An Act to provide for the collection, compilation, critical evaluation, publication, and sale of standard reference data
PL 90-396 (H.R.6279), enacted 07/11/1968

82 STAT. ] 
PUBLIC LAW 90-396-JULY 11, 1968 
339 
of the Seventy-fourth General Assembly of the State of Missouri, 
as follows: 
"SECTION 1. In further effectuation of that certain compact 
Additional 
between the states of Kansas and Missouri heretofore made and 
entered into on December 28,1965, the Kansas City Area Trans-
portation Authority of the Kansas City Area Transportation Dis-
trict, created by and under the aforesaid compact, is authorized 
to exercise the following powers in addition to those heretofore 
expressly authorized by the aforesaid compact: 
"(1) To make all appointments and employ all its officers, 
agents and employees, determine their qualifications and duties 
and fix their compensation. 
"(2) To deal with and enter into written contracts with the 
employees of the Authority through accredited representatives of 
such employees or representatives of any labor organization 
authorized to act for such employees, concerning wages, salaries, 
hours, working conditions, pension or retirement provisions, and 
insurance benefits. 
" (3) To provide for the retirement and pensioning of its officers 
and employees and the widows and children of the deceased offi-
cers and employees, and to provide for paying benefits upon dis-
ability or death of its officers and employees and to make payments 
from its funds to provide for said retirements, pensions, and death 
or disability benefits." 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled^ That the Congress hereby Ar^a'rrans^orta-
consents to the additional powers conferred on the Kansas City Area tion Authority. 
Transportation Authority by Senate bill numbered 399 of the Kansas 
Legislature, session of 1967, and Senate bill numbered 266 of the 
Seventy-fourth General Assembly of the State of Missouri. 
SEC. 2. The right is hereby reserved to the Congress or any com-
mittee thereof to require the disclosure and furnishing of such infor-
mation by the authority as they may deem appropriate and to have 
access to all books, records, and papers of the authority. 
SEC. 3. The right to alter, amend, or repeal this joint resolution is 
expressly reserv^. 
Approved July 11, 1968. 
Public Law 90-396 
AN A C T 
July 11 i95g 
To provide for the collection, compilation, critical evaluation, publication, and 
[H. R. 6279] 
sale of standard reference data. 
Be it ermcted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, 
DECLARATION OF POLICY 
SECTION 1. The Congress hereby finds and declares that reliable 
standardized scientific and technical reference data are of vital im-
portance to the progress of the Nation's science and technology. It is 
therefore the policy of the Congress to make critically evaluated refer-
ence data readily available to scientists, engineers, and the general 
public. It is the purpose of this Act to strengthen and enhance this 
policy. 
Standard Refer-
ence Data Act. 
340 
PUBLIC LAW 90-396-JULY 11, 1968 
DEFINI-flONS 
[82 STAT. 
Collection and 
publication. 
Standards, etc. 
Publication in 
Federal Register. 
Sale. 
Cost recovery. 
31 Stat. 1449; 
Ante, p. 35. 
U.S. copyright 
and renewal rights. 
61 Stat. 655; 
76 Stat. 446. 
Appropriation. 
Short title. 
SEC. 2. For the purposes of this Act— 
(a) The term "standard reference data" means quantitative infor-
mation, related to a measurable physical or chemical property of a 
substance or system of substances of known composition and struc-
ture, which is critically evaluated as to its reliability under section 3 
of this Act. 
(b) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of Commerce. 
SEC. 3. The Secretary is authorized and directed to provide or ar-
range for the collection, compilation, critical evaluation, publication, 
and dissemination of standard reference data. In carrying out this 
program, the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 
utilize the reference data services and facilities of other agencies and 
instrumentalities of the F'ederal Government and of State and local 
governments, persons, firms, institutions, and associations, wiith their 
consent and in such a manner as to avoid duplication of those services 
and facilities. All agencies and instrumentalities of the Federal Gov-
ernment are encouraged to exercise their duties and functions in such 
manner as will assist in carrying out the purpose of this Act. This 
section shall be deemed complementary to existing authority, and 
nothing herein is intended to repeal, supersede, or diminish existing 
authority or i^esponsibility of any agency or instrumentality of the 
Federal Government. 
SEC. 4. To provide for more effective integration and coordination of 
standard reference data activities, the Secretary, in consultation with 
other interested Federal agencies, shall prescribe and publish in the 
Federal Register such standards, criteria, and procedures for the prep-
aration and publication of standard reference data as may be necessary 
to carry out the provisions of this Act. 
SEC. 5. Standard reference data conforming to standards established 
by the Secretary may be made available and sold by the Secretary or 
by a person or agency designated by him. To the extent practicable 
and appropriate, the prices established for such data may reflect the 
cost of collection, compilation, evaluation, publication, and dissemina-
tion of the data, including administrative expenses; and the amounts 
received shall be subject to the Act of March 3, 1901, as amended (15 
U.S.C.27l-278e). 
SEC. 6. (a) Notwithstanding the limitations contained in section 
8 of title 17 of the United States Code, the Secretary may secure copy-
right and renewal thereof on behalf of the United States as author 
or proprietor in all or any part of any standard reference data which 
he prepares or makes available under this Act, and may authorize 
the reproduction and publication thereof by others. 
(b) The publication or republication by the Government under this 
Act, either separately or in a public document, of any material in which 
copyright is subsisting shall not be taken to cause any abridgment or 
annulment of the copyright or to authorize any use or appropr'iation 
of such material without the consent of the copyright proprietor. 
SEC. 7. There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this 
Act, $1.8() million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1969. Notwith-
standing the provisions of any other law, no appropriations for any 
fiscal year may be made for the purpose of this Act after fiscal year 
1969 imless previously authorized by legislation hereafter enacted by 
the (^ongress. 
SEC. 8. This Act may be cited as the "Standard Reference Data Act." 
Approved July 11, 1968.