IB 

Union Calendar No. 69 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1868 

[Report No. 110–115] 

To authorize appropriations for the National Institute of Standards and 

Technology for fiscal years 2008, 2009, and 2010, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 17, 2007 

Mr. WU (for himself, Mr. GINGREY, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. HALL

of Texas, Mr. MITCHELL, and Mr. EHLERS) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology 

APRIL 30, 2007 

Additional sponsors: Mr. HONDA, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. 

SMITH of Washington, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 

HOLT, Ms. HOOLEY, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. REICHERT, and 

Mr. LAMPSON

APRIL 30, 2007 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 17, 2007] 

A BILL 

To authorize appropriations for the National Institute of 

Standards and Technology for fiscal years 2008, 2009, 

and 2010, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Technology Innovation and Manufacturing Stimulation 

6 Act of 2007’’. 

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

8 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. 

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. 

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1 TITLE I—AUTHORIZATION OF 

2 APPROPRIATIONS 

3 SEC. 101. SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL RESEARCH AND 

4 SERVICES. 

5 (a) LABORATORY ACTIVITIES.—There are authorized 

6 to be appropriated to the Secretary of Commerce for the 

7 scientific and technical research and services laboratory ac8 tivities of the National Institute of Standards and Tech9 nology— 

10 (1) $470,879,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

11 (2) $497,750,000 for fiscal year 2009; and 

12 (3) $537,569,000 for fiscal year 2010. 

13 (b) MALCOLM BALDRIGE NATIONAL QUALITY AWARD

14 PROGRAM.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the 

15 Secretary of Commerce for the Malcolm Baldrige National 

16 Quality Award program under section 17 of the Stevenson17 Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 

18 3711a)— 

19 (1) $7,860,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

20 (2) $8,096,000 for fiscal year 2009; and 

21 (3) $8,339,000 for fiscal year 2010. 

22 (c) CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE.—There are 

23 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Commerce 

24 for construction and maintenance of facilities of the Na25 tional Institute of Standards and Technology— 

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

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

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

4 SEC. 102. INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY SERVICES. 

5 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec6 retary of Commerce for Industrial Technology Services ac7 tivities of the National Institute of Standards and Tech8 nology— 

9 (1) $222,968,000 for fiscal year 2008, of which— 

10 (A) $110,000,000 shall be for the Technology 

11 Innovation Program under section 28 of the Na12 tional Institute of Standards and Technology Act 

13 (15 U.S.C. 278n), of which at least $45,000,000 

14 shall be for new awards; and 

15 (B) $112,968,000 shall be for the Manufac16 turing Extension Partnership program under 

17 sections 25 and 26 of the National Institute of 

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

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

20 shall be for the competitive grant program under 

21 section 25(f) of such Act; 

22 (2) $263,505,000 for fiscal year 2009, of which— 

23 (A) $141,500,000 shall be for the Technology 

24 Innovation Program under section 28 of the Na25 tional Institute of Standards and Technology Act 

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1 (15 U.S.C. 278n), of which at least $45,000,000 

2 shall be for new awards; and 

3 (B) $122,005,000 shall be for the Manufac4 turing Extension Partnership Program under 

5 sections 25 and 26 of the National Institute of 

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

7 and 278l), of which not more than $4,000,000 

8 shall be for the competitive grant program under 

9 section 25(f) of such Act; and 

10 (3) $282,266,000 for fiscal year 2010, of which— 

11 (A) $150,500,000 shall be for the Technology 

12 Innovation Program under section 28 of the Na13 tional Institute of Standards and Technology Act 

14 (15 U.S.C. 278n), of which at least $45,000,000 

15 shall be for new awards; and 

16 (B) $131,766,000 shall be for the Manufac17 turing Extension Partnership Program under 

18 sections 25 and 26 of the National Institute of 

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

20 and 278l), of which not more than $4,000,000 

21 shall be for the competitive grant program under 

22 section 25(f) of such Act. 

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1 TITLE II—INNOVATION AND 

2 TECHNOLOGY POLICY REFORMS 

3 SEC. 201. INSTITUTE-WIDE PLANNING REPORT. 

4 Section 23 of the National Institute of Standards and 

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

6 the end the following new subsections: 

7 ‘‘(c) Concurrent with the submission to Congress of the 

8 President’s annual budget request in the first year after the 

9 date of enactment of the Technology Innovation and Manu10 facturing Stimulation Act of 2007, the Director shall trans11 mit to the Congress a 3-year programmatic planning docu12 ment for the Institute, including programs under the Sci13 entific and Technical Research and Services, Industrial 

14 Technology Services, and Construction of Research Facili15 ties functions. 

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

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

18 the date of enactment of the Technology Innovation and 

19 Manufacturing Stimulation Act of 2007, the Director shall 

20 transmit to the Congress an update to the 3-year pro21 grammatic planning document transmitted under sub22 section (c), revised to cover the first 3 fiscal years after the 

23 date of that update.’’. 

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1 SEC. 202. REPORT BY VISITING COMMITTEE. 

2 Section 10(h)(1) of the National Institute of Standards 

3 and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278(h)(1)) is amended— 

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

5 year’’ and inserting ‘‘within 30 days after the sub6 mission to Congress of the President’s annual budget 

7 request in each year’’; and 

8 (2) by adding to the end the following: ‘‘Such re9 port also shall comment on the programmatic plan10 ning document and updates thereto transmitted to the 

11 Congress by the Director under section 23(c) and 

12 (d).’’. 

13 SEC. 203. MANUFACTURING EXTENSION PARTNERSHIP. 

14 (a) MEP ADVISORY BOARD.—Section 25 of the Na15 tional Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 

16 U.S.C. 278k) is amended by adding at the end the following 

17 new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(e) MEP ADVISORY BOARD.—(1) There is established 

19 within the Institute a Manufacturing Extension Partner20 ship Advisory Board (in this Act referred to as the ‘MEP 

21 Advisory Board’). The MEP Advisory Board shall consist 

22 of 10 members broadly representative of stakeholders, to be 

23 appointed by the Director. At least 2 members shall be em24 ployed by or on an advisory board for the Centers, and at 

25 least 5 other members shall be from United States small 

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1 businesses in the manufacturing sector. No member shall 

2 be an employee of the Federal Government. 

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

4 (C), the term of office of each member of the MEP Advisory 

5 Board shall be 3 years. 

6 ‘‘(B) The original members of the MEP Advisory 

7 Board shall be appointed to 3 classes. One class of 3 mem8 bers shall have an initial term of 1 year, one class of 3 

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

10 of 4 members shall have an initial term of 3 years. 

11 ‘‘(C) Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occur12 ring prior to the expiration of the term for which his prede13 cessor was appointed shall be appointed for the remainder 

14 of such term. 

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

16 full terms of service on the MEP Advisory Board shall there17 after be ineligible for appointment during the one-year pe18 riod following the expiration of the second such term. 

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

20 2 times annually, and provide to the Director— 

21 ‘‘(A) advice on Manufacturing Extension Part22 nership programs, plans, and policies; 

23 ‘‘(B) assessments of the soundness of Manufac24 turing Extension Partnership plans and strategies; 

25 and 

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1 ‘‘(C) assessments of current performance against 

2 Manufacturing Extension Partnership program 

3 plans. 

4 ‘‘(4) In discharging its duties under this subsection, 

5 the MEP Advisory Board shall function solely in an advi6 sory capacity, in accordance with the Federal Advisory 

7 Committee Act. 

8 ‘‘(5) The MEP Advisory Board shall transmit an an9 nual report to the Secretary for transmittal to the Congress 

10 within 30 days after the submission to the Congress of the 

11 President’s annual budget request in each year. Such report 

12 shall address the status of the Manufacturing Extension 

13 Partnership program and comment on the relevant sections 

14 of the programmatic planning document and updates there15 to transmitted to the Congress by the Director under section 

16 23(c) and (d).’’. 

17 (b) ACCEPTANCE OF FUNDS.—Section 25(d) of the Na18 tional Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 

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

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

21 sums as may be appropriated to the Secretary and Director 

22 to operate the Centers program, the Secretary and Director 

23 also may accept funds from other Federal departments and 

24 agencies and under section 2(c)(7) from the private sector 

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1 turing. Such funds, if allocated to a Center or Centers, shall 

2 not be considered in the calculation of the Federal share 

3 of capital and annual operating and maintenance costs 

4 under subsection (c).’’. 

5 (c) MANUFACTURING EXTENSION CENTER COMPETI6 TIVE GRANT PROGRAM.—Section 25 of the National Insti7 tute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k), 

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

9 amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

10 ‘‘(f) COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM.— 

11 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall estab12 lish, within the Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

13 program under this section and section 26 of this Act, 

14 a program of competitive awards among participants 

15 described in paragraph (2) for the purposes described 

16 in paragraph (3). 

17 ‘‘(2) PARTICIPANTS.—Participants receiving 

18 awards under this subsection shall be the Centers, or 

19 a consortium of such Centers. 

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

21 under this subsection is to develop projects to solve 

22 new or emerging manufacturing problems as deter23 mined by the Director, in consultation with the Di24 rector of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

25 program, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership 

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1 Advisory Board, and small and medium-sized manu2 facturers. One or more themes for the competition 

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

4 depending on the needs of manufacturers and the suc5 cess of previous competitions. These themes shall be 

6 related to projects associated with manufacturing ex7 tension activities, including supply chain integration 

8 and quality management, and including the transfer 

9 of technology based on the technological needs of man10 ufacturers and available technologies from institu11 tions of higher education, laboratories, and other tech12 nology producing entities, or extend beyond these tra13 ditional areas. 

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

15 under this subsection shall be submitted in such man16 ner, at such time, and containing such information 

17 as the Director shall require, in consultation with the 

18 Manufacturing Extension Partnership Advisory 

19 Board. 

20 ‘‘(5) SELECTION.—Awards under this subsection 

21 shall be peer reviewed and competitively awarded. 

22 The Director shall select proposals to receive 

23 awards— 

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1 ‘‘(A) that utilize innovative or collaborative 

2 approaches to solving the problem described in 

3 the competition; 

4 ‘‘(B) that will improve the competitiveness 

5 of industries in the region in which the Center 

6 or Centers are located; and 

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

8 economic stability of that region. 

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

10 awards under this subsection shall not be required to 

11 provide a matching contribution.’’. 

12 SEC. 204. TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION PROGRAM. 

13 Section 28 of the National Institute of Standards and 

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

15 follows: 

16 ‘‘TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION PROGRAM

17 ‘‘SEC. 28. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 

18 in the Institute a Technology Innovation Program for the 

19 purpose of assisting United States businesses and institu20 tions of higher education or other organizations, such as 

21 national laboratories and nonprofit research institutes, to 

22 accelerate the development and application of challenging, 

23 high-risk technologies that promise widespread economic 

24 benefits for the Nation. 

25 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.— 

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

2 grants under this section to eligible companies for re3 search and development on high-risk, high-payoff 

4 emerging and enabling technologies that offer signifi5 cant potential benefits to the United States economy 

6 and a wide breadth of potential application, and 

7 form an important technical basis for future innova8 tions. Such grants shall be made to eligible companies 

9 that are— 

10 ‘‘(A) small or medium-sized businesses that 

11 are substantially involved in the research and 

12 development, including having a leadership role 

13 in programmatically steering the project and de14 fining the research agenda; or 

15 ‘‘(B) joint ventures. 

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

17 under paragraph (1)(A) shall exceed $3,000,000 over 

18 3 years. The Federal share of a project funded by such 

19 a grant shall not be more than 50 percent of total 

20 project costs. An award under paragraph (1)(A) may 

21 be extended beyond 3 years only if the Director trans22 mits to the Committee on Science and Technology of 

23 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

24 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

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1 cluding reasons for exceeding 3 years. Federal funds 

2 granted under paragraph (1)(A) may be used only for 

3 direct costs and not for indirect costs, profits, or man4 agement fees of a contractor. 

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

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

7 5 years. The Federal share of a project funded by such 

8 a grant shall not be more than 50 percent of total 

9 project costs. 

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

11 grants under this section only to an eligible company— 

12 ‘‘(1) whose proposal has scientific and techno13 logical merit; 

14 ‘‘(2) whose application establishes that the pro15 posed technology has strong potential to generate sub16 stantial benefits to the Nation that extend signifi17 cantly beyond the direct return to the applicant; 

18 ‘‘(3) whose application establishes that the re19 search has strong potential for advancing the state-of20 the-art and contributing significantly to the United 

21 States scientific and technical knowledge base; 

22 ‘‘(4) whose application establishes that the re23 search is aimed at overcoming a scientific or techno24 logical barrier; 

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

2 clearly identifies the core innovation, the technical 

3 approach, major technical hurdles, and the attendant 

4 risks, and that clearly establishes the feasibility of the 

5 technology through adequately detailed plans linked to 

6 major technical barriers; 

7 ‘‘(6) whose application establishes that the team 

8 proposed to carry out the work has a high level of sci9 entific and technical expertise to conduct research and 

10 development, has a high level of commitment to the 

11 project, and has access to appropriate research facili12 ties; 

13 ‘‘(7) whose proposal explains why Technology In14 novation Program support is necessary; 

15 ‘‘(8) whose application includes a plan for ad16 vancing the technology into commercial use; and 

17 ‘‘(9) whose application assesses the project’s or18 ganizational structure and management plan. 

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

20 analyze the need for or the value of any proposal made by 

21 a joint venture or company requesting the Director’s assist22 ance under this section, or to monitor the progress of any 

23 project which receives funds under this section, the Director 

24 shall consult with industry or other expert sources that do 

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1 not have a proprietary or financial interest in the proposal 

2 or project. 

3 ‘‘(e) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OWNER4 SHIP.— 

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

6 property developed by a joint venture from assistance 

7 provided under this section may vest in any partici8 pant in the joint venture, as agreed by the members 

9 of the joint venture, notwithstanding section 202(a) 

10 and (b) of title 35, United States Code. The United 

11 States may reserve a nonexclusive, nontransferable, 

12 irrevocable paid-up license, to have practiced for or 

13 on behalf of the United States in connection with any 

14 such intellectual property, but shall not in the exercise 

15 of such license publicly disclose proprietary informa16 tion related to the license. Title to any such intellec17 tual property shall not be transferred or passed, ex18 cept to a participant in the joint venture, until the 

19 expiration of the first patent obtained in connection 

20 with such intellectual property. 

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

22 shall be construed to prohibit the licensing to any 

23 company of intellectual property rights arising from 

24 assistance provided under this section. 

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1 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this sub2 section, the term ‘intellectual property’ means an in3 vention patentable under title 35, United States Code, 

4 or any patent on such an invention, or any work for 

5 which copyright protection is available under title 17, 

6 United States Code. 

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

8 after the date of enactment of the Technology Innovation 

9 and Manufacturing Stimulation Act of 2007, the Director 

10 shall issue regulations— 

11 ‘‘(1) establishing criteria for the selection of re12 cipients of assistance under this section; 

13 ‘‘(2) establishing procedures regarding financial 

14 reporting and auditing to ensure that contracts and 

15 awards are used for the purposes specified in this sec16 tion, are in accordance with sound accounting prac17 tices, and are not funding existing or planned re18 search programs that would be conducted in the same 

19 time period in the absence of financial assistance 

20 under this section; and 

21 ‘‘(3) providing for appropriate dissemination of 

22 Technology Innovation Program research results. 

23 ‘‘(g) CONTINUATION OF ATP GRANTS.—The Director 

24 shall, through the Technology Innovation Program, con25 tinue to provide support originally awarded under the Admstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 vanced Technology Program, in accordance with the terms 

2 of the original award. 

3 ‘‘(h) COORDINATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL TECH4 NOLOGY PROGRAMS.—In carrying out this section, the Di5 rector shall, as appropriate, coordinate with other senior 

6 Federal officials to ensure cooperation and coordination in 

7 Federal technology programs and to avoid unnecessary du8 plication of efforts. 

9 ‘‘(i) ACCEPTANCE OF FUNDS FROM OTHER FEDERAL

10 AGENCIES.—In addition to amounts appropriated to carry 

11 out this section, the Secretary and the Director may accept 

12 funds from other Federal agencies to support awards under 

13 the Technology Innovation Program. Any award under this 

14 section which is supported with funds from other Federal 

15 agencies shall be selected and carried out according to the 

16 provisions of this section. 

17 ‘‘(j) TIP ADVISORY BOARD.— 

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

19 within the Institute a Technology Innovation Pro20 gram Advisory Board. The TIP Advisory Board shall 

21 consist of 10 members appointed by the Director, at 

22 least 7 of which shall be from United States industry, 

23 chosen to reflect the wide diversity of technical dis24 ciplines and industrial sectors represented in Techmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 nology Innovation Program projects. No member shall 

2 be an employee of the Federal Government. 

3 ‘‘(2) TERMS OF OFFICE.—(A) Except as provided 

4 in subparagraph (B) or (C), the term of office of each 

5 member of the TIP Advisory Board shall be 3 years. 

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

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

8 members shall have an initial term of 1 year, one 

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

10 years, and one class of 4 members shall have an ini11 tial term of 3 years. 

12 ‘‘(C) Any member appointed to fill a vacancy oc13 curring prior to the expiration of the term for which 

14 his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed for 

15 the remainder of such term. 

16 ‘‘(D) Any person who has completed two consecu17 tive full terms of service on the TIP Advisory Board 

18 shall thereafter be ineligible for appointment during 

19 the one-year period following the expiration of the sec20 ond such term. 

21 ‘‘(3) PURPOSE.—The TIP Advisory Board shall 

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

23 the Director— 

24 ‘‘(A) advice on programs, plans, and poli25 cies of the Technology Innovation Program; 

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1 ‘‘(B) reviews of the Technology Innovation 

2 Program’s efforts to assess its economic impact; 

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

4 program and its effectiveness in achieving its 

5 legislatively mandated mission; 

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

7 are appropriate for Technology Innovation Pro8 gram funding; and 

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

10 order to better assess whether specific innovations 

11 to be pursued are being adequately supported by 

12 the private sector, the Director could benefit from 

13 advice and information from additional industry 

14 and other expert sources without a proprietary 

15 or financial interest in proposals being evalu16 ated. 

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

18 duties under this subsection, the TIP Advisory Board 

19 shall function solely in an advisory capacity, in ac20 cordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. 

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

22 Board shall transmit an annual report to the Sec23 retary for transmittal to the Congress within 30 days 

24 after the submission to Congress of the President’s an25 nual budget request in each year. Such report shall 

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1 address the status of the Technology Innovation Pro2 gram and comment on the relevant sections of the 

3 programmatic planning document and updates there4 to transmitted to the Congress by the Director under 

5 section 23(c) and (d). 

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

7 ‘‘(1) the term ‘eligible company’ means a com8 pany that is incorporated in the United States and 

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

10 and that either— 

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

12 United States; or 

13 ‘‘(B) is owned by a parent company incor14 porated in another country and the Director 

15 finds that— 

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

17 Technology Innovation Program would be 

18 in the economic interest of the United 

19 States, as evidenced by— 

20 ‘‘(I) investments in the United 

21 States in research and manufacturing 

22 (including the manufacture of major 

23 components or subassemblies in the 

24 United States); 

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1 ‘‘(II) significant contributions to 

2 employment in the United States; and 

3 ‘‘(III) agreement with respect to 

4 any technology arising from assistance 

5 provided under this section to promote 

6 the manufacture within the United 

7 States of products resulting from that 

8 technology (taking into account the 

9 goals of promoting the competitiveness 

10 of United States industry); and 

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

12 country which— 

13 ‘‘(I) affords to United States14 owned companies opportunities, com15 parable to those afforded to any other 

16 company, to participate in any joint 

17 venture similar to those receiving fund18 ing under this section; 

19 ‘‘(II) affords to United States20 owned companies local investment op21 portunities comparable to those af22 forded any other company; and 

23 ‘‘(III) affords adequate and effec24 tive protection for the intellectual 

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1 property rights of United States-owned 

2 companies; 

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

4 has the meaning given that term in section 101 of the 

5 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); 

6 ‘‘(3) the term ‘joint venture’ means a joint ven7 ture that— 

8 ‘‘(A) includes either— 

9 ‘‘(i) at least 2 separately owned for10 profit companies that are both substantially 

11 involved in the project and both of which 

12 are contributing to the cost-sharing required 

13 under this section, with the lead entity of 

14 the joint venture being one of those compa15 nies that is a small or medium-sized busi16 ness; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) at least one small or medium18 sized business and one institution of higher 

19 education or other organization, such as a 

20 national laboratory or nonprofit research 

21 institute, that are both substantially in22 volved in the project and both of which are 

23 contributing to the cost-sharing required 

24 under this section, with the lead entity of 

25 the joint venture being either that small or 

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1 medium-sized business or that institution of 

2 higher education; and 

3 ‘‘(B) may include additional for-profit com4 panies, institutions of higher education, and 

5 other organizations, such as national labora6 tories and nonprofit research institutes, that 

7 may or may not contribute non-Federal funds to 

8 the project; and 

9 ‘‘(4) the term ‘TIP Advisory Board’ means the 

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

11 SEC. 205. RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS. 

12 Section 18 of the National Institute of Standards and 

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

14 ‘‘up to 1 per centum of the’’ and inserting ‘‘up to 1.5 per15 cent of the’’. 

16 SEC. 206. COLLABORATIVE MANUFACTURING RESEARCH 

17 PILOT GRANTS. 

18 The National Institute of Standards and Technology 

19 Act is amended— 

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

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

22 end of the Act; and 

23 (2) by inserting before the section moved by 

24 paragraph (1) the following new section: 

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1 ‘‘SEC. 33. COLLABORATIVE MANUFACTURING RESEARCH 

2 PILOT GRANTS. 

3 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall estab5 lish a pilot program of awards to partnerships among 

6 participants described in paragraph (2) for the pur7 poses described in paragraph (3). Awards shall be 

8 made on a peer-reviewed, competitive basis. 

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

10 include at least— 

11 ‘‘(A) 1 manufacturing industry partner; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(B) 1 nonindustry partner. 

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

15 under this section is to foster cost-shared collabora16 tions among firms, educational institutions, research 

17 institutions, State agencies, and nonprofit organiza18 tions to encourage the development of innovative, 

19 multidisciplinary manufacturing technologies. Part20 nerships receiving awards under this section shall 

21 conduct applied research to develop new manufac22 turing processes, techniques, or materials that would 

23 contribute to improved performance, productivity, 

24 and competitiveness of United States manufacturing, 

25 and build lasting alliances among collaborators. 

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

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

3 of a partnership. Not more than an additional one-third 

4 of such costs may be obtained directly or indirectly from 

5 other Federal sources. 

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

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

8 time, and containing such information as the Director shall 

9 require. Such applications shall describe at a minimum— 

10 ‘‘(1) how each partner will participate in devel11 oping and carrying out the research agenda of the 

12 partnership; 

13 ‘‘(2) the research that the grant would fund; and 

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

15 award would contribute to improved performance, 

16 productivity, and competitiveness of the United States 

17 manufacturing industry. 

18 ‘‘(d) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting applications 

19 for awards under this section, the Director shall consider 

20 at a minimum— 

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

22 broad impact on manufacturing; 

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

24 merit of the proposed projects; and 

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1 ‘‘(3) the demonstrated capabilities of the appli2 cants to successfully carry out the proposed research. 

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

4 this section the Director shall ensure, to the extent prac5 ticable, a distribution of overall awards among a variety 

6 of manufacturing industry sectors and a range of firm sizes. 

7 ‘‘(f) DURATION.—In carrying out this section, the Di8 rector shall run a single pilot competition to solicit and 

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

10 SEC. 207. MANUFACTURING FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. 

11 Section 18 of the National Institute of Standards and 

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

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

14 ‘‘The Director is authorized’’; and 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub16 section: 

17 ‘‘(b) MANUFACTURING FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.— 

18 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—To promote the develop19 ment of a robust research community working at the 

20 leading edge of manufacturing sciences, the Director 

21 shall establish a program to award— 

22 ‘‘(A) postdoctoral research fellowships at the 

23 Institute for research activities related to manu24 facturing sciences; and 

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1 ‘‘(B) senior research fellowships to estab2 lished researchers in industry or at institutions 

3 of higher education who wish to pursue studies 

4 related to the manufacturing sciences at the In5 stitute. 

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

7 under this subsection, an individual shall submit an 

8 application to the Director at such time, in such 

9 manner, and containing such information as the Di10 rector may require. 

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

12 the Director shall provide stipends for postdoctoral re13 search fellowships at a level consistent with the Na14 tional Institute of Standards and Technology 

15 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program, and sen16 ior research fellowships at levels consistent with sup17 port for a faculty member in a sabbatical position.’’. 

18 SEC. 208. MEETINGS OF VISITING COMMITTEE ON AD19 VANCED TECHNOLOGY. 

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

21 and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278(d)) is amended by strik22 ing ‘‘quarterly’’ and inserting ‘‘twice each year’’. 

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1 TITLE III—MISCELLANEOUS 

2 SEC. 301. POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWS. 

3 Section 19 of the National Institute of Standards and 

4 Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278g–2) is amended by striking 

5 ‘‘nor more than 60 new fellows’’ and inserting ‘‘nor more 

6 than 120 new fellows’’. 

7 SEC. 302. FINANCIAL AGREEMENTS CLARIFICATION. 

8 Section 2(b)(4) of the National Institute of Standards 

9 and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 272(b)(4)) is amended by 

10 inserting ‘‘and grants and cooperative agreements,’’ after 

11 ‘‘arrangements,’’. 

12 SEC. 303. WORKING CAPITAL FUND TRANSFERS. 

13 Section 12 of the National Institute of Standards and 

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

15 the end the following: 

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

17 than one-quarter of one percent of the amounts appro18 priated to the Institute for any fiscal year may be trans19 ferred to the fund, in addition to any other transfer author20 ity. In addition, funds provided to the Institute from other 

21 Federal agencies for the purpose of production of Standard 

22 Reference Materials may be transferred to the fund.’’. 

23 SEC. 304. RETENTION OF DEPRECIATION SURCHARGE. 

24 Section 14 of the National Institute of Standards and 

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

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

2 ‘‘Within’’; and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(b) RETENTION OF FEES.—The Director is author5 ized to retain all building use and depreciation surcharge 

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

7 shall be collected and credited to the Construction of Re8 search Facilities Appropriation Account for use in mainte9 nance and repair of the Institute’s existing facilities.’’. 

10 SEC. 305. NON-ENERGY INVENTIONS PROGRAM. 

11 Section 27 of the National Institute of Standards and 

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

13 SEC. 306. REDEFINITION OF THE METRIC SYSTEM. 

14 Section 3570 of the Revised Statues of the United 

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

16 entitled ‘‘An Act to authorize the Use of the Metric System 

17 of Weights and Measures’’ (15 U.S.C. 205; 14 Stat. 339)) 

18 is amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 3570. METRIC SYSTEM DEFINED. 

20 ‘‘The metric system of measurement shall be defined 

21 as the International System of Units as established in 1960, 

22 and subsequently maintained, by the General Conference of 

23 Weights and Measures, and as interpreted or modified for 

24 the United States by the Secretary of Commerce.’’. 

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1 SEC. 307. REPEAL OF REDUNDANT AND OBSOLETE AUTHOR2 ITY. 

3 The Act of July 21, 1950, entitled ‘‘An Act To redefine 

4 the units and establish the standards of electrical and photo5 metric measurements’’ (15 U.S.C. 223 and 224) is repealed. 

6 SEC. 308. CLARIFICATION OF STANDARD TIME AND TIME 

7 ZONES. 

8 (a) Section 1 of the Act of March 19, 1918, (commonly 

9 known as the ‘‘Calder Act’’) (15 U.S.C. 261) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking the second sentence and the extra 

11 period after it and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in 

12 section 3(a) of the Uniform Time Act of 1966 (15 

13 U.S.C. 260a), the standard time of the first zone shall 

14 be Coordinated Universal Time retarded by 4 hours; 

15 that of the second zone retarded by 5 hours; that of 

16 the third zone retarded by 6 hours; that of the four 

17 zone retarded by 7 hours; that of the fifth zone re18 tarded by 8 hours; that of the sixth zone retarded by 

19 9 hours; that of the seventh zone retarded by 10 hours; 

20 that of the eighth zone retarded by 11 hours; and that 

21 of the ninth zone shall be Coordinated Universal Time 

22 advanced by 10 hours.’’; and 

23 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In this 

24 section, the term ‘Coordinated Universal Time’ means 

25 the time scale maintained through the General Con26 ference of Weights and Measures and interpreted or 

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1 modified for the United States by the Secretary of 

2 Commerce in coordination with the Secretary of the 

3 Navy.’’ 

4 (b) Section 3 of the Act of March 19, 1918, (commonly 

5 known as the ‘‘Calder Act’’) (15 U.S.C. 264) is amended 

6 by striking ‘‘third zone’’ and inserting ‘‘fourth zone’’. 

7 SEC. 309. PROCUREMENT OF TEMPORARY AND INTERMIT8 TENT SERVICES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National Insti10 tute of Standards and Technology may procure the tem11 porary or intermittent services of experts or consultants (or 

12 organizations thereof) in accordance with section 3109(b) 

13 of title 5, United States Code to assist on urgent or short14 term research projects. 

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

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

17 Director shall procure no more than 200 experts and con18 sultants per year. 

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

20 after September 30, 2010. 

21 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 2 years 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller Gen23 eral shall report to the Committee on Science and Tech24 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

25 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

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1 on whether additional safeguards would be needed with re2 spect to the use of authorities granted under this section 

3 if such authorities were to be made permanent. 

4 SEC. 310. MALCOLM BALDRIGE AWARDS. 

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

6 Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3711a(c)(3)) is amended 

7 to read as follows: 

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

9 made under this section to recipients who have not pre10 viously received an award under this section, and no award 

11 shall be made within any category described in paragraph 

12 (1) if there are no qualifying enterprises in that category.’’. 

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Union Calendar No. 69 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1868 

[Report No. 110

–115] 

A BILL 

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

APRIL 30, 2007 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 

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