Voluntary product standards: American Lumber Standard Committee— American softwood,

[Federal Register: February 1, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 20)]

[Notices]

[Page 4844-4845]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr01fe99-39]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology

[Docket No. 981228327-8327-01]

Proposed Voluntary Product Standard DOC PS 20-99``American Softwood Lumber Standard''

agency: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Commerce.

action: Notice.

summary: This is to advise the public that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is distributing a proposed revision of Voluntary Product Standard DOC PS 20-94 ``American Softwood Lumber Standard,'' for review and comment, DOC PS 20-94 serves the procurement and regulatory needs of numerous federal, state, and local government agencies by providing for uniform, industry-wide grade-marking and inspection requirements for softwood lumber. The proposed revision, DOC PS 20-99``American Softwood Lumber Standard,'' has been developed and is being processed in accordance with the provisions of the ``Procedures for the Development of Voluntary Product Standards'' of the Department of Commerce (15 CFR Part 10; as amended; published June 20, 1986).

dates: Written comments regarding the proposed revision, DOC PS 20-99, should be submitted to the Technical Standards Activities Program, NIST, by no later than April 19, 1999.

addresses: Requests for copies of the proposed revision, DOC PS 20-99, and written comments on the proposed revision should be submitted to the Technical Standards Activities Program, NIST, 100 Bureau Drive Stop 2150, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-2150. The text of the proposed revision, DOC PS 20-99(including a copy of DOC PS 20-94 that has been marked up to show proposed changes to the standard), may be viewed on the World Wide Web (as an Adobe Acrobat File) by clicking onto the ``DOC Voluntary Product Standards Program'' at the web site: http:// ts.nist.gov/tsap.

for further information contact: Barbara M. Meigs, Technical Standards Activities Program, National Institute of Standards and Technology, telephone: 301-975-4025; fax: 301-926-1559, e-mail: barbara.meigs@nist.gov.

supplementary information: The proposed revision, DOC PS 20-99 ``American Softwood Lumber Standard,'' was developed by the American Lumber Standard Committee, the Standing Committee for DOC PS 20-

[[Page 4845]]

94. The Committee has responsibility for maintaining and interpreting the standard and is composed of representatives of producers, distributors, consumers, and others with an interest in the standard.

DOC PS 20-94 established standard sizes and requirements for developing and coordinating the lumber grades of the various species of softwood lumber, the assignment of design values, and the preparation of grading rules applicable to each species. Its provisions include implementation of the Standard through an accreditation and certification program; establishment of principal trade classifications and lumber sizes for yard, structural, factory/shop use; classification, measurement, grading and grade-marking of lumber; definitions of terms and procedures to provide a basis for the use of uniform methods in the grading inspection, measurement and description of softwood lumber; commercial names of the principal softwood species; definitions of terms used in describing standard grades of lumber; and commonly used industry abbreviations. The Standard also includes the organization and functions of the American Lumber Standard Committee, the Board of Review, and the National Grading Rule Committee.

The Standing Committee met on November 6, 1998, to discuss and vote upon the draft revision of DOC PS 20-94. The draft had been developed by an ALSC Task Group after considering comments received from Committee members and other interested parties who responded to NIST's announcement of March 30, 1998, in the NIST Update. In that announcement, NIST indicated that as part of the Department's 5-year review, mandated by the DOC procedures, it was seeking comments regarding DOC PS 20-94 to determine its technical adequacy, the level of acceptability the standard has among the various segments of the softwood lumber industry, the standard's compatibility with existing law and established public policy, and the benefits that would be derived from PS 20-94 versus any alternatives. Following a period of discussion of the draft and the comments that had been received from the public and members of the Committee, all members present at the meeting unanimously approved the draft, with minor changes, and recommended that the proposed revision, DOC PS 20-99, be submitted to NIST to be processed to supersede DOC PS 20-94.

Among the changes to DOC PS 20-94 and incorporated in the proposed revision are the following: metric units are shown first followed by conventional units, language regarding remanufactured lumber is added to the text, standards referenced in DOC PS 20-94 are replaced by current editions of those standards, commercial names of additional principal softwood species are listed in Appendix A, and some definitions of terms used in describing standard grades of lumber are clarified in Appendix B. The basic sizes, technical requirements for softwood lumber, and administrative structure for implementing and enforcing the Standard have been retained.

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 272.

Dated: January 26, 1999. Robert E. Hebner, Acting Deputy Director.

[FR Doc. 99-2354Filed1-29-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-13-M