00-18536. Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award

AGENCY:

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Commerce.

ACTION:

Notice of closed meeting.

SUMMARY:

Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. app. 2, notice is hereby given that there will be a closed meeting of the Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award on Wednesday, August 3, 2000. The Judges Panel is composed of nine members prominent in the field of quality management and appointed by the Secretary of Commerce. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the criteria for moving applicants to consensus/site visits; review of Stage I process, including data and selection of applicants for consensus, and comparison of Stage I decisions in 2000 with trend data from past; report on Judges Survey modifications; and review of senior training. The applications under review contain trade secrets and proprietary commercial information submitted to the Government in confidence.

DATES:

The meeting will convene August 3, 2000, at 9:00 a.m. and adjourn at 4:30 p.m. on August 4, 2000. The entire meeting will be closed.

ADDRESSES:

The meeting will be held at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Chemistry Building, Room A228, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dr. Harry Hertz, Director, National Quality Program, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, telephone number [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Assistant Secretary for Administration, with the concurrence of the General Counsel, formally determined on March 31, 2000, that the meeting of the Judges Panel will be closed pursuant to Section 10(d) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.c. app. 2, as amended by Section 5(c) of the Government in the Sunshine Act, Public Law 94-409. The meeting, which involves examination of records and discussion of Award applicant data, may be closed to the public in accordance with Section 552b(c)(4) of Title 5, United States Code, since the meeting is likely to disclose trade secrets and commercial or formation obtained from a person and privileged or confidential.

Dated: July 13, 2000.

Karen H. Brown,

Deputy Director.