I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6414 

To encourage and increase the use of crowdsourcing and citizen science 

methods within the Federal Government to advance and accelerate scientific research, literacy, and diplomacy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 30, 2016 

Mr. TONKO (for himself, Mr. MCKINLEY, and Mr. KILMER) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 

Government Reform 

A BILL 

To encourage and increase the use of crowdsourcing and 

citizen science methods within the Federal Government 

to advance and accelerate scientific research, literacy, 

and diplomacy, 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 ‘‘Crowdsourcing and 

5 Citizen Science Act of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) the authority granted to Federal agencies 

2 under the America COMPETES Reauthorization 

3 Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–358) to pursue the 

4 use of incentive prizes and challenges has yielded 

5 numerous benefits; 

6 (2) crowdsourcing and citizen science projects 

7 have a number of additional unique benefits, includ8 ing accelerating scientific research and data acquisi9 tion, improving science literacy, and connecting citi10 zens to the missions of Federal agencies; and 

11 (3) granting Federal agencies the direct, ex12 plicit authority to use crowdsourcing and citizen 

13 science will encourage its appropriate use, including 

14 protection of human subjects and other ethical con15 siderations, to advance agency missions and stimu16 late and facilitate broader public participation in the 

17 innovation process, yielding numerous benefits to the 

18 Federal Government and citizens who participate in 

19 such projects. 

20 SEC. 3. CROWDSOURCING AND CITIZEN SCIENCE. 

21 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) CITIZEN SCIENCE.—The term ‘‘citizen 

23 science’’ means a form of open collaboration in 

24 which individuals or organizations participate in the 

25 scientific process in various ways, including— 


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1 (A) enabling the formulation of research 

2 questions; 

3 (B) creating and refining project design; 

4 (C) conducting scientific experiments; 

5 (D) collecting and analyzing data; 

6 (E) interpreting the results of data; 

7 (F) developing technologies and applica8 tions; 

9 (G) making discoveries; and 

10 (H) solving problems. 

11 (2) CROWDSOURCING.—The term 

12 ‘‘crowdsourcing’’ means a method to obtain needed 

13 services, ideas, or content by soliciting voluntary 

14 contributions from a group of individuals or organi15 zations, especially from an online community. 

16 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

17 the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 

18 Policy. 

19 (4) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 

20 agency’’— 

21 (A) except as provided in subparagraph 

22 (B), means— 

23 (i) any Executive agency (as defined 

24 in section 105 of title 5, United States 

25 Code); and 


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1 (ii) any military department (as set 

2 forth in section 102 of such title); and 

3 (B) does not include any legislative branch 

4 agency. 

5 (5) PARTICIPANT.—The term ‘‘participant’’ 

6 means any individual or other entity that has con7 sented as a volunteer in a crowdsourcing or citizen 

8 science project under this section. 

9 (6) RELATED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘related enti10 ty’’ means— 

11 (A) a Federal Government contractor or 

12 subcontractor, at any tier; and 

13 (B) a supplier, user, customer, cooperating 

14 party, grantee, investigator, fellow, or detailee 

15 of a Federal agency. 

16 (b) CROWDSOURCING AND CITIZEN SCIENCE AU17 THORIZED.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The head of each Federal 

19 agency, or the heads of multiple Federal agencies 

20 working cooperatively, may utilize crowdsourcing 

21 and citizen science approaches to conduct activities 

22 designed to advance the mission of the respective 

23 Federal agency or the joint mission of Federal agen24 cies, as applicable. 


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1 (2) VOLUNTARY SERVICES.—Notwithstanding 

2 section 1342 of title 31, United States Code, the 

3 head of a Federal agency may accept, subject to reg4 ulations issued by the Office of Personnel Manage5 ment, voluntary services from participants under 

6 this section if such services— 

7 (A) are performed as a part of a 

8 crowdsourcing or citizen science project author9 ized under paragraph (1); 

10 (B) are not financially compensated for 

11 their time; and 

12 (C) will not be used to displace any em13 ployee of the Federal Government. 

14 (c) PARTICIPATION.— 

15 (1) OUTREACH.—The head of each Federal 

16 agency engaged in a crowdsourcing or citizen science 

17 project under this section shall make public and pro18 mote such project to encourage broad participation 

19 of consenting participants. 

20 (2) CONSENT, REGISTRATION, AND TERMS OF

21 USE.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal agency is 

23 authorized to determine the appropriate level of 

24 consent, registration, or acknowledgment of the 

25 terms of use that is required from participants 


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1 in crowdsourcing or citizen science projects on 

2 a per-project basis. 

3 (B) DISCLOSURES.—In seeking consent, 

4 conducting registration, or developing terms of 

5 use for a project under this subsection, a Fed6 eral agency shall disclose the privacy, intellec7 tual property, data ownership, compensation, 

8 service, program, and other terms of use to the 

9 participant in a clear and reasonable manner. 

10 (C) MODE OF CONSENT.—A Federal agen11 cy or Federal agencies, as applicable, may ob12 tain consent electronically or in written form 

13 from participants to the volunteer service terms 

14 of a crowdsourcing or citizen science project au15 thorized under this section. 

16 (3) PROTECTIONS FOR HUMAN SUBJECTS.— 

17 Any crowdsourcing or citizen science project that in18 volves research involving human subjects shall be 

19 subject to part 46 of title 28, Code of Federal Regu20 lations (or any successor regulation). 

21 (4) DATA.—While not neglecting security and 

22 privacy protections, Federal agencies shall endeavor 

23 to make data collected through a crowdsourcing or 

24 citizen science project authorized under this section 

25 open and available, in machine readable formats, to 


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1 the public. As part of the consent process, the Fed2 eral agency shall notify all participants— 

3 (A) of the expected uses of the data com4 piled through the project; 

5 (B) if the Federal agency will retain own6 ership of such data; 

7 (C) if and how the data and results from 

8 the project would be made available for public 

9 or third party use; and 

10 (D) if participants are authorized to pub11 lish such data. 

12 (5) TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS.—While 

13 not neglecting the intellectual property rights of the 

14 Federal Government, Federal agencies shall endeav15 or to make technologies, applications, code, and deri16 vations of such intellectual property developed 

17 through a crowdsourcing or citizen science project 

18 under this section open and available to the public. 

19 (6) LIABILITY.—Each participant in a 

20 crowdsourcing or citizen science project under this 

21 section shall agree— 

22 (A) to assume any and all risks associated 

23 with such participation; and 

24 (B) to waive all claims against the Federal 

25 Government and its related entities, except for 


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1 claims based on willful misconduct, for any in2 jury, death, damage, or loss of property, rev3 enue, or profits (whether direct, indirect, or 

4 consequential) arising from participation in the 

5 project. 

6 (7) SCIENTIFIC INTEGRITY.—Federal agencies 

7 coordinating citizen science projects shall make all 

8 practicable efforts to ensure that participants adhere 

9 to all relevant scientific integrity or other applicable 

10 ethics policies. 

11 (d) MULTISECTOR PARTNERSHIPS.—The head of 

12 each Federal agency engaged in crowdsourcing or citizen 

13 science under this section, or the heads of multiple Federal 

14 agencies working cooperatively, may enter into a contract 

15 or other agreement to share administrative duties for such 

16 activities with— 

17 (1) a for-profit or nonprofit private sector enti18 ty, including a private institution of higher edu19 cation; or 

20 (2) a State, tribal, local, or foreign government 

21 agency, including a public institution of higher edu22 cation. 

23 (e) FUNDING.—In carrying out crowdsourcing and 

24 citizen science activities under this section, the head of 


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1 a Federal agency, or the heads of multiple Federal agen2 cies working cooperatively— 

3 (1) may use funds appropriated by Congress; 

4 (2) may publicize projects and accept funds or 

5 in kind support for such activities from— 

6 (A) other Federal agencies; 

7 (B) for-profit or nonprofit private sector 

8 entities, including private institutions of higher 

9 education; or 

10 (C) State, tribal, local, or foreign govern11 ment agencies, including public institutions of 

12 higher education; and 

13 (3) may not give any special consideration to 

14 any entity described in paragraph (2) in return for 

15 such funds or in kind support. 

16 (f) FACILITATION.— 

17 (1) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION AS18 SISTANCE.—The Administrator of the General Serv19 ices Administration, in coordination with the Direc20 tor, shall, at no cost to Federal agencies, identify 

21 and develop relevant products, training, and services 

22 to facilitate the use of crowdsourcing and citizen 

23 science activities under this section, including by 

24 specifying the appropriate contract vehicles and 

25 technology and organizational platforms to enhance 


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1 the ability of Federal agencies to carry out the ac2 tivities under this section to further the policy objec3 tives of the Federal Government. 

4 (2) ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE.—The head of each 

5 Federal agency engaged in crowdsourcing or citizen 

6 science under this section is encouraged to consult 

7 any guidance provided by the Director, including the 

8 Federal Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Toolkit, 

9 to designate a coordinator for their agency’s 

10 crowdsourcing and citizen science activities, and to 

11 share best practices with other agencies, including 

12 participation of staff in the Federal Community of 

13 Practice for Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science. 

14 (g) REPORT.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

16 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director shall 

17 include, as a component of the report required under 

18 section 24(p) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology 

19 Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719(p)), a re20 port on the activities carried out under this section. 

21 (2) INFORMATION INCLUDED.—The report re22 quired under paragraph (1) shall include— 

23 (A) a summary of each crowdsourcing and 

24 citizen science project conducted by any Federal 

25 agency during the most recently completed 2 


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1 fiscal years, including a description of the pro2 posed goals of each crowdsourcing and citizen 

3 science project; 

4 (B) the participation rates, submission lev5 els, number of consents, or any other statistic 

6 that might be considered relevant in each 

7 crowdsourcing and citizen science project; 

8 (C) a description of— 

9 (i) the resources (including personnel 

10 and funding) that were used in the execu11 tion of each crowdsourcing and citizen 

12 science project; 

13 (ii) the activities for which such re14 sources were used; and 

15 (iii) how the obligations and expendi16 tures relating to the project’s execution 

17 were allocated among the accounts of the 

18 Federal agency; 

19 (D) a summary of the use of 

20 crowdsourcing and citizen science methods by 

21 all Federal agencies, including interagency and 

22 multisector partnerships; and 

23 (E) any other information that the Direc24 tor considers relevant. 


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1 (h) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.—Nothing in this section 

2 may be construed— 

3 (1) to affect the authority to conduct 

4 crowdsourcing and citizen science authorized by any 

5 other provision of law; or 

6 (2) to displace Federal Government resources 

7 allocated to the Federal agencies that use 

8 crowdsourcing or citizen science authorized under 

9 this section to carry out a project. 

Æ 


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