[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 79 (Tuesday, May 7, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H2922-H2923]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION SAFETY TEAM ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2024

  Mr. KEAN of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the bill (H.R. 4143) to amend the National Construction Safety 
Team Act to enable the National Institute of Standards and Technology 
to investigate structures other than buildings to inform the 
development of engineering standards, best practices, and building 
codes related to such structures, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4143

       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 Enhancement Act of 2024''.

     SEC. 2. NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION SAFETY TEAM ENHANCEMENT.

       The National Construction Safety Team Act is amended--
       (1) in section 2 (15 U.S.C. 7301)--
       (A) in subsection (a)--
       (i) in the first sentence, by striking ``buildings'' and 
     inserting ``structure''; and
       (ii) by inserting after the first sentence the following 
     new sentence: ``In instances in which the failure of the 
     building or structure is the proper subject for investigation 
     by another Federal agency, the Director shall defer to the 
     authority of such agency.'';
       (B) in subsection (b)--
       (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ``buildings'' and 
     inserting ``the built environment''; and
       (ii) in paragraph (2)--

       (I) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``or structure'' 
     after ``building'';
       (II) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``building standards, 
     codes, and practices'' and inserting ``engineering standards, 
     practices, and building codes''; and
       (III) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``buildings'' and 
     inserting ``the built environment''; and

       (C) in subsection (c)(1)--
       (i) in subparagraph (G), by inserting ``or structure'' 
     after ``building''; and
       (ii) in subparagraph (J)--

       (I) by inserting ``or structure'' after ``building''; and
       (II) by inserting ``or the National Windstorm Impact 
     Reduction Act of 2004'' after ``1977'';

       (2) in section 4 (15 U.S.C. 7303)--
       (A) by striking the term ``building'' each place it 
     appears; and
       (B) by inserting ``building or structure'' before 
     ``failure'' each place it appears;
       (3) in section 7 (15 U.S.C. 7306), by inserting ``or 
     structure'' after ``building'';
       (4) in section 8 (15 U.S.C. 7307)--
       (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``or structure'' after 
     ``building'';
       (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ``standards, codes, and 
     practices'' and inserting ``engineering standards, practices, 
     and building codes''; and
       (C) in paragraph (4), by inserting ``and structure'' after 
     ``building'';
       (5) in section 9(2) (15 U.S.C. 7308(2)), by striking 
     ``building standards, codes, and practices'' each place it 
     appears and inserting ``engineering standards, practices, and 
     building codes''; and
       (6) in section 14 (15 U.S.C. 7312), by striking ``building 
     standards, codes, or practices'' and inserting ``engineering 
     standards, practices, and building codes''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
Jersey (Mr. Kean) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.


                             General Leave

  Mr. KEAN of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and to include extraneous material on H.R. 4143, the bill now under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New Jersey?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. KEAN of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4143, the National 
Construction Safety Team Enhancement Act of 2024, offered by the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren).
  The National Construction Safety Team, or NCST, is a program run by 
the National Institute of Standards and Technology to investigate major 
building disasters and failures so that we can develop better 
construction standards in the future.
  Following NIST's investigation of the Twin Towers collapse after 9/
11, they issued recommendations that have significantly impacted how we 
design and construct buildings, making them safer and more durable.
  Currently, NIST is investigating the 2021 collapse of the Surfside 
condominiums in south Florida, which killed nearly 100 people.
  While NIST does exceptional work in these investigations, their scope 
is limited to building failures. This bill will

[[Page H2923]]

expand that authority to general infrastructure failures, which 
currently are not investigated in this way.
  This is a smart bill that will ensure that we can utilize NIST's 
unique expertise to better understand any failures in roads, bridges, 
dams, and other infrastructure and, most importantly, develop best 
practices and guidances so that we can avert future tragedies.
  This legislation builds off the authorities NIST received after 9/11 
to conduct technical investigations of building failures and ensures 
these efforts do not impede on criminal or other law enforcement 
investigations.
  I thank Ranking Member Lofgren for introducing this bill along with 
Chairman Lucas.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation, 
and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise today in support of my bill, the National Construction Safety 
Team Enhancement Act of 2024.
  Last year, there was massive flooding along California's central 
coast, which left communities really across the State vulnerable. In my 
district, the Pajaro River's levee failed, forcing over 1,500 people to 
evacuate and putting thousands of homes at risk. Many of them were 
flooded.
  In May 2023, I joined Representative Panetta, Senator Padilla, and 
the late Senator Feinstein in asking the Army Corps of Engineers to 
provide emergency assistance to help with the levee.
  Last August, the Biden-Harris administration heeded our call to 
action and committed $20 million to repair the levee and address 
erosion on the left bank of the Pajaro River. That has now been 
concluded, and these communities have been protected, at least with the 
emergency repairs.
  As with this small rural community in my own district, the climate 
crisis continues to put massive strains on aging infrastructure across 
the United States.
  While recovery and reconstruction efforts continue, we have to do 
more to understand the causes of destructive and life-threatening 
events, like the Pajaro River levee failure, to make sure it doesn't 
happen again. Unfortunately, there's no agency currently authorized to 
conduct thorough technical investigations of failure of general 
infrastructure, like levees, dikes, bridges, or dams.
  When it comes to buildings, the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology has been charged by Congress with conducting investigations 
in order to improve the building codes and standards used to design and 
maintain them. The National Construction Safety Team, or NCST, 
dispatches experts to work alongside other agencies to investigate 
major building disasters, to improve the scientific understanding 
around these failures, and to prevent future catastrophes.
  This bill expands NCST's existing authority to include investigations 
of general infrastructure failures. These teams will investigate 
incidents involving other structures that we also rely on every day in 
order to improve the safety and resilience of American communities.
  The tragic destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge into the mouth 
of the Patapsco River in Baltimore underscores the immediate need for 
this legislation. The impact of that catastrophe is being felt all 
across the United States.
  NIST needs the authority to investigate major infrastructure failures 
so that they may improve future engineering standards and building 
codes to guard against such failures in the future.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Lucas for his partnership on this bill 
and so many other things.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this timely and 
necessary legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. KEAN of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Ms. Stevens), my colleague on the Science Committee.
  Ms. STEVENS. Mr. Speaker, I thank again Ranking Member Lofgren, 
particularly in light of her remarkable leadership in crafting and 
introducing this bill. I join both of my colleagues to shine a light on 
the deep and critical importance of H.R. 4143, the National 
Construction Safety Team Enhancement Act.

  We all know that NIST is the little engine that could within our 
Federal Government, doing so much with little resources and showing the 
true benefit of where and how we invest taxpayer dollars for the 
greater implications of society and safety. We know that the National 
Construction Safety Team within NIST is modeled after the National 
Transportation Safety Team, both expert operations that get dispatched 
to the site of major building disasters to investigate the cause and 
identify preventive solutions.
  However, the existing authority only extends to buildings, and it 
leaves out major swaths of our built environment, as the ranking member 
mentioned, like bridges and levees, which, just frankly, leaves our 
Nation vulnerable.
  This legislation will expand the safety team's existing authority to 
better investigate those failures of infrastructure in structures other 
than buildings.
  This really couldn't come at a more important time. I know this is 
deeply critical to residents in Michigan. We want to be in a place 
where we are creating resilient structures and recognizing some of the 
damaging impacts of climate change and rising sea levels. That is the 
extreme weather environment we are in.
  I thank the ranking member and all on the Science Committee. I am 
proud to be a cosponsor of this bill and eager to see it passed in the 
House of Representatives.
  Mr. KEAN of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
  In closing, I am proud of this bill. If we make this the law, America 
will be safer, full stop. I am happy that we were able to do it on a 
bipartisan basis, and I am looking forward to quick action in the 
Senate.
  I thank again the chairman of the committee, Mr. Lucas, for his 
collaboration on this and so many other things.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge passage, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. KEAN of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my 
time.
  This is a commonsense, practical policy that supports science and 
innovation to improve people's lives. I encourage my colleagues to 
support this bipartisan legislation to ensure that NIST can utilize its 
unique expertise to conduct these technical investigations on major 
failures to our infrastructure.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Kean) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 4143, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. KEAN of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and 
nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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