Union Calendar No. 64

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1183

[Report No. 106–121, Part I]

A BILL

To amend the Fastener Quality Act to strengthen

other purposes.eliminate unnecessary requirements, and formisrepresented, and counterfeit fasteners andthe protection against the sale of mismarked,

APRIL 29, 1999

Reported from the Committee on Science with an

amendment

APRIL 29, 1999

Referred to the Committee on Commerce extended for a

period ending not later than April 29, 1999

APRIL 29, 1999

Committee on Commerce discharged; committed to the

Union and ordered to be printedCommittee of the Whole House on the State of the
IB

Union Calendar No. 64

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1183

[Report No. 106–121, Part I]

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

APRIL 29, 1999

Additional sponsors: Mr. GARRY MILLER of California, Mr. CALVERT, Mr.

EHLERS, Mr. GUTKNECHT, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. PASTOR,

and Mr. HOBSON

APRIL 29, 1999

Reported from the Committee on Science with an amendment

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

APRIL 29, 1999

Referral to the Committee on Commerce extended for a period ending not

later than April 29, 1999

APRIL 29, 1999

Committee on Commerce discharged; committed to the Committee of the

Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 18, 1999]

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’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 Section 2 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C. 5401)

8 is amended to read as follows:

9 ‘‘SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

10 ‘‘The Congress finds that—

11 ‘‘(1) the United States fastener industry is a sig12 nificant contributor to the global economy, employing

13 thousands of workers in hundreds of communities;

14 ‘‘(2) the American economy uses billions of fas15 teners each year;

16 ‘‘(3) state-of-the-art manufacturing and im17 proved quality assurance systems have dramatically

18 improved fastener quality, so virtually all fasteners
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1 sold in commerce meet or exceed the consensus stand2 ards for the uses to which they are applied;

3 ‘‘(4) a small number of mismarked, misrepre4 sented, and counterfeit fasteners do enter commerce in

5 the United States; and

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

7 fasteners exist, including grade identification mark8 ings and manufacturer’s insignia, to enable pur9 chasers and users of fasteners to accurately evaluate

10 the characteristics of individual fasteners.’’.

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

12 Section 3 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C. 5402)

13 is amended to read as follows:

14 ‘‘SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

15 ‘‘As used in this Act, the term—

16 ‘‘(1) ‘accredited laboratory’ means a fastener

17 testing facility used to perform end-of-line testing re18 quired by a consensus standard or standards to verify

19 that a lot of fasteners conforms to the grade identi20 fication marking called for in the consensus standard

21 or standards to which the lot of fasteners has been

22 manufactured, and which—

23 ‘‘(A) meets the requirements of ISO/IEC

24 Guide 25, including revisions from time to time,
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1 or another document approved by the Director

2 under section 10(c); and

3 ‘‘(B) has been accredited by a laboratory ac4 creditation body that meets the requirements of

5 ISO/IEC Guide 58, including revisions from

6 time to time, or another document approved by

7 the Director under section 10(d);

8 ‘‘(2) ‘consensus standard’ means the provisions

9 of a document that describes fastener characteristics

10 published by a consensus standards organization or a

11 Federal agency, and does not include a proprietary

12 standard;

13 ‘‘(3) ‘consensus standards organization’ means

14 the American Society for Testing and Materials, the

15 American National Standards Institute, the Amer16 ican Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of

17 Automotive Engineers, the International Organiza18 tion for Standardization, any other organization

19 identified as a United States consensus standards or20 ganization or a foreign and international consensus

21 standards organization in the Federal Register at 61

22 Fed. Reg. 50582–83 (September 26, 1996), and any

23 successor organizations thereto;

24 ‘‘(4) ‘Director’ means the Director of the Na25 tional Institute of Standards and Technology;
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1 ‘‘(5) ‘distributor’ means a person who purchases

2 fasteners for the purpose of reselling them at wholesale

3 to unaffiliated entities or individuals (an original

4 equipment manufacturer and its dealers shall be con5 sidered affiliated entities for purposes of this Act);

6 ‘‘(6) ‘fastener’ means a metallic screw, nut, bolt,

7 or stud having internal or external threads, with a

8 nominal diameter of 6 millimeters or greater, in the

case of such items described in metric terms, or 1 9 ⁄4

10 inch or greater, in the case of such items described in

11 terms of the English system of measurement, or a

12 load-indicating washer, that is through-hardened or

13 represented as meeting a consensus standard that

14 calls for through-hardening, and that is grade identi15 fication marked or represented as meeting a consensus

16 standard that requires grade identification marking,

17 except that such term does not include any screw, nut,

18 bolt, stud, or load-indicating washer that is—

19 ‘‘(A) part of an assembly;

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

21 100 of any one screw, nut, bolt, stud, or load-in22 dicating washer at the time of sale;

23 ‘‘(C) produced and marked as ASTM A 307

24 Grade A, or a successor standard thereto;
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1 ‘‘(D) produced in accordance with ASTM F

2 432, or a successor standard thereto;

3 ‘‘(E) specifically manufactured for use on

4 an aircraft if the quality and suitability of those

5 fasteners for that use has been approved—

6 ‘‘(i) by the Federal Aviation Adminis7 tration; or

8 ‘‘(ii) by a foreign airworthiness au9 thority as described in part 21.29, 21.500,

10 21.502, or 21.617 of title 14 of the Code of

11 Federal Regulations;

12 ‘‘(F) manufactured in accordance with a

13 fastener quality assurance system; or

14 ‘‘(G) manufactured to a proprietary stand15 ard, whether or not such proprietary standard

16 directly or indirectly references a consensus

17 standard or any portion thereof;

18 ‘‘(7) ‘fastener quality assurance system’ means—

19 ‘‘(A) a system that meets the requirements,

20 including revisions from time to time, of—

21 ‘‘(i) International Organization for

22 Standardization (ISO) Standard 9000,

23 9001, 9002, or TS16949;

24 ‘‘(ii) Quality System (QS) 9000

25 Standard;
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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 stated

10 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 con16 trol plan for product and process char17 acteristics, and process controls (in18 cluding process influence factors and

19 statistical process control), tests, and

20 measurement systems to be used in

21 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-
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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 (or another docu9 ment approved by the Director under

10 section 10(a)), by a third party who is

11 accredited by an accreditation body in

12 accordance with the requirements of

13 ISO/IEC Guide 61, including revisions

14 from time to time (or another docu15 ment approved by the Director under

16 section 10(b)); or

17 ‘‘(II) undergoes regular or ran18 dom evaluation and assessment by the

19 end user or end users of the screws,

20 nuts, bolts, studs, or load-indicating

21 washers produced under such fastener

22 manufacturing system to ensure that

23 such system meets the requirements of

24 clauses (i) and (ii);
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1 ‘‘(8) ‘grade identification marking’ means any

2 grade-mark or property class symbol appearing on a

3 fastener purporting to indicate that the lot of fas4 teners conforms to a specific consensus standard, but

5 such term does not include a manufacturer’s insignia

6 or part number;

7 ‘‘(9) ‘lot’ means a quantity of fasteners of one

8 part number fabricated by the same production proc9 ess from the same coil or heat number of metal as

10 provided by the metal manufacturer;

11 ‘‘(10) ‘manufacturer’ means a person who fab12 ricates fasteners for sale in commerce;

13 ‘‘(11) ‘proprietary standard’ means the provi14 sions of a document that describes characteristics of

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

16 and is issued by a person who—

17 ‘‘(A) uses screws, nuts, bolts, studs, or load18 indicating washers in the manufacture, assem19 bly, or servicing of its products; and

20 ‘‘(B) with respect to such screws, nuts, bolts,

21 studs, or washers, is a developer and issuer of de22 scriptions that have characteristics similar to

23 consensus standards and that bear such user’s

24 identification;
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1 ‘‘(12) ‘record of conformance’ means a record or

2 records for each lot of fasteners sold or offered for sale

3 that contains—

4 ‘‘(A) the name and address of the manufac5 turer;

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

7 ‘‘(C) the lot number;

8 ‘‘(D) the nominal dimensions of the fastener

9 (including diameter and length of bolts or

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

11 ‘‘(E) the consensus standard or specifica12 tions to which the lot of fasteners has been man13 ufactured, including the date, number, revision,

14 and other information sufficient to identify the

15 particular consensus standard or specifications

16 being referenced;

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

18 and

19 ‘‘(G) the coating material and characteris20 tics and the applicable consensus standard or

21 specifications for such coating;

22 ‘‘(13) ‘represent’ means to describe one or more

23 of a fastener’s purported characteristics in a docu24 ment or statement that is transmitted to a purchaser

25 through any medium;
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1 ‘‘(14) ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Com2 merce;

3 ‘‘(15) ‘specifications’ means the required charac4 teristics identified in the contractual agreement with

5 the manufacturer or to which a fastener is otherwise

6 produced, except that the term does not include pro7 prietary standards; and

8 ‘‘(16) ‘through-harden’ means heating above the

9 transformation temperature followed by quenching

10 and tempering for the purpose of achieving uniform

11 hardness.’’.

12 SEC. 4. SALE OF FASTENERS.

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

14 U.S.C. 5404–7) are repealed, and the following new section

15 is inserted after section 3 of such Act:

16 ‘‘SEC. 4. SALE OF FASTENERS.

17 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—It shall be unlawful for a man18 ufacturer or distributor, in conjunction with a sale or offer

19 for sale of a fastener, to knowingly misrepresent or falsify—

20 ‘‘(1) the record of conformance for the lot of fas21 teners;

22 ‘‘(2) the identification, characteristics, prop23 erties, mechanical or performance marks, chemistry,

24 or strength of the lot of fasteners; or

25 ‘‘(3) the manufacturer’s insignia.
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1 ‘‘(b) REPRESENTATIONS.—A direct or indirect ref2 erence to a consensus standard to represent that a fastener

3 conforms to particular requirements of the consensus stand4 ard shall not be construed as a representation that the fas5 tener meets all the requirements of the consensus standard.

6 ‘‘(c) SPECIFICATIONS.—A direct or indirect contrac7 tual reference to a consensus standard for the purpose of

8 identifying particular requirements of the consensus stand9 ard that serve as specifications shall not be construed to

10 require that the fastener meet all the requirements of the

11 consensus standard.

12 ‘‘(d) USE OF ACCREDITED LABORATORIES.—In the

13 case of fasteners manufactured solely to a consensus stand14 ard or standards, end-of-line testing required by the con15 sensus standard or standards, if any, for the purpose of

16 verifying that a lot of fasteners conforms with the grade

17 identification marking called for in the consensus standard

18 or standards to which the lot of fasteners has been manufac19 tured shall be conducted by an accredited laboratory.’’.

20 SEC. 5. MANUFACTURERS’ INSIGNIAS.

21 Section 8 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C. 5407)

22 is redesignated as section 5 and is amended—

23 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol24 lows:
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1 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—Unless the specifications pro2 vide otherwise, a fastener that is required by the applicable

3 consensus standard or standards to bear an insignia identi4 fying its manufacturer shall not be offered for sale or sold

5 in commerce unless—

6 ‘‘(1) the fastener bears such insignia; and

7 ‘‘(2) the manufacturer has complied with the in8 signia recordation requirements established under

9 subsection (b).’’; and

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

11 label’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘described in

12 subsection (a).’’.

13 SEC. 6. REMEDIES AND PENALTIES.

14 Section 9 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C. 5408)

15 is redesignated as section 6 and is amended—

16 (1) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘of this sec17 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘of this subsection’’;

18 (2) in subsection (b)(4), by inserting ‘‘arbitrate,’’

19 after ‘‘Secretary may’’;

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

21 and

22 (4) in subsection (d)—

23 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘ENFORCE24 MENT.—’’; and
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1 (B) by adding at the end the following new

2 paragraph:

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

4 establish and maintain a hotline system to facilitate the

5 reporting of alleged violations of this Act, and the Secretary

6 shall investigate credible allegations reported through that

7 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 strik11 ing subsections (a) and (b) and inserting the following:

12 ‘‘Manufacturers shall retain the record of conformance

13 for fasteners for 5 years, on paper or in photographic or

14 electronic format in a manner that allows for verification

15 of authenticity. Upon request of a distributor who has pur16 chased a fastener, or a person who has purchased a fastener

17 for use in the production of a commercial product, the man18 ufacturer of the fastener shall make available information

19 in the record of conformance to the requester.’’.

20 SEC. 8. RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAWS.

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

22 5410) is redesignated as section 8.
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1 SEC. 9. CONSTRUCTION.

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

3 5411) is redesignated as section 9 and is amended by strik4 ing ‘‘in effect on the date of enactment of this Act’’.

5 SEC. 10. CERTIFICATION AND ACCREDITATION.

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

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

8 section is inserted at the end of that Act:

9 ‘‘SEC. 10. CERTIFICATION AND ACCREDITATION.

10 ‘‘(a) CERTIFICATION.—A person publishing a docu11 ment setting forth guidance or requirements for the certifi12 cation of manufacturing systems, including fastener manu13 facturing systems, by an accredited third party may peti14 tion the Director to approve such document for use as de15 scribed in section 3(7)(B)(iii)(I). The Director shall act

16 upon a petition within 180 days after its filing, and shall

17 approve such petition if the document provides equal or

18 greater rigor and reliability as compared to ISO/IEC Guide

19 62.

20 ‘‘(b) ACCREDITATION.—A person publishing a docu21 ment setting forth guidance or requirements for the ap22 proval of accreditation bodies to accredit third parties de23 scribed in subsection (a) may petition the Director to ap24 prove such document for use as described in section

25 3(7)(B)(iii)(I). The Director shall act upon a petition with26 in 180 days after its filing, and shall approve such petition
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1 if the document provides equal or greater rigor and reli2 ability as compared to ISO/IEC Guide 61.

3 ‘‘(c) LABORATORY ACCREDITATION.—A person pub4 lishing a document setting forth guidance or requirements

5 for the accreditation of laboratories may petition the Direc6 tor to approve such document for use as described in section

7 3(1)(A). The Director shall act upon a petition within 180

8 days after its filing, and shall approve such petition if the

9 document provides equal or greater rigor and reliability as

10 compared to ISO/IEC Guide 25.

11 ‘‘(d) APPROVAL OF ACCREDITATION BODIES.—A per12 son publishing a document setting forth guidance or re13 quirements for the approval of accreditation bodies to ac14 credit laboratories may petition the Director to approve

15 such document for use as described in section 3(1)(B). The

16 Director shall act upon a petition within 180 days after

17 its filing, and shall approve such petition if the document

18 provides equal or greater rigor and reliability as compared

19 to ISO/IEC Guide 58.’’.

20 SEC. 11. APPLICABILITY.

21 At the end of the Fastener Quality Act, insert the fol22 lowing new section:

23 ‘‘SEC. 11. APPLICABILITY.

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

25 to fasteners fabricated 180 days or more after the date of
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1 the enactment of the Fastener Quality Act Amendments of

2 1999, except that if a manufacturer or distributor of fas3 teners fabricated before that date prepares a record of con4 formance for such fasteners, representations about such fas5 teners shall be subject to the requirements of this Act.’’.

6 SEC. 12. EFFECTIVE DATE.

7 Section 4(d) of the Fastener Quality Act, as added by

8 section 4 of this Act, shall take effect 2 years after the date

9 of enactment of this Act.