15 U.S.C. § 278n: Emergency communication and tracking technologies research initiative

The Director shall establish a research initiative to support the development of emergency communication and tracking technologies for use in locating trapped individuals in confined spaces, such as underground mines, and other shielded environments, such as high-rise buildings or collapsed structures, where conventional radio communication is limited. perform a needs assessment to identify and evaluate the measurement, technical standards, and conformity assessment needs required to improve the operation and reliability of such emergency communication and tracking technologies; support the development of technical standards and conformance architecture to improve the operation and reliability of such emergency communication and tracking technologies; and incorporate and build upon existing reports and studies on improving emergency communications. Not later than 18 months after January 4, 2011 , the Director shall submit to Congress and make publicly available a report describing the assessment performed under subsection (b)(1) and making recommendations about research priorities to address gaps in the measurement, technical standards, and conformity assessment needs identified by the assessment. The term ‘Director’ means the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The term ‘Federal agency’ has the meaning given such term in section 4 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 ( 15 U.S.C. 3703 ). The term ‘high performance green building’ has the meaning given that term by section 401(13) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2009 [probably should be “2007”] ( 42 U.S.C. 17061(13) ).”