II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4952 

To establish a Center of Excellence for Dark and Quiet Skies, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2024 

Mr. HICKENLOOPER (for himself and Mr. CRAPO) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish a Center of Excellence for Dark and Quiet 

Skies, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dark and Quiet Skies 

5 Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to increase participation 

8 and collaboration between Federal agencies and the pri9 vate sector to research, develop, and deploy mitigation 

10 techniques on a voluntary basis to protect the integrity 


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1 of federally funded scientific research observing the sky 

2 and celestial bodies. 

3 SEC. 3. CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR DARK AND QUIET 

4 SKIES. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON7 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con8 gress’’ means— 

9 (A) the Committee on Appropriations, the 

10 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 

11 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

12 Transportation of the Senate; and 

13 (B) the Committee on Appropriations, the 

14 Committee on Natural Resources, the Com15 mittee on Energy and Commerce, and the Com16 mittee on Space, Science, and Technology of 

17 the House of Representatives. 

18 (2) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ means the 

19 Center of Excellence for Dark and Quiet Skies es20 tablished under subsection (b)(1). 

21 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti22 ty’’ means— 

23 (A) a nonprofit organization; 

24 (B) a Federal laboratory; 

25 (C) an institution of higher education; 


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1 (D) a Native entity; 

2 (E) an observatory participating in a fed3 erally funded research project; and 

4 (F) a consortium of 1 or more entities de5 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (E), pri6 vate entities, or astronomers. 

7 (4) FEDERAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Fed8 eral laboratory’’ has the meaning given to the term 

9 in section 4 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology In10 novation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3703). 

11 (5) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

12 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ means an in13 stitution of higher education, as defined in section 

14 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

15 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

16 (6) NATIVE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘Native entity’’ 

17 means— 

18 (A) a Tribal government; 

19 (B) an Alaska Native Village or Regional 

20 or Village Corporation, as defined in or estab21 lished pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims 

22 Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.); and 

23 (C) a Native Hawaiian organization, as 

24 that term is defined in section 7517 of title 20, 

25 United States Code. 


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1 (7) SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘scientific 

2 activity’’ means federally funded scientific activities 

3 observing the sky or celestial bodies using— 

4 (A) radio observations; or 

5 (B) optical observations, including photo6 metric or spectroscopic data. 

7 (8) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 

8 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 

9 for Standards and Technology. 

10 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTER.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to availability of ap12 propriations, not later than 1 year after the date of 

13 enactment of this Act, and after convening a gaps 

14 analysis workshop with the Office of Space Com15 merce of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad16 ministration and the National Science Foundation to 

17 assess the present status of the objectives described 

18 in paragraph (2), the Under Secretary shall award 

19 a grant, on a competitive basis, to an eligible entity 

20 to establish and operate a Center of Excellence for 

21 Dark and Quiet Skies. 

22 (2) OBJECTIVES.—Prior to awarding a grant 

23 under paragraph (1), the Under Secretary shall es24 tablish the objectives of the Center, including how 


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1 the Center, to the maximum extent practicable, 

2 will— 

3 (A) work with the satellite industry and as4 tronomical community to develop and dissemi5 nate best practices to limit optical and radio in6 terference with scientific activity, including de7 veloping consistent optical brightness measure8 ments; 

9 (B) identify existing facilities within the 

10 United States (as of the date of establishment 

11 of the objectives) to be used for testing inter12 ference mitigation or suggest adaptations to ex13 isting facilities for such purpose; 

14 (C) conduct transdisciplinary research, de15 velopment, and demonstration projects with an 

16 emphasis on tracking, identifying, modeling, 

17 characterizing, and minimizing potential inter18 ference with scientific activity, and shall include 

19 methods to— 

20 (i) reduce optical impact of satellites 

21 in photometric and spectroscopic observa22 tions; 

23 (ii) reduce radio frequency impact of 

24 satellites on radio observations; 


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1 (iii) quantify, assess, model, or predict 

2 potential interference with scientific activ3 ity; 

4 (iv) promote consistency, where appli5 cable, with domestic and international ef6 forts to protect scientific research; and 

7 (v) assess methods and techniques as8 tronomers can take to avoid receiving in9 terference from satellite activity, such as 

10 hardware-related technological innovations; 

11 (D) publish the results of transdisciplinary 

12 research carried out by the Center in a publicly 

13 accessible repository with appropriate protec14 tions, as determined by the Under Secretary, to 

15 protect proprietary or confidential information; 

16 (E) work with the satellite industry to de17 velop and disseminate voluntary guidelines and 

18 evidence-based best practices to mitigate optical 

19 and radio interference with scientific research; 

20 and 

21 (F) achieve any other goal that the Under 

22 Secretary determines necessary as a result of 

23 the workshop convened pursuant to paragraph 

24 (1). 


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1 (3) CONSULTATION.—In establishing the Cen2 ter under paragraph (1) and determining the objec3 tives of the Center under paragraph (2), the Under 

4 Secretary shall consult with— 

5 (A) the Department of State; 

6 (B) the Federal Aviation Administration; 

7 (C) the Federal Communications Commis8 sion; 

9 (D) the National Aeronautics and Space 

10 Administration; 

11 (E) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

12 Administration; 

13 (F) the National Science Foundation; 

14 (G) the National Telecommunications and 

15 Information Administration; 

16 (H) the Office of Space Commerce; and 

17 (I) private entities involved in in-space ac18 tivities, space surveillance activities, or astron19 omy activities, including not less than 1 of each 

20 of the following: 

21 (i) Satellite and spacecraft operators, 

22 including a diverse range of constellation 

23 sizes, missions, and purposes. 

24 (ii) A space situational awareness pro25 vider. 


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1 (iii) A nonprofit organization. 

2 (iv) Federal laboratories and National 

3 observatories, including a diverse range of 

4 scientific purposes. 

5 (v) An institution of higher education. 

6 (vi) A Native entity. 

7 (c) APPLICATION; AWARD BASIS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a 

9 grant under subsection (b)(1) shall submit an appli10 cation at such time, in such manner, and containing 

11 such information as the Under Secretary may re12 quire. 

13 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In reviewing applica14 tions under this subsection and awarding a grant 

15 under subsection (b)(1), the Under Secretary shall 

16 consider the degree to which— 

17 (A) the eligible entity submitting the appli18 cation has a plan to financially sustain the ac19 tivities of the Center after the conclusion of the 

20 grant period, including with matching funds for 

21 any Federal funding dedicated to the Center; 

22 and 

23 (B) the degree to which the eligible entity 

24 proposes to engage small businesses in the ac25 tivities of the Center. 


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1 (d) COORDINATION.—The Under Secretary shall en2 sure the coordination, and avoid unnecessary duplication, 

3 of activities of the Center with the research, development, 

4 or demonstration activities of— 

5 (1) the Department of Energy or Federal lab6 oratories; 

7 (2) the National Aeronautics and Space Admin8 istration; 

9 (3) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad10 ministration; 

11 (4) the National Science Foundation; and 

12 (5) The National Telecommunications and In13 formation Administration. 

14 (e) DURATION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to appropriations 

16 and paragraph (2), the Center is authorized to carry 

17 out activities for a period of 5 years. 

18 (2) TERMINATION.—The Under Secretary may 

19 terminate the Center in the event the Under Sec20 retary determines the Center is underperforming 

21 during the performance period described in para22 graph (1). 

23 (f) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 

24 months after the date of enactment of this Act, and annu25 ally thereafter through fiscal year 2029, the Under SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:49 Aug 31, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4952.IS S4952

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1 retary shall prepare and submit a report to the appro2 priate committees of Congress— 

3 (1) providing an evaluation of the Center’s ef4 fectiveness in achieving its objectives under sub5 section (b)(2); and 

6 (2) describing benchmarks the Center will seek 

7 to accomplish in the forthcoming year. 

8 (g) FUNDING.— 

9 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

11 this section $20,000,000 for the period of fiscal 

12 years 2025 through 2029. 

13 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

14 section shall be construed to require the Under Sec15 retary to carry out this section using amounts ap16 propriated or otherwise made available to the De17 partment of Commerce for other purposes. 

Æ 


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