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105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 538
To require explosive materials to contain taggants to enable law enforcement
authorities to trace the source of the explosive material, whether before
or after detonation.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 4, 1997
Mr. MANTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To require explosive materials to contain taggants to enable
law enforcement authorities to trace the source of the
explosive material, whether before or after detonation.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Explosives
Fingerprinting Act’’.
SEC. 2. EXPLOSIVE TAGGANTS.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 841 of title 18, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow-
ing:
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‘‘(o) ‘Identification taggant’ means any substance
which—
‘‘(1) is added to an explosive material during
the manufacture of the material; and
‘‘(2) after detonation—
‘‘(A) is retrievable;
‘‘(B) permits the identification of the man-
ufacturer and the date of manufacture, of the
material; and
‘‘(C) provides such other information as
the Secretary may require.
‘‘(p) ‘Detective taggant’ means any substance
which—
‘‘(1) is added to an explosive material during
the manufacture of the material; and
‘‘(2) permits the detection of the material be-
fore its detonation.’’.
(b) PROHIBITIONS.—Section 842 of such title is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(l)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly
to manufacture any explosive material that does not con-
tain an identification taggant which satisfies the stand-
ards promulgated by the Secretary under section 847.
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‘‘(2) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly
to manufacture any explosive material that does not con-
tain a detection taggant which satisfies the standards pro-
mulgated by the Secretary under section 847.
‘‘(3) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly
to transport, ship, distribute, or receive, or cause to be
transported, shipped, distributed, or received, in interstate
or foreign commerce any explosive material that does not
contain an identification taggant which satisfies the stand-
ards promulgated by the Secretary under section 847.
‘‘(4) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly
to transport, ship, distribute, or receive, or cause to be
transported, shipped, distributed, or received, in interstate
or foreign commerce any explosive material that does not
contain a detection taggant which satisfies the standards
promulgated by the Secretary under section 847.
‘‘(5) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly
to import any explosive material that does not contain an
identification taggant which satisfies the standards pro-
mulgated by the Secretary under section 847.
‘‘(6) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly
to import any explosive material that does not contain a
detection taggant which satisfies the standards promul-
gated by the Secretary under section 847.
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‘‘(7) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly
to resell or otherwise dispose of any explosive material,
sold as surplus by a department, agency, or instrumental-
ity of the United States, that does not contain an identi-
fication taggant which satisfies the standards promulgated
by the Secretary under section 847. The shipment of sur-
plus explosive materials from the military establishment
where sold to the purchaser’s place of business shall be
in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Sec-
retary.
‘‘(8) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly
to resell or otherwise dispose of any explosive material,
sold as surplus by a department, agency, or instrumental-
ity of the United States, that does not contain a detection
taggant which satisfies the standards promulgated by the
Secretary under section 847. The shipment of surplus ex-
plosive materials from the military establishment where
sold to the purchaser’s place of business shall be in accord-
ance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary.
‘‘(9) Paragraphs (1) through (8) shall not apply to
any explosive material designated by the President or his
designee as an explosive material to be used by the De-
partment of Defense or another agency of Government for
national defense or international security purposes. Any
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explosive material so designated shall be reported prompt-
ly to the Secretary.’’.
(c) PENALTIES.—Section 844(a) of such title is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘(a) Any’’ and inserting ‘‘(a)(1)
Any’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(2) Any person who violates section 842(l)(1) shall
be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more
than 10 years, or both.’’.
(d) EXCEPTIONS.—Section 845(a) of such title is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘Notwithstanding 
the 
preceding 
sentence, 
section
842(l)(1) shall apply to the matters described in para-
graphs (4) and (5) of this subsection.’’.
(e) EFFECTIVE DATES.—(1) Except as otherwise
provided in this subsection, the amendments made by this
section shall take effect 1 year after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act.
(2) Paragraph (2) section 842(l) of title 18, United
States Code, shall take effect 2 years after the date of
the enactment of this Act.
(3) Paragraph (3) of such section shall take effect
2 years after such date of enactment.
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(4) Paragraph (4) of such section shall take effect
3 years after such date of enactment.
(5) Paragraph (5) of such section shall take effect
1 year after such date of enactment.
(6) Paragraph (6) of such section shall take effect
2 years after such date of enactment.
(7) Paragraph (7) of such section shall take effect
2 years after such date of enactment.
(8) Paragraph (8) of such section shall take effect
3 years after such date of enactment.
(f) DEFERRAL OF EFFECTIVE DATES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas-
ury shall by regulation defer 1 or more of the effec-
tive dates provided for in this subsection by exten-
sions of not more than 1 year at a time until the
Secretary is satisfied that identification and detec-
tion taggants (as defined in section 841 of title 18,
United States Code)—
(A) are available in sufficient quantity for
commercial purposes;
(B) will not impair the quality of explosive
materials for their intended use; and
(C) will not adversely affect the environ-
ment.
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(2) PRIOR
NOTICE
TO
THE
CONGRESS.—The
Secretary shall inform the Congress 60 days before
deferring the effective date of any provision pursu-
ant to paragraph (1), specifying the reasons for the
deferral, and estimating the time the Secretary ex-
pects the provision will become effective.
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