I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 666

To authorize the Secretary of Energy to establish a multiagency program

in support of the Materials Corridor Partnership Initiative to promote

energy efficient, environmentally sound economic development along the

border with Mexico through the research, development, and use of new

materials technology.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 10, 1999

Mr. BROWN of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to

the Committee on Science

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Energy to establish a multiagency program in support of the Materials Corridor

Partnership Initiative to promote energy efficient, environmentally sound economic development along the border with Mexico through the research, development, and

use of new materials technology.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Materials

5 Corridor Partnership Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) the region adjacent to the 2,000-mile border

4 between the United States and Mexico is an impor5 tant region for energy-intensive manufacturing and

6 materials industries critical to the economic and so7 cial wellbeing of both countries;

8 (2) there are currently more than 800 multi9 national firms (including firms known as

10 ‘‘maquiladoras’’) representing United States invest11 ments of more than $1,000,000,000 in the San

12 Diego, California, and Tijuana, Baja California, bor13 der region and in the El Paso, Texas, and Juarez,

14 Chihuahua, border region;

15 (3) materials and materials-related industries

16 comprise a major portion of the industries operating

17 on both sides of the border, amounting to more than

18 $6,800,000,000 in annual commerce on the Mexican

19 side alone;

20 (4) there are a significant number of major in21 stitutions in the border States of both countries cur22 rently conducting academic and research activities in

23 materials;

24 (5)(A) the United States Government currently

25 invests approximately $1,000,000,000 annually in

26 materials research, of which, in 1996, the Depart-
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1 ment of Energy funded the largest proportion of ci2 vilian materials research; and

3 (B) there are also major materials programs at

4 the National Science Foundation, the National Insti5 tute of Standards and Technology, and Department

6 of Defense, among other entities;

7 (6) the United States and Mexico have invested

8 heavily in domestic and binational cooperative pro9 grams to address major concerns for the natural re10 sources, environment, and public health of the

11 United States-Mexico border region, expending hun12 dreds of millions of dollars annually in those efforts;

13 (7)(A) scientific and technical advances in ma14 terials and materials processing provide major op15 portunities for—

16 (i) significantly improving energy effi17 ciency;

18 (ii) reducing emissions of global climate

19 change gases;

20 (iii) using recycled natural resources as

21 primary materials for industrial production; and

22 (iv) minimizing industrial wastes and pol23 lution; and

24 (B) such advances will directly benefit both

25 sides of the United States-Mexico border by encour-
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1 aging energy efficient, environmentally sound eco2 nomic development that protects the health and nat3 ural resources of the border region;

4 (8)(A) promoting clean materials industries in

5 the border region that are energy efficient has been

6 identified as a high priority issue by the United

7 States-Mexico Foundation for Science Cooperation;

8 and

9 (B) at the 1998 discussions of the United

10 States-Mexico Binational Commission, Mexico for11 mally proposed joint funding of a ‘‘Materials Cor12 ridor Partnership Initiative’’, proposing $1,000,000

13 to implement the Initiative if matched by the United

14 States;

15 (9) recognizing the importance of materials and

16 materials processing, academic and research institu17 tions in the border States of both the United States

18 and Mexico, in conjunction with private sector part19 ners of both countries, and with strong endorsement

20 from the Government of Mexico, in 1998 organized

21 the Materials Corridor Council to implement a coop22 erative program of materials research and develop23 ment, education and training, and sustainable indus24 trial development as part of the Materials Corridor

25 Partnership Initiative; and
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1 (10) successful implementation of the Materials

2 Corridor Partnership Initiative would advance im3 portant United States energy, environmental, and

4 economic goals not only in the United States-Mexico

5 border region but also as a model for similar collabo6 rative materials initiatives in other regions of the

7 world.

8 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

9 The purpose of this Act is to establish a multiagency

10 program in support of the Materials Corridor Partnership

11 Initiative referred to in section 2(8) to promote energy ef12 ficient, environmentally sound economic development

13 along the United States-Mexico border through the re14 search, development, and use of new materials technology.

15 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

16 In this Act:

17 (1) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means

18 the program established under section 5(a).

19 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

20 the Secretary of Energy.

21 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE

22 PROGRAM.

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish

25 a comprehensive program to promote energy effi-
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1 cient, environmentally sound economic development

2 along the United States-Mexico border through the

3 research, development, and use of new materials

4 technology.

5 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing the pro6 gram, the Secretary shall give due consideration to

7 the proposal made to the United States-Mexico Bi8 national Commission for the Materials Corridor

9 Partnership Initiative.

10 (b) PARTICIPATION OF OTHER FEDERAL AGEN11 CIES.—The Secretary shall organize and conduct the pro12 gram jointly with—

13 (1) the Department of State;

14 (2) the Environmental Protection Agency;

15 (3) the National Science Foundation;

16 (4) the National Institute of Standards and

17 Technology; and

18 (5) any other departments or agencies the par19 ticipation of which the Secretary considers appro20 priate.

21 (c) PARTICIPATION OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR.—

22 When appropriate, funds made available under this Act

23 shall be made available for research and development or

24 education and training activities that are conducted with

25 the participation and support of private sector organiza-
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1 tions located in the United States and, subject to section

2 7(c)(2), Mexico, to promote and accelerate in the United

3 States-Mexico border region the use of energy efficient,

4 environmentally sound technologies and other advances re5 sulting from the program.

6 (d) MEXICAN RESOURCE CONTRIBUTIONS.—The

7 Secretary shall—

8 (1) encourage public, private, nonprofit, and

9 academic organizations located in Mexico to contrib10 ute significant financial and other resources to the

11 program; and

12 (2) take any such contributions into account in

13 conducting the program.

14 (e) TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY FROM NATIONAL

15 LABORATORIES.—In conducting the program, the Sec16 retary shall emphasize the transfer and use of materials

17 technology developed by the national laboratories of the

18 Department of Energy before the date of enactment of

19 this Act.

20 SEC. 6. ACTIVITIES AND MAJOR PROGRAM ELEMENTS.

21 (a) ACTIVITIES.—Funds made available under this

22 Act shall be made available for research and development

23 and education and training activities that are primarily

24 focused on materials, and the synthesis, processing, and

25 fabrication of materials, that promote—
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1 (1) improvement of energy efficiency;

2 (2) elimination or minimization of emissions of

3 global climate change gases and contaminants;

4 (3) minimization of industrial wastes and pol5 lutants; and

6 (4) use of recycled resources as primary mate7 rials for industrial production.

8 (b) MAJOR PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The program shall have the

10 following major elements:

11 (A) Applied research, focused on maturing

12 and refining materials technologies to dem13 onstrate the feasibility or utility of the mate14 rials technologies.

15 (B) Basic research, focused on the discov16 ery of new knowledge that may eventually prove

17 useful in creating materials technologies to pro18 mote energy efficient, environmentally sound

19 manufacturing.

20 (C) Education and training, focused on

21 educating and training scientists, engineers,

22 and workers in the border region in energy effi23 cient, environmentally sound materials tech24 nologies.
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1 (2) APPLIED RESEARCH.—Applied research

2 projects under paragraph (1)(A) should typically in3 volve significant participation from private sector or4 ganizations that would use or sell such a technology.

5 (3) BASIC RESEARCH.—Basic research projects

6 conducted under paragraph (1)(B) should typically

7 be led by an academic or other research institution.

8 SEC. 7. PARTICIPATION OF DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

9 OTHER THAN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY.

10 (a) AGREEMENT.—Not later than 120 days after the

11 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall enter

12 into an agreement with the departments and agencies re13 ferred to in section 5(b) on the coordination and imple14 mentation of the program.

15 (b) ACTIONS OF DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES.—

16 Any action of a department or agency under an agreement

17 under subsection (a) shall be the responsibility of that de18 partment or agency and shall not be subject to approval

19 by the Secretary.

20 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary and the de22 partments and agencies referred to in section 5(b)

23 may use funds made available for the program for

24 research and development or education and training

25 activities carried out by—
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1 (A) State and local governments and aca2 demic, nonprofit, and private organizations lo3 cated in the United States; and

4 (B) State and local governments and aca5 demic, nonprofit, and private organizations lo6 cated in Mexico.

7 (2) CONDITION.—Funds may be made available

8 to a State or local government or organization lo9 cated in Mexico only if a government or organization

10 located in Mexico (which need not be the recipient

11 of the funds) contributes a significant amount of fi12 nancial or other resources to the project to be fund13 ed.

14 (d) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may

15 transfer funds to the departments and agencies referred

16 to in section 5(b) to carry out the responsibilities of the

17 departments and agencies under this Act.

18 SEC. 8. PROGRAM ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish

21 an advisory committee consisting of representatives

22 of the private, academic, and public sectors.

23 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing the ad24 visory committee, the Secretary shall take into con25 sideration organizations in existence on the date of
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1 enactment of this Act, such as the Materials Cor2 ridor Council and the Business Council for Sustain3 able Development-Gulf Mexico.

4 (b) CONSULTATION AND COORDINATION.—Depart5 ments and agencies of the United States to which funds

6 are made available under this Act shall consult and coordi7 nate with the advisory committee in identifying and imple8 menting the appropriate types of projects to be funded

9 under this Act.

10 SEC. 9. FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Federal departments and agencies

12 participating in the program may provide financial and

13 technical assistance to other organizations to achieve the

14 purpose of the program.

15 (b) APPLIED RESEARCH.—

16 (1) USE OF COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Federal departments

18 and agencies shall, to the extent practicable,

19 use cooperative agreements to fund applied re20 search activities by organizations outside the

21 Federal Government.

22 (B) NATIONAL LABORATORIES.—In the

23 case of an applied research activity conducted

24 by a national laboratory, a funding method

25 other than a cooperative agreement may be
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1 used if such a funding method would be more

2 administratively convenient.

3 (2) FEDERAL SHARE.—

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal Govern5 ment shall pay not more than 50 percent of the

6 cost of applied research activities under the pro7 gram.

8 (B) QUALIFIED FUNDING AND RE9 SOURCES.—No funds or other resources ex10 pended either before the start of a project

11 under the program or outside the scope of work

12 covered by the funding method determined

13 under paragraph (1) shall be credited toward

14 the non-Federal share of the cost of the project.

15 (c) BASIC RESEARCH AND EDUCATION AND TRAIN16 ING.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Federal departments and

18 agencies shall, to the extent practicable, use grants

19 to fund basic research and education and training

20 activities by organizations outside the Federal Gov21 ernment.

22 (2) NATIONAL LABORATORIES.—In the case of

23 a basic research or education activity conducted by

24 a national laboratory, a funding method other than
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1 a grant may be used if such a funding method would

2 be more administratively convenient.

3 (3) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal Govern4 ment may fund 100 percent of the cost of the basic

5 research and education and training activities of the

6 program.

7 (d) COMPETITIVE SELECTION.—All projects funded

8 under the program shall be competitively selected using

9 such selection criteria as the Secretary, in consultation

10 with the departments and agencies referred to in section

11 5(b), determines to be appropriate.

12 (e) ACCOUNTING STANDARDS.—

13 (1) WAIVER.—To facilitate participation in the

14 program, Federal departments and agencies may

15 waive any requirements for Government accounting

16 standards by organizations that have not established

17 such standards.

18 (2) GAAP.—Generally accepted accounting

19 principles shall be sufficient for projects under the

20 program.

21 (f) NO CONSTRUCTION.—No program funds may be

22 used for construction.
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1 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

3 this Act $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2000 through

4 2004.

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