMACNA 

Simulation Interoperability Standards Organization SISO 

Single Ply Roofing Institute SPRI 

Society for Glassware and Ceramic Decorations SGCD 

Society for Toxicology SOT 

Society of Allied Weight Engineers SAWE 

Society of American Value Engineers SAVE 

Society of Automotive Engineers SAE 

Society of Cosmetic Chemists SCC 

Society of Fire Protection Engineers SFPE 

Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers SMPTE 

Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers SNAME 

Society of Toxicological Pathologists STP 

Specialty Vehicle Institute of America SVIA 

Standard for Exchange of Nonclinical Data SEND 

Standards Engineering Society SES 

Steel Door Institute SDI 

Steel Founders Society of America SFSA 

Steel Joist Institute SJI 

Steel Window Institute SWI 

Strategic National Implementation Process SNIP 

Tea Association of America TAA 

196
Technical Association for the WorldwIde, Pulp Paper and Converting 

Industry 

TAPPI 

Technical Committee for Juice and Juice Products TCJJP 

Telecommunications Industry Association TIA 

Telemanagement Forum TMF 

The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer's Association BIFMA 

The Instrucmentation Systems and Automation Society ISAS 

The Maintenance Council of American Trucking Associations TMC/ATA 

The National Digital Orthophoto Program NDOP 

The Open Group TOG 

The Soap and Detergent Association SDA 

The Society for Protective Coatings SSPC 

The Tire and Rim Association, Inc. TRAI 

Transportation Research Board TRB 

Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association TTMA 

**U.S. Adopted Names Council USANC 

U.S. Product Data Association US PRO 

Underwriters Laboratories UL 

United Egg Producers UEP 

United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association UFFVA 

United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business UN/CEFACT 

United Nations Committee on the Transport of Dangerous Goods UNTDG 

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe WP .29/GRSP UNECE 

**United Nations Economic Commission for Europe WP.29/GRSP UNECE 

United States Adopted Names Council USANC 

United States Animal Health Association USAHA 

United States Egg and Poultry Association USEPA 

197
United States Pharmacopoeia USP 

Urban and Regional Information Systems Association URISA 

Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standards VAMAS 

Video Electronics Standards Association VESA 

Water Environment Federation WEF 

Web3D Consortium Web3D 

Western Electricity Coordinating Council WECC 

Western Growers Association WGA 

Window and Door Manufacturers Association WDMA 

Window Covering Manufacturers Association WCMA 

Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange WEDI 

World Health Organization WHO 

World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO 

World Meteorological Organization WMO 

World Wide Web Consortium W3C 

XML Community of Practice xmlCOP 

There were 521 total Voluntary Consensus Standards Bodies in which Federal Agencies 

Participated during fiscal year 2007. 

**Excluding duplicates (in shaded text) results in 497 VCSBs which were reported in the 

main summary report. 

198
Appendix H – The Interagency Committee on Standards Policy (ICSP)

 

The Interagency Committee on Standards Policy, also known as the ICSP, is the primary 

body responsible for coordinating standards use among agencies of the Federal 

government. 

The ICSP seeks to promote effective and consistent standards policies plus foster 

cooperation between government, industry, and other private organizations involved in 

standards activities. The Committee reports to the Secretary of the Department of 

Commerce (DOC) through the Director of the National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST). 

To review the current charter of the ICSP, click here: 

http://standards.gov/icsp/query/index.cfm?do=Home.ICSPCharter 

To see a list of the current ICSP membership, click here: 

http://standards.gov/icsp/query/index.cfm?do=Home.ICSPExecutives 

199
200

Appendix I – Publications Related to the National Technology Transfer and 

Advancement Act (NTTAA) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A119 

To review a list of publications and reference documents related to Federal agency 

implementation of the NTTAA as well as OMB Circular A-119, visit the NTTAA Library 

online at http://ts.nist.gov/Standards/Conformity/pubs.cfm 

These documents can be obtained in hardcopy form by sending a written request to: 

Standards Coordination and Conformity Group (SCCG) 

Standards Services Division (SSD) 

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 

Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899-2150 

301-975-2490 

When making requests, please identify specific documents by title, author, and date 

wherever possible.