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 after
events causing the failure of a building or buildings that
has resulted in substantial loss of life or that posed signifi-
cant 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 National Construction 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 appropriate
conditions for the provision by the Director of
additional resources and services National Con-
struction 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 proceedings and
findings;
(I) guiding the National Construction
Safety Teams in moving and preserving evi-
dence 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. Team members who are not Federal employees
shall be considered Federal Government contractors.
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, as necessary, specific improve-
ments to building standards, codes, and practices
based on the findings made pursuant to paragraphs
(1) and (2); and
(4) recommend any research and other appro-
priate actions needed to improve the structural safe-
ty of buildings, and improve evacuation and emer-
gency response procedures, based on the findings of
the investigation.
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 records, components, materials,
and artifacts as provided by the procedures devel-
oped 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