II 

Calendar No. 240 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 384 

[Report No. 116–128] 

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 7, 2019 

Mrs. CAPITO (for herself and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 

Reported by Mr. WICKER, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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. FACILITATING THE ADOPTION OF COMPOSITE 

2 TECHNOLOGY IN INFRASTRUCTURE. 

3 (a) RESEARCH.—The Secretary of Commerce, acting 

4 through the Director of the National Institute of Stand5 ards and Technology, shall implement the recommenda6 tions contained in the December 2017 report entitled 

7 ‘‘Road Mapping Workshop Report on Overcoming Bar8 riers to Adoption of Composites in Sustainable Infrastruc9 ture’’, as appropriate, to help facilitate the adoption of 

10 composite technology in infrastructure in the United 

11 States. In implementing such recommendations, the Sec12 retary, acting through the Director shall, with respect to 

13 the use of composite technology in infrastructure— 

14 (1) not later than 9 months after the date of 

15 the enactment of this Act, develop a design for a 

16 data clearinghouse to identify, gather, validate, and 

17 disseminate existing design criteria, tools, guidelines, 

18 and standards in a timely manner; 

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

20 the enactment of this Act, establish the data clear21 inghouse described in paragraph (1); and 

22 (3) develop methods and resources required for 

23 testing and evaluating safe and appropriate uses of 

24 composite materials for infrastructure, including— 

25 (A) conditioning protocols, procedures and 

26 models; 


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1 (B) screening and acceptance tools; and 

2 (C) minimum allowable design data sets 

3 that can be converted into design tools. 

4 (b) STANDARDS COORDINATION.—The Secretary, 

5 acting through the Director, shall assure that the appro6 priate Institute staff consult regularly with standards de7 velopers, members of the composites industry, institutions 

8 of higher education, and other stakeholders in order to fa9 cilitate the adoption of standards for use of composite ma10 terials in infrastructure that are based on the research and 

11 testing results and other information developed by the In12 stitute. 

13 (c) PILOT PROGRAM.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Commencing not later than 

15 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

16 the Director of the National Institute of Standards 

17 and Technology shall, in consultation with the In18 dustry-University Cooperative Research Centers Pro19 gram of the National Science Foundation, conduct a 

20 pilot program to assess the feasibility and advis21 ability of adopting composite technology in sustain22 able infrastructure. 

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

24 the pilot program during the 4-year period beginning 


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1 on the date of the commencement of the pilot pro2 gram. 

3 (3) REPORTS.— 

4 (A) PRELIMINARY REPORT.—Not later 

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

6 the commencement of the pilot program, the 

7 Director shall submit to the Committee on 

8 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

9 Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, 

10 and Technology of the House of Representa11 tives a report on the preliminary findings of the 

12 Director with respect to the pilot program. 

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

14 date that is 90 days after the date of the com15 pletion of the pilot program, the Director shall 

16 submit to the committees referred to in sub17 paragraph (A) a report on the findings of the 

18 Director with respect to the pilot program. 

19 SECTION 1. FACILITATING THE ADOPTION OF COMPOSITE 

20 TECHNOLOGY IN INFRASTRUCTURE. 

21 (a) RESEARCH.—Subject to the availability of appro22 priations, the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the 

23 Director of the National Institute of Standards and Tech24 nology, shall implement the recommendations contained in 

25 the December 2017 report entitled ‘‘Road Mapping WorkVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:35 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S384.RS S384

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1 shop Report on Overcoming Barriers to Adoption of Com2 posites in Sustainable Infrastructure’’, as appropriate, to 

3 help facilitate the adoption of composite technology in in4 frastructure in the United States. In implementing such 

5 recommendations, the Secretary, acting through the Direc6 tor shall, with respect to the use of composite technology 

7 in infrastructure— 

8 (1) not later than 1 year after the date of the en9 actment of this Act, develop a design for a data clear10 inghouse to identify, gather, validate, and disseminate 

11 existing design criteria, tools, guidelines, and stand12 ards in a timely manner; 

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

14 enactment of this Act, establish the data clearinghouse 

15 described in paragraph (1); 

16 (3) develop methods and resources required for 

17 testing and evaluating safe and appropriate uses of 

18 composite materials for infrastructure, including— 

19 (A) conditioning protocols, procedures and 

20 models; 

21 (B) screening and acceptance tools; and 

22 (C) minimum allowable design data sets 

23 that can be converted into design tools; and 


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1 (4) work with other Federal agencies, as appro2 priate, to identify environmental impacts and 

3 recyclability of composite materials. 

4 (b) STANDARDS COORDINATION.—The Secretary, act5 ing through the Director, shall assure that the appropriate 

6 Institute staff consult regularly with standards developers, 

7 members of the composites industry, institutions of higher 

8 education, and other stakeholders in order to facilitate the 

9 adoption of standards for use of composite materials in in10 frastructure that are based on the research and testing re11 sults and other information developed by the Institute. 

12 (c) PILOT PROGRAM.— 

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

14 appropriations, commencing not later than 1 year 

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Direc16 tor of the National Institute of Standards and Tech17 nology shall, in consultation with the Industry-Uni18 versity Cooperative Research Centers Program of the 

19 National Science Foundation, conduct a pilot pro20 gram to assess the feasibility and advisability of 

21 adopting composite technology in sustainable infra22 structure. 

23 (2) DURATION.—The Director shall carry out the 

24 pilot program during the 4-year period beginning on 

25 the date of the commencement of the pilot program. 


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1 (3) REPORTS.— 

2 (A) PRELIMINARY REPORT.—Not later than 

3 the date that is 2 years after the date of the com4 mencement of the pilot program, the Director 

5 shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 

6 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and 

7 the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech8 nology of the House of Representatives a report 

9 on the preliminary findings of the Director with 

10 respect to the pilot program. 

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

12 date that is 90 days after the date of the comple13 tion of the pilot program, the Director shall sub14 mit to the committees referred to in subpara15 graph (A) a report on the findings of the Direc16 tor with respect to the pilot program. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
Calendar No. 240 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 384 

[Report No. 116–128] 

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 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 

Reported with an amendment 


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