Anyone can make a proposal. The proposal should first be discussed on
the ANS Forth email list (See <a href="#3">[3]</a>) and attempt to gain
consensus on the ideas to the maximum extent possible.

After this a formal proposal must be drafted and submitted to
electronically by sending plain (7-bit ASCII) text or Word files to the
Chair at <j14-chairs@minerva.com>.  You may also submit a proposal via
mail by sending it to:

        J14 Technical Committee,
        c/o FORTH, Inc.,
        111 N. Sepulveda Blvd,
        Manhattan Beach,
        CA 90266, USA;

All proposals must conform to the following criteria:

a) Consists of specific wording changes or additions to the document,
   rather than statements of policy.

        Bad form:   Add DEFER and IS
        Good form:  Add the following to the {specified} wordset:
                    {specific definitions, edited so as to be readily
                    pasted into the document in the right place}

b) Include a rational for the change, including a citation of common
   practice in which the proposed technology has been proven.

c) Fit within an approved agenda item (see [5]), or must include a
   rationale why it should be considered; this must be sufficiently
   urgent that 2/3 of the membership will vote to add an agenda item for
   it.

We suggest proposals should provide information in the following
headings:

  Title         - One line summary of the proposal.
  Justification - Justification for consideration of the proposal.
  Problem       - Description of the problem the proposal is
                  attempting to resolve.
  Proposal      - The proposed alteration to the current working draft
                  of the standard. This should give the page and the
                  text you wish to delete and/or add.
  Typical Use   - Examples of how you envisage the proposed technology
                  being used.
  Remarks       - Additional comments, implementation comments,
                  side-effects, etc.
  Experience    - Examples of current practice, experiences with
                  the proposed alteration.
  Comments      - Comments of support from others.

The proposal must be submitted to the Chair with a message indicating
that it is a formal proposal for the consideration of the committee.

Upon receipt, the proposal will be examined by the committee chairs. If,
in their opinion, it meets the above criteria it will be assigned a
proposal number and circulated to the members of the committee for their
consideration. It is also posed on the ANS Forth web site (See [2]). If,
in the opinion of the chairs, the document does not meet the criteria
they will discuss possible changes with the author that will improve it
to the point where it can be accepted. Rejection by the chairs can be
appealed to the committee. The committee can overrule the chair's
decision by an 80% vote of those voting, provided the total vote
constitutes a quorum of the voting membership of the committee.

Further processing of the proposal will occur after receipt of a second
to the proposal from a member other than the proposal originator. The
second must be posted to the ANS Floor. After a period of time not less
than one week the chair may, at its discretion, declare that the proposal
had died for lack of a second and remove the proposal from active
consideration.

After a proposal has been seconded the author may make further revisions
until the end of the comment period. Others wishing to have the proposal
modified should first discuss the proposed changes with the author and on
the ANS Forth maillist. If the author does not accept the changes and the
person offering the changes wishes to have the committee take formal
action on them, the changes should be submitted to the Chairs as a formal
amendment to the proposal. The chairs will publish notice of having
received the proposed amendments, they will be posted to the FTP site,
and there will be a period of one week during which any voting member of
the committee can offer a second to the proposed amendment. Upon receipt
of a second there will be a period of two weeks at the end of which the
amendment will be either accepted or rejected by a majority vote of those
voting on the amendment.