IIB 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 250 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2005 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

To establish an interagency committee to coordinate Federal 

manufacturing research and development efforts in manufacturing, strengthen existing programs to assist manufacturing innovation and education, and expand outreach 

programs for small and medium-sized manufacturers, 

and for other purposes. 
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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Manufacturing Tech5 nology Competitiveness Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE AND ADVISORY COM7 MITTEE. 

8 (a) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.— 

9 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall es10 tablish or designate an interagency committee on 

11 manufacturing research and development, which 

12 shall include representatives from the Office of 

13 Science and Technology Policy, the National Insti14 tute of Standards and Technology, the Science and 

15 Technology Directorate of the Department of Home16 land Security, the National Science Foundation, the 

17 Department of Energy, and any other agency that 

18 the President may designate. The Chair of the Inter19 agency Committee shall be designated by the Direc20 tor of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. 

21 (2) FUNCTIONS.—The Interagency Committee 

22 shall be responsible for the planning and coordina23 tion of Federal efforts in manufacturing research 

24 and development through— 
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1 (A) establishing goals and priorities for 

2 manufacturing research and development, in3 cluding the strengthening of United States 

4 manufacturing through the support and coordi5 nation of Federal manufacturing research, de6 velopment, technology transfer, standards, and 

7 technical training; 

8 (B) developing, within 6 months after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, and updating 

10 every 3 years for delivery with the President’s 

11 annual budget request to Congress, a strategic 

12 plan, to be transmitted to the Committee on 

13 Science of the House of Representatives and 

14 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

15 Transportation of the Senate, for manufac16 turing research and development that includes 

17 an analysis of the research, development, tech18 nology transfer, standards, technical training, 

19 and integration needs of the manufacturing sec20 tor important to ensuring and maintaining 

21 United States competitiveness; 

22 (C) proposing an annual coordinated inter23 agency budget for manufacturing research and 

24 development to the Office of Management and 

25 Budget; and 
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1 (D) developing and transmitting to Con2 gress an annual report on the Federal programs 

3 involved in manufacturing research, develop4 ment, technical training, standards, and inte5 gration, their funding levels, and their impacts 

6 on United States manufacturing competitive7 ness, including the identification and analysis of 

8 the manufacturing research and development 

9 problems that require additional attention, and 

10 recommendations of how Federal programs 

11 should address those problems. 

12 (3) RECOMMENDATIONS AND VIEWS.—In car13 rying out its functions under paragraph (2), the 

14 Interagency Committee shall consider the rec15 ommendations of the Advisory Committee and the 

16 views of academic, State, industry, and other entities 

17 involved in manufacturing research and develop18 ment. 

19 (b) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

20 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 6 

21 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

22 President shall establish or designate an advisory 

23 committee to provide advice and information to the 

24 Interagency Committee. 
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1 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Advisory Com2 mittee shall assist the Interagency Committee by 

3 providing it with recommendations on— 

4 (A) the goals and priorities for manufac5 turing research and development; 

6 (B) the strategic plan, including proposals 

7 on how to strengthen research and development 

8 to help manufacturing; and 

9 (C) other issues it considers appropriate. 

10 (3) REPORT.—The Advisory Committee shall 

11 provide an annual report to the Interagency Com12 mittee and the Congress that shall assess— 

13 (A) the progress made in implementing the 

14 strategic plan and challenges to this progress; 

15 (B) the effectiveness of activities under the 

16 strategic plan in improving United States man17 ufacturing competitiveness; 

18 (C) the need to revise the goals and prior19 ities established by the Interagency Committee; 

20 and 

21 (D) new and emerging problems and op22 portunities affecting the manufacturing re23 search community, research infrastructure, and 

24 the measurement and statistical analysis of 
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1 manufacturing that may need to be considered 

2 by the Interagency Committee. 

3 (4) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT AP4 PLICATION.—Section 14 of the Federal Advisory 

5 Committee Act shall not apply to the Advisory Com6 mittee. 

7 SEC. 3. COLLABORATIVE MANUFACTURING RESEARCH 

8 PILOT GRANTS. 

9 The National Institute of Standards and Technology 

10 Act is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating the first section 32 (15 

12 U.S.C. 271 note) as section 34 and moving it to the 

13 end of the Act; and 

14 (2) by inserting before the section moved by 

15 paragraph (1) the following new section: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 33. COLLABORATIVE MANUFACTURING RESEARCH 

17 PILOT GRANTS. 

18 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.— 

19 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall es20 tablish a pilot program of awards to partnerships 

21 among participants described in paragraph (2) for 

22 the purposes described in paragraph (3). Awards 

23 shall be made on a peer-reviewed, competitive basis. 

24 ‘‘(2) PARTICIPANTS.—Such partnerships shall 

25 include at least— 
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1 ‘‘(A) 1 manufacturing industry partner; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(B) 1 nonindustry partner. 

4 ‘‘(3) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program 

5 under this section is to foster cost-shared collabora6 tions among firms, educational institutions, research 

7 institutions, State agencies, and nonprofit organiza8 tions to encourage the development of innovative, 

9 multidisciplinary manufacturing technologies. Part10 nerships receiving awards under this section shall 

11 conduct applied research to develop new manufac12 turing processes, techniques, or materials that would 

13 contribute to improved performance, productivity, 

14 and competitiveness of United States manufacturing, 

15 and build lasting alliances among collaborators. 

16 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM CONTRIBUTION.—Awards under this 

17 section shall provide for not more than one-third of the 

18 costs of a partnership. Not more than an additional one19 third of such costs may be obtained directly or indirectly 

20 from other Federal sources. 

21 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—Applications for awards under 

22 this section shall be submitted in such manner, at such 

23 time, and containing such information as the Director 

24 shall require. Such applications shall describe at a min25 imum— 
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1 ‘‘(1) how each partner will participate in devel2 oping and carrying out the research agenda of the 

3 partnership; 

4 ‘‘(2) the research that the grant would fund; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(3) how the research to be funded with the 

7 award would contribute to improved performance, 

8 productivity, and competitiveness of the United 

9 States manufacturing industry. 

10 ‘‘(d) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting applica11 tions for awards under this section, the Director shall con12 sider at a minimum— 

13 ‘‘(1) the degree to which projects will have a 

14 broad impact on manufacturing; 

15 ‘‘(2) the novelty and scientific and technical 

16 merit of the proposed projects; and 

17 ‘‘(3) the demonstrated capabilities of the appli18 cants to successfully carry out the proposed re19 search. 

20 ‘‘(e) DISTRIBUTION.—In selecting applications under 

21 this section the Director shall ensure, to the extent prac22 ticable, a distribution of overall awards among a variety 

23 of manufacturing industry sectors and a range of firm 

24 sizes. 
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1 ‘‘(f) DURATION.—In carrying out this section, the Di2 rector shall run a single pilot competition to solicit and 

3 make awards. Each award shall be for a 3-year period.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. MANUFACTURING FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 

5 Section 18 of the National Institute of Standards and 

6 Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278g–1) is amended— 

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 

8 ‘‘The Director is authorized’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub10 section: 

11 ‘‘(b) MANUFACTURING FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.— 

12 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—To promote the devel13 opment of a robust research community working at 

14 the leading edge of manufacturing sciences, the Di15 rector shall establish a program to award— 

16 ‘‘(A) postdoctoral research fellowships at 

17 the Institute for research activities related to 

18 manufacturing sciences; and 

19 ‘‘(B) senior research fellowships to estab20 lished researchers in industry or at institutions 

21 of higher education who wish to pursue studies 

22 related to the manufacturing sciences at the In23 stitute. 

24 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for an 

25 award under this subsection, an individual shall sub-
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1 mit an application to the Director at such time, in 

2 such manner, and containing such information as 

3 the Director may require. 

4 ‘‘(3) STIPEND LEVELS.—Under this section, the 

5 Director shall provide stipends for postdoctoral re6 search fellowships at a level consistent with the Na7 tional Institute of Standards and Technology 

8 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program, and sen9 ior research fellowships at levels consistent with sup10 port for a faculty member in a sabbatical position.’’. 

11 SEC. 5. MANUFACTURING EXTENSION. 

12 (a) MANUFACTURING CENTER EVALUATION.—Sec13 tion 25(c)(5) of the National Institute of Standards and 

14 Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k(c)(5)) is amended by in15 serting ‘‘A Center that has not received a positive evalua16 tion by the evaluation panel shall be notified by the panel 

17 of the deficiencies in its performance and may be placed 

18 on probation for one year, after which time the panel may 

19 reevaluate the Center. If the Center has not addressed the 

20 deficiencies identified by the panel, or shown a significant 

21 improvement in its performance, the Director may conduct 

22 a new competition to select an operator for the Center or 

23 may close the Center.’’ after ‘‘sixth year at declining lev24 els.’’. 
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1 (b) FEDERAL SHARE.—Strike section 25(d) of the 

2 National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 

3 U.S.C. 278k(d)) and insert the following: 

4 ‘‘(d) ACCEPTANCE OF FUNDS.—In addition to such 

5 sums as may be appropriated to the Secretary and Direc6 tor to operate the Centers program, the Secretary and Di7 rector also may accept funds from other Federal depart8 ments and agencies and under section 2(c)(7) from the 

9 private sector for the purpose of strengthening United 

10 States manufacturing. Such funds, if allocated to a Center 

11 or Centers, shall not be considered in the calculation of 

12 the Federal share of capital and annual operating and 

13 maintenance costs under subsection (c).’’. 

14 (c) MANUFACTURING EXTENSION CENTER COMPETI15 TIVE GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 25 of the National Insti16 tute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k) 

17 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub18 sections: 

19 ‘‘(e) COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM.— 

20 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall es21 tablish, within the Manufacturing Extension Part22 nership program under this section and section 26 

23 of this Act, a program of competitive awards among 

24 participants described in paragraph (2) for the pur25 poses described in paragraph (3). 
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1 ‘‘(2) PARTICIPANTS.—Participants receiving 

2 awards under this subsection shall be the Centers, or 

3 a consortium of such Centers. 

4 ‘‘(3) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program 

5 under this subsection is to develop projects to solve 

6 new or emerging manufacturing problems as deter7 mined by the Director, in consultation with the Di8 rector of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

9 program, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

10 National Advisory Board, and small and medium11 sized manufacturers. One or more themes for the 

12 competition may be identified, which may vary from 

13 year to year, depending on the needs of manufactur14 ers and the success of previous competitions. These 

15 themes shall be related to projects associated with 

16 manufacturing extension activities, including supply 

17 chain integration and quality management, or extend 

18 beyond these traditional areas. 

19 ‘‘(4) APPLICATIONS.—Applications for awards 

20 under this subsection shall be submitted in such 

21 manner, at such time, and containing such informa22 tion as the Director shall require, in consultation 

23 with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Na24 tional Advisory Board. 
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1 ‘‘(5) SELECTION.—Awards under this sub2 section shall be peer reviewed and competitively 

3 awarded. The Director shall select proposals to re4 ceive awards— 

5 ‘‘(A) that utilize innovative or collaborative 

6 approaches to solving the problem described in 

7 the competition; 

8 ‘‘(B) that will improve the competitiveness 

9 of industries in the region in which the Center 

10 or Centers are located; and 

11 ‘‘(C) that will contribute to the long-term 

12 economic stability of that region. 

13 ‘‘(6) PROGRAM CONTRIBUTION.—Recipients of 

14 awards under this subsection shall not be required 

15 to provide a matching contribution. 

16 ‘‘(f) AUDITS.—A center that receives assistance 

17 under this section shall submit annual audits to the Sec18 retary in accordance with Office of Management and 

19 Budget Circular A–133 and shall make such audits avail20 able to the public on request.’’. 

21 (d) PROGRAMMATIC AND OPERATIONAL PLAN.—Not 

22 later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this 

23 Act, the Director of the National Institute of Standards 

24 and Technology shall transmit to the Committee on 

25 Science of the House of Representatives and the Com-
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1 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

2 Senate a 3-year programmatic and operational plan for 

3 the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program under 

4 sections 25 and 26 of the National Institute of Standards 

5 and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k and 278l). The plan 

6 shall include comments on the plan from the Manufac7 turing Extension Partnership State partners and the Man8 ufacturing Extension Partnership National Advisory 

9 Board. 

10 SEC. 6. SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL RESEARCH AND SERV11 ICES. 

12 (a) LABORATORY ACTIVITIES.—There are authorized 

13 to be appropriated to the Secretary of Commerce for the 

14 scientific and technical research and services laboratory 

15 activities of the National Institute of Standards and Tech16 nology— 

17 (1) $426,267,000 for fiscal year 2006, of 

18 which— 

19 (A) $50,833,000 shall be for Electronics 

20 and Electrical Engineering; 

21 (B) $28,023,000 shall be for Manufac22 turing Engineering; 

23 (C) $52,433,000 shall be for Chemical 

24 Science and Technology; 

25 (D) $46,706,000 shall be for Physics; 
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1 (E) $33,500,000 shall be for Material 

2 Science and Engineering; 

3 (F) $24,321,000 shall be for Building and 

4 Fire Research; 

5 (G) $68,423,000 shall be for Computer 

6 Science and Applied Mathematics; 

7 (H) $20,134,000 shall be for Technical As8 sistance; 

9 (I) $48,326,000 shall be for Research Sup10 port Activities; 

11 (J) $29,369,000 shall be for the National 

12 Institute of Standards and Technology Center 

13 for Neutron Research; and 

14 (K) $18,543,000 shall be for the National 

15 Nanomanufacturing and Nanometrology Facil16 ity; 

17 (2) $447,580,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 

18 (3) $456,979,000 for fiscal year 2008. 

19 (b) MALCOLM BALDRIGE NATIONAL QUALITY

20 AWARD PROGRAM.—There are authorized to be appro21 priated to the Secretary of Commerce for the Malcolm 

22 Baldrige National Quality Award program under section 

23 17 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 

24 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3711a)— 

25 (1) $5,654,000 for fiscal year 2006; 
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1 (2) $5,795,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 

2 (3) $5,939,000 for fiscal year 2008. 

3 (c) CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE.—There are 

4 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Com5 merce for construction and maintenance of facilities of the 

6 National Institute of Standards and Technology— 

7 (1) $58,898,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

8 (2) $61,843,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 

9 (3) $63,389,000 for fiscal year 2008. 

10 (d) ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM ELIMI11 NATION REPORT.—Not later than 3 months after the date 

12 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall provide to 

13 the Congress a report detailing the impacts of the possible 

14 elimination of the Advanced Technology Program on the 

15 laboratory programs at the National Institute of Stand16 ards Technology. 

17 (e) LOSS OF FUNDING.—At the time of the Presi18 dent’s budget request for fiscal year 2007, the Secretary 

19 shall provide the Congress a report on how the Depart20 ment of Commerce plans to absorb the loss of Advanced 

21 Technology Program funds to the laboratory programs at 

22 the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or 

23 otherwise mitigate the effects of this loss on its programs 

24 and personnel. 
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1 SEC. 7. STANDARDS EDUCATION PROGRAM. 

2 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—(1) As part of the 

3 Teacher Science and Technology Enhancement Institute 

4 Program, the Director of the National Institute of Stand5 ards and Technology shall carry out a Standards Edu6 cation program to award grants to institutions of higher 

7 education to support efforts by such institutions to develop 

8 curricula on the role of standards in the fields of engineer9 ing, business, science, and economics. The curricula 

10 should address topics such as— 

11 (A) development of technical standards; 

12 (B) demonstrating conformity to standards; 

13 (C) intellectual property and antitrust issues; 

14 (D) standardization as a key element of busi15 ness strategy; 

16 (E) survey of organizations that develop stand17 ards; 

18 (F) the standards life cycle; 

19 (G) case studies in effective standardization; 

20 (H) managing standardization activities; and 

21 (I) managing organizations that develop stand22 ards. 

23 (2) Grants shall be awarded under this section on a 

24 competitive, merit-reviewed basis and shall require cost25 sharing from non-Federal sources. 
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1 (b) SELECTION PROCESS.—(1) An institution of 

2 higher education seeking funding under this section shall 

3 submit an application to the Director at such time, in such 

4 manner, and containing such information as the Director 

5 may require. The application shall include at a min6 imum— 

7 (A) a description of the content and schedule 

8 for adoption of the proposed curricula in the courses 

9 of study offered by the applicant; and 

10 (B) a description of the source and amount of 

11 cost-sharing to be provided. 

12 (2) In evaluating the applications submitted under 

13 paragraph (1) the Director shall consider, at a min14 imum— 

15 (A) the level of commitment demonstrated by 

16 the applicant in carrying out and sustaining lasting 

17 curricula changes in accordance with subsection 

18 (a)(1); and 

19 (B) the amount of cost-sharing provided. 

20 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

21 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Com22 merce for the Teacher Science and Technology Enhance23 ment Institute program of the National Institute of Stand24 ards and Technology— 

25 (1) $773,000 for fiscal year 2006; 
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1 (2) $796,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 

2 (3) $820,000 for fiscal year 2008. 

3 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 (a) MANUFACTURING EXTENSION PARTNERSHIP

5 PROGRAM.—There are authorized to be appropriated to 

6 the Secretary of Commerce, or other appropriate Federal 

7 agencies, for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

8 program under sections 25 and 26 of the National Insti9 tute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k 

10 and 278l)— 

11 (1) $110,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, of which 

12 not more than $1,000,000 shall be for the competi13 tive grant program under section 25(e) of such Act 

14 (15 U.S.C. 278k(e)); 

15 (2) $115,000,000 for fiscal year 2007, of which 

16 not more than $4,000,000 shall be for the competi17 tive grant program under section 25(e) of such Act 

18 (15 U.S.C. 278k(e)); and 

19 (3) $120,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, of which 

20 not more than $4,100,000 shall be for the competi21 tive grant program under section 25(e) of such Act 

22 (15 U.S.C. 278k(e)). 

23 (b) COLLABORATIVE MANUFACTURING RESEARCH

24 PILOT GRANTS PROGRAM.—There are authorized to be 

25 appropriated to the Secretary of Commerce for the Col-
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1 laborative Manufacturing Research Pilot Grants program 

2 under section 33 of the National Institute of Standards 

3 and Technology Act— 

4 (1) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

5 (2) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 

6 (3) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2008. 

7 (c) FELLOWSHIPS.—There are authorized to be ap8 propriated to the Secretary of Commerce for Manufac9 turing Fellowships at the National Institute of Standards 

10 and Technology under section 18(b) of the National Insti11 tute of Standards and Technology Act, as added by section 

12 4 of this Act— 

13 (1) $1,500,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

14 (2) $1,750,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 

15 (3) $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2008. 

16 SEC. 9. TECHNICAL WORKFORCE EDUCATION AND DEVEL17 OPMENT. 

18 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated to the Director of the 

20 National Science Foundation, from sums otherwise au21 thorized to be appropriated, for the Advanced Techno22 logical Education Program established under section 3 of 

23 the Scientific and Advanced-Technology Act of 1992 (42 

24 U.S.C. 1862i)— 
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1 (1) $55,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, 

2 $5,000,000 of which may be used to support the 

3 education and preparation of manufacturing techni4 cians for certification; 

5 (2) $57,750,000 for fiscal year 2007, 

6 $5,000,000 of which may be used to support the 

7 education and preparation of manufacturing techni8 cians for certification; and 

9 (3) $60,600,000 for fiscal year 2008, 

10 $5,000,000 of which may be used to support the 

11 education and preparation of manufacturing techni12 cians for certification. 

13 Funds shall be made available under this subsection, to 

14 the maximum extent practicable, to diverse institutions, 

15 including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and 

16 other minority serving institutions. 

17 (b) AMENDMENT.—Section 3 of the Scientific and 

18 Advanced-Technology Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 1862i) is 

19 amended— 

20 (1) by inserting ‘‘, including manufacturing’’ 

21 after ‘‘advanced-technology fields’’ each place it ap22 pears other than in subsection (c)(2); and 

23 (2) by inserting ‘‘, including manufacturing,’’ 

24 after ‘‘advanced-technology fields’’ in subsection 

25 (c)(2). 
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1 SEC. 10. KATRINA ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

2 (a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT.— Not later than 30 

3 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 

4 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

5 shall establish within the Manufacturing Extension Part6 nership program established under sections 25 and 26 of 

7 the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act 

8 (15 U.S.C. 278k and 278l) a Katrina Assistance Program, 

9 to provide assistance to impacted small and medium-sized 

10 manufacturers in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. 

11 (b) PURPOSES.—The Katrina Assistance Program 

12 shall— 

13 (1) establish triage teams, consisting of per14 sonnel from within the national network of Manufac15 turing Extension Partnership Centers established 

16 under section 25 of the National Institute of Stand17 ards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k) and local 

18 experts, the purpose of which shall be to assist im19 pacted manufacturers; 

20 (2) develop virtual assistance centers, consisting 

21 of databases incorporating the results and rec22 ommendations of the triage team assessments; 

23 (3) assess the potential disruption on national 

24 manufacturing supply chains as a result of Hurri25 cane Katrina, and develop recommendations of how 

26 to minimize such disruption; and 
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1 (4) provide assistance to small and medium2 sized manufacturers in the areas affected by Hurri3 cane Katrina, consistent with the authorities of the 

4 Manufacturing Extension Partnership program es5 tablished under section 25 and 26 of the National 

6 Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 

7 U.S.C. 278k and 278l). 

8 (c) NO MATCHING FUND REQUIREMENT.—Assist9 ance under the Program established under this section 

10 shall be exempt from matching requirements for the Man11 ufacturing Extension Partnership program under the Na12 tional Institute of Standards and Technology Act. 

13 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Com15 merce such sums as may be necessary for the Katrina As16 sistance Program established under this section. 

17 SEC. 11. BUILT ENVIRONMENT INVESTIGATION FOR HURRI18 CANE KATRINA. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National In20 stitute of Standards and Technology shall carry out an 

21 engineering performance study of the effects of Hurricane 

22 Katrina in the areas of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mis23 sissippi covered by the President’s major disaster declara24 tions of August 29, 2005. The study shall be based on 
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1 an examination of physical structures damaged due to ex2 cessive wind, storm surge, and flooding, including— 

3 (1) key physical infrastructures such as ports, 

4 utilities, lifelines associated with infrastructure fa5 cilities, and transportation systems; and 

6 (2) engineered and nonengineered buildings. 

7 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the study shall be 

8 to— 

9 (1) develop new knowledge concerning practices 

10 related to building standards and codes; and 

11 (2) review the adequacy of current building 

12 codes and standards for excessive wind, storm surge, 

13 and flooding. 

14 (c) MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES.—The Director of 

15 the National Institute of Standards and Technology may 

16 convene public meetings and conferences to inform the 

17 public, government authorities, and relevant professional 

18 associations regarding findings and recommendations of 

19 the study. 

20 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

21 are authorized to be appropriated to the Director of the 
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1 National Institute of Standards and Technology 

2 $3,000,000 for carrying out this section. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 21, 

2005. 

Attest: JEFF TRANDAHL, 

Clerk.