ENGINE FUELS LAW TO BE CHANGED TO PROTECT CONSUMERS FROM FALSE CLAIMS


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:             NIST 96-12
April 19, 1996

Contact:  Roger Rensberger         ENGINE FUELS LAW TO BE
          (301) 975-2762           CHANGED TO PROTECT
          media@nist.gov           CONSUMERS FROM FALSE CLAIMS

     Weights and measures officials in the National Conference on
Weights and Measures are expected to adopt revisions to the Uniform
Engine Fuels, Petroleum Products, and Automotive Lubricants Inspection
Law that would make it illegal to misrepresent the "brand" of a product.
The changes are aimed at protecting consumers from firms that make false
claims on their products.

     The changes to NIST Handbook 130, Uniform Laws and Regulations,
will be voted on by delegates to the 81st Annual Meeting of NCWM, July
21-25, 1996, in New Orleans.

     NCWM is a standards writing organization of more than 3,500 state,
county and city weights and measures officials and associated business,
federal and consumer representatives. The Commerce Department's National
Institute of Standards and Technology, a non-regulatory agency of the
department's Technology Administration, provides technical support to
NCWM through its Office of Weights and Measures.

     The recommended changes to NIST Handbook 130 are proposed by the
NCWM Laws and Regulations Committee with the cooperation of industry.
The proposed changes will make it illegal to misrepresent the American
Petroleum Institute's Service Classification and the Society of
Automotive Engineers' Number Classification on containers of automotive
lubricants such as motor oil.

     At the 81st Annual Meeting, delegates also will be asked to vote on
a recommendation by the L&R Committee to adopt revisions to the
requirement for labeling of Gasoline-Oxygenate Blends in the Uniform
Regulation for the Method of Sale of Commodities. The proposals were
submitted to NCWM by the Western and Southern Weights and Measures
Associations.

     The recommended changes in the method of sale requirements and
similar changes in the uniform engine fuels regulation will provide much
needed flexibility to gasoline refiners, pipeline and terminal
operators, wholesalers and retailers in labeling gasoline-oxygenate
blends while helping consumers ensure that the fuels they purchase meet
manufacturers' recommendations on the use of oxygenates. Use of fuels
containing oxygenates may void some manufacturers' warranties.

     For information on the 81st Annual Meeting of the National
Conference on Weights and Measures, contact NCWM, P.O. Box 4025,
Gaithersburg, Md. 20885, (301) 975-4012, fax: (301) 926-0647, e-mail:
owm@nist.gov (Internet).

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NOTE TO EDITORS: NCWM was established in 1905 by the director of the
National Bureau of Standards "to bring about uniformity in state laws
referring to weights and measures." Today NCWM establishes uniform laws,
regulations, device specifications and tolerances that are adopted by
state and local government agencies as the basis of weights and measures
enforcement across the country.