Committee on Publications Report
The Board approved the COP recommendation that the 1999 Charles B. Dudley Award be given to ASTM Manual 17, Paint and Coatings Manual, published in 1995 and nominated by Committee D01 on Paint and Related Coatings, Materials, and Applications. The editor for this manual is Joseph Koleske.

Technical Committee Business
The language governing the use of proxies has been changed in the ASTM Regulations by the Committee on Technical Committee Operations (COTCO) and this change was presented to the Board. The section of the Regulations now reads (additions are in colored type):

PROXIES—As stipulated in its bylaws, a committee may authorize its voting members to delegate, in writing, qualified individuals as proxies in meetings, but no individual shall hold or exercise proxies for more than one member in any committee. The voting member wishing to assign a proxy shall contact the individual to hold the proxy and complete a duly executed proxy form. The original of the signed and duly executed proxy form shall be submitted to the chairman of the committee or subcommittee prior to the applicable meeting or action.

See this month's HowTo article for more information on this change.

Approval was granted for the disbandment of the following committees:
--Committee E49 on Computerized Systems and Chemical and Material Information. Ten of the 28 E49 standards will be transferred to other committees. The rest will be withdrawn.
--Committee F21 on Filtration. Some of the committee’s standards have been taken under the jurisdiction of Committee D22 on Sampling and Analysis of Atmospheres.

The Board also approved the motion that Committee E19 on Chromatography be absorbed as a new subcommittee (E13.19) of Committee E13 on Molecular Spectroscopy, with the former chairman of E19 serving as subcommittee chairman.

The Board approved the formation of new Main Committee F34 on Rolling Element Bearings. A traditional standards development focus will begin this activity with over 200 military standards and specifications to become ASTM documents. A strategic standards development plan is under way to identify standards needs in product-specific markets. Technical and professional training courses are also being considered for the areas of quality control, maintenance, and refurbishing. An international ASTM symposium on Rolling Bearing Steel is scheduled for the November Committee Week in Dallas, Texas, in 2001. See the feature article on page 26 for more information on this new committee.

The Board approved Society recognition of the Committee E06 George Stern Award of Excellence and the Committee E08 Edward T. Wessel Award.

New Opportunities for ASTM
Director Kay Villa proposed ASTM’s involvement in certification services. The Board discussed the proposal, which outlined the interest of Committee D13 on Textiles in a program to certify laboratory technicians using D13 test methods and practices, a proposed program structure, as well as the pros and cons of establishing an ASTM certification program. Following the discussion, the Board voted unanimously to form a task group to conduct a feasibility study on establishing a D13 Technician and Operator Certification Program, with Kay Villa as chairman of the task group.

ASTM staff reviewed for the Board the proposed ASTM Outsource Services Program. This will be a standalone business unit under the umbrella of ASTM. The program would involve outsourcing ASTM services to interested organizations. The Board voted unanimously to approve the proposed program.

Report of the ASTM Washington Representative
The board heard the report of ASTM Washington Representative Kitty Kono. Hearings on Public Law 104-113 were held on March 15 before the House Science Committees Subcommittee on Technology. Those who testified were Belinda Collins, NIST; Jim Wells, U.S. General Accounting Office; Greg Saunders, Department of Defense; and Richard Black, Department of Energy. The purpose of the hearing was to evaluate how well NIST is doing in coordinating the Federal Agencies’ ability to respond to P.L. 104-113, which was signed into law four years ago. In addition, the Act also requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to report to Congress on an annual basis when a government Agency or Department decides to use a government-unique standard.

Conclusions drawn from the hearing were that:
--Federal agencies are shifting from the use of government-unique to voluntary consensus standards;
--There is a significant decline in participation in standards committees from about 5,200 participants in 1997 to about 3,200 in 1998. However, it was also reported that government personnel are being more efficient by representing their agencies on many committees;
--Decreasing federal resources have lowered the priorities for standards activities within agencies making it difficult for representatives to get funding for meetings.

It is anticipated that a second hearing will be held sometime in the coming months with a panel of representatives from the private sector. ASTM may be asked to testify.

William T. Cavanaugh Memorial Award
The Board approved the presentation of the W.T. Cavanaugh Memorial Award to past ASTM Chairman John A. Millane, Tinius Olsen Testing Machine Co., Willow Grove, Pa., and James Turner, chief Democratic counsel for the Committee on Science of the U.S. House of Representatives. Biographical material on the award winners will appear in an upcoming issue of SN.

Welcome to the following new members of the Board, whose terms began this year:
--Jeffery I. Enyart, ISG Resources, Houston, Texas;
--Stephen W. Hopkins, Exponent Failure Analysis Associates, Menlo Park, Calif.;
--Lisa A. Johnson, Southern Pine Inspection Bureau, Pensacola, Fla.;
--Helene Hardy Pierce, Commercial Roofing Systems and Technical Services, Tamko Roofing Products, Inc., Joplin, Mo.;
--Leslie Smith, Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Md.; and
--N. David Smith, Standards Division for the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Raleigh, N.C.

Biographical material on Board members and information on upcoming Board meetings is published in the Board of Directors book, available by contacting Josephine Felizzi (fax: 610/832-9623). //

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