Policy Bulletin No. 7

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1-19-76
(Trans. 299)

3.

- Is the work classified?

If so, are there significant advantages in it for NBS that offset the disadvantages associated with classified work?

- Is there or can there be established a clear assignment of management responsibility within NBS and specific provision for quality control and output evaluation within NBS?

- If NBS performs well, will the problem be solved? e.g., good physical measurements or analyses are usually only a part of the problem, are the other aspects of the problem being adequately considered?

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4.

5.

6.

Is NBS willing to continue the work long enough to satisfy the
other agency's original requirements? There must be a feeling
of joint commitment.

Prospective sponsors not familiar with the statutory authority and
financial system of the Bureau must be informed at an early point
in discussions that the Bureau is authorized to charge for the full
cost of services provided, including overheads or indirect charges,
and that it is the normal practice of the Bureau to require an
advance of funds for other agency projects, although reimbursable
work may be arranged. Large reimbursable orders create working
capital fund cash problems and should not be entered into without
early consultation with the Budget Division.

Those who generate proposals or agreements must ascertain the availability of the required personnel and positions prior to forwarding a proposal to another agency. If the NBS major organizational unit involved does not have the available positions, the Deputy Director of NBS should be consulted by the Division Chief or Institute Director. Personnel should not be made unnecessarily vulnerable by the acceptance of work for other agencies. In expanding available staff to meet the obligations of other agency work, serious consideration should be given to the use of term appointments. Of equal importance, serious consideration should be given to performing some of the proposed work out-of-house if it can be done as well.

Those who generate proposals or agreements will ascertain availability of the required space, equipment, and special utilities prior to submitting a proposal to another agency. If supplemental capabilities must be added, the sponsoring agency should agree in advance to fund an appropriate share of the expenses.

The Bureau may not place itself in the position of competing with private industry for work. Therefore, if a request from a sponsor for a proposal implies or states that we would be bidding against others for the job, the request for a proposal must be denied.

Policy Bulletin No. 7

If NBS does not wish to meet the reporting needs of another
agency then NBS should refrain from accepting the work. Although
some costs savings could be achieved by less frequent reporting,
the needs of the other agency for timely reports should be paramount.

Acceptance

1.

2.

3.

The Bureau cannot be officially committed by informal negotiations.
Procedures for formal proposals and for acceptance of work are
contained in Administrative Manual Subchapter 11.04 and must be
complied with. See Policy Bulletin No. 14 for criteria for NBS
acceptance of other agency work.

If the proposed work involves funding by nongovernment organiza-
tions, acceptance must be approved by the Office of the Director
before initiating formal procedures. If the proposed work is to
be undertaken on behalf of a State or local government, policy
clearance should be obtained from the Institute Director concerned.

If classified work is accepted, it will be necessary in addition to clearances for line managers for the NBS Program Manager, the Other Agency Program/Project Manager, the Other Agency Coordinator, and the NBS Coordinator in the other agency to have appropriate clearances. See Administrative Manual Subchapter 13.01.

Management

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2.

3.

Once an order or agreement is in effect, the program/project manager of the other agency program assumes responsibility for seeing that the necessary agreements within the Bureau have been reached concerning the provision of the resource requirements. If problems arise that cannot be handled by the principal major organizational units involved, then Bureau level assistance should be sought by contacting the Office of the Associate Director for Administration.

If in the progress of other agency sponsored work, it becomes clear
that certain elements of the original agreement where insufficient,
e.g., target date, scheduled milestones, the experimental procedure,
the Other Agency Program/Project Manager should discuss these elements
with the Other Agency Representatives so that replanning can be
considered at the earliest possible point. For example, formal
requests for extension of a termination date will be initiated by
the Program/Project Manager in consultation with the Budget Division.

When cost center statements show that an over-run is likely, the Other Agency Program/Project Manager should enter into negotiations to obtain additional funding from the sponsor. The Program/Project Manager is responsible for seeing that the amount authorized for cost centers is not exceeded.

Any proposed other agency work must meet at least one of the following criteria before
NBS can accept the work:

1. Acceptance by NBS establishes traceability of measurements to national standards. This criterion is intended to cover other agency work which relates to the basic or "core" responsibility as stated in 15 U.S.c. 272(a) of the Organic Act of March 3, 1901, as amended. Under this Section, the NBS is authorized to undertake... "The custody, maintenance, and development of the national standards of measurement, and the provision of means and methods for making measurement consistent with those standards, including the comparison of standards used in scientific investigations, engineering, manufacturing, commerce, and educational institutions with the standards adopted or recognized by the Government."

2.

3.

For the purpose of this criterion, national standards of measurement shall
be those objectives covered by:

(1) Budget Activity: Provide national system for physical measurement;
Subactivity: Physical Measurements, units, and standards; and (2) Budget
Activity: Provide services to improve use of materials; Subactivity:
Reference materials, compositional analysis.

Private sector cannot or will not develop test methods for materials, mechanisms, and structures related to items purchased by the Government or important to the public interest.

This criterion is intended to cover NBS authorizations as stated in

15 U.S.C. 272 (c) and (d) of the Organic Act of March 3, 1901, as amended.
Included are... "development of methods for testing materials, mechanisms,
and structures, and the testing of materials, supplies, and equipment,
including items purchased for use of Government departments and independent
establishments." and... "Cooperation with Governmental agencies and with
private organizations in the establishment of standard practices, incorporated
in codes and specifications." NBS accepts other agency work within this
criterion under a number of conditions, including:

a. Situations where private sector interests cannot reach a consensus due to
divergence of practice or tradition or are unable to undertake a research
program because of the fragmented nature of the industry.

b. Voluntary consensus system cannot react to needs in an acceptable time
frame.

c. Possible conflict of interests requires NBS presence and/or participation
for equity.

Support services to other agencies authorized or mandated by specific legislation; e.g.:

Brooks Act

Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act

Consumer Product Safety Act

Noise Control

Solar Heating and Cooling Demonstration Act

Standard Reference Data Act

This criterion is intended to cover work accepted by NBS through specific
legislative channels outside of the Organic Act. Those having greatest
weight are Public Laws enjoining NBS, either directly or through
delegations from the Secretary of Commerce, to support mission agencies.

Policy Bulletin No.

4.

5.

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7.

8.

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Interagency agreements are considered supportive under this criterion as
are Executive Orders, Presidential Commission Citations, GAO Reports to
the Congress, and similar evidence of recognition of the NBS role.

7-19-76

(Trans. 299)

A contract placed outside the Federal Government would result in an unavoidable
conflict of interest.

This criterion covers work accepted by the NBS where use of a private
sector source would threaten credibility because of a conflict of interest.
Much of the work performed for regulatory agencies falls under this
category because available private sources also work for organizations
which would be regulated by test methods and criteria established under
the other agency orders. Other activities having wide impact on the
general public involving sampling for regulatory control, randomization
of a selective process (e.g., Selective Service), and certain types of
IRS processing activities are included.

Requirements for accuracy of physical constants and properties of materials
cannot be met by other sources.

This criterion is intended to cover other agency work as stated in
15 U.S.C. 272 (b) of the Organic Act of March 3, 1901, as amended.
This Section authorized NBS to determine... "physical constants and
properties. of materials when such data are of great importance to
scientific or manufacturing interests and are not to be obtained of
sufficient accuracy elsewhere." In using this criterion as the sole
basis for accepting other agency work, the program manager should satisfy
himself that a private sector source is unavailable to meet the accuracy
conditions which the requesting agency can tolerate in carrying out its
mission. A statement from the other agency may satisfy this requirement
if the program manager does not have knowledge to the contrary. Work
satisfying this criterion is a part (not necessarily all) of a number of
budget subactivities including: reference measurements for physical
quantities, properties and performance of materials, environmental
pollution measurements, electronic technology, cryogenic technology, and
fire research.

Unique capability of NBS required for support services to other agency. This criterion is intended to cover other agency work which requires a unique capability, in the form of staff expertise, equipment, facility (e.g., reactor, linac), or a combination of these, which exists at NBS. It cannot be used to justify work for which legal authority is lacking or work in competition with the private sector.

Use of a private sector source by other agency would cause significant and
intolerable delays in providing services and results.

This criterion covers other agency work where there is a clear advantage
to the Government in timeliness to have other agency work done at NBS
rather than in the private sector. The case for acceptance under this
criterion must be made in writing by the other agency.

Use of a private sector source by other agency would result in a higher cost to
the Government.

This criterion covers other agency work where there is a clear and significant
advantage to the Government in cost to have other agency work done at NBS
rather than in the private sector; generally, work will not be accepted from
an other agency solely because it will be less costly to the sponsor. In the
rare cases where it is felt that NBS should accept other agency work with this
criterion as the only one, specific approval must be obtained in advance from the
Director supported by a comparative cost analysis prepared by the Budget
Division.

IMPLEMENTATION OF NBS

MEASUREMENTS AND STANDARDS RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE

FEDERAL LEAD AGENCY CONCEPT

A REPORT TO THE NBS EXECUTIVE BOARD

June 1977