I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1107

To establish a wind engineering research program within the National

Institute of Standards and Technology.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 24, 1993

Mr. LEWIS of Florida (for himself, Mr. GLICKMAN, Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida,

Mr. BACCHUS of Florida, and Mr. HASTINGS) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

A BILL

To establish a wind engineering research program within

the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

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 ‘‘Wind Engineering

5 Research Program Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) Hurricanes and tornadoes kill more Ameri2 cans and destroy more property than any other nat3 ural disaster.

4 (2) Each year, in the United States, extreme

5 winds cause billions of dollars of damage to homes,

6 schools, and other buildings, roads and bridges, elec7 trical power distribution networks, and communica8 tions networks.

9 (3) Research on wind and wind engineering has

10 resulted in improved methods for making buildings

11 and other structures less vulnerable to extreme

12 winds, but additional research funding is needed to

13 develop new, improved, and more cost-effective

14 methods of wind-resistant construction.

15 (4) Federal funding for wind engineering re16 search has decreased drastically over the last 20

17 years.

18 (5) Wind research has been hampered by a lack

19 of data on near-surface wind speed and distribution

20 during hurricanes, tornadoes, and other severe

21 storms.

22 (6) Many existing methods for wind-resistant

23 construction are inexpensive and easy to implement

24 but often they are not applied because the construc-
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1 tion industry and the general public are unaware of

2 such methods.

3 (7) Various Federal agencies have important

4 roles to play in wind engineering research, but at

5 present there is little interagency cooperation or co6 ordination in this area.

7 (8) Establishment of a Federal Wind Engineer8 ing Research Program would result in new tech9 nologies for wind-resistant construction, broader ap10 plication of such technologies in construction, and

11 ultimately reduced loss of life and property due to

12 extreme winds.

13 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

14 The purpose of this Act is to create a Wind Engineer15 ing Research Program within the National Institute of

16 Standards and Technology, which would—

17 (1) provide for wind engineering research;

18 (2) serve as a clearinghouse for information on

19 wind engineering; and

20 (3) improve interagency coordination on wind

21 engineering research between the National Institute

22 of Standards and Technology, the National Oceanic

23 and Atmospheric Administration, the National

24 Science Foundation, the Federal Aviation Adminis25 tration, and other appropriate Federal agencies.
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1 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

2 Within the National Institute of Standards and Tech3 nology, there shall be established a Wind Engineering Re4 search Program which shall—

5 (1) conduct research and development, in co6 operation with the private sector and academia, on

7 new methods for mitigating wind damage due to

8 hurricanes, tornadoes, and other severe storms;

9 (2) coordinate research requiring the use of

10 wind tunnels with other Federal agencies having ap11 propriate facilities, such as the National Aeronautics

12 and Space Administration, for wind engineering re13 search;

14 (3) disseminate information on the application

15 of existing research results and methods for reduc16 ing wind damage to buildings that are usually in17 completely engineered or nonengineered, such as sin18 gle family dwellings, mobile homes, light industrial

19 buildings, and small commercial structures;

20 (4) transfer technology developed in wind engi21 neering research to the private sector so that it may

22 be applied in building codes, design practice, and

23 construction;

24 (5) conduct, in conjunction with the National

25 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, post-disas26 ter research following hurricanes, tornadoes, and
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1 other severe storms to evaluate the vulnerability of

2 different types of buildings to extreme winds;

3 (6) serve as a point of contact for dissemination

4 of research information on wind engineering and

5 work with the private sector to develop education

6 and training programs on construction techniques

7 developed from research results for reducing wind

8 damage;

9 (7) work with the National Oceanic and Atmos10 pheric Administration, the Federal Aviation Admin11 istration, and other Federal agencies on meteorology

12 programs to collect and disseminate more data on

13 extreme wind events; and

14 (8) work with the National Science Foundation

15 to support and expand basic research on wind engi16 neering.

17 SEC. 5. WIND ENGINEERING RESEARCH ADVISORY COM18 MITTEE.

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 120 days after

20 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the

21 National Institute of Standards and Technology shall es22 tablish an independent Wind Engineering Research Advi23 sory Committee (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘advisory

24 committee’’).
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1 (b) DUTIES.—The advisory committee shall provide

2 advice and recommendations to the Director of the Na3 tional Institute of Standards and Technology regarding

4 the needs, objectives, and plans with respect to the devel5 opment of the wind engineering research and development

6 plan referred to in section 6, including the role of other

7 Federal agencies in implementing the plan.

8 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The advisory committee shall be

9 composed of members appointed by the Director of the

10 National Institute of Standards and Technology from

11 among individuals who are not employees of the Depart12 ment of Commerce and who are specially qualified to serve

13 on the advisory committee by virtue of their education,

14 training, or experience. A majority of the members of the

15 advisory committee shall be individuals with experience in

16 wind engineering research and development.

17 (d) TERMINATION.—The advisory committee shall

18 terminate within 60 days after the development of the plan

19 referred to in section 6.

20 SEC. 6. WIND ENGINEERING RESEARCH AND DEVELOP21 MENT PLAN.

22 (a) DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than one year after

23 the date of the establishment of the advisory committee,

24 the Director of the National Institute of Standards and

25 Technology shall develop an integrated plan (in this Act
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1 referred to as the ‘‘plan’’) for a national wind engineering

2 research and development program. The Director shall

3 consult with the Director of the National Science Founda4 tion and draw upon the recommendations of the advisory

5 committee in developing the plan.

6 (b) CONTENTS.—The plan referred to in subsection

7 (a) shall include—

8 (1) details of the wind engineering research and

9 development programs currently conducted by the

10 National Institute of Standards and Technology and

11 the National Science Foundation and how those pro12 grams can be integrated into the plan;

13 (2) details for each area of research and devel14 opment included in the plan, including appropriate

15 funding levels, a schedule with milestones, prelimi16 nary cost estimates, appropriate work scopes, per17 sonnel requirements, estimated costs and goals for

18 the next 5 years, and the role of other appropriate

19 Federal agencies, if any, in implementing the plan;

20 (3) a means to provide for the transfer to the

21 private sector of technology developed as a result of

22 wind engineering research, for use in building codes,

23 design practice, and construction; and
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1 (4) details regarding how the program can be

2 conducted in cooperation with industry and the pri3 vate sector.

4 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATIONS.

5 (a) AUTHORIZATION FOR NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF

6 STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY.—There are authorized to

7 be appropriated to the National Institute of Standards

8 and Technology for the purposes of this Act, $1,000,000

9 for fiscal year 1994, $3,000,000 for fiscal year 1995, and

10 $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1996.

11 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—Of the amounts

12 appropriated under subsection (a), no less than 50 percent

13 shall be used for cooperative agreements with the National

14 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National

15 Science Foundation, and Federal Aviation Administration,

16 or other agencies, for wind engineering research, develop17 ment of improved practices for structures, and the collec18 tion and dissemination of meteorological data needed for

19 wind engineering.

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