OSAC Standards Bulletin – November 2021

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 November 2021

This Standards Bulletin from the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for Forensic Science 

provides a monthly update on: 

• Standards moving through the OSAC Registry approval processes for published and OSAC 

Proposed Standards. 

• Standards moving through the development process at standards developing organizations 

(SDOs).

Bulletin Summary:

• New standards added to the OSAC Registry: 4

• Standards under consideration for the Registry and open for comment: 3

• New SDO published standards: 5

• Standards open for comment at SDOs: 18

OSAC REGISTRY UPDATES

The OSAC Registry is a repository of high-quality, technically sound published and 

proposed standards for forensic science. These written documents define minimum 

requirements, best practices, standard protocols, and other guidance to help ensure 

that the results of forensic analyses are reliable and reproducible.

Four Standards Added to the OSAC Registry

SDO Published Standards (added November 2, 2021):

• ADA 1077-20 Human Age Assessment by Dental Analysis (distributed with permission by the 

ADA).
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• ANSI/ASB Standard 093, Standard Test Method for the Forensic Examination and Testing of 

Firearms, First Edition, 2020. 

• ASTM E3255-21 Standard Practice for Quality Assurance of Forensic Science Service Providers 

Performing Forensic Chemical Analysis*.

OSAC Proposed Standards

• OSAC 2021-S-0006, Standard for the Use of GenBank for Taxonomic Assignment of Wildlife.

*Criminal justice agencies can access the ASTM standard listed above by visiting OSAC’s Access to Standards

webpage.

To date, the OSAC Registry contains 76 standards (67 SDO published and 9 OSAC Proposed Standards), 

representing over 18 forensic science disciplines. 

Visit the OSAC Registry webpage to see the complete list and access these standards. 

Standards Open for Comment for OSAC Registry Approval

OSAC Proposed Standards

The OSAC Registry approval process for OSAC Proposed Standards is used to review OSAC drafted 

standards for technical quality and placement on the Registry. The following OSAC draft proposed 

standards are being considered for submission to an SDO. The final draft provided to the SDO will be 

available on the OSAC Registry as an “OSAC Proposed Standard.” OSAC welcomes comments on whether 

the current draft is suitable for release to the SDO as well as suggestions for improvements in content 

and wording. To be considered, comments must be placed in the OSAC Comment Form and sent to 

comments@nist.gov by 11:59 p.m. ET on December 6, 2021.

• OSAC 2022-N-0009, Guide for Role Based Training in Facial Comparison.

• OSAC 2022-S-0001, Standard Guide for Image Comparison Conclusions/Opinions.

• OSAC 2022-S-0006, Standard Practice for Gas Chromatography Electron Ionization Mass 

Spectrometry Analysis of Ignitable Liquids.

NOTE: OSAC Resource Task Group (RTG) members are encouraged to comment on these standards by 

downloading the RTG Comment Table and submitting it to forensics@nist.gov in accordance with the Registry 

approval process.

Visit the OSAC website to see all the standards under consideration for the OSAC Registry, along with 

their status in the Registry approval process.

Is your organization implementing standards on the OSAC Registry? 

Complete OSAC’s Standards Implementation Declaration Form and send it

to mark.stolorow@nist.gov to let us know. 
OSAC Standards Bulletin – November 2021

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SDO UPDATES

New SDO Published Standards

Academy Standards Board (ASB)

ASB published three firearms and toolmarks standards on October 15, 2021. These standards were 

initially drafted by OSAC’s Firearms & Toolmarks Subcommittee and finalized by ASB’s Firearms and 

Toolmarks Consensus Body.

• ANSI/ASB Standard 061, Firearms and Toolmarks 3D Measurement Systems and Measurement 

Quality Control, First Edition, 2021.

• ANSI/ASB Standard 062, Standard for Topography Comparison Software for Toolmark Analysis, 

First Edition, 2021.

• ANSI/ASB Standard 063, Implementation of 3D Technologies in Forensic Firearm and Toolmark 

Comparison Laboratories, First Edition, 2021.

ASTM

• ASTM E2451-21 Standard Practice for Preserving Ignitable Liquids and Ignitable Liquid Residue 

Extracts from Fire Debris Samples has been revised to E2451-21. The current edition, revised by 

OSAC’s Ignitable Liquids, Explosives & Gunshot Residue Subcommittee, was finalized by ASTM 

Subcommittee E30.01 and published October 2021. 

• ASTM E3235-21 Standard Practice for Latent Print Evidence Imaging Resolution is a new 

standard which was initially drafted by OSAC’s Video/Imaging Technology & Analysis 

Subcommittee and finalized by ASTM Subcommittee E30.12. 

Standards Open for Comment at SDOs

For a full list of forensic science standards that are currently open for comment at SDOs and how to 

submit your feedback, visit OSAC’s Standards Open for Comment webpage. This page consolidates and 

tracks comment deadlines for you and will be updated on a weekly basis.

ASB is currently soliciting comments on:

• 2 interdisciplinary standards – comment deadline November 22, 2021.

• 2 toxicology standards – comment deadline November 22, 2021.

• 1 bloodstain pattern analysis standard – comment deadline November 29, 2021. 

• 1 firearms standard – comment deadline November 29, 2021.

• 1 footwear & tire standard – comment deadline November 29, 2021.

• 2 wildlife forensics standards – comment deadline December 13, 2021. 

ASTM is currently soliciting comments until November 22, 2021 on:

• 3 fire debris and explosive standards 

• 1 gunshot residue analysis standard

• 3 trace evidence standards
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NFPA is currently soliciting comments on two fire and explosion investigation standards – comment 

deadlines November 10, 2021 and January 5, 2022.

Work Proposals for New or Revised Standards

The following documents are being initiated and are expected to result in new or revised standards.

ASB

On October 29, 2021, a Project Initiation Notification System (PINS) was published on page two in the 

ANSI Standards Action. This will begin a 30-day period for public comment on the initiation of ASB’s 

work on the following standards. Contact Teresa Ambrosius (tamambrosius@aafs.org) for more 

information or to submit comments:

• BSR/ASB BPR 177-202x, Canine Detection of Scent Identification Line-Ups (new standard). This 

standard contains requirements for the training, certification, and documentation pertaining to 

canine teams (canine and handler) trained to conduct human scent lineups. Human scent 

lineups are canine examinations of human scent traces, in a comparative manner, to confirm the 

presence or absence of an association between objects or scent samples.

• BSR/ASB BPR 178-202x, Canine Detection of Electronic Storage Media. This new standard 

contains requirements for the training, certification, and documentation pertaining to canine

teams (canine and handler) trained to conduct detection of media storage devices that include 

hard drives, Universal Serial Bus (USB) drives, micro secure digital (SD) cards, and subscriber 

identification module (SIM) cards.

• BSR/ASB BPR 179-202x, Canine Detection of Accelerants. This new standard contains 

requirements for the training, certification, and documentation pertaining to canine teams 

(canine and handler) trained to conduct the detection of accelerants. This standard covers 

accelerants to include: gasoline, light petroleum distillates, medium petroleum distillates, and 

high petroleum distillates.

ASTM

• WK78732 Standard Test Method for Analysis of Biodiesel Products by Gas ChromatographyMass Spectrometry is a work item revision to existing standard E2997-16 developed by 

Subcommittee E30.01.

• WK78736 Standard Practice for Identification of Seized Drugs is a work item revision to existing 

standard E2329-17 developed by Subcommittee E30.01.

• WK78737 Standard Practice for Quality Assurance of Laboratories Performing Seized-Drug 

Analysis is a work item revision to existing standard E2327-15e1 developed by Subcommittee 

E30.01.
OSAC Standards Bulletin – November 2021

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NFPA

On October 8, 2021, a Project Initiation Notification System (PINS) was published on page five in the 

ANSI Standards Action. This will begin a 30-day period for public comment on the initiation of NFPA’s 

work on:

• BSR/NFPA 1321-202x, Standard for Fire Investigation Units. This new standard shall cover the 

minimum requirements relating to the establishment, structure, operation, and management of 

fire investigation units (FIUs). This standard shall not provide requirements relating to fire 

investigation methodology. This standard shall not provide requirements relating to professional 

qualifications of fire investigators. Contact Dawn Michele Bellis (dbellis@nfpa.org) for more 

information or to submit comments.

OTHER NEWS 

Other Forensic Science News, Events & Training

AAFS 2022 Annual Scientific Conference

The American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) 74th Annual Scientific Conference will be held

February 21-25 in Seattle, WA. AAFS 2022 will be a hybrid event, offering both in-person and virtual

attendance options, and registration is now open. Visit the AAFS website for ongoing updates about the

meeting.

Call for Members for ASB Consensus Bodies

The ASB is currently accepting applications for the consensus bodies. Each CB consists of 7 to 25 

members and creates and approves by consensus Forensic Standards, Best Practice Recommendations, 

Guidelines, and Technical Reports. The CBs also consider comments, views, and objections to ballots and 

resolve all comments received in connection with the development of documents. ASB CBs are open to 

all materially interested and affected individuals, companies, and organizations. If interested, please 

complete the application by November 19, 2021.

CSAFE

The Center for Statistics and Applications in Forensic Evidence (CSAFE) is offering the following

webinars. Learn more and register.

• Using Mixture Models to Examine Group Differences: An Illustration Involving the Perceived

Strength of Forensic Science Evidence | December 9, 2021 | 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. CST

• Improving Forensic Decision Making: A Human-Cognitive Perspective | February 17, 2022 |

12:00 – 1:00 p.m. CST
OSAC Standards Bulletin – November 2021

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FTCoE

NIJ’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCoE) provides evidence-based resources about

forensic technologies and emerging challenges.

Check out the first episode of FTCoE’s Workforce Resiliency podcast and hear from OSAC’s Medicolegal 

Death Investigation Subcommittee Chair Kelly Keyes as she talks about workforce resiliency among 

medicolegal death investigators.

NIJ

Subscribe to the National Institute of Justice’s (NIJ) forensic list to see the latest NIJ awards, solicitations,

events, and publications.