IIA

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3322

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 3, 1996

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

and Transportation

AN ACT

To authorize appropriations for fiscal year 1997 for civilian

science activities of the Federal Government, and for

other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

3 ‘‘Omnibus Civilian Science Authorization Act of 1996’’.

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

TITLE I—NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

Sec. 101. Short title.

Sec. 102. Definitions.

Subtitle A—National Science Foundation Authorization

Sec. 111. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 112. Proportional reduction of research and related activities amounts.

Sec. 113. Consultation and representation expenses.

Sec. 114. Reprogramming.

Subtitle B—General Provisions

Sec. 121. Annual report.

Sec. 122. National research facilities.

Sec. 123. Eligibility for research facility awards.

Sec. 124. Administrative amendments.

Sec. 125. Indirect costs.

Sec. 126. Financial disclosure.

Sec. 127. Educational leave of absence for active duty.

Sec. 128. Science Studies Institute.

Sec. 129. Educational impact.

Sec. 130. Divisions of the Foundation.

TITLE II—NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Subtitle A—General Provisions

Sec. 201. Short title.

Sec. 202. Findings.

Sec. 203. Definitions.

Subtitle B—Authorization of Appropriations

CHAPTER 1—AUTHORIZATIONS

Sec. 211. Human space flight.

Sec. 212. Science, aeronautics, and technology.

Sec. 213. Mission support.

Sec. 214. Inspector General.

Sec. 215. Total authorization.

Sec. 216. Office of Commercial Space Transportation Authorization.

Sec. 217. Office of Space Commerce.

CHAPTER 2—RESTRUCTURING THE NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE

ADMINISTRATION
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Sec. 221. Findings.

Sec. 222. Restructuring reports.

CHAPTER 3—LIMITATIONS AND SPECIAL AUTHORITY

Sec. 231. Use of funds for construction.

Sec. 232. Availability of appropriated amounts.

Sec. 233. Reprogramming for construction of facilities.

Sec. 234. Consideration by committees.

Sec. 235. Limitation on obligation of unauthorized appropriations.

Sec. 236. Use of funds for scientific consultations or extraordinary expenses.

Subtitle C—International Space Station

Sec. 241. Findings.

Sec. 242. Commercialization of Space Station.

Sec. 243. Sense of Congress.

Sec. 244. Space Station accounting report.

Subtitle D—Miscellaneous Provisions

Sec. 251. Commercial space launch amendments.

Sec. 252. Requirement for independent cost analysis.

Sec. 253. Office of Space Commerce.

Sec. 254. National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 amendments.

Sec. 255. Procurement.

Sec. 256. Additional National Aeronautics and Space Administration facilities.

Sec. 257. Purchase of space science data.

Sec. 258. Plan for Mission to Planet Earth.

Sec. 259. Acquisition of earth remote sensing data.

Sec. 260. Shuttle privatization.

Sec. 261. Launch voucher demonstration program amendments.

Sec. 262. Privatization of microgravity parabolic flight operations.

Sec. 263. Unitary Wind Tunnel Plan Act of 1949 amendments.

Sec. 264. Use of abandoned and underutilized buildings, grounds, and facilities.

Sec. 265. Cost effectiveness calculations.

Sec. 266. Procurement ombudsman.

Sec. 267. Authority to reduce or suspend contract payments based on substantial evidence of fraud.

TITLE III—UNITED STATES FIRE ADMINISTRATION

Sec. 301. Short title.

Sec. 302. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 303. Fire safety systems in Army housing.

Sec. 304. Successor fire safety standards.

Sec. 305. Termination or privatization of functions.

Sec. 306. Report on budgetary reduction.

TITLE IV—NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC

ADMINISTRATION

Sec. 401. Short title.

Sec. 402. Definitions.

Subtitle A—Atmospheric, Weather, and Satellite Programs

Sec. 411. National Weather Service.
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Sec. 412. Atmospheric research.

Sec. 413. National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service.

Subtitle B—Program Support

Sec. 431. Program support.

Subtitle C—Streamlining of Operations

Sec. 441. Programs.

Sec. 442. Reduction in travel budget.

Subtitle D—Miscellaneous

Sec. 451. Weather data buoys.

Sec. 452. Duties of the National Weather Service.

TITLE V—ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Sec. 501. Short title.

Sec. 502. Definitions.

Sec. 503. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 504. Scientific research review.

Sec. 505. Graduate student fellowships.

Sec. 506. Science Advisory Board.

Sec. 507. Endocrine disrupter research planning.

TITLE VI—NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND

TECHNOLOGY

Sec. 601. Authorization of appropriations.

TITLE VII—FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION RESEARCH,

ENGINEERING, AND DEVELOPMENT

Sec. 701. Short title.

Sec. 702. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 703. Research priorities.

Sec. 704. Research Advisory Committee.

Sec. 705. National aviation research plan.

TITLE VIII—NATIONAL EARTHQUAKE HAZARDS REDUCTION

PROGRAM

Sec. 801. Authorization of appropriations.

TITLE IX—MISCELLANEOUS

Sec. 901. Prohibition of lobbying activities.

Sec. 902. Limitation on appropriations.

Sec. 903. Eligibility for awards.

Sec. 904. Buy American.

Sec. 905. ROTC access to campuses.

Sec. 906. Recruiting on campus.

TITLE X—FURTHER AUTHORIZATIONS

Sec. 1001. Further authorizations.
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1 TITLE I—NATIONAL SCIENCE

2 FOUNDATION

3 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

4 This title may be cited as the ‘‘National Science

5 Foundation Authorization Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.

7 For purposes of this title—

8 (1) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of

9 the Foundation;

10 (2) the term ‘‘Foundation’’ means the National

11 Science Foundation;

12 (3) the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’

13 has the meaning given such term in section 1201(a)

14 of the Higher Education Act of 1965;

15 (4) the term ‘‘national research facility’’ means

16 a research facility funded by the Foundation which

17 is available, subject to appropriate policies allocating

18 access, for use by all scientists and engineers affili19 ated with research institutions located in the United

20 States; and

21 (5) the term ‘‘United States’’ means the several

22 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth

23 of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American

24 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
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1 Islands, and any other territory or possession of the

2 United States.

3 Subtitle A—National Science

4 Foundation Authorization

5 SEC. 111. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

6 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

7 (1) the programs of the Foundation are impor8 tant for the Nation to strengthen basic research and

9 develop human resources in science and engineering,

10 and that those programs should be funded at an

11 adequate level;

12 (2) the primary mission of the Foundation con13 tinues to be the support of basic scientific research

14 and science education and the support of research

15 fundamental to the engineering process and engi16 neering education; and

17 (3) the Foundation’s efforts to contribute to the

18 economic competitiveness of the United States

19 should be in accord with that primary mission.

20 (b) FISCAL YEAR 1997.—There are authorized to be

21 appropriated to the Foundation $3,291,700,000 for fiscal

22 year 1997, which shall be available for the following cat23 egories:

24 (1) Research and Related Activities,

25 $2,381,500,000.
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1 (2) Education and Human Resources Activities,

2 $600,000,000.

3 (3) Major Research Equipment, $80,000,000.

4 (4) Academic Research Facilities Moderniza5 tion, $100,000,000.

6 (5) Salaries and Expenses, $120,000,000.

7 (6) Office of Inspector General, $5,000,000.

8 (7) Headquarters Relocation, $5,200,000.

9 (c) LIMITATION.—Consistent with the amendment

10 made by section 130(a) of this Act, funds appropriated

11 under subsection (b) of this section shall be available to

12 not more than 6 directorates. No funds appropriated

13 under subsection (b) may be obligated or expended by, for,

14 or through a directorate if funds appropriated under sub15 section (b) have been obligated or expended for 6 other

16 directorates.

17 SEC. 112. PROPORTIONAL REDUCTION OF RESEARCH AND

18 RELATED ACTIVITIES AMOUNTS.

19 If the amount appropriated pursuant to section

20 111(b)(1) is less than the amount authorized under that

21 paragraph, the amount available for each scientific direc22 torate under that paragraph shall be reduced by the same

23 proportion.
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1 SEC. 113. CONSULTATION AND REPRESENTATION EX2 PENSES.

3 From appropriations made under authorizations pro4 vided in this title, not more than $10,000 may be used

5 in each fiscal year for official consultation, representation,

6 or other extraordinary expenses at the discretion of the

7 Director. The determination of the Director shall be final

8 and conclusive upon the accounting officers of the Govern9 ment.

10 SEC. 114. REPROGRAMMING.

11 (a) $500,000 OR LESS.—In any given fiscal year, the

12 Director may transfer appropriated funds among the sub13 categories of Research and Related Activities, so long as

14 the net funds transferred to or from any subcategory do

15 not exceed $500,000.

16 (b) GREATER THAN $500,000.—In addition, the Di17 rector may propose transfers to or from any subcategory

18 exceeding $500,000. An explanation of any proposed

19 transfer under this subsection must be transmitted in

20 writing to the Committee on Science of the House of Rep21 resentatives, and the Committees on Labor and Human

22 Resources and Commerce, Science, and Transportation of

23 the Senate. The proposed transfer may be made only when

24 30 calendar days have passed after transmission of such

25 written explanation.
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1 Subtitle B—General Provisions

2 SEC. 121. ANNUAL REPORT.

3 Section 3(f) of the National Science Foundation Act

4 of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1862(f)) is amended to read as fol5 lows:

6 ‘‘(f) The Foundation shall provide an annual report

7 to the President which shall be submitted by the Director

8 to the Congress at the time of the President’s annual

9 budget submission. The report shall—

10 ‘‘(1) contain a strategic plan, or an update to

11 a previous strategic plan, which—

12 ‘‘(A) defines for a three-year period the

13 overall goals for the Foundation and specific

14 goals for each major activity of the Foundation,

15 including each scientific directorate, the edu16 cation directorate, and the polar programs of17 fice; and

18 ‘‘(B) describe how the identified goals re19 late to national needs and will exploit new op20 portunities in science and technology;

21 ‘‘(2) identify the criteria and describe the proce22 dures which the Foundation will use to assess

23 progress toward achieving the goals identified in ac24 cordance with paragraph (1);
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1 ‘‘(3) review the activities of the Foundation

2 during the preceding year which have contributed to3 ward achievement of goals identified in accordance

4 with paragraph (1) and summarize planned activities

5 for the coming three years in the context of the

6 identified goals, with particular emphasis on the

7 Foundation’s planned contributions to major multi8 agency research and education initiatives;

9 ‘‘(4) contain such recommendations as the

10 Foundation considers appropriate; and

11 ‘‘(5) include information on the acquisition and

12 disposition by the Foundation of any patents and

13 patent rights.’’.

14 SEC. 122. NATIONAL RESEARCH FACILITIES.

15 (a) FACILITIES PLAN.—The Director shall provide to

16 Congress annually, as a part of the report required under

17 section 3(f) of the National Science Foundation Act of

18 1950, a plan for the proposed construction of, and repair

19 and upgrades to, national research facilities. The plan

20 shall include estimates of the cost for such construction,

21 repairs, and upgrades, and estimates of the cost for the

22 operation and maintenance of existing and proposed new

23 facilities. For proposed new construction and for major

24 upgrades to existing facilities, the plan shall include fund25 ing profiles by fiscal year and milestones for major phases
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1 of the construction. The plan shall include cost estimates

2 in the categories of construction, repair, and upgrades for

3 the year in which the plan is submitted to Congress and

4 for not fewer than the succeeding 4 years.

5 (b) LIMITATION ON OBLIGATION OF UNAUTHORIZED

6 APPROPRIATIONS.—No funds appropriated for any project

7 which involves construction of new national research facili8 ties or construction necessary for upgrading the capabili9 ties of existing national research facilities shall be obli10 gated unless the funds are specifically authorized for such

11 purpose by this title or any other Act which is not an ap12 propriations Act, or unless the total estimated cost to the

13 Foundation of the construction project is less than

14 $50,000,000. This subsection shall not apply to construc15 tion projects approved by the National Science Board

16 prior to June 30, 1995.

17 SEC. 123. ELIGIBILITY FOR RESEARCH FACILITY AWARDS.

18 Section 203(b) of the Academic Research Facilities

19 Modernization Act of 1988 is amended by striking the

20 final sentence of paragraph (3) and inserting in lieu there21 of the following: ‘‘The Director shall give priority to insti22 tutions or consortia that have not received such funds in

23 the preceding 5 years, except that this sentence shall not

24 apply to previous funding received for the same multiyear

25 project.’’.
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1 SEC. 124. ADMINISTRATIVE AMENDMENTS.

2 (a) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION ACT OF 1950

3 AMENDMENTS.—The National Science Foundation Act of

4 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1861 et seq.) is amended—

5 (1) in section 4(g) (42 U.S.C. 1863(g)), by

6 striking ‘‘the appropriate rate provided for individ7 uals in grade GS–18 of the General Schedule under

8 section 5332’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘the

9 maximum rate payable under section 5376’’;

10 (2) by redesignating the subsection (k) of sec11 tion 4 (42 U.S.C. 1863(k)) that was added by sec12 tion 108 of the National Science Foundation Au13 thorization Act of 1988 as subsection (l);

14 (3) in section 5(e) (42 U.S.C. 1864(e)) by

15 amending paragraph (2) to read as follows:

16 ‘‘(2) Any delegation of authority or imposition of con17 ditions under paragraph (1) shall be promptly published

18 in the Federal Register and reported to the Committees

19 on Labor and Human Resources and Commerce, Science,

20 and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on

21 Science of the House of Representatives.’’;

22 (4) in section 14(c) (42 U.S.C. 1873(c))—

23 (A) by striking ‘‘shall receive’’ and insert24 ing in lieu thereof ‘‘shall be entitled to receive’’;

25 (B) by inserting ‘‘, including traveltime,’’

26 after ‘‘business of the Foundation’’; and
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1 (C) by striking ‘‘the rate specified for the

2 daily rate for grade GS–18 of the General

3 Schedule under section 5332’’ and inserting in

4 lieu thereof ‘‘the maximum rate payable under

5 section 5376’’; and

6 (5) by striking ‘‘Atomic Energy Commission’’ in

7 section 15(a) (42 U.S.C. 1874(a)) and inserting in

8 lieu thereof ‘‘Secretary of Energy’’.

9 (b) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION AUTHORIZA10 TION ACT, 1976 AMENDMENTS.—Section 6(a) of the Na11 tional Science Foundation Authorization Act, 1976 (42

12 U.S.C. 1881a(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘social,’’ the

13 first place it appears.

14 (c) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION AUTHORIZA15 TION ACT OF 1988 AMENDMENTS.—(1) Section

16 117(a)(1)(B)(v) of the National Science Foundation Au17 thorization Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C. 1881b(1)(B)(v)) is

18 amended to read as follows:

19 ‘‘(v) from schools established outside the several

20 States and the District of Columbia by any agency

21 of the Federal Government for dependents of its em22 ployees.’’.

23 (2) Section 117(a)(3)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C.

24 1881b(3)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘Science and Engi-
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1 neering Education’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘Edu2 cation and Human Resources’’.

3 (d) SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING EQUAL OPPORTUNI4 TIES ACT AMENDMENTS.—(1) Section 34 of the Science

5 and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C.

6 1885b) is amended—

7 (A) by inserting ‘‘AND PERSONS WITH DISABIL8 ITIES’’ after ‘‘MINORITIES IN SCIENCE’’ in the sec9 tion heading; and

10 (B) by adding at the end the following new sub11 section:

12 ‘‘(c) The Foundation is authorized to undertake and

13 support programs and activities to encourage the partici14 pation of persons with disabilities in the science and engi15 neering professions.’’.

16 (2) Section 36 of the Science and Engineering Equal

17 Opportunities Act (42 U.S.C. 1885c) is amended—

18 (A) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘persons

19 with disabilities,’’ after ‘‘minorities,’’;

20 (B) in subsection (b), by amending the second

21 sentence to read as follows: ‘‘In addition, the Chair22 man of the National Science Board may designate

23 members of the Board as ex officio members of the

24 Committee.’’;

25 (C) by striking subsections (c) and (d);
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1 (D) by inserting after subsection (b) the follow2 ing new subsection:

3 ‘‘(c) The Committee shall be responsible for reviewing

4 and evaluating all Foundation matters relating to partici5 pation in, opportunities for, and advancement in edu6 cation, training, and research in science and engineering

7 of women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and other

8 groups currently underrepresented in scientific, engineer9 ing, and professional fields.’’;

10 (E) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as

11 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and

12 (F) in subsection (d), as so redesignated by

13 subparagraph (E) of this paragraph, by striking

14 ‘‘additional’’.

15 (e) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The second sub16 section (g) of section 3 of the National Science Foundation

17 Act of 1950 is repealed.

18 SEC. 125. INDIRECT COSTS.

19 (a) MATCHING FUNDS.—Matching funds required

20 pursuant to section 204(a)(2)(C) of the Academic Re21 search Facilities Modernization Act of 1988 (42 U.S.C.

22 1862c(a)(2)(C)) shall not be considered facilities costs for

23 purposes of determining indirect cost rates.

24 (b) REPORT.—The Director of the Office of Science

25 and Technology Policy, in consultation with other relevant
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1 agencies, shall prepare a report analyzing what steps

2 would be needed to—

3 (1) reduce by 10 percent the proportion of Fed4 eral assistance to institutions of higher education

5 that are allocated for indirect costs; and

6 (2) reduce the variance among indirect cost

7 rates of different institutions of higher education, in8 cluding an evaluation of the relative benefits and

9 burdens of each option on institutions of higher edu10 cation. Such report shall be transmitted to the Con11 gress no later than December 31, 1996.

12 SEC. 126. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.

13 Persons temporarily employed by or at the Founda14 tion shall be subject to the same financial disclosure re15 quirements and related sanctions under the Ethics in Gov16 ernment Act of 1978 as are permanent employees of the

17 Foundation in equivalent positions.

18 SEC. 127. EDUCATIONAL LEAVE OF ABSENCE FOR ACTIVE

19 DUTY.

20 In order to be eligible to receive funds from the Foun21 dation after September 30, 1996, an institution of higher

22 education must provide that whenever any student of the

23 institution who is a member of the National Guard, or

24 other reserve component of the Armed Forces of the Unit25 ed States, is called or ordered to active duty, other than
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1 active duty for training, the institution shall grant the

2 member a military leave of absence from their education.

3 Persons on military leave of absence from their institution

4 shall be entitled, upon release from military duty, to be

5 restored to the educational status they had attained prior

6 to their being ordered to military duty without loss of aca7 demic credits earned, scholarships or grants awarded, or

8 tuition and other fees paid prior to the commencement of

9 the military duty. It shall be the duty of the institution

10 to refund tuition or fees paid or to credit the tuition and

11 fees to the next semester or term after the termination

12 of the educational military leave of absence at the option

13 of the student.

14 SEC. 128. SCIENCE STUDIES INSTITUTE.

15 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 822 of the National De16 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal 1991 (42 U.S.C. 6686)

17 is amended—

18 (1) by striking ‘‘Critical Technologies Institute’’

19 in the section heading and in subsection (a), and in20 serting in lieu thereof ‘‘Science Studies Institute’’;

21 (2) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘As deter22 mined by the chairman of the committee referred to

23 in subsection (c), the’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

24 ‘‘The’’;
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1 (3) by striking subsection (c), and redesignating

2 subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g) as subsections (c),

3 (d), (e), and (f), respectively;

4 (4) in subsection (c), as so redesignated by

5 paragraph (3) of this subsection—

6 (A) by inserting ‘‘science and’’ after ‘‘de7 velopments and trends in’’ in paragraph (1);

8 (B) by striking ‘‘with particular emphasis’’

9 in paragraph (1) and all that follows through

10 the end of such paragraph and inserting in lieu

11 thereof ‘‘and developing and maintaining rel12 evant informational and analytical tools.’’;

13 (C) by striking ‘‘to determine’’ and all that

14 follows through ‘‘technology policies’’ in para15 graph (2) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘with

16 particular attention to the scope and content of

17 the Federal science and technology research

18 and development portfolio as it affects inter19 agency and national issues’’;

20 (D) by amending paragraph (3) to read as

21 follows:

22 ‘‘(3) Initiation of studies and analysis of alter23 natives available for ensuring the long-term strength

24 of the United States in the development and applica25 tion of science and technology, including appropriate
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1 roles for the Federal Government, State govern2 ments, private industry, and institutions of higher

3 education in the development and application of

4 science and technology.’’;

5 (E) by inserting ‘‘science and’’ after ‘‘Ex6 ecutive branch on’’ in paragraph (4)(A); and

7 (F) by amending paragraph (4)(B) to read

8 as follows:

9 ‘‘(B) to the interagency committees and

10 panels of the Federal Government concerned

11 with science and technology.’’;

12 (5) in subsection (d), as so redesignated by

13 paragraph (3) of this subsection, by striking ‘‘sub14 section (d)’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘subsection

15 (c)’’; and

16 (6) by amending subsection (f), as so redesig17 nated by paragraph (3) of this subsection, to read

18 as follows:

19 ‘‘(f) SPONSORSHIP.—The Director of the Office of

20 Science and Technology Policy shall be the sponsor of the

21 Institute.’’.

22 (b) CONFORMING USAGE.—All references in Federal

23 law or regulations to the Critical Technologies Institute

24 shall be considered to be references to the Science Studies

25 Institute.
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1 SEC. 129. EDUCATIONAL IMPACT.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

3 (1) Federal research funds made available to

4 institutions of higher education often create incen5 tives for such institutions to emphasize research over

6 undergraduate teaching and to narrow the focus of

7 their graduate programs; and

8 (2) National Science Foundation funds for Re9 search and Related Activities should be spent in the

10 manner most likely to improve the quality of under11 graduate and graduate education in institutions of

12 higher education.

13 (b) EDUCATIONAL IMPACT.—(1) The impact that a

14 grant or cooperative agreement by the National Science

15 Foundation would have on undergraduate and graduate

16 education at an institution of higher education shall be

17 a factor in any decision whether to award such grant or

18 agreement to that institution.

19 (2) Paragraph (1) shall be effective with respect to

20 any grant or cooperative agreement awarded after Sep21 tember 30, 1997.

22 (c) REPORT.—The Director shall provide a plan for

23 the implementation of subsection (b) of this section, no

24 later than December 31, 1996, to the Committee on

25 Science of the House of Representatives and the Commit-
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1 tee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the

2 Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate.

3 SEC. 130. DIVISIONS OF THE FOUNDATION.

4 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 8 of the National Science

5 Foundation Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1866) is amended by

6 inserting ‘‘The Director may appoint, in consultation with

7 the Board, not more than 6 Assistant Directors to assist

8 in managing the Divisions.’’ after ‘‘time to time deter9 mine.’’.

10 (b) REPORT.—By November 15, 1996, the Director

11 shall transmit to the Congress a report on the reorganiza12 tion of the National Science Foundation required as a re13 sult of the amendment made by subsection (a).

14 TITLE II—NATIONAL AERO15 NAUTICS AND SPACE ADMIN16 ISTRATION

17 Subtitle A—General Provisions

18 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

19 This title may be cited as the ‘‘National Aeronautics

20 and Space Administration Authorization Act, Fiscal Year

21 1997’’.

22 SEC. 202. FINDINGS.

23 The Congress makes the following findings:

24 (1) The National Aeronautics and Space Ad25 ministration should aggressively pursue actions and
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1 reforms directed at reducing institutional costs, in2 cluding management restructuring, facility consoli3 dation, procurement reform, personnel base

4 downsizing, and convergence with other defense and

5 commercial sector systems.

6 (2) While institutional reforms, restructurings,

7 and downsizing hold the slim promise of reconciling

8 the disparity between projected needs of the Na9 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration with

10 funding levels requested by the Administration over

11 the next 4 years, such reforms provide no guarantee

12 against cancellation of missions or elimination of

13 centers in the event reform efforts fail to achieve

14 cost reduction targets.

15 (3) The National Aeronautics and Space Ad16 ministration must reverse its current trend toward

17 becoming an operational agency, and return to its

18 proud history as the Nation’s leader in basic sci19 entific air and space research.

20 (4) Commercial space activity is in a delicate

21 state of growth. It has the potential to eclipse Fed22 eral space activity in its economic return to the Na23 tion, if it is not stifled.

24 (5) The United States is on the verge of creat25 ing and using new technologies in microsatellites, in-
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1 formation processing, and space launches that could

2 radically alter the manner in which the Government

3 approaches its space mission.

4 (6) The overwhelming preponderance of the

5 Federal Government’s requirements for routine, non6 emergency manned and unmanned space transpor7 tation can be met most effectively, efficiently, and

8 economically by a free and competitive market in

9 privately developed and operated launch services.

10 (7) In formulating a national space transpor11 tation service policy, the National Aeronautics and

12 Space Administration should aggressively promote

13 the pursuit by the commercial sector of development

14 of advanced space transportation technologies in15 cluding reusable space vehicles, single-stage-to-orbit

16 vehicles, and human space systems.

17 (8) The Federal Government should invest in

18 the types of research and innovative technology in

19 which the United States private sector does not in20 vest, while avoiding competition with the activities in

21 which the United States private sector does invest.

22 (9) International cooperation in space explo23 ration and science activities serves the United States

24 national interest—

25 (A) when it—
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1 (i) reduces the cost of undertaking

2 missions the United States Government

3 would pursue unilaterally;

4 (ii) enables the United States to pur5 sue missions that it could not otherwise af6 ford to pursue unilaterally; or

7 (iii) enhances United States capabili8 ties to use and develop space for the bene9 fit of United States citizens; and

10 (B) when it does not—

11 (i) otherwise harm or interfere with

12 the ability of United States private sector

13 firms to develop or explore space commer14 cially;

15 (ii) interfere with the ability of Fed16 eral agencies to use space to complete their

17 missions;

18 (iii) undermine the ability of United

19 States private enterprise to compete favor20 ably with foreign entities in the commercial

21 space arena; or

22 (iv) transfer sensitive or commercially

23 advantageous technologies or knowledge

24 from the United States to other countries

25 or foreign entities except as required by
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1 those countries or entities to make their

2 contribution to a multilateral space project

3 in partnership with the United States, or

4 on a quid pro quo basis.

5 (10) The National Aeronautics and Space Ad6 ministration and the Department of Defense can co7 operate more effectively in leveraging their mutual

8 capabilities to conduct joint space missions that im9 prove United States space capabilities and reduce

10 the cost of conducting space missions.

11 (11) The Reusable Launch Vehicle program,

12 and the acquisition by the Federal Government of

13 the vehicle resulting from that program, are nec14 essary for the protection of essential security inter15 ests for purposes of interpreting the obligations of

16 the United States under the General Agreement on

17 Tariffs and Trade.

18 SEC. 203. DEFINITIONS.

19 For purposes of this title—

20 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad21 ministrator of the National Aeronautics and Space

22 Administration;

23 (2) the term ‘‘cost threat’’ means a potential

24 change to the program baseline documented as a po-
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1 tential cost by the Space Station Program Office;

2 and

3 (3) the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’

4 has the meaning given such term in section 1201(a)

5 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.

6 1141(a)).

7 Subtitle B—Authorization of

8 Appropriations

9 CHAPTER 1—AUTHORIZATIONS

10 SEC. 211. HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT.

11 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na12 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration for fiscal

13 year 1997 for Human Space Flight the following amounts:

14 (1) For the Space Station, $1,840,200,000.

15 (2) For Space Shuttle Operations,

16 $2,514,900,000.

17 (3) For Space Shuttle Safety and Performance

18 Upgrades, $636,000,000, including for Construction

19 of Facilities relating to such programs—

20 (A) replacement of LC–39 Pad B Chillers

21 (KSC), $1,800,000;

22 (B) restoration of Pad B Fixed Support

23 Structure Elevator System (KSC), $1,500,000;

24 (C) rehabilitation of 480V Electrical Dis25 tribution System, Kennedy Space Center, Ex-
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1 ternal Tank Manufacturing Building (MAF),

2 $2,500,000; and

3 (D) restoration of High Pressure Indus4 trial Water Plant, Stennis Space Center,

5 $2,500,000.

6 (4) For Payload and Utilization Operations,

7 $271,800,000.

8 (5) For Russian Cooperation, $100,000,000.

9 SEC. 212. SCIENCE, AERONAUTICS, AND TECHNOLOGY.

10 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na11 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration for fiscal

12 year 1997 for Science, Aeronautics, and Technology the

13 following amounts:

14 (1) For Space Science, $2,107,400,000.

15 (2) For Life and Microgravity Sciences and Ap16 plications, $498,500,000, of which at least

17 $2,000,000 is reserved for research and early detec18 tion systems for breast and ovarian cancer and other

19 women’s health issues.

20 (3) For Mission to Planet Earth,

21 $1,028,400,000, of which $50,000,000 shall be for

22 commercial data purchases under section 259(a).

23 Funds authorized by this paragraph may not be ob24 ligated to duplicate private sector or other Federal

25 activities or to procure systems to provide data un-
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1 less the Administrator certifies to Congress that no

2 private sector entity, or Federal entity other than

3 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration,

4 can provide suitable data in a timely manner.

5 (4) For Space Access and Technology,

6 $711,000,000 of which—

7 (A) $324,700,000 are authorized for Ad8 vanced Space Transportation; and

9 (B) $10,000,000 shall be for continuing

10 the Launch Voucher Demonstration Program

11 authorized under section 504 of the National

12 Aeronautics and Space Administration Author13 ization Act, Fiscal Year 1993 (15 U.S.C.

14 5803).

15 (5) For Aeronautical Research and Technology,

16 $823,400,000, of which—

17 (A) $354,400,000 are authorized for Re18 search and Technology Base activities;

19 (B) $254,300,000 are authorized for High

20 Speed Research;

21 (C) $152,800,000 are authorized for Ad22 vanced Subsonic Technology;

23 (D) $23,300,000 are authorized for High24 Performance Computing and Communications;

25 and
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1 (E) $38,600,000 are authorized for Nu2 merical Aerodynamic Simulation.

3 (6) For Mission Communication Services,

4 $405,600,000.

5 (7) For Academic Programs, $92,500,000.

6 SEC. 213. MISSION SUPPORT.

7 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na8 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration for fiscal

9 year 1997 for Mission Support the following amounts:

10 (1) For Safety, Reliability, and Quality Assur11 ance, $36,700,000.

12 (2) For Space Communication Services,

13 $276,250,000.

14 (3) For Construction of Facilities, including

15 land acquisition, $105,000,000, including the follow16 ing:

17 (A) Modernization of Electrical Distribu18 tion System, Ames Research Center,

19 $2,400,000.

20 (B) Modification of Aircraft Ramp and

21 Tow Way, Dryden Flight Research Center,

22 $3,000,000.

23 (C) Restoration of Hangar Building 4801,

24 Dryden Flight Research Center, $4,500,000.
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1 (D) Modernization of Secondary Electrical

2 Systems, Goddard Space Flight Center,

3 $1,500,000.

4 (E) Restoration of Chilled Water Distribu5 tion System, Goddard Space Flight Center,

6 $4,000,000.

7 (F) Modification of Refrigeration Systems,

8 Various Buildings, Jet Propulsion Laboratory,

9 $2,800,000.

10 (G) Rehabilitation of Utility Tunnel Struc11 ture and Systems, Johnson Space Center,

12 $4,400,000.

13 (H) Replacement of DX Units with

14 Central Chilled Water System, Logistics Facil15 ity, Kennedy Space Center, $1,800,000.

16 (I) Rehabilitation of Central Air Equip17 ment Building, Lewis Research Center,

18 $6,500,000.

19 (J) Modification of Chilled Water System,

20 Marshall Space Flight Center, $6,700,000.

21 (K) Rehabilitation of Condenser Water

22 System, 202/207 Complex (MAF), $2,100,000.

23 (L) Rehabilitation of Electrical Distribu24 tion System, White Sands Test Facility,

25 $2,600,000.
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1 (M) Minor Revitalization of Facilities at

2 Various Locations, not in excess of $1,500,000

3 per project, $19,600,000.

4 (N) Minor construction of new facilities

5 and additions to existing facilities at various lo6 cations, not in excess of $1,500,000 per project,

7 $3,400,000.

8 (O) Facility planning and design, not oth9 erwise provided for, $6,700,000.

10 (P) Environmental compliance and restora11 tion, $33,000,000.

12 (4) For Research and Program Management,

13 including personnel and related costs, travel, and re14 search operations support, $2,030,800,000, of which

15 $1,611,000,000 shall be for personnel and related

16 costs, $31,500,000 shall be for travel, and

17 $388,300,000 shall be for research operations sup18 port.

19 SEC. 214. INSPECTOR GENERAL.

20 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na21 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration for Inspector

22 General, $17,000,000 for fiscal year 1997.

23 SEC. 215. TOTAL AUTHORIZATION.

24 Notwithstanding any other provision of this subtitle,

25 the total amount authorized to be appropriated to the Na-
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1 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration under this

2 title shall not exceed $13,495,500,000 for fiscal year

3 1997.

4 SEC. 216. OFFICE OF COMMERCIAL SPACE TRANSPOR5 TATION AUTHORIZATION.

6 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec7 retary of Transportation for the activities of the Office

8 of Commercial Space Transportation, $5,770,000 for fis9 cal year 1997.

10 SEC. 217. OFFICE OF SPACE COMMERCE.

11 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec12 retary of Commerce for the activities of the Office of

13 Space Commerce established by section 253 of this Act,

14 $500,000 for fiscal year 1997.

15 CHAPTER 2—RESTRUCTURING THE NA16 TIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE AD17 MINISTRATION

18 SEC. 221. FINDINGS.

19 The Congress finds that—

20 (1) the restructuring of the National Aero21 nautics and Space Administration is essential to ac22 complishing the space missions of the United States

23 while simultaneously balancing the Federal budget;

24 (2) to restructure the National Aeronautics and

25 Space Administration rapidly without reducing mis-
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1 sion content and safety requires objective financial

2 judgment; and

3 (3) a formal economic review of its missions

4 and the Federal assets that support them is required

5 in order to plan and implement needed restructuring

6 of the National Aeronautics and Space Administra7 tion.

8 SEC. 222. RESTRUCTURING REPORTS.

9 (a) IMPLEMENTATION REPORT.—The Administrator

10 shall transmit to Congress, no later than July 31, 1996,

11 a report on its restructuring activities by fiscal year con12 taining, at a minimum, a description of all actions taken

13 or planned to be taken after July 31, 1995, and before

14 October 1, 2002, including contracts terminated or con15 solidated; reductions in force; relocations of personnel and

16 facilities; sales, closures, or mothballing of capital assets

17 or facilities; and net savings to be realized from such ac18 tions by fiscal year.

19 (b) PROPOSED LEGISLATION.—The President shall

20 propose to Congress, not later than September 30, 1996,

21 all enabling legislation required to carry out actions de22 scribed by the Administrator’s report under subsection

23 (a).
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1 CHAPTER 3—LIMITATIONS AND SPECIAL

2 AUTHORITY

3 SEC. 231. USE OF FUNDS FOR CONSTRUCTION.

4 (a) AUTHORIZED USES.—Funds appropriated under

5 sections 211(1) through (5), 212, and 213(1) and (2), and

6 funds appropriated for research operations support under

7 section 213(4), may be used for the construction of new

8 facilities and additions to, repair of, rehabilitation of, or

9 modification of existing facilities at any location in support

10 of the purposes for which such funds are authorized.

11 (b) LIMITATION.—None of the funds pursuant to

12 subsection (a) may be expended for a project, the esti13 mated cost of which to the National Aeronautics and

14 Space Administration, including collateral equipment, ex15 ceeds $500,000, until 30 days have passed after the Ad16 ministrator has notified the Committee on Science of the

17 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com18 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate of the

19 nature, location, and estimated cost to the National Aero20 nautics and Space Administration of such project.

21 (c) TITLE TO FACILITIES.—If funds are used pursu22 ant to subsection (a) for grants to institutions of higher

23 education, or to nonprofit organizations whose primary

24 purpose is the conduct of scientific research, for purchase

25 or construction of additional research facilities, title to
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1 such facilities shall be vested in the United States unless

2 the Administrator determines that the national program

3 of aeronautical and space activities will best be served by

4 vesting title in the grantee institution or organization.

5 Each such grant shall be made under such conditions as

6 the Administrator shall determine to be required to ensure

7 that the United States will receive therefrom benefits ade8 quate to justify the making of that grant.

9 SEC. 232. AVAILABILITY OF APPROPRIATED AMOUNTS.

10 To the extent provided in appropriations Acts, appro11 priations authorized under chapter 1 may remain available

12 without fiscal year limitation.

13 SEC. 233. REPROGRAMMING FOR CONSTRUCTION OF FA14 CILITIES.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Appropriations authorized under

16 any paragraph of section 211(6) or 213(3)—

17 (1) may be varied upward by 10 percent in the

18 discretion of the Administrator; or

19 (2) may be varied upward by 25 percent, to

20 meet unusual cost variations, after the expiration of

21 15 days following a report on the circumstances of

22 such action by the Administrator to the Committee

23 on Science of the House of Representatives and the

24 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor25 tation of the Senate.
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1 The aggregate amount authorized to be appropriated

2 under sections 211(6) and 213(3) shall not be increased

3 as a result of actions authorized under paragraphs (1) and

4 (2) of this subsection.

5 (b) SPECIAL RULE.—Where the Administrator deter6 mines that new developments in the national program of

7 aeronautical and space activities have occurred; and that

8 such developments require the use of additional funds for

9 the purposes of construction, expansion, or modification

10 of facilities at any location; and that deferral of such ac11 tion until the enactment of the next National Aeronautics

12 and Space Administration Authorization Act would be in13 consistent with the interest of the Nation in aeronautical

14 and space activities, the Administrator may use up to

15 $10,000,000 of the amounts authorized under section

16 211(6) or 213(3) for each fiscal year for such purposes.

17 No such funds may be obligated until a period of 30 days

18 has passed after the Administrator has transmitted to the

19 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of

20 the Senate and the Committee on Science of the House

21 of Representatives a written report describing the nature

22 of the construction, its costs, and the reasons therefor.

23 SEC. 234. CONSIDERATION BY COMMITTEES.

24 Notwithstanding any other provision of law—
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1 (1) no amount appropriated to the National

2 Aeronautics and Space Administration may be used

3 for any program for which the President’s annual

4 budget request included a request for funding, but

5 for which the Congress denied or did not provide

6 funding;

7 (2) no amount appropriated to the National

8 Aeronautics and Space Administration may be used

9 for any program in excess of the amount actually

10 authorized for the particular program under this

11 subtitle; and

12 (3) no amount appropriated to the National

13 Aeronautics and Space Administration may be used

14 for any program which has not been presented to

15 the Congress in the President’s annual budget re16 quest or the supporting and ancillary documents

17 thereto,

18 unless a period of 30 days has passed after the receipt

19 by the Committee on Science of the House of Representa20 tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

21 Transportation of the Senate of notice given by the Ad22 ministrator containing a full and complete statement of

23 the action proposed to be taken and the facts and cir24 cumstances relied upon in support of such proposed ac25 tion. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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1 shall keep the Committee on Science of the House of Rep2 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science,

3 and Transportation of the Senate fully and currently in4 formed with respect to all activities and responsibilities

5 within the jurisdiction of those committees. Except as oth6 erwise provided by law, any Federal department, agency,

7 or independent establishment shall furnish any informa8 tion requested by either committee relating to any such

9 activity or responsibility.

10 SEC. 235. LIMITATION ON OBLIGATION OF UNAUTHORIZED

11 APPROPRIATIONS.

12 (a) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 30 days

13 after the later of the date of enactment of an Act making

14 appropriations to the National Aeronautics and Space Ad15 ministration for fiscal year 1997 and the date of enact16 ment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit a report

17 to Congress and to the Comptroller General which speci18 fies—

19 (1) the portion of such appropriations which are

20 for programs, projects, or activities not authorized

21 under chapter 1 of this subtitle, or which are in ex22 cess of amounts authorized for the relevant program,

23 project, or activity under this title; and

24 (2) the portion of such appropriations which are

25 authorized under this title.
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1 (b) FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE.—The Adminis2 trator shall, coincident with the submission of the report

3 required by subsection (a), publish in the Federal Register

4 a notice of all programs, projects, or activities for which

5 funds are appropriated but which were not authorized

6 under this title, and solicit public comment thereon re7 garding the impact of such programs, projects, or activi8 ties on the conduct and effectiveness of the national aero9 nautics and space program.

10 (c) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding any other provi11 sion of law, no funds may be obligated for any programs,

12 projects, or activities of the National Aeronautics and

13 Space Administration for fiscal year 1997 not authorized

14 under this title until 30 days have passed after the close

15 of the public comment period contained in the notice re16 quired in subsection (b).

17 SEC. 236. USE OF FUNDS FOR SCIENTIFIC CONSULTATIONS

18 OR EXTRAORDINARY EXPENSES.

19 Not more than $30,000 of the funds appropriated

20 under section 212 may be used for scientific consultations

21 or extraordinary expenses, upon the authority of the Ad22 ministrator.
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1 Subtitle C—International Space

2 Station

3 SEC. 241. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds that—

5 (1) the development, assembly, and operation of

6 the International Space Station is in the national in7 terest of the United States;

8 (2) the National Aeronautics and Space Admin9 istration has restructured and redesigned the Inter10 national Space Station, consolidated contract re11 sponsibility, and achieved program management,

12 control, and stability;

13 (3) the significant involvement by private ven14 tures in marketing and using, competitively servic15 ing, and commercially augmenting the operational

16 capabilities of the International Space Station dur17 ing its assembly and operational phases will lower

18 costs and increase benefits to the international part19 ners;

20 (4) further rescoping or redesigns of the Inter21 national Space Station will lead to costly delays, in22 crease costs to its international partners, discourage

23 commercial involvement, and weaken the inter24 national space partnership necessary for future

25 space projects;
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1 (5) total program costs for development, assem2 bly, and initial operations have been identified and

3 capped to ensure financial discipline and maintain

4 program schedule milestones;

5 (6) in order to contain costs, mission planning

6 and engineering functions of the National Space

7 Transportation System (Space Shuttle) program

8 should be coordinated with the Space Station Pro9 gram Office;

10 (7) the International Space Station represents

11 an important component of an adequately funded

12 civil space program which balances human space

13 flight with science, aeronautics, and technology;

14 (8) the International Space Station should be

15 an inspiration to society, particularly our young peo16 ple, and should provide new and expanded opportu17 nities to meet important educational goals; and

18 (9) when completed, the International Space

19 Station will be the largest, most capable micro20 gravity research facility ever developed. It will pro21 vide a lasting framework for conducting large-scale

22 science programs with international partners and it

23 is the next step in the human exploration of space.

24 The United States should commit to completing this
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1 program, thereby reaping the benefits of scientific

2 research and international cooperation.

3 SEC. 242. COMMERCIALIZATION OF SPACE STATION.

4 (a) POLICY.—The Congress declares that a priority

5 goal of constructing the International Space Station is the

6 economic development of Earth orbital space. The Con7 gress further declares that the use of free market prin8 ciples in operating, allocating the use of, and adding capa9 bilities to the Space Station, and the resulting fullest pos10 sible engagement of commercial providers and participa11 tion of commercial users, will reduce Space Station oper12 ational costs for all partners and the Federal Govern13 ment’s share of the United States burden to fund oper14 ations.

15 (b) REPORT.—The Administrator shall deliver to the

16 Congress, within 60 days after the date of the enactment

17 of this Act, a market study that examines the role of com18 mercial ventures which could supply, use, service, or aug19 ment the International Space Station, the specific policies

20 and initiatives the Administrator is advancing to encour21 age these commercial opportunities, the cost savings to be

22 realized by the international partnership from applying

23 commercial approaches to cost-shared operations, and the

24 cost reimbursements to the United States Federal Govern25 ment from commercial users of the Space Station.
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1 SEC. 243. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

2 It is the sense of Congress that the ‘‘cost incentive

3 fee’’ single prime contract negotiated by the National Aer4 onautics and Space Administration for the International

5 Space Station, and the consolidation of programmatic and

6 financial accountability into a single Space Station Pro7 gram Office, are two examples of reforms for the reinven8 tion of all National Aeronautics and Space Administration

9 programs that should be applied as widely and as quickly

10 as possible throughout the Nation’s civil space program.

11 SEC. 244. SPACE STATION ACCOUNTING REPORT.

12 (a) ANNUAL REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—The Ad13 ministrator shall transmit a report to the Congress each

14 year containing a complete accounting of all costs of the

15 space station, including cash and other payments to Rus16 sia.

17 (b) QUARTERLY REPORTS FROM RUSSIA.—The Ad18 ministrator shall obtain quarterly reports from the Rus19 sian Space Agency during the term of the contract be20 tween the Russian Space Agency and the National Aero21 nautics and Space Administration which fully account for

22 the disposition of funds paid or transferred by the Na23 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration to Russia,

24 including—
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1 (1) the amount of funds received from the Na2 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration and

3 the date of their receipt;

4 (2) the amount of funds converted from United

5 States currency by the Russian Space Agency, the

6 currency into which the funds have been converted,

7 and the dates and exchange rates of each such con8 version;

9 (3) the amount of non-United States currency,

10 and of United States currency, disbursed by the

11 Russian Space Agency to any contractor or sub12 contractor, the identity of such contractor or sub13 contractor, and the date on which the funds were

14 disbursed; and

15 (4) the balance of the funds provided by the

16 National Aeronautics and Space Administration

17 which have not been disbursed by the Russian Space

18 Agency as of the date of the report.

19 Subtitle D—Miscellaneous

20 Provisions

21 SEC. 251. COMMERCIAL SPACE LAUNCH AMENDMENTS.

22 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Chapter 701 of title 49, United

23 States Code, is amended—

24 (1) in the table of sections—
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1 (A) by amending the item relating to sec2 tion 70104 to read as follows:

‘‘70104. Restrictions on launches, operations, and reentries.’’;

3 (B) by amending the item relating to sec4 tion 70108 to read as follows:

‘‘70108. Prohibition, suspension, and end of launches, operation of launch sites

and reentry sites, and reentries.’’;

5 and

6 (C) by amending the item relating to sec7 tion 70109 to read as follows:

‘‘70109. Preemption of scheduled launches or reentries.’’;

8 (2) in section 70101—

9 (A) by inserting ‘‘microgravity research,’’

10 after ‘‘information services,’’ in subsection

11 (a)(3);

12 (B) by inserting ‘‘, reentry,’’ after ‘‘launch13 ing’’ both places it appears in subsection (a)(4);

14 (C) by inserting ‘‘, reentry vehicles,’’ after

15 ‘‘launch vehicles’’ in subsection (a)(5);

16 (D) by inserting ‘‘and reentry services’’

17 after ‘‘launch services’’ in subsection (a)(6);

18 (E) by inserting ‘‘, reentries,’’ after

19 ‘‘launches’’ both places it appears in subsection

20 (a)(7);

21 (F) by inserting ‘‘, reentry sites,’’ after

22 ‘‘launch sites’’ in subsection (a)(8);
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1 (G) by inserting ‘‘and reentry services’’

2 after ‘‘launch services’’ in subsection (a)(8);

3 (H) by inserting ‘‘reentry sites,’’ after

4 ‘‘launch sites,’’ in subsection (a)(9);

5 (I) by inserting ‘‘and reentry site’’ after

6 ‘‘launch site’’ in subsection (a)(9);

7 (J) by inserting ‘‘reentry vehicles,’’ after

8 ‘‘launch vehicles’’ in subsection (b)(2);

9 (K) by striking ‘‘launch’’ in subsection

10 (b)(2)(A);

11 (L) by inserting ‘‘and reentry’’ after ‘‘com12 mercial launch’’ in subsection (b)(3);

13 (M) by striking ‘‘launch’’ after ‘‘and trans14 fer commercial’’ in subsection (b)(3); and

15 (N) by inserting ‘‘and development of re16 entry sites,’’ after ‘‘launch-site support facili17 ties,’’ in subsection (b)(4);

18 (3) in section 70102—

19 (A) by striking ‘‘and any payload’’ and in20 serting in lieu thereof ‘‘or reentry vehicle and

21 any payload from Earth’’ in paragraph (3);

22 (B) by inserting ‘‘or reentry vehicle’’ after

23 ‘‘means of a launch vehicle’’ in paragraph (8);
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1 (C) by redesignating paragraphs (10)

2 through (12) as paragraphs (14) through (16),

3 respectively;

4 (D) by inserting after paragraph (9) the

5 following new paragraphs:

6 ‘‘(10) ‘reenter’ and ‘reentry’ mean to return or

7 attempt to return, purposefully, a reentry vehicle

8 and its payload, if any, from Earth orbit or from

9 outer space to Earth.

10 ‘‘(11) ‘reentry services’ means—

11 ‘‘(A) activities involved in the preparation

12 of a reentry vehicle and its payload, if any, for

13 reentry; and

14 ‘‘(B) the conduct of a reentry.

15 ‘‘(12) ‘reentry site’ means the location on Earth

16 to which a reentry vehicle is intended to return (as

17 defined in a license the Secretary issues or transfers

18 under this chapter).

19 ‘‘(13) ‘reentry vehicle’ means a vehicle designed

20 to return from Earth orbit or outer space to Earth,

21 or a reusable launch vehicle designed to return from

22 outer space substantially intact.’’; and

23 (E) by inserting ‘‘or reentry services’’ after

24 ‘‘launch services’’ each place it appears in para-
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1 graph (15), as so redesignated by subparagraph

2 (C) of this paragraph;

3 (4) in section 70103(b)—

4 (A) by inserting ‘‘AND REENTRIES’’ after

5 ‘‘LAUNCHES’’ in the subsection heading;

6 (B) by inserting ‘‘and reentries’’ after

7 ‘‘space launches’’ in paragraph (1); and

8 (C) by inserting ‘‘and reentry’’ after

9 ‘‘space launch’’ in paragraph (2);

10 (5) in section 70104—

11 (A) by amending the section designation

12 and heading to read as follows:

13 ‘‘§ 70104. Restrictions on launches, operations, and

14 reentries’’;

15 (B) by inserting ‘‘or reentry site, or to re16 enter a reentry vehicle,’’ after ‘‘operate a

17 launch site’’ each place it appears in subsection

18 (a);

19 (C) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after ‘‘launch

20 or operation’’ in subsection (a) (3) and (4);

21 (D) in subsection (b)—

22 (i) by striking ‘‘launch license’’ and

23 inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘license’’;

24 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or reenter’’ after

25 ‘‘may launch’’; and
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1 (iii) by inserting ‘‘or reentering’’ after

2 ‘‘related to launching’’; and

3 (E) in subsection (c)—

4 (i) by amending the subsection head5 ing to read as follows: ‘‘PREVENTING

6 LAUNCHES AND REENTRIES.—’’;

7 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after

8 ‘‘prevent the launch’’; and

9 (iii) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after

10 ‘‘decides the launch’’;

11 (6) in section 70105—

12 (A) by inserting ‘‘or a reentry site, or the

13 reentry of a reentry vehicle,’’ after ‘‘operation

14 of a launch site’’ in subsection (b)(1); and

15 (B) by striking ‘‘or operation’’ and insert16 ing in lieu thereof ‘‘, operation, or reentry’’ in

17 subsection (b)(2)(A);

18 (7) in section 70106(a)—

19 (A) by inserting ‘‘or reentry site’’ after

20 ‘‘observer at a launch site’’;

21 (B) by inserting ‘‘or reentry vehicle’’ after

22 ‘‘assemble a launch vehicle’’; and

23 (C) by inserting ‘‘or reentry vehicle’’ after

24 ‘‘with a launch vehicle’’;

25 (8) in section 70108—
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1 (A) by amending the section designation

2 and heading to read as follows:

3 ‘‘§ 70108. Prohibition, suspension, and end of

4 launches, operation of launch sites and

5 reentry sites, and reentries’’;

6 and

7 (B) in subsection (a)—

8 (i) by inserting ‘‘or reentry site, or re9 entry of a reentry vehicle,’’ after ‘‘oper10 ation of a launch site’’; and

11 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after

12 ‘‘launch or operation’’;

13 (9) in section 70109—

14 (A) by amending the section designation

15 and heading to read as follows:

16 ‘‘§ 70109. Preemption of scheduled launches or reen17 tries’’;

18 (B) in subsection (a)—

19 (i) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after

20 ‘‘ensure that a launch’’;

21 (ii) by inserting ‘‘, reentry site,’’ after

22 ‘‘United States Government launch site’’;

23 (iii) by inserting ‘‘or reentry date

24 commitment’’ after ‘‘launch date commit25 ment’’;
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1 (iv) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after

2 ‘‘obtained for a launch’’;

3 (v) by inserting ‘‘, reentry site,’’ after

4 ‘‘access to a launch site’’;

5 (vi) by inserting ‘‘, or services related

6 to a reentry,’’ after ‘‘amount for launch

7 services’’; and

8 (vii) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after

9 ‘‘the scheduled launch’’; and

10 (C) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘or re11 entry’’ after ‘‘prompt launching’’;

12 (10) in section 70110—

13 (A) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after ‘‘pre14 vent the launch’’ in subsection (a)(2); and

15 (B) by inserting ‘‘or reentry site, or re16 entry of a reentry vehicle,’’ after ‘‘operation of

17 a launch site’’ in subsection (a)(3)(B);

18 (11) in section 70111—

19 (A) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after

20 ‘‘launch’’ in subsection (a)(1)(A);

21 (B) by inserting ‘‘and reentry services’’

22 after ‘‘launch services’’ in subsection (a)(1)(B);

23 (C) by inserting ‘‘or reentry services’’ after

24 ‘‘or launch services’’ in subsection (a)(2);
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1 (D) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after ‘‘com2 mercial launch’’ both places it appears in sub3 section (b)(1);

4 (E) by inserting ‘‘or reentry services’’ after

5 ‘‘launch services’’ in subsection (b)(2)(C);

6 (F) by striking ‘‘or its payload for launch’’

7 in subsection (d) and inserting in lieu thereof

8 ‘‘or reentry vehicle, or the payload of either, for

9 launch or reentry’’; and

10 (G) by inserting ‘‘, reentry vehicle,’’ after

11 ‘‘manufacturer of the launch vehicle’’ in sub12 section (d);

13 (12) in section 70112—

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after ‘‘one

15 launch’’ in subsection (a)(3);

16 (B) by inserting ‘‘or reentry services’’ after

17 ‘‘launch services’’ in subsection (a)(4);

18 (C) by inserting ‘‘or reentry services’’ after

19 ‘‘launch services’’ each place it appears in sub20 section (b);

21 (D) by inserting ‘‘applicable’’ after ‘‘car22 ried out under the’’ in paragraphs (1) and (2)

23 of subsection (b);

24 (E) by striking ‘‘, Space, and Technology’’

25 in subsection (d)(1);
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1 (F) by inserting ‘‘OR REENTRIES’’ after

2 ‘‘LAUNCHES’’ in the heading for subsection (e);

3 and

4 (G) by inserting ‘‘or reentry site or a re5 entry’’ after ‘‘launch site’’ in subsection (e);

6 (13) in section 70113 (a)(1) and (d) (1) and

7 (2), by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after ‘‘one launch’’

8 each place it appears;

9 (14) in section 70115(b)(1)(D)(i)—

10 (A) by inserting ‘‘reentry site,’’ after

11 ‘‘launch site,’’; and

12 (B) by inserting ‘‘or reentry vehicle’’ after

13 ‘‘launch vehicle’’ both places it appears; and

14 (15) in section 70117—

15 (A) by inserting ‘‘or reentry site, or to re16 enter a reentry vehicle’’ after ‘‘operate a launch

17 site’’ in subsection (a);

18 (B) by inserting ‘‘or reentry’’ after ‘‘ap19 proval of a space launch’’ in subsection (d);

20 (C) by amending subsection (f) to read as

21 follows:

22 ‘‘(f) LAUNCH NOT AN EXPORT; REENTRY NOT AN

23 IMPORT.—A launch vehicle, reentry vehicle, or payload

24 that is launched or reentered is not, because of the launch
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1 or reentry, an export or import, respectively, for purposes

2 of a law controlling exports or imports.’’; and

3 (D) in subsection (g)—

4 (i) by striking ‘‘operation of a launch

5 vehicle or launch site,’’ in paragraph (1)

6 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘reentry, op7 eration of a launch vehicle or reentry vehi8 cle, or operation of a launch site or reentry

9 site,’’; and

10 (ii) by inserting ‘‘reentry,’’ after

11 ‘‘launch,’’ in paragraph (2).

12 (b) ADDITIONAL AMENDMENTS.—(1) Section 70105

13 of title 49, United States Code, is amended—

14 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘A person may

15 apply’’ in subsection (a);

16 (B) by striking ‘‘receiving an application’’ both

17 places it appears in subsection (a) and inserting in

18 lieu thereof ‘‘accepting an application in accordance

19 with criteria established pursuant to subsection

20 (b)(2)(D)’’;

21 (C) by adding at the end of subsection (a) the

22 following new paragraph:

23 ‘‘(2) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Secretary

24 may establish procedures for certification of the safety of

25 a launch vehicle, reentry vehicle, or safety system, proce-
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1 dure, service, or personnel that may be used in conducting

2 licensed commercial space launch or reentry activities.’’;

3 (D) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subsection

4 (b)(2)(B);

5 (E) by striking the period at the end of sub6 section (b)(2)(C) and inserting in lieu thereof

7 ‘‘; and’’;

8 (F) by adding at the end of subsection (b)(2)

9 the following new subparagraph:

10 ‘‘(D) regulations establishing criteria for ac11 cepting or rejecting an application for a license

12 under this chapter within 60 days after receipt of

13 such application.’’; and

14 (G) by inserting ‘‘, or the requirement to obtain

15 a license,’’ after ‘‘waive a requirement’’ in subsection

16 (b)(3).

17 (2) The amendment made by paragraph (1)(B) shall

18 take effect upon the effective date of final regulations is19 sued pursuant to section 70105(b)(2)(D) of title 49, Unit20 ed States Code, as added by paragraph (1)(F) of this sub21 section.

22 (3) Section 70102(5) of title 49, United States Code,

23 is amended—

24 (A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and

25 (B) as subparagraphs (B) and (C), respectively; and
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1 (B) by inserting before subparagraph (B), as so

2 redesignated by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph,

3 the following new subparagraph:

4 ‘‘(A) activities directly related to the prep5 aration of a launch site or payload facility for

6 one or more launches;’’.

7 (4) Section 70103(b) of title 49, United States Code,

8 is amended—

9 (A) in the subsection heading, as amended by

10 subsection (a)(4)(A) of this section, by inserting

11 ‘‘AND STATE SPONSORED SPACEPORTS’’ after ‘‘AND

12 REENTRIES’’; and

13 (B) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and State

14 sponsored spaceports’’ after ‘‘private sector’’.

15 (5) Section 70105(a)(1) of title 49, United States

16 Code, as amended by subsection (b)(1) of this section, is

17 amended by inserting at the end the following: ‘‘The Sec18 retary shall submit to the Committee on Science of the

19 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com20 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a writ21 ten notice not later than 7 days after any occurrence when

22 a license is not issued within the deadline established by

23 this subsection.’’.

24 (6) Section 70111 of title 49, United States Code,

25 is amended—
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1 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting after sub2 paragraph (B) the following:

3 ‘‘The Secretary shall establish criteria and procedures for

4 determining the priority of competing requests from the

5 private sector and State governments for property and

6 services under this section.’’;

7 (B) by striking ‘‘actual costs’’ in subsection

8 (b)(1) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘additive costs

9 only’’; and

10 (C) by inserting after subsection (b)(2) the fol11 lowing new paragraph:

12 ‘‘(3) The Secretary shall ensure the establishment of

13 uniform guidelines for, and consistent implementation of,

14 this section by all Federal agencies.’’.

15 (7) Section 70112 of title 49, United States Code,

16 is amended—

17 (A) in subsection (a)(1), by inserting ‘‘launch,

18 reentry, or site operator’’ after ‘‘(1) When a’’;

19 (B) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting ‘‘launch,

20 reentry, or site operator’’ after ‘‘(1)A’’; and

21 (C) in subsection (f), by inserting ‘‘launch, re22 entry, or site operator’’ after ‘‘carried out under a’’.

23 (c) REGULATIONS.—(1) Chapter 701 of title 49,

24 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the

25 following new section:
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1 ‘‘§ 70120. Regulations

2 ‘‘The Secretary of Transportation, within 6 months

3 after the date of the enactment of this section, shall issue

4 regulations to carry out this chapter that include—

5 ‘‘(1) guidelines for industry to obtain sufficient

6 insurance coverage for potential damages to third

7 parties;

8 ‘‘(2) procedures for requesting and obtaining li9 censes to operate a commercial launch vehicle and

10 reentry vehicle;

11 ‘‘(3) procedures for requesting and obtaining

12 operator licenses for launch and reentry; and

13 ‘‘(4) procedures for the application of govern14 ment indemnification.’’.

15 (2) The table of sections for such chapter 701 is

16 amended by adding after the item relating to section

17 70119 the following new item:

‘‘70120. Regulations.’’.

18 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—(1) Chapter 701 of title

19 49, United States Code, is further amended by adding at

20 the end the following new section:

21 ‘‘§ 70121. Report to Congress

22 ‘‘The Secretary of Transportation shall submit to

23 Congress an annual report to accompany the President’s

24 budget request that—
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1 ‘‘(1) describes all activities undertaken under

2 this chapter, including a description of the process

3 for the application for and approval of licenses under

4 this chapter and recommendations for legislation

5 that may further commercial launches and reentries;

6 and

7 ‘‘(2) reviews the performance of the regulatory

8 activities and the effectiveness of the Office of Com9 mercial Space Transportation.’’.

10 (2) The table of sections for such chapter 701 is fur11 ther amended by adding after the item relating to section

12 70120, as added by subsection (c)(2) of this section, the

13 following new item:

‘‘70121. Report to Congress.’’.

14 SEC. 252. REQUIREMENT FOR INDEPENDENT COST ANALY15 SIS.

16 Before any funds may be obligated for Phase C of

17 a project that is projected to cost more than $75,000,000

18 in total project costs, the Chief Financial Officer for the

19 National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall con20 duct an independent cost analysis of such project and shall

21 report the results to Congress. In developing cost account22 ing and reporting standards for carrying out this section,

23 the Chief Financial Officer shall, to the extent practicable

24 and consistent with other laws, solicit the advice of exper-
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1 tise outside of the National Aeronautics and Space Admin2 istration.

3 SEC. 253. OFFICE OF SPACE COMMERCE.

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within

5 the Department of Commerce an Office of Space Com6 merce.

7 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Office of Space Commerce

8 shall be the principal unit for the coordination of space9 related issues, programs, and initiatives within the De10 partment of Commerce. The Office’s primary responsibil11 ities shall include—

12 (1) promoting private sector investment in

13 space activities by collecting, analyzing, and dissemi14 nating information on space markets, and conduct15 ing workshops and seminars to increase awareness

16 of commercial space opportunities;

17 (2) assisting United States commercial provid18 ers in their efforts to do business with the United

19 States Government, and acting as an industry advo20 cate within the executive branch to ensure that the

21 Federal Government meets its space-related require22 ment, to the fullest extent feasible, with commer23 cially available space goods and services;

24 (3) ensuring that the United States Govern25 ment does not compete with the private sector in the
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1 provision of space hardware and services otherwise

2 available from the private sector;

3 (4) promoting the export of space-related goods

4 and services;

5 (5) representing the Department of Commerce

6 in the development of United States policies and in

7 negotiations with foreign countries to ensure free

8 and fair trade internationally in the area of space

9 commerce;

10 (6) seeking the removal of legal, policy, and in11 stitutional impediments to space commerce; and

12 (7) licensing private sector parties to operate

13 private remote sensing space systems and supporting

14 the private sector’s role in the commercial develop15 ment of Landsat remote sensing data distribution.

16 SEC. 254. NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ACT OF 1958

17 AMENDMENTS.

18 (a) DECLARATION OF POLICY AND PURPOSE.—Sec19 tion 102 of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of

20 1958 (42 U.S.C. 2451) is amended—

21 (1) by striking subsection (f) and redesignating

22 subsections (g) and (h) as subsections (f) and (g),

23 respectively; and
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1 (2) in subsection (g), as so redesignated by

2 paragraph (1) of this subsection, by striking ‘‘(f),

3 and (g)’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘and (f)’’.

4 (b) REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS.—Section 206(a) of

5 the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (42

6 U.S.C. 2476(a)) is amended—

7 (1) by striking ‘‘January’’ and inserting in lieu

8 thereof ‘‘May’’; and

9 (2) by striking ‘‘calendar’’ and inserting in lieu

10 thereof ‘‘fiscal’’.

11 (c) DISCLOSURE OF TECHNICAL DATA.—Section 303

12 of the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 (42

13 U.S.C. 2454) is amended—

14 (1) in subsection (a)(C), by inserting ‘‘or (c)’’

15 after ‘‘subsection (b)’’; and

16 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub17 section:

18 ‘‘(c)(1) The Administrator, at his discretion or at the

19 request of a private sector entity, shall delay for a period

20 of at least one day, but not to exceed 5 years, the unre21 stricted public disclosure of technical data in the posses22 sion of, or under the control of, the Administration that

23 has been generated in the performance of experimental,

24 developmental, or research activities or programs funded
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1 jointly by the Administration and such private sector en2 tity.

3 ‘‘(2) Within 1 year after the date of the enactment

4 of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Au5 thorization Act, Fiscal Year 1997, the Administrator shall

6 issue regulations to carry out this subsection. Paragraph

7 (1) shall not take effect until such regulations are issued.

8 ‘‘(3) Regulations issued pursuant to paragraph (2)

9 shall include—

10 ‘‘(A) guidelines for a determination of whether

11 data is technical data within the meaning of this

12 subsection;

13 ‘‘(B) provisions to ensure that technical data is

14 available for dissemination within the United States

15 to United States persons and entities in furtherance

16 of the objective of maintaining leadership or com17 petitiveness in civil and governmental aeronautical

18 and space activities by the United States industrial

19 base; and

20 ‘‘(C) a specification of the period or periods for

21 which the delay in unrestricted public disclosure of

22 technical data is to apply to various categories of

23 such data, and the restrictions on disclosure of such

24 data during such period or periods, including a re25 quirement that the maximum 5-year protection
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1 under this subsection shall not be provided unless at

2 least 50 percent of the funding for the activities or

3 programs is provided by the private sector.

4 ‘‘(4) The Administrator shall annually report to the

5 Congress all determinations made under paragraph (1).

6 ‘‘(5) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘tech7 nical data’ means any recorded information, including

8 computer software, that is or may be directly applicable

9 to the design, engineering, development, production, man10 ufacture, or operation of products or processes that may

11 have significant value in maintaining leadership or com12 petitiveness in civil and governmental aeronautical and

13 space activities by the United States industrial base.’’.

14 SEC. 255. PROCUREMENT.

15 (a) PROCUREMENT DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es17 tablish within the Office of Space Access and Tech18 nology a program of expedited technology procure19 ment for the purpose of demonstrating how innova20 tive technology concepts can rapidly be brought to

21 bear upon space missions of the National Aero22 nautics and Space Administration.

23 (2) PROCEDURES AND EVALUATION.—The Ad24 ministrator shall establish procedures for actively

25 seeking from persons outside the National Aero-
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1 nautics and Space Administration innovative tech2 nology concepts, relating to the provision of space

3 hardware, technology, or service to the National Aer4 onautics and Space Administration.

5 (3) REQUIREMENT.—At least 1 percent of

6 amounts authorized to be appropriated under section

7 212(4) shall be used for innovative technology pro8 curements that are determined under paragraph (2)

9 of this subsection to meet mission requirements.

10 (4) SPECIAL AUTHORITY.—In order to carry

11 out this subsection the Administrator shall recruit

12 and hire for limited term appointments persons from

13 outside the National Aeronautics and Space Admin14 istration with special expertise and experience relat15 ed to the innovative technology concepts with respect

16 to which procurements are made under this sub17 section.

18 (5) SUNSET.—This subsection shall cease to be

19 effective 10 years after the date of its enactment.

20 (b) TECHNOLOGY PROCUREMENT INITIATIVE.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall co22 ordinate National Aeronautics and Space Adminis23 tration resources in the areas of procurement, com24 mercial programs, and advanced technology in order

25 to—
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1 (A) fairly assess and procure commercially

2 available technology from the marketplace in

3 the most efficient manner practicable;

4 (B) achieve a continuous pattern of inte5 grating advanced technology from the commer6 cial sector, and from Federal sources outside

7 the National Aeronautics and Space Adminis8 tration, into the missions and programs of the

9 National Aeronautics and Space Administra10 tion;

11 (C) incorporate private sector buying and

12 bidding procedures, including fixed price con13 tracts, into procurements; and

14 (D) provide incentives for cost-plus con15 tractors of the National Aeronautics and Space

16 Administration to integrate commercially avail17 able technology in subsystem contracts on a

18 fixed-price basis.

19 (2) CERTIFICATION.—Upon solicitation of any

20 procurement for space hardware, technology, or serv21 ices that are not commercially available, the Admin22 istrator shall certify, by publication of a notice and

23 opportunity to comment in the Commerce Business

24 Daily, for each such procurement action, that no

25 functional equivalent, commercially, available space
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1 hardware, technology, or service exists and that no

2 commercial method of procurement is available.

3 SEC. 256. ADDITIONAL NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND

4 SPACE ADMINISTRATION FACILITIES.

5 The Administrator shall not construct or enter into

6 a new lease for facilities to support National Aeronautics

7 and Space Administration programs unless the Adminis8 trator notifies the Congress that the Administrator re9 viewed existing National Aeronautics and Space Adminis10 tration and other federally owned facilities, including mili11 tary facilities scheduled for closing or reduction, and found

12 no such facilities appropriate for the intended use.

13 SEC. 257. PURCHASE OF SPACE SCIENCE DATA.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum extent possible,

15 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall,

16 where cost effective, purchase space science data from the

17 United States private sector. Examples of such data in18 clude scientific data concerning the elemental and mineral19 ogical resources of the moon and the planets, Earth envi20 ronmental data obtained through remote sensing observa21 tions, and solar storm monitoring.

22 (b) COMPETITIVE BIDDING.—(1) Contracts for the

23 purchase of space data under this section shall be awarded

24 in a process of full, fair, and open competitive bidding.
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1 (2) Submission of cost data, either for the purposes

2 of supporting the bid or fulfilling the terms of the con3 tract, shall not be required of bidders or awardees of the

4 contract.

5 (3) Reasonable performance specifications, rather

6 than design or construction specifications, shall be used

7 to the maximum extent feasible to define requirements for

8 United States private sector providers with respect to the

9 design, construction, or operation of equipment used in ob10 taining space science data under contracts entered into

11 under this section. This subsection shall not be construed

12 to prohibit the Federal Government from requiring com13 pliance with applicable safety standards.

14 (4) Contracts under this section shall not provide for

15 the Federal Government to obtain ownership of data not

16 specifically sought by the Federal Government.

17 SEC. 258. PLAN FOR MISSION TO PLANET EARTH.

18 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The Administrator shall, within

19 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act,

20 transmit to the Congress a report containing a plan for

21 Mission to Planet Earth.

22 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required by subsection

23 (a) shall include—

24 (1) an analysis of Earth observation systems of

25 other countries and the ways in which the United
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1 States could benefit from such systems, including by

2 eliminating duplication of effort;

3 (2) an analysis of how the Department of De4 fense’s airborne and space sensor programs could be

5 used in Mission to Planet Earth;

6 (3) a plan for infusing advanced technology into

7 the Mission to Planet Earth program, including

8 milestones and an identification of available re9 sources;

10 (4) a plan to solicit proposals from the private

11 sector on how to innovatively accomplish the most

12 critical research on global climate change;

13 (5) an integrated plan for research in the Sci14 entific Research and Mission to Planet Earth enter15 prises described in the National Aeronautics and

16 Space Administration Strategic Plan issued in May,

17 1994;

18 (6) a plan for developing metrics and milestones

19 to quantify the performance of work on Mission to

20 Planet Earth; and

21 (7) a plan for the role, structure, and operation

22 of the Earth Observing Satellite Data Information

23 System.
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1 SEC. 259. ACQUISITION OF EARTH REMOTE SENSING DATA.

2 (a) ACQUISITION.—To the maximum extent possible,

3 the Administrator shall, where cost effective, acquire

4 space-based and airborne Earth remote sensing data, serv5 ices, distribution, and applications provided by the United

6 States private sector to meet Government goals for Mis7 sion to Planet Earth.

8 (b) STUDY.—(1) The Administrator shall conduct a

9 study to determine the extent to which the baseline sci10 entific requirements of Mission to Planet Earth can be

11 met by the private sector, and how the National Aero12 nautics and Space Administration will meet such require13 ments which cannot be met by the private sector.

14 (2) The study conducted under this subsection

15 shall—

16 (A) make recommendations to promote the

17 availability of information from the National Aero18 nautics and Space Administration to the private sec19 tor to enable the private sector to better meet the

20 baseline scientific requirements of Mission to Planet

21 Earth;

22 (B) determine and prioritize the appropriate

23 baseline scientific requirements for Mission to Planet

24 Earth, and reevaluate, scientifically justify, and

25 prioritize the data sets necessary to fulfill those

26 baseline scientific requirements;
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1 (C) make recommendations to promote the dis2 semination to the private sector of information on

3 advanced technology research and development per4 formed by or for the National Aeronautics and

5 Space Administration; and

6 (D) identify policy, regulatory, and legislative

7 barriers to the implementation of the recommenda8 tions made under this subsection.

9 (3) The results of the study conducted under this

10 subsection shall be transmitted to the Congress within 6

11 months after the date of the enactment of this Act.

12 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—This section shall be carried

13 out as part of the Commercial Remote Sensing Program

14 at the Stennis Space Center.

15 SEC. 260. SHUTTLE PRIVATIZATION.

16 (a) POLICY AND PREPARATION.—The Administrator

17 shall prepare for an orderly transition from the Federal

18 operation, or Federal management of contracted oper19 ation, of space transportation systems to the Federal pur20 chase of commercial space transportation services for all

21 nonemergency launch requirements, including human,

22 cargo, and mixed payloads. In those preparations, the Ad23 ministrator shall take into account the need for short-term

24 economies, as well as the goal of restoring the National

25 Aeronautics and Space Administration’s research focus
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1 and its mandate to promote the fullest possible commercial

2 use of space. As part of those preparations, the Adminis3 trator shall plan for the potential privatization of the

4 Space Shuttle program after the year 2012. Such plan

5 shall keep safety and cost effectiveness as high priorities.

6 Nothing in this section shall prohibit the National Aero7 nautics and Space Administration from studying, design8 ing, developing, or funding upgrades or modifications es9 sential to the safe and economical operation of the Space

10 Shuttle fleet.

11 (b) SAFE OPERATION.—In reviewing proposals for

12 moving to a single prime contractor the Administrator

13 shall give priority to continued safe operation of space

14 transportation systems.

15 (c) FEASIBILITY STUDY.—The Administrator shall

16 conduct a study of the feasibility of implementing the rec17 ommendation of the Independent Shuttle Management Re18 view Team that the National Aeronautics and Space Ad19 ministration transition toward the privatization of the

20 Space Shuttle. The study shall identify, discuss, and,

21 where possible, present options for resolving, the major

22 policy and legal issues that must be addressed before the

23 Space Shuttle is privatized, including—
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1 (1) whether the Federal Government or the

2 Space Shuttle contractor should own the Space

3 Shuttle orbiters and ground facilities;

4 (2) whether the Federal Government should in5 demnify the contractor for any third party liability

6 arising from Space Shuttle operations, and, if so,

7 under what terms and conditions;

8 (3) whether payloads other than National Aero9 nautics and Space Administration payloads should

10 be allowed to be launched on the Space Shuttle, how

11 missions will be prioritized, and who will decide

12 which mission flies and when;

13 (4) whether commercial payloads should be al14 lowed to be launched on the Space Shuttle and

15 whether any classes of payloads should be made in16 eligible for launch consideration;

17 (5) whether National Aeronautics and Space

18 Administration and other Federal Government pay19 loads should have priority over non-Federal payloads

20 in the Space Shuttle launch assignments, and what

21 policies should be developed to prioritize among pay22 loads generally;

23 (6) whether the public interest requires that

24 certain Space Shuttle functions continue to be per25 formed by the Federal Government; and
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1 (7) how much cost savings, if any, will be gen2 erated by privatization of the Space Shuttle.

3 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Within 60 days after

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the National Aero5 nautics and Space Administration shall complete the study

6 required under subsection (c) and shall submit a report

7 on the study to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

8 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on

9 Science of the House of Representatives.

10 SEC. 261. LAUNCH VOUCHER DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM

11 AMENDMENTS.

12 Section 504 of the National Aeronautics and Space

13 Administration Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1993 (15

14 U.S.C. 5803) is amended—

15 (1) in subsection (a)—

16 (A) by striking ‘‘the Office of Commercial

17 Programs within’’; and

18 (B) by striking ‘‘Such program shall not

19 be effective after September 30, 1995.’’;

20 (2) by striking subsection (c); and

21 (3) by redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as

22 subsections (c) and (d), respectively.
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1 SEC. 262. PRIVATIZATION OF MICROGRAVITY PARABOLIC

2 FLIGHT OPERATIONS.

3 (a) FINDING.—The Congress finds that no national

4 security or mission critical justification exists for the Na5 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration to maintain

6 its own fleet of aircraft to provide a short duration micro7 gravity environment via parabolic flight.

8 (b) PRIVATIZATION OF FLIGHT OPERATIONS.—(1)

9 The Administrator shall privatize all parabolic flight air10 craft operations conducted by or for the National Aero11 nautics and Space Administration in support of micro12 gravity research, astronaut training, and other functions,

13 whose total cost can be reduced through issuance of one

14 or more long-term, renewable, block purchase contracts

15 for the performance of such operations by United States

16 commercial sector providers.

17 (2) Within 90 days after the date of the enactment

18 of this Act, the Administrator shall issue a request for

19 proposals to provide services which meet all or part of the

20 microgravity flight needs of the National Aeronautics and

21 Space Administration, as described in paragraph (1) at

22 a net savings to the United States Government. The Ad23 ministrator shall coordinate the process of review of such

24 proposals, and shall oversee the transfer of such oper25 ations to the commercial sector as specified in paragraph

26 (3).
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1 (3) Within 6 months after the issuance of a request

2 for proposals under paragraph (2), the Administrator

3 shall, where cost effective, award one or more contracts

4 for microgravity parabolic flight services to a microgravity

5 flight provider that is certified by the Federal Aviation Ad6 ministration. Except as provided in paragraph (4), the Ad7 ministrator shall cease all National Aeronautics and Space

8 Administration-operated parabolic aircraft flights, and

9 shall thereafter procure all microgravity parabolic flight

10 services from commercial sector providers. National Aero11 nautics and Space Administration experimenters, and Na12 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration-funded ex13 perimenters, who would otherwise use National Aero14 nautics and Space Administration-owned or operated

15 microgravity parabolic flight aircraft, shall be issued

16 vouchers for the procurement of microgravity parabolic

17 flight services from the commercial sector.

18 (4) The Administrator may, as necessary to ensure

19 the continuity of National Aeronautics and Space Admin20 istration operations, continue to operate parabolic aircraft

21 flights for up to 3 months after a contract is awarded

22 under paragraph (3). If the Administrator continues oper23 ations pursuant to this paragraph, the Administrator shall

24 concurrently transmit to the Congress an explanation of

25 the reasons for such action.
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1 (5) Six months after the National Aeronautics and

2 Space Administration ceases all parabolic aircraft flights

3 under paragraph (3), the Administrator shall transmit a

4 report to Congress on the effectiveness of privatization

5 under this section.

6 SEC. 263. UNITARY WIND TUNNEL PLAN ACT OF 1949

7 AMENDMENTS.

8 The Unitary Wind Tunnel Plan Act of 1949 is

9 amended—

10 (1) in section 101 (50 U.S.C. 511) by striking

11 ‘‘transsonic and supersonic’’ and inserting in lieu

12 thereof ‘‘transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic’’; and

13 (2) in section 103 (50 U.S.C. 513)—

14 (A) by striking ‘‘laboratories’’ in sub15 section (a) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘labora16 tories and centers’’;

17 (B) by striking ‘‘supersonic’’ in subsection

18 (a) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘transonic, su19 personic, and hypersonic’’; and

20 (C) by striking ‘‘laboratory’’ in subsection

21 (c) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘facility’’.

22 SEC. 264. USE OF ABANDONED AND UNDERUTILIZED

23 BUILDINGS, GROUNDS, AND FACILITIES.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—In meeting the needs of the Na25 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration for addi-
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1 tional facilities, the Administrator, whenever feasible, shall

2 select abandoned and underutilized buildings, grounds,

3 and facilities in depressed communities that can be con4 verted to National Aeronautics and Space Administration

5 facilities at a reasonable cost, as determined by the Ad6 ministrator.

7 (b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the

8 term ‘‘depressed communities’’ means rural and urban

9 communities that are relatively depressed, in terms of age

10 of housing, extent of poverty, growth of per capita income,

11 extent of unemployment, job lag, or surplus labor.

12 SEC. 265. COST EFFECTIVENESS CALCULATIONS.

13 In calculating the cost effectiveness of the cost of the

14 National Aeronautics and Space Administration engaging

15 in an activity as compared to the private sector, the com16 parison shall be made based only on the price the private

17 sector provider will charge for such activity.

18 SEC. 266. PROCUREMENT OMBUDSMAN.

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es20 tablish the position of Procurement Ombudsman for the

21 National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

22 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Procurement Ombudsman

23 shall—

24 (1) be responsible, in consultation with the Of25 fice of Procurement, for reviewing proposed new
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1 missions for the National Aeronautics and Space

2 Administration to determine if such missions, or ele3 ments thereof, can be fulfilled by United States com4 mercial providers; and

5 (2) serve as a point of contact for—

6 (A) persons with whom the National Aero7 nautics and Space Administration has entered

8 into a procurement contract, with respect to

9 concerns of those persons about that contract;

10 and

11 (B) United States commercial providers,

12 with respect to issues relating to competition

13 between those providers and the Federal Gov14 ernment.

15 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Procurement Om16 budsman shall annually, in conjunction with the Presi17 dent’s annual budget request, transmit a report to Con18 gress describing the activities of the Ombudsman during

19 the previous year.

20 SEC. 267. AUTHORITY TO REDUCE OR SUSPEND CONTRACT

21 PAYMENTS BASED ON SUBSTANTIAL EVI22 DENCE OF FRAUD.

23 Section 2307(h)(8) of title 10, United States Code,

24 is amended by striking ‘‘and (4)’’ and inserting in lieu

25 thereof ‘‘(4), and (6)’’.
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1 TITLE III—UNITED STATES FIRE

2 ADMINISTRATION

3 SEC. 301. SHORT TITLE.

4 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Fire Administration

5 Authorization Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 302. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 Section 17(g)(1) of the Federal Fire Prevention and

8 Control Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 2216(a)(1)) is amended—

9 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara10 graph (E);

11 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub12 paragraph (F) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘; and’’;

13 and

14 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub15 paragraph:

16 ‘‘(G) $27,560,000 for the fiscal year ending

17 September 30, 1997.’’.

18 SEC. 303. FIRE SAFETY SYSTEMS IN ARMY HOUSING.

19 Section 31(c)(1)(A)(ii)(II) is amended by inserting ‘‘,

20 or in the case of housing under the control of the Depart21 ment of the Army, 6 years after such date of enactment’’

22 after ‘‘date of enactment’’.

23 SEC. 304. SUCCESSOR FIRE SAFETY STANDARDS.

24 The Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974

25 is amended—
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1 (1) in section 29(a)(1), by inserting ‘‘, or any

2 successor standard thereto,’’ after ‘‘Association

3 Standard 74’’;

4 (2) in section 29(a)(2), by inserting ‘‘or any

5 successor standards thereto,’’ after ‘‘whichever is ap6 propriate,’’;

7 (3) in section 29(b)(2), by inserting ‘‘, or any

8 successor standards thereto’’ after ‘‘Association

9 Standard 13 or 13–R’’;

10 (4) in section 31(c)(2)(B)(i), by inserting ‘‘or

11 any successor standard thereto,’’ after ‘‘Life Safety

12 Code),’’; and

13 (5) in section 31(c)(2)(B)(ii), by inserting ‘‘or

14 any successor standard thereto,’’ after ‘‘Association

15 Standard 101,’’.

16 SEC. 305. TERMINATION OR PRIVATIZATION OF FUNC17 TIONS.

18 The Administrator of the United States Fire Admin19 istration shall transmit to Congress a report providing no20 tice at least 60 days in advance of the termination or

21 transfer to a private sector entity of any significant func22 tion of the United States Fire Administration.

23 SEC. 306. REPORT ON BUDGETARY REDUCTION.

24 The Administrator of the United States Fire Admin25 istration shall transmit to Congress, within three months
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1 after the date of the enactment of this Act, a report set2 ting forth the manner in which the United States Fire

3 Administration intends to implement the budgetary reduc4 tion represented by the difference between the amount ap5 propriated to the United States Fire Administration for

6 fiscal year 1997 and the amount requested in the Presi7 dent’s budget request for such fiscal year. Such report

8 shall be prepared in consultation with the Alliance for Fire

9 and Emergency Management, the International Associa10 tion of Fire Chiefs, the International Association of Fire

11 Fighters, the National Fire Protection Association, the

12 National Volunteer Fire Council, the National Association

13 of State Fire Marshals, and the International Association

14 of Arson Investigators.

15 TITLE IV—NATIONAL OCEANIC

16 AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINIS17 TRATION

18 SEC. 401. SHORT TITLE.

19 This title may be cited as the ‘‘National Oceanic and

20 Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1996’’.

21 SEC. 402. DEFINITIONS.

22 For the purposes of this title, the term—

23 (1) ‘‘Act of 1890’’ means the Act entitled ‘‘An

24 Act to increase the efficiency and reduce the ex25 penses of the Signal Corps of the Army, and to
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1 transfer the Weather Bureau to the Department of

2 Agriculture’’, approved October 1, 1890 (26 Stat.

3 653);

4 (2) ‘‘Act of 1947’’ means the Act entitled ‘‘An

5 Act to define the functions and duties of the Coast

6 and Geodetic Survey, and for other purposes’’, ap7 proved August 6, 1947 (33 U.S.C. 883a et seq.);

8 (3) ‘‘Act of 1970’’ means the Act entitled ‘‘An

9 Act to clarify the status and benefits of commis10 sioned officers of the National Oceanic and Atmos11 pheric Administration, and for other purposes’’, ap12 proved December 31, 1970 (33 U.S.C. 857–1 et

13 seq.);

14 (4) ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Administrator

15 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis16 tration; and

17 (5) ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Com18 merce.

19 Subtitle A—Atmospheric, Weather,

20 and Satellite Programs

21 SEC. 411. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

22 (a) OPERATIONS AND RESEARCH.—There are au23 thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to enable the

24 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to

25 carry out the operations and research duties of the Na-
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1 tional Weather Service, $450,668,000 for fiscal year 1997.

2 Such duties include meteorological, hydrological, and

3 oceanographic public warnings and forecasts, as well as

4 applied research in support of such warnings and fore5 casts.

6 (b) SYSTEMS ACQUISITION.—(1) There are author7 ized to be appropriated to the Secretary to enable the Na8 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry

9 out the public warning and forecast systems duties of the

10 National Weather Service, $68,984,000 for fiscal year

11 1997. Such duties include the development, acquisition,

12 and implementation of major public warning and forecast

13 systems, including the upgrade of computer facilities.

14 None of the funds authorized under this subsection shall

15 be used for the purposes for which funds are authorized

16 under subsection (e). None of the funds authorized under

17 this subsection shall be used for the purposes for which

18 funds are authorized under section 102(b) of the National

19 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization

20 Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–567). None of the funds

21 authorized by such section 102(b) shall be expended for

22 a particular NEXRAD installation unless—

23 (A) it is identified as a National Weather Serv24 ice NEXRAD installation in the National Implemen25 tation Plan for modernization of the National
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1 Weather Service, required under section 703 of the

2 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

3 Authorization Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–567);

4 or

5 (B) it is to be used only for spare parts, not as

6 an installation at a particular site.

7 (2) Of the amounts authorized under paragraph (1),

8 $42,935,000 shall be for NEXRAD program manage9 ment, operations, and maintenance.

10 (c) NEW NEXRAD INSTALLATIONS.—No funds may

11 be obligated for NEXRAD installations not identified in

12 the National Implementation Plan for 1996, unless the

13 Secretary certifies that such NEXRAD installations can

14 be acquired within the authorization of NEXRAD con15 tained in section 102(b) of the National Oceanic and At16 mospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1992.

17 (d) ASOS PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION.—Of the sums

18 authorized in subsection (b)(1), $10,056,000 for fiscal

19 year 1997 are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec20 retary, for the acquisition and deployment of—

21 (1) the Automated Surface Observing System

22 and related systems, including multisensor and

23 backup arrays for National Weather Service sites at

24 airports; and
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1 (2) Automated Meteorological Observing Sys2 tem and Remote Automated Meteorological Observ3 ing System replacement units.

4 and to cover all associated activities, including program

5 management and operations and maintenance.

6 (e) AWIPS COMPLETE PROGRAM AUTHORIZA7 TION.—(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), there are

8 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for all fiscal

9 years beginning after September 30, 1996, an aggregate

10 of $271,166,000, to remain available until expended, of

11 which up to $116,483,000 may be available for fiscal year

12 1997, to complete the acquisition and deployment of the

13 Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System and

14 NOAA Port and to cover all associated activities, including

15 program management and operations and maintenance

16 through September 30, 1999.

17 (2) No funds are authorized to be appropriated for

18 any fiscal year under paragraph (1) unless, within 60 days

19 after the submission of the President’s budget request for

20 such fiscal year, the Secretary—

21 (A) certifies to the Congress that—

22 (i) the systems meet the technical perform23 ance specifications included in the system con24 tract as in effect on August 11, 1995;
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1 (ii) the systems can be fully deployed,

2 sited, and operational without requiring further

3 appropriations beyond amounts authorized

4 under paragraph (1); and

5 (iii) the Secretary does not foresee any

6 delays in the systems deployment and oper7 ations schedule; or

8 (B) submits to the Congress a report which de9 scribes—

10 (i) the circumstances which prevent a cer11 tification under subparagraph (A);

12 (ii) remedial actions undertaken or to be

13 undertaken with respect to such circumstances;

14 (iii) the effects of such circumstances on

15 the systems deployment and operations schedule

16 and systems coverage; and

17 (iv) a justification for proceeding with the

18 program, if appropriate.

19 (f) CONSTRUCTION OF WEATHER FORECAST OF20 FICES.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the

21 Secretary to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

22 Administration to carry out construction, repair, and

23 modification activities relating to new and existing weath24 er forecast offices, $11,000,000 for fiscal year 1997. Such
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1 activities include planning, design, and land acquisition re2 lated to such offices.

3 (g) WEATHER SERVICE MODERNIZATION.—The

4 Weather Service Modernization Act (15 U.S.C. 313 note)

5 is amended—

6 (1) in section 706—

7 (A) by amending subsection (b) to read as

8 follows:

9 ‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary may not close,

10 automate, or relocate any field office unless the Secretary

11 has certified to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

12 Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on

13 Science of the House of Representatives that such action

14 will not result in degradation of service to the affected

15 area. Such certification shall be in accordance with the

16 modernization criteria established under section 704.’’;

17 (B) by striking subsections (c), (d), (e),

18 and (f); and

19 (C) by inserting after subsection (b) the

20 following new subsections:

21 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES.—The Secretary may

22 not close or relocate any field office which is located at

23 an airport, if the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec24 retary of Transportation and the Committee, determines

25 as a result of an air safety appraisal that such action will
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1 result in degradation of service that affects aircraft safety.

2 This air safety appraisal shall be issued jointly by the De3 partment of Commerce and the Department of Transpor4 tation before September 30, 1996, and shall be based on

5 a coordinated review of all the airports in the United

6 States subject to the certification requirements of sub7 section (b). The appraisal shall—

8 ‘‘(1) consider the weather information required

9 to safely conduct aircraft operations and the extent

10 to which such information is currently derived

11 through manual observations provided by the Na12 tional Weather Service and the Federal Aviation Ad13 ministration, and automated observations provided

14 from other sources including the Automated Weath15 er Observation Service (AWOS), the Automated Sur16 face Observing System (ASOS), and the Geo17 stationary Operational Environmental Satellite

18 (GOES); and

19 ‘‘(2) determine whether the service provided by

20 ASOS, and ASOS augmented where necessary by

21 human observations, provides the necessary level of

22 service consistent with the service standards encom23 passed in the criteria for automation of the field of24 fices.
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1 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC LIAISON.—The Secretary shall maintain

2 for a period of at least two years after the closure of any

3 weather office a program to—

4 ‘‘(1) provide timely information regarding the

5 activities of the National Weather Service which may

6 affect service to the community, including mod7 ernization and restructuring; and

8 ‘‘(2) work with area weather service users, in9 cluding persons associated with general aviation,

10 civil defense, emergency preparedness, and the news

11 media, with respect to the provision of timely weath12 er warnings and forecasts.’’; and

13 (2) in section 707—

14 (A) by amending subsection (c) to read as

15 follows:

16 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The Committee shall advise the Con17 gress and the Secretary on—

18 ‘‘(1) the implementation of the Strategic Plan,

19 annual development of the Plan, and establishment

20 and implementation of modernization criteria; and

21 ‘‘(2) matters of public safety and the provision

22 of weather services which relate to the comprehen23 sive modernization of the National Weather Serv24 ice.’’; and
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1 (B) by amending subsection (f) to read as

2 follows:

3 ‘‘(f) TERMINATION.—The Committee shall termi4 nate—

5 ‘‘(1) on September 30, 1996; or

6 ‘‘(2) 90 days after the deadline for public com7 ment on the modernization criteria for closure cer8 tification published in the Federal Register pursuant

9 to section 704(b)(2),

10 whichever occurs later.’’.

11 (h) BI-AGENCY WORKING GROUP.—The National

12 Weather Service is encouraged to follow through on the

13 recommendation contained in the document entitled ‘‘Sec14 retary’s Report to Congress on Adequacy of NEXRAD

15 Coverage and Degradation of Weather Services Under Na16 tional Weather Service Modernization for 32 Areas of

17 Concern’’, dated October 12, 1995, to initiate a dialogue

18 with the Federal Aviation Administration to form a bi19 agency working group to further assess the potential for

20 National Weather Service operational use of Federal Avia21 tion Administration weather radar data, and to define en22 gineering considerations that would be involved in imple23 menting a data sharing link between the Federal Aviation

24 Administration and the National Weather Service.
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1 (i) NEXRAD OPERATIONAL AVAILABILITY AND RE2 LIABILITY.—(1) The Secretary of Defense, in conjunction

3 with the Administrator of the National Oceanic and At4 mospheric Administration, shall take immediate steps to

5 ensure that NEXRADs operated by the Department of

6 Defense that provide primary detection coverage over a

7 portion of their range function as fully committed, reliable

8 elements of the national weather radar network, operating

9 with the same standards, quality, and availability as the

10 National Weather Service-operated NEXRADs.

11 (2) NEXRADs operated by the Department of De12 fense that provide primary detection coverage over a por13 tion of their range are to be considered as integral parts

14 of the National Weather Radar Network.

15 SEC. 412. ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH.

16 (a) CLIMATE AND AIR QUALITY RESEARCH.—There

17 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to en18 able the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra19 tion to carry out its climate and air quality research du20 ties, $99,272,000 for fiscal year 1997. Such duties include

21 internannual and seasonal climate research and long-term

22 climate and air quality research.

23 (b) ATMOSPHERIC PROGRAMS.—There are author24 ized to be appropriated to the Secretary to enable the Na25 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to carry
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1 out its atmospheric research duties, $43,182,000 for fiscal

2 year 1997. Such duties include research for developing im3 proved prediction capabilities for atmospheric processes,

4 as well as solar-terrestrial research and services.

5 SEC. 413. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE, DATA,

6 AND INFORMATION SERVICE.

7 (a) SATELLITE OBSERVING SYSTEMS.—There are

8 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to enable

9 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to

10 carry out its satellite observing systems duties,

11 $287,997,000 for fiscal year 1997, to remain available

12 until expended. Such duties include spacecraft procure13 ment, launch, and associated ground station systems in14 volving polar orbiting and geostationary environmental

15 satellites, as well as the operation of such satellites. None

16 of the funds authorized under this subsection shall be used

17 for the purposes for which funds are authorized under sec18 tion 105(d) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad19 ministration Authorization Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–

20 567).

21 (b) POES PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION.—Of the sums

22 authorized in subsection (a), there are authorized to be

23 appropriated to the Secretary $147,664,000 for fiscal year

24 1997, to remain available until expended, for the procure25 ment and launch of, and supporting ground systems for,
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1 Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites, K, L, M, N, and

N1 2 .

3 (c) GEOSTATIONARY OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL

4 SATELLITES.—Of the sums authorized in subsection (a),

5 there are authorized to be appropriated to the Adminis6 trator $70,757,000 for fiscal year 1997, to remain avail7 able until expended to procure up to three additional Geo8 stationary Operational Environmental NEXT Satellites

9 (GOES I–M clones), instruments, and supporting ground

10 systems.

11 (d) NATIONAL POLAR-ORBITING OPERATIONAL EN12 VIRONMENTAL SATELLITE SYSTEM PROGRAM AUTHOR13 IZATION.—Of the sums authorized in subsection (a), there

14 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, for fis15 cal year 1997, $19,024,000, to remain available until ex16 pended, for the procurement of the National Polar-Orbit17 ing Operational Environmental Satellite System, and the

18 procurement of the launching and supporting ground sys19 tems of such satellites.

20 (e) ENVIRONMENTAL DATA AND INFORMATION

21 SERVICES.—There are authorized to be appropriated to

22 the Secretary to enable the National Oceanic and Atmos23 pheric Administration to carry out its environmental data

24 and information services duties, $44,898,000 for fiscal

25 year 1997. Such duties include climate data services, geo-
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1 physical data services, and environmental assessment and

2 information services.

3 Subtitle B—Program Support

4 SEC. 431. PROGRAM SUPPORT.

5 (a) EXECUTIVE DIRECTION AND ADMINISTRATIVE

6 ACTIVITIES.—There are authorized to be appropriated to

7 the Secretary, to enable the National Oceanic and Atmos8 pheric Administration to carry out executive direction and

9 administrative activities under the Act of 1970 and any

10 other law involving those activities, $20,000,000 for fiscal

11 year 1997.

12 (b) CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT.—There

13 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, to en14 able the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra15 tion to carry out central administrative support activities

16 under the Act of 1970 and any other law involving those

17 activities, $33,000,000 for fiscal year 1997.

18 (c) AIRCRAFT SERVICES.—There are authorized to be

19 appropriated to the Secretary, to enable the National Oce20 anic and Atmospheric Administration to carry out aircraft

21 services activities (including aircraft operations, mainte22 nance, and support) under the Act of 1970 and any other

23 law involving those activities, $9,153,000 for fiscal year

24 1997.
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1 (d) FACILITIES REPAIRS AND RENOVATIONS.—There

2 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, to en3 able the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra4 tion to carry out facilities repairs and renovations,

5 $7,546,000 for fiscal year 1997.

6 Subtitle C—Streamlining of

7 Operations

8 SEC. 441. PROGRAMS.

9 (a) PROGRAMS.—No funds are authorized to be ap10 propriated for the following programs and accounts:

11 (1) Federal/State Weather Modification Grants.

12 (2) The Southeast Storm Research Account.

13 (3) National Institute for Environmental Re14 newal.

15 (4) National Weather Service non-Federal, non16 wildfire Fire Weather Service.

17 (5) National Weather Service Regional Climate

18 Centers.

19 (6) National Weather Service Samoa Weather

20 Forecast Office Repair and Upgrade Account.

21 (7) Dissemination of Weather Charts (Marine

22 Facsimile Service).

23 (8) Global Learning and Observations to Bene24 fit the Environment program.
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1 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date

2 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit

3 to the Committee on Science of the House of Representa4 tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

5 Transportation of the Senate a report certifying that all

6 the programs listed in subsection (a) will be terminated

7 no later than September 30, 1996.

8 SEC. 442. REDUCTION IN TRAVEL BUDGET.

9 Of the sums appropriated under this Act for Oper10 ations, Research, and Facilities, no more than

11 $20,000,000 may be used for reimbursement of travel and

12 related expenses for National Oceanic and Atmospheric

13 Administration personnel.

14 Subtitle D—Miscellaneous

15 SEC. 451. WEATHER DATA BUOYS.

16 (a) PROHIBITION.—It shall be unlawful for any unau17 thorized person to remove, change the location of, ob18 struct, willfully damage, make fast to, or interfere with

19 any weather data buoy established, installed, operated, or

20 maintained by the National Data Buoy Center.

21 (b) CIVIL PENALTIES.—The Administrator is author22 ized to assess a civil penalty against any person who vio23 lates any provision of this section in an amount of not

24 more than $10,000 for each violation. Each day during

25 which such violation continues shall be considered a new
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1 offense. Such penalties shall be assessed after notice and

2 opportunity for a hearing.

3 (c) REWARDS.—The Administrator may offer and

4 pay rewards for the apprehension and conviction, or for

5 information helpful therein, of persons found interfering,

6 in violation of law, with data buoys maintained by the Na7 tional Data Buoy Center; or for information leading to

8 the discovery of missing National Weather Service prop9 erty or the recovery thereof.

10 SEC. 452. DUTIES OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—To protect life and property and

12 enhance the national economy, the Secretary, through the

13 National Weather Service, except as outlined in subsection

14 (b), shall be responsible for—

15 (1) forecasts and shall serve as the sole official

16 source of weather warnings;

17 (2) the issue of storm warnings;

18 (3) the collection, exchange, and distribution of

19 meteorological, hydrological, climatic, and oceano20 graphic data and information; and

21 (4) the preparation of hydrometeorological guid22 ance and core forecast information.

23 (b) COMPETITION WITH PRIVATE SECTOR.—The

24 National Weather Service shall not compete, or assist

25 other entities to compete, with the private sector when a
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1 service is currently provided or can be provided by com2 mercial enterprise, unless—

3 (1) the Secretary finds that the private sector

4 is unwilling or unable to provide the services; and

5 (2) the service provides vital weather warnings

6 and forecasts for the protection of lives and property

7 of the general public.

8 (c) AMENDMENTS.—The Act of 1890 is amended—

9 (1) by striking section 3 (15 U.S.C. 313); and

10 (2) in section 9 (15 U.S.C. 317), by striking all

11 after ‘‘Department of Agriculture’’ and inserting in

12 lieu thereof a period.

13 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the date

14 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit

15 to the Committee on Science of the House of Representa16 tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and

17 Transportation of the Senate a report detailing all Na18 tional Weather Service activities which do not conform to

19 the requirements of this section and outlining a timetable

20 for their termination.
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1 TITLE V—ENVIRONMENTAL

2 PROTECTION AGENCY

3 SEC. 501. SHORT TITLE.

4 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Environmental Re5 search, Development, and Demonstration Authorization

6 Act of 1996’’.

7 SEC. 502. DEFINITIONS.

8 For the purposes of this title, the term—

9 (1) ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Administrator

10 of the Environmental Protection Agency;

11 (2) ‘‘Agency’’ means the Environmental Protec12 tion Agency; and

13 (3) ‘‘Assistant Administrator’’ means the As14 sistant Administrator for Research and Development

15 of the Agency.

16 SEC. 503. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro18 priated to the Administrator $487,126,600 for fiscal year

19 1997 for Science and Technology activities, including pro20 gram management and support, in the areas specified in

21 subsection (b).

22 (b) SPECIFIC PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES.—Of the

23 amount authorized in subsection (a), there are authorized

24 to be appropriated the following:

25 (1) For air related research, $74,119,900.
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1 (2) For global change research, $1,400,000.

2 (3) For water quality related research,

3 $26,294,000.

4 (4) For drinking water related research,

5 $26,593,700.

6 (5) For toxic substances related research,

7 $12,341,500.

8 (6) For lab and field expenses, $73,031,600.

9 (7) For headquarters expenses of the Office of

10 Research and Development, $9,254,800.

11 (8) For multimedia related research expenses,

12 $174,060,100, of which $5,000,000 shall be for

13 graduate student fellowships.

14 (9) For program management expenses,

15 $6,399,000.

16 (10) For pesticide related research,

17 $20,632,000.

18 (11) For research related to hazardous waste,

19 $12,000,000.

20 (12) For environmental research laboratories,

21 $51,000,000.

22 (c) ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATIONS.—There are au23 thorized to be appropriated to the Administrator for fiscal

24 year 1997—
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1 (1) for oil pollution related research,

2 $2,076,900; and

3 (2) for research related to leaking underground

4 storage tanks, $769,000.

5 (d) LIMITATIONS.—No funds are authorized to be ap6 propriated by this title for—

7 (1) the Environmental Technology Initiative;

8 (2) the Climate Change Action Plan;

9 (3) North Dakota Center for Air Toxic Metals

10 Research;

11 (4) drinking water research conducted by the

12 American Water Works Association Research Foun13 dation, other than amounts awarded through a com14 petitive process;

15 (5) the Water Environment Research Founda16 tion;

17 (6) the National Urban Air Toxics Research

18 Center;

19 (7) the Gulf Coast Hazardous Substances Re20 search Center;

21 (8) urban waste management research at the

22 University of New Orleans, other than amounts

23 awarded through a competitive process;

24 (9) the Resources and Agricultural Policy Sys25 tems Program at Iowa State University; or
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1 (10) the Oil Spill Remediation Research Center.

2 SEC. 504. SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH REVIEW.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall assign to

4 the Assistant Administrator the duties of—

5 (1) developing a strategic plan for scientific and

6 technical research activities throughout the Agency;

7 (2) integrating that strategic plan into ongoing

8 Agency planning activities; and

9 (3) reviewing all Agency research to ensure the

10 research—

11 (A) is of high quality; and

12 (B) does not duplicate any other research

13 being conducted by the Agency.

14 (b) REPORT.—The Assistant Administrator shall

15 transmit annually to the Administrator and to the Com16 mittee on Science of the House of Representatives and the

17 Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Sen18 ate a report detailing—

19 (1) all Agency research the Assistant Adminis20 trator finds is not of sufficiently high quality; and

21 (2) all Agency research the Assistant Adminis22 trator finds duplicates other Agency research.

23 SEC. 505. GRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWSHIPS.

24 In carrying out the graduate student fellowship pro25 gram for which funds are authorized to be appropriated
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1 by this title, the Administrator shall ensure that any fel2 lowship award to a student selected after the date of the

3 enactment of this Act is used only to support scientific

4 research that would further missions of the Office of Re5 search and Development in fields in which there exists or

6 is projected to exist a shortage in the number of scientists.

7 SEC. 506. SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD.

8 (a) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Science Advisory Board

9 shall submit to Congress and to the Administrator an an10 nual report that contains the views of the Science Advisory

11 Board on proposed research programs as described in the

12 President’s budget for research, development, and dem13 onstration activities at the Environmental Protection

14 Agency. Such report shall be submitted to Congress as

15 soon as practicable after the submission of the President’s

16 budget to Congress. The Administrator shall cooperate

17 with the Director of the Science Advisory Board, particu18 larly with respect to the timely provision of budget infor19 mation to the Science Advisory Board, to allow the Science

20 Advisory Board to carry out its duties under this sub21 section.

22 (b) EVALUATION.—The Science Advisory Board shall

23 conduct periodic evaluations of selected areas of the cur24 rent and planned research, development, and demonstra25 tion activities of the Environmental Protection Agency.
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1 The areas of evaluation shall be selected by the Science

2 Advisory Board in consultation with the Administrator,

3 the Office of Research and Development, other Agency

4 programs, and appropriate committees of the Congress.

5 Reports containing the Science Advisory Board’s evalua6 tions and recommendations shall be filed with such com7 mittees and the Administrator. The Administrator shall

8 provide to such committees a written response to the

9 Science Advisory Board’s evaluation and recommendations

10 within 60 days after the Science Advisory Board’s report

11 has been submitted.

12 (c) REVIEW OF CERTAIN RESEARCH ACTIVITIES.—

13 The Science Advisory Board shall annually review the re14 search activities of the Environmental Protection Agency

15 and shall include the results of such review in the annual

16 report required by subsection (a).

17 (d) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator

18 shall submit to the Congress any report required by law

19 to be submitted to the Administrator by the Science Advi20 sory Board. The Administrator shall make any such sub21 mission not later than 60 days after the Administrator

22 receives the report from the Science Advisory Board.

23 SEC. 507. ENDOCRINE DISRUPTER RESEARCH PLANNING.

24 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the

25 ‘‘Endocrine Disrupter Research Planning Act of 1996’’.
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1 (b) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

2 (1) recent reports in the media have focused

3 public attention on a possible link between exposure

4 to chemicals that may mimic hormones and may

5 have adverse biological effects in humans and wild6 life, including carcinogenic, reproductive, neuro7 logical, and immunological effects, now commonly re8 ferred to as endocrine disrupters;

9 (2) given the significant scientific uncertainties

10 concerning the effects of such endocrine disrupters

11 on humans and wildlife, it cannot at this time be

12 concluded whether or not endocrine disrupters con13 stitute a significant threat to human health or the

14 environment;

15 (3) neither a conclusion that endocrine

16 disrupters pose an imminent and serious threat to

17 human health and the environment, nor a conclusion

18 that the risks are insignificant or exaggerated, is

19 warranted based on the present state of scientific

20 knowledge;

21 (4) additional research is needed to more accu22 rately characterize the risks of endocrine disrupters;

23 (5) risk assessment principles should be used to

24 guide the development of a coordinated research

25 plan to ensure that research results are relevant and
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1 adequate to objectively estimate risk to guide future

2 public policy decisions;

3 (6) research carried out by the Federal Govern4 ment should be done in a planned and coordinated

5 manner to ensure that limited resources are spent

6 efficiently and that critical information gaps are

7 filled as quickly as possible; and

8 (7) researchers from academia, industry, and

9 Federal laboratories should coordinate efforts to

10 prioritize research topics, identify capital needs, and,

11 in general, develop a comprehensive research plan to

12 address important scientific and policy questions

13 surrounding the potential effects of such chemicals.

14 (c) RESEARCH PLANNING REPORT.—

15 (1) REPORT.—The Administrator, in coordina16 tion with other Federal agencies with scientific ex17 pertise in areas relevant to assessing the human

18 health and ecological risks of endocrine disrupters,

19 shall submit to Congress, along with the President’s

20 Budget Request for Fiscal Year 1998, a plan for

21 conducting research needed to objectively assess and

22 characterize the risk of endocrine disrupters on

23 human health and the environment.

24 (2) CONTENTS.—The plan submitted under this

25 section shall include—
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1 (A) the role of each participating agency in

2 the research plan and the resources required by

3 each agency to carry out the research plan, in4 cluding human and capital resources needed to

5 ensure that agencies have appropriate expertise,

6 facilities, and analytical capabilities to meet the

7 goals of the research plan;

8 (B) the mechanisms by which each agency

9 will carry out research, including the use of

10 Federal laboratory facilities, extramural grants

11 and contracts, and cooperative research and de12 velopment agreements with universities, re13 search centers, and the private sector, and

14 mechanisms to avoid duplication of effort and

15 for appropriate peer review, including independ16 ent and external peer review of Federal agency

17 intramural research;

18 (C) specific research strategies and

19 timelines for addressing the critical information

20 gaps with respect to hazard identification, dose21 response assessment, and exposure assessment;

22 and

23 (D) an assessment of the current state of

24 scientific knowledge concerning effects of syn25 thetic and naturally occurring endocrine
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1 disrupters on human health and the environ2 ment, including identification of scientific un3 certainties unlikely to be capable of significant

4 resolution in the near term, studies which sup5 port or fail to support conclusions of adverse

6 public health effects, and the opportunity for

7 public comment on such assessment.

8 (d) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section is in9 tended to alter, enhance, or otherwise affect any statutory

10 authority of the Environmental Protection Agency or any

11 other Federal regulatory agency to regulate substances

12 which may pose a threat to the public health or the envi13 ronment.

14 TITLE VI—NATIONAL INSTITUTE

15 OF STANDARDS AND TECH16 NOLOGY

17 SEC. 601. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

18 There are authorized to be appropriated the follow19 ing:

20 (1) For Scientific and Technical Research and

21 Services of the National Institute of Standards and

22 Technology, $280,600,000 for fiscal year 1997, of

23 which—

24 (A) $38,407,000 shall be for Electronics

25 and Electrical Engineering;
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1 (B) $18,747,000 shall be for Manufactur2 ing Engineering;

3 (C) $33,939,000 shall be for Chemical

4 Science and Technology;

5 (D) $28,048,000 shall be for Physics;

6 (E) $54,589,000 shall be for Material

7 Science and Engineering;

8 (F) $13,085,000 shall be for Building and

9 Fire Research;

10 (G) $43,076,000 shall be for Computer

11 Science and Applied Mathematics;

12 (H) $18,950,000 shall be for Technical As13 sistance;

14 (I) $28,772,000 shall be for Research Sup15 port; and

16 (J) $2,987,000 shall be for the Malcolm

17 Baldrige National Quality Program under sec18 tion 17 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology In19 novation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3711a); and

20 (2) for Construction of Research Facilities of

21 the National Institute of Standards and Technology,

22 $105,240,000 for fiscal year 1997.
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1 TITLE VII—FEDERAL AVIATION

2 ADMINISTRATION RESEARCH,

3 ENGINEERING, AND DEVEL4 OPMENT

5 SEC. 701. SHORT TITLE.

6 This title may be cited as the ‘‘FAA Research, Engi7 neering, and Development Management Reform Act of

8 1996’’.

9 SEC. 702. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

10 Section 48102(a) of title 49, United States Code, is

11 amended—

12 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

13 (1)(J);

14 (2) by striking the period at the end of para15 graph (2)(J) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘; and’’;

16 and

17 (3) by adding at the end the following new

18 paragraph:

19 ‘‘(3) for fiscal year 1997—

20 ‘‘(A) $10,000,000 for system development

21 and infrastructure projects and activities;

22 ‘‘(B) $39,911,000 for capacity and air

23 traffic management technology projects and ac24 tivities;
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1 ‘‘(C) $20,371,000 for communications,

2 navigation, and surveillance projects and activi3 ties;

4 ‘‘(D) $6,411,000 for weather projects and

5 activities;

6 ‘‘(E) $6,000,000 for airport technology

7 projects and activities;

8 ‘‘(F) $37,978,000 for aircraft safety tech9 nology projects and activities;

10 ‘‘(G) $36,045,000 for system security tech11 nology projects and activities;

12 ‘‘(H) $23,682,000 for human factors and

13 aviation medicine projects and activities;

14 ‘‘(I) $3,800,000 for environment and en15 ergy projects and activities; and

16 ‘‘(J) $1,500,000 for innovative/cooperative

17 research projects and activities.’’.

18 SEC. 703. RESEARCH PRIORITIES.

19 Section 48102(b) of title 49, United States Code, is

20 amended—

21 (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para22 graph (3); and

23 (2) by striking ‘‘AVAILABILITY FOR RE24 SEARCH.—(1)’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘RE25 SEARCH PRIORITIES.—(1) The Administrator shall
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1 consider the advice and recommendations of the re2 search advisory committee established by section

3 44508 of this title in establishing priorities among

4 major categories of research and development activi5 ties carried out by the Federal Aviation Administra6 tion.

7 ‘‘(2)’’.

8 SEC. 704. RESEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

9 Section 44508(a)(1) of title 49, United States Code,

10 is amended—

11 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara12 graph (B);

13 (2) by striking the period at the end of sub14 paragraph (C) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘; and’’;

15 and

16 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol17 lowing new subparagraph:

18 ‘‘(D) annually review the allocation made by the

19 Administrator of the amounts authorized by section

20 48102(a) of this title among the major categories of

21 research and development activities carried out by

22 the Administration and provide advice and rec23 ommendations to the Administrator on whether such

24 allocation is appropriate to meet the needs and ob25 jectives identified under subparagraph (A).’’.
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1 SEC. 705. NATIONAL AVIATION RESEARCH PLAN.

2 Section 44501(c) of title 49, United States Code, is

3 amended—

4 (1) in paragraph (2)(A) by striking ‘‘15-year’’

5 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘5-year’’;

6 (2) by amending subparagraph (B) to read as

7 follows:

8 ‘‘(B) The plan shall—

9 ‘‘(i) provide estimates by year of the schedule,

10 cost, and work force levels for each active and

11 planned major research and development project

12 under sections 40119, 44504, 44505, 44507, 44509,

13 44511–44513, and 44912 of this title, including ac14 tivities carried out under cooperative agreements

15 with other Federal departments and agencies;

16 ‘‘(ii) specify the goals and the priorities for allo17 cation of resources among the major categories of

18 research and development activities, including the

19 rationale for the priorities identified;

20 ‘‘(iii) identify the allocation of resources among

21 long-term research, near-term research, and develop22 ment activities; and

23 ‘‘(iv) highlight the research and development

24 activities that address specific recommendations of

25 the research advisory committee established under

26 section 44508 of this title, and document the rec-
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1 ommendations of the committee that are not accept2 ed, specifying the reasons for nonacceptance.’’; and

3 (3) in paragraph (3) by inserting ‘‘, including

4 a description of the dissemination to the private sec5 tor of research results and a description of any new

6 technologies developed’’ after ‘‘during the prior fiscal

7 year’’.

8 TITLE VIII—NATIONAL EARTH9 QUAKE HAZARDS REDUCTION

10 PROGRAM

11 SEC. 801. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

12 Section 12 of the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act

13 of 1977 (42 U.S.C. 7706) is amended—

14 (1) in subsection (a)(7) by striking ‘‘and

15 $25,750,000 for the fiscal year ending September

16 30, 1996’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

17 ‘‘$25,750,000 for the fiscal year ending September

18 30, 1996, and $18,825,000 for the fiscal year end19 ing September 30, 1997’’;

20 (2) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘and

21 $50,676,000 for the fiscal year ending September

22 30, 1996’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

23 ‘‘$50,676,000 for the fiscal year ending September

24 30, 1996, and $46,130,000 for the fiscal year end25 ing September 30, 1997’’;
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1 (3) in subsection (c) by adding at the end the

2 following new sentence: ‘‘There are authorized to be

3 appropriated, out of funds otherwise authorized to

4 be appropriated to the National Science Foundation,

5 $28,400,000 for fiscal year 1997, including

6 $17,500,000 for engineering research and

7 $10,900,000 for geosciences research.’’; and

8 (4) in subsection (d) by adding at the end the

9 following new sentence: ‘‘There are authorized to be

10 appropriated, out of funds otherwise authorized to

11 be appropriated to the National Institute of Stand12 ards and Technology, $1,932,000 for fiscal year

13 1997.’’.

14 TITLE IX—MISCELLANEOUS

15 SEC. 901. PROHIBITION OF LOBBYING ACTIVITIES.

16 None of the funds authorized by this Act shall be

17 available for any activity whose purpose is to influence leg18 islation pending before the Congress, except that this shall

19 not prevent officers or employees of the United States or

20 of its departments or agencies from communicating to

21 Members of Congress on the request of any Member or

22 to Congress, through the proper channels, requests for leg23 islation or appropriations which they deem necessary for

24 the efficient conduct of the public business.
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1 SEC. 902. LIMITATION ON APPROPRIATIONS.

2 (a) EXCLUSIVE AUTHORIZATION FOR FISCAL YEAR

3 1997.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no

4 sums are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year

5 1997 for the activities for which sums are authorized by

6 this Act unless such sums are specifically authorized to

7 be appropriated by this Act.

8 (b) SUBSEQUENT FISCAL YEARS.—No sums are au9 thorized to be appropriated for any fiscal year after fiscal

10 year 1997 for the activities for which sums are authorized

11 by this Act unless such sums are specifically authorized

12 to be appropriated by Act of Congress with respect to such

13 fiscal year.

14 SEC. 903. ELIGIBILITY FOR AWARDS.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The head of each Federal agency

16 for which funds are authorized under this Act shall ex17 clude from consideration for awards of financial assistance

18 made by that agency after fiscal year 1996 any person

19 who received funds, other than those described in sub20 section (b), appropriated for a fiscal year after fiscal year

21 1996, from any Federal funding source for a project that

22 was not subjected to a competitive, merit-based award

23 process. Any exclusion from consideration pursuant to this

24 section shall be effective for a period of 5 years after the

25 person receives such Federal funds.
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1 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to

2 awards to persons who are members of a class specified

3 by law for which assistance is awarded to members of the

4 class according to a formula provided by law.

5 SEC. 904. BUY AMERICAN.

6 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con7 gress that any recipient of a grant under this Act, or

8 under any amendment made by this Act, should purchase,

9 when available and cost-effective, American made equip10 ment and products when expending grant monies.

11 (b) NOTICE TO RECIPIENTS OF ASSISTANCE.—In al12 locating grants under this Act, or under any amendment

13 made by this Act, the Secretary shall provide to each re14 cipient a notice describing the statement made in sub15 section (a) by the Congress.

16 SEC. 905. ROTC ACCESS TO CAMPUSES.

17 (a) DENIAL OF GRANTS AND CONTRACTS.—(1) No

18 funds appropriated for civilian science activities of the

19 Federal Government may be provided by contract or by

20 grant (including a grant of funds to be available for stu21 dent aid) to any institution of higher education that, as

22 determined by the agency to which the funds were appro23 priated, in consultation with other appropriate Federal

24 agencies, has an anti-ROTC policy.
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1 (2) In the case of an institution of higher education

2 that is ineligible for grants and contracts by reason of

3 paragraph (1), the prohibition under that paragraph shall

4 cease to apply to that institution upon a determination

5 by the agency to which the funds were appropriated, in

6 consultation with other appropriate Federal agencies, that

7 the institution no longer has an anti-ROTC policy.

8 (b) NOTICE OF DETERMINATION.—Whenever an

9 agency makes a determination under subsection (a) that

10 an institution has an anti-ROTC policy, or that an institu11 tion previously determined to have an anti-ROTC policy

12 no longer has such a policy, the agency—

13 (1) shall transmit notice of that determination

14 to the Secretary of Education and the Congress; and

15 (2) shall publish in the Federal Register notice

16 of that determination and of the effect of that deter17 mination under subsection (a) on the eligibility of

18 that institution for grants and contracts.

19 (c) SEMIANNUAL NOTICE IN FEDERAL REGISTER.—

20 Each agency shall publish in the Federal Register once

21 every six months a list of each institution of higher edu22 cation that is currently ineligible for grants and contracts

23 by reason of a determination of the agency under sub24 section (a).
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1 (d) ANTI-ROTC POLICY.—In this section, the term

2 ‘‘anti-ROTC policy’’ means a policy or practice of an insti3 tution of higher education that—

4 (1) prohibits, or in effect prevents, the main5 taining or establishing of a unit of the Senior Re6 serve Officer Training Corps at that institution; or

7 (2) prohibits, or in effect prevents, a student at

8 that institution from enrolling in a unit of the Sen9 ior Reserve Officer Training Corps at another insti10 tution of higher education,

11 but does not include a longstanding policy of pacifism

12 based on historical religious affiliation.

13 SEC. 906. RECRUITING ON CAMPUS.

14 (a) DENIAL OF FUNDS.—(1) No funds appropriated

15 for civilian science activities of the Federal Government

16 may be provided by grant or contract (including a grant

17 of funds to be available for student aid) to any institution

18 of higher education that, as determined by the agency to

19 which the funds were appropriated, in consultation with

20 other appropriate Federal agencies, has a policy of deny21 ing, or which effectively prevents—

22 (A) entry to campuses or access to students on

23 campuses; or

24 (B) access to directory information pertaining

25 to students,
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1 for purposes of military recruiting. This paragraph shall

2 not apply to a longstanding policy of pacifism based on

3 historical religious affiliation.

4 (2) In the case of an institution of higher education

5 that is ineligible for grants and contracts by reason of

6 paragraph (1), the prohibition under that paragraph shall

7 cease to apply to that institution upon a determination

8 by the agency to which the funds were appropriated, in

9 consultation with other appropriate Federal agencies, that

10 the institution no longer has a policy described in para11 graph (1).

12 (3) Students referred to in paragraph (1) are individ13 uals who are 17 years of age or older.

14 (b) NOTICE OF DETERMINATION.—Whenever an

15 agency makes a determination under subsection (a) that

16 an institution has a policy described in subsection (a), or

17 that an institution previously determined to have such a

18 policy no longer has such a policy, the agency—

19 (1) shall transmit notice of that determination

20 to the Secretary of Education and the Congress; and

21 (2) shall publish in the Federal Register notice

22 of that determination and of the effect of that deter23 mination under subsection (a) on the eligibility of

24 that institution for grants and contracts.
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1 (c) SEMIANNUAL NOTICE IN FEDERAL REGISTER.—

2 Each agency shall publish in the Federal Register once

3 every six months a list of each institution of higher edu4 cation that is currently ineligible for grants and contracts

5 by reason of a determination of the agency under sub6 section (a).

7 (d) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

8 term ‘‘directory information’’ means, with respect to a stu9 dent, the student’s name, address, telephone listing, date

10 and place of birth, level of education, degrees received, and

11 the most recent previous educational institution enrolled

12 in by the student.

13 TITLE X—FURTHER

14 AUTHORIZATIONS

15 SEC. 1001. FURTHER AUTHORIZATIONS.

16 There are authorized to be appropriated $90,000,000

17 for the Manufacturing Extension Partnerships program

18 under sections 25 and 26 of the National Institute of

19 Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k and 278l)

20 for fiscal year 1997. None of the funds authorized by this

21 section may be used to establish a new Center.

Passed the House of Representatives May 30, 1996.

Attest: ROBIN H. CARLE,

Clerk.

By LINDA NAVE,

Deputy Clerk.