Response to NCST 

Advisory Committee’s 

June 30 & July 1, 2020 2019 Report to Congress

NCST Advisory 

Committee Meeting

Maria Dillard, Ph.D.

Acting Director, Disaster and Failure Studies

Associate Lead Investigator, Hurricane Maria NCST 

Investigation

National Institute of Standards and Technology

NCST Advisory Committee Meeting, June 30, 2020
Background Material on NCST Investigations

• The National Construction Safety Team (NCST) Act authorizes the Director of NIST 

to:

o establish NCST Act Teams for deployment after events causing the failure of a 

building or buildings that has resulted in substantial loss of life or that 

posed significant potential for substantial loss of life. (15 U.S.C. §7301(a)) 

• Under the NCST Act established Teams shall: 

(A) establish the likely technical cause or causes of the building failure,

(B) evaluate the technical aspects of evacuation and emergency response

procedures, 

(C) recommend, as necessary, specific improvements to building standards,

codes, and practices based on the findings made pursuant to (A) and (B), and 

(D) recommend any research and other appropriate actions needed to improve

the structural safety of buildings, and improve evacuation and emergency

response procedures, based on the findings of the investigation. 

(15 U.S.C. §7301(b)(2))
Background Material on NCST Investigations

• Under the NCST Act (15 U.S.C. 7301 (b)(1)), the purpose of the investigations by Teams 

is to improve the safety and structural integrity of buildings in the United States.

• Under the NCST Act implementing regulations (15 CFR § 270.100(c)), the number of 

fatalities considered to be “substantial” will depend on: 

o the nature of the event,

o the event’s impact, 

o the event’s unusual or unforeseen character, 

o historical norms, and 

o other pertinent factors.

• Under the NCST Act implementing regulations (15 CFR § 270.100(b)), building failure 

may involve one or more of the following: 

o structural system, 

o fire protection (active or passive) system, 

o air-handling system, and 

o building control system. 
Background Material on NCST AC

• In accordance with 15 U.S.C. § 7310 (a) and restated in the NCST Advisory 

Committee Charter, the NCST Advisory Committee (Committee) shall:

o advise the NIST Director on carrying out the NCST Act, and

o review the procedures developed under Section 2 (c)(1) of the Act, and 

o review the reports issued as a result of an NCST investigation.

• In accordance with 15 U.S.C. § 7310 (b), on January 1 of each year the Advisory 

Committee shall transmit to the Committee on Science, Space and Technology of 

the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation of the Senate a report that includes:

o an evaluation of Team activities, along with recommendations to improve the 

operation and effectiveness of Teams, and

o an assessment of the implementation of the recommendations of Teams and 

of the advisory committee.
Background Material on NCST AC

• Based on the NCST Advisory Committee Charter (2016), the NCST Advisory 

Committee shall:

o meet at least once per year, 

o hold additional meetings, whenever called by the NIST Director or the DFO

o meet in person annually, and for any additional meetings, meet in person or 

in the form of telephone conference calls and/or videoconferences.

• Based on the NCST Advisory Committee Charter (2016), NIST may establish 

subcommittees from among the NCST AC members, as may be necessary: 

o subject to the provisions of FACA (Federal Advisory Committee Act), and its 

implementing regulations, and applicable Department of Commerce 

guidance., and

o whom must report back to the parent committee, and must not provide 

advice and work products directly to the agency.
NIST Response to 2018 NCST AC Report to Congress

Recommendation Response

1. Incremental Measures for Tornado 

Shelters

While it is probably not realistic nor in the 

public’s best interest to require that 

common commercial buildings and singlefamily homes be designed for the most 

severe tornadoes, some individuals and/or 

jurisdictions may want to improve their 

tornado protection voluntarily and such 

protective measures should be described 

incrementally so that voluntary 

improvements can be incorporated with 

cost-benefit considerations. The Advisory 

Committee encourages NCST to continue to 

explore alternative strategies, especially the 

improvement of tornado shelter

standards and public tornado sheltering 

strategies.

We agree.

NIST’s plan for the Joplin Tornado NCST investigation’s 

Recommendation 6 includes working collaboratively with FEMA to 

develop and publish a NIST/FEMA tornado design guide that includes 

cost-benefit considerations.

Work is progressing towards improving tornado shelter standards, as 

part of the implementation of Joplin Tornado NCST investigation’s 

Recommendation 7.

In 2022, NIST plans to conduct a series of workshops to identify 

opportunities, challenges, and best practices associated with design 

and operation of public tornado shelters. These workshops will be 

similar to the one held in March 2019 in collaboration with NOAA, 

FEMA, academia, local governments, and the private sector. 
NIST Response to 2018 NCST AC Report to Congress

Recommendation Response

2. Social Media Data

We note that NIST has engaged in 

exploring the possibility of obtaining and 

analyzing social

media data for future research 

endeavors. We understand the 

complexity of data collection,

storage, management, and analysis that 

accompanies this process, and we 

recommend continued perseverance and 

ongoing efforts in this area.

We agree.

NIST researchers are working to better standardize methods for 

collecting this type of information at the time of the hazard event for 

future analyses. Twitter’s current policies allow third-party access to its 

application programming interfaces (APIs) to collect information that its 

users chose to share publicly. In April 2020, NIST submitted an 

application to Twitter to obtain an API Key for a Developer Account; we 

provided additional information in May 2020 and are awaiting approval. 

NIST will continue to explore partnership options with Facebook.

Content analysis of previously collected social media messages will be 

revisited at a later date.

NIST has an ongoing commitment to enabling NIST researchers to 

ethically access, collect, analyze, and use social media data in postdisaster contexts.
NIST Response to 2018 NCST AC Report to Congress

Recommendation Response

3. Rapid Response 

It is crucial that NIST capitalize on current 

efforts by institutionalizing the procedures 

and capabilities deployed for the Hurricane 

Maria study in order to ensure efficient and 

effective NCST responses in the future.

Given the importance of documenting and 

collecting time-sensitive data with NCST 

activities, we recommend that NIST 

investigate whether other federal agencies, 

such as the NTSB, have developed protocols 

for quick response activities. This could be 

crucial for potential future disasters such as 

an earthquake in a heavily populated area.

We agree.

Under the Hurricane Maria Investigation, NIST has implemented new 

practices to ensure efficient and effective NCST responses that extend 

beyond the current investigation. 

We developed new procedures for gaining access to information from 

other federal agencies. For example, MOUs signed with FEMA will 

serve as models for future information-sharing agreements that will 

likely yield easier, faster access to information in future investigations. 

Additional activities include: 

• Privacy Impact Assessment

• OMB Paperwork Reduction Act Generic Clearance

• New NCST ‘Data Handling and Use’ clauses for contracts

• Data management and science staffing

NIST will continue to engage other partners to learn about protocols 

that will improve our ability to respond efficiently and effectively.
NIST Response to 2018 NCST AC Report to Congress

Recommendation Response

4. Revisions to the NCST Act

We (the Committee) also want to restate 

our recommendation to Congress that the 

Act be revised. The Act focuses exclusively 

on safety from building failures. NIST has 

studied failures of construction that cannot 

be characterized purely as buildings and 

should do so again in the future.

While investigations of failures of 

nonbuilding structures have been and could 

be carried out under the authorities 

granted NIST in its organic act, in the 

National Windstorm Impact Reduction 

Program, and in the National Earthquake 

Hazard Reduction Program, we recommend 

that formal consideration be given to 

amending the NCST act to emphasize the 

important role NIST should play in such 

investigations. 

N/A
Response to NCST 

Advisory Committee’s 

2019 Report to Congress

Maria Dillard, Ph.D.

Acting Director, Disaster and Failure Studies

Associate Lead Investigator, Hurricane Maria NCST Investigation

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Questions?

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June 30 & July 1, 2020

NCST Advisory 

Committee Meeting