[Federal Register: June 28, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 125)]
[Rules and Regulations]               
[Page 39798-39804]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28jn00-14]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology

15 CFR Part 280

[Docket No: 980623159-0166-04]
RIN 0693-AB47

 
Procedures for Implementation of the Fastener Quality Act

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Bureau 
of Export Administration and the United States Patent and Trademark 
Office, United States Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology (NIST), United States Department of Commerce, and the Under 
Secretary of the Bureau of Export Administration, United States 
Department of Commerce, and the Under Secretary for Intellectual 
Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, 
United States Department of Commerce (collectively referred to as the 
Department) are today issuing a final rule amending regulations found 
at 15 CFR part 280 implementing the Fastener Quality Act (FQA). A 
notice of proposed rulemaking on this topic was published in the 
Federal Register on December 15, 1999. This final rule responds to 
comments received on the December 15, 1999 notice of proposed 
rulemaking and incorporates into the regulations amendments to the 
Fastener Quality Act contained in the Fastener Quality Act Amendments 
of 1999. The changes include the elimination of testing and paperwork 
requirements and of NIST's role in evaluating and approving bodies that 
accredit laboratories and registrars.
    The final rule amends the regulations to set forth the procedures 
under which NIST will accept petitions for approval of certain 
documents and self-declarations for accreditation bodies. The final 
rule also amends the enforcement provisions of the regulations to set 
forth violations as they are contained in the amended FQA. The final 
rule amends the recordal of insignia provisions of the regulations to 
remove all references to private label distributors and to provide that 
fasteners whose insignia must be recorded are those fasteners that are 
required by the applicable consensus standards to bear ``an insignia'' 
rather than a ``raised or depressed insignia,'' and that these 
fasteners are not subject to the recordal requirements if the 
specifications provide otherwise.