National Institute of Standards and Technology 2008 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announces that the Precision Measurement Grants Program is soliciting applications for financial assistance for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009. The Precision Measurement Grants Program is seeking proposals for significant research in the field of fundamental measurement or the determination of fundamental constants.

The inventions listed below are owned in whole or part by the U.S. Government, as represented by the Secretary of Commerce. The U.S. Government's interest in these inventions is available for licensing in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 and 37 CFR Part 404 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally funded research and development.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app. 2, notice is hereby given that there will be a meeting of the Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award on December 11, 2008. The Board of Overseers is composed of eleven members prominent in the fields of quality, innovation, and performance management and appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, assembled to advise the Secretary of Commerce on the conduct of the Baldrige Award. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss and review information received from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and from the Chair of the Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The agenda will include: Report from the Judges' Panel, Baldrige Program (BNQP) Update, BNQP Strategic Plan, Potential STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Education Program, Use of the Consumer Price Index as an Inflator for the Baldrige Award Application fees, and Recommendations for the NIST Director.

This notice announces a second public review and comment period for Draft Federal Information Processing Standard 186-3, Digital Signature Standard. The draft standard, designated ``Draft FIPS 186- 3,'' is proposed to revise and supersede FIPS 186-2. Draft FIPS 186-3 is a revision of FIPS 186-2, the Digital Signature Standard. The Draft FIPS specifies three techniques for the generation and verification of digital signatures that can be used for the protection of data: the Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA), the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) and the Rivest-Shamir-Adelman (RSA) algorithm. Although all three of these algorithms were approved in FIPS 186-2, this revision increases the key sizes allowed for DSA, provides additional requirements for the use of RSA and ECDSA, and includes requirements for obtaining the assurances necessary for valid digital signatures. FIPS 186-2 contained specifications for random number generators (RNGs); this revision does not include such specifications, but refers to NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-90 for obtaining random numbers. Prior to the submission of this proposed standard to the Secretary of Commerce for review and approval, it is essential that consideration is given to the needs and views of the public, users, the information technology industry, and Federal, State and local government organizations. The purpose of this notice is to solicit such views.

The Department of Commerce (DOC), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

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 Monday, November 17, 2008, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Thursday, November 20 2008, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Friday, November 21, 2008, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 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 conduct final judging of the 2008 applicants. The review process involves examination of records and discussions of applicant data, and will be closed to the public in accordance with Section 552b(c)(4) of Title 5, United States Code.

This notice announces the Secretary of Commerce's approval of Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Publication 180-3, Secure Hash Standard, a revision of FIPS 180-2, Secure Hash Standard. The FIPS specifies five secure hash algorithms for use in computing a condensed representation of electronic data, or a message digest. Secure hash algorithms are used with other cryptographic algorithms, such as digital signature algorithms and keyed hash message authentication codes. The revised FIPS incorporates the four hash algorithms that had been specified in FIPS 180-2, and includes an additional algorithm that had been specified in Change Notice 1 to FIPS 180-2. In addition, a basic description of a truncation method that was provided in the Change Notice has been incorporated into the standard. Some technical information in FIPS 180-2 about the security of the hash algorithms may no longer be accurate, as shown by recent research results, and it is possible that further research may indicate additional changes. Therefore, the technical information has been removed from the revised standard, and will be provided in Special Publications (SPs) 800-107 and 800-57, which can be updated in a timely fashion as the technical conditions change.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app. 2, notice is hereby given that the NIST Blue Ribbon Commission on Management and Safety, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will meet Monday, October 6, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., in the NIST laboratory in Boulder, CO. This notice is the second meeting of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Management and Safety. The purpose of this meeting is to continue a high level review of NIST's management structure and systems as they relate to safety at the Institute. The Commission will ultimately provide consensus advice to the Department of Commerce on whether (a) The training, safety, security, and response protocols, (b) the implementation of those protocols and internal controls, and (c) the management structure at NIST are appropriate to ensure safe operations of all NIST programs. The agenda for this meeting will focus on NIST safety and management structure at the Boulder laboratories. The agenda may change to accommodate Commission business. The final agenda will be posted on the NIST Web site at https://www.nist.gov/director/blueribbon/.

Due to technical difficulties, NIST is extending the deadline for proposal submission for its Technology Innovation Program competition to 3 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday, September 15, 2008. NIST will accept only paper submissions during the extended time period.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app. 2, notice is hereby given that the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Advisory Board, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will meet Wednesday, October 22, 2008, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The MEP Advisory Board is composed of 10 members appointed by the Director of NIST who were selected for their expertise in the area of industrial extension and their work on behalf of smaller manufacturers. The Board was established to fill a need for outside input on MEP. MEP is a unique program consisting of centers across the United States and Puerto Rico, with partnerships at the state, federal, and local levels. The Board works closely with MEP to provide input and advice on MEP's programs, plans, and policies. For this meeting, discussions will focus on updates of MEP current key initiatives, MEP's next generation strategic plan and opportunities for MEP in emerging industries. The agenda may change to accommodate Board business.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will hold a public meeting to discuss U.S. technical participation in the 13th Quadrennial Conference of the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML). This pre-conference public meeting is open to all interested parties. The principal focus of the public meeting will be the 26 OIML Recommendations on legal measuring instruments that will be presented for ratification by the Conference. These Recommendations and OIML- member nations' technical comments on them will be reviewed with interested parties who will be given an opportunity to present their views on the Recommendations and other relevant issues related to the Conference. Participants with an expressed interest in particular topics may obtain copies of the OIML Conference technical agenda, including copies of the Recommendations to be ratified, from the OIML International Conference Web site at https://www.oiml.org/events/sydney, at the OIML Web site at https://www.oiml.org, or from the NIST International Legal Metrology Group. Interested parties wishing to schedule an oral presentation at the pre-conference meeting should provide a written summary of comments to the NIST International Legal Metrology Group no later than 2 October 2008. Written comments from parties unable to attend the pre-conference public meeting are also welcome.

The Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES), in cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Interoperability and Compatibility (DHS/OIC) and representatives of the public safety community, will hold a public working group on September 9-11, 2008, at Twisted Pair Communications in Seattle, Washington. The purpose of the first two days of the meeting (September 9-10, 2008) is to bring manufacturers together to establish voice over IP (VoIP) connectivity between radio communication system bridging devices. The purpose of the last day of the working group (September 11, 2008) is to bring practitioners and industry together to discuss the development of an enhanced implementation profile for VoIP between radio system bridging solutions. The results of this and subsequent roundtable discussions will be used in the development of specific implementation profiles for VoIP usage in public-safety owned systems. There is no charge for the roundtable; however, because of meeting room restrictions, advance registration is mandatory and limited to three representatives from any one organization. There will be no on- site, same-day registration. The registration deadline is September 2, 2008. Please note registration and admittance instructions and other additional information under the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this notice.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announces approval of Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) Publication 198-1, The Keyed-Hash Message Authentication Code (HMAC), a revision of FIPS 198. The FIPS specifies a mechanism for message authentication using cryptographic hash functions in federal information systems. The technical information about the security provided by the HMAC algorithm, and the length limit and security implications of truncated HMAC outputs have been removed from the revised standard. This information may need frequent updating, and its removal from the specification will enable NIST to employ a more effective process for keeping the information current. NIST will provide specific guidelines about the security provided by the HMAC and the use of truncation techniques for it in Special Publication (SP) 800-17, which can be updated in a timely manner as the technical conditions change.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Technology Innovation Program (TIP) announces that it will hold a single fiscal year 2008 competition and is soliciting high-risk, high- reward research and development proposals for financial assistance. TIP also announces that it will hold public meetings (Proposers' Conferences) for all interested parties. TIP is soliciting proposals under this fiscal year 2008 competition in one area of critical national need entitled ``Civil Infrastructure'' as described in the Program Description section below.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) invites and requests nomination of individuals for appointment to its eight existing Federal Advisory Committees: Technology Innovation Program Advisory Committee, Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board, Manufacturing Extension Partnership Advisory Board, National Construction Safety Team Advisory Committee, Advisory Committee on Earthquake Hazards Reduction, and Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology. NIST will consider nominations received in response to this notice for appointment to the Committees, in addition to nominations already received.

The invention listed below is owned in whole by the U.S. Government, as represented by the Secretary of Commerce. The U.S. Government's interest in this invention is available for licensing in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 207 and 37 CFR 404 to achieve expeditious commercialization of results of federally funded research and development.

The Annual Meeting of the 93rd National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) will be held July 13 to 17, 2008. Publication of this notice on the NCWM's behalf is a public service; NIST does not endorse, approve, or recommend any of the proposals contained in this notice or in the NCWM publications listed. The meetings are open to the public but registration is required.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announces a public workshop to be held on July 1, 2008, in the Green Auditorium of the NIST Administration Building in Gaithersburg, MD, regarding the establishment of an accreditation program and technical requirements for laboratories that perform biometric testing including interoperability, performance, and conformance using internationally recognized standards developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), NIST, and by the International Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS). Additional standards may be identified throughout the development of the accreditation program technical requirements.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) invites interested parties to attend a pre-consortium meeting on June 13, 2008 to be held on the NIST campus. The goal of the one-day meeting is to evaluate industry interest in creating a NIST/industry consortium focused on the characterization and modeling of the surface and interface of polymeric materials and composites.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) invites interested parties to submit recommendations for workshops covering specific sectors and targeted countries or regions of the world where training in the U.S. system of standards development, conformity assessment, and metrology may facilitate trade. Prospective workshops will be scheduled for a 3 to 5 day period. This notice is not an invitation for proposals to fund grants, contracts or cooperative agreements of any kind. NIST will offer a limited number of workshops, based upon the availability of resources. Recommenders are encouraged to consider Administration priorities outlined in the 2007 National Export Strategy. NIST will consider recommendations based upon which workshops would be most useful to intended audiences.

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.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app. 2, notice is hereby given that there will be a meeting of the Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award on June 4, 2008. The Board of Overseers is composed of eleven members prominent in the fields of quality, innovation, and performance excellence and appointed by the Secretary of Commerce, assembled to advise the Secretary of Commerce on the conduct of the Baldrige Award. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss and review information received from the National Institute of Standards and Technology with the members of the Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The agenda will include: Baldrige Program budget update; Revisions to the award eligibility rules; Baldrige Collaborative activities; and the Baldrige Body of Knowledge and Baldrige Fellows Initiatives.

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app. 2, notice is hereby given that the Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology (VCAT), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will meet Tuesday, June 10, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Wednesday, June 11, from 9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. The Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology is composed of fifteen members appointed by the Director of NIST who are eminent in such fields as business, research, new product development, engineering, labor, education, management consulting, environment, and international relations. The purpose of this meeting is to review and make recommendations regarding general policy for the Institute, its organization, its budget, and its programs within the framework of applicable national policies as set forth by the President and the Congress. The theme for the meeting is ``NIST's Roles in the Innovation Ecosystem.'' The agenda will include discussions on guiding principles for the VCAT and the NIST leadership as well as NIST's 2008 priorities for the VCAT; an update on NIST including its response to the recommendations and findings in the 2007 VCAT Annual Report; and an overview of the innovation ecosystem with a focus on the drivers and the NIST role, as highlighted in presentations and discussions under three thematic sessions. Session I will cover NIST's role in enhancing use inspired basic research by working with academia, industry, and other agencies via joint research institutes, the Rapid Innovation and Competitiveness Initiative, and the Technology Innovation Program. Session II will focus on NIST's role in deploying technology and operational excellence by transforming manufacturing advances more quickly and measuring performance excellence. Session III will address NIST's role in responding to fast-paced standards issues. Other agenda items include two laboratory tours, feedback from the VCAT on NIST's role in the innovation ecosystem; a discussion of the VCAT's future structure; and presentations on NIST strategic planning topics, including biosciences, for the October 2008 VCAT meeting. The agenda may change to accommodate Committee business. The final agenda will be posted on the NIST Web site at https://www.nist.gov/director/vcat/agenda.htm.

Since 1896, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has accomplished its mission by advocating scientifically based consensus codes and standards, research, and education for safety related issues. NFPA's National Fire Codes[supreg], which holds over 270 documents, are administered by more than 225 Technical Committees comprised of approximately 7,000 volunteers and are adopted and used throughout the world. NFPA is a nonprofit membership organization with approximately 80,000 members from over 70 nations, all working together to fulfill the Association's mission. The NFPA process provides ample opportunity for public participation in the development of its codes and standards. All NFPA codes and standards are revised and updated every three to five years in Revision Cycles that begin twice each year and that takes approximately two years to complete. Each Revision Cycle proceeds according to a published schedule that includes final dates for all major events in the process. The process contains five basic steps that are followed both for developing new documents as well as revising existing documents. These steps are: Calling for Proposals; Publishing the Proposals in the Report on Proposals (ROP); Calling for Comments on the Committee's disposition of the Proposals and these Comments are published in the Report on Comments (ROC); having a Technical Report Session at the NFPA Annual Meeting; and finally, the Standards Council Consideration and Issuance of documents.