110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1868

AN ACT

To authorize appropriations for the National Institute of 

Standards and Technology for fiscal years 2008, 2009, 

and 2010, 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 ‘‘Technology Innovation and Manufacturing Stimulation 

4 Act of 2007’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

6 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS 

Sec. 101. Scientific and technical research and services. 

Sec. 102. Industrial technology services. 

TITLE II—INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY REFORMS 

Sec. 201. Institute-wide planning report. 

Sec. 202. Report by Visiting Committee. 

Sec. 203. Manufacturing extension partnership. 

Sec. 204. Technology Innovation Program. 

Sec. 205. Research fellowships. 

Sec. 206. Collaborative manufacturing research pilot grants. 

Sec. 207. Manufacturing fellowship program. 

Sec. 208. Meetings of Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology. 

Sec. 209. Manufacturing research database. 

TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

Sec. 301. Post-doctoral fellows. 

Sec. 302. Financial agreements clarification. 

Sec. 303. Working capital fund transfers. 

Sec. 304. Retention of depreciation surcharge. 

Sec. 305. Non-Energy Inventions Program. 

Sec. 306. Redefinition of the metric system. 

Sec. 307. Repeal of redundant and obsolete authority. 

Sec. 308. Clarification of standard time and time zones. 

Sec. 309. Procurement of temporary and intermittent services. 

Sec. 310. Malcolm Baldrige awards.

7 TITLE I—AUTHORIZATION OF 

8 APPROPRIATIONS 

9 SEC. 101. SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL RESEARCH AND 

10 SERVICES. 

11 (a) LABORATORY ACTIVITIES.—There are authorized 

12 to be appropriated to the Secretary of Commerce for the 
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1 scientific and technical research and services laboratory 

2 activities of the National Institute of Standards and Tech3 nology—

4 (1) $470,879,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

5 (2) $497,750,000 for fiscal year 2009; and 

6 (3) $537,569,000 for fiscal year 2010. 

7 (b) MALCOLM BALDRIGE NATIONAL QUALITY

8 AWARD PROGRAM.—There are authorized to be appro9 priated to the Secretary of Commerce for the Malcolm 

10 Baldrige National Quality Award program under section 

11 17 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 

12 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3711a)—

13 (1) $7,860,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

14 (2) $8,096,000 for fiscal year 2009; and 

15 (3) $8,339,000 for fiscal year 2010. 

16 (c) CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE.—There are 

17 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Com18 merce for construction and maintenance of facilities of the 

19 National Institute of Standards and Technology—

20 (1) $93,865,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

21 (2) $86,371,000 for fiscal year 2009; and 

22 (3) $49,719,000 for fiscal year 2010. 

23 SEC. 102. INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY SERVICES. 

24 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec25 retary of Commerce for Industrial Technology Services ac-
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1 tivities of the National Institute of Standards and Tech2 nology—

3 (1) $222,968,000 for fiscal year 2008, of 

4 which—

5 (A) $110,000,000 shall be for the Tech6 nology Innovation Program under section 28 of 

7 the National Institute of Standards and Tech8 nology Act (15 U.S.C. 278n), of which at least 

9 $45,000,000 shall be for new awards; and 

10 (B) $112,968,000 shall be for the Manu11 facturing Extension Partnership program under 

12 sections 25 and 26 of the National Institute of 

13 Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k 

14 and 278l), of which not more than $1,000,000 

15 shall be for the competitive grant program 

16 under section 25(f) of such Act; 

17 (2) $263,505,000 for fiscal year 2009, of 

18 which—

19 (A) $141,500,000 shall be for the Tech20 nology Innovation Program under section 28 of 

21 the National Institute of Standards and Tech22 nology Act (15 U.S.C. 278n), of which at least 

23 $45,000,000 shall be for new awards; and 

24 (B) $122,005,000 shall be for the Manu25 facturing Extension Partnership Program 
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1 under sections 25 and 26 of the National Insti2 tute of Standards and Technology Act (15 

3 U.S.C. 278k and 278l), of which not more than 

4 $4,000,000 shall be for the competitive grant 

5 program under section 25(f) of such Act; and 

6 (3) $282,266,000 for fiscal year 2010, of 

7 which—

8 (A) $150,500,000 shall be for the Tech9 nology Innovation Program under section 28 of 

10 the National Institute of Standards and Tech11 nology Act (15 U.S.C. 278n), of which at least 

12 $45,000,000 shall be for new awards; and 

13 (B) $131,766,000 shall be for the Manu14 facturing Extension Partnership Program 

15 under sections 25 and 26 of the National Insti16 tute of Standards and Technology Act (15 

17 U.S.C. 278k and 278l), of which not more than 

18 $4,000,000 shall be for the competitive grant 

19 program under section 25(f) of such Act. 

20 TITLE II—INNOVATION AND 

21 TECHNOLOGY POLICY REFORMS 

22 SEC. 201. INSTITUTE-WIDE PLANNING REPORT. 

23 Section 23 of the National Institute of Standards and 

24 Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278i) is amended by adding 

25 at the end the following new subsections: 
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1 ‘‘(c) Concurrent with the submission to Congress of 

2 the President’s annual budget request in the first year 

3 after the date of enactment of the Technology Innovation 

4 and Manufacturing Stimulation Act of 2007, the Director 

5 shall transmit to the Congress a 3-year programmatic 

6 planning document for the Institute, including programs 

7 under the Scientific and Technical Research and Services, 

8 Industrial Technology Services, and Construction of Re9 search Facilities functions. 

10 ‘‘(d) Concurrent with the submission to the Congress 

11 of the President’s annual budget request in each year after 

12 the date of enactment of the Technology Innovation and 

13 Manufacturing Stimulation Act of 2007, the Director shall 

14 transmit to the Congress an update to the 3-year pro15 grammatic planning document transmitted under sub16 section (c), revised to cover the first 3 fiscal years after 

17 the date of that update.’’. 

18 SEC. 202. REPORT BY VISITING COMMITTEE. 

19 Section 10(h)(1) of the National Institute of Stand20 ards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278(h)(1)) is amend21 ed—

22 (1) by striking ‘‘on or before January 31 in 

23 each year’’ and inserting ‘‘within 30 days after the 

24 submission to Congress of the President’s annual 

25 budget request in each year’’; and 
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1 (2) by adding to the end the following: ‘‘Such 

2 report also shall comment on the programmatic 

3 planning document and updates thereto transmitted 

4 to the Congress by the Director under section 23(c) 

5 and (d).’’. 

6 SEC. 203. MANUFACTURING EXTENSION PARTNERSHIP. 

7 (a) MEP ADVISORY BOARD.—Section 25 of the Na8 tional Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 

9 U.S.C. 278k) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing new subsection: 

11 ‘‘(e) MEP ADVISORY BOARD.—(1) There is estab12 lished within the Institute a Manufacturing Extension 

13 Partnership Advisory Board (in this Act referred to as the 

14 ‘MEP Advisory Board’). The MEP Advisory Board shall 

15 consist of 10 members broadly representative of stake16 holders, to be appointed by the Director. At least 2 mem17 bers shall be employed by or on an advisory board for the 

18 Centers, and at least 5 other members shall be from 

19 United States small businesses in the manufacturing sec20 tor. No member shall be an employee of the Federal Gov21 ernment. 

22 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B) or 

23 (C), the term of office of each member of the MEP Advi24 sory Board shall be 3 years. 
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1 ‘‘(B) The original members of the MEP Advisory 

2 Board shall be appointed to 3 classes. One class of 3 mem3 bers shall have an initial term of 1 year, one class of 3 

4 members shall have an initial term of 2 years, and one 

5 class of 4 members shall have an initial term of 3 years. 

6 ‘‘(C) Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occur7 ring prior to the expiration of the term for which his pred8 ecessor was appointed shall be appointed for the remain9 der of such term. 

10 ‘‘(D) Any person who has completed two consecutive 

11 full terms of service on the MEP Advisory Board shall 

12 thereafter be ineligible for appointment during the one13 year period following the expiration of the second such 

14 term. 

15 ‘‘(3) The MEP Advisory Board shall meet no less 

16 than 2 times annually, and provide to the Director—

17 ‘‘(A) advice on Manufacturing Extension Part18 nership programs, plans, and policies; 

19 ‘‘(B) assessments of the soundness of Manufac20 turing Extension Partnership plans and strategies; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(C) assessments of current performance 

23 against Manufacturing Extension Partnership pro24 gram plans. 
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1 ‘‘(4) In discharging its duties under this subsection, 

2 the MEP Advisory Board shall function solely in an advi3 sory capacity, in accordance with the Federal Advisory 

4 Committee Act. 

5 ‘‘(5) The MEP Advisory Board shall transmit an an6 nual report to the Secretary for transmittal to the Con7 gress within 30 days after the submission to the Congress 

8 of the President’s annual budget request in each year. 

9 Such report shall address the status of the Manufacturing 

10 Extension Partnership program and comment on the rel11 evant sections of the programmatic planning document 

12 and updates thereto transmitted to the Congress by the 

13 Director under section 23(c) and (d).’’. 

14 (b) ACCEPTANCE OF FUNDS.—Section 25(d) of the 

15 National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 

16 U.S.C. 278k(d)) is amended to read as follows: 

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

18 sums as may be appropriated to the Secretary and Direc19 tor to operate the Centers program, the Secretary and Di20 rector also may accept funds from other Federal depart21 ments and agencies and under section 2(c)(7) from the 

22 private sector for the purpose of strengthening United 

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

24 or Centers, shall not be considered in the calculation of 
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1 the Federal share of capital and annual operating and 

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

3 (c) MANUFACTURING EXTENSION CENTER COMPETI4 TIVE GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 25 of the National Insti5 tute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k), 

6 as amended by subsection (a) of this section, is further 

7 amended by adding at the end the following new sub8 section: 

9 ‘‘(f) COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM.—

10 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall es11 tablish, within the Manufacturing Extension Part12 nership program under this section and section 26 

13 of this Act, a program of competitive awards among 

14 participants described in paragraph (2) for the pur15 poses described in paragraph (3). 

16 ‘‘(2) PARTICIPANTS.—Participants receiving 

17 awards under this subsection shall be the Centers, or 

18 a consortium of such Centers. 

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

20 under this subsection is to develop projects to solve 

21 new or emerging manufacturing problems as deter22 mined by the Director, in consultation with the Di23 rector of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

24 program, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

25 Advisory Board, and small and medium-sized manu-
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1 facturers. One or more themes for the competition 

2 may be identified, which may vary from year to year, 

3 depending on the needs of manufacturers and the 

4 success of previous competitions. These themes shall 

5 be related to projects associated with manufacturing 

6 extension activities, including supply chain integra7 tion and quality management, and including the 

8 transfer of technology based on the technological 

9 needs of manufacturers and available technologies 

10 from institutions of higher education, laboratories, 

11 and other technology producing entities, or extend 

12 beyond these traditional areas. 

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

14 under this subsection shall be submitted in such 

15 manner, at such time, and containing such informa16 tion as the Director shall require, in consultation 

17 with the Manufacturing Extension Partnership Advi18 sory Board. 

19 ‘‘(5) SELECTION.—Awards under this sub20 section shall be peer reviewed and competitively 

21 awarded. The Director shall select proposals to re22 ceive awards—

23 ‘‘(A) that utilize innovative or collaborative 

24 approaches to solving the problem described in 

25 the competition; 
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1 ‘‘(B) that will improve the competitiveness 

2 of industries in the region in which the Center 

3 or Centers are located; and 

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

5 economic stability of that region. 

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

7 awards under this subsection shall not be required 

8 to provide a matching contribution.’’. 

9 SEC. 204. TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION PROGRAM. 

10 Section 28 of the National Institute of Standards and 

11 Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278n) is amended to read as 

12 follows: 

13 ‘‘TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION PROGRAM

14 ‘‘SEC. 28. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is estab15 lished in the Institute a Technology Innovation Program 

16 for the purpose of assisting United States businesses and 

17 institutions of higher education or other organizations, 

18 such as national laboratories and nonprofit research insti19 tutes, to accelerate the research and development and ap20 plication of challenging, high-risk, high-reward tech21 nologies in areas of critical national need that promise 

22 widespread economic benefits for the Nation. 

23 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall make 

25 grants under this section for research and develop26 ment on high-risk, high-reward emerging and ena-
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1 bling technologies (including any technological appli2 cation that uses biological systems, living organisms, 

3 or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or 

4 processes for specific use) that address critical na5 tional needs and have a wide breadth of potential 

6 application, and form an important technical basis 

7 for future innovations. Such grants shall be made 

8 to—

9 ‘‘(A) eligible companies that are small- or 

10 medium-sized businesses that are substantially 

11 involved in the research and development, in12 cluding having a leadership role in program13 matically steering the project and defining the 

14 research agenda; or 

15 ‘‘(B) joint ventures. 

16 ‘‘(2) SINGLE COMPANY GRANTS.—No grant 

17 made under paragraph (1)(A) shall exceed 

18 $3,000,000 over 3 years. The Federal share of a 

19 project funded by such a grant shall not be more 

20 than 50 percent of total project costs. An award 

21 under paragraph (1)(A) may be extended beyond 3 

22 years only if the Director transmits to the Com23 mittee on Science and Technology of the House of 

24 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

25 Science, and Transportation of the Senate a full and 
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1 complete explanation of such award, including rea2 sons for exceeding 3 years. Federal funds granted 

3 under paragraph (1)(A) may be used only for direct 

4 costs and not for indirect costs, profits, or manage5 ment fees of a contractor. 

6 ‘‘(3) JOINT VENTURE GRANTS.—No grant made 

7 under paragraph (1)(B) shall exceed $9,000,000 

8 over 5 years. The Federal share of a project funded 

9 by such a grant shall not be more than 50 percent 

10 of total project costs. 

11 ‘‘(c) AWARD CRITERIA.—The Director shall award 

12 grants under this section only to an eligible company—

13 ‘‘(1) whose proposal has scientific and techno14 logical merit; 

15 ‘‘(2) whose application establishes that the pro16 posed technology has strong potential to generate 

17 substantial benefits to the Nation that extend sig18 nificantly beyond the direct return to the applicant; 

19 ‘‘(3) whose application establishes that the re20 search has strong potential for advancing the state21 of-the-art and contributing significantly to the 

22 United States scientific and technical knowledge 

23 base; 
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1 ‘‘(4) whose application establishes that the re2 search is aimed at overcoming a scientific or techno3 logical barrier; 

4 ‘‘(5) who has provided a technical plan that 

5 clearly identifies the core innovation, the technical 

6 approach, major technical hurdles, and the attend7 ant risks, and that clearly establishes the feasibility 

8 of the technology through adequately detailed plans 

9 linked to major technical barriers; 

10 ‘‘(6) whose application establishes that the 

11 team proposed to carry out the work has a high level 

12 of scientific and technical expertise to conduct re13 search and development, has a high level of commit14 ment to the project, and has access to appropriate 

15 research facilities; 

16 ‘‘(7) whose proposal explains why Technology 

17 Innovation Program support is necessary; 

18 ‘‘(8) whose application includes a plan for ad19 vancing the technology into commercial use; and 

20 ‘‘(9) whose application assesses the project’s or21 ganizational structure and management plan. 

22 ‘‘(d) EXTERNAL REVIEW OF PROPOSALS.—In order 

23 to analyze the need for or the value of any proposal made 

24 by a joint venture or company requesting the Director’s 

25 assistance under this section, or to monitor the progress 
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1 of any project which receives funds under this section, the 

2 Director shall consult with industry or other expert 

3 sources that do not have a proprietary or financial interest 

4 in the proposal or project. 

5 ‘‘(e) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OWNER6 SHIP.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Title to any intellectual 

8 property developed by a joint venture from assist9 ance provided under this section may vest in any 

10 participant in the joint venture, as agreed by the 

11 members of the joint venture, notwithstanding sec12 tion 202(a) and (b) of title 35, United States Code. 

13 The United States may reserve a nonexclusive, non14 transferable, irrevocable paid-up license, to have 

15 practiced for or on behalf of the United States in 

16 connection with any such intellectual property, but 

17 shall not in the exercise of such license publicly dis18 close proprietary information related to the license. 

19 Title to any such intellectual property shall not be 

20 transferred or passed, except to a participant in the 

21 joint venture, until the expiration of the first patent 

22 obtained in connection with such intellectual prop23 erty. 

24 ‘‘(2) LICENSING.—Nothing in this subsection 

25 shall be construed to prohibit the licensing to any 
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1 company of intellectual property rights arising from 

2 assistance provided under this section. 

3 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub4 section, the term ‘intellectual property’ means an in5 vention patentable under title 35, United States 

6 Code, or any patent on such an invention, or any 

7 work for which copyright protection is available 

8 under title 17, United States Code. 

9 ‘‘(f) PROGRAM OPERATION.—Not later than 9 

10 months after the date of enactment of the Technology In11 novation and Manufacturing Stimulation Act of 2007, the 

12 Director shall issue regulations—

13 ‘‘(1) establishing criteria for the selection of re14 cipients of assistance under this section; 

15 ‘‘(2) establishing procedures regarding financial 

16 reporting and auditing to ensure that contracts and 

17 awards are used for the purposes specified in this 

18 section, are in accordance with sound accounting 

19 practices, and are not funding existing or planned 

20 research programs that would be conducted in the 

21 same time period in the absence of financial assist22 ance under this section; and 

23 ‘‘(3) providing for appropriate dissemination of 

24 Technology Innovation Program research results. 
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1 ‘‘(g) CONTINUATION OF ATP GRANTS.—The Direc2 tor shall, through the Technology Innovation Program, 

3 continue to provide support originally awarded under the 

4 Advanced Technology Program, in accordance with the 

5 terms of the original award. 

6 ‘‘(h) COORDINATION WITH OTHER STATE AND FED7 ERAL TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS.—In carrying out this sec8 tion, the Director shall, as appropriate, coordinate with 

9 other senior State and Federal officials to ensure coopera10 tion and coordination in State and Federal technology pro11 grams and to avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts. 

12 ‘‘(i) ACCEPTANCE OF FUNDS FROM OTHER FED13 ERAL AGENCIES.—In addition to amounts appropriated to 

14 carry out this section, the Secretary and the Director may 

15 accept funds from other Federal agencies to support 

16 awards under the Technology Innovation Program. Any 

17 award under this section which is supported with funds 

18 from other Federal agencies shall be selected and carried 

19 out according to the provisions of this section. 

20 ‘‘(j) TIP ADVISORY BOARD.—

21 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 

22 within the Institute a Technology Innovation Pro23 gram Advisory Board. The TIP Advisory Board 

24 shall consist of 10 members appointed by the Direc25 tor, at least 7 of which shall be from United States 
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1 industry, chosen to reflect the wide diversity of tech2 nical disciplines and industrial sectors represented in 

3 Technology Innovation Program projects. No mem4 ber shall be an employee of the Federal Government. 

5 ‘‘(2) TERMS OF OFFICE.—(A) Except as pro6 vided in subparagraph (B) or (C), the term of office 

7 of each member of the TIP Advisory Board shall be 

8 3 years. 

9 ‘‘(B) The original members of the TIP Advisory 

10 Board shall be appointed to 3 classes. One class of 

11 3 members shall have an initial term of 1 year, one 

12 class of 3 members shall have an initial term of 2 

13 years, and one class of 4 members shall have an ini14 tial term of 3 years. 

15 ‘‘(C) Any member appointed to fill a vacancy 

16 occurring prior to the expiration of the term for 

17 which his predecessor was appointed shall be ap18 pointed for the remainder of such term. 

19 ‘‘(D) Any person who has completed two con20 secutive full terms of service on the TIP Advisory 

21 Board shall thereafter be ineligible for appointment 

22 during the one-year period following the expiration 

23 of the second such term. 
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1 ‘‘(3) PURPOSE.—The TIP Advisory Board shall 

2 meet no less than 2 times annually, and provide to 

3 the Director—

4 ‘‘(A) advice on programs, plans, and poli5 cies of the Technology Innovation Program; 

6 ‘‘(B) reviews of the Technology Innovation 

7 Program’s efforts to assess its economic impact; 

8 ‘‘(C) reports on the general health of the 

9 program and its effectiveness in achieving its 

10 legislatively mandated mission; 

11 ‘‘(D) guidance on areas of technology that 

12 are appropriate for Technology Innovation Pro13 gram funding; and 

14 ‘‘(E) recommendations as to whether, in 

15 order to better assess whether specific innova16 tions to be pursued are being adequately sup17 ported by the private sector, the Director could 

18 benefit from advice and information from addi19 tional industry and other expert sources without 

20 a proprietary or financial interest in proposals 

21 being evaluated. 

22 ‘‘(4) ADVISORY CAPACITY.—In discharging its 

23 duties under this subsection, the TIP Advisory 

24 Board shall function solely in an advisory capacity, 
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1 in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee 

2 Act. 

3 ‘‘(5) ANNUAL REPORT.—The TIP Advisory 

4 Board shall transmit an annual report to the Sec5 retary for transmittal to the Congress within 30 

6 days after the submission to Congress of the Presi7 dent’s annual budget request in each year. Such re8 port shall address the status of the Technology In9 novation Program and comment on the relevant sec10 tions of the programmatic planning document and 

11 updates thereto transmitted to the Congress by the 

12 Director under section 23(c) and (d). 

13 ‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

14 ‘‘(1) the term ‘eligible company’ means a com15 pany that is incorporated in the United States and 

16 does a majority of its business in the United States, 

17 and that either—

18 ‘‘(A) is majority owned by citizens of the 

19 United States; or 

20 ‘‘(B) is owned by a parent company incor21 porated in another country and the Director 

22 finds that—

23 ‘‘(i) the company’s participation in the 

24 Technology Innovation Program would be 
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1 in the economic interest of the United 

2 States, as evidenced by—

3 ‘‘(I) investments in the United 

4 States in research and manufacturing 

5 (including the manufacture of major 

6 components or subassemblies in the 

7 United States); 

8 ‘‘(II) significant contributions to 

9 employment in the United States; and 

10 ‘‘(III) agreement with respect to 

11 any technology arising from assistance 

12 provided under this section to promote 

13 the manufacture within the United 

14 States of products resulting from that 

15 technology (taking into account the 

16 goals of promoting the competitive17 ness of United States industry); and 

18 ‘‘(ii) the company is incorporated in a 

19 country which—

20 ‘‘(I) affords to United States21 owned companies opportunities, com22 parable to those afforded to any other 

23 company, to participate in any joint 

24 venture similar to those receiving 

25 funding under this section; 
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1 ‘‘(II) affords to United States2 owned companies local investment op3 portunities comparable to those af4 forded any other company; and 

5 ‘‘(III) affords adequate and effec6 tive protection for the intellectual 

7 property rights of United States8 owned companies; 

9 ‘‘(2) the term ‘high-risk, high-reward research’ 

10 means research that—

11 ‘‘(A) has the potential for yielding results 

12 with far-ranging or wide-ranging implications; 

13 ‘‘(B) addresses critical national needs re14 lated to technology and measurement stand15 ards; and 

16 ‘‘(C) is too novel or spans too diverse a 

17 range of disciplines to fare well in the tradi18 tional peer review process. 

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

20 has the meaning given that term in section 101 of 

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

22 1001); 

23 ‘‘(4) the term ‘joint venture’ means a joint ven24 ture that—

25 ‘‘(A) includes either—
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1 ‘‘(i) at least 2 separately owned for2 profit companies that are both substan3 tially involved in the project and both of 

4 which are contributing to the cost-sharing 

5 required under this section, with the lead 

6 entity of the joint venture being one of 

7 those companies that is a small or me8 dium-sized business; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) at least one small or medium10 sized business and one institution of higher 

11 education or other organization, such as a 

12 national laboratory or nonprofit research 

13 institute, that are both substantially in14 volved in the project and both of which are 

15 contributing to the cost-sharing required 

16 under this section, with the lead entity of 

17 the joint venture being either that small or 

18 medium-sized business or that institution 

19 of higher education; and 

20 ‘‘(B) may include additional for-profit com21 panies, institutions of higher education, and 

22 other organizations, such as national labora23 tories and nonprofit research institutes, that 

24 may or may not contribute non-Federal funds 

25 to the project; and 
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1 ‘‘(5) the term ‘TIP Advisory Board’ means the 

2 advisory board established under subsection (j).’’. 

3 SEC. 205. RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS. 

4 Section 18 of the National Institute of Standards and 

5 Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278g–l) is amended by striking 

6 ‘‘up to 1 per centum of the’’ and inserting ‘‘up to 1.5 per7 cent of the’’. 

8 SEC. 206. COLLABORATIVE MANUFACTURING RESEARCH 

9 PILOT GRANTS. 

10 The National Institute of Standards and Technology 

11 Act is amended—

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

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

14 end of the Act; and 

15 (2) by inserting before the section moved by 

16 paragraph (1) the following new section: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 33. COLLABORATIVE MANUFACTURING RESEARCH 

18 PILOT GRANTS. 

19 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.—

20 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall es21 tablish a pilot program of awards to partnerships 

22 among participants described in paragraph (2) for 

23 the purposes described in paragraph (3). Awards 

24 shall be made on a peer-reviewed, competitive basis. 
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1 ‘‘(2) PARTICIPANTS.—Such partnerships shall 

2 include at least—

3 ‘‘(A) 1 manufacturing industry partner; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(B) 1 nonindustry partner. 

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

7 under this section is to foster cost-shared collabora8 tions among firms, educational institutions, research 

9 institutions, State agencies, and nonprofit organiza10 tions to encourage the development of innovative, 

11 multidisciplinary manufacturing technologies. Part12 nerships receiving awards under this section shall 

13 conduct applied research to develop new manufac14 turing processes, techniques, or materials that would 

15 contribute to improved performance, productivity, 

16 and competitiveness of United States manufacturing, 

17 and build lasting alliances among collaborators. 

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

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

20 costs of a partnership. Not more than an additional one21 third of such costs may be obtained directly or indirectly 

22 from other Federal sources. 

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

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

25 time, and containing such information as the Director 
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1 shall require. Such applications shall describe at a min2 imum—

3 ‘‘(1) how each partner will participate in devel4 oping and carrying out the research agenda of the 

5 partnership; 

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

7 and 

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

9 award would contribute to improved performance, 

10 productivity, and competitiveness of the United 

11 States manufacturing industry. 

12 ‘‘(d) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting applica13 tions for awards under this section, the Director shall con14 sider at a minimum—

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

16 broad impact on manufacturing; 

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

18 merit of the proposed projects; and 

19 ‘‘(3) the demonstrated capabilities of the appli20 cants to successfully carry out the proposed re21 search. 

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

23 this section the Director shall ensure, to the extent prac24 ticable, a distribution of overall awards among a variety 
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1 of manufacturing industry sectors and a range of firm 

2 sizes. 

3 ‘‘(f) DURATION.—In carrying out this section, the Di4 rector shall run a single pilot competition to solicit and 

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

6 SEC. 207. MANUFACTURING FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 

7 Section 18 of the National Institute of Standards and 

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

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

10 ‘‘The Director is authorized’’; and 

11 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub12 section: 

13 ‘‘(b) MANUFACTURING FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.—

14 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—To promote the devel15 opment of a robust research community working at 

16 the leading edge of manufacturing sciences, the Di17 rector shall establish a program to award—

18 ‘‘(A) postdoctoral research fellowships at 

19 the Institute for research activities related to 

20 manufacturing sciences; and 

21 ‘‘(B) senior research fellowships to estab22 lished researchers in industry or at institutions 

23 of higher education who wish to pursue studies 

24 related to the manufacturing sciences at the In25 stitute. 
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1 ‘‘(2) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible for an 

2 award under this subsection, an individual shall sub3 mit an application to the Director at such time, in 

4 such manner, and containing such information as 

5 the Director may require. 

6 ‘‘(3) STIPEND LEVELS.—Under this subsection, 

7 the Director shall provide stipends for postdoctoral 

8 research fellowships at a level consistent with the 

9 National Institute of Standards and Technology 

10 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program, and sen11 ior research fellowships at levels consistent with sup12 port for a faculty member in a sabbatical position.’’. 

13 SEC. 208. MEETINGS OF VISITING COMMITTEE ON AD14 VANCED TECHNOLOGY. 

15 Section 10(d) of the National Institute of Standards 

16 and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278(d)) is amended by 

17 striking ‘‘quarterly’’ and inserting ‘‘twice each year’’. 

18 SEC. 209. MANUFACTURING RESEARCH DATABASE. 

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The National Institute of 

20 Standards and Technology shall provide for the establish21 ment of a manufacturing research database to enable pri22 vate sector individuals and Federal officials to access a 

23 broad range of information on manufacturing research 

24 carried out with funding support from the Federal Gov25 ernment. 
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1 (b) CONTENTS.—The database established under 

2 subsection (a) shall contain—

3 (1) all publicly available information maintained 

4 by a Federal agency relating to manufacturing re5 search projects funded in whole or in part by the 

6 Federal Government; and 

7 (2) information about all Federal programs that 

8 may be of interest to manufacturers. 

9 (c) ACCESSIBILITY.—Information contained in the 

10 database shall be accessible in a manner to enable users 

11 of the database to easily retrieve information of specific 

12 interest to them. 

13 (d) FEES.—The National Institute of Standards and 

14 Technology may authorize charging a nominal fee for 

15 using the database to access information described in sub16 section (b)(1) as necessary to recover the costs of main17 taining the database. 

18 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated to the National Institute 

20 of Standards and Technology $2,000,000 for carrying out 

21 this section. 

22 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

23 SEC. 301. POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWS. 

24 Section 19 of the National Institute of Standards and 

25 Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278g–2) is amended by strik-
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1 ing ‘‘nor more than 60 new fellows’’ and inserting ‘‘nor 

2 more than 120 new fellows’’. 

3 SEC. 302. FINANCIAL AGREEMENTS CLARIFICATION. 

4 Section 2(b)(4) of the National Institute of Stand5 ards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 272(b)(4)) is amend6 ed by inserting ‘‘and grants and cooperative agreements,’’ 

7 after ‘‘arrangements,’’. 

8 SEC. 303. WORKING CAPITAL FUND TRANSFERS. 

9 Section 12 of the National Institute of Standards and 

10 Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278b) is amended by adding 

11 at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(g) AMOUNT AND SOURCE OF TRANSFERS.—Not 

13 more than one-quarter of one percent of the amounts ap14 propriated to the Institute for any fiscal year may be 

15 transferred to the fund, in addition to any other transfer 

16 authority. In addition, funds provided to the Institute 

17 from other Federal agencies for the purpose of production 

18 of Standard Reference Materials may be transferred to the 

19 fund.’’. 

20 SEC. 304. RETENTION OF DEPRECIATION SURCHARGE. 

21 Section 14 of the National Institute of Standards and 

22 Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278d) is amended—

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

24 ‘‘Within’’; and 

25 (2) by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(b) RETENTION OF FEES.—The Director is author2 ized to retain all building use and depreciation surcharge 

3 fees collected pursuant to OMB Circular A–25. Such fees 

4 shall be collected and credited to the Construction of Re5 search Facilities Appropriation Account for use in mainte6 nance and repair of the Institute’s existing facilities.’’. 

7 SEC. 305. NON-ENERGY INVENTIONS PROGRAM. 

8 Section 27 of the National Institute of Standards and 

9 Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278m) is repealed. 

10 SEC. 306. REDEFINITION OF THE METRIC SYSTEM. 

11 Section 3570 of the Revised Statues of the United 

12 States (derived from section 2 of the Act of July 28, 1866, 

13 entitled ‘‘An Act to authorize the Use of the Metric Sys14 tem of Weights and Measures’’ (15 U.S.C. 205; 14 Stat. 

15 339)) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 3570. METRIC SYSTEM DEFINED. 

17 ‘‘The metric system of measurement shall be defined 

18 as the International System of Units as established in 

19 1960, and subsequently maintained, by the General Con20 ference of Weights and Measures, and as interpreted or 

21 modified for the United States by the Secretary of Com22 merce.’’. 
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1 SEC. 307. REPEAL OF REDUNDANT AND OBSOLETE AU2 THORITY. 

3 The Act of July 21, 1950, entitled ‘‘An Act To rede4 fine the units and establish the standards of electrical and 

5 photometric measurements’’ (15 U.S.C. 223 and 224) is 

6 repealed. 

7 SEC. 308. CLARIFICATION OF STANDARD TIME AND TIME 

8 ZONES. 

9 (a) Section 1 of the Act of March 19, 1918, (com10 monly known as the ‘‘Calder Act’’) (15 U.S.C. 261) is 

11 amended—

12 (1) by striking the second sentence and the 

13 extra period after it and inserting ‘‘Except as pro14 vided in section 3(a) of the Uniform Time Act of 

15 1966 (15 U.S.C. 260a), the standard time of the 

16 first zone shall be Coordinated Universal Time re17 tarded by 4 hours; that of the second zone retarded 

18 by 5 hours; that of the third zone retarded by 6 

19 hours; that of the four zone retarded by 7 hours; 

20 that of the fifth zone retarded by 8 hours; that of 

21 the sixth zone retarded by 9 hours; that of the sev22 enth zone retarded by 10 hours; that of the eighth 

23 zone retarded by 11 hours; and that of the ninth 

24 zone shall be Coordinated Universal Time advanced 

25 by 10 hours.’’; and 
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1 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In this 

2 section, the term ‘Coordinated Universal Time’ 

3 means the time scale maintained through the Gen4 eral Conference of Weights and Measures and inter5 preted or modified for the United States by the Sec6 retary of Commerce in coordination with the Sec7 retary of the Navy.’’. 

8 (b) Section 3 of the Act of March 19, 1918, (com9 monly known as the ‘‘Calder Act’’) (15 U.S.C. 264) is 

10 amended by striking ‘‘third zone’’ and inserting ‘‘fourth 

11 zone’’. 

12 SEC. 309. PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTERMIT13 TENT SERVICES. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National In15 stitute of Standards and Technology may procure the tem16 porary or intermittent services of experts or consultants 

17 (or organizations thereof) in accordance with section 

18 3109(b) of title 5, United States Code to assist on urgent 

19 or short-term research projects. 

20 (b) EXTENT OF AUTHORITY.—A procurement under 

21 this section may not exceed 1 year in duration, and the 

22 Director shall procure no more than 200 experts and con23 sultants per year. 

24 (c) SUNSET.—This section shall cease to be effective 

25 after September 30, 2010. 
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1 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller 

3 General shall report to the Committee on Science and 

4 Technology of the House of Representatives and the Com5 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

6 Senate on whether additional safeguards would be needed 

7 with respect to the use of authorities granted under this 

8 section if such authorities were to be made permanent. 

9 SEC. 310. MALCOLM BALDRIGE AWARDS. 

10 Section 17(c)(3) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology 

11 Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3711a(c)(3)) is amend12 ed to read as follows: 

13 ‘‘(3) In any year, not more than 18 awards may be 

14 made under this section to recipients who have not pre15 viously received an award under this section, and no award 

16 shall be made within any category described in paragraph 

17 (1) if there are no qualifying enterprises in that cat18 egory.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 3, 2007. 

Attest:

Clerk. 
110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1868

AN ACT

To authorize appropriations for the National Insti2008, 2009, and 2010, and for other purposes. tute of Standards and Technology for fiscal years