On January 3, 2012, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) issued a Special Bulletin extending the deadline for persons who own fuel oil delivery trucks to comply with section 3.31 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Handbook 44.  Section 3.31 of NIST requires installation of special equipment on fuel oil delivery trucks so that proper testing can be performed for temperature adjusted product.  The deadline for the installation of this equipment has been extended from July 1, 2011 to October 1, 2012.

Section 3.31 of NIST requires fuel oil trucks, equipped with automatic temperature compensators, have the necessary equipment installed such that testing can be performed in (a) the liquid chamber of the meter; or (b) immediately adjacent to the meter in the meter inlet or discharge line.  This type of testing will be performed by the enforcement staff of the PDA’s Weights and Measures Division.  Fuel oil delivery trucks subject to the meter installation requirement that are found to be non-compliant after October 1, 2012 will be subject to rejection and taken out of service.

The Division of Weights and Measures is responsible for regulating the quantity of the following products and services that consumers buy:

• Retail Motor Fuel Dispensers
• Coal
• Firewood
• Home Heating Oil
• Liquid Propane Gas
• Small and Medium Commercial Scales
• Large Truck Scales
• Checkout Scanner Systems
• Package Checking
• Petroleum Terminal Facilities