IB 
Union Calendar No. 337 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3980 
[Report No. 108–575, Part I] 
To establish a National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 17, 2004 
Mr. NEUGEBAUER (for himself and Mr. MOORE) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Science, and in addition to the 
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be sub-
sequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of 
such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
JUNE 28, 2004 
Additional sponsors: Mr. MANZULLO, Mr. LAMPSON, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. 
MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Mr. GORDON, Mr. HONDA, Mr. SMITH 
of Texas, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. CASE, Mr. ACEVEDO-VILA´, Mr. JOHN, Mr. 
MCINTYRE, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. HILL, 
Mr. GOODE, Mr. COOPER, Mr. BURGESS, Ms. HART, Mr. COLE, Mr. SES-
SIONS, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. THORNBERRY, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. SAM 
JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. PEARCE, Mr. HALL, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. 
CARTER, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. CULBERSON, Mrs. CAPITO, 
Mr. LUCAS of Oklahoma, Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Ms. 
LOFGREN, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Mr. DEUTSCH, 
Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. DAVIS 
of Tennessee, Mr. GOODLATTE, and Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia 
JUNE 28, 2004 
Reported from the Committee on Science with an amendment 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
JUNE 28, 2004 
Referral to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure extended for 
a period ending not later than June 28, 2004
JUNE 28, 2004 
The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure discharged; committed 
to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and or-
dered to be printed 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 17, 2004] 
A BILL 
To establish a National Windstorm Impact Reduction 
Program. 
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 Windstorm Im-
pact Reduction Act of 2004’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Hurricanes, tropical storms, tornadoes, and 
thunderstorms can cause significant loss of life, in-
jury, destruction of property, and economic and social 
disruption. All States and regions are vulnerable to 
these hazards. 
(2) The United States currently sustains several 
billion dollars in economic damages each year due to 
these windstorms. In recent decades, rapid develop-
ment and population growth in high-risk areas has 
greatly increased overall vulnerability to windstorms.
(3) Improved windstorm impact reduction meas-
ures have the potential to reduce these losses 
through— 
(A) cost-effective and affordable design and 
construction methods and practices; 
(B) effective mitigation programs at the 
local, State, and national level; 
(C) improved data collection and analysis 
and impact prediction methodologies; 
(D) engineering research on improving new 
structures and retrofitting existing ones to better 
withstand windstorms, atmospheric-related re-
search to better understand the behavior and im-
pact of windstorms on the built environment, 
and subsequent application of those research re-
sults; and 
(E) public education and outreach. 
(4) There is an appropriate role for the Federal 
Government in supporting windstorm impact reduc-
tion. An effective Federal program in windstorm im-
pact reduction will require interagency coordination, 
and input from individuals, academia, the private 
sector, and other interested non-Federal entities. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of 
the Office of Science and Technology Policy. 
(2) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the States 
of the United States, the District of Columbia, the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Vir-
gin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Common-
wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any 
other territory or possession of the United States. 
(3) The term ‘‘windstorm’’ means any storm 
with a damaging or destructive wind component, such 
as a hurricane, tropical storm, tornado, or thunder-
storm. 
SEC. 4. NATIONAL WINDSTORM IMPACT REDUCTION PRO-
GRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Na-
tional Windstorm Impact Reduction Program (in this Act 
referred to as the ‘‘Program’’). 
(b) OBJECTIVE.—The objective of the Program is the 
achievement of major measurable reductions in losses of life 
and property from windstorms. The objective is to be 
achieved through a coordinated Federal effort, in coopera-
tion with other levels of government, academia, and the pri-
vate sector, aimed at improving the understanding of wind-
storms and their impacts and developing and encouraging