I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1183

To amend the Fastener Quality Act to strengthen the protection against

the sale of mismarked, misrepresented, and counterfeit fasteners and

eliminate unnecessary requirements, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 18, 1999

Mr. SENSENBRENNER (for himself, Mr. BROWN of California, Mrs. MORELLA,

Mr. GREEN of Wisconsin, Mr. COOK, Mrs. BIGGERT, and Mr.

KUYKENDALL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Science, and in addition to the Committee on Commerce,

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the

committee concerned

A BILL

To amend the Fastener Quality Act to strengthen the protection against the sale of mismarked, misrepresented, and

counterfeit fasteners and eliminate unnecessary requirements, 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 ‘‘Fastener Quality Act

5 Amendments Act of 1999’’.
2

•HR 1183 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

2 Section 2 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C.

3 5401) is amended to read as follows:

4 ‘‘SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

5 ‘‘The Congress finds that—

6 ‘‘(1) the United States fastener industry is a

7 significant contributor to the global economy, em8 ploying thousands of workers in hundreds of commu9 nities;

10 ‘‘(2) the American economy uses billions of fas11 teners each year;

12 ‘‘(3) state-of-the-art manufacturing and im13 proved quality assurance systems have dramatically

14 improved fastener quality, so virtually all fasteners

15 sold in commerce meet or exceed the consensus

16 standards for the uses to which they are applied;

17 ‘‘(4) a small number of mismarked, misrepre18 sented, and counterfeit fasteners do enter commerce

19 in the United States; and

20 ‘‘(5) multiple criteria for the identification of

21 fasteners exist, including grade identification mark22 ings and manufacturer’s insignia, to enable pur23 chasers and users of fasteners to accurately evaluate

24 the characteristics of individual fasteners.’’.
3

•HR 1183 IH

1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

2 Section 3 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C.

3 5402) is amended to read as follows:

4 ‘‘SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

5 ‘‘As used in this Act, the term—

6 ‘‘(1) ‘consensus standard’ means the provisions

7 of a document that describes fastener characteristics

8 published by a consensus standards organization or

9 a Federal agency, and does not include a proprietary

10 standard;

11 ‘‘(2) ‘consensus standards organization’ means

12 the American Society for Testing and Materials, the

13 American National Standards Institute, the Amer14 ican Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of

15 Automotive Engineers, the International Organiza16 tion for Standardization, any other organization

17 identified as a United States consensus standards

18 organization or a foreign and international con19 sensus standards organization in the Federal Reg20 ister at 61 Fed. Reg. 50582–83 (September 26,

21 1996), and any successor organizations thereto;

22 ‘‘(3) ‘Director’ means the Director of the Na23 tional Institute of Standards and Technology;

24 ‘‘(4) ‘distributor’ means a person who pur25 chases fasteners for the purpose of reselling them at

26 wholesale to unaffiliated entities or individuals (an
4

•HR 1183 IH

1 original equipment manufacturer and its dealers

2 shall be considered affiliated entities for purposes of

3 this Act);

4 ‘‘(5) ‘fastener’ means a metallic screw, nut,

5 bolt, or stud having internal or external threads,

6 with a nominal diameter of 6 millimeters or greater,

7 in the case of such items described in metric terms,

or 1 8 ⁄4 inch or greater, in the case of such items de9 scribed in terms of the English system of measure10 ment, or a load-indicating washer, that is through11 hardened or represented as meeting a consensus

12 standard that calls for through-hardening, and that

13 is grade identification marked or represented as

14 meeting a consensus standard that requires grade

15 identification marking, except that such term does

16 not include any screw, nut, bolt, stud, or load-indi17 cating washer that is—

18 ‘‘(A) part of an assembly;

19 ‘‘(B) in a package containing no more than

20 100 of any one screw, nut, bolt, stud, or load21 indicating washer at the time of sale;

22 ‘‘(C) produced and marked as ASTM A

23 307 Grade A, or a successor standard thereto;

24 ‘‘(D) produced in accordance with ASTM

25 F 432, or a successor standard thereto;
5

•HR 1183 IH

1 ‘‘(E) specifically manufactured for use on

2 an aircraft if the quality and suitability of those

3 fasteners for that use has been approved—

4 ‘‘(i) by the Federal Aviation Adminis5 tration; or

6 ‘‘(ii) by a foreign airworthiness au7 thority as described in part 21.29, 21.500,

8 21.502, or 21.617 of title 14 of the Code

9 of Federal Regulations;

10 ‘‘(F) manufactured in accordance with a

11 fastener quality assurance system; or

12 ‘‘(G) manufactured to a proprietary stand13 ard, whether or not such proprietary standard

14 directly or indirectly references a consensus

15 standard or any portion thereof;

16 ‘‘(6) ‘fastener quality assurance system’

17 means—

18 ‘‘(A) a system that meets the require19 ments, including revisions from time to time,

20 of—

21 ‘‘(i) International Organization for

22 Standardization (ISO) Standard 9000,

23 9001, 9002, or TS16949;

24 ‘‘(ii) Quality System (QS) 9000

25 Standard;
6

•HR 1183 IH

1 ‘‘(iii) Verband der Automobilindustrie

2 e. V. (VDA) 6.1 Standard; or

3 ‘‘(iv) Aerospace Basic Quality System

4 Standard AS9000; or

5 ‘‘(B) any fastener manufacturing system—

6 ‘‘(i) that has as a stated goal the pre7 vention of defects through continuous im8 provement;

9 ‘‘(ii) that seeks to attain the goal stat10 ed in clause (i) by incorporating—

11 ‘‘(I) advance quality planning;

12 ‘‘(II) monitoring and control of

13 the manufacturing process;

14 ‘‘(III) product verification em15 bodied in a comprehensive written

16 control plan for product and process

17 characteristics, and process controls

18 (including process influence factors

19 and statistical process control), tests,

20 and measurement systems to be used

21 in production; and

22 ‘‘(IV) the creation, maintenance,

23 and retention of electronic, photo24 graphic, or paper records required by

25 the control plan regarding the inspec-
7

•HR 1183 IH

1 tions, tests, and measurements per2 formed pursuant to the control plan;

3 and

4 ‘‘(iii) that—

5 ‘‘(I) is subject to certification in

6 accordance with the requirements of

7 ISO/IEC Guide 62, including revisions

8 from time to time, by a third party

9 who is accredited by an accreditation

10 body in accordance with the require11 ments of ISO/IEC Guide 61, includ12 ing revisions from time to time, or an13 other document approved by the Di14 rector under section 10; or

15 ‘‘(II) undergoes regular or ran16 dom evaluation and assessment by the

17 end user or end users of the screws,

18 nuts, bolts, studs, or load-indicating

19 washers produced under such fastener

20 manufacturing system to ensure that

21 such system meets the requirements

22 of clauses (i) and (ii);

23 ‘‘(7) ‘grade identification marking’ means any

24 grade-mark or property class symbol appearing on a

25 fastener purporting to indicate that the lot of fas-
8

•HR 1183 IH

1 teners conforms to a specific consensus standard,

2 but such term does not include a manufacturer’s in3 signia or part number;

4 ‘‘(8) ‘lot’ means a quantity of fasteners of one

5 part number fabricated by the same production

6 process from the same coil or heat number of metal

7 as provided by the metal manufacturer;

8 ‘‘(9) ‘manufacturer’ means a person who fab9 ricates fasteners for sale in commerce;

10 ‘‘(10) ‘proprietary standard’ means the provi11 sions of a document that describes characteristics of

12 a screw, nut, bolt, stud, or load-indicating washer

13 and is issued by a person who—

14 ‘‘(A) uses screws, nuts, bolts, studs, or

15 load-indicating washers in the manufacture, as16 sembly, or servicing of its products; and

17 ‘‘(B) with respect to such screws, nuts,

18 bolts, studs, or washers, is a developer and

19 issuer of descriptions that have characteristics

20 similar to consensus standards and that bear

21 such user’s identification;

22 ‘‘(11) ‘record of conformance’ means a record

23 or records designated for each lot of fasteners sold

24 or offered for sale that contains—
9

•HR 1183 IH

1 ‘‘(A) the name and address of the manu2 facturer;

3 ‘‘(B) a description of the type of fastener;

4 ‘‘(C) the lot number;

5 ‘‘(D) the nominal dimensions of the fas6 tener (including diameter and length of bolts or

7 screws), thread form, and class of fit;

8 ‘‘(E) the consensus standard or specifica9 tions to which the lot of fasteners has been

10 manufactured, including the date, number, revi11 sion, and other information sufficient to iden12 tify the particular consensus standard or speci13 fications being referenced;

14 ‘‘(F) the chemistry and grade of material;

15 and

16 ‘‘(G) the coating material and characteris17 tics and the applicable consensus standard or

18 specifications for such coating;

19 ‘‘(12) ‘represent’ means to describe one or more

20 of a fastener’s purported characteristics in a docu21 ment or statement that is transmitted to a pur22 chaser through any medium;

23 ‘‘(13) ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Com24 merce;
10

•HR 1183 IH

1 ‘‘(14) ‘specifications’ means the required char2 acteristics identified in the contractual agreement

3 with the manufacturer or to which a fastener is oth4 erwise produced, except that the term does not in5 clude proprietary standards; and

6 ‘‘(15) ‘through-harden’ means heating above

7 the transformation temperature followed by quench8 ing and tempering for the purpose of achieving uni9 form hardness.’’.

10 SEC. 4. SALE OF FASTENERS.

11 Sections 5 through 7 of the Fastener Quality Act (15

12 U.S.C. 5404–7) are repealed, and the following new sec13 tion is inserted after section 3 of such Act:

14 ‘‘SEC. 4. SALE OF FASTENERS.

15 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—It shall be unlawful for a

16 manufacturer or distributor, in conjunction with a sale or

17 offer for sale of a fastener, to knowingly misrepresent or

18 falsify—

19 ‘‘(1) the record of conformance for the lot of

20 fasteners;

21 ‘‘(2) the identification, characteristics, prop22 erties, mechanical or performance marks, chemistry,

23 or strength of the lot of fasteners; or

24 ‘‘(3) the manufacturer’s insignia.
11

•HR 1183 IH

1 ‘‘(b) REPRESENTATIONS.—A direct or indirect ref2 erence to a consensus standard to represent that a fas3 tener conforms to particular requirements of the con4 sensus standard shall not be construed as a representation

5 that the fastener meets all the requirements of the con6 sensus standard.

7 ‘‘(c) SPECIFICATIONS.—A direct or indirect contrac8 tual reference to a consensus standard for the purpose of

9 identifying particular requirements of the consensus

10 standard that serve as specifications shall not be con11 strued to require that the fastener meet all the require12 ments of the consensus standard.

13 ‘‘(d) VOLUNTARY ACCREDITATION OF LABORA14 TORIES.—The Secretary, acting through the Director,

15 shall maintain a program for the voluntary accreditation

16 of laboratories, and shall make information about such

17 laboratories available to the public. If the parties to the

18 sale of a fastener agree, a laboratory accredited under

19 such voluntary program shall be used to perform tests that

20 may be required by consensus standards or specifica21 tions.’’.

22 SEC. 5. MANUFACTURERS’ INSIGNIAS.

23 Section 8 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C.

24 5407) is redesignated as section 5 and is amended—
12

•HR 1183 IH

1 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘which is re2 quired’’ and all that follows through ‘‘by the Sec3 retary’’ and inserting ‘‘that is required by the speci4 fications or applicable consensus standard or stand5 ards in the record of conformance to bear an insig6 nia identifying its manufacturer shall be offered for

7 sale or sold in commerce unless the manufacturer of

8 such fastener has complied with the insignia rec9 ordation requirements prescribed by the Secretary,

10 acting through the Director,’’; and

11 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘and private

12 label’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘described

13 in subsection (a).’’.

14 SEC. 6. REMEDIES AND PENALTIES.

15 Section 9 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C.

16 5408) is redesignated as section 6 and is amended—

17 (1) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘of this

18 section’’ and inserting ‘‘of this subsection’’;

19 (2) in subsection (b)(4), by inserting ‘‘arbi20 trate,’’ after ‘‘Secretary may’’;

21 (3) by striking paragraph (3) of subsection (c);

22 and

23 (4) in subsection (d)—

24 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘ENFORCE25 MENT.—’’; and
13

•HR 1183 IH

1 (B) by adding at the end the following new

2 paragraph:

3 ‘‘(2) The Secretary, acting through the Director,

4 shall establish and maintain a hotline system to facilitate

5 the reporting of alleged violations of this Act, and the Sec6 retary shall investigate credible allegations reported

7 through that system.’’.

8 SEC. 7. RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENTS.

9 Section 10 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C.

10 5409) is redesignated as section 7 and is amended by

11 striking subsections (a) and (b) and inserting the fol12 lowing:

13 ‘‘Manufacturers shall retain the record of conform14 ance for fasteners for 5 years, on paper or in photographic

15 or electronic format in a manner that allows for

16 verification of authenticity.’’.

17 SEC. 8. RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAWS.

18 Section 11 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C.

19 5410) is redesignated as section 8.

20 SEC. 9. CONSTRUCTION.

21 Section 12 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C.

22 5411) is redesignated as section 9 and is amended by

23 striking ‘‘in effect on the date of enactment of this Act’’.
14

•HR 1183 IH

1 SEC. 10. CERTIFICATION AND ACCREDITATION.

2 Sections 13 and 15 of the Fastener Quality Act (15

3 U.S.C. 5412 and 14) are repealed, and the following new

4 section is inserted at the end of that Act:

5 ‘‘SEC. 10. CERTIFICATION AND ACCREDITATION.

6 ‘‘(a) CERTIFICATION.—A person publishing a docu7 ment setting forth guidance or requirements for the cer8 tification of manufacturing systems, including fastener

9 manufacturing systems, by an accredited third party may

10 petition the Director to approve such document for use

11 as described in section 3(6)(B)(iii)(I). The Director shall

12 act upon a petition within 180 days after its filing, and

13 shall approve such petition if the document provides equal

14 or greater rigor and reliability as compared to ISO/IEC

15 Guide 62.

16 ‘‘(b) ACCREDITATION.—A person publishing a docu17 ment setting forth guidance or requirements for the ap18 proval of accreditation bodies to accredit third parties de19 scribed in subsection (a) may petition the Director to ap20 prove such document for use as described in section

21 3(6)(B)(iii)(I). The Director shall act upon a petition

22 within 180 days after its filing, and shall approve such

23 petition if the document provides equal or greater rigor

24 and reliability as compared to ISO/IEC Guide 61.’’.
15

•HR 1183 IH

1 SEC. 11. APPLICABILITY.

2 At the end of the Fastener Quality Act, insert the

3 following new section:

4 ‘‘SEC. 11. APPLICABILITY.

5 ‘‘The requirements of this Act shall be applicable only

6 to fasteners fabricated 180 days or more after the date

7 of the enactment of the Fastener Quality Act Amendments

8 of 1999, except that if a manufacturer or distributor of

9 fasteners fabricated before that date designates a record

10 of conformance for such fasteners, representations about

11 such fasteners shall be subject to the requirements of this

12 Act.’’.

Æ