2024 NCWM Newsletter, Issue #3

Inside This Issue: - Chairman's Column - NTEP Column - 2025 Interim Meeting Information - The Meetup -Things to do in Charleston South Carolina - 110th Annual Meeting - Event Calendar - Safety Column - Introducing Brian Maser - NTEP Quick Guide - Tip of the Month - Iowa's World Record Eggplant - Welcome New Members

National Council on Weights and Measures NCWM NEWS

2024 Issue 3

Chairman ’ s Column Marc Paquette NCWM Chairman — State of Vermont

Chairman’s Column..............................1 NTEP Column.......................................5 2025 Interim Meeting............................7 The Meetup.............................................8 Things to do in Charleston...............,...9 110th Annual Meeting........................10 Safety Column.......................................13 Introducing New Staff: Brian Maser...........................................14 Iowa’s World Record Eggplant.............20 NCWM Welcomes New Members.......................................24 Be an Exhibitor......................................27 Advertise with NCWM........................29 NCWM Headquarters 9011 South 83rd Street Lincoln, Nebraska 68516 P. 402.434.4880 E. info@ncwm.com W. www.ncwm.com Don Onwiler Executive Director Elisa Stritt Director of Operations Danyelle Dolan Project Coordinator Darrell Flocken NTEP Administrator

Dear NCWM Members,

I am so looking forward to serving as the new Chair of NCWM. Last year it was a pleasure to travel to all the regions with then Chair Gene Robertson. In my role as Chair-Elect, I had the opportunity to meet many of you in person. Each region has a unique meeting and agenda style, and this gives an opportunity to learn, listen and carry that information and those

lessons back to NCWM. It is through these meetings and engagements that NCWM improves as an organization. It should be an exciting, fast-paced year where many actions items can be moved forward. The Annual Meeting in Cleveland, Ohio was memorable for many things. The open hearings and accompanying agendas were well attended and informative, and while there were many comments made, agendas moved very quickly. The committees did outstanding work during the hearings, work sessions, and voting sessions. Standout issues on EVSE, weighing in motion, moisture loss, and others kept attendees’ attention and focus. The business meeting had two voting items, one passed and one failed. As a result of the passing item the organization’s name is now the National COUNCIL on Weights and Measures! The attention and participation during both the open and voting sessions is a sign of strong, confident organization where the membership can exercise their membership rights in both giving testimony and casting votes. We are a consensus organization; all members should be encouraged to exercise their rights to share their opinions and vote. One of my favorite parts of the meeting was the Awards Ceremony where many of our volunteers were recognized for their contributions. There is not enough room to again state all the recipients, but I will mention our Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Tina Butcher of NIST OWM. Tina has been an advocate of weights and measures for many years and attended her first NCWM Annual Meeting in 1988. The number of task groups, committees, and trainings provided by Tina is truly astounding. I took my first training class with Tina in the year 2000 in Portland Maine on VTM’s. Tina has been a resource and friend to the NCWM community. We wish her well in her recent retirement.

Jeff Gibson NTEP Specialist Brian Maser NTEP Evaluator Allen Katalinic NTEP Evaluator Ed Payne NTEP Evaluator

NCWM-News 1

Chairman’s Column

For those of you who may not know me, I’ll share a little background. I grew up on a farm in the foothills of the Green Mountains in Vermont. At one point we had 20,000 laying hens, half a dozen replacement heifers, beef cattle, several pigs, two horses, barn cats, and of course our farm dog who was a beagle. It was a family farm of four kids and lots of work! My father was born in the farmhouse in 1920 and passed away in the same farmhouse in 2016 at the age of 95. I attended a local state college receiving a BS in Business Administration in 1986. I began work with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture in 1989 with the Consumer Protection Section which included both weights and measures as well agricultural grading duties. I have fond memories as being a certified maple syrup and products inspector for over 25 years. I received training and inspected RMFDs and VTMs and was lead inspector of large capacity scales (I still have my commercial driver’s license), and all other types of scales, package weighing, firewood, price verification, unit pricing, and labeling. I’m sure I forgot something in this list…… In 2010, I attended NIST metrology training in Gaithersburg. I took a lead in establishing two NIST recognized labs, one in 2013 and then 2019. This was done with the assistance of all VT weights & measures staff including our other currently recognized metrologist for Vermont, who were of great assistance in this work. It is with this background that I enthusiastically serve in this current role with NCWM. In my address at the Annual Meeting, I announced my theme for the year: “Building a Lasting Legacy.” It has continuity with the previous chair’s theme of “Staying Relevant.” My background from the farm, work with the VT Agency of Agriculture, and now NCWM has made an impression on me of the importance of creating, growing, and building programs, and completing initiatives. We are now reaping the benefits of what past members and Chairs have built over many years. We have a responsibility to continue to work and build that legacy for our current members, and for those who will be following after us.

In my address, I also outlined many initiatives. NCWM completed a National Price Verification Survey to which I had the privilege to contribute. Related to the commitment to accuracy in pricing is my support of the NIST OWM working group which will work in collaboration with NCWM on Unit Pricing issues. This work includes updating The NIST Special Publication 1181 Unit Pricing Guide – “A Best Practice to Unit Pricing” and updating the Uniform Unit Pricing Regulation in NIST Handbook 130 to encourage its adoption and use by the 9 states and District of Columbia that have mandatory Unit Pricing Regulations. The goal for completion of this work is one year with a proposal being submitted to update the handbook.

Other initiatives of NCWM include:

• The completion of the new NTEP laboratory being constructed in Lincoln, Nebraska. Once completed and in use, this facility will enhance services to companies requesting NTEP certification. This facility will also centralize NCWM in one location providing space for NCWM administration as well as meeting space. The EVSE task group which will work to provide guidance to jurisdictions which are starting EVSE compliance programs. This is a recently formed group responding to the needs of those jurisdictions working with EVSE. • • Planning for a first ever NCWM training school for compliance officials, registered service agents, and industry representatives with the subject of EVSE. Full support for the newly established Metrology Subcommittee. This subcommittee is dedicated to ensuring • accuracy, fairness, and transparency in weights and measures. Under the guidance of the NCWM Board of Directors, the subcommittee will provide ongoing support for the Professional Development Committee related to raisingawareness about the importance of metrology in weight and measures programs.

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2024 Issue 3

Chairman’s Column

• The Uniform Shipping Law Task Group will work to ensure transparent, equitable, and accountable shipping practices. The group will assess and refine the proposed Uniform Shipment Law by examining the regulation and determining what documentation and procedures shall be required for weights, remeasurements, and reclassifications. • Ongoing advocacy related to the 2022 NCWM -NIST National Survey on LP Gas Cylinders. The U.S. Department of Transportation tolerances became effective in December 2022 and are over 6 times the tolerances adopted by NCWM and enforced by the states since 1993. The NCWM petitioned the DOT in January 2023, recommending amending the December 2022 rule to align tolerances with those in NIST Handbook 130. We will continue to advocate for this change. These are some of the issues and initiatives that I will be supporting and working to move forward during my term as Chair. I will continue to keep members updated on our progress on these and other timely topics as the year progresses. It will be a privilege and honor to serve you and the organization over the next year. Please feel free to contact me with questions, ideas, or suggestions. I look forward to seeing many of you at the regional association meetings held around the country as well as at the January NCWM Interim Meeting in Charleston, South Carolina.

NCWM-News 3

2024 Issue 3

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NTEP Column

The History of the National Type Evaluation Program Darrell Flocken NTEP Administrator

The creation of the National Type Evaluation Program (NTEP) was first discussed in the late 1970s as a way for manufacturers to get new or enhanced product to the marketplace sooner while maintaining the confidence in the products performance by the regulatory community. Prior to the creation of NTEP, manufacturers presented their products to the Weights and Measures Department of the individual states, before or at the time of the first installation in the state. A representative of the department would then perform extensive testing to ensure confidence that the product complied with the

specifications and tolerances found in Handbook 44. I’m sure you can understand the burden this placed on the local weights and measures resources as well as the added time and expense for the manufacturer to have the product accepted for use in the marketplace. In the late 1970s, manufacturers of weighing and measuring instruments and leaders of the National Conference on Weights and Measures (NCWM) held meetings to discuss ways to improve the process. This led to the idea of creating an independently operated program where manufacturers could have their instruments evaluated and receive a Certificate of Conformance. This certificate could then be used as proof of compliance to state, local, and city regulatory jurisdictions. Before we go any further, we need to recognize that the National Bureau of Standards, the predecessor to the NIST, Office of Weights and Measures, offered this independent evaluation as early as the 1960s, however, the focus of this effort was on the larger weighing instrument such as hopper, vehicle, and railway track scales. This focus was limited, in part, to not having access to a laboratory which could evaluate the smaller scales. Coming back to the creation of NTEP, during the discussions it was agreed that not only should the evaluation be performed by an independent organization, but the organization should also work closely with manufacturers and regulators to create a common test method to confirm compliance to the requirements in the Handbook. These goals were satisfied by the creation of state operated laboratories to perform the evaluations and the creation of the NTEP technical sectors where manufacturers and regulators meet once a year to review the most recent changes to the Handbook and create/improve the test methods used for the evaluation. This discussion ultimately resulted in the creation of NTEP which opened its doors in 1986 and here we are, almost 38 years later and the basic concept of the program still stands. From its inception, the program was managed originally by NIST, OWM staff until 2000 when its management transitioned to the NCWM. At that same time NTEP introduced and began administering the Verified Conformity Assessment Program. Today, through its association with the NCWM, NTEP has developed a working relationship with Measurement Canada under the U.S/Canada, Mutual Recognition Arrangement for the common evaluation of specific products and participates as a Utilizer in the OIML-CS for acceptance of test data for load cells.

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2024 Issue 3

NTEP Column

The output of the NTEP evaluation is the NTEP Certificate of Conformance which is required in 48 of the 50 States, recognized in Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Vegin Islands, and is accepted in several other countries. The National Type Evaluation Program has come a long way; however, it has never strayed from its reason for inception.

If you have any questions related to the information in this article, please feel free to contact either:

Jeff Gibson, NTEP Specialist, at jeff.gibson@ncwm.com or Darrell Flocken, NTEP Administrator, at darrell.flocken@ncwm.com.

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2024 Issue 3

Coming Up! 2025 NCWM Interim Meeting January 12 - 15 | Charleston, South Carolina The Interim Meeting is where our standing committees come together to hear testimony on new proposals brought forth from the regional meetings as well as carryover items from the previous year. In addition, the committees will determine the status of each item for the voting session of our Annual Meeting in July. Presentations, testimony, and work sessions will occur through the week. Committee agendas will be available on our Pub 15 page. MEETING LOCATION Francis Marion Hotel 387 King Street Charleston, South Carolina 29403 Group Rate: $159 ( Prevailing Government Per Diem) Make your hotel reservation now! Reservation Discount Deadline: December 19, 2024 EVENTS The Chairman’s Reception will honor Marc Paquette from the State of Vermont. The reception will be Sunday, January 12 th , from 5:30pm-7:00pm. Dress is business casual.

2024 Issue 3

NCWM-News 7

The Meetup

Elisa Stritt, CAE Director of Operations NCWM

Our 109th Annual Meeting was in downtown Cleveland, Ohio at the newly renovated Hotel Cleveland. The fresh property was incredible for the most well-attended meeting since 2000. We had 284 attendees from all over the United States, plus several from Canada and Nigeria. We had a great turnout of first-time attendees, many of whom were from the Buckeye State, up to Mr. Richard Suiter, who attended his 35th annual meeting. The feedback from the post-meeting survey indicated Cleveland was a pleasant surprise with much to do and see. Downtown is incredibly walkable, with picturesque views of Lake Erie and historical sights like Public Square and the Fountain of Eternal Life. Filming for the latest Superman movie happened while we were there; maybe we can catch the movie together next July in Reno! For our Tuesday morning General Session, members of the Northeast Ohio Honor Guard opened the session for keynote speakers Brian Baldridge, Director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Dr. Laurie Locasio, NIST Director, Ms. Josie Montoney-Crawford, Assistant Director of Public Policy at NASDA, and NCWM Chair Gene Robertson, from the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce. We concluded the week with a private event at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We spent hours touring the seven levels of rock and roll memorabilia. The highlight for many was the jam sessions from those musically inclined or the after- hours party on the 14th floor… I heard it was fun!

The next stop for NCWM is Charleston, South Carolina for the 2025 Interim Meeting. We will take over the Francis Marion Hotel. We were at this same property for the 2013 and 2019 Interim Meetings and look forward to returning. The next annual meeting will be in Reno, Nevada, where we will stay on the famous Row of Reno at the Silver Legacy. Reservations and registrations are now open, so secure your spot today! You can see all future meeting locations and dates on our website, with two recent additions. The 2026 Annual Meeting will be at the Marriott Old City in Philadelphia. It will be familiar to many of you as it was the home of our 100th Annual Meeting in 2015 (previously the Sheraton Society Hill). The year 2026 means a lot to the city of Philly as it is the 250th Anniversary of America! We are excited to announce the 2027 Interim Meeting will be in Redondo Beach, California! These meetings have phenomenal locations and will be an excellent opportunity to bring an additional colleague or the fam! I am currently planning for the 2028 Interim Meeting and the 2027 Annual Meeting, which will land in the southern region. Check the Meetings page periodically for updates!

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2024 Issue 3

Things To Do In Charleston, SC

Local Cuisine: Charleston Crab House Victor’s Seafood and Steak Coast Bar and Grill MESU Bitty and Beau’s Coffee Kaminsky’s Dessert Café

Local Sights: Pineapple Fountain Rainbow Row Public Pier Gibbes Museum of Art Mace Brown Museum of Natural History

Patrick O’Donnell House Nathanial Russell House Stroll Down King Street Powder Magazine Old Slave Mart Museum The Charleston Museum And so much more...

Looking Forward...

EVENT CALENDAR

110 th NCWM Annual Meeting July 13th - 17th | Reno, Nevada

2024 September NTEP Measuring Sector Meeting

The Annual Meeting is the high point of our year where all the hard work pays off. At this meeting, stakeholders will debate important proposals to amend the United States standards for weights and measures. When the debating is done, the votes will be cast. Our committees have their work cut out for them with some very full and diverse agendas. Committee agendas are available on our Pub 16 page.

Cincinnati, Ohio September 17-18 October SWMA Annual Meeting San Antonio, Texas October 6-11 NEWMA Interim Meeting Norwich, Connecticut October 21-23 CWMA Interim Meeting

MEETING LOCATION Silver Legacy Resort Casino

407 N Virginia Street Reno, Nevada 89501

(833) 410-3767 Room Rate: $ 99 Reservation Discount Deadline: June 20th, 2025 Make your hotel reservation now!

Dubuque, Iowa October 28-31 2025 January 2025 NCWM Interim Meeting Charleston, South Carolina January 12-15 May NTEP MDMD Work Group Meeting Reynoldsburg, Ohio May 7 July 110th NTEP Annual Meeting Reno, Nevada July 13-17

EVENTS The Chairman’s Reception will honor Marc Paquette from the State of Vermont. The reception will be Sunday, July 13 th , from 5:30pm-7:00pm. The reception attire is business casual. Our Special Event on Wednesday, July 16th, 2025 is to be detirmined.

10 NCWM-News

2024 Issue 3

Safety Column

Ouch, what was that pop? Mike Peeler New Jersey Office of Weights and Measures

Ouch my back, my knee, my neck. Sounds like a whiplash commercial, but in actuality, it’s what can happen to you if you don’t lift properly. Simple little things like lifting, twisting, or bending incorrectly can really cause some serious damage to your body. For example, lifting a 30lb weight kit into your vehicle incorrectly could possibly cause a snapped tendon or a torn muscle. Other injuries that can be associated with improper lifting techniques are tendinitis, herniated disk, pinched nerves, muscle strains and low back injuries. In NIST HB 133, Section 1.6, Health and Safety, it states “This handbook cannot address all of the health and safety issues associated with its use. The inspector is responsible for determining the appropriate safety and health practices and procedures before starting an inspection.” Why are lifting ergonomics important? OSHA reports back injuries account for one in five workplace injuries, and 75% of workplace related back injuries occur during a lifting task. Also, per NCWM’s Safety Surveys, between 2016 – 2019, 72.6% of reported Weights and Measures injuries were due to lifting, twisting, bending, slips and falls. Before you lift, let’s go over using proper lifting techniques: PLAN AHEAD • Know what you are lifting and how you will lift it • Be aware of the weight of the object • Determine whether or not it’s safe to lift on your own • Make sure the work area is flat, dry and clear of debris • Use lift assists, dolly, cart, hand truck or hoist

You’ve probably heard, “lift with your knees, not with your back.” But what does it mean? It means you should never bend forward to lift a heavy object. Instead, you should squat, secure the load, and stand by straightening your legs while keeping your back straight or slightly arched. Safe lifting involves: • Standing as close to the load as possible • Planting your feet shoulder-width apart with one foot slightly ahead of the other • Bending at the hips and knees only until you’re deep in a squatting position • Keeping your head up and straight with your shoulders back to keep your back straight • Holding the load close to your body at waist height • Engaging your core muscles as you push against the ground and straighten your legs Here are a few essential don’ts to keep in mind for good lifting ergonomics: • Never twist your torso while lifting. Stay “nose between your toes.” • Never lift a heavy item above shoulder level. • Never carry a load that obstructs your vision. • Never hold your breath while lifting, moving, and setting the load Keep in mind that the most dangerous lifting tasks are repetitive and for sustained periods. You need to monitor your exertion level and take a break before you become too tired. The temptation to hurry, lift and hope you ‘get away with it’ is a daily threat. Slow down just a little. Think of the consequences before you act. And lift safely.

CHECK YOUR PATHWAY • Make sure the lift pathway is clear • Remove any tripping hazards or debris • Check for any wet or slick surfaces

GET HELP WHEN NEEDED • When lifting awkward or heavy items, utilize a two- person lift • Make sure you lift at the same time and keep the load level

2024 Issue 3

NCWM-News 13

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National Council on Weights and Measures “That Equity May Prevail”

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