Federal Agency Obligations under OMB Circular A119 and Benefits of The NTTAA

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Federal Agency Obligations under OMB Circular
A-119and Benefits of The NTTAA

• Kevin McIntyre
• Senior Standards Specialist
• Office of Standards Services, NIST

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Commerce/NISTs Role

• Coordinate federal implementation of the Circular
  and provide administrative guidance
• Chair the ICSP serve as secretariat
• Report to OMB on implementation of the Circular
• Establish procedures for developing participant
  directories
• Issue Conformity Assessment guidance

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Responsibilities of Agency Heads

• Implement policies of the Circular
• Ensure agency compliance
• Appoint a Standards Executive to serve on the
  ICSP
• Transmit information to NIST for the annual
  report to OMB

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Responsibilities of Standards Executives

• Promote effective use of agency resources and
  participation
• Promote development of appropriate agency
  positions on standards that
• Are clearly defined
• Do not conflict with each other
• Are in the public interest
• Are consistent with administration policy

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Responsibilities of Standards Executives (cont.)

• Assure agency participation consistent with
  agency mission, authority, goals, and budget
• Assure that agency participants understand and
  accurately represent agency positions
• Coordinate multi-agency committee participation
• Assure that necessary internal policies are in
  place for managing standards use and participation

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Responsibilities of Standards Executives (cont.)

• Cooperate with DOC/NIST in implementing the
  Circular, including participant database
• Prepare agency input to OMB report
• Develop processes for ongoing review and update
  of agency standards use
• Develop processes to ensure that participation is
  properly reviewed (legal, budgetary) for
  compliance with applicable law

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General Agency Requirements

• Use voluntary consensus standards (VCS) in lieu
  of government-unique standards except where
  inconsistent with law or otherwise impractical
• Participate in standards bodies where appropriate
  to agency mission
• Report on use of government-unique standards
• Report on participation in the development and
  use of voluntary consensus standards

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Participation in Standards Bodies

• Agencies must
• Consult with voluntary consensus bodies, both
  domestic and international
• Participate in standards development when
• In the public interest
• Compatible with agency mission, authority,
  priorities, budget resources

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Agency Support of VCS Activities

• Must not be contingent on the outcome of the
  activity
• Can be no greater than that of other participants
  except when
• In the direct and predominant interest of the
  government
• Development or revision is otherwise unlikely
• Forms of Support
• Participation of agency personnel
• Joint planning with SDOs to identify needed
  standards
• Direct financial, administrative, technical

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Limitations on Agency Participation

• Agencies must not
• Get involved in internal management issues
• Dominate standards activities
• Exert undue influence

Participation must be in compliance with all
applicable federal laws
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Annual Reporting Requirements

• List of government-unique standards used in lieu
  of voluntary standards
• Number of bodies in which agency participates
• Number of agency participants
• Number of voluntary standards used
• Identification of voluntary standards substituted
  for government-unique standards
• Evaluation of the effectiveness of the Circular

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Successful Implementation Strategies

• Several presented at ANSI World Standards Week
  workshop
• Defense
• Energy
• NASA
• NRC
• NIST
• Presentations available on-line
• NTTAA website http//ts.nist.gov/ts/htdocs/210/nt
  taa/nttaa.htm
• ANSI Online http//www.ansi.org

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Results of NTTAA Efforts Thus Far

• Greater use of voluntary consensus standards
• Federal agency activity levels increasing
• Greater knowledge of standards
• More focused participation in specific, relevant
  standards activities
• Greater involvement with SDOs
• Mounting anecdotal evidence of positive outcomes

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Number of Voluntary Standards Used by Federal
Agencies
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Voluntary Standards Bodies in Which Agencies
Participate
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Agency Employees Participating on SDO Committees
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OMB Circular Goals for Government Use of
Voluntary Consensus Standards

• Eliminate costs of developing in-house standards
• Decrease the cost of goods procured
• Minimize burden of complying with agency
  regulation
• Provide incentives/opportunities to establish
  standards that serve national needs
• Encourage long-term growth for US enterprises
• Promote efficiency and economic competition
• Further policy of reliance upon the private sector

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Significant Procurement Cost Savings

• Case studies - DoD
• Aircraft batteries
• Total reported savings 454.7 million
• Total investment 9.3 million
• Mechanically attached pipe fittings
• Total 10-year savings - over 58 million
• Investment during the same period - 750,000

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Additional Benefits

• Decreased in-house costs
• Attention shifted from regulatory process to
  technical issues
• Reduced time spent in preparation of regulations
• Agencies can focus more on mission oriented
  activities
• Improved communications with standards developing
  organizations
• Process of replacing government-unique standards
• Strategic alliances with SDOs
• DOT/ITS with AASHTO, ASTM, IEEE, ITE, SAE