Members of the Ohmsett staff belong to the ASTM International F20 Committee on Hazardous Substances and Oil Spill Response. The F20 Committee was formed in 1975 to develop and update documents relevant to hazardous substances and oil spill response. The committee, with current membership of approximately 61, has jurisdiction of over 62 standards, published in the Annual Book of ASTM Standards.

Ohmsett uses ASTM standards for all oil spill equipment evaluations. ASTM standards exist for equipment testing such as booms and skimmers, for the selection of appropriate equipment for spill response, for oil spill terminology and for related laboratory procedures. These protocols define a series of test methods to determine the oil containment and recovery efficiencies of spill response equipment, such as booms and skimmers, when they are subjected to a variety of towing and wave conditions. In addition to oil containment evaluations, numerous other performance characteristics are quantitatively and qualitatively identified and determined. The tests provide standardized procedures for any system tested. Additionally, the tests provide evaluation of the system's capabilities in different environmental conditions and the ability to compare test results of a particular equipment type with others having undergone these standard tests.

Several Ohmsett staff members have also helped the F20 Committee in the development of the F-2084-01 Standard Guide for Collecting Containment Boom Performance Data in Controlled Environments and F-2709-08 Standard Test Method for Determining Nameplate Recovery Rate of Stationary Oil Skimmer Systems. Both standards were developed based on Ohmsett testing methods.