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February 22nd - Morning Sessions

John Satagaj, President, Small Business Legislative Council (SBLC) - Following rave reviews from the ACIL membership for his past presentations at the Mid-Winter Meeting, John returns this year to discuss issues of concern to business in the second session of the 111th Congress.

Mary Saunders, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing and Services, U.S. Department of Commerce - Mary, a longtime friend of ACIL, discusses current and anticipated government engagement on standards and conformity issues arising in legislation, regulation, and trade forums. Mary will explore questions such as: What are the US government priorities for enhanced product safety and performance compliance? What are the emerging issues with US trading partners in designing standards and conformity infrastructure? What role do private test labs and certifiers play in helping the US government achieve its objectives, and support US manufacturers' competitiveness abroad?

Gordon Gillerman, Chief, Standards Branch, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) - Gordon, a fixture in both the private and public arenas of testing and certification, speaks on the evolving role of the NIST in documentary standards and conformity assessment for government and the global marketplace.

Walter Poggi, Chairman, ACIL Government Relations Committee - Walter, one of the most highly-decorated ACIL members, rolls out ACIL's Congressional education program, "The Value of Independent

Luncheon Honoring Mike Rafalowski
US Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration

Mike receives ACIL's Public Service Award for his work with the ACIL CMET Section and NACLA.

February 22nd - Afternoon Section Breakouts

Conformity Assessment - Representatives from the Department of Energy (DoE), Hill staff and relevant trade associations discuss the recent $104M appropriation to build an energy efficiency laboratory, raising concerns of unfair completion. Explore the "cap and trade" impact on the laboratory industry and "Green Marketing."

Construction Materials - A panel of representatives from the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Aviation Administration and the Army Corps of Engineers explore adopted uniform accreditations through the ACIL-NACLA MOU. The section joins the Conformity Assessment Section to discuss "Green Marketing" with an emphasis on LEED Certification.

Environmental Sciences - The section is considering a broad array of topics with representatives from various EPA offices and Hill staffers. Potential topics include: the reauthorization of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which will include additional testing requirements; EPA efforts to improve the quality of environmental decision making; the use of nanomaterials in environmental monitoring requirements; monitoring programs to ensure compliance with global warming and carbon dioxide release issues; an update on the DHS commercialization program; the impact on the laboratory community on the reorganization of the Office of Resource Conservation and Reuse; as well as a discussion of DoD's experience in early laboratory involvement in monitoring plans.

Food Sciences - A panel of representatives from FDA and the Hill explore the imminent passing of food safety legislation and its impact on the testing community as well as "Green Marketing."

February 22nd - Closing Plenary
International Opportunities for ACIL Members

Case Study: Strategic Environmental Assessment in Saudi Arabia - Bill Jones from Zephyr Environmental shares Zephyr's compelling story of their development of Middle East operations. He explores how Zephyr became a player in the Middle Eastern environmental consulting world, including what went right during their journey and what went wrong. He also touches on some of their more interesting projects, including participating in the Strategic Environmental Assessment for the $80 billion King Abdullah Economic City development in Saudi Arabia.

Zephyr Environmental provides environmental prediction and mitigation, specializing in air & water quality, waste management & cleanup issues, incident management, and workplace & community safety.

Adapting US Technologies to Asia's Environmental Challenges - Peter Gourlay from the Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership (MDAEP) discusses how his organization links technologies and expertise, built through public sector and private sector initiatives, to address the burgeoning challenges in Asia's fast-developing economies. Water and air, factory and farm, institution and individual, all are part of the complex puzzle of addressing pollution and climate change. Business opportunities abound for US testing and standards organizations in Asia and around the world. The key is to get engaged and determine the positioning for US testing firms.

The MDAEP, along with ACIL member firms Washington Laboratories and AmericanTCB,is organizing the 2010 Environmental and Climate Change Forum in Vietnam. This Forum will bring US experts in strategies, policies and methodologies to Vietnam as she grapples with the impact of her development and a changing world.

February 23rd - NACLA Training

 An overview of ISO/IEC 17025 evaluator training for regulators and specifiers is offered as well as a discussion of current problem areas in ISO/IEC 17025 in the US market.