OSAC Standards Bulletin – April 2021

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 April 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 process and legacy process for Registry 

approval.

• 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: 5

• SDO documents open for comment: 6

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 analysis are reliable and reproducible.

Four New Standards Added to the OSAC Registry

SDO Published Standards

• ANSI/ASB Best Practice Recommendation 068, Safe Handling of Firearms and Ammunition, First 

Edition, 2020 (added April 6, 2021).

• ASTM E3197-20 Standard Terminology Relating to Examination of Fire Debris (added April 6, 

2021).
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OSAC Proposed Standards

• OSAC 2020-N-0007, Best Practice Recommendations for the Management and Use of Quality 

Assurance DNA Elimination Databases in Forensic DNA Analysis (added April 6, 2021).

• OSAC 2021-N-0001, Wildlife Forensics Method-Collection of Known DNA Samples from 

Domestic Mammals (added April 6, 2021).

Standards Open for Comment

The OSAC legacy process for Registry approval is used to review existing SDO published standards for 

technical quality and placement on the Registry. Please submit your comments by the deadline on 

whether the following SDO published standards should be included on the Registry.

Comment deadline May 6, 2021 by 11:59 p.m. ET:

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

Performing Forensic Chemical Analysis. Submit your comments here. 

The OSAC Registry approval process is used to review OSAC drafted standards (i.e., OSAC Proposed 

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 the deadline.

Comment deadline May 6, 2021 by 11:59 p.m. ET:

• OSAC 2021-N-0015, Guiding Principles for Scene Investigation and Reconstruction.

• OSAC 2021-N-0016, Standard for Initial Responses at Scenes by Law Enforcement.

• OSAC 2021-N-0018, Standard for On-Scene Collection and Preservation of Physical Evidence.

• OSAC 2021-N-0019, Standard Practice for the Documentation and Processing of Shooting Scenes.

Visit the Standards Under Consideration webpage to see all of the standards being considered for the 

Registry and where they are in the approval process. 

Is your organization implementing standards on the OSAC Registry? 

Complete OSAC’s Laboratory Implementation Declaration Form and send it

to mark.stolorow@nist.gov to let us know. 

Share your implementation experience and be featured in a future OSAC news post.
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SDO UPDATES

SDO Documents Open for Comment

Academy Standards Board (ASB):

• ASB Standard 153, Standard Practices for Proficiency Testing for Forensic Toxicology 

Laboratories, First Edition, 2021. This document defines the minimum scope and frequency for 

proficiency testing for laboratories engaged in the following sub-disciplines: Postmortem 

forensic toxicology; human performance toxicology (e.g., drug-facilitated crimes, driving-under

the-influence of alcohol or drugs, breath alcohol); and general forensic toxicology (non-lethal 

poisonings or intoxications). This document is not intended to cover employment drug testing or 

court-ordered toxicology (e.g., probation and parole, drug courts, child services). Comment

deadline April 19, 2021.

• Recirculation* – ASB Standard 024, Standard for Training and Certification of Canine Detection 

of Humans: Location Check Using Pre-scented Canines, First Edition, 2021. This document 

provides the requirements for pre-scented canine-location check search using a canine team to 

search for and identify a specific person’s (target) scent at a given location. This standard 

promotes consistency across agencies, departments, and organizations utilizing pre-scented 

canines’ location check search and provide the judicial system optimized protocol. Comment

deadline May 6, 2021.

• Recirculation* – ASB Standard 026, Standard for Training and Certification of Canine Detection 

of Humans: An Aged Trail Using Pre-scented Canines, First Edition, 2021. This document provides 

the requirements for training, certification, and documentation pertaining to pre-scented 

canine-aged track/trail search. Pre-scented canine aged trail searches use a canine team (canine 

and handler) to search for and follow aged trails of a specific person’s (target) scent over 

different surface types. An aged track/trail is a human-scent pathway that has been present for 

some period, typically expressed with a time frame associated with the track/trail (e.g., a 24-

hour or older track/trail). Comment deadline May 6, 2021.

• Recirculation* – ASB Standard 027, Standard for Training and Certification of Canine Detection 

of Humans: Patrol Canine Team, First Edition, 2021. This document provides standards for the 

training, certification, and documentation pertaining to canine teams (canine and handler) 

trained to search for specific person(s), location(s), and/or article(s) by starting from the last 

known position. This pertains to trails less than 24 hours old. Comment deadline May 6, 2021.

• Recirculation* – ASB Standard 121, Standard for the Analytical Scope and Sensitivity of Forensic 

Toxicological Testing of Urine in Drug-Facilitated Crime Investigations, First Edition 2021. This 

document delineates the minimum requirements for target analytes and analytical sensitivity 

for the forensic toxicological testing of urine specimens collected from alleged victims of drugfacilitated crimes (DFC). This document does not cover the analysis of blood and other evidence 

that may be collected in DFC cases. Comment deadline May 6, 2021.

• Call for comment of ANS Limited Substantive Changes – ANSI/ASB Standard 036, Standard 

Practices for Method Validation in Forensic Toxicology, First Edition, 2019. This document 

delineates minimum standards of practice for validating analytical methods used in the field of 

forensic toxicology that target specific analytes or analyte classes. Specifically, it is intended for 
OSAC Standards Bulletin – April 2021

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the subdisciplines of postmortem forensic toxicology, human performance toxicology (e.g., 

drug-facilitated crimes and driving-under-the-influence of alcohol or drugs), non-regulated

employment drug testing, court-ordered toxicology (e.g., probation and parole, drug courts, 

child services), and general forensic toxicology (non-lethal poisonings or intoxications). This 

document is not intended to address method validation in the discipline of breath alcohol 

testing. The fundamental reason for performing method validation is to ensure confidence and 

reliability in forensic toxicological test results by demonstrating the method is fit for its intended 

use. Comment deadline May 10, 2021 – please note that comments will only be accepted on 

the revisions noted in the substantive changes document.

*Comments on a re-circulation will only be accepted on revised sections of a document, comments made to text 

not revised from the original comment period will not be accepted.

Work Proposals for New or Revised Standards

OTHER NEWS 

Professional Organization Support for OSAC Registry and Standards 

Implementation

Five professional forensic science organizations, all represented on the OSAC FSSB, have recently 

released statements declaring their support for the development and implementation of forensic 

science standards. 

Read statements from the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD), the Association of 

Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE), the Association of Forensic Quality Assurance Managers 

(AFQAM), the Society of Forensic Toxicologists (SOFT), and National Association of Medical Examiners 

(NAME) on OSAC’s Registry Implementation webpage. 

Events & Training

Center for Statistics and Applications in Forensic Evidence (CSAFE)

Our colleagues at CSAFE will be hosting the following upcoming webinars:

• IRT for Forensics: A re-analysis of the FBI “Black Box” Study, April 8, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. CDT

• Assessing Footwear Examiner Performance: Randomly Acquired Characteristics (RAC)

Examinations, May 13, 11 a.m. – noon CDT

For the ASB documents listed above, download the comment template and return it to

asb@aafs.org by the comment deadline. 
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To register for these webinars and to learn more about CSAFE activities, view CSAFE’s March 2021

Newsletter.

Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCoE)

The National Institute of Justice’s FTCoE will be hosting a webinar, Lessons Learned from Proficiency Test

Results in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis on Thursday, April 15 from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET. For more

information about this webinar and to register, click here.

Visit the FTCoE Events Calendar to view other upcoming and archived forensic science events.

Get Involved with OSAC

OSAC offers a variety of ways for members, affiliates and other experts in the forensic science 

community to participate in the standards advancement process. Click here to learn how you can help 

make an impact on the forensic science community through standards.