Document 3N1qDoJg6wm6nQMv9bpxJLvB6

Federal Register / Vol. 51, No. 119 / Friday, June. '20, .1986 / Rules and Regulations 22501 affirmative vote of not less than threequarters of all members eligible to vote, may resubmit the recommended standard without change to the Department with a recommendation that the standard be published as a Voluntary Product Standard. The Department shall then conduct a public rulemaking hearing in accordance with the requirements of law as set forth in section 553 of Title 5, United States Code, to assist it in determining whether publication of the standard is in the public interest. If the Department determines that publication of the standard is in the public interest, the standard shall be published as a Voluntary Product Standard. 10.7. Procedure when a recommended standard Is not supported by a consensus. if the Department determines that a recommended standard is not supported by a consensus, the Department may: (a} Return the recommended standard to the Standard Review Committee for further action, with or without suggestions; (b) Terminate the development of the recommended standard under these procedures; or (c) Take such other action as it may deem necessary or appropriate under the circumstances. 510.8. Standing Committee. (a) The Department shall establish and appoint the members of a Standing Committee prior to the publication of a siandard. The committee may include members from the Standard Review Committee, and shall consist of qualified representatives of producers, distributors, and users or consumers of the product covered by the standard, and representatives of appropriate, general interest groups such as municipal. State, and Federal agencies. When requested by the Standing Committee, the Department shall appoint one voting member from'amohg the representatives of the Federal agencies, other than the Department of Commerce. When requested by the Standing Committee for PS 20-70, "American Softwood Lumber Standard," the Department shall appoint two voting members from among the . representatives of the Federal agencies, - other than the Department of Commerce. All other representatives of Federal agencies shall be advisory nonvoting members of Standing Committees. (Alternates to committee members may be designated by the Department.) When deemed appropriate by the Department, project funds under 10.2, may be made available to assure participation by consumer interests oh the committee at required meetings. (b) Appointments to a Standing Committee may not exceed a term of5 years. However, the committee may be reconstituted by the Department whenever appropriate, and members may be reappointed by the Department to succeeding terms. Appointments to the committee will be terminated upon the withdrawal of the standard. (c) The Department shall be responsible for the organization of the committee. Any formal operating procedures developed by the commiitee shall be subject to approval by the Department! The committee may conduct business either in a meeting or through correspondence, but only if a quorum participates. A quorum shall consist of two-thirds of all voting members of the committee. A majority of the voting members of the committee participating shall be required to approve any actions taken by the committee except for the approval of revisions of the standard which shall be governed by the provisions of 10.5 (b), (c), and (d), (dj The members of a Standing Committee should be knowledgeable about; (1) The product or products covered by the standard; (2) The standard itself; and (3) Industry and trade practices relating to the standard. (e) Toe committee shall: (1) Keep itself informed of any advancing technology that might affect the standard; (2) Provide the Department with interpretations of provisions of the standard upon request; (3) Make recommendations to the Department concerning the desirability or necessity of revising or amending the standard; (4) Receive and consider proposals to revise or amend the standard; and (5) Recommend to the Department the revision or amendment of a standard. 10.9 Publication of a standard. A Voluntary Product Standard published by the department under these procedures shall be assigned an appropriate number for purposes of identification and reference. Public, notice shall be given regarding the publication and identification of the standard. A voluntary standard by itself has no mandatory or legally binding effect. Any person, may choose to use or not to use such a standard. Appropriate reference in contracts, codes, advertising, invoices, announcements, product labels, and the like may be made to a Voluntary Product Standard published under these procedures. Such reference shall be in accordance with such policies as the Department may establish, but no product may be advertised or represented in any manner which would imply or tend to imply approval or endorsement of that product by the Department or by the Federal Government. 10.10 Review of published standards. (a) Each standard published under these or previous procedures shall be reviewed regularly to determine the feasibility of transferring sponsorship to a private standards-writing organization. While the Department encourages the development of standards to replace Voluntary Product Standards by private standards-writing organizations, withdrawal of a Voluntary Product Standard, which meets the requirements of 8 10.0(b), shall not be considered until a replacement standard is published. (b) Each standard published under these or previous procedures shall be reviewed by Ihe Department, with such assistance of the Standing Committee or others as may be deemed appropriate by the Department, within 5 years after initial issuance or last revision and at least every 5 years thereafter. The purpose of this review shall be to . determine whether the standard has become obsolete, technically inadequate, no longer acceptable to or used by the industry, or inconsistent with law or established public policy. (c) If any of the above conditions is found to exist, Ihe Department shall initiate action to amend, revise, or withdraw the standard in accordance with 10.11 or 10.13. If none is found to exist, the standard shall be kept in effect provided adequate funding is maintained. 10.11 Revision or amendment ol a standard. (a) A published standard shall be subject to revision or amendment when it is determined to be inadequate by.its Standing Committee or by the Department of one or more of the following reasons or for any other appropriate reasons: (1) Any portion of the standard is obsolete, technically inadequate, or no longer generally acceptable to or used by the industry; (2) The standard or any part of it is inconsistent with law or established public policy; or (3) The standard or any part of it is being used to mislead users or consumers or is determined to be GLEASON-000766