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Title 15, Commerce and TradeRelease 119-102

§203 Replacing Lost Standard Weights and Measures; Cost

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

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Commerce must give exact replacement standard weights and measures, with the National Institute of Standards and Technology seal and a certificate, to any State, Territory, or institution that was given them before. The governor (for a State or Territory) or the institution’s head must apply in writing and say the originals were lost or destroyed. The applicant must first pay the cost NIST charges, and that money will be deposited into the U.S. Treasury as miscellaneous receipts when the items are handed over for shipment.

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 15, Commerce and Trade

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102