I propose the following rewording to address the issue that has been raised.
Russ
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The IEEE Registration Authority Committee (RAC) assigns Ethertypes.
(See http://standards.ieee.org/develop/regauth/ethertype/.) Some IETF
protocol specification make use of Ethertypes. Since Ethertypes are a
fairly scarce resource, the IEEE RAC has let us know that they will not
assign a new Ethertype to a new IETF protocol specification that needs
one until the IESG has approved the protocol specification for
publication as an RFC.
To let the IEEE RAC know that the IESG has approved an IETF protocol
specification for publication, all future requests for assignment of
Ethertypes for IETF protocol specifications will be made by the IESG.
Note that playpen Ethertypes have been assigned in IEEE 802 [1] for use
during protocol development and experimentation.
[1] IEEE Std 802a-2003 (Amendment to IEEE Std 802-2001).
IEEE standard for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks:
Overview and Architecture -- Amendment 1: Ethertypes for
Prototype and Vendor-Specific Protocol Development.