§7304 — Title 15 Commerce and Trade | U.S. Code

Summary

The Director or a person the Director names may run hearings, have people swear to tell the truth, and require witnesses or documents to help a Team’s investigation. The Director can issue a legal order called a subpoena to get people or evidence from anywhere in the United States. A summoned witness gets the same fee and travel pay they would get in a United States court. Subpoenas must be signed by the Director, but anyone the Director chooses can deliver them. If someone refuses to obey a subpoena, the Attorney General can sue in a federal district court where the person lives, is found, or does business. The court can punish a person for not following the court’s order, including treating it as contempt of court. The Director or a designee must give regular public briefings on how investigations are going and on the findings, and must give a final briefing after the report required by section 7307 is issued. The National Institute of Standards and Technology may also hold a public hearing, if the Director thinks it is in the public interest, to collect testimony and tell the public about the investigation’s progress.

Title 15, §7304

Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Director or his designee, on behalf of a Team, may conduct hearings, administer oaths, and require, by subpoena (pursuant to subsection (e)) and otherwise, necessary witnesses and evidence as necessary to carry out this chapter.

(b)The Director or his designee (who may be the leader or a member of a Team), on behalf of a Team, shall hold regular public briefings on the status of investigative proceedings and findings, including a final briefing after the report required by section 7307 of this title is issued.

(c)During the course of an investigation by a Team, the National Institute of Standards and Technology may, if the Director considers it to be in the public interest, hold a public hearing for the purposes of—

(1)gathering testimony from witnesses; and

(2)informing the public on the progress of the investigation.

(d)A witness or evidence in an investigation under this chapter may be summoned or required to be produced from any place in the United States. A witness summoned under this subsection is entitled to the same fee and mileage the witness would have been paid in a court of the United States.

(e)A subpoena shall be issued only under the signature of the Director but may be served by any person designated by the Director.

(f)If a person disobeys a subpoena issued by the Director under this chapter, the Attorney General, acting on behalf of the Director, may bring a civil action in a district court of the United States to enforce the subpoena. An action under this subsection may be brought in the judicial district in which the person against whom the action is brought resides, is found, or does business. The court may punish a failure to obey an order of the court to comply with the subpoena as a contempt of court.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This chapter, referred to in subsecs. (a), (d), and (f), was in the original “this Act”, meaning Pub. L. 107–231, Oct. 1, 2002, 116 Stat. 1471, known as the National

Construction

Safety Team Act, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 7301 of this title and Tables.

§7304 Briefings, Hearings, Witnesses, and Subpoenas