Fastener Quality Act; Statutorily Required Study

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Office of the Secretary

[Docket Number: 980929249-8249-01]

RIN 0690-XX05

Fastener Quality Act; Statutorily Required Study

AGENCY: United States Department of Commerce.

ACTION: Notice of inquiry; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: On August 14, 1998, President Clinton signed Public Law 105-

234. This law amended the Fastener Quality Act (FQA) by creating an

exemption for certain aircraft fasteners. The new law also requires the

Secretary of Commerce to submit to Congress a report on: (1) Changes in

fastener manufacturing processes that have occurred since the enactment

of the Fastener Quality Act; (2) a comparison of the Fastener Quality

Act to other regulatory programs that regulate the various categories

of fasteners, and an analysis of any duplication that exists among

programs; and (3) any changes in that Act that may be warranted because

of the changes reported under paragraphs (1) and (2). This notice

solicits public comments on the issues raised by the Secretary's

reporting requirement.

DATES: Comments must be received no later than November 6, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted to: Dr. James E. Hill; Chief,

Building Environment Division; Building and Fire Research Laboratory;

National Institute of Standards and Technology; Building 226, Room B-

306; Gaithersburg, MD 20899. Comments may also be submitted by e-mail

to: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dr. James Hill; Telephone: 301-975-5851; E-mail: [email protected].

The Fastener Quality Act and the existing implementing regulations can

be viewed at NIST's FQA website: http://www.nist.gov/fqa/fqa.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Fastener Quality Act, 15 U.S.C. 5401 et seq., (the Act) strives

to protect public safety by: (1) Requiring that certain fasteners which

are sold in commerce conform to the specifications to which they are

represented to be manufactured; (2) providing for accreditation of

laboratories engaged in fastener testing; and (3) requiring inspection,

testing and certification, in accordance with standardized methods, of

fasteners covered by the Act.

The Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Director of NIST,

published final regulations implementing the Act on September 26, 1996,

See 15 CFR 280. Those regulations established procedures under which:

(1) Laboratories in compliance with the Act may be listed; (2)

laboratories may apply to NIST for accreditation; (3) private

laboratory accreditation entities (bodies) may apply to NIST for

approval to accredit laboratories; and (4) foreign laboratories

accredited by their governments or by organizations recognized by the

NIST Director can be deemed to satisfy the laboratory accreditation

requirements of the Act. The regulation also established, within the

Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), a recordation system to identify the

manufacturers or distributors of covered fasteners to ensure that the

fasteners may be traced to their manufacturers or private label

distributors. In addition, the regulations contained provisions on

testing and certification of fasteners, sale of fasteners subsequent to

manufacture, recordkeeping, applicability of the Act, enforcement,

civil penalties, and hearing and appeal procedures. Those regulations

became effective on November 25, 1996, and were to apply to fasteners

manufactured on or after May 27, 1997, the ``implementation date''.

On April 18, 1997, NIST announced a one year extension of the

implementation date of the regulations because there were an

insufficient number of accredited laboratories to conduct the volume of

inspection and testing required by the Act. During the one year

extension, NIST proposed amendments, received public comments, and

published amendments to the September 1996 rule that became effective

as a final rule on May 14, 1998. This final rule established the

procedures for registration of in-process inspection activities of

qualifying manufacturing facilities that use Quality Assurance Systems

(QAS), revised definitions and related sections for clarity, and

corrected editorial errors. In addition, it extended the

[[Page 53871]]

implementation date by sixty days, to July 26, 1998.

On June 30, 1998, NIST announced that an insufficient number of

laboratories would be accredited by July 26, 1998 to perform the volume

of inspection and testing required by the Act and extended the

implementation date to October 25, 1998.

On August 14, 1998, President Clinton signed Public Law 105-234.

This law amends the Fastener Quality Act by creating an exemption for

certain aircraft fasteners. The law also delays the effect of the

regulations until the later of June 1, 1999 or 120 days after the

Secretary of Commerce submits to Congress a report on: (1) changes in

fastener manufacturing processes that have occurred since the enactment

of the fastener Quality Act; (2) a comparison of the Fastener Quality

Act to other regulatory programs that regulate the various categories

of fasteners, and an analysis of any duplication that exists among

programs; and (3) any changes in that Act that may be warranted because

of the changes reported under paragraphs (1) and (2). The law requires

the Secretary to submit this report by February 1, 1999.

To provide Congress a comprehensive report on these issues, the

Secretary seeks comments from impacted industries including, but not

limited to, the auto industry fastener manufacturers, and federal

agencies involved in the investigations that led to the passage of the

Act in 1990, and from any other interested parties.

Request for Public Comment

The Secretary requests information on how fastener manufacturing

processes have changed since the enactment of the Fastener Quality Act

and on other regulatory programs that regulate the various categories

of fasteners. The Secretary has identified the following topics on

which he particularly requests public comments:

1. Basis of the Act.

When the Act was passed in 1990, the Congress based it on the

following findings:

The American economy uses billions of fasteners each year,

Millions of mismarked, substandard, counterfeit, and other

nonconforming fasteners have been sold in commerce to end-users in the

United States, and their use has dramatically increased the risk of

equipment and infrastructure failures,

Both the military and civilian sectors of the economy have

encountered unnecessary, unwarranted, and dangerous equipment and

construction failures, as well as extraordinary expenses, as a result

of the use of nonconforming fasteners,

The purchase and use of nonconforming fasteners stem from

material misrepresentations about such fasteners made by certain

manufacturers, importers, and distributors engaged in commerce,

Current fastener standards of measurement evaluate bolts

and other fasteners according to multiple criteria, including strength,

hardness and composition, and provide grade identification markings on

fasteners to make the characteristics of individual fasteners clear to

purchasers and users,

Current tests required by consensus standards, designed to

ensure that fasteners are of standard measure, are adequate and

appropriate for use as standards in a program of high strength fastener

testing.

The lack of traceability of fasteners sold in commerce is

a serious impediment to effective quality control efforts, and

The Health and safety of Americans is threatened by the

widespread sale in commerce of mismarked, substandard, and counterfeit

fasteners, a practice which also harms American manufacturers,

importers and distributors of safe and conformaing fasteners, and

workers in the American fastener industry.

Are these findings still valid? If not, how have they changed and

why?

2. Coverage of the Act

The Act defines the fasteners to be covered in Section 3.(5); a

screw, nut, bolt, or stud having internal or external treads or a load-

indicating washer; with a nominal diameter of 5 millimeters (\1/4\

inch) or greater; and which contains any quantity of metal; and which

is held out to meet a standard or specification which requires through-

hardening; or which bears as ASTMA 307 Grade A or produced in

accordance with ASTMF 432 are exempt.

Based on changes in fastener manufacturing processes that have

occurred since 1990 and other existing regulatory programs covering

various categories of fasteners, is this definition appropriate? If

not, what changes in coverage are appropriate for the Act and why?

3. Testing and Certification

The Act requires samples of specific size, selection, and integrity

to be inspected and tested by an accredited laboratory. The laboratory

must issue a report to the manufacturer at the conclusion of the tests.

The report must bear the original signature of a laboratory employee

responsible for the accuracy of the report.

Are there aspects of current manufacturing technology where

sampling, testing, and issuing a laboratory report with an original

signature is not feasible? If so, why? What alternate methods are more

appropriate for testing, sampling, and reporting compliance to

standards and specifications?

4. Sale of Fasteners

The Act requires fasteners of foreign origin to be accompanied by a

manufacturers' certificate and an original laboratory report when

purchased and imported.

Is this process appropriate? If not, please provide a description

and explanation of an appropriate process for handling fasteners of

foreign origin?

5. Record Keeping

The Act requires laboratories to retain all records concerning

inspection, testing, and certification for 5 years.

Are the Act's recordkeeping and reporting requirements appropriate?

If not, what information should be required to be maintained in order

to assess compliance? For what period of time should any reporting or

recordkeeping requirement be maintained?

Persons interested in commenting on the issues outlined above, or

any other topics related to the FQA, should submit their comments in

writing to the above address. All comments received in response to this

notice will become part of the public record and will be available for

inspection and copying at the Department of Commerce Central Reference

and Records Inspection facility, room 6228, Hoover Building,

Washington, DC 20230.

Authority: Pub. L. No. 105-234.

Dated: October 1, 1998.

Andrew J. Pincus,

General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 98-26834 Filed 10-6-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3510-BW-M