NISTIR8148

Nineteenth Annual Report on Federal

Agency Use of Voluntary Consensus

Standards and Conformity Assessment

Nathalie Rioux

This publication is available free of charge from:

http://dx.doi.org/IO.6028/NIST.IR.8l48

NISr

National Institute of

Standards and Technology

U.S. Deportment of Commerce
NISTIR8148

Nineteenth Annual Report on Federal

Agency Use of Voluntary Consensus

Standards and Conformity Assessment

Nathalie Rioux

Standard Coordination Office

Standards Services

This publication is available free of charge from:

http://dx.doi.org/I0.6028/NIST.IR.8l48

September 2016

U.S. Department of Commerce

Penny Pritzker, Secretary

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Willie E. May. Under Secretary o/Commerce/or Standards and Technology and Director
Nineteenth Annual Report on Federal Agency Use of Voluntary

Consensus Standards and Conformity Assessment

The u.s. Department of Commerce presents this summary report of Federal agency use of

voluntary consensus standards (VCS) during fiscal year (FY) 2015, to the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) in compliance with OMB Circular A-119 and Public Law 104-113, the

National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA). As required by Section 9 of the

Circular, this report, prepared by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),

describes activities related to the use ofVCS reported by 24 Federal agencies during FY 2015.

These Federal agencies, listed in Appendix A, fulfilled the reporting requirements of both the

OMB Circular A-119 and Section 12 (d) (3) of the NTTAA by providing information on their

activities related to the use ofVCS in regulation and procurement. Individual agency reports may

be found at https://standards.govINTTAA/agency/index.cfm?fuseaction=agencyReports.main.

In FY 2015, Federal agencies reported five new government unique standards (GUS) used in lieu

ofVCS. All five were incorporated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as noted

below:

• EPA Method 29 "for the determination of the concentration of Hg (mercury)"- this

standard replaces the voluntary standard ASTM D6784-02 (2008), "Standard Test

Method for Elemental, Oxidized, Particle-Bound and Total Mercury in Flue Gas

Generated from Coal-Fired Stationary Sources (Ontario Hydro Method)." Using the

VCS would be more expensive and would provide results that are inconsistent with the

final Hg standard that was determined using EPA Method 29 data.

• EPA Method 311 "Analysis of Hazardous Air Pollutant Compounds in Paints and

Coatings by Direct Injection Into a Gas Chromatograph" this standard replaces the

voluntary standard ASTM D6438 (1999), "Standard Test Method for Acetone, Methyl

Acetate, and Parachlorobenzotrifluoride Content of Paints and Coatings by Solid Phase

Microextraction-Gas Chromatography." The ASTM method is impractical as an

alternative to EPA Method 311 because it targets chemicals that are Volatile Organic

Compounds and not Hazardous Air Pollutants.

• The following three Methods are being used in lieu of similar VCS since the voluntary

standards are not practical with applicable law due to a lack of equivalency,

documentation, validation data, and other important technical and policy considerations.

o EPA Method 5 "Determination of Particulate Matter Emissions from Stationary

Sources"-used in lieu of ASME BI33.9-1994 (2001), ISO 9096:1992 (2003),

ANSI/ ASME PTC-38-1980 (1985), ASTM D36851D3685M-98 (2005),

CAN/CSA Z223.1-MI977.

o EPA Method 7E "Determination of Nitrogen Oxides Emissions from Stationary

Sources (Instrumental Analyzer Procedure)"- used in lieu of ANSI/ASME PTC

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19-10-1981-Part 10, ISO 10396:1993 (2007), ASTM D5835-95 (2007),

CAN/CSA Z223.2-M86 (1999).

o EPA Method 10 "Determination of Carbon Monoxide Emissions from Stationary

Sources (Instrumental Analyzer Procedure)"- used in lieu of ANSI/ASME PTC

19-10-1981-Part 10, ISO 10396:1993 (2007), ISO 12039:2001, ASTM D5835-

95 (2007), ASTM D6522-00 (2005), CAN/CSA Z223.2-M86 (1999), CAN/CSA

Z223.21-M1978, ASTM D3162-94 (2005).

A total of 57 GUS used in lieu ofVCS remain on record since reporting began in 1997. As

noted in Appendix A, Federal agencies reported 320 new uses of VCS, up from the 221 new uses

reported in FY 2014. The Department of Energy accounts for the majority (50%) of the reported

new uses, with the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security next, at 14 %

and 13% respectively. As illustrated by Figure I, agencies reported 2,681 personnel

participating in 541 standards developing organizations (SDOs), representing an increase in

number of SDOs and a decrease in number of staff reported from the previous fiscal year.

# standards

bodies

Figure 1 Federal Agency Participation in

Private-Sector Standards Bodies /I stoff

participating

2400

3400

2900

3900

~c

541 1900

1400

900

400

-100

2014 2015

.-~~:

: 536.

526

2012 2013

528

2011

3385

3085 31.8::2_---- •.••.•

..._---- 2681

203y '-~52-

••

530

540

500

490

520

560

550

510

580

570

-'_: "of standards bodIes -II 0/staff partldpat/ng

Several trends over the past 19 years point to the effectiveness of the NIT AA and Circular A119 in encouraging an enhanced awareness and acceptance of private sector standards by Federal

agencies:

I. continued adoption of VCS;

2. repeated review of opportUnities to replace existing GUS with VCS;

3. sustained participation in the VCS development process;

4. decreased development of new GUS in lieu ofVCS.

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-

~

~

i

. I
These trends suggest that Federal agencies are more apt to consider using standards developed by

the private sector to meet their regulatory and procurement needs.

Summary

This report fulfills the annual reporting requirements of both the NTTAA and OMS Circular A119. Since the inception of this report over 19 years ago, Federal agencies report an overall low

use of GUS (57) in lieu of existing VCS. This reflects the success of the NTT AA in encouraging

agencies to use VCS in lieu of GUS and to engage with the private sector standards system to

address. government needs.

In accordance to its coordination role as defined in the NTTAA and OMS A-119, NIST

continues to assist Federal agencies and their stakeholders with standards and conformity

assessment information, program support, guidance, and policy concerns. NIST hosts

http://standards.gov, which offers ongoing practical guidance and information needed by

agencies to implement the NTT AA successfully as well as a means to report standards activities

as required by the NTTAA and OMS Circular A-119.

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Appendix A: FY2015 Federal Agency Information on Participation! Adoption of

Voluntary Consensus Standards Activities per OMB Circular A-119

Agency' GUS used in VCS NewVCS Employee VCS bodies

lieu ofVCS substituted used this participation in with agency

for GUS vear VCS bodies participation

USDA I 0 6 8 27

DOC 0 0 0 561 135

DoD * 11 44 n/a 91

DOE 0 1 159 388 108

ED 0 0 0 26 4

HHS 1 0 31 831 162

DHS 0' 0 43 192 38

HUD 2 0 0 11 8

DOl 0 0 0 7 87

DOJ 0 0 3 86 22

DOL 13 0 0 57 22

DOT 4 0 6 94 46

TRES 0 0 0 1 14

EPA 28 0 0 50 13

GSA 3 0 8 9 20

NARA 0 0 0 16 9

NASA * 0 0 58 15

CPSC 2 0 5 38 8

FCC 0 0 1 28 13

FTC 0 0 0 0 0

NRC 2 0 12 204 14

GPO 0 0 2 9 5

ACCESS 1 0 0 7 12

NSF 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 57 12 320 2,681 **

* Agencies reporting on a cate"orical basis ner OMB Circular A-119, Section 12.

** Total not Drovided a VCS body may bave DarticiDation from more tbaD one federal a"encv.

[ Access Board (ACCESS); Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC); Department of Agriculture (USDA);

Department of Commerce (DOC); Department of Defense (000); Department of Education (ED); Department of

Energy (DOE); Department of Healtb and Human Services (HHS); Department of Homeland Security (DHS);

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); Department of Justice (DOJ); Department of Labor (DOL);

Department of the Interior (001); Department of the Treasury (TRES); Department of Transportation (DOT); Federal

Communications Commission (FCC); Federal Trade Commission (FTC); Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),

General Services Administration (GSA); Government Publishing Office (GPO); National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA); National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); National Science Foundation

(NSF); Nuclear RefZUlatorvCommission <NRC).

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