Title 15Commerce and TradeRelease 119-73

§203 Replacing lost standard weights and measures; cost

Title 15 › Chapter CHAPTER 6— - WEIGHTS AND MEASURES AND STANDARD TIME › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - WEIGHTS, MEASURES, AND STANDARDS GENERALLY › § 203

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Commerce must send exact replacement standard weights and measures, marked with the NIST seal and a certificate, to any State, Territory, or institution that received them before. The governor (for a State or Territory) or the institution’s head must apply in writing saying the replacements are for items lost or destroyed. Before delivery, the applicant must pay the full cost to cover NIST’s expenses, and that payment is put into the U.S. Treasury as miscellaneous receipts when the items are handed over for shipment to the people named by the ordering officers.

Full Legal Text

Title 15, §203

Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

The Secretary of Commerce is authorized and directed to furnish precise copies of standard weights and measures, bearing the seal of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and accompanied by a suitable certificate, to any State, Territory, or institution heretofore furnished with the same, upon application in writing by the governor in the case of a State or Territory, or by the official head in the case of an institution, setting forth that the copies of standards applied for are to replace similar ones heretofore furnished, in accordance with law, which have been lost or destroyed: Provided, That the applicant shall, before the said standards are delivered, first deposit with the Secretary of Commerce the amount of money necessary to defray all expenses incurred by the National Institute of Standards and Technology in furnishing the same, which amount shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of miscellaneous receipts as soon as the weights or measures are delivered for transportation into the hands of such persons as are designated by the officers ordering the same.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1988—Pub. L. 100–418 substituted “National Institute of Standards and Technology” for “Bureau of Standards” in two places.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Act Mar. 4, 1913, created Department of Labor and renamed Department of Commerce and Labor as Department of Commerce. Act Mar. 3, 1901, provided that Office of Standard Weights and Measures should thereafter be known as National Bureau of Standards.

Transfer of Functions

Act Feb. 14, 1903, transferred National Bureau of Standards from Treasury Department to Department of Commerce and Labor.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

15 U.S.C. § 203

Title 15Commerce and Trade

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73