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Standards Open for Comment

Standards open for comment at OSAC

SDO Published Standards Under Consideration for the OSAC Registry 

The OSAC Registry approval process for published standards is used to review existing SDO-published standards for technical quality and placement on the Registry. 

  • There are no SDO-published standards under consideration for the OSAC Registry at this time.

NOTE: IN JANUARY 2022, OSAC’S FORENSIC SCIENCE STANDARDS BOARD (FSSB) APPROVED THAT THE REQUIREMENT FOR AN OSAC-MANAGED COMMENT PERIOD FOR REGISTRY APPROVAL OF SDO PUBLISHED STANDARDS CAN BE MET DURING THE SDO’S PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD. THE PUBLIC WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT ON A STANDARD DURING ITS DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE SDO’S PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD. THIS CHANGE ALLOWS COMMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED DURING THE SDO DEVELOPMENT PROCESS, PRIOR TO PUBLICATION, ENABLING UPGRADES TO BE DIRECTLY INCORPORATED INTO THE STANDARD RATHER THAN RECEIVING THE COMMENTS AFTER THE STANDARD IS PUBLISHED. IN CASES WHERE OSAC CAN DOCUMENT THE SDO’S PUBLIC COMMENT OPPORTUNITY, OSAC WILL NOT EXECUTE A SECOND PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD DURING ITS REGISTRY APPROVAL PROCESS. SEE THE SDO UPDATES BELOW FOR INFORMATION ON THE STANDARDS CURRENTLY OPEN FOR COMMENT AT SDOS.

OSAC Proposed Standards Under Consideration for the OSAC Registry

The OSAC Registry approval process for OSAC Proposed Standards reviews OSAC-drafted standards for technical quality and placement on the Registry. The following draft OSAC Proposed Standards are being considered for submission to an SDO. The final draft provided to the SDO will be available on the OSAC Registry as an “OSAC Proposed Standard.” OSAC welcomes comments on whether the current drafts are suitable for release to the SDO and suggestions for improvements in content and wording. To be considered, comments must be placed in the OSAC Comment Form and sent to comments@nist.gov by 11:59 p.m. ET on February 3, 2025.

Standards Open for Comment at SDOs

ASB

The Academy Standards Board (ASB)(link is external) encourages all interested parties to provide comments on documents in progress. The following documents are open for public comment. To provide comments, download the comment template(link is external) and return it to asb@aafs.org by the deadline.    

Firearms & Toolmarks:

Forensic Document Examination:

Forensic Toxicology:

Medicolegal Death Investigation:

*Comments on a re-circulation will only be accepted on revised sections of a document, comments made to text not revised from the previous public comment period will not be accepted. 

ASTM

The following ASTM(link is external) standards are currently open for public comment through ANSI. To obtain an electronic copy of the document, email accreditation@astm.org. Please submit your comments to accreditation@astm.org (copy psa@ansi.org). The comment deadline is March 3, 2025. 

Ignitable Liquids, Explosives, and Gunshot Residue:

  • ASTM WK72526, Practice for Opinions on the Interpretation of Primer Gunshot Residue (pGSR) Analysis by Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry (SEM/EDS).
  • ASTM WK85367, Practice for the Identification of Compounds related to Organic Gunshot Residue (OGSR) by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS). 
    • NOTE: This is OSAC 2022-S-0003, Standard Practice for the Identification of Compounds Related to Organic Gunshot Residue (OGSR) by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS), currently on the OSAC Registry. 
  • ASTM WK85368, Practice for the Identification of Compounds Related to Organic Gunshot Residue (OGSR) by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). 
    • NOTE: This is OSAC 2022-S-0002, Standard Practice for the Identification of Compounds Related to Organic Gunshot Residue (OGSR) by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), currently on the OSAC Registry. 
  • ASTM E1588-202x, Practice for Gunshot Residue Analysis by Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectrometry (revision of ANSI/ASTM E1588-2020).
  • ASTM E2881-202x, Test Method for Extraction and Derivatization of Vegetable Oils and Fats from Fire Debris and Liquid Samples with Analysis by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (revision of ANSI/ASTM E2881-2018).

Interdisciplinary:

  • ASTM WK84882, Practice for Forensic Science Testimony.

Seized Drugs:

  • ASTM E2329-202x, Practice for Identification of Seized Drugs (revision of ANSI/ASTM E2329-2017).

Trace Materials:

  • ASTM WK88490, Practice for Physical Fit Analysis Training Program. 
    • NOTE: This is OSAC 2023-N-0011, Standard Practice for a Physical Fit Analysis Training Program, currently on the OSAC Registry
  • ASTM WK89493, Guide for Detection and Preservation of Forensic Trace Evidence. 
    • NOTE: This is OSAC 2023-N-0027, Standard Guide for Forensic Trace Evidence Recovery, currently on the OSAC Registry. 
  • ASTM E2926-202x, Test Method for Forensic Comparison of Glass Using Micro X-ray Fluorescence (-XRF) Spectrometry (revision of ANSI/ASTM E2926-2017).
  • ASTM E3406-202x, Guide for Microspectrophotometry in Forensic Fiber Analysis.

Looking for tips on the open comment process? 

Check out this article(link is external) by Karen Reczek, former FSSB NIST Ex Officio, on best practice recommendations for submitting comments on draft standards.

Created July 29, 2020, Updated January 28, 2025