Fed-Std 209: Sunset on the horizon

03/01/2001

Kelly Sewell

MOUNT PROSPECT, IL—The effort to sunset Fed-Std 209 gained momentum in January, when the Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (IEST; Mount Prospect, IL) formally submitted its request to the U.S. General Services Agency (GSA) to retire the standard. The action has been a long time coming: IEST was first asked to make the recommendation to GSA in October 1999 [See, "ISO Committee turns up heat," CleanRooms, December 1999, p.1].

According to Robert Mielke, IEST vice president for contamination control, IEST CC Working Group 100 decided at its May 2000 meeting to recommend to GSA that it no longer maintain Fed-Std-209. The GSA then requested copies of both ISO 14644-1, "Classification of air cleanliness," and 14644-2, "Specifications for testing and monitoring to prove continued compliance with ISO 14644-1," to consider as the federal standard's replacement. Those copies are now in GSA's possession. It is important to note that IEST only gives recommendations to the GSA, and doesn't have influence over when action is taken.

The GSA will now distribute the documents to government agencies currently using Fed-Std-209, asking if the agencies will make the move to support the ISO standard in favor of Fed-Std-209.

The agencies will have 60 days to review the documents. It is theoretically possible that some agencies might request an extension for further review, which would further delay the process.

"When the agencies' comments are sent back to GSA, they'll make a decision. If all the organizations say, 'Let's not maintain 209 anymore,' then that will happen," Mielke says. "They may also turn around and say, 'we don't want to drop it' and we'll use it as is."

However, Richard A. Matthews, chairman of chairman of the International Organization for Standardization Technical Committee ISO/TC 209, "Cleanrooms and associated clean environments," says he's certain the ISO standards will be approved as a result of the Reagan Paperwork Reduction Act, which prohibits the U.S. government from creating or updating standards where a comparable standard (in this case, the ISO standard) exists.

Mielke predicts the Fed-Std 209 document may be sunset in 2001, possibly as soon as the third quarter. When the decision becomes official, CleanRooms will exclusively use the ISO 14644 classifications and cease the use of the Fed-Std-209 nomenclature.