
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC14131]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
         CHAPTER 136--VIOLENT CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
 
             SUBCHAPTER IX--STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT
 
                       Part A--DNA Identification
 
Sec. 14131. Quality assurance and proficiency testing standards


(a) Publication of quality assurance and proficiency testing standards

    (1)(A) Not later than 180 days after September 13, 1994, the 
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation shall appoint an 
advisory board on DNA quality assurance methods from among nominations 
proposed by the head of the National Academy of Sciences and 
professional societies of crime laboratory officials.
    (B) The advisory board shall include as members scientists from 
State, local, and private forensic laboratories, molecular geneticists 
and population geneticists not affiliated with a forensic laboratory, 
and a representative from the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology.
    (C) The advisory board shall develop, and if appropriate, 
periodically revise, recommended standards for quality assurance, 
including standards for testing the proficiency of forensic 
laboratories, and forensic analysts, in conducting analyses of DNA.
    (2) The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, after 
taking into consideration such recommended standards, shall issue (and 
revise from time to time) standards for quality assurance, including 
standards for testing the proficiency of forensic laboratories, and 
forensic analysts, in conducting analyses of DNA.
    (3) The standards described in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall specify 
criteria for quality assurance and proficiency tests to be applied to 
the various types of DNA analyses used by forensic laboratories. The 
standards shall also include a system for grading proficiency testing 
performance to determine whether a laboratory is performing acceptably.
    (4) Until such time as the advisory board has made recommendations 
to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Director 
has acted upon those recommendations, the quality assurance guidelines 
adopted by the technical working group on DNA analysis methods shall be 
deemed the Director's standards for purposes of this section.

(b) Administration of advisory board

    (1) For administrative purposes, the advisory board appointed under 
subsection (a) of this section shall be considered an advisory board to 
the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
    (2) Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 
shall not apply with respect to the advisory board appointed under 
subsection (a) of this section.
    (3) The DNA advisory board established under this section shall be 
separate and distinct from any other advisory board administered by the 
FBI, and is to be administered separately.
    (4) The board shall cease to exist on the date 5 years after the 
initial appointments are made to the board, unless the existence of the 
board is extended by the Director of the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation.

(c) Proficiency testing program

    (1) Not later than 1 year after the effective date of this Act,\1\ 
the Director of the National Institute of Justice shall certify to the 
Committees on the Judiciary of the House and Senate that--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ See References in Text note below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        (A) the Institute has entered into a contract with, or made a 
    grant to, an appropriate entity for establishing, or has taken other 
    appropriate action to ensure that there is established, not later 
    than 2 years after September 13, 1994, a blind external proficiency 
    testing program for DNA analyses, which shall be available to public 
    and private laboratories performing forensic DNA analyses;
        (B) a blind external proficiency testing program for DNA 
    analyses is already readily available to public and private 
    laboratories performing forensic DNA analyses; or
        (C) it is not feasible to have blind external testing for DNA 
    forensic analyses.

    (2) As used in this subsection, the term ``blind external 
proficiency test'' means a test that is presented to a forensic 
laboratory through a second agency and appears to the analysts to 
involve routine evidence.
    (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Attorney General 
shall make available to the Director of the National Institute of 
Justice during the first fiscal year in which funds are distributed 
under this subtitle up to $250,000 from the funds available under part X 
of Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 [42 
U.S.C. 3796kk et seq.] to carry out this subsection.

(Pub. L. 103-322, title XXI, Sec. 210303, Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 
2068.)

                       References in Text

    Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, referred to in 
subsec. (b)(2), is section 14 of Pub. L. 92-463, which is set out in the 
Appendix to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
    The effective date of this Act, referred to in subsec. (c)(1), 
probably means the date of enactment of Pub. L. 103-322, which was 
approved Sept. 13, 1994.
    This subtitle, referred to in subsec. (c)(3), is subtitle C 
(Secs. 210301-210306) of title XXI of Pub. L. 103-322, Sept. 13, 1994, 
108 Stat. 2065, known as the DNA Identification Act of 1994, which 
enacted this part and sections 3796kk to 3796kk-6 of this title, amended 
sections 3751, 3753, 3793, and 3797 of this title, and enacted 
provisions set out as notes under sections 3751 and 13701 of this title. 
For complete classification of this subtitle to the Code, see Short 
Title note set out under section 13701 of this title and Tables.
    The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, referred to 
in subsec. (c)(3), is Pub. L. 90-351, June 19, 1968, 82 Stat. 197, as 
amended. Part X of title I of the Act is classified generally to 
subchapter XII-L (Sec. 3796kk et seq.) of chapter 46 of this title. For 
complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note 
set out under section 3711 of this title and Tables.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 3753, 3796kk-2, 14132, 
14133, 14134, 14214 of this title.
