Guided by the ANSI Board of Directors and informed by the ANSI National Policy Advisory Group, ANSI’s public policy and government affairs activities are intended to enable access and information exchange among the standards community and public-sector leaders, agencies, and legislators. The Government Member Forum serves as a focal point for discussion of government standards and conformity assessment interests as they relate to ANSI and our members.
In collaboration with organizations across sectors, ANSI works to foster understanding of the major role standards play in the international and domestic marketplace and the contribution the standards and conformity assessment communities make to the economy and the public as a whole. Informed by the work of the National Policy Advisory Group, ANSI develops public policy positions on issues that concern the standards community.
View ANSI's Mary Saunders' Testimony, "Setting the Standards: Strengthening U.S. Leadership in Technical Standards," House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, Subcommittee on Research Technology Hearing – March 17, 2022
For complete hearing proceedings, including all witness testimony, visit the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology website.
ANSI advocates greater use of voluntary consensus standards by government agencies as well as broader participation by agency personnel in standards development. Today, nearly every agency of government has a need for standards, whether as an element of regulatory regime or as a key part of procurement policy and operations. In fact, one important value of voluntary standards is that they aid the government in tackling its mandate to ensure public safety and health.
ANSI facilitates this trend and maintains a close relationship with our government members through the Government Member Forum (GMF), which is made up of representatives from a variety of state, local and federal agencies. The GMF provides an opportunity for government members to network on issues relating to standards and to provide input on issues of specific concern to government users and participants in standards activities.
NEW BENEFIT FOR ANSI FULL MEMBERS!ANSI's Government Relations & Public Policy Monthly Update tracks current legislative and regulatory initiatives of significant relevance to the standardization community, researched and compiled by Mary Saunders, ANSI vice president, government relations. Issued monthly as a member benefit, the newsletter features highlights of federal and Congressional activities in priority areas for ANSI's constituents and standardization stakeholders.
The government uses voluntary consensus standards in a variety of ways, including to establish internal procedures, aid in developing regulations for public safety and welfare, and improve the efficiency of the procurement process. When adopting a voluntary consensus standard into a regulation, federal agencies are permitted to incorporate the standard by reference – that is, without publication of the standard itself – in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR).
For a standard to be incorporated by reference or “IBR-ed,” the agency must determine that the standard is “reasonably available” to the class of persons affected by the anticipated regulation. “Reasonably available” simply means that the standard is accessible to any potential user. It does not require that the standard be available without a fee.
Standards do not lose their copyright protection just by being referenced, and they can be made reasonably available in a number of different ways. For example, some standards developing organizations make certain IBR-ed standards available on an online, read-only site – like the ANSI IBR Portal. And many others make standards available at reasonable prices, at discounts, or without charge to consumers, policymakers, and small businesses. There is not one single way to make standards reasonably available.
Send us a note to let us know which government affairs/public policy issues you’d like ANSI to monitor.
