Federal experts may probe future building disasters

Responding to the fiery Sept. 11 collapse of the World Trade Center, the House Science Committee voted Wednesday to create a new national team of experts to investigate the cause of major building disasters.

The legislation (H.R. 4687)--the "National Construction Safety Team Act of 2002"--requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology to dispatch experts to a disaster site within 48 hours.

The investigative team would have similar authorities to the National Transportation Safety Board, including access to the site of the building disaster and the power to subpoena evidence.

The team would be required, among other things, to establish the likely technical cause of building failures and recommend changes to building codes, standards and practices. The measure would also give the NIST the authority to complete the investigation of the World Trade Center collapse.

Chairman Sherwood L. Boehlert, R-N.Y., who sponsored the bill, said the legislation was designed to prevent a repeat "of problems that plagued the studies of the World Trade Center collapse." The trade center towers caught fire and collapsed after terrorists slammed them with hijacked airliners.

Boehlert offered an amendment making technical and clarifying changes to the bill, which was approved by a voice vote. The committee also approved the legislation by voice vote.

Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton D-N.Y., Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., have introduced companion legislation (S. 2496) in the Senate where the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is scheduled to take up the measure.