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Good morning and welcome to the Technology Subcommittee hearing on aviation manufacturing and the Fastener Quality Act. We have with us today a very distinguished panel of experts to assist us in the examination of what some may consider to be a complicated issue. I am very pleased that the panel includes the Honorable Don Fuqua who is very familiar with workings of the Science Committee, having served as Chairman from 1979 through 1986. I wish to thank him, and the other three witness for joining us here today.

During the 101^st Congress, the Science Committee was involved in crafting legislation intended to improve public safety by ensuring the quality of fasteners such as nuts, bolts, studs and screws. The Fastener Quality Act, passed in 1990 but still not implemented, requires all threaded, metallic, through-hardened fasteners of one-quarter inch diameter or greater that directly or indirectly reference a consensus standard to be tested or documented by a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) certified laboratory.

Two years ago, Congress passed the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, which included a provision amending the Fastener Quality Act to make it clear that fasteners produced to the standards and specifications of major end users were not subject to the Act. This legislative change was intended to reduce unnecessary and duplicative regulations, and the accompanying economic burden, on fasteners produced to the standards and specifications of original manufactures.

In April, NIST published the final rule for implementation of the Fastener Quality Act. Under the rule, virtually all of the proprietary fasteners of aviation manufacturers are subject to the provisions of the Act, including those of major-end users. NIST’s rules caught the aviation industry by surprise.

As we will soon hear from our witnesses, fasteners produced to standards and specifications of aviation manufacturers are currently subject to the federal quality assurance programs of the FAA. By law, aviation manufacturers are already required to demonstrate to the FAA that they have a quality control system which ensures that their products, including fasteners, meet design specifications.

One of the purposes of this hearing is to determine if it is necessary to subject the fasteners manufactured specifically for the aviation industry to a second set of federal rules and regulations, especially if doing so may undermine the level of safety currently provided by the FAA. If it is necessary, then we also need to determine if there are enough NIST-certified labs to fully implement the rules and regulations as currently written, and whether the rules are written clearly enough for the industry to conform to them. Finally, we need to determine if the FAA, rather than NIST, should be recognized as the quality authority for the proprietary fasteners of aviation manufacturers.

I look forward to reviewing these issues with the panel of experts we have with us today. Before I introduce the witnesses, I would first like to recognize the Ranking Member of the Technology Subcommittee, Mr. Barcia of Michigan, for purposes of making an opening statement.

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