WASHINGTON (WFSB) - An effort to help homeowners with crumbling foundations was passed by the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee.

Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal said they wrote the measure, which urges the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish regulations for specific minerals that go into the concrete.

The effort also directs the NIST to provide help to homeowners who are interested in detection, prevention and mitigation of the mineral believed to be at the center of the issue.

The mineral pyrrhotite was found to have been in concrete that has crumbled in hundreds of homes across the state. Experts said it was the common factor.

“Far too many Connecticut families lay awake at night, trying to figure out how to save their homes," Murphy and Blumenthal said in a joint statement. "While this is just a small step and there’s a whole lot more to do, we hope homeowners will finally start to get some of the answers they deserve about how they can protect themselves and their homes from crumbling foundations."

Insurance companies said they were not covering repairs, which left people struggling to find ways to fix their homes. FEMA also declined to help and said its hands were tied because the damage was not caused by a natural disaster.

The measure was part of a Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies bill for fiscal year 2018.