[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 16, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 33567-33571]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-13364]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology

15 CFR Part 270

[Docket No. 030421094-4155-02]
RIN 0693-AB53


Procedures for Implementation of the National Construction Safety 
Team Act

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, United States 
Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology (``NIST''), Technology Administration, United States 
Department of Commerce (``Director''), issues a final rule that amends 
regulations found at 15 CFR part 270, that implements the National 
Construction Safety Team Act (``Act''). An interim final rule with a 
request for public comments clarifying NIST's role in recommending 
improvements to building codes, standards, and practices, and 
clarifying the relationship between investigations conducted under the 
Act and criminal investigations of the same building failure, and 
establishing procedures regarding the establishment and deployment of 
National Construction Safety Teams and for the conduct of 
investigations under the Act was published in the Federal Register on 
November 28, 2003. This final rule responds to comments received in 
response to the November 28, 2003 document.

DATES: This rule is effective on July 16, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. James E. Hill, Acting Director, 
Building and Fire Research Laboratory, National Institute of Standards 
and Technology, Mail Stop 8600, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8600, telephone 
number (301) 975-6850.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The National Construction Safety Team Act, Public Law 107-231, was 
enacted to provide for the establishment of investigative teams 
(``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. The purpose of investigations by 
Teams is to improve the safety and structural integrity of buildings in 
the United States. A Team will (1) 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 improvements to building standards, codes, and 
practices based on the findings made pursuant to (1) and (2); and 
recommend any research and other appropriate actions needed to improve 
the structural safety of buildings, and improve evacuation and 
emergency response procedures, based on the findings of the 
investigation. Section 2(c)(1) of the Act requires that the Director 
develop procedures for certain activities to be carried out under the 
Act as follows: Regarding conflicts of interest related to service on a 
Team; defining the circumstances under which the Director will 
establish and deploy a Team; prescribing the appropriate size of Teams; 
guiding the disclosure of information under section 7 of the Act; 
guiding the conduct of investigations under the Act; identifying and 
prescribing appropriate conditions for provision by the Director of 
additional resources and services Teams may need; ensuring that 
investigations under the Act do not impede and are coordinated with any 
search and rescue efforts being undertaken at the site of the building 
failure; providing for regular briefings of the public on the status of 
the investigative proceedings and findings; guiding the Teams in moving 
and preserving evidence; providing for coordination with Federal, 
State, and local entities that may sponsor research or investigations 
of building failures; and regarding other issues.
    NIST published an interim final rule with a request for public 
comments in the Federal Register on January 30, 2003 (68 FR 4693), 
seeking public comment on general provisions regarding implementation 
of the Act and on provisions establishing procedures for the collection 
and preservation of evidence obtained and the protection of information 
created as part of investigations conducted pursuant to the Act, 
including guiding the disclosure of information under section 7 of the 
Act (Sec. Sec.  270.350, 270.351, and 270.352) and guiding the Teams in 
moving and preserving evidence (Sec.  270.330). These general 
provisions and procedures, comprising Subparts A and D of the rule, are 
necessary to the conduct of the investigation of the World Trade Center 
disaster, already underway, and became effective immediately upon 
publication. The comment period closed on March 3, 2003. On May 7, 
2003, NIST published a final rule in the Federal Register (68 FR 
24343), addressing the comments received.
    NIST published an interim final rule with a request for public 
comments in the Federal Register on November 28, 2003 (68 FR 66073), 
seeking public comment on amendments to Sec.  270.1, Description of 
rule; purpose, applicability, of the final rule to clarify NIST's role 
in recommending improvements to building codes, standards, and 
practices and to clarify the relationship between investigations 
conducted under the Act and criminal investigations of the same 
building failure; an amendment to the definition of Credentials, 
contained in Sec.  270.2, to clarify that credentials are issued by the 
Director and to better define the term; and an amendment to Sec.  
270.313, Requests for Evidence, to clarify that collections of evidence 
under that section are investigatory in nature and are not research. 
NIST also sought public comment on procedures set forth in the interim 
final rule regarding conflicts of interest related to service on a Team 
(Sec.  270.106); defining the circumstances under which the Director 
will establish and deploy a Team (Sec.  270.102); prescribing the 
appropriate size of Teams (Sec.  270.104); guiding the conduct of 
investigations under the Act (Sec.  270.200); identifying and 
prescribing appropriate conditions for provision by the Director of 
additional resources and services Teams may need (Sec.  270.204); 
ensuring that investigations under the Act do not impede and are 
coordinated with any search and rescue efforts being undertaken at the 
site of the building failure (Sec.  270.202); providing for regular 
briefings of the public on the status of the investigative proceedings 
and findings (Sec.  270.206); providing for coordination with Federal, 
State, and local entities that may sponsor research or investigations 
of building failures (Sec.  270.203); and regarding other issues.
    The comment period closed on December 29, 2003.

Summary of Public Comments Received by NIST in Response to the November 
28, 2003, Interim Final Rule, and NIST's Response to Those Comments

    NIST received ten responses to the request for comments. One 
response was from a private, not-for-profit organization that develops 
model

[[Page 33568]]

building codes. Two responses were from industry associations. One 
response was from an association of local building officials, and one 
response was from an association of state building officials. One 
response was from a local government agency. One response was from the 
NCST Federal Advisory Committee, and three responses were from 
individual members of that committee. A detailed analysis of the 
comments follows.

General Comments

    Comment: One commenter expressed the view that it is important to 
the future of the public's health, welfare and life safety that the Act 
be adequately funded by Congress at the earliest time possible.
    Response: This comment is outside the scope of this rulemaking.
    Comment: One commenter recommended that the regulations provide for 
the establishment of a directory of pre-approved and credentialed 
individuals that are available to act as Team members.
    Response: NIST intends to establish such a list under its internal 
procedures.
    Comment: One commenter recommended deleting the word ``technical'' 
from the causes of building failure and from the aspects of evacuation 
and emergency response procedures in Sec.  270.100(b) because it limits 
the work of Teams.
    Response: The Act requires NIST to assess the technical causes of 
building failures. Specifically, section 2(b)(2)(A) and (B) of the Act 
state that a Team shall establish the likely technical cause or causes 
of the building failure and that a Team shall evaluate the technical 
aspects of evacuation and emergency response procedures.
    Comment: One commenter recommended that NIST revise the first 
sentence of Sec.  270.1(b)(1) by expanding the stated purpose of 
investigations by Teams to include improving ``the safety of building 
occupants and emergency egress and response measures.''
    Response: NIST has revised Sec.  270.1(b)(1) by adding language 
contained in the preamble to the Act. The preamble states that the 
purpose of the Act is ``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.''

Comments Regarding Criteria for the Establishment and Deployment of 
Teams

    Comment: One commenter recommended that NIST develop and include 
language that specifically describes situations that will result in 
investigation by a Team and that the language should be similar, in 
detail and description, to that currently used by the National 
Transportation Safety Board (``NTSB'').
    Response: The Act authorizes the Director to establish a Team for 
deployment ``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 variety of 
``events'' that could cause building failures yielding such results is 
extremely broad. In addition, the same type of ``event'' might in some 
circumstances cause a building failure yielding such results and in 
other circumstances might not cause a building failure or might cause a 
building failure that does not result in substantial loss of life or 
pose significant potential for substantial loss of life. The broad 
nature of this authority requires broad discretion for the Director in 
determining whether a particular event results in a situation that is 
within the scope of the Act. In addition, NIST has reviewed the NTSB 
criteria and finds that the criteria set forth in Sec.  270.102 are 
similar in detail and description to that currently used by the NTSB.
    Comment: One commenter recommended that NIST work cooperatively 
with the construction industry and with the building and fire 
regulatory communities to define the terms in the Act ``substantial 
loss of life or a potential for substantial loss of life.''
    Response: The Director's decision to establish a Team after an 
event that caused the failure of a building or buildings that resulted 
in substantial loss of life or posed significant potential for 
substantial loss of life will require consideration of the entire 
context of the building failure, the event that caused it, the 
likelihood that an investigation will likely result in significant and 
new knowledge or recommendations for building code revision, and the 
factors identified in Sec.  270.102(b). Not defining ``substantial loss 
of life or a potential for substantial loss of life'' leaves the 
Director with the broad discretion needed to make this determination.
    Comment: Two commenters recommended changing the wording of Sec.  
270.100(a) to indicate that historically, in the United States, 
building failures from fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and 
other disasters that have resulted in a substantial loss of life or 
that posed significant potential for substantial loss of life have 
occurred several times per year, rather than less than once per year.
    Response: NIST has revised Sec.  270.100(a) to state that NIST 
expects that the Director will establish and deploy a Team to conduct 
an investigation at a frequency of approximately once per year or less 
based on prior NIST experience.
    Comment: One commenter stated that Sec.  270.100(b) requires an 
editorial correction as follows: ``Teams established under the Act and 
this part will investigate these'', change ``these'' to ``the''.
    Response: NIST disagrees. In Sec.  270.100(b), ``these'' refers 
back to the building systems described in the previous sentence, the 
failure of which could be a technical cause of a building failure.
    Comment: One commenter recommended that the wording in Sec.  
270.102(a)(1)(ii) be changed to read: ``a fire that resulted in a 
building failure of the building of origin and/or spreads beyond the 
building of origin.''
    Response: NIST has revised the referenced section to read ``a fire 
that resulted in a building failure of the building of origin and/or 
spread beyond the building of origin.''
    Comment: One commenter stated that the Federal Response Plan cited 
in Sec.  270.102(a)(1)(iv) had been revised and renamed the National 
Response Plan. The commenter recommended that NIST revise that section 
to reflect this change.
    Response: NIST has changed the reference in Sec.  270.102(a)(1)(iv) 
to read ``National Response Plan.''
    Comment: One commenter recommended deleting paragraph 270.102(b)(4) 
because it is highly unlikely that an NCST investigation would 
substantially duplicate local or state capabilities, and replacing it 
with ``Whether an investigation is likely to result in relevant 
knowledge for mitigation of the building failure.''
    Response: NIST disagrees. NIST will retain the original language of 
paragraph 270.102(b)(4) to make clear that no matter how infrequently 
the situation occurs, in deciding whether to establish and deploy a 
Team, the Director will consider whether an NCST investigation would 
substantially duplicate a local or state investigation. NIST has 
revised Sec.  270.102(a)(2) to address the importance of gaining 
relevant

[[Page 33569]]

knowledge for mitigation of building failures.

Comments Regarding the Size and Composition of a Team

    Comment: Two commenters suggested adding structural and electrical 
engineering to the disciplines that may be represented on a Team as 
listed in Sec.  270.104(b)(5).
    Response: NIST agrees and has added these disciplines.
    Comment: One commenter recommended adding Code administration and 
enforcement to the disciplines that may be represented on a Team as 
listed in Sec.  270.104(b)(5).
    Response: NIST disagrees. Code administration and enforcement are 
not disciplines that would participate in investigating the technical 
causes of a building failure. Rather, they are disciplines involved in 
the implementation of recommendations resulting from an investigation. 
If the expertise provided by these disciplines is needed in the course 
of an investigation, NIST may engage appropriate representatives as 
contractors or consultants to the Team, but it is unlikely that they 
would be Team members.
    Comment: One commenter suggested that Teams involve the local 
building official in the investigation and draw on the resources of the 
local building department during investigations.
    Response: Section 6(3) of the Act states that in order to support 
Teams in carrying out the Act, the Director may ``confer with employees 
and request the services, records, and facilities of State and local 
governmental authorities.'' When appropriate, local building officials 
may be requested to serve on or support Teams in their investigations. 
If a local building department possesses evidence necessary to an NCST 
investigation, it may voluntarily submit such information to NIST 
pursuant to 15 CFR 270.312.

Comments Regarding the Duties of a Team

    Comment: One commenter recommended that Sec.  270.105(b)(3) be 
revised to include that in addition to recommending, as necessary, 
specific improvements to building standards, codes and practices based 
on its findings, a Team be required to provide the supporting rationale 
for each recommendation.
    Response: Supporting rationale for a Team's recommendations will be 
included in its report as required by section 8 of the Act and Sec.  
270.205(a) of the regulations.
    Comment: One commenter requested that NIST change the word 
``Cooperate'' in Sec.  270.105(c)(6) to ``Not impede'' to describe a 
Team's interaction with State and local authorities carrying out any 
activities related to a Team's investigation.
    Response: Section 4(c)(4) of the Act requires a Team to cooperate 
with State and local authorities carrying out any activities related to 
a Team's investigation.
    Comment: One commenter requested that NIST remove from Sec.  
270.105(d)(4) the authority to move, or to further articulate the 
nature of the ``records'' to be moved as a result of the investigation. 
The commenter questioned whether this authority includes the official 
records of the jurisdiction.
    Response: No change has been made in response to this comment. The 
authority to move such records is granted by section 4(a)(4) of the 
Act. The Act limits this authority by stating that it is to be carried 
out ``as provided by the procedures developed under section 2(c)(1).'' 
The procedures for collection and preservation of evidence are set 
forth in subpart D of the regulations.

Comments Regarding the Conduct of Investigations

    Comment: One commenter asked that NIST add an additional task to 
the list of tasks that may be completed during an investigation. The 
commenter requested that NIST add a new paragraph 270.200(c)(2)(xii): 
``Review best practices in codes adoption and administration to 
determine the extent to which the circumstances that led to this 
building failure have statewide, regional or national implications.''
    Response: NIST agrees that this is a task that might be completed 
during an investigation that proceeds beyond preliminary 
reconnaissance. Rather than adding a new task, NIST has incorporated 
this task into the task described in Sec.  270.200(c)(2)(ix) by 
revising that section to read: ``Analyze the relevant building 
practices, including code adoption and enforcement practices, to 
determine the extent to which the circumstances that led to this 
building failure have regional or national implications.''
    Comment: One commenter recommended that NIST revise Sec.  
270.200(c)(2)(iv) to require that the Team make a determination whether 
the building was constructed in accordance with the adopted code, 
determine what code was in force when the building was approved for 
construction and identify any renovations, repairs, additions, etc. 
that were made during the life of the building and how those were 
addressed with respect to the adopted code at the time they were made.
    Response: A Team may determine what code or codes were in force 
when the building was designed and approved for construction, and 
identify any renovations, repairs, additions, etc. that were made 
during the life of the building and the relevant code provisions that 
were in force when such work was done. However, determining whether a 
building was built in accordance or complied with code requirements is 
a code enforcement authority and is not part of the statutory authority 
granted to NIST under the Act. As a result of its investigation, a Team 
will recommend any changes to current building standards, codes, and 
practices that would improve the safety and structural integrity of 
buildings in the United States.
    Comment: One commenter recommended that NIST provide additional 
guidance in Sec.  270.200(c)(2)(v) on how a Team should identify the 
most probable technical cause when no computer model is available to 
address a particular issue.
    Response: The tasks listed in Sec.  270.200(c)(2) are examples of 
tasks that Teams might need to perform in conducting an investigation. 
None of the tasks is required in any investigation, and it is not 
possible to provide a complete list of every task that a Team might 
need to perform to complete its investigation. If no computer model is 
available, a Team will do what is necessary to reconstruct the event 
and identify the most probable technical cause of the building failure 
without a computer model.
    Comment: One commenter recommended that Sec.  270(c)(2)(x) be 
revised from ``Identify specific areas in building and fire codes, 
standards, and building practices that may warrant revisions based on 
investigation findings.'' To ``identification of specific criteria in 
building and fire codes and standards and practices--with an 
understanding that building and fire are broad and include mechanical, 
electrical, e.g., all codes that warrant revisions, proposed changes to 
those documents and development of supporting rationale.''
    Response: The specific criteria differ from code to code. A Team 
cannot address every change to every code in the United States that may 
result from a Team's general recommendation for an improvement to 
building codes. Each jurisdiction or industry will be responsible for 
adopting changes to the

[[Page 33570]]

specific criteria contained in its codes, standards, and practices that 
warrant change based on a Team's recommendation.

Comments Regarding the Priority of Investigations and the Coordination 
of Investigations With Search and Rescue Efforts and With Federal, 
State, and Local Entities

    Comment: One commenter asked that NIST clarify that a Team would 
have priority over civil litigants.
    Response: No change has been made in response to this comment. The 
Act does not provide NIST with authority for Teams to take priority 
over civil litigants.
    Comment: One commenter stated that, contrary to the wording of 
Sec.  270.202, FEMA does not have local offices. The commenter 
suggested that NIST revise the reference in Sec.  270.202 to read: 
``including FEMA urban search and rescue teams, local emergency 
management agencies, and local emergency response groups.
    Response: NIST has made this change.
    Comment: One commenter hoped that the NIST teams will realize that 
search and rescue efforts and recovery efforts will be the top 
priorities of local officials and that the NIST team should perform 
their investigation in such a manner that they will not impede the 
efforts of local officials.
    Response: NIST recognizes that search and rescue efforts and 
recovery efforts are the top priorities following a building disaster. 
Section 4(c)(1) of the Act and Sec.  270.202 state that NIST will 
coordinate its investigation with such efforts.
    Comment: One commenter stated that notification of the 
establishment and deployment of a Team by publication in the Federal 
Register is too slow a process. The commenter recommended that NIST 
should notify the jurisdiction's chief building code enforcement and 
fire official, as well as neighboring local jurisdictions, of such 
actions directly by phone or e-mail to establish a positive working 
relationship and to expedite a cooperative working environment.
    Response: NIST agrees. As required by section 2(a) of the Act and 
implemented by Sec.  270.103 of the regulations, the Director will 
promptly publish in the Federal Register notice of the establishment of 
each Team. In addition, NIST will promptly notify appropriate 
authorities having jurisdiction over a building failure site. NIST also 
is in the process of contacting and establishing relationships with 
state and local authorities with whom Teams conducting an investigation 
may have to coordinate. With the help of other Federal agencies, NIST 
is developing a list of the appropriate contacts in each jurisdiction 
for the purpose of immediate notification of the establishment and 
deployment of a Team.
    Comment: One commenter recommended that NIST develop details and a 
formal protocol document to spell out and facilitate cooperation with 
state and local authorities in carrying out activities related to a 
Team's investigation.
    Response: NIST agrees. Section 270.203 sets forth NIST's intent to 
enter into Memoranda of Understanding with Federal, State, and local 
entities, as appropriate, to ensure the coordination of investigations.

Comments Regarding Reports

    Comment: One commenter recommended that language be added to Sec.  
270.205 to clarify the intended recipients of Team reports. The 
commenter recommended that the primary recipients be organizations 
which are private sector voluntary consensus standards writing 
organizations operating under approved guidelines of the American 
National Standards Institute (ANSI).
    Response: All final Team reports will be made publicly available 
and will be posted on the NIST Web site. NIST encourages standards 
organizations to access the reports. NIST cannot take on the burden of 
identifying all appropriate recipients of each Team's final report.
    Comment: One commenter urged NIST to take care in framing and 
briefing the press on recommendations from investigations so as to take 
into consideration the potential impact on the construction industry, 
government, leasing of buildings, and the public.
    Response: NIST agrees and will do so, taking into account public 
safety and welfare.
    Comment: One commenter recommended that the reporting of ``any 
recommended specific improvements to building standards, codes, and 
practices,'' required by Sec.  270.205(a)(3) include specific code 
changes with supporting rationale.
    Response: Section 2(b)(2)(C) of the Act and Sec.  270.105(b)(3) of 
the regulations state that a Team will recommend, as necessary, 
specific improvements to building standards, codes, and practices based 
on its findings. It is the responsibility of appropriate standards and 
codes organizations and authorities to consider adoption of a Team's 
recommendations and to develop specific code change proposals and 
language. Section 9(2) of the Act authorizes NIST to promote 
(consistent with existing procedures for the establishment of building 
standards, codes, and practices) the appropriate adoption of its 
recommendations by the Federal Government and encourage the appropriate 
adoption of those recommendations by other agencies and organizations. 
Reports will include the supporting rationale for any recommendations 
made.

Additional Information

Executive Order 12866

    This rule has been determined not to be significant under section 
3(f) of Executive Order 12866.

Executive Order 12612

    This rule does not contain policies with Federalism implications 
sufficient to warrant preparation of a Federalism assessment under 
Executive Order 12612.

Administrative Procedure Act

    Prior notice and an opportunity for public comment are not required 
for this rule of agency organization, procedure, or practice. 5 U.S.C. 
553(b)(A).

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Because notice and comment are not required under 5 U.S.C. 553, or 
any other law, the analytical requirements of the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) are inapplicable. As such, a 
regulatory flexibility analysis is not required, and none has been 
prepared.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, no person is 
required to, nor shall any person be subject to penalty for failure to 
comply with, a collection of information, subject to the requirements 
of the Paperwork Reduction Act, unless that collection of information 
displays a currently valid OMB Control Number.
    There are no collections of information involved in this 
rulemaking.

National Environmental Policy Act

    This rule will not significantly affect the quality of the human 
environment. Therefore, an environmental assessment or Environmental 
Impact Statement is not required to be prepared under the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969.

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 270

    Administrative practice and procedure; buildings and facilities; 
disaster assistance; evidence; investigations; National Institute of

[[Page 33571]]

Standards and Technology; science and technology; subpoena.

    Dated: June 8, 2004.
Hratch G. Semerjian,
Acting Director.

0
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, title 15 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations is amended as follows:

PART 270--NATIONAL CONSTRUCTION SAFETY TEAMS

0
1. The authority citation for part 270 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: Pub. L. 107-231, 116 Stat. 1471 (15 U.S.C. 7301 et 
seq.).


0
2. Section 270.1 is amended by revising the first sentence of paragraph 
(b)(1) to read as follows:


Sec.  270.1  Description of rule; purpose; applicability.

* * * * *
    (b)(1) The purpose of the Act is 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. * * *
* * * * *

0
3. Section 270.100 is amended by revising paragraph (a) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  270.100  General.

    (a) Based on prior NIST experience, NIST expects that the Director 
will establish and deploy a Team to conduct an investigation at a 
frequency of approximately once per year or less.
* * * * *

0
4. Section 270.102 is amended by revising paragraphs (a)(1)(ii), 
(a)(1)(iv), and (a)(2) to read as follows:


Sec.  270.102  Conditions for establishment and deployment of a Team.

    (a) * * *
    (1) * * *
    (ii) A fire that resulted in a building failure of the building of 
origin and/or spread beyond the building of origin.
* * * * *
    (iv) An act of terrorism or other event resulting in a Presidential 
declaration of disaster and activation of the National Response Plan; 
and
    (2) A fact-finding investigation of the building performance and 
emergency response and evacuation procedures will likely result in 
significant and new knowledge or building code revision recommendations 
needed to reduce or mitigate public risk and economic losses from 
future building failures.
* * * * *

0
5. Section 270.104 is amended by revising paragraph (b)(5) to read as 
follows:


Sec.  270.104  Size and composition of a Team.

* * * * *
    (b) * * *
    (5) Teams may include members who are experts in one or more of the 
following disciplines: civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, fire, 
forensic, safety, architectural, and materials engineering, and 
specialists in emergency response, human behavior, and evacuation.
* * * * *

0
6. Section 270.200 is amended by revising paragraph (c)(2)(ix) to read 
as follows:


Sec.  270.200  Technical conduct of investigation.

* * * * *
    (c) * * *
    (2) * * *
    (ix) Analyze the relevant building practices, including code 
adoption and enforcement practices, to determine the extent to which 
the circumstances that led to this building failure have regional or 
national implications.
* * * * *

0
7. Section 270.202 is amended by revising the first sentence to read as 
follows:


Sec.  270.202  Coordination with search and rescue efforts.

    NIST will coordinate its investigation with any search and rescue 
or search and recovery efforts being undertaken at the site of the 
building failure, including FEMA urban search and rescue teams, local 
emergency management agencies, and local emergency response groups. * * 
*
[FR Doc. 04-13364 Filed 6-15-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-P