I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4687
To provide for the establishment of investigative teams to assess building
performance 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.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 9, 2002
Mr. BOEHLERT (for himself, Mr. WEINER, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. GRUCCI, Mr.
LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. ISRAEL, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. ETHERIDGE,
Mr. EHLERS, Mr. BACA, Mr. FORBES, and Mr. BARCIA) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science
A BILL
To provide for the establishment of investigative teams to
assess building performance 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 Representa-
tives 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 re-
ferred to as the ‘‘Director’’) is authorized to establish Na-
tional Construction Safety Teams for deployment within
48 hours 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.
The Director shall promptly publish in the Federal Reg-
ister notice of the establishment of each National Con-
struction Safety Team.
(b) PROCEDURES.—
(1) DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than 3 months
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Di-
rector, in consultation with the United States Fire
Administration and other appropriate Federal agen-
cies, shall develop procedures for the establishment
and deployment of National Construction Safety
Teams. The Director shall 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
National Construction Safety Team;
(C) prescribing the appropriate size of Na-
tional Construction Safety Teams;
(D) guiding the disclosure of information
under section 8;
(E) guiding the conduct of investigations
under this Act;
(F) identifying, and prescribing appro-
priate conditions for the provision by the Direc-
tor of, additional resources and services Na-
tional Construction Safety Teams may need;
(G) to ensure that investigations under
this Act do not impede and are coordinated
with any search and rescue efforts being under-
taken at the site of the building failure;
(H) for regular briefings of the public on
the status of the investigative proceeding and
findings;
(I) guiding the National Construction
Safety Teams in moving and the preservation of
evidence as described in section 5(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,
and subsequent updates thereof, developed under
paragraph (1).
SEC. 3. COMPOSITION OF TEAMS.
National Construction Safety Teams shall be led by
an individual named by the Director. National Construc-
tion Safety Team members shall include at least 1 em-
ployee of the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology and shall include other experts who are not employ-
ees of the National Institute of Standards and Technology,
who may include private sector experts, university experts,
representatives of professional organizations with appro-
priate expertise, and appropriate Federal, State, or local
officials.
SEC. 4. FUNCTIONS OF TEAMS.
National Construction Safety Teams shall—
(1) conduct investigations to establish the likely
technical cause or causes of the building failure;
(2) evaluate the technical aspects of evacuation
and emergency response procedures;
(3) recommend specific improvements to build-
ing standards, codes, and practices based on the
findings made pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2);
and
(4) recommend research and other appropriate
actions needed to improve the structural safety of
buildings, and improve evacuation and emergency re-
sponse procedures, based on the findings of the in-
vestigation.
SEC. 5. AUTHORITIES.
(a) ENTRY
AND INSPECTION.—In investigating a
building failure under this Act, members of a National
Construction Safety Team, and any other person author-
ized by the Director to support a National Construction
Safety Team, on display of appropriate credentials pro-
vided by the Director, may—
(1) enter property where a building failure
being investigated has occurred, or where building
components, materials, and artifacts with respect to
the building failure are located, and do anything
necessary to conduct the investigation;
(2) inspect any record (including any design,
construction, or maintenance record), process, or fa-
cility related to the investigation;
(3) inspect and test any building components,
materials, and artifacts related to the building fail-
ure; and
(4) move such components, materials, and arti-
facts as provided by the procedures developed under
section 2(b)(1).
(b) AVOIDING UNNECESSARY INTERFERENCE AND
PRESERVING EVIDENCE.—An inspection, test, or other
action taken by a National Construction Safety Team
under this section shall be conducted in a way that—
(1) does not interfere unnecessarily with serv-
ices provided by the owner or operator of the build-
ing 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
National Construction Safety Team shall not im-
pede, 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 National Con-
struction Safety Team shall coordinate its investiga-
tion, to the extent practicable, with qualified re-
searchers who are conducting engineering or sci-
entific (including social science) research relating to
the building failure.
(3) MEMORANDA
OF
UNDERSTANDING.—The
National Institute of Standards and Technology
shall enter into a memorandum of understanding
with each Federal agency that may conduct or spon-
sor a related investigation, providing for coordina-
tion of investigations.
(d) INTERAGENCY PRIORITIES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2) or (3), a National Construction Safety
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 investigation related to an
investigation of a National Construction Safety
Team, the National Transportation Safety Board in-
vestigation shall have priority over the National Con-
struction Safety 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 consultation with the Director, determines, and
notifies the Director, that circumstances reasonably
indicate that the building failure being investigated
by a National Construction Safety Team may have
been caused by a criminal act with intent to cause
the building failure, the National Construction Safe-
ty Team shall relinquish investigative priority to the
appropriate Federal law enforcement agency. The
relinquishment of investigative priority by the Na-
tional Construction Safety Team shall not otherwise
affect the authority of the Team to continue its in-
vestigation under this Act.
(4) PRESERVATION OF EVIDENCE.—If a Fed-
eral law enforcement agency suspects and notifies
the Director that a building failure being inves-
tigated by a National Construction Safety Team
under this Act may have been caused by a criminal
act with intent to cause the building failure, the Na-
tional Construction Safety Team, in consultation
with the Federal law enforcement agency, shall take
necessary actions to ensure that evidence of the
criminal act is preserved.
SEC. 6. BRIEFINGS, HEARINGS, WITNESSES, AND SUB-
POENAS.
(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Director, on behalf
of a National Construction Safety Team, may conduct
hearings, administer oaths, and require, by subpoena and
otherwise, necessary witnesses and evidence as necessary
to carry out this Act.
(b) 
BRIEFINGS.—National 
Construction 
Safety
Teams shall hold regular public briefings on the status
of the investigative proceeding and findings.
(c) PUBLIC HEARINGS.—During the course of an in-
vestigation by a National Construction Safety Team, the
National Institute of Standards and Technology shall, 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 sum-
moned or required to be produced from any place in the
United States. A witness summoned under this subsection
is entitled to the same fee and mileage the witness would
have been paid in a court of the United States.
(3) confer with employees and request the use
of services, records, and facilities of State and local
governmental authorities;
(4) accept voluntary and uncompensated serv-
ices;
(5) make contracts with nonprofit entities to
carry out studies related to purpose, functions, and
authorities of the National Construction Safety
Teams; and
(6) provide nongovernmental members of the
National Construction Safety Team reasonable com-
pensation for time spent carrying out activities
under this Act.
SEC. 8. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.
(a) GENERAL RULE.—Except as otherwise provided
in this section, a copy of a record, information, or inves-
tigation submitted or received by a National Construction
Safety Team shall be made available to the public on re-
quest and at reasonable cost.
(b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) does not require the
release of information described by section 552(b) of title
5, United States Code, or protected from disclosure by any
other law of the United States.
(c) PROTECTION OF VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION OF IN-
FORMATION.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
a National Construction Safety Team, the National Insti-
tute of Standards and Technology, and any agency receiv-
ing information from a National Construction Safety
Team or the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology, shall not disclose voluntarily provided safety-re-
lated 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 provision of that type of information.
(d) PUBLIC SAFETY INFORMATION.—A National
Construction Safety 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. 9. NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION SAFETY TEAM REPORT.
Not later than 90 days after completing an investiga-
tion, a National Construction Safety Team shall issue a
public report which includes—
(1) an analysis of the likely technical cause or
causes of the building failure investigated;
(2) technical recommendations for changes to
or the establishment of evacuation and emergency
response procedures;
(3) recommended specific improvements to
building standards, codes, and practices; and
(4) recommendations for research and other ap-
propriate actions needed to help prevent future
building failures.
SEC. 10. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECH-
NOLOGY ACTIONS.
After the issuance of a public report under section
9, the National Institute of Standards and Technology
shall comprehensively review the report and, working with
the United States Fire Administration and other appro-
priate 
Federal 
and 
non-Federal 
agencies 
and
organizations—
(1) conduct, or enable or encourage the con-
ducting of, appropriate research recommended by
the National Construction Safety Team; and
(2) promote the appropriate adoption by the
Federal Government, and encourage the appropriate
adoption by other agencies and organizations, of the
recommendations of the National Construction Safe-
ty 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
future building failures.
SEC. 11. 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 National Construction Safety Teams during the
prior fiscal year;
(2) a summary of recommendations made by
the National Construction Safety Teams in reports
issued under section 9 during the prior fiscal year;
and
(3) a description of the actions taken by the
National Institute of Standards and Technology dur-
ing the prior fiscal year in response to reports issued
under section 9.
SEC. 12. ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND FUNCTIONS.—The Direc-
tor, in consultation with the United States Fire Adminis-
tration and other appropriate Federal agencies, shall es-
tablish an advisory committee to advise the Director on
carrying out this Act and to review the procedures devel-
oped under section 2(b)(1) and the reports issued under
section 9.
(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
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of
the Senate a report that includes—
(1) an evaluation of National Construction
Safety Team activities, along with recommendations
to improve the operation and effectiveness of Na-
tional Construction Safety Teams; and
(2) an assessment of the implementation of the
recommendations of National Construction Safety
Teams and of the advisory committee.
(c) DURATION OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—Section
14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act shall not apply
to the advisory committee established under this section.
SEC. 13. ADDITIONAL APPLICABILITY.
The authorities and restrictions applicable under this
Act to the Director and to National Construction Safety
Teams shall apply to the activities of the National Insti-
tute of Standards and Technology in response to the at-
tacks of September 11, 2001.
SEC. 14. AMENDMENT.
Section 7 of the National Bureau of Standards Au-
thorization 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. 15. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na-
tional Institute of Standards and Technology for carrying
out this Act $25,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2003
through 2005, to remain available until expended.
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