II 

Calendar No. 208 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 451 

To require the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Director of the 

National Institute of Standards and Technology, to help facilitate the 

adoption of composite technology in infrastructure in the United States, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2021 

Mrs. CAPITO (for herself, Mr. PETERS, and Mr. SCHATZ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

DECEMBER 17, 2021 

Reported by Ms. CANTWELL, without amendment 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the 

Director of the National Institute of Standards and 

Technology, to help facilitate the adoption of composite 

technology in infrastructure in the United States, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Composite Standards 

3 Act of 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FACILITATING THE ADOPTION OF COMPOSITE 

5 TECHNOLOGY IN INFRASTRUCTURE. 

6 (a) RESEARCH.—Subject to the availability of appro7 priations, the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the 

8 Director of the National Institute of Standards and Tech9 nology, shall implement the recommendations contained in 

10 the December 2017 report entitled ‘‘Road Mapping Work11 shop Report on Overcoming Barriers to Adoption of Com12 posites in Sustainable Infrastructure’’, as appropriate, to 

13 help facilitate the adoption of composite technology in in14 frastructure in the United States. In implementing such 

15 recommendations, the Secretary, acting through the Di16 rector shall, with respect to the use of composite tech17 nology in infrastructure— 

18 (1) not later than 1 year after the date of the 

19 enactment of this Act, develop a design for a data 

20 clearinghouse to identify, gather, validate, and dis21 seminate existing design criteria, tools, evaluation 

22 methods and services, guidelines, and standards in a 

23 timely manner; 

24 (2) not later than 18 months after the date of 

25 the enactment of this Act, establish the data clear26 inghouse described in paragraph (1); 


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1 (3) when it would not duplicate or displace 

2 building product-specific private sector developed 

3 methods and resources, develop methods and re4 sources for testing and evaluating safe and appro5 priate uses of composite materials for infrastructure, 

6 including— 

7 (A) conditioning protocols, procedures and 

8 models; 

9 (B) screening and acceptance tools; and 

10 (C) minimum allowable design data sets 

11 that can be converted into design tools; and 

12 (4) work with other Federal agencies, as appro13 priate, to identify environmental impacts and 

14 recyclability of composite materials. 

15 (b) STANDARDS COORDINATION.—The Secretary, 

16 acting through the Director, shall assure that the appro17 priate Institute staff consult regularly with standards de18 velopers, evaluation and accreditation bodies, members of 

19 the composites industry, institutions of higher education, 

20 and other stakeholders in order to facilitate the adoption 

21 of standards for use of composite materials in infrastruc22 ture that are based on the research and testing results 

23 and other information developed by the Institute. 

24 (c) PILOT PROGRAM.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of 

2 appropriations, commencing not later than 1 year 

3 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Di4 rector of the National Institute of Standards and 

5 Technology shall, in consultation with the Industry6 University Cooperative Research Centers Program of 

7 the National Science Foundation, conduct a pilot 

8 program to assess the feasibility and advisability of 

9 adopting composite technology in sustainable infra10 structure. 

11 (2) DURATION.—The Director shall carry out 

12 the pilot program during the 4-year period beginning 

13 on the date of the commencement of the pilot pro14 gram. 

15 (3) REPORTS.— 

16 (A) PRELIMINARY REPORT.—Not later 

17 than the date that is 2 years after the date of 

18 the commencement of the pilot program, the 

19 Director shall submit to the Committee on 

20 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

21 Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, 

22 and Technology of the House of Representa23 tives a report on the preliminary findings of the 

24 Director with respect to the pilot program. 


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1 (B) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than the 

2 date that is 90 days after the date of the com3 pletion of the pilot program, the Director shall 

4 submit to the committees referred to in sub5 paragraph (A) a report on the findings of the 

6 Director with respect to the pilot program. 


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Calendar No. 208 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 451 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Commerce, acting 

poses. ture in the United States, and for other puradoption of composite technology in infrastrucStandards and Technology, to help facilitate the through the Director of the National Institute of 

DECEMBER 17, 2021 

Reported without amendment 


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