[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 538 Introduced in House (IH)]







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 Representatives 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 following:
    ``(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 
                manufacturer 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 before 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 contain an 
identification taggant which satisfies the standards promulgated by the 
Secretary under section 847.
    ``(2) It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to manufacture 
any explosive material that does not contain a detection taggant which 
satisfies the standards promulgated 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 standards 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 promulgated 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 promulgated by the Secretary under section 847.
    ``(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 instrumentality of the United States, that does 
not contain an identification taggant which satisfies the standards 
promulgated by the Secretary under section 847. The shipment of surplus 
explosive materials from the military establishment where sold to the 
purchaser's place of business shall be in accordance with regulations 
promulgated by the Secretary.
    ``(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 instrumentality 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 
explosive materials from the military establishment where sold to the 
purchaser's place of business shall be in accordance 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 Department of Defense or another agency of 
Government for national defense or international security purposes. Any 
explosive material so designated shall be reported promptly 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 paragraphs (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 enactment 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.
    (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 Treasury shall by 
        regulation defer 1 or more of the effective dates provided for 
        in this subsection by extensions of not more than 1 year at a 
        time until the Secretary is satisfied that identification and 
        detection 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 environment.
            (2) Prior notice to the congress.--The Secretary shall 
        inform the Congress 60 days before deferring the effective date 
        of any provision pursuant to paragraph (1), specifying the 
        reasons for the deferral, and estimating the time the Secretary 
        expects the provision will become effective.
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