The Office of Consumer Affairs

January 1998 Report

on

DOC Consumer-Related Activities

The following agencies are included in this report:

• Bureau of the Census
• Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA)
• International Trade Administration (ITA)
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• Technology Administration/National Institute of Standards and Technology
• Technology Administration/National Technical Information Service (NTIS)





BUREAU OF THE CENSUS
• Dad or Other Relative Cares for 4 in 10 Preschoolers While Mother Works:

-- About 43 percent of America's 10.3 million preschool children received primary care from relatives other than their mothers in the fall of 1994.

-- Grandparents and other nonparental relatives provided about 35 percent of the primary care for Black preschool children, compared to 21 percent for White children.

-- About 21 percent of White or Hispanic preschoolers received care from a nonrelative, either in the child's home or in the provider's home. Only 15 percent of Black preschoolers received care from nonrelatives.

-- Ten percent of preschoolers in poor families received primary care from their mothers who were working for pay in the home or away from home.

For questions about the data, contact Lynne Casper (301-457-2416). For more information, see Who's Minding Our Preschoolers? Fall 1994 (Update), P70-62. For ordering information, contact Customer Services (301-457-4100). The Internet address is: http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/childcare.html.

• Nevada Fastest Growing State in Nation for 12th Straight Year

-- Nevada's population grew by 4.8 percent from 1996 to 1997, followed by Arizona with a 2.7 population growth.

-- Other fast-growing states were Georgia and Utah, whose populations grew by 2.1 percent each, and Colorado, 2.0 percent.

-- A growth rate of 1.6 made the West the fastest-growing region. The South was second at 1.3 percent, followed by the Midwest at 0.5 percent and the Northeast at 0.2 percent.

For questions about the data, contact Greg Harper (301-457-2441). The Internet address is: http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/statepop.html.




OFFICE OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS (OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY)
• Citibank/AT&T Universal Card Services: Director and staff met with Janet Koehler, Teala Milton, and Barbara Maddox of AT&T Universal Card Services to discuss consumer affairs issues along with the company's coming merger with Citibank. They expressed great interest in the Department's activities concerning electronic commerce.
• OCA Web Site: OCA, working with the Office of Systems and Telecommunications Management, expanded its web site to include complete publications, links to other consumer-related web sites and guidance to consumers about who to contact for information and to resolve complaints.
• National Institute for Consumer Education (NICE): Director and staff met with Rosella Bannister and Gwen Reichbach of NICE to discuss consumer affairs activities and their interest in applying for a Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
• Constituent Contacts: During January 1998, OCA responded to 157 requests from constituents.






INTERNATIONAL TRADE ADMINISTRATION

• Electronic Commerce Overview: When President Clinton released the Framework for Global Electronic Commerce last July, he also tasked relevant executive agencies with implementing his agenda for the emerging digital marketplace. The President conferred a leadership role to the Department of Commerce, assigning the Department specific responsibility for privacy, security, copyright, patentable innovations, domain names, electronic authentication, standards, content, and infrastructure access. Secretary Daley has made electronic commerce one of his highest priorities and stated that ITA's participation in all the Department's electronic commerce activities will be critical.

Underlining the importance of electronic commerce, the ITA has dedicated its entire January 1998 issue of Business America to this dynamic area. Among the many subjects that are dealt with in this issue are the effects of electronic commerce on such fields as retailing, travel and tourism, banking, insurance, telemedicine, direct marketing, and entertainment, and on such issues as authentication technologies, intellectual property protection, privacy, and transparency.

The January issue of Business America also contains an announcement of a conference that ITA is organizing entitled "Electronic Commerce in International Trade: A Conference and Dialogue on Global Policy Developments and U.S. Business." It will take place on May 19, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the U.S. Department of Commerce auditorium.





NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

• NMFS Recently Published Comprehensive Reports on European and American Molluscan Fisheries: Publication and distribution of The History, Present Condition, and Future of the Molluscan Fisheries of North and Central America and Europe was recently completed by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The three-volume set, of about 230 pages each, covers in detail the species fished and cultured in 44 thoroughly detailed chapters, nation by nation, and by state and province for the United States and Canada.

Covered in detail are historical and current methods of shellfish harvest and culture, harvest data, and preparation of cooking methods. Besides the well-known species of clams, oysters, scallops, and mussels, other mollusks reviewed include abalones, conchs, snails, whelks, periwinkles, cockles, and many others (cephalopods are generally not covered). Copies of the three volumes are available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh,, PA 152-7954; 202-512-1800.

• Federal Science, Advice on Northeast Groundfish Is Sound--National Academy of Science Panel Endorses Tough Harvest Restrictions: Federal studies describing recent Northeastern groundfish stock declines are sound, says the National Academy of Science through an independent panel of experts. The panel found "no scientific basis to support assertions that the regulations imposed by Amendment 7 of the Northeast Multispecies Management Plan are too severe from a biological perspective." The panel also supports the dramatic actions (restrictions on fishing effort) that have been taken to attempt recovery of these stocks.
• NOAA Using Congressional Tools to Combat Overfishing, Bycatch: As we enter the 1998 International Year of the Ocean, the NMFS is making strong commitments to curtail and eliminate overfishing and bycatch in U.S. waters. Overfishing and bycatch are major culprits in the depletion of living resources in the world's oceans. NOAA announced that a National Bycatch Plan, under new provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, will be completed within 60 days. It will assist regional fishery management councils to comply with a national standard requiring that bycatch be minimized and to establish standardized reporting methods on bycatch by next October.






TECHNOLOGY ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY

• Power Doubling for WWVB Could Help Keep You on Schedule: For everyone who made a New Year's resolution to be more on time for meetings and events in 1998, there's good news from NIST.

WWVB, the low-frequency standard time and frequency radio station operated by NIST's Time and Frequency Division, has doubled its broadcasting power to 23 kilowatts, increasing the range of the extremely accurate time signal that can be used to automatically set the correct time in clocks, watches, VCRs, cars, and electronic gear of all kinds.

Controlled by the NIST atomic clock in Boulder, Colorado, WWVB had previously operated at 10 kilowatts for more than three decades. WWVB transmits its time signal on a frequency of 60 kilohertz from a site near Fort Collins, Colorado. It is not audible and requires special receivers to decode.

The power upgrade improves WWVB's signal strength over the entire continental United States. This permits the use of less expensive receivers and antennas. Even radio-controlled wristwatches can now maintain accurate time. And now, manufacturers of various appliances, instrumentation and electronic devices can consider installing miniature receiver-clocks in their products.

Over the next year, a second high-powered transmitter and antenna will be brought online to double WWVB's total power once again (to between 40 and 50 kilowatts) and provide additional reliability. When both transmitters and antennas are in operation, they can operate at less than maximum rated power. This greatly extends their life and reduces the chances of outages due to equipment failure.

• Experts Report on Search for 21st Century Refrigerants: As the twentieth century closes, two major environmental concerns--ozone depletion and global warming--are matters of international debate and controversy. Some experts worry that alternative refrigerants adopted as substitutes for ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons are themselves "greenhouse" gases and will contribute towards global warming. An October 1997 international conference, sponsored by NIST and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, took a look at this issue. Approximately 200 participants from industry, government, and academia attending "Refrigerants for the 21st Century" addressed the merits of different refrigerants and technologies. The proceedings from the conference are now available.

Several alternative refrigerants and options are examined by the 16 papers in the proceedings. Detailed in these papers are each refrigerant's ozone-depletion potential, direct global warming potential, system efficiency, safety (such as flammability and toxicity) and cost.

Conference chair Piotr Domanski, a group leader in NIST's Building Environment Division, called the conference a "dialogue among professionals." He said, "The conference presented the options for the next century and determined that there is no perfect refrigerant. Trade-offs between different refrigerants and technologies are unavoidable."





TECHNOLOGY ADMINISTRATION

NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE

• Fedworld®:

-- IRS Tax Forms: Most Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax forms, tax form instructions and IRS publications are available from http://www.fedworld.gov/taxsear.htm on the FedWorld Information Network. The documents are available in three different computer formats, including the well know Adobe Acrobat, or PDF format. These files can be viewed and printed using either Windows or Macintosh computers.

-- GOV.Research_Center™: The NTIS and the National Information Services Corporation (NISC) have signed a joint-venture agreement to develop a new online service offering a convenient, single access point to valuable Federal government information. This new service, known as the GOV.Research_Center, will combine NTIS' research databases with NISC's software technology. It can be accessed at http://grc.ntis.gov and offers direct, reasonable priced access to well-known Federal government-sponsored research databases including: the NTIS Bibliographic Database, AGRICOLA, AGRIS, the Energy Science and Technology Database (ESTD), the Federal Research in Progress (FEDRIP) Database, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSHTIC) Database, and the Registry of Toxic Substances (RTECS) Database. Subscriptions to each individual database will be available. Additional Federal government data sources will be offered in the near future. The new subscription service will be entirely Web-based and provide information professionals with easy, worldwide access. Scientists, engineers, and researchers will find NISC's powerful search software enables both broad-based as well as refined search and retrieval capabilities.

• Products of High Interest: (Unless otherwise indicated, call the NTIS Sales Desk at 1-800-553-NTIS to order these products.)

-- Turbulence - A Little Bumpy Air(AVA20011VNB1NEN, $140 plus a handling fee) To minimize the risks of turbulence-related injury to passengers, a Federal government/industry team has produced training materials which emphasize the importance of clear communications between dispatcher, cockpit, and cabin. The three producers are Macdonnell Douglas, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Air Transport Association. The training program includes a 345-page illustrated manual and a 26-minute video. It gives pilots and other aviation professionals a heightened awareness of weather conditions that can cause turbulence, pointers on how to avoid it, and ways to minimize risk in unavoidable encounters with turbulence. It also highlights other procedures which will promote safety.

-- Cleaning Up the Nation's Waste Sites: Markets and Technology Trends-- (PB96-178041NEN, $44 plus a handling fee)--Nearly a quarter of a million U.S. sites with potential contamination from hazardous waste and petroleum products are identified in a new report from the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. The study includes invaluable information on site characteristics, market size, and other factors and is backed by liberal use of charts for quick grasp of demand. The estimated cost for all future work is about $187 million or higher. With information provided in the report, technology vendors, developers and investors, and Federal government officials can assess the demand for cleanup services. From that assessment, they may better identify business opportunities and plan technology research and development efforts.