United States Metric Board

The U.S. Metric Board was established in 1975 to transition the U.S. to the metric system.

Louis F. Polk, Chairman

Parent agencyExecutive Office of the President

The United States Metric Board (USMB) was a United States government agency set up to encourage metrication. The United States Metric Board was commissioned by the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 (15 U.S.C. 205d, enacted on December 23, 1975). The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 mandated the presidential appointment of seventeen members for the "independent instrumentality".^[1]^[2]^[3]

The board was composed of one member from the following agencies and/or related communities: engineers, scientists, the National Association of Manufacturers, the United States Chamber of Commerce, National Governors Conference, construction, National Conference on Weights and Measures, education, two members each from the AFL–CIO and small business, and four at-large members "to represent consumers", for a total of seventeen members in all.^[4]

The metrification assessment board existed from 1975 to 1982, ending when President Ronald Reagan abolished it, largely on the suggestion of Frank Mankiewicz and Lyn Nofziger.^[5]

References

^ Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T. "Jimmy Carter: "United States Metric Board Nomination of Chairman and Members of the Board.," October 29, 1977". The American Presidency Project. University of California - Santa Barbara.
^ Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T. "Jimmy Carter: "United States Metric Board Nomination of Two Members.," May 19, 1980". The American Presidency Project. University of California - Santa Barbara.
^ Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T. "Jimmy Carter: "United States Metric Board Nomination of Four Members.," July 30, 1980". The American Presidency Project. University of California - Santa Barbara.
^ [USC02] 15 USC 205d: United States Metric Board. Government Printing Office. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
^ Mankiewicz, Frank (29 March 2006). "Nofziger: A Friend With Whom It Was a Pleasure to Disagree". Washington Post. Retrieved 6 July 2020.

External links

History of the US Metric Board
"Justice and Law Enforcement: Oversight of the United States Metric Board" (PDF). U.S. Government Accountability Office: Office of Public Affairs. November 26, 1979. OCLC 6389525.