Union Calendar No. 288

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1432

[Report No. 103–484, Parts I and II]

A BILL

To establish missions for Department of Energy retransfer activities, and for other purposes. consolidate Department of Energy technology complishing such missions, and reorganize and the evaluation of laboratory effectiveness in ac- search and development laboratories, provide for

MAY 19, 1994

Reported from the Committee on Science, Space, and

Union, and ordered to be printedCommittee of the Whole House on the State of theTechnology with an amendment, committed to the
IB

Union Calendar No. 288

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1432

[Report No. 103–484, Parts I and II]

To establish missions for Department of Energy research and development

laboratories, provide for the evaluation of laboratory effectiveness in

accomplishing such missions, and reorganize and consolidate Department

of Energy technology transfer activities, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 23, 1993

Mr. BROWN of California (for himself, Mrs. LLOYD, Mr. VALENTINE, Mr.

BOUCHER, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was referred jointly to the Committees on Science, Space, and Technology and

Armed Services

SEPTEMBER 15, 1993

Additional sponsors: Mr. BACCHUS of Florida, Mr. INSLEE, Ms. FURSE, Mr.

WAXMAN, Mr. MILLER of California, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. DELLUMS, Ms.

ESHOO, and Mr. SCOTT

APRIL 26, 1994

Reported from the Committee on Armed Services with an amendment

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

MAY 19, 1994

Additional sponsors: Ms. WOOLSEY and Mr. MINETA

MAY 19, 1994

Reported from the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 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 boldface roman]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 23, 1993]
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A BILL

To establish missions for Department of Energy research

and development laboratories, provide for the evaluation

of laboratory effectiveness in accomplishing such missions, and reorganize and consolidate Department of

Energy technology transfer activities, 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 ‘‘Department of Energy

5 Laboratory Technology Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) the Department of Energy maintains an ex9 tensive system of laboratories which represent a na10 tional resource, comprised of a dedicated, multi-dis11 ciplinary work force of scientists and engineers, so12 phisticated scientific instrumentation, and unique re13 search facilities;

14 (2) the end of the Cold War has significantly re15 duced the Nation’s requirements for nuclear weapons

16 systems development and production, but the depart17 mental laboratories retain a vital national security

18 mission to maintain the Nation’s confidence in the

19 safety, security, and reliability of the nuclear stock-
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1 pile and to support verification of arms control agree2 ments, dismantlement of weapons, nonproliferation

3 and counterproliferation efforts, intelligence require4 ments, work for the Department of Defense, and other

5 national security requirements;

6 (3) the United States faces serious national secu7 rity, energy, economic, and environmental challenges

8 toward which the resources of departmental labora9 tories could be applied in a more concerted fashion;

10 (4) in order to contribute to United States eco11 nomic competitiveness and maintain the core com12 petencies required to meet national security require13 ments, departmental laboratories will need to cooper14 ate with industry, State and local governments, uni15 versities, and nonprofit organizations on a broader

16 scale;

17 (5) the legislative and bureaucratic frameworks

18 for cooperative efforts between departmental labora19 tories and industry, State and local governments,

20 universities, and nonprofit organizations should be

21 streamlined to facilitate partnerships;

22 (6) departmental laboratories’ interaction with

23 industry goes beyond the movement of technologies de24 veloped at the laboratories to industry, State and

25 local governments, universities, and nonprofit organi-
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1 zations; it has included and should continue to in2 clude a two-way flow of ideas, people, knowledge, and

3 intellectual property, whereby partnerships provide

4 benefits to the laboratory as well as to the

5 nonlaboratory partners;

6 (7) independent reviews of departmental labora7 tories over the past two decades uniformly have em8 phasized the importance of maintaining well defined

9 missions at these laboratories, in order to provide co10 herence, direction, and the basis for performance eval11 uation;

12 (8) as the missions of departmental laboratories,

13 and other Federal laboratories, change in response to

14 evolving national needs, the activities of these labora15 tories should be coordinated and evaluated to the

16 maximum extent practicable in order to ensure that

17 they are meeting their intended objectives; and

18 (9) the National Science and Technology Coun19 cil, which is chaired by the President, is responsible

20 for coordinating the science and technology policy

21 making process and for integrating the President’s

22 science and technology policy agenda across the Fed23 eral Government, and should serve to coordinate ac24 tivities at the Federal laboratories and to ensure the
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1 implementation of measures for performance evalua2 tion for such activities.

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

4 For the purposes of this Act—

5 (1) the term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart6 ment of Energy;

7 (2) the term ‘‘departmental laboratory’’ means a

8 Federal laboratory, or any other laboratory or facility

9 designated by the Secretary, operated by or on behalf

10 of the Department;

11 (3) the term ‘‘departmental defense laboratories’’

12 means the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,

13 the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the Sandia

14 National Laboratories;

15 (4) the term ‘‘Federal laboratory’’ has the mean16 ing given the term ‘‘laboratory’’ in section 12(d)(2) of

17 the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of

18 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a(d)(2));

19 (5) the term ‘‘generic, precompetitive’’ means

20 having broad market potential but not yet associated

21 with specific marketable products or product lines;

22 (6) the term ‘‘mission’’ means a clear statement

23 of purpose to focus research and development activity

24 at a Federal laboratory on specified objectives;
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1 (7) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of

2 Energy; and

3 (8) the term ‘‘technology transfer’’ means—

4 (A) any collaborative effort involving a Fed5 eral laboratory and private industry, State or

6 local governments, universities, or nonprofit or7 ganizations, whose goal is—

8 (i) to enhance the potential use by pri9 vate industry, State or local governments,

10 universities, or nonprofit organizations, of

11 research and development sponsored by the

12 Federal Government; or

13 (ii) to jointly develop new scientific or

14 technical information or generic,

15 precompetitive technology; or

16 (B) any process by which federally owned

17 or originated technology, or the intellectual prop18 erty rights associated with such technology, are

19 transferred to private industry, State or local

20 governments, universities, or nonprofit organiza21 tions.

22 SEC. 4. MISSIONS OF DEPARTMENTAL LABORATORIES.

23 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Department is au24 thorized to maintain departmental laboratories for the pur25 pose of advancing the following missions:
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1 (1) To maintain national security, as follows:

2 (A) To provide for the Nation’s nuclear

3 weapons requirements, to be stewards of the Na4 tion’s nuclear weapons stockpile, and to meet

5 other national security requirements as deter6 mined by the President, including the advance7 ment of science and technology for national secu8 rity purposes.

9 (B) To reduce the threat of nuclear war, by

10 assisting with the dismantlement of nuclear

11 weapons, working to curb the proliferation of

12 weapons of mass destruction, supporting efforts

13 to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass

14 destruction and their delivery systems, and con15 ducting research on and the development of tech16 nologies needed for the effective verification of

17 international arms control agreements, including

18 prospective international arms control agree19 ments.

20 (2) To ensure the Nation’s energy supply, as fol21 lows:

22 (A) To reduce the Nation’s reliance on im23 ported and nonrenewable energy sources through

24 research and development related to energy pro25 duction and use, with emphasis on energy effi-
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1 ciency, conservation, and renewable energy pro2 duction.

3 (B) To conduct basic research in energy-re4 lated science and technology and in the fun5 damental understanding of matter, including

6 construction and operation of unique scientific

7 instruments and facilities for use by the Federal

8 Government, academia, industry, and other ap9 propriate non-Federal institutions.

10 (3) To carry out research and development for

11 the purpose of minimizing the environmental impacts

12 of the production and use of energy and materials, in13 cluding missions as follows:

14 (A) To develop generic, precompetitive tech15 nologies aimed at reducing the generation of haz16 ardous or nonhazardous waste or pollution, or

17 reducing the consumption of energy or materials,

18 while contributing to sustainable United States

19 economic growth.

20 (B) To develop technologies and techniques

21 for the safe disposal of hazardous waste or radio22 active waste in order to accelerate the schedule

23 of, and reduce the total cost of, cleaning up the

24 hazardous waste sites associated with nuclear
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1 weapons production and other programs funded

2 by the Department.

3 (b) ADDITIONAL MISSIONS.—The Department is au4 thorized to pursue additional missions at departmental lab5 oratories beyond those identified in subsection (a) only—

6 (1) if such missions are assigned to the Depart7 ment by the President, and only to the extent that—

8 (A) such laboratories possess substantial

9 technical capabilities that can be devoted to such

10 missions;

11 (B) such additional mission activities do

12 not interfere with the pursuit of the missions

13 identified in subsection (a); and

14 (C) involvement in such additional mission

15 activities is coordinated with any other Federal

16 agency or agencies which carry out such mission

17 activities, as appropriate; or

18 (2) if such missions have been established by

19 statute enacted before the date of enactment of this

20 Act, and do not conflict with the missions established

21 under this section.

22 (c) TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER.—(1)(A) Except as pro23 vided in subparagraph (B), the Department is authorized

24 to use program funds at the departmental laboratories for

25 technology transfer activities, whenever those activities are
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1 consistent with and further an assigned mission of the de2 partmental laboratory.

3 (B) Not more than 20 percent of funds made available

4 to the Department in any fiscal year for weapons activities

5 for research and development may be set aside for the tech6 nology transfer initiative described in the President’s budg7 et for weapons activities for that fiscal year.

8 (2) The Secretary shall—

9 (A) work with all Assistant Secretaries, Office

10 directors, and other Department officials with respon11 sibilities for managing research and development pro12 grams to ensure that technology transfer consider13 ations are fully integrated into the planning and con14 duct of all research and development conducted at de15 partmental laboratories;

16 (B) develop and issue departmental policies for

17 technology transfer activities, with the goal of creat18 ing a stable and consistent policy framework for de19 partmental collaborations with private industry,

20 State or local governments, universities, or nonprofit

21 organizations; and

22 (C) oversee the management and allocation of

23 Department funding for technology transfer activities

24 to ensure that such funding is available to all depart25 mental laboratories without distinction as to whether
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1 the laboratory is involved in defense or nondefense ac2 tivities.

3 (3) Funds authorized to be appropriated to the Depart4 ment of Energy and made available for laboratory-directed

5 research and development shall be available for advancing

6 generic, precompetitive research and development activities

7 at the departmental laboratory to the point of providing

8 the potential basis for technology transfer.

9 (d) EDUCATION.—The Department is authorized to use

10 scientific, technical, and human resources at the depart11 mental laboratories to support the national goal of improv12 ing the quality of science, mathematics, and engineering

13 education in the United States.

14 SEC. 5. EVALUATION.

15 The Secretary shall, for each departmental labora16 tory—

17 (1) assign a mission or missions consistent with

18 section 4(a) and (b);

19 (2) establish goals in each mission area against

20 which the performance of the departmental laboratory

21 will be evaluated;

22 (3) develop a technology transfer plan with spe23 cific objectives for collaborative efforts between the lab24 oratory and private industry, State or local govern25 ments, universities, or nonprofit organizations in
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1 order to coordinate, direct, and enhance the impact of

2 such collaborations, based on the core intellectual and

3 technical competencies of the laboratory;

4 (4) ensure that for each new technology transfer

5 project and for each ongoing technology transfer

6 project, technical milestones, an estimate of the dura7 tion of the project, and an estimate of the total cost

8 of the project are established;

9 (5) regularly assess the degree to which goals and

10 objectives established pursuant to paragraphs (2) and

11 (3) have been achieved, in terms of performance, im12 pact, or accomplishments, employing evaluative pro13 cedures and methods specific and appropriate to each

14 mission area; and

15 (6) include in the Secretary’s annual report to

16 Congress required under section 657 of the Depart17 ment of Energy Organization Act—

18 (A) a statement of missions and goals for

19 the departmental laboratory assigned or estab20 lished pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (2);

21 (B) an explanation for any proposed modi22 fications in the mission or missions for the de23 partmental laboratory;

24 (C) the technology transfer plan required

25 under paragraph (3);
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1 (D) for any technology transfer project in2 volving a Federal commitment of $500,000 or

3 more—

4 (i) the technical and financial data

5 called for in paragraph (4); and

6 (ii) technical and financial variances

7 from the original estimates as called for in

8 paragraph (4); and

9 (E) the assessment required under para10 graph (5), along with a statement of any

11 planned, ongoing, or completed actions based on

12 this assessment.

13 SEC. 6. REPORT ON FUTURE USE OF DEPARTMENTAL LAB14 ORATORIES.

15 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary, in coordination

16 with the Secretary of Defense and other appropriate Federal

17 officers, shall submit to Congress within 6 months after the

18 date of enactment of this Act, a report on the future use

19 of the departmental laboratories.

20 (b) ALTERNATIVES.—Such report shall identify and

21 examine the costs and benefits of alternatives to the current

22 mission assignments, budgets, and management structures

23 of the departmental laboratories. The alternatives examined

24 should be those which seek to enhance the laboratories’ con25 tribution to United States basic science or economic com-
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1 petitiveness while maintaining the laboratories’ abilities to

2 perform their assigned missions.

3 (c) PRESERVATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS COM4 PETENCIES.—Such report shall identify and examine ways

5 to ensure that the Nation preserves the core intellectual and

6 technical competencies of the United States in nuclear

7 weapons, including weapons design, system integration,

8 manufacturing, security, use control, reliability assessment,

9 and certification, and shall include an identification of any

10 existing or anticipated deficiencies in retaining trained

11 personnel in such areas.

12 (d) COST REDUCTION OPTIONS.—Such report shall

13 identify and examine options for reducing the cost of the

14 Department’s nuclear weapons research, development, engi15 neering, and test-related programs by eliminating any un16 necessary redundancies between the departmental defense

17 laboratories, including options that maintain a process of

18 peer review by more than one laboratory for nuclear weap19 ons design activities and options that eliminate such review

20 process. The report should assess feasibility, costs, and risks

21 for each identified option. Costs to be identified and exam22 ined should include both cost savings due to consolidation

23 and conversion costs, including an assessment of work force

24 retraining and environmental cleanup.
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1 SEC. 7. INDUSTRIAL ADVICE.

2 (a) ADVICE TO SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall seek

3 advice from representatives of United States industry, and

4 of educational institutions and professional and technical

5 societies in the United States, who have experience in the

6 industrial sector, and may establish within the Department

7 an advisory board to provide the Secretary with advice re8 garding the Department’s activities aimed at collaborating

9 with industry in the areas of research, technology develop10 ment, and technology transfer.

11 (b) ADVICE TO DEPARTMENTAL LABORATORY DIREC12 TORS.—The director of each departmental laboratory shall

13 seek advice from representatives of United States industry,

14 and of educational institutions and professional and tech15 nical societies in the United States, who have experience

16 in the industrial sector, and may establish an advisory

17 group, to assist such director in—

18 (1) integrating technology transfer consider19 ations into the planning and performance evaluation

20 of laboratory research and development activities;

21 (2) evaluating new initiatives proposed by the

22 departmental laboratory and identifying opportuni23 ties for collaborative efforts with United States indus24 try based on those initiatives; and
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1 (3) evaluating the long-term direction of ongoing

2 programs at the departmental laboratory from the

3 perspective of United States industry.

4 (c) USE OF EXISTING BOARDS.—The Secretary or the

5 director of a departmental laboratory may utilize existing

6 advisory boards to achieve the purposes of this section.

7 SEC. 8. AMENDMENTS TO STEVENSON-WYDLER TECH8 NOLOGY INNOVATION ACT OF 1980.

9 Section 12 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Inno10 vation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a) is amended—

11 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting after para12 graph (2) the following:

13 ‘‘The head of any agency using the authority given it under

14 paragraph (1) to enter into cooperative research and devel15 opment agreements shall make all reasonable efforts to expe16 dite the negotiation, processing, and approval of such agree17 ments.’’; and

18 (2) in subsection (c)(5)—

19 (A) by amending subparagraph (C)(i) to

20 read as follows:

21 ‘‘(C)(i) Except as provided in subparagraphs (D) and

22 (E), any agency which has contracted with a non-Federal

23 entity to operate a laboratory shall review and approve, re24 quest specific modifications to, or disapprove a joint work

25 statement and cooperative research and development agree-
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1 ment that is submitted by the director of such laboratory

2 within 30 days after such submission. In any case in which

3 such an agency disapproves or requests the modification of

4 a joint work statement or cooperative research and develop5 ment agreement submitted under this section, the agency

6 shall promptly transmit a written explanation of such dis7 approval or modification to the director of the laboratory

8 concerned. In any case where an agency has requested spe9 cific modifications to a joint work statement or cooperative

10 research and development agreement, the agency shall ap11 prove or disapprove any resubmission of such joint work

12 statement or cooperative research and development agree13 ment within 15 days after resubmission. No agreement may

14 be entered into by a Government-owned, contractor-operated

15 laboratory under this section before approval of both the co16 operative research and development agreement and a joint

17 work statement.’’;

18 (B) by striking clauses (ii), (iv), and (vi) of

19 subparagraph (C);

20 (C) by redesignating clauses (iii) and (v) as

21 clauses (ii) and (iv), respectively;

22 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (C)(ii)

23 the following new clause:

24 ‘‘(iii) Any cooperative research and development agree25 ment involving a Federal commitment of $500,000 or more
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1 shall contain technical milestones and other appropriate

2 performance goals and evaluation criteria, with an antici3 pated schedule for meeting such milestones, goals, and cri4 teria. Each sponsoring Federal agency shall conduct appro5 priate reviews of the work performed within such coopera6 tive research and development agreement to determine

7 whether such agreements are meeting established milestones,

8 require modification, or warrant termination.’’;

9 (E) in subparagraph (C)(iv), as so redesig10 nated by subparagraph (C) of this paragraph—

11 (i) by striking ‘‘under clause (iv) with12 in’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘of a coop13 erative research and development agreement

14 under clause (i) within’’;

15 (ii) by striking ‘‘successive 30-day pe16 riod’’ and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘succes17 sive 10-day period’’; and

18 (iii) by striking ‘‘under clause (iv).’’

19 and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘under clause

20 (i).’’;

21 (F) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as

22 subparagraph (E); and

23 (G) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the

24 following new subparagraph:
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1 ‘‘(D)(i) A Federal agency may permit the director of

2 any of its Government-owned, contractor-operated labora3 tories to enter into a cooperative research and development

4 agreement involving a Federal commitment of $500,000 or

5 less, whenever that activity is consistent with and furthers

6 an assigned mission of the laboratory, without the specific

7 approval of the agency for the cooperative research and de8 velopment agreement.

9 ‘‘(ii) A laboratory director who is granted authority

10 by a Federal agency to enter into a cooperative research

11 and development agreement pursuant to clause (i) shall,

12 upon request, provide the Federal agency with an expla13 nation of how the agreement will complement and contrib14 ute to the laboratory’s missions and activities.’’.

15 SEC. 9. NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIP AWARD.

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary is authorized to

17 establish a National Technology Partnership Award for

18 presentation to private sector or Federal Government orga19 nizations or individuals which have substantially benefited

20 the economic or social well-being of the United States

21 through public sector-private sector collaboration involving

22 technology development or technology transfer, and which

23 as a consequence are deserving of special recognition.

24 (b) FUNDING.—The Secretary is authorized to seek and

25 accept gifts from public and private sources to carry out
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1 a program to administer the National Technology Partner2 ship Award.

3 SEC. 10. FEDERAL LABORATORY MISSION EVALUATION AND

4 COORDINATION.

5 The President, through the National Science and Tech6 nology Council, shall—

7 (1) review on an ongoing basis the missions of,

8 activities conducted at, and scientific, technical, and

9 human resources at, Federal laboratories, with the

10 goals of—

11 (A) improving the efficiency and effective12 ness of the overall Federal laboratory system;

13 and

14 (B) ensuring that research and development

15 conducted at Federal laboratories is coordinated

16 to maximize its contribution to United States

17 economic growth, environmental protection, na18 tional security, expansion of human knowledge,

19 and other important national goals;

20 (2) develop and ensure the implementation of a

21 process for assigning missions to the Federal labora22 tories with the best scientific, technical, and human

23 capabilities for successfully addressing such missions;

24 (3) develop and ensure implementation, as ap25 propriate, of a cross-cutting program evaluation sys-
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1 tem for research and development activities at the

2 Federal laboratories including, where appropriate, the

3 establishment of technical milestones and other meas4 ures for performance evaluation for major activities

5 at Federal laboratories;

6 (4) develop guidelines governing the application

7 of intellectual property law for technology transfer ac8 tivities at Federal laboratories;

9 (5) determine on an ongoing basis whether spe10 cific Federal laboratories should be realigned, consoli11 dated, closed, or otherwise altered in order to meet the

12 goals stated in paragraph (1);

13 (6) review the process by which the Federal Gov14 ernment enters into cooperative research and develop15 ment agreements with companies that are not United

16 States-owned companies (as defined in section

17 28(j)(2) of the National Institute of Standards and

18 Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278n(j)(2))); and

19 (7) prepare, and submit to the Congress within

20 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, a plan

21 for carrying out this section.

22 SEC. 11. POLICY ON CAPITAL PROJECTS AND CONSTRUC23 TION.

24 (a) REQUIREMENT OF PRIOR AUTHORIZATION.—(1)

25 No funds are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary
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1 for any substantial construction project, substantial equip2 ment acquisition, or major construction project unless a re3 port on such project or acquisition has been provided to

4 Congress in accordance with subsection (b).

5 (2) The Secretary may not obligate any funds for any

6 substantial construction project, substantial equipment ac7 quisition, or major construction project unless such project

8 or acquisition has been specifically authorized by statute.

9 (3) This subsection may not be amended or modified

10 except by specific reference to this subsection.

11 (b) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—(1) Within 180 days

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

13 shall submit to the Congress a report that identifies all con14 struction projects and acquisitions of the Department of

15 Energy described in subsection (a) for which the prelimi16 nary design phase is completed but the construction or ac17 quisition is not completed. Such report shall include—

18 (A) an estimate of the total cost of completion of

19 the construction project or acquisition, itemized by

20 individual activity and by fiscal year; and

21 (B) an identification of which construction

22 projects or acquisitions have not been specifically au23 thorized by statute.

24 The Secretary shall annually update and resubmit the re25 port required by this paragraph, as part of the report re-
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1 quired under section 15 of the Federal Nonnuclear Energy

2 Research and Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5914).

3 (2) The Secretary shall, after completion of the pre4 liminary design phase of a major construction project, sub5 mit to the Congress a report containing—

6 (A) an estimate of the total cost of construction

7 of the facility;

8 (B) an estimate of the time required to complete

9 construction;

10 (C) an estimate of the annual operating costs of

11 the facility;

12 (D) the intended useful operating life of the facil13 ity; and

14 (E) an identification of any existing facilities to

15 be closed as a result of the operation of the facility.

16 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—

17 (1) the term ‘‘major construction project’’ means

18 a nonmilitary research and development project whose

19 construction costs are estimated to exceed

20 $100,000,000 over the life of the project;

21 (2) the term ‘‘substantial construction project’’

22 means a nonmilitary research and development

23 project whose construction costs are estimated to ex24 ceed $10,000,000, but not to exceed $100,000,000, over

25 the life of the project; and
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1 (3) the term ‘‘substantial equipment acquisition’’

2 means the acquisition of nonmilitary research and de3 velopment equipment at a cost estimated to exceed

4 $10,000,000 for the entire acquisition.

5 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

6 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department

7 of Energy Laboratory Technology Act of

8 1994’’.

9 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

10 The Congress finds that—

11 (1) the Department of Energy main12 tains an extensive system of laboratories

13 which represent a national resource,

14 comprised of a dedicated, multi-discipli15 nary work force of scientists and engi16 neers, sophisticated scientific instrumen17 tation, and unique research facilities;

18 (2) the end of the Cold War has sig19 nificantly reduced the Nation’s require20 ments for nuclear weapons systems de21 velopment and production, but the de22 partmental laboratories retain a vital na23 tional security mission to maintain the

24 Nation’s confidence in the safety, secu25 rity, and reliability of the nuclear stock-
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1 pile and to support verification of arms

2 control agreements, dismantlement of

3 weapons, nonproliferation and

4 counterproliferation efforts, intelligence

5 requirements, work for the Department

6 of Defense, and other national security

7 requirements;

8 (3) the United States faces serious na9 tional security, energy, economic, and en10 vironmental challenges toward which the

11 resources of departmental laboratories

12 could be applied in a more concerted

13 fashion;

14 (4) in order to contribute to United

15 States economic competitiveness and

16 maintain the core competencies required

17 to meet national security requirements,

18 departmental laboratories will need to

19 cooperate with industry, State and local

20 governments, universities, and nonprofit

21 organizations on a broader scale;

22 (5) the legislative and bureaucratic

23 frameworks for cooperative efforts be24 tween departmental laboratories and in25 dustry, State and local governments, uni-
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1 versities, and nonprofit organizations

2 should be streamlined to facilitate part3 nerships;

4 (6) departmental laboratories’ inter5 action with industry goes beyond the

6 movement of technologies developed at

7 the laboratories to industry, State and

8 local governments, universities, and non9 profit organizations; it has included and

10 should continue to include a two-way

11 flow of ideas, people, knowledge, and in12 tellectual property, whereby partnerships

13 provide benefits to the laboratory as well

14 as to the nonlaboratory partners;

15 (7) independent reviews of depart16 mental laboratories over the past two

17 decades uniformly have emphasized the

18 importance of maintaining well defined

19 missions at these laboratories, in order to

20 provide coherence, direction, and the

21 basis for performance evaluation;

22 (8) as the missions of departmental

23 laboratories, and other Federal labora24 tories, change in response to evolving na25 tional needs, the activities of these lab-
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1 oratories should be coordinated and eval2 uated to the maximum extent practicable

3 in order to ensure that they are meeting

4 their intended objectives and that they

5 complement and do not duplicate or con6 flict with existing capabilities in the pri7 vate sector; and

8 (9) the National Science and Tech9 nology Council, which is chaired by the

10 President, is responsible for coordinating

11 the science and technology policy making

12 process and for integrating the Presi13 dent’s science and technology policy

14 agenda across the Federal Government,

15 and should serve to coordinate activities

16 at the Federal laboratories and to ensure

17 the implementation of measures for per18 formance evaluation for such activities.

19 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

20 For the purposes of this Act—

21 (1) the term ‘‘Department’’ means the

22 Department of Energy;

23 (2) the term ‘‘departmental labora24 tory’’ means a Federal laboratory, or any

25 other laboratory or facility designated by
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1 the Secretary, operated by or on behalf of

2 the Department;

3 (3) the term ‘‘departmental defense

4 laboratories’’ means the Lawrence Liver5 more National Laboratory, the Los Ala6 mos National Laboratory, and the Sandia

7 National Laboratories;

8 (4) the term ‘‘Federal laboratory’’ has

9 the meaning given the term ‘‘laboratory’’

10 in section 12(d)(2) of the Stevenson11 Wydler Technology Innovation Act of

12 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a(d)(2));

13 (5) the term ‘‘generic, precompetitive’’

14 means having broad market potential but

15 not yet associated with specific market16 able products or product lines;

17 (6) the term ‘‘mission’’ means a clear

18 statement of purpose to focus research

19 and development activity at a Federal

20 laboratory on specified objectives;

21 (7) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the

22 Secretary of Energy; and

23 (8) the term ‘‘technology transfer’’

24 means—
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1 (A) any collaborative effort in2 volving a Federal laboratory and pri3 vate industry, State or local govern4 ments, universities, or nonprofit orga5 nizations, whose goal is—

6 (i) to enhance the potential

7 use by private industry, State or

8 local governments, universities,

9 or nonprofit organizations, of re10 search and development spon11 sored by the Federal Government;

12 or

13 (ii) to jointly develop new sci14 entific or technical information

15 or generic, precompetitive tech16 nology; or

17 (B) any process by which feder18 ally owned or originated technology,

19 or the intellectual property rights as20 sociated with such technology, are

21 transferred to private industry, State

22 or local governments, universities, or

23 nonprofit organizations.
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1 SEC. 4. MISSIONS OF DEPARTMENTAL LABORATORIES.

2 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Department

3 is authorized to maintain departmental lab4 oratories for the purpose of advancing the fol5 lowing missions:

6 (1) To maintain national security, as

7 follows:

8 (A) To provide for the Nation’s

9 nuclear weapons requirements, to be

10 stewards of the Nation’s nuclear

11 weapons stockpile, and to meet other

12 national security requirements as de13 termined by the President, including

14 the advancement of science and tech15 nology for national security purposes.

16 (B) To reduce the threat of nu17 clear war, by assisting with the dis18 mantlement of nuclear weapons,

19 working to curb the proliferation of

20 weapons of mass destruction, sup21 porting efforts to counter the pro22 liferation of weapons of mass destruc23 tion and their delivery systems, and

24 conducting research on and the de25 velopment of technologies needed for

26 the effective verification of inter-
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1 national arms control agreements, in2 cluding prospective international

3 arms control agreements.

4 (2) To ensure the Nation’s energy sup5 ply and to reduce the Nation’s reliance

6 on imported and nonrenewable energy

7 sources through research and develop8 ment on technologies that enhance en9 ergy supply and improve the efficiency of

10 energy end uses with the goal of provid11 ing energy services at the lowest total

12 cost to the Nation, including environ13 mental costs.

14 (3) To conduct basic research in en15 ergy-related science and technology and

16 in the fundamental understanding of

17 matter, including construction and oper18 ation of unique scientific instruments

19 and facilities for use by the Federal Gov20 ernment, academia, industry, and other

21 appropriate non-Federal institutions.

22 (4) To carry out research and devel23 opment for the purpose of minimizing the

24 environmental impacts of the production
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1 and use of energy and materials, includ2 ing missions as follows:

3 (A) To develop generic,

4 precompetitive technologies aimed at

5 reducing the generation of hazardous

6 or nonhazardous waste or pollution,

7 or reducing the consumption of en8 ergy or materials, while contributing

9 to sustainable United States economic

10 growth.

11 (B) To develop technologies and

12 techniques for the safe disposal of

13 hazardous waste or radioactive waste

14 in order to accelerate the schedule of,

15 and reduce the total cost of, cleaning

16 up the hazardous waste sites associ17 ated with nuclear weapons produc18 tion and other programs funded by

19 the Department.

20 (b) ADDITIONAL MISSIONS.—The Depart21 ment is authorized to pursue additional mis22 sions at departmental laboratories beyond

23 those identified in subsection (a) only—
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1 (1) if such missions are assigned to

2 the Department by the President, and

3 only to the extent that—

4 (A) such laboratories possess sub5 stantial technical capabilities that

6 can be devoted to such missions;

7 (B) such additional mission activi8 ties do not interfere with the pursuit

9 of the missions identified in sub10 section (a); and

11 (C) involvement in such addi12 tional mission activities is coordi13 nated with any other Federal agency

14 or agencies which carry out such mis15 sion activities, as appropriate; or

16 (2) if such missions have been estab17 lished by statute enacted before the date

18 of enactment of this Act, and do not con19 flict with the missions established under

20 this section.

21 (c) TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER.—(1)(A) Except

22 as provided in subparagraph (B), the Depart23 ment is authorized to use program funds at

24 the departmental laboratories for technology

25 transfer activities, whenever those activities
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1 are consistent with and further an assigned

2 mission of the departmental laboratory and

3 consistent with the requirements of the Fed4 eral Technology Transfer Act of 1986. No Fed5 eral funds may be provided to, transfered to,

6 or used by non-Federal entities for this pur7 pose.

8 (B) Not more than 20 percent of funds

9 made available to the Department in any fis10 cal year for weapons activities for research

11 and development may be set aside for the

12 technology transfer initiative described in the

13 President’s budget for weapons activities for

14 that fiscal year.

15 (2) The Secretary shall—

16 (A) work with all Assistant Secretar17 ies, Office directors, and other Depart18 ment officials with responsibilities for

19 managing research and development pro20 grams to ensure that technology transfer

21 considerations are fully integrated into

22 the planning and conduct of all research

23 and development conducted at depart24 mental laboratories;
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1 (B) develop and issue departmental

2 policies for technology transfer activities,

3 with the goal of creating a stable and

4 consistent policy framework for depart5 mental collaborations with private indus6 try, State or local governments, univer7 sities, or nonprofit organizations;

8 (C) oversee the management and allo9 cation of Department funding for tech10 nology transfer activities to ensure that

11 such funding is available to all depart12 mental laboratories without distinction

13 as to whether the laboratory is involved

14 in defense or nondefense activities; and

15 (D) ensure, to the maximum extent

16 practicable, that activities of the depart17 mental laboratories complement and do

18 not duplicate or conflict with existing ca19 pabilities in the private sector.

20 (3) Funds authorized to be appropriated

21 to the Department of Energy and made avail22 able for laboratory-directed research and de23 velopment shall be available for advancing

24 generic, precompetitive research and devel25 opment activities at the departmental labora-
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1 tory to the point of providing the potential

2 basis for technology transfer, and shall be

3 available for research on highly innovative

4 technologies including those based on yet

5 unproven scientific theory.

6 (d) EDUCATION.—The Department is au7 thorized to use scientific, technical, and

8 human resources at the departmental labora9 tories to support the national goal of improv10 ing the quality of science, mathematics, and

11 engineering education in the United States.

12 SEC. 5. EVALUATION.

13 The Secretary shall, for each depart14 mental laboratory—

15 (1) assign a mission or missions con16 sistent with section 4(a) and (b);

17 (2) establish goals in each mission

18 area against which the performance of

19 the departmental laboratory will be eval20 uated;

21 (3) develop a technology transfer plan

22 with specific objectives for collaborative

23 efforts between the laboratory and pri24 vate industry, State or local governments,

25 universities, or nonprofit organizations
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1 in order to coordinate, direct, and en2 hance the impact of such collaborations,

3 based on the core intellectual and tech4 nical competencies of the laboratory;

5 (4) ensure that for each new tech6 nology transfer project and for each on7 going technology transfer project, tech8 nical milestones, an estimate of the dura9 tion of the project, and an estimate of the

10 total cost of the project are established;

11 (5) regularly assess the degree to

12 which goals and objectives established

13 pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3) have

14 been achieved, in terms of performance,

15 impact, or accomplishments, employing

16 evaluative procedures and methods spe17 cific and appropriate to each mission

18 area; and

19 (6) include in the Secretary’s annual

20 report to Congress required under sec21 tion 657 of the Department of Energy Or22 ganization Act—

23 (A) a statement of missions and

24 goals for the departmental laboratory
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1 assigned or established pursuant to

2 paragraphs (1) and (2);

3 (B) an explanation for any pro4 posed modifications in the mission or

5 missions for the departmental labora6 tory;

7 (C) the technology transfer plan

8 required under paragraph (3);

9 (D) for any technology transfer

10 project involving a Federal commit11 ment of $500,000 or more—

12 (i) the technical and financial

13 data called for in paragraph (4);

14 and

15 (ii) technical and financial

16 variances from the original esti17 mates as called for in paragraph

18 (4); and.

19 (E) the assessment required

20 under paragraph (5), along with a

21 statement of any planned, ongoing, or

22 completed actions based on this as23 sessment.
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1 SEC. 6. REPORT ON FUTURE USE OF DEPARTMENTAL LAB2 ORATORIES.

3 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary, in co4 ordination with the Secretary of Defense and

5 other appropriate Federal officers, shall sub6 mit to Congress within 6 months after the

7 date of enactment of this Act, a report on the

8 future use of the departmental laboratories.

9 (b) ALTERNATIVES.—Such report shall iden10 tify and examine the costs and benefits of al11 ternatives to the current mission assign12 ments, budgets, and management structures

13 of the departmental laboratories. The alter14 natives examined should be those which seek

15 to enhance the laboratories’ contribution to

16 United States basic science or economic com17 petitiveness while maintaining the labora18 tories’ abilities to perform their assigned mis19 sions.

20 (c) PRESERVATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

21 COMPETENCIES.—Such report shall identify

22 and examine ways to ensure that the Nation

23 preserves the core intellectual and technical

24 competencies of the United States in nuclear

25 weapons, including weapons design, system

26 integration, manufacturing, security, use con-
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1 trol, reliability assessment, and certification,

2 and shall include an identification of any ex3 isting or anticipated deficiencies in retaining

4 trained personnel in such areas.

5 (d) COST REDUCTION OPTIONS.—Such re6 port shall identify and examine options for re7 ducing the cost of the Department’s nuclear

8 weapons research, development, engineering,

9 and test-related programs by eliminating any

10 unnecessary redundancies between the de11 partmental defense laboratories, including

12 options that maintain a process of peer re13 view by more than one laboratory for nuclear

14 weapons design activities and options that

15 eliminate such review process. The report

16 should assess feasibility, costs, and risks for

17 each identified option. Costs to be identified

18 and examined should include both cost sav19 ings due to consolidation and conversion

20 costs, including an assessment of work force

21 retraining and environmental cleanup.

22 SEC. 7. INDUSTRIAL ADVICE.

23 (a) ADVICE TO SECRETARY.—The Secretary

24 shall seek advice from representatives of

25 United States industry, and of educational in-
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1 stitutions and professional and technical soci2 eties in the United States, who have experi3 ence in the industrial sector, and may estab4 lish within the Department an advisory board

5 to provide the Secretary with advice regard6 ing the Department’s activities aimed at col7 laborating with industry in the areas of re8 search, technology development, and tech9 nology transfer.

10 (b) ADVICE TO DEPARTMENTAL LABORATORY

11 DIRECTORS.—The director of each depart12 mental laboratory shall seek advice from rep13 resentatives of United States industry, and of

14 educational institutions and professional and

15 technical societies in the United States, who

16 have experience in the industrial sector, and

17 may establish an advisory group, to assist

18 such director in—

19 (1) integrating technology transfer

20 considerations into the planning and per21 formance evaluation of laboratory re22 search and development activities;

23 (2) evaluating new initiatives pro24 posed by the departmental laboratory

25 and identifying opportunities for collabo-
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1 rative efforts with United States industry

2 based on those initiatives; and

3 (3) evaluating the long-term direction

4 of ongoing programs at the departmental

5 laboratory from the perspective of United

6 States industry.

7 (c) USE OF EXISTING BOARDS.—The Sec8 retary or the director of a departmental lab9 oratory may utilize existing advisory boards

10 to achieve the purposes of this section.

11 SEC. 8. AMENDMENTS TO STEVENSON-WYDLER TECH12 NOLOGY INNOVATION ACT OF 1980.

13 Section 12 of the Stevenson-Wydler Tech14 nology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C.

15 3710a) is amended—

16 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting

17 after paragraph (2) the following:

18 ‘‘The head of any agency using the authority

19 given it under paragraph (1) to enter into co20 operative research and development agree21 ments shall make all reasonable efforts to ex22 pedite the negotiation, processing, and ap23 proval of such agreements.’’; and

24 (2) in subsection (c)(5)—
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1 (A) by amending subparagraph

2 (C)(i) to read as follows:

3 ‘‘(C)(i) Except as provided in subpara4 graphs (D) and (E), any agency which has con5 tracted with a non-Federal entity to operate

6 a laboratory shall review and approve, re7 quest specific modifications to, or disapprove

8 a joint work statement and cooperative re9 search and development agreement that is

10 submitted by the director of such laboratory

11 within 30 days after such submission. In any

12 case in which such an agency disapproves or

13 requests the modification of a joint work

14 statement or cooperative research and devel15 opment agreement submitted under this sec16 tion, the agency shall promptly transmit a

17 written explanation of such disapproval or

18 modification to the director of the laboratory

19 concerned. In any case where an agency has

20 requested specific modifications to a joint

21 work statement or cooperative research and

22 development agreement, the agency shall ap23 prove or disapprove any resubmission of such

24 joint work statement or cooperative research

25 and development agreement within 15 days
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1 after resubmission. No agreement may be en2 tered into by a Government-owned, contrac3 tor-operated laboratory under this section be4 fore approval of both the cooperative re5 search and development agreement and a

6 joint work statement.’’;

7 (B) by striking clauses (ii), (iv),

8 and (vi) of subparagraph (C);

9 (C) by redesignating clauses (iii)

10 and (v) as clauses (ii) and (iv), respec11 tively;

12 (D) by inserting after subpara13 graph (C)(ii) the following new

14 clause:

15 ‘‘(iii) Any cooperative research and devel16 opment agreement involving a Federal com17 mitment of $500,000 or more shall contain

18 technical milestones and other appropriate

19 performance goals and evaluation criteria,

20 with an anticipated schedule for meeting

21 such milestones, goals, and criteria. Each

22 sponsoring Federal agency shall conduct ap23 propriate reviews of the work performed

24 within such cooperative research and devel25 opment agreement to determine whether such
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1 agreements are meeting established mile2 stones, require modification, or warrant ter3 mination.’’;

4 (E) in subparagraph (C)(iv), as so

5 redesignated by subparagraph (C) of

6 this paragraph—

7 (i) by striking ‘‘under clause

8 (iv) within’’ and inserting in lieu

9 thereof ‘‘of a cooperative research

10 and development agreement

11 under clause (i) within’’;

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘successive 30-

13 day period’’ and inserting in lieu

14 thereof ‘‘successive 10-day pe15 riod’’; and

16 (iii) by striking ‘‘under clause

17 (iv).’’ and inserting in lieu thereof

18 ‘‘under clause (i).’’;

19 (F) by redesignating subpara20 graph (D) as subparagraph (E); and

21 (G) by inserting after subpara22 graph (C) the following new subpara23 graph:

24 ‘‘(D)(i) A Federal agency may permit the

25 director of any of its Government-owned, con-
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1 tractor-operated laboratories to enter into a

2 cooperative research and development agree3 ment involving a Federal commitment of

4 $1,000,000 or less, whenever that activity is

5 consistent with and furthers an assigned mis6 sion of the laboratory, without the specific ap7 proval of the agency for the cooperative re8 search and development agreement.

9 ‘‘(ii) A laboratory director who is granted

10 authority by a Federal agency to enter into a

11 cooperative research and development agree12 ment pursuant to clause (i) shall, upon re13 quest, provide the Federal agency with an ex14 planation of how the agreement will com15 plement and contribute to the laboratory’s

16 missions and activities.’’.

17 SEC. 9. NATIONAL TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIP AWARD.

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary is au19 thorized to establish a National Technology

20 Partnership Award for presentation to pri21 vate sector or Federal Government organiza22 tions or individuals which have substantially

23 benefited the economic or social well-being of

24 the United States through public sector-pri25 vate sector collaboration involving tech-
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1 nology development or technology transfer,

2 and which as a consequence are deserving of

3 special recognition.

4 (b) FUNDING.—The Secretary is authorized

5 to seek and accept gifts from public and pri6 vate sources to carry out a program to admin7 ister the National Technology Partnership

8 Award.

9 SEC. 10. FEDERAL LABORATORY MISSION EVALUATION

10 AND COORDINATION.

11 The President, through the National

12 Science and Technology Council, shall—

13 (1) review on an ongoing basis the

14 missions of, activities conducted at, and

15 scientific, technical, and human re16 sources at, Federal laboratories, with the

17 goals of—

18 (A) improving the efficiency and

19 effectiveness of the overall Federal

20 laboratory system; and

21 (B) ensuring that research and

22 development conducted at Federal

23 laboratories is coordinated to maxi24 mize its contribution to United States

25 economic growth, environmental pro-
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1 tection, national security, expansion

2 of human knowledge, and other im3 portant national goals;

4 (2) develop and ensure the implemen5 tation of a process for assigning missions

6 to the Federal laboratories with the best

7 scientific, technical, and human capabili8 ties for successfully addressing such mis9 sions;

10 (3) develop and ensure implementa11 tion, as appropriate, of a cross-cutting

12 program evaluation system for research

13 and development activities at the Federal

14 laboratories including, where appro15 priate, the establishment of technical

16 milestones and other measures for per17 formance evaluation for major activities

18 at Federal laboratories;

19 (4) develop guidelines governing the

20 application of intellectual property law

21 for technology transfer activities at Fed22 eral laboratories;

23 (5) determine on an ongoing basis

24 whether specific Federal laboratories

25 should be realigned, consolidated, closed,
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1 or otherwise altered in order to meet the

2 goals stated in paragraph (1);

3 (6) review the process by which the

4 Federal Government enters into coopera5 tive research and development agree6 ments with companies that are not Unit7 ed States-owned companies (as defined in

8 section 28(j)(2) of the National Institute

9 of Standards and Technology Act (15

10 U.S.C. 278n(j)(2))); and

11 (7) prepare, and submit to the Con12 gress within 1 year after the date of en13 actment of this Act, a plan for carrying

14 out this section.

15 SEC. 11. POLICY ON CAPITAL PROJECTS AND CONSTRUC16 TION.

17 (a) REQUIREMENT OF PRIOR AUTHORIZA18 TION.—(1) No funds are authorized to be ap19 propriated to the Secretary for any substan20 tial construction project, substantial equip21 ment acquisition, or major construction

22 project unless a report on such project or ac23 quisition has been provided to Congress in ac24 cordance with subsection (b).
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1 (2) The Secretary may not obligate any

2 funds for any substantial construction

3 project, substantial equipment acquisition, or

4 major construction project unless such

5 project or acquisition has been specifically

6 authorized by statute.

7 (3) This subsection may not be amended

8 or modified except by specific reference to

9 this subsection.

10 (b) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—(1) Within 180

11 days after the date of the enactment of this

12 Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Con13 gress a report that identifies all construction

14 projects and acquisitions of the Department

15 of Energy described in subsection (a) for

16 which the preliminary design phase is com17 pleted but the construction or acquisition is

18 not completed. Such report shall include—

19 (A) an estimate of the total cost of

20 completion of the construction project or

21 acquisition, itemized by individual activ22 ity and by fiscal year; and

23 (B) an identification of which con24 struction projects or acquisitions have
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1 not been specifically authorized by stat2 ute.

3 The Secretary shall annually update and re4 submit the report required by this paragraph,

5 as part of the report required under section

6 15 of the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Re7 search and Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C.

8 5914).

9 (2) The Secretary shall, after completion

10 of the preliminary design phase of a major

11 construction project, submit to the Congress

12 a report containing—

13 (A) an estimate of the total cost of

14 construction of the facility;

15 (B) an estimate of the time required

16 to complete construction;

17 (C) an estimate of the annual operat18 ing costs of the facility;

19 (D) the intended useful operating life

20 of the facility; and

21 (E) an identification of any existing

22 facilities to be closed as a result of the

23 operation of the facility.

24 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sec25 tion—
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1 (1) the term ‘‘major construction

2 project’’ means a nonmilitary research

3 and development project whose construc4 tion costs are estimated to exceed

5 $100,000,000 over the life of the project;

6 (2) the term ‘‘substantial construction

7 project’’ means a nonmilitary research

8 and development project whose construc9 tion costs are estimated to exceed

10 $10,000,000, but not to exceed

11 $100,000,000, over the life of the project;

12 and

13 (3) the term ‘‘substantial equipment

14 acquisition’’ means the acquisition of

15 nonmilitary research and development

16 equipment at a cost estimated to exceed

17 $10,000,000 for the entire acquisition.

18 SEC. 12. COMPETITION REQUIREMENT FOR AWARDS OF FI19 NANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

20 (a) COMPETITION REQUIREMENT.—The Sec21 retary may not award financial assistance to

22 any person for nonmilitary research, develop23 ment, or precommercial demonstration activi24 ties, including related facility construction,
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1 unless an objective merit review process is

2 used to award the financial assistance.

3 (b) REQUIREMENT OF SPECIFIC MODIFICA4 TION OF COMPETITION PROVISION.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—A provision of law

6 may not be construed as modifying or su7 perseding subsection (a), or as requiring

8 that financial assistance be awarded by

9 the Secretary in a manner inconsistent

10 with subsection (a), unless such provision

11 of law—

12 (A) specifically refers to this sec13 tion;

14 (B) specifically states that such

15 provision of law modifies or super16 sedes subsection (a); and

17 (C) specifically identifies the per18 son to be awarded the financial as19 sistance and states that the financial

20 assistance to be awarded pursuant to

21 such provision of law is being award22 ed in a manner inconsistent with sub23 section (a).

24 (2) NOTICE AND WAIT REQUIREMENT.—

25 No financial assistance may be awarded
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1 pursuant to a provision of law that re2 quires or authorizes the award of the fi3 nancial assistance in a manner inconsist4 ent with subsection (a) until—

5 (A) the Secretary submits to the

6 Congress a written notice of the Sec7 retary’s intent to award the financial

8 assistance; and

9 (B) 180 days has elapsed after the

10 date on which the notice is received

11 by the Congress.

12 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sec13 tion:

14 (1) The term ‘‘objective merit review

15 process’’ means a thorough, consistent,

16 and independent examination of requests

17 for financial assistance based on pre-es18 tablished criteria and scientific and tech19 nical merit by persons knowledgeable in

20 the field for which the financial assist21 ance is requested.

22 (2) The term ‘‘financial assistance’’

23 means the transfer of funds or property

24 to a recipient or subrecipient to accom25 plish a public purpose of support or stim-
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1 ulation authorized by Federal law. Such

2 term includes grants, cooperative agree3 ments, and subawards but does not in4 clude cooperative research and develop5 ment agreements as defined in subsection

6 12(d)(1) of the Stevenson-Wydler Tech7 nology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C.

8 3710a(d)(1)).

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