I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2034 

To provide for the establishment and operation of Advanced Composites 

Development Centers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 16, 2013 

Mr. MICHAUD (for himself, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. PALAZZO, Mr. LIPINSKI, and 

Mr. CONYERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the 

Committees on Homeland Security, Armed Services, and Transportation 

and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment and operation of Advanced 

Composites Development Centers. 

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 ‘‘Advanced Composites 

5 Development Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Compared to traditional metals and woods, 

2 reinforced composite materials are lightweight, cor3 rosion resistant, high strength, and durable. 

4 (2) Because of their intrinsic physical qualities, 

5 composites have the ability to address national prior6 ities in infrastructure, energy, defense, and natural 

7 disaster mitigation with innovative solutions. 

8 (3) To this end, research on advancement in 

9 composite material development, new applications 

10 for composites, or advanced manufacturing processes 

11 serves a critical national interest. 

12 SEC. 3. ADVANCED COMPOSITES DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor15 tation, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of De16 fense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

17 carry out a program to improve our Nation’s trans18 portation infrastructure, advance the technologies 

19 used to produce alternative energy, enhance our 

20 military security, and develop new disaster mitiga21 tion systems by making grants to consortia to estab22 lish and operate Advanced Composites Development 

23 Centers. In doing so, they shall work with stake24 holders to identify problems that can be solved over 

25 a period of 5 years through the development of an 


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1 advanced composite material. By working with the 

2 private sector and focusing on solutions to problems 

3 that can be researched, developed, and demonstrated 

4 over a short period of time, each Center will strive 

5 to produce new composite materials, including re6 lated manufacturing processes or applications, that 

7 are lighter, stronger, and more durable than existing 

8 materials, have lower life-cycle costs or lower overall 

9 environmental impacts, and have an immediate prac10 tical application. 

11 (2) DESIGNATION OF CENTERS.—The Centers 

12 shall be designated as follows: 

13 (A) The Secretary of Transportation shall 

14 designate 1 Center for the development of ad15 vanced composites in civil infrastructure and 

16 transportation. 

17 (B) The Secretary of Energy shall des18 ignate 1 Center for the development of ad19 vanced composites in energy technology. 

20 (C) The Secretary of Defense shall des21 ignate 1 Center for the development of ad22 vanced composites in military operations. 

23 (D) The Secretary of Homeland Security 

24 shall designate 1 Center for the development of 


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1 advanced composites in disaster prevention and 

2 response. 

3 (E) Any 2 or more of the Secretaries de4 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (D) may 

5 work together to explore opportunities to des6 ignate a single Center that addresses issues of 

7 importance to the Departments of each such 

8 Secretary. 

9 (3) ADDITIONAL COLLABORATION.—Each Sec10 retary designating a Center under paragraph (2) 

11 may include reviewers from the Director of the Na12 tional Institute of Standards and Technology and 

13 the Director of the National Science Foundation to 

14 leverage work that has been done at facilities sup15 ported by each of those agencies. 

16 (b) CONSORTIA.— 

17 (1) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 

18 grant under this section for the establishment and 

19 operation of a Center, a consortium shall— 

20 (A) be composed of qualifying entities, in21 cluding at least 1 prime applicant and 1 private 

22 company; 

23 (B) operate subject to a binding agreement 

24 entered into by its members that documents— 


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1 (i) the proposed partnership agree2 ment, including the governance and man3 agement structure of the Center; 

4 (ii) measures to enable cost-effective 

5 implementation of the program under this 

6 section; 

7 (iii) a proposed budget, including fi8 nancial contributions from non-Federal 

9 sources; 

10 (iv) conflict of interest procedures 

11 consistent with subsection (d)(2), all 

12 known material conflicts of interest, and 

13 corresponding mitigation plans; and 

14 (v) an accounting structure that en15 ables the Secretary to ensure that the con16 sortium has complied with the require17 ments of this section; and 

18 (C) operate as a nonprofit organization. 

19 (2) APPLICATION.—A consortium seeking to es20 tablish and operate a Center under this section, act21 ing through a prime applicant, shall transmit to the 

22 Secretary an application at such time, in such form, 

23 and accompanied by such information as the Sec24 retary shall require, including a detailed description 

25 of the elements of the consortium agreement reVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:27 May 24, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2034.IH H2034

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1 quired under paragraph (1)(B). If the consortium 

2 members will not be located at one centralized loca3 tion, such application shall include a communica4 tions plan that ensures close coordination and inte5 gration of the Center’s activities. 

6 (c) SELECTION AND SCHEDULE.— 

7 (1) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall select 

8 consortia for grants for the establishment and oper9 ation of Centers through competitive selection proc10 esses. In selecting consortia, the Secretary shall con11 sider— 

12 (A) the information a consortium must dis13 close according to subsection (b); 

14 (B) any existing facilities a consortium will 

15 provide for Center activities; 

16 (C) experience in design, prototyping, and 

17 testing advanced composites; 

18 (D) existing ISO 17025 certification; 

19 (E) experience and achievements working 

20 with the private sector and commercializing 

21 composite materials technologies; and 

22 (F) opportunities to leverage previous sup23 port that a member of the consortium has re24 ceived from the Department or Departments 

25 awarding the grant, the National Institute of 


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1 Standards and Technology, or the National 

2 Science Foundation to research, develop, dem3 onstrate, or commercialize an advanced com4 posite. 

5 (2) SCHEDULE.—Grants made for the estab6 lishment and operation of a Center shall be for a pe7 riod not to exceed 5 years, after which the grant 

8 may be renewed, subject to a competitive selection 

9 process. 

10 (d) CENTER OPERATIONS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Centers shall conduct or 

12 provide for multidisciplinary, collaborative research, 

13 development, demonstration, and commercial appli14 cation of advanced composites technologies within 

15 the technology development focus area or areas des16 ignated for the Center by the Secretary under sub17 section (a)(2). Each Center shall— 

18 (A) encourage collaboration and commu19 nication among the member qualifying entities 

20 of the consortium and awardees by conducting 

21 activities whenever practicable at one central22 ized location; 

23 (B) develop and publish on the website of 

24 the Department or Departments of the desig25 nating Secretary proposed plans and programs; 


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1 (C) submit an annual report to the Sec2 retary summarizing the Center’s activities, in3 cluding detailing organizational expenditures 

4 and describing each project undertaken by the 

5 Center; and 

6 (D) monitor project implementation and 

7 coordination. 

8 (2) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.— 

9 (A) PROCEDURES.—Centers shall establish 

10 conflict of interest procedures, consistent with 

11 those of the Department or Departments of the 

12 designating Secretary, to ensure that employees 

13 and consortia designees for Center activities 

14 who are in decisionmaking capacities disclose all 

15 material conflicts of interest, including finan16 cial, organizational, and personal conflicts of in17 terest. 

18 (B) DISQUALIFICATION AND REVOCA19 TION.—The Secretary may disqualify an appli20 cation or revoke funds distributed to a Center 

21 if the Secretary discovers a failure to comply 

22 with conflict of interest procedures established 

23 under subparagraph (A). 

24 (e) OVERSIGHT BOARD.—Each Secretary described 

25 in subsection (a)(1) shall establish and maintain within 


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1 its Department an Oversight Board to oversee the 

2 progress of Centers. 

3 (f) PRIORITY CONSIDERATION.—The Secretary shall 

4 give priority consideration to applications in which 1 or 

5 more of the institutions comprising the applicant consor6 tium are 1890 Land Grant Institutions (as defined in sec7 tion 2 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Edu8 cation Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7061)), Predomi9 nantly Black Institutions (as defined in section 318 of the 

10 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059e)), Tribal 

11 Colleges or Universities (as defined in section 316(b) of 

12 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)), 

13 or Hispanic Serving Institutions (as defined in section 318 

14 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059e)). 

15 (g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

16 (1) ADVANCED COMPOSITES.—The term ‘‘ad17 vanced composites’’ means polymer matrix composite 

18 materials, including synthetic and natural fibers, as 

19 well as synthetic and bio-based resins, used in struc20 tural, load-bearing applications. These materials 

21 may be enhanced with nano-additives, and may be 

22 used in combination with traditional and other ad23 vanced materials. 


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1 (2) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ means an 

2 Advanced Composites Development Center estab3 lished in accordance with this section. 

4 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

5 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

6 meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the 

7 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

8 (4) PRIME APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘prime ap9 plicant’’ means an institution of higher education 

10 serving as the lead entity applying for a grant under 

11 this section. 

12 (5) QUALIFYING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘quali13 fying entity’’ includes— 

14 (A) an appropriate State or Federal entity; 

15 (B) a nonprofit nongovernmental organiza16 tion with expertise in advanced composites tech17 nology research, development, demonstration, or 

18 commercial application; 

19 (C) any other relevant entity the Secretary 

20 considers appropriate; or 

21 (D) a United States private company with 

22 expertise in advanced composites technology re23 search, development, demonstration, or com24 mercial application. 


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1 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary or Secretaries designating a Center 

3 under subsection (a)(2). 

4 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—From 

5 the funds appropriated to research budgets of their respec6 tive departments, each Secretary described in subsection 

7 (a)(1) is authorized to expend the following amounts to 

8 carry out this section: 

9 (1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2014. 

10 (2) $16,000,000 for fiscal year 2015. 

11 (3) $17,500,000 for fiscal year 2016. 

12 (4) $19,000,000 for fiscal year 2017. 

13 (5) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2018. 

Æ 


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