H. R. 4687
One Hundred Seventh Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
the twenty-third day of January, two thousand and two
An Act
To provide for the establishment of investigative teams to assess building perform-
ance and emergency response and evacuation procedures in the wake of any
building failure that has resulted in substantial loss of life or that posed significant
potential of substantial loss of life.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Construction Safety
Team Act’’.
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 integrity 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 evacuation and
emergency response procedures;
(C) recommend, as necessary, specific improvements
to building standards, codes, and practices based on the
findings made pursuant to subparagraphs (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 proce-
dures, 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 Director, in consultation
with the United States Fire Administration and other appro-
priate Federal agencies, shall develop procedures for the
establishment and deployment of Teams. The Director shall
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update such procedures as appropriate. Such procedures shall
include 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 providing written notice of
inspection authority 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 preserving evi-
dence as described in section 4 (a)(4), (b)(2), and (d)(4);
(J) providing for coordination with Federal, State, and
local entities that may sponsor research or investigations
of building failures, including research conducted under
the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977; and
(K) regarding such other issues as the Director con-
siders appropriate.
(2) PUBLICATION.—The Director shall publish promptly in
the Federal Register final procedures, and subsequent updates
thereof, developed under paragraph (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 National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology, who may include private sector experts, university experts,
representatives of professional organizations with appropriate
expertise, 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 author-
ized 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 inves-
tigated has occurred, or where building components, materials,
and artifacts with respect to the building failure are located,
and take action necessary, appropriate, and reasonable in light
of the nature of the property to be inspected to carry out
the duties of the Team under section 2(b)(2) (A) and (B);
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(2) during reasonable hours, inspect any record (including
any design, construction, or maintenance record), process, or
facility related to the investigation;
(3) inspect and test any building components, materials,
and artifacts related to the building failure; 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 action 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.—
(1) WITH
SEARCH
AND
RESCUE
EFFORTS.—A Team shall
not impede, and shall coordinate its investigation with, any
search and rescue efforts being undertaken at the site of the
building failure.
(2) WITH OTHER RESEARCH.—A Team shall coordinate its
investigation, 
to 
the 
extent 
practicable, 
with 
qualified
researchers who are conducting engineering or scientific
(including social science) research relating to the building
failure.
(3) 
MEMORANDA
OF
UNDERSTANDING.—The 
National
Institute of Standards and Technology shall enter into a memo-
randum of understanding with each Federal agency that may
conduct or sponsor a related investigation, providing for
coordination of investigations.
(4) WITH STATE AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES.—A Team shall
cooperate with State and local authorities carrying out any
activities related to a Team’s investigation.
(d) INTERAGENCY PRIORITIES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph (2) or
(3), a Team investigation shall have priority over any other
investigation of any other Federal agency.
(2) NATIONAL
TRANSPORTATION
SAFETY
BOARD.—If the
National Transportation Safety Board is conducting an inves-
tigation related to an investigation of a Team, the National
Transportation Safety Board investigation shall have priority
over the Team investigation. Such priority shall not otherwise
affect the authority of the Team to continue its investigation
under this Act.
(3) CRIMINAL ACTS.—If the Attorney General, in consulta-
tion with the Director, determines, and notifies the Director,
that circumstances reasonably indicate 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 appropriate law enforcement agency. The relinquishment
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 enforce-
ment agency suspects and notifies the Director that a building
failure being investigated by a Team under this Act may have
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been caused by a criminal act, the Team, in consultation with
the Federal law enforcement agency, shall take necessary
actions to ensure that evidence of the criminal act is preserved.
SEC. 5. BRIEFINGS, HEARINGS, WITNESSES, AND SUBPOENAS.
(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Director or his designee, on
behalf of a Team, may conduct hearings, administer oaths, and
require, by subpoena (pursuant to subsection (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 pro-
ceedings and findings, including a final briefing after the report
required by section 8 is issued.
(c) PUBLIC HEARINGS.—During the course of an investigation
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 evidence in an
investigation under this Act may be summoned or required to
be produced from any place in the United States. A witness sum-
moned under this subsection is entitled 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 disobeys a sub-
poena 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 services of
experts or consultants under section 3109 of title 5, United
States Code;
(2) request the use, when appropriate, of available services,
equipment, personnel, and facilities of a 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 governmental authori-
ties;
(4) accept voluntary and uncompensated services;
(5) accept and use gifts of money and other property, to
the extent provided in advance in appropriations Acts;
(6) make contracts with nonprofit entities to carry out
studies related to purpose, functions, and authorities of the
Teams; and
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(7) provide nongovernmental members of the Team reason-
able compensation for time spent carrying out activities under
this Act.
SEC. 7. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.
(a) GENERAL RULE.—Except as otherwise provided in this sec-
tion, a copy of a record, information, or investigation submitted
or received by a Team shall be made available to the public on
request and at reasonable cost.
(b) EXCEPTIONS.—Subsection (a) does not require the release
of—
(1) information described by section 552(b) of title 5, United
States Code, or protected from disclosure 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 INFORMATION.—
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a Team, the National
Institute of Standards and Technology, and any agency receiving
information from a Team or the National Institute of Standards
and Technology, shall not disclose voluntarily provided safety-
related information 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 voluntary provi-
sion 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.
SEC. 8. NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION SAFETY TEAM REPORT.
Not later than 90 days after completing an investigation, 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 proce-
dures;
(3) any recommended specific improvements to building
standards, codes, and practices; and
(4) recommendations for research and other appropriate
actions needed to help prevent future building failures.
SEC. 9. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY
ACTIONS.
After the issuance of a public report under section 8, the
National Institute of Standards and Technology shall comprehen-
sively 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 conducting of, appro-
priate research recommended by the Team; and
(2) promote (consistent with existing procedures for the
establishment of building standards, codes, and practices) the