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SEC. 2. NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION SAFETY TEAMS.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (in this Act referred
to as the ‘‘Director’’) is authorized to establish National
Construction Safety Teams (in this Act referred to as a
‘‘Team’’) 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. To the maximum extent practicable, the Director
shall establish and deploy a Team within 48 hours after
such an event. The Director shall promptly publish in the
Federal Register notice of the establishment of each Team.
(b) PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION; DUTIES.—
(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of investigations by
Teams is to improve the safety and structural integ-
rity of buildings in the United States.
(2) DUTIES.—A Team shall—
(A) establish the likely technical cause or
causes of the building failure;
(B) evaluate the technical aspects of evacu-
ation and emergency response procedures;
(C) recommend, as necessary, specific im-
provements to building standards, codes, and
practices based on the findings made pursuant to
subparagraphs (A) and (B); and
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(D) recommend any research and other ap-
propriate actions needed to improve the struc-
tural safety of buildings, and improve evacu-
ation and emergency response procedures, based
on the findings of the investigation.
(c) PROCEDURES.—
(1) DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than 3 months
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Direc-
tor, in consultation with the United States Fire Ad-
ministration and other appropriate Federal agencies,
shall develop procedures for the establishment and de-
ployment of Teams. The Director shall update such
procedures as appropriate. Such procedures shall in-
clude provisions—
(A) regarding conflicts of interest related to
service on the Team;
(B) defining the circumstances under which
the Director will establish and deploy a Team;
(C) prescribing the appropriate size of
Teams;
(D) guiding the disclosure of information
under section 8;
(E) guiding the conduct of investigations
under this Act, including procedures for pro-
viding written notice of inspection authority
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under section 4(a) and for ensuring compliance
with any other applicable law;
(F) identifying and prescribing appropriate
conditions for the provision by the Director of
additional resources and services Teams may
need;
(G) to ensure that investigations under this
Act do not impede and are coordinated with any
search and rescue efforts being undertaken at the
site of the building failure;
(H) for regular briefings of the public on
the status of the investigative proceedings and
findings;
(I) guiding the Teams in moving and pre-
serving evidence as described in section 4 (a)(4),
(b)(2), and (d)(4);
(J) providing for coordination with Fed-
eral, State, and local entities that may sponsor
research or investigations of building failures,
including research conducted under the Earth-
quake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977; and
(K) regarding such other issues as the Di-
rector considers appropriate.
(2) PUBLICATION.—The Director shall publish
promptly in the Federal Register final procedures,
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and subsequent updates thereof, developed under para-
graph (1).
SEC. 3. COMPOSITION OF TEAMS.
Each Team shall be composed of individuals selected
by the Director and led by an individual designated by the
Director. Team members shall include at least 1 employee
of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and
shall include other experts who are not employees of the Na-
tional Institute of Standards and Technology, who may in-
clude private sector experts, university experts, representa-
tives of professional organizations with appropriate exper-
tise, and appropriate Federal, State, or local officials. Team
members who are not Federal employees shall be considered
Federal Government contractors.
SEC. 4. AUTHORITIES.
(a) ENTRY
AND INSPECTION.—In investigating a
building failure under this Act, members of a Team, and
any other person authorized by the Director to support a
Team, on display of appropriate credentials provided by
the Director and written notice of inspection authority,
may—
(1) enter property where a building failure being
investigated has occurred, or where building compo-
nents, materials, and artifacts with respect to the
building failure are located, and take action nec-
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essary, appropriate, and reasonable in light of the na-
ture of the property to be inspected to carry out the
duties of the Team under section 2(b)(2) (A) and (B);
(2) during reasonable hours, inspect any record
(including any design, construction, or maintenance
record), process, or facility related to the investiga-
tion;
(3) inspect and test any building components,
materials, and artifacts related to the building fail-
ure; and
(4) move such records, components, materials,
and artifacts as provided by the procedures developed
under section 2(c)(1).
(b) AVOIDING
UNNECESSARY
INTERFERENCE
AND
PRESERVING EVIDENCE.—An inspection, test, or other ac-
tion taken by a Team under this section shall be conducted
in a way that—
(1) does not interfere unnecessarily with services
provided by the owner or operator of the building
components, materials, or artifacts, property, records,
process, or facility; and
(2) to the maximum extent feasible, preserves
evidence related to the building failure, consistent
with the ongoing needs of the investigation.
(c) COORDINATION.—
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(1) WITH SEARCH AND RESCUE EFFORTS.—A
Team shall not impede, and shall coordinate its in-
vestigation with, any search and rescue efforts being
undertaken at the site of the building failure.
(2) WITH OTHER RESEARCH.—A Team shall co-
ordinate its investigation, to the extent practicable,
with qualified researchers who are conducting engi-
neering or scientific (including social science) re-
search relating to the building failure.
(3) MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Na-
tional Institute of Standards and Technology shall
enter into a memorandum of understanding with each
Federal agency that may conduct or sponsor a related
investigation, providing for coordination of investiga-
tions.
(4) WITH STATE AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES.—A
Team shall cooperate with State and local authorities
carrying out any activities related to a Team’s inves-
tigation.
(d) INTERAGENCY PRIORITIES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2) or (3), a Team investigation shall have pri-
ority over any other investigation of any other Fed-
eral agency.
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(2) 
NATIONAL
TRANSPORTATION
SAFETY
BOARD.—If the National Transportation Safety
Board is conducting an investigation related to an
investigation of a Team, the National Transportation
Safety Board investigation shall have priority over
the Team investigation. Such priority shall not other-
wise affect the authority of the Team to continue its
investigation under this Act.
(3) CRIMINAL ACTS.—If the Attorney General, in
consultation with the Director, determines, and noti-
fies the Director, that circumstances reasonably indi-
cate that the building failure being investigated by a
Team may have been caused by a criminal act, the
Team shall relinquish investigative priority to the ap-
propriate law enforcement agency. The relinquish-
ment of investigative priority by the Team shall not
otherwise affect the authority of the Team to continue
its investigation under this Act.
(4) PRESERVATION OF EVIDENCE.—If a Federal
law enforcement agency suspects and notifies the Di-
rector that a building failure being investigated by a
Team under this Act may have been caused by a
criminal act, the Team, in consultation with the Fed-
eral law enforcement agency, shall take necessary ac-
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tions to ensure that evidence of the criminal act is
preserved.
SEC. 5. BRIEFINGS, HEARINGS, WITNESSES, AND SUB-
POENAS.
(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Director or his des-
ignee, on behalf of a Team, may conduct hearings, admin-
ister oaths, and require, by subpoena (pursuant to sub-
section (e)) and otherwise, necessary witnesses and evidence
as necessary to carry out this Act.
(b) BRIEFINGS.—The Director or his designee (who
may be the leader or a member of a Team), on behalf of
a Team, shall hold regular public briefings on the status
of investigative proceedings and findings, including a final
briefing after the report required by section 8 is issued.
(c) PUBLIC HEARINGS.—During the course of an in-
vestigation by a Team, the National Institute of Standards
and Technology may, if the Director considers it to be in
the public interest, hold a public hearing for the purposes
of—
(1) gathering testimony from witnesses; and
(2) informing the public on the progress of the
investigation.
(d) PRODUCTION OF WITNESSES.—A witness or evi-
dence in an investigation under this Act may be summoned
or required to be produced from any place in the United
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States. A witness summoned under this subsection is enti-
tled to the same fee and mileage the witness would have
been paid in a court of the United States.
(e) ISSUANCE OF SUBPOENAS.—A subpoena shall be
issued only under the signature of the Director but may
be served by any person designated by the Director.
(f) FAILURE TO OBEY SUBPOENA.—If a person dis-
obeys a subpoena issued by the Director under this Act, the
Attorney General, acting on behalf of the Director, may
bring a civil action in a district court of the United States
to enforce the subpoena. An action under this subsection
may be brought in the judicial district in which the person
against whom the action is brought resides, is found, or does
business. The court may punish a failure to obey an order
of the court to comply with the subpoena as a contempt
of court.
SEC. 6. ADDITIONAL POWERS.
In order to support Teams in carrying out this Act,
the Director may—
(1) procure the temporary or intermittent serv-
ices of experts or consultants under section 3109 of
title 5, United States Code;
(2) request the use, when appropriate, of avail-
able services, equipment, personnel, and facilities of a
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department, agency, or instrumentality of the United
States Government on a reimbursable or other basis;
(3) confer with employees and request the use of
services, records, and facilities of State and local gov-
ernmental authorities;
(4) accept voluntary and uncompensated serv-
ices;
(5) accept and use gifts of money and other
property, to the extent provided in advance in appro-
priations Acts;
(6) make contracts with nonprofit entities to
carry out studies related to purpose, functions, and
authorities of the Teams; and
(7) provide nongovernmental members of the
Team reasonable compensation for time spent car-
rying out activities under this Act.
SEC. 7. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.
(a) GENERAL RULE.—Except as otherwise provided in
this section, a copy of a record, information, or investiga-
tion submitted or received by a Team shall be made avail-
able to the public on request and at reasonable cost.
(b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) does not require the
release of—
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(1) information described by section 552(b) of
title 5, United States Code, or protected from disclo-
sure by any other law of the United States; or
(2) information described in subsection (a) by
the National Institute of Standards and Technology
or by a Team until the report required by section 8
is issued.
(c) PROTECTION OF VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION OF IN-
FORMATION.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
a Team, the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology, and any agency receiving information from a Team
or the National Institute of Standards and Technology,
shall not disclose voluntarily provided safety-related infor-
mation if that information is not directly related to the
building failure being investigated and the Director finds
that the disclosure of the information would inhibit the vol-
untary provision of that type of information.
(d) PUBLIC SAFETY INFORMATION.—A Team and the
National Institute of Standards and Technology shall not
publicly release any information it receives in the course
of an investigation under this Act if the Director finds that
the disclosure of that information might jeopardize public
safety.
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SEC. 8. NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION SAFETY TEAM REPORT.
Not later than 90 days after completing an investiga-
tion, a Team shall issue a public report which includes—
(1) an analysis of the likely technical cause or
causes of the building failure investigated;
(2) any technical recommendations for changes
to or the establishment of evacuation and emergency
response procedures;
(3) any recommended specific improvements to
building standards, codes, and practices; and
(4) recommendations for research and other ap-
propriate actions needed to help prevent future build-
ing failures.
SEC. 9. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECH-
NOLOGY ACTIONS.
After the issuance of a public report under section 8,
the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall
comprehensively review the report and, working with the
United States Fire Administration and other appropriate
Federal and non-Federal agencies and organizations—
(1) conduct, or enable or encourage the con-
ducting of, appropriate research recommended by the
Team; and
(2) promote (consistent with existing procedures
for the establishment of building standards, codes, and
practices) the appropriate adoption by the Federal
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Government, and encourage the appropriate adoption
by other agencies and organizations, of the rec-
ommendations of the Team with respect to—
(A) technical aspects of evacuation and
emergency response procedures;
(B) specific improvements to building
standards, codes, and practices; and
(C) other actions needed to help prevent fu-
ture building failures.
SEC. 10. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECH-
NOLOGY ANNUAL REPORT.
Not later than February 15 of each year, the Director
shall transmit to the Committee on Science of the House
of Representatives and to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report that
includes—
(1) a summary of the investigations conducted
by Teams during the prior fiscal year;
(2) a summary of recommendations made by the
Teams in reports issued under section 8 during the
prior fiscal year and a description of the extent to
which those recommendations have been implemented;
and
(3) a description of the actions taken to improve
building safety and structural integrity by the Na-
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tional Institute of Standards and Technology during
the prior fiscal year in response to reports issued
under section 8.
SEC. 11. ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND FUNCTIONS.—The Director,
in consultation with the United States Fire Administration
and other appropriate Federal agencies, shall establish an
advisory committee to advise the Director on carrying out
this Act and to review the procedures developed under sec-
tion 2(c)(1) and the reports issued under section 8.
(b) ANNUAL REPORT.—On January 1 of each year,
the advisory committee shall transmit to the Committee on
Science of the House of Representatives and to the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate a report that includes—
(1) an evaluation of Team activities, along with
recommendations to improve the operation and effec-
tiveness of Teams; and
(2) an assessment of the implementation of the
recommendations of Teams and of the advisory com-
mittee.
(c) DURATION OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—Section 14
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act shall not apply to
the advisory committee established under this section.
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SEC. 12. ADDITIONAL APPLICABILITY.
The authorities and restrictions applicable under this
Act to the Director and to Teams shall apply to the activi-
ties of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001.
SEC. 13. AMENDMENT.
Section 7 of the National Bureau of Standards Author-
ization Act for Fiscal Year 1986 (15 U.S.C. 281a) is
amended by inserting ‘‘, or from an investigation under the
National Construction Safety Team Act,’’ after ‘‘from such
investigation’’.
SEC. 14. CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to confer any
authority on the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology to require the adoption of building standards, codes,
or practices.
SEC. 15. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology
is authorized to use funds otherwise authorized by law to
carry out this Act.
Attest:
Secretary.