The
Commerce Department's National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is postponing
a public meeting scheduled for April 22, 2002, in New York
City to gather the public's input on the agency's proposed
building and fire safety investigation of the World Trade
Center (WTC) towers following the terrorist attacks of Sept.
11, 2001.
The
New York City meeting will be rescheduled after two critical
documents are available to potential presenters at the meeting:
(1) the upcoming report on the Building Performance Assessment
Team (BPAT) study of the disaster conducted by the coalition
led by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and
sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA);
and (2) the proposed NIST investigation plan, which will
be based in part on the BPAT report. The NIST plan will
be made available in print and on the NIST Web site after
the BPAT report is released.
This
postponement will allow the public a greater opportunity
to make informed comment on the scope of NIST's proposed
plan to investigate the WTC disaster.
Submissions
already received by NIST will be given full consideration
when the meeting is rescheduled; those submissions can be
amended to reflect the additional information that will
be made available to the public.
As a
non-regulatory agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce's
Technology Administration, NIST develops and promotes measurements,
standards and technology to enhance productivity, facilitate
trade, and improve the quality of life.