§ 509. — Standards of paper; advertisements for proposals; samples.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 44USC509]
TITLE 44--PUBLIC PRINTING AND DOCUMENTS
CHAPTER 5--PRODUCTION AND PROCUREMENT OF PRINTING AND BINDING
Sec. 509. Standards of paper; advertisements for proposals;
samples
The Joint Committee on Printing shall fix upon standards of paper
for the different descriptions of public printing and binding, and the
Public Printer, under their direction, shall advertise in six newspapers
or trade journals, published in different cities, for sealed proposals
to furnish the Government with paper, as specified in the schedule to be
furnished applicants by the Public Printer, setting forth in detail the
quality and quantities required for the public printing. The Public
Printer shall furnish samples of the standard of papers fixed upon to
applicants who desire to bid.
(Pub. L. 90-620, Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1244.)
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on 44 U.S. Code, 1964 ed., Sec. 5 (Jan. 12, 1895, ch. 23,
Sec. 3, 28 Stat. 601; Mar. 3, 1925, ch. 421, Sec. 1, 43 Stat. 1105).
National Policy on Permanent Papers
Pub. L. 101-423, Oct. 12, 1990, 104 Stat. 912, provided that:
``Whereas it is now widely recognized and scientifically demonstrated
that the acidic papers commonly used for more than a century in
documents, books, and other publications are self-destructing and
will continue to self destruct;
``Whereas Americans are facing the prospect of continuing to lose
national, historical, scientific, and scholarly records, including
government records, faster than salvage efforts can be mounted
despite the dedicated efforts of many libraries, archives, and
agencies, such as the Library of Congress and the National Archives
and Records Administration;
``Whereas nationwide hundreds of millions of dollars will have to be
spent by the Federal, State, and local governments and private
institutions to salvage the most essential books and other materials
in the libraries and archives of government, academic, and private
institutions;
``Whereas paper manufacturers can produce a sufficient supply of acid
free permanent papers with a life of several hundred years, at
prices competitive with acid papers, if publishers would specify the
use of such papers, and some publishers and many university presses
are already publishing on acid free permanent papers;
``Whereas most Government agencies do not require the use of acid free
permanent papers for appropriate Federal records and publications;
``Whereas librarians, publishers, and other professional groups have
urged the use of acid free permanent papers;
``Whereas even when books are printed on acid free permanent paper this
fact is often not made known to libraries by notations in the book
or by notations in standard bibliographic listings; and
``Whereas there is an urgent need to prevent the continuance of the acid
paper problem in the future: Now, therefore, be it
``Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
``Section 1. It is the policy of the United States that Federal
records, books, and publications of enduring value be produced on acid
free permanent papers.
``Sec. 2. The Congress of the United States urgently recommends
that--
``(1) Federal agencies require the use of acid free permanent
papers for publications of enduring value produced by the Government
Printing Office or produced by Federal grant or contract, using the
specifications for such paper established by the Joint Committee on
Printing;
``(2) Federal agencies require the use of archival quality acid
free papers for permanently valuable Federal records and confer with
the National Archives and Records Administration on the requirements
for paper quality;
``(3) American publishers and State and local governments use
acid free permanent papers for publications of enduring value, in
voluntary compliance with the American National Standard;
``(4) all publishers, private and governmental, prominently note
the use of acid free permanent paper in books, advertisements,
catalogs, and standard bibliographic listings; and
``(5) the Secretary of State, Librarian of Congress, Archivist
of the United States, and other Federal officials make known the
national policy regarding acid free permanent papers to foreign
governments and appropriate international agencies since the acid
paper problem is worldwide and essential foreign materials being
imported by our libraries are printed on acid papers.
``Sec. 3. The Librarian of Congress, the Archivist of the United
States, and the Public Printer shall jointly monitor the Federal
Government's progress in implementing the national policy declared in
section 1 regarding acid free permanent papers and shall report to the
Congress regarding such progress on December 31, 1991, December 31,
1993, and December 31, 1995. In carrying out the monitoring and
reporting functions under this section, the Librarian of Congress, the
Archivist of the United States, and the Public Printer may consult with
the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Agricultural
Library, National Library of Medicine, other Federal and State agencies,
international organizations, private publishers, paper manufacturers,
and other organizations with an interest in preservation of books and
historical papers.''
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 515, 1121 of this title;
title 22 section 3714b; title 35 section 2.
