I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1464 

To require Federal agencies to collaborate in the development of freelyavailable open source educational materials in college-level physics, chemistry, and math, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 12, 2009 

Mr. FOSTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology, and in addition to the Committee on 

Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require Federal agencies to collaborate in the development 

of freely-available open source educational materials in 

college-level physics, chemistry, and math, 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 ‘‘Learning Opportuni5 ties With Creation of Open Source Textbooks (LOW 

6 COST) Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) The College Board reported that for the 

4 2007 through 2008 academic years each student 

5 spent an estimated $805 to $1,229 on college books 

6 and supplies depending on the type of institution of 

7 higher education a student attended. 

8 (2) The gross margin on new college textbooks 

9 is currently 22.7 percent according to the National 

10 Association of College Stores. 

11 (3) In a recent study, the Government Account12 ability Office found that college textbook prices have 

13 risen at twice the rate of annual inflation over the 

14 last two decades. 

15 (4) An open source material project that would 

16 make high quality educational materials freely avail17 able to the general public would drop college text18 book costs and increase accessibility to such edu19 cation materials. 

20 (5) College-level open source course work mate21 rials in math, physics, and chemistry represent a 

22 high-priority first step in this area. 

23 (6) The scientific and technical workforce at 

24 Federal agencies, national laboratories, and federally 

25 supported university-based research programs could 

26 make a valuable contribution to this effort. 


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1 (7) A Federal oversight role in the creation and 

2 maintenance of standard, publicly vetted textbooks is 

3 desirable to ensure that intellectual property is re4 spected and that public standards for quality, edu5 cational effectiveness, and scientific accuracy are 

6 maintained. 

7 SEC. 3. OPEN SOURCE MATERIAL REQUIREMENT FOR FED8 ERAL AGENCIES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the head of each agency 

11 that expends more than $10,000,000 in a fiscal year on 

12 scientific education and outreach shall use at least 2 per13 cent of such funds for the collaboration on the develop14 ment and implementation of open source materials as an 

15 educational outreach effort in accordance with subsection 

16 (b). 

17 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The head of each agency de18 scribed in subsection (a) shall, under the joint guidance 

19 of the Director of the National Science Foundation and 

20 the Secretary of Energy, collaborate with the heads of any 

21 of the agencies described in such subsection or any feder22 ally supported laboratory or university-based research pro23 gram to develop, implement, and establish procedures for 

24 checking the veracity, accuracy, and educational effective25 ness of open source materials that— 


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1 (1) contain, at minimum, a comprehensive set 

2 of textbooks or other educational materials covering 

3 topics in college-level physics, chemistry, or math; 

4 (2) are posted on the Federal Open Source Ma5 terial Website; 

6 (3) are updated prior to each academic year 

7 with the latest research and information on the top8 ics covered in the textbooks or other educational ma9 terials available on the Federal Open Source Mate10 rial Website; and 

11 (4) are free of copyright violations. 

12 SEC. 4. GRANT PROGRAM. 

13 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—From the amounts ap14 propriated under subsection (d), the Director and the Sec15 retary shall jointly award grants to eligible entities to 

16 produce open source materials in accordance with sub17 section (c). 

18 (b) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant under this sec19 tion, an eligible entity shall submit an application to the 

20 Director and the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 

21 and containing such information as the Director and Sec22 retary may require. 

23 (c) USES OF GRANT.—An eligible entity that receives 

24 a grant under this section shall use such funds— 


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1 (1) to develop and implement open source mate2 rials that contain educational materials covering top3 ics in college-level physics, chemistry, or math; and 

4 (2) to evaluate the open sources materials pro5 duced with the grant funds awarded under this sec6 tion and to submit a report containing such evalua7 tion to the Director and Secretary. 

8 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 to carry 

10 out this section for fiscal year 2010 and such sums as 

11 necessary for each succeeding fiscal year. 

12 SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 

13 The Director and the Secretary shall jointly prescribe 

14 regulations necessary to implement this Act, including re15 distribution and attribution standards for open source ma16 terials produced under this Act. 

17 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

20 the Director of the National Science Foundation. 

21 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti22 ty’’ means an institution of higher education, non23 profit or for-profit organization, Federal agency, or 

24 any other organization that produces the open 

25 source materials described in section 4(c). 


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1 (3) FEDERAL OPEN SOURCE MATERIAL

2 WEBSITE.—The phrase ‘‘Federal Open Source Mate3 rial Website’’ means the website where the head of 

4 each agency described in section 3 shall post the 

5 open source materials pursuant to such section, 

6 which shall be made available free of charge to, and 

7 may be downloaded, redistributed, changed, revised 

8 or otherwise altered by, any member of the general 

9 public. 

10 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

11 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ means an in12 stitution of higher education as defined in section 

13 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

14 U.S.C. 1001). 

15 (5) OPEN SOURCE MATERIALS.—The term 

16 ‘‘open source materials’’ means materials that are 

17 posted on a website that is available free of charge 

18 to, and may be downloaded, redistributed changed, 

19 revised or otherwise altered by, any member of the 

20 general public. 

21 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

22 the Secretary of Energy. 

Æ 


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