II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1259 

To establish a grant program to allow National Laboratories to provide 

vouchers to small business concerns to improve commercialization of 

technologies developed at National Laboratories and the technology-driven economic impact of commercialization in the regions in which National 

Laboratories are located, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 7, 2015 

Mr. HEINRICH (for himself and Mr. BENNET) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program to allow National Laboratories 

to provide vouchers to small business concerns to improve 

commercialization of technologies developed at National 

Laboratories and the technology-driven economic impact 

of commercialization in the regions in which National 

Laboratories are located, 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 ‘‘National Laboratory 

5 Technology Maturation Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na4 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given the term 

5 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

6 U.S.C. 15801). 

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

8 the Secretary of Energy. 

9 (3) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 

10 ‘‘small business concern’’ has the meaning given the 

11 term in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 

12 U.S.C. 632). 

13 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF TECHNOLOGY MATURATION 

14 GRANT PROGRAM. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish the 

16 National Laboratory technology maturation program 

17 under which the Secretary shall make grants to National 

18 Laboratories for the purpose of increasing the successful 

19 transfer of technologies licensed from National Labora20 tories to small business concerns by providing a link be21 tween an innovative process or technology and a practical 

22 application with potential to be successful in commercial 

23 markets. 

24 (b) APPLICATION FOR GRANT FROM THE SEC25 RETARY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each National Laboratory 

2 that elects to apply for a grant under subsection (a) 

3 shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 

4 time, in such manner, and containing such informa5 tion as the Secretary may reasonably require. 

6 (2) CONTENTS.—In an application submitted 

7 under this subsection, a National Laboratory shall 

8 describe how the National Laboratory will— 

9 (A) manage a technology maturation pro10 gram; 

11 (B) encourage small business concerns, 

12 with an emphasis on businesses in the region in 

13 which the National Laboratory is located, to 

14 participate in the technology maturation pro15 gram; 

16 (C) select small business concerns and 

17 technologies to participate in the technology 

18 maturation program using a selection board 

19 (referred to in this section as the ‘‘selection 

20 board’’) made up of technical and business 

21 members, including venture capitalists and in22 vestors; and 

23 (D) measure the results of the program 

24 and the return on investment, including— 


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1 (i) the number of technologies licensed 

2 to small business concerns; 

3 (ii) the number of new small business 

4 concerns created; 

5 (iii) the number of jobs created or re6 tained; 

7 (iv) sales of the licensed technologies; 

8 and 

9 (v) any additional external investment 

10 attracted by participating small business 

11 concerns. 

12 (c) MAXIMUM GRANT.—The maximum amount of a 

13 grant received by a National Laboratory under subsection 

14 (a) shall be $5,000,000 for each fiscal year. 

15 (d) VOUCHERS TO SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS

16 FROM NATIONAL LABORATORIES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—A National Laboratory re18 ceiving a grant under subsection (a) shall use the 

19 grant funds to provide vouchers to small business 

20 concerns that hold a technology license from a Na21 tional Laboratory to pay the cost of providing assist22 ance from scientists and engineers at the National 

23 Laboratory to assist in the development of the li24 censed technology and further develop related prod25 ucts and services until the products and services are 


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1 market-ready or sufficiently developed to attract pri2 vate investment. 

3 (2) USE OF VOUCHER FUNDS.—A small busi4 ness concern receiving a voucher under paragraph 

5 (1) may use the voucher— 

6 (A) to gain access to special equipment or 

7 facilities at the National Laboratory that 

8 awarded the voucher; 

9 (B) to partner with the National Labora10 tory on a commercial prototype; and 

11 (C) to perform early-stage feasibility or 

12 later-stage field testing. 

13 (3) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—A National Labora14 tory receiving a grant under subsection (a) may pro15 vide a voucher to small business concerns and part16 nerships between a small business concern and an 

17 institution of higher education (as defined in section 

18 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

19 U.S.C. 1001(a))) for projects— 

20 (A) involving— 

21 (i) commercial prototypes; 

22 (ii) scale-up and field demonstrations; 

23 or 


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1 (iii) other activities that move the 

2 technology closer to successful commer3 cialization; and 

4 (B) that do not exceed 1 year. 

5 (4) APPLICATION FOR VOUCHER FROM NA6 TIONAL LABORATORY.—Each small business concern 

7 that holds a technology license from a National Lab8 oratory that elects to apply for a voucher under 

9 paragraph (1) shall submit an application to the se10 lection board at such time, in such manner, and con11 taining such information as the selection board may 

12 reasonably require. 

13 (5) CRITERIA.—The selection board may award 

14 vouchers based on— 

15 (A) the viability of the technology for com16 mercial success; 

17 (B) a robust commercialization business 

18 plan for transition of the technology into a mar19 ketplace success; 

20 (C) a significant opportunity for growth of 

21 an existing company; 

22 (D) access to a strong, experienced busi23 ness and technical team; 

24 (E) clear, market-driven milestones for the 

25 project; 


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1 (F) the potential of the technology to en2 hance the economy of the region in which the 

3 National Laboratory is located; 

4 (G) availability and source of matching 

5 funds for the project, including in-kind con6 tributions; and 

7 (H) compatibility with the mission of the 

8 National Laboratory. 

9 (6) MAXIMUM VOUCHER.—The maximum 

10 amount of a voucher received by a small business 

11 concern under paragraph (1) shall be $250,000. 

12 (7) PROGRESS TRACKING.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The National Labora14 tory that awards a voucher to carry out a 

15 project under paragraph (1) shall establish a 

16 procedure to monitor interim progress of the 

17 project toward commercialization milestones. 

18 (B) TERMINATION OF VOUCHER.—If the 

19 National Laboratory determines that a project 

20 is not making adequate progress toward com21 mercialization milestones under the procedure 

22 established pursuant to subparagraph (A), the 

23 project shall not continue to receive funding or 

24 assistance under this subsection. 


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1 SEC. 4. ANNUAL REPORT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each National Laboratory receiv3 ing a grant under section 3 shall submit to the Secretary 

4 an annual report, at such time and in such manner as 

5 the Secretary may reasonably require. 

6 (b) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report submitted 

7 under subsection (a) shall— 

8 (1) include a list of each recipient of a voucher 

9 and the amount of each voucher awarded; and 

10 (2) provide an estimate of the return on invest11 ment, including— 

12 (A) the increase in the number of tech13 nologies licensed to small business concerns; 

14 (B) the number of jobs created or retained; 

15 (C) sales of the licensed technologies; and 

16 (D) any additional external investment at17 tracted by participating small business con18 cerns. 

19 SEC. 5. FINAL REPORT. 

20 Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment 

21 of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees 

22 on Armed Services and Energy and Natural Resources of 

23 the Senate and the Committees on Armed Services and 

24 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep25 resentatives a report on the results of the program estab26 lished under section 3, including— 


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1 (1) the return on investment; and 

2 (2) any recommendations for improvements to 

3 the program. 

4 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

6 this Act $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 

7 2020. 

Æ 


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