Union Calendar No. 319

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2779

[Report No. 104–639]

A BILL

To provide for soft-metric conversion, and for other

purposes.

JUNE 26, 1996

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee

dered to be printedof the Whole House on the State of the Union, and or-
IB

Union Calendar No. 319

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 2779

[Report No. 104–639]

To provide for soft-metric conversion, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

DECEMBER 14, 1995

Mr. COX of California (for himself, Mr. HEFNER, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr.

FORBES, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. HILLEARY, Mr. JONES, Mr. LATHAM, Mr.

LINDER, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. TAYLOR

of North Carolina, and Mr. WICKER) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on Science

JUNE 26, 1996

Additional sponsors: Mr. TALENT, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. HANCOCK, Mr. COBLE,

Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. DREIER, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. INGLIS

of South Carolina, Mr. SPENCE, Mr. STOCKMAN, Mr. STUMP, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. BENTSEN, Mr. HANSEN, Mr. HAYES, Mr.

LARGENT, Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. TORKILDSEN,

Mr. WALSH, Mr. BACHUS, Mr. BARTON of Texas, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CREMEANS, Mr. JACOBS, Mr. SCHAEFER, Mr. BUNNING of Kentucky, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. SOLOMON, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. WELDON of Florida,

Mr. EMERSON, Mr. BARCIA, Mr. CAMP, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. GANSKE,

Mr. MCHUGH, Ms. PRYCE, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. BAKER of California, Mr. CONDIT, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. NORWOOD, Mr.

SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky,

Mr. PAYNE of Virginia, Mr. PAXTON, Mr. HOBSON, Mr. CRAPO, Mr.

HASTERT, Mr. MONTGOMERY, Mr. BEREUTER, Mrs. SEASTRAND, Mr.

SCHIFF, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. PARKER, Mrs. CLAYTON, Ms.

SLAUGHTER, Mr. BARR of Georgia, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr. GOSS,

Mr. HOEKSTRA, Mr. PACKARD, Mr. BLUTE, Mr. CAMPBELL, Mr. KIM,

Mr. MANZULLO, Mrs. MYRICK, and Mr. OXLEY

JUNE 26, 1996

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
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[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on December 14, 1995]

A BILL

To provide for soft-metric conversion, 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Savings in Construction

5 Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 was en9 acted in order to set forth the policy of the United

10 States to convert to the metric system. Section 3 of

11 that Act requires that each Federal agency use the

12 metric system of measurement in its procurements,

13 grants and other business related activities, unless

14 that use is likely to cause significant cost or loss of

15 markets to United States firms, such as when foreign

16 competitors are producing competing products in

17 non-metric units.

18 (2) Currently, many Federal agencies are requir19 ing as a condition of obtaining Federal construction

20 contracts that all bidders must agree to use products
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1 measured in round metric units, materials which are

2 known as ‘‘hard-metric’’ products. This can require

3 retooling, substantial capitalization costs, and other

4 expensive production changes for some suppliers to

5 physically change the size of the product.

6 (3) This ‘‘hard-metric’’ conversion requirement

7 has sometimes been imposed without appropriate re8 gard to whether that method is impractical or likely

9 to cause significant costs or a loss of markets to

10 United States firms.

11 (4) Some United States businesses that manufac12 ture basic construction products suffer harm by being

13 forced to convert to hard-metric production, or by

14 being foreclosed from effectively bidding on Federal or

15 federally assisted projects.

16 (5) This ‘‘hard-metric’’ conversion requirement

17 may place domestic producers at a competitive dis18 advantage with respect to foreign producers; may re19 duce the number of companies that may compete for

20 contracts with the Federal Government; and may

21 force manufacturers to maintain double inventories of

22 similar but incompatible products.

23 (6) This ‘‘hard-metric’’ conversion requirement

24 has unnecessarily raised the cost to the Government
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1 of some lighting and concrete masonry products and

2 there is consensus that relief is in order.

3 (7) While the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 cur4 rently provides an exception to metric usage when

5 impractical or when it will cause economic inefficien6 cies, there is need for ombudsmen and procedures to

7 ensure the effective implementation of the exceptions.

8 (8) The changes made by this Act will advance

9 the goals of the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 while

10 eliminating significant problems in its implementa11 tion.

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

13 Section 4 of the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 (15

14 U.S.C. 205c) is amended—

15 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), and (4)

16 as paragraphs (3), (6), and (7), respectively;

17 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the follow18 ing new paragraph:

19 ‘‘(2) ‘converted product’ means a material or

20 product that is produced as a result of a hard-metric

21 conversion;’’;

22 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the follow23 ing new paragraphs:

24 ‘‘(4) ‘hard-metric’ means measurement, design,

25 and manufacture using the metric system of measure-
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1 ment, but does not include measurement, design, and

2 manufacture using English system measurement units

3 which are subsequently reexpressed in the metric sys4 tem of measurement;

5 ‘‘(5) ‘hard-metric conversion’ means a conversion

6 that requires, in addition to the expression of the lin7 ear dimensions of a product under the metric system

8 of measurement, a physical change in the size of that

9 product relative to the size of that product established

10 under the system of English measurements in produc11 tion practices of the appropriate industry;’’;

12 (4) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

13 (6), as so redesignated by paragraph (1) of this sec14 tion;

15 (5) by striking the period at the end of para16 graph (7), as so redesignated by paragraph (1) of this

17 section, and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘; and’’; and

18 (6) by adding at the end the following new para19 graph:

20 ‘‘(8) ‘small business’ has the meaning given the

21 term ‘small business concern’ in section 3 of the

22 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).’’.
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1 SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION EXCEPTIONS.

2 The Metric Conversion Act of 1975 (15 U.S.C. 205a

3 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 11 the follow4 ing new section:

5 ‘‘SEC. 12. (a) In carrying out the policy set forth in

6 section 3 (with particular emphasis on the policy set forth

7 in paragraph (2) of that section) a Federal agency may

8 require that specifications for structures or systems of con9 crete masonry be expressed under the metric system of meas10 urement, but may not require that concrete masonry units

11 be converted products.

12 ‘‘(b) In carrying out the policy set forth in section 3

13 (with particular emphasis on the policy set forth in para14 graph (2) of that section) a Federal agency may not require

15 that lighting fixtures be converted products unless the pre16 dominant voluntary industry consensus standards are

17 hard-metric.’’.

18 SEC. 5. OMBUDSMAN.

19 Section 12 of the Metric Conversion Act of 1975, as

20 added by section 4 of this Act, is further amended by adding

21 at the end the following new subsection:

22 ‘‘(c)(1) The head of each executive agency that awards

23 construction contracts shall designate a senior agency offi24 cial to serve as a construction metrication ombudsman who

25 shall be responsible for reviewing and responding to com-
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1 plaints from prospective bidders, subcontractors, suppliers,

2 or their designated representatives related to—

3 ‘‘(A) guidance or regulations issued by the agen4 cy on the use of the metric system of measurement in

5 construction contracts; and

6 ‘‘(B) the use of the metric system of measurement

7 for products or materials required for incorporation

8 in individual construction projects.

9 The construction metrication ombudsman shall be inde10 pendent of the contracting officer for construction contracts.

11 ‘‘(2) The ombudsman shall be responsible for ensuring

12 that the agency is not implementing the metric system of

13 measurement in a manner that is impractical or is likely

14 to cause significant inefficiencies or loss of markets to Unit15 ed States firms in violation of the policy stated in section

16 3(2), or is otherwise inconsistent with guidance issued by

17 the Secretary of Commerce in consultation with the Inter18 agency Council on Metric Policy.

19 ‘‘(3) The ombudsman shall respond to each complaint

20 in writing within 30 days and make a recommendation to

21 the head of the executive agency for an appropriate resolu22 tion thereto. In such a recommendation, the ombudsman

23 shall consider—
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1 ‘‘(A) the availability of converted products and

2 hard metric production capacity of United States

3 firms, or lack thereof;

4 ‘‘(B) retooling costs and capital investment im5 pacts;

6 ‘‘(C) the impact on small business;

7 ‘‘(D) the impact on trade;

8 ‘‘(E) the impact on competition for Federal con9 tracts;

10 ‘‘(F) the impact on jobs;

11 ‘‘(G) the impact on the competitiveness of United

12 States firms; and

13 ‘‘(H) the cost to the Federal Government.

14 ‘‘(4) After the head of the agency has rendered a deci15 sion regarding a recommendation of the ombudsman, the

16 ombudsman shall be responsible for communicating the de17 cision to all appropriate policy, design, planning, procure18 ment, and notifying personnel in the agency. The ombuds19 man shall conduct appropriate monitoring as required to

20 ensure the decision is implemented, and may submit further

21 recommendations, as needed. The head of the agency’s deci22 sion on the ombudsman’s recommendations, and any sup23 porting documentation, shall be provided to affected parties

24 and made available to the public in a timely manner.’’.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to provide for

appropriate implementation of the Metric Conversion Act
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of 1975 in Federal construction projects, and for other

purposes.’’.