I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2453 

To provide for a national biological data center, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 15, 2009 

Mr. DUNCAN (for himself and Mr. WAMP) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for a national biological data center, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. NATIONAL BIOLOGICAL DATA CENTER. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 

5 United States Geological Survey, shall establish a national 

6 biological data center (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘cen7 ter’’). The center may be established within an existing 

8 program (such as the National Biological Information In9 frastructure program). 


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1 (b) CONTRACT.—The Secretary seek to enter into a 

2 contract with a small business for the purpose of man3 aging the center. 

4 (c) CONTRACT TERM.— 

5 (1) INITIAL CONTRACT.—The contract under 

6 subsection (a) shall have an initial term of 10 years. 

7 (2) SUBSEQUENT CONTRACTS.—The terms of 

8 subsequent contracts shall be determined by the Sec9 retary. 

10 (d) ENTITY SELECTION.— 

11 (1) COMPETITIVE PROCEDURES.—The Sec12 retary shall use competitive procedures (as defined 

13 in section 4(5) of the Office of Federal Procurement 

14 Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403(5))) to enter into the con15 tract under subsection (b). 

16 (2) QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—To qual17 ify to participate in the competitive procedures 

18 under paragraph (1), a small business shall have— 

19 (A) no more than 500 employees on the 

20 date that the initial contract is awarded to such 

21 business under subsection (a); 

22 (B) demonstrated expertise in— 

23 (i) managing scientific and technical 

24 information; 


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1 (ii) implementing scientific informa2 tion projects; 

3 (iii) presenting scientific data in an 

4 objective manner; and 

5 (iv) managing interagency collabora6 tions related to scientific and technical in7 formation; 

8 (C) demonstrated involvement with bio9 diversity information programs and the Na10 tional Biological Information Infrastructure of 

11 the United States Geological Survey (through 

12 partnership or other form of collaboration); and 

13 (D) a demonstrated ability and willingness 

14 to partner with a research university and a na15 tional laboratory with expertise in biodiversity 

16 and computational sciences. 

17 (e) LEADERSHIP.—The head of the center shall be 

18 appointed by the Secretary, acting through the Director 

19 of the United States Geological Survey, in consultation 

20 with the program director of the National Biological Infor21 mation Infrastructure. 

22 (f) DUTIES OF THE NATIONAL BIOLOGICAL DATA

23 CENTER.—The duties of the center shall be determined 

24 by the Secretary and shall include, at a minimum, the fol25 lowing activities: 


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1 (1) Collect nonhuman biological data from Fed2 eral, public, private, and nonprofit entities, includ3 ing— 

4 (A) the National Biological Information 

5 Infrastructure; and 

6 (B) institutions and organizations that 

7 partner with the National Biological Informa8 tion Infrastructure. 

9 (2) Develop partnerships with public and pri10 vate entities that are nationally recognized for com11 putational capabilities and computer capacity to 

12 allow the center to efficiently develop a digital net13 work for the storage and retrieval of data collected 

14 under paragraph (1). 

15 (3) Develop partnerships with academic and sci16 entific institutions in the United States to increase 

17 the quantity of data— 

18 (A) collected under paragraph (1); and 

19 (B) made available for public use under 

20 paragraph (4). 

21 (4) Subject to Federal statutes and regulations 

22 relating to the disclosure of information collected 

23 under paragraph (1), including statutes and regula24 tions related to intellectual property and section 552 

25 of title 5, United States Code, make available for 


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1 use by Federal, State, and local governments and 

2 members of the public any federally funded data col3 lected under paragraph (1). 

4 (5) Make the data described in paragraph (4) 

5 available to such governments and members of the 

6 public— 

7 (A) through a single electronic search 

8 function; or 

9 (B) in any case in which such data is not 

10 electronically maintained, at a single location. 

11 (6) Organize and manage data collected under 

12 paragraph (1) in a manner that— 

13 (A) enables efficient and effective use of 

14 the data by the public; 

15 (B) presents the data in an objective man16 ner; and 

17 (C) is consistent with efforts made by the 

18 National Biological Information Infrastructure 

19 to organize and manage nonhuman biological 

20 data for public use. 

21 (7) Prepare value added compilations and ana22 lytical assessments (including models and simula23 tions) of multiple data sets that combine and ana24 lyze data from multiple data sources to improve the 


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1 ease of use of such data sets by Federal, State, and 

2 local governments and by members of the public. 

3 (8) Conduct public awareness activities that 

4 promote the use of the data made available under 

5 paragraph (4) for purposes of encouraging— 

6 (A) economic development; 

7 (B) the development of public policy (in8 cluding policy relating to land use, economic de9 velopment, conservation, and preservation); 

10 (C) scientific research; and 

11 (D) science, technology, engineering, and 

12 mathematics education. 

13 (9) Hold an annual conference on nonhuman 

14 biological data collection for the purpose of encour15 aging experts from Federal, State, and local govern16 ments and public and private entities to provide ad17 vice to the head of the center on improving the cen18 ter’s performance. 

19 (10) Collect fees from State and local govern20 ments and members of the public for the use of— 

21 (A) compilations and analytical assess22 ments prepared under paragraph (7); and 

23 (B) other products and services offered by 

24 the center including but not limited to technical 

25 training and consultation relating to the use or 


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1 application of data products, except that the 

2 center may not collect a fee solely for accessing 

3 data collected by the center from another 

4 source. 

5 (g) DUTIES OF OTHER ENTITIES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to Federal statutes 

7 and regulations relating to the disclosure of informa8 tion, including statutes and regulations related to in9 tellectual property and section 552 of title 5, United 

10 States Code, any entity that collects or stores feder11 ally funded data on or after the end of the one-year 

12 period beginning on the date of enactment of this 

13 Act shall submit or make available such data to the 

14 center, in a form and manner described in standards 

15 published by the center, unless such data has been 

16 submitted to the National Biological Information In17 frastructure. 

18 (2) NATIONAL BIOLOGICAL INFORMATION IN19 FRASTRUCTURE.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The center shall serve 

21 as the data repository for the National Biologi22 cal Information Infrastructure. and all data 

23 shall be made available in a form and manner 

24 described in standards published by the center. 


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1 (B) DATA TO BE MADE AVAILABLE.—Sub2 ject to Federal statutes and regulations relating 

3 to the disclosure of information, including stat4 utes and regulations related to intellectual prop5 erty and section 552 of title 5, United States 

6 Code, the National Biological Information In7 frastructure shall make all data that it stores 

8 and maintains available to the center in a form 

9 and manner described in standards published 

10 by the center. 

11 (h) AVAILABILITY OF FEES.—Subject to appropria12 tion, fees collected under subsection (d)(10) shall remain 

13 available for use by the center for activities under sub14 section (d). 

15 (i) REPORTS.— 

16 (1) ANNUAL REPORT TO SECRETARY.—Not 

17 later than January 1 of each year following the date 

18 of enactment of this Act, the head of the center shall 

19 submit to the Secretary an annual report con20 taining— 

21 (A) information on the activities of the 

22 center during the preceding fiscal year and the 

23 plans of the center for activities in the current 

24 fiscal year; and 


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1 (B) such additional information as the Sec2 retary may require. 

3 (2) ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

4 than April 1 of each year following the date of en5 actment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to 

6 Congress an annual report on— 

7 (A) information on the activities of the 

8 center during the preceding fiscal year and the 

9 plans of the center for activities in the current 

10 fiscal year; and 

11 (B) the administration of the contract en12 tered into under subsection (a). 

13 (j) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this Act, the fol14 lowing definitions apply: 

15 (1) FEDERALLY FUNDED DATA.—The term 

16 ‘‘federally-funded data’’ means nonhuman biological 

17 data that is collected, maintained, or stored, in 

18 whole or in part, through the use of Federal funds. 

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

20 the Secretary of the Interior. 

21 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

22 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

23 $8,000,000 per fiscal year. Amounts appropriated under 

24 this subsection shall remain available until expended. 

Æ 


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