Interpretation of the International System of Units (the Metric System of Measurement) for the United States, 28432-28433 [E8-11058]

Download as PDF 28432 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 96 / Friday, May 16, 2008 / Notices See Notice of Antidumping Duty Order: Hand Trucks and Certain Parts Thereof From the People’s Republic of China, 69 FR 70122 (December 2, 2004). On February 2, 2007, the Department published in the Federal Register a notice of the initiation of the antidumping duty administrative review of hand trucks from the PRC for the period December 1, 2005, through November 30, 2006. See Initiation of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Administrative Reviews and Request for Revocation in Part, 72 FR 5005 (February 2, 2007). On January 14, 2008, the Department published in the Federal Register the preliminary results of the hand trucks administrative review. See Hand Trucks and Certain Parts Thereof from the People’s Republic of China: Preliminary Results, Partial Intent to Rescind and Partial Rescission of the 2005–06 Administrative Review, 73 FR 2214 (January 14, 2008). The final results of review are currently due no later than May 13, 2008. sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES Extension of Time Limit of Final Results. Section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (‘‘the Act’’), requires the Department to issue final results within 120 days after the date on which the preliminary results are published. However, if it is not practicable to complete the review within this time period, section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act allows the Department to extend the time period to a maximum of 180 days. Completion of the final results of the administrative review within the 120–day period in this case is not practicable because the Department conducted verification in the administrative review after publication of the preliminary results, and, therefore, needs additional time to complete post–preliminary results verification reports, invite and analyze comments by interested parties on the preliminary results and verification reports, and analyze information gathered at verification. Because it is not practicable to complete this review within the time specified under the Act, we are fully extending the time period for issuing the final results of the administrative review in accordance with section 751(a)(3)(A) of the Act. Therefore, the final results are now due no later than July 14, 2008, the next business day after 180 days from publication of the preliminary results. This notice is published pursuant to sections 751(a) and 777(i) of the Act. VerDate Aug<31>2005 16:18 May 15, 2008 Jkt 214001 Dated: May 9, 2008. Stephen J. Claeys, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Import Administration. [FR Doc. E8–11056 Filed 5–15–08; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–DS–S DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Institute of Standards and Technology [Docket No.: 080505629–8631–01] Interpretation of the International System of Units (the Metric System of Measurement) for the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce. ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: SUMMARY: The International System of Units (SI) (the metric system of measurement) has been recognized for use in the United States since 1866 (15 U.S.C. 204) and is the preferred system of measurement for trade and commerce. The SI was established and is maintained by the General Conference of Weights and Measures and is interpreted or modified for use in the United States by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) by authority of the Secretary of Commerce (15 U.S.C. 205). This notice describes the recent modifications to the SI and announces the publication of the latest interpretation of the SI for the United States in the 2008 Edition of NIST Special Publication 330 ‘‘The International System of Units.’’ The 2008 Edition of NIST Special Publication 811 ‘‘Guide for the Use of the International System of Units’’ was also published. Together these publications provide the legal interpretation of and guidelines for the use of the SI in the United States. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Ambler Thompson, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Weights and Measures Division, International Legal Metrology Group, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 2600, Gaithersburg, MD 20899– 2600 or by telephone (301) 975–2333, Fax: (301) 975–8091, or by e-mail at ambler.thompson@nist.gov. For information regarding NIST’s efforts to coordinate the transition to the International System of Units, contact: Elizabeth Gentry, Metric Coordinator, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Weights and Measures Division, Laws and Metric Group, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 2600, Gaithersburg, MD 20899–2600 or by telephone (301) 975–3690, Fax (301) 975–8091, or by email at TheSI@nist.gov. PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 The International System of Units (abbreviated as SI in all languages), generally known as the metric system, is the preferred system of measurement for use in trade and commerce in the United States (15 U.S.C. 205b) but use of traditional systems of weights and measures in non-business activities is permitted. The SI was established in 1960 by the General Conference of Weights and Measures (abbreviated CGPM in all languages) and is interpreted, or modified for, the United States by the Secretary of Commerce (15 U.S.C. 205c) who has delegated this authority to the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The CGPM is an international organization established by the Meter Convention in 1875 in which more than 50 countries participate. One of the responsibilities of the CGPM is to ensure the SI reflects the latest advances in science and technology and provides a single international language for measurement. In 2006 the CGPM published changes to the SI in the 8th Edition of the Bureau of International Weights and Measures SI publication commonly known as the ‘‘SI Brochure.’’ This notice describes the modifications to the SI and announces the publication of the latest interpretation of the SI for the United States in the 2008 Edition of NIST Special Publication (SP) 330 ‘‘The International System of Units (SI).’’ NIST SP 330 describes the history of the Meter Convention, explains how the International System of Units was developed, and describes the global effort to maintain the system. A comprehensive description of the SI’s base units, terminology, units and symbols is also provided. A description of the decimal system and the appropriate multiples and submultiples to be used in expressing units and values is included. Also provided are editorial style guidelines to ensure that SI values and units are properly formatted and clearly written. NIST has also published the 2008 Edition of its Special Publication 811 ‘‘Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI),’’ which includes additional guidance on the use of the SI and a broad range of conversion factors. When used together, these publications provide the most current interpretation of the SI and present the latest guidance on the use of the SI in the United States. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Changes to the International System of Units (SI) The CGPM adopted the following changes in the 8th Edition (2006) of the SI Brochure and these have been E:\FR\FM\16MYN1.SGM 16MYN1 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 96 / Friday, May 16, 2008 / Notices incorporated in the 2008 Edition of NIST SP 330: a. Full incorporation of the 2000 Supplement which clarified the definition of the second and incorporated the new coherent SI unit with a special name and symbol for the mol s¥1, the katal with symbol kat, for expressing values of the quantity catalytic activity; b. A discussion designated as ‘‘the set of coherent SI units’’ was added to clarify that the base and coherent derived units of the SI form a coherent set; c. New section entitled ‘‘Units for quantities that describe biological effects’’ was added in view of their importance for human health and safety; d. New section entitled ‘‘Historical note’’ was added to provide updated information from Section 1.1 of the 7th Edition; e. Appendix 1 was updated to include all the recent decisions of the CIPM and CGPM which impact the SI; f. Appendix 2, which discusses the experimental realization of units, is made available only in electronic form on the BIPM Web site at https:// www.bipm.org/en/si/si_brochure/ appendix2/, so that it may be easily updated between SI brochure versions; and g. New Appendix 3 entitled ‘‘Units for photochemical and photobiological quantities,’’ was added to point out that the SI already includes a SI base unit, the candela, which is considered to be a biological effects unit of importance to industry and human health and safety. sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES II. Modifications to the SI for Its Use in the United States The 2008 Edition of NIST SP 330 differs from the ‘‘SI Brochure’’ to conform to the language and customary use of measurement units in the United States: a. The spelling of English words is in accordance with the United States Government Printing Office Style Manual, which follows Webster’s Third New International Dictionary rather than the Oxford Dictionary. Thus, the spellings ‘‘meter,’’ ‘‘liter,’’ and ‘‘deca’’ are used rather than ‘‘metre,’’ ‘‘litre,’’ and ‘‘deka’’ as in the original BIPM English text; b. The name of the unit with symbol t is defined according to 1 t = 103 kg which is called ‘‘metric ton’’ rather than ‘‘tonne;’’ c. The four units curie, roentgen, rad, and rem are included in Table 10; d. A number of Editors’ notes are added in order to indicate differences of interpretation and to clarify the text; VerDate Aug<31>2005 16:18 May 15, 2008 Jkt 214001 e. A few minor editorial changes are made in order to ‘‘Americanize’’ some phrases. This notice supersedes the last interpretation of the SI that was published in the Federal Register on July 28, 1998 (Vol. 63, No. 144—FR 40334—40340). NIST SP 330, NIST SP 811, and other useful information regarding the International System of Units (SI) are published electronically (https:// physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/ and https://nist.gov/metric) and in hard copy. Requests for hardcopies can be sent to: TheSI@nist.gov. Although there is no formal comment period, comments and suggestions on the SI are invited and should be sent to Dr. Ambler Thompson at the address previously indicated. Dated: May 9, 2008. James M.Turner, Deputy Director. [FR Doc. E8–11058 Filed 5–15–08; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–13–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Institute of Standards and Technology Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of closed meeting. AGENCY: Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app. 2, notice is hereby given that the Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award will meet Tuesday, June 3, 2008. The Judges Panel is composed of twelve members prominent in the fields of quality, innovation, and performance excellence and appointed by the Secretary of Commerce. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the Judging process and Judging process changes for 2008; role of Judges’ in award process; overview of scoring data; 2008 Baldrige award cycle; the Judges’ survey of applicants; and the Judges’ mentoring process. The applications under review by Judges contain trade secrets and proprietary commercial information submitted to the Government in confidence. DATES: The meeting will convene June 3, 2008 at 9 a.m. and adjourn at 4:30 p.m. on June 3, 2008. The entire meeting will be closed. ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Administration Building, SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 28433 Lecture Room A, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899. Dr. Harry Hertz, Director, National Quality Program, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, telephone number (301) 975–2361. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Assistant Secretary for Administration, with the concurrence of the General Counsel, formally determined on March 4, 2008, that the meeting of the Judges Panel will be closed pursuant to Section 10(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app. 2, as amended by Section 5(c) of the Government in the Sunshine Act, Pub. L. 94–409. The meeting, which involves examination of Award applicant data from U.S. companies and other organizations and a discussion of this data as compared to the Award criteria in order to recommend Award recipients, may be closed to the public in accordance with Section 552b(c)(4) of Title 5, United States Code, because the meetings are likely to disclose trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person which is privileged or confidential. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dated: May 9, 2008. James M. Turner, Deputy Director. [FR Doc. E8–11034 Filed 5–15–08; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–13–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [Docket No.: 080506632–8633–01] Codeless and Semi-Codeless Access to the Global Positioning System Office of Space Commercialization, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice and request for comments. AGENCY: SUMMARY: The Office of Space Commercialization seeks comments on a plan to transition the installed base of codeless and semi-codeless Global Positioning System (GPS) user equipment to next-generation equipment utilizing the modernized civil GPS signals known as L2C and L5. The plan was developed under the auspices of the National Executive Committee for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT). Under the plan, the Department of Defense, as the operator of GPS, will continue E:\FR\FM\16MYN1.SGM 16MYN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 96 (Friday, May 16, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28432-28433]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-11058]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology

[Docket No.: 080505629-8631-01]


Interpretation of the International System of Units (the Metric 
System of Measurement) for the United States

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The International System of Units (SI) (the metric system of 
measurement) has been recognized for use in the United States since 
1866 (15 U.S.C. 204) and is the preferred system of measurement for 
trade and commerce. The SI was established and is maintained by the 
General Conference of Weights and Measures and is interpreted or 
modified for use in the United States by the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology (NIST) by authority of the Secretary of 
Commerce (15 U.S.C. 205). This notice describes the recent 
modifications to the SI and announces the publication of the latest 
interpretation of the SI for the United States in the 2008 Edition of 
NIST Special Publication 330 ``The International System of Units.'' The 
2008 Edition of NIST Special Publication 811 ``Guide for the Use of the 
International System of Units'' was also published. Together these 
publications provide the legal interpretation of and guidelines for the 
use of the SI in the United States.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Ambler Thompson, National 
Institute of Standards and Technology, Weights and Measures Division, 
International Legal Metrology Group, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 2600, 
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-2600 or by telephone (301) 975-2333, Fax: (301) 
975-8091, or by e-mail at ambler.thompson@nist.gov.
    For information regarding NIST's efforts to coordinate the 
transition to the International System of Units, contact: Elizabeth 
Gentry, Metric Coordinator, National Institute of Standards and 
Technology, Weights and Measures Division, Laws and Metric Group, 100 
Bureau Drive, Stop 2600, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-2600 or by telephone 
(301) 975-3690, Fax (301) 975-8091, or by e-mail at TheSI@nist.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The International System of Units 
(abbreviated as SI in all languages), generally known as the metric 
system, is the preferred system of measurement for use in trade and 
commerce in the United States (15 U.S.C. 205b) but use of traditional 
systems of weights and measures in non-business activities is 
permitted. The SI was established in 1960 by the General Conference of 
Weights and Measures (abbreviated CGPM in all languages) and is 
interpreted, or modified for, the United States by the Secretary of 
Commerce (15 U.S.C. 205c) who has delegated this authority to the 
Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). 
The CGPM is an international organization established by the Meter 
Convention in 1875 in which more than 50 countries participate. One of 
the responsibilities of the CGPM is to ensure the SI reflects the 
latest advances in science and technology and provides a single 
international language for measurement. In 2006 the CGPM published 
changes to the SI in the 8th Edition of the Bureau of International 
Weights and Measures SI publication commonly known as the ``SI 
Brochure.'' This notice describes the modifications to the SI and 
announces the publication of the latest interpretation of the SI for 
the United States in the 2008 Edition of NIST Special Publication (SP) 
330 ``The International System of Units (SI).''
    NIST SP 330 describes the history of the Meter Convention, explains 
how the International System of Units was developed, and describes the 
global effort to maintain the system. A comprehensive description of 
the SI's base units, terminology, units and symbols is also provided. A 
description of the decimal system and the appropriate multiples and 
submultiples to be used in expressing units and values is included. 
Also provided are editorial style guidelines to ensure that SI values 
and units are properly formatted and clearly written. NIST has also 
published the 2008 Edition of its Special Publication 811 ``Guide for 
the Use of the International System of Units (SI),'' which includes 
additional guidance on the use of the SI and a broad range of 
conversion factors. When used together, these publications provide the 
most current interpretation of the SI and present the latest guidance 
on the use of the SI in the United States.

I. Changes to the International System of Units (SI)

    The CGPM adopted the following changes in the 8th Edition (2006) of 
the SI Brochure and these have been

[[Page 28433]]

incorporated in the 2008 Edition of NIST SP 330:
    a. Full incorporation of the 2000 Supplement which clarified the 
definition of the second and incorporated the new coherent SI unit with 
a special name and symbol for the mol s^-1, the katal with 
symbol kat, for expressing values of the quantity catalytic activity;
    b. A discussion designated as ``the set of coherent SI units'' was 
added to clarify that the base and coherent derived units of the SI 
form a coherent set;
    c. New section entitled ``Units for quantities that describe 
biological effects'' was added in view of their importance for human 
health and safety;
    d. New section entitled ``Historical note'' was added to provide 
updated information from Section 1.1 of the 7th Edition;
    e. Appendix 1 was updated to include all the recent decisions of 
the CIPM and CGPM which impact the SI;
    f. Appendix 2, which discusses the experimental realization of 
units, is made available only in electronic form on the BIPM Web site 
at https://www.bipm.org/en/si/si_brochure/appendix2/, so that it may be 
easily updated between SI brochure versions; and
    g. New Appendix 3 entitled ``Units for photochemical and 
photobiological quantities,'' was added to point out that the SI 
already includes a SI base unit, the candela, which is considered to be 
a biological effects unit of importance to industry and human health 
and safety.

II. Modifications to the SI for Its Use in the United States

    The 2008 Edition of NIST SP 330 differs from the ``SI Brochure'' to 
conform to the language and customary use of measurement units in the 
United States:
    a. The spelling of English words is in accordance with the United 
States Government Printing Office Style Manual, which follows Webster's 
Third New International Dictionary rather than the Oxford Dictionary. 
Thus, the spellings ``meter,'' ``liter,'' and ``deca'' are used rather 
than ``metre,'' ``litre,'' and ``deka'' as in the original BIPM English 
text;
    b. The name of the unit with symbol t is defined according to 1 t = 
10³ kg which is called ``metric ton'' rather than ``tonne;''
    c. The four units curie, roentgen, rad, and rem are included in 
Table 10;
    d. A number of Editors' notes are added in order to indicate 
differences of interpretation and to clarify the text;
    e. A few minor editorial changes are made in order to 
``Americanize'' some phrases.
    This notice supersedes the last interpretation of the SI that was 
published in the Federal Register on July 28, 1998 (Vol. 63, No. 144--
FR 40334--40340).
    NIST SP 330, NIST SP 811, and other useful information regarding 
the International System of Units (SI) are published electronically 
(https://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/ and https://nist.gov/
metric) and in hard copy. Requests for hardcopies can be sent to: 
TheSI@nist.gov.
    Although there is no formal comment period, comments and 
suggestions on the SI are invited and should be sent to Dr. Ambler 
Thompson at the address previously indicated.

    Dated: May 9, 2008.
James M.Turner,
Deputy Director.
 [FR Doc. E8-11058 Filed 5-15-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P

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