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[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 6, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 24917]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-12043]

[[Page 24917]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology

15 CFR Part 270

[Docket No. 970822201-7202-00]

Procedures for the Evaluation of Energy-related Inventions; 
Removal of Regulations

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is 
terminating the current NIST program which evaluated inventions as a 
service to the Department of Energy's (DOE) Energy-Related Inventions 
Program (ERIP). During the twenty-plus years of the evaluation 
program's existence, NIST transmitted recommendations based on its 
evaluations to the Department of Energy, which used the recommendations 
in its decision-making for DOE's award of grants to inventors and small 
businesses for further development of the NIST-recommended inventions.
    The Department of Energy will continue the Energy Related 
Inventions Program with a newly designed evaluation process consistent 
with a competitive procurement. The DOE has renamed ERIP as part of the 
DOE-operated Inventions and Innovation Program. DOE will issue a 
solicitation for proposals to be evaluated by DOE under the new 
program, beginning on May 1, 1998.
    Since DOE will now process evaluations through a competitive 
procurement and since evaluations made by NIST under 15 CFR part 270 
will no longer be used in the award selection process, there is no 
function for the NIST Energy-Related Invention Evaluation Program to 
perform, and the NIST evaluation program is being terminated.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 1, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Michael E. McCabe at telephone 
number (301) 975-5504.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Title 15 part 270 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations prescribes procedures for the evaluation of energy-related 
inventions. These procedures were issued in 1976 to partially implement 
section 14 of the Federal Non-nuclear Energy Research and Development 
Act of 1974, Pub. L. 93-577 (codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. 5901, et 
seq. hereinafter referred to as the Act). The Act established a 
comprehensive national program for research and development of all 
potentially beneficial energy sources and utilization technologies. 
Section 14 of the Act directed the National Bureau of Standards (now 
the National Institute of Standards and Technology) to give particular 
attention to the evaluation of all promising energy-related inventions, 
especially those submitted by individual inventors and small companies 
for the purpose of obtaining direct grants from the Administrator of 
the Energy Research and Development Administration which was later 
incorporated into the Department of Energy.
    Since 1975 NIST has been providing the prescribed evaluation 
services to the Department of Energy, which has overall management and 
budgetary responsibility for the Energy-Related Inventions Program 
(ERIP). NIST has completed all processing for the 33,430 requests for 
evaluation which were received on or before August 2, 1997. Evaluation 
was not performed for requests received after that date.
    Of the evaluation requests received on or before August 2, 1997, 
17,482 were not accepted for evaluation, largely due to inadequate 
documentation, obvious technical flaws in projected invention 
operation, or insufficient energy relation. Of the 15,948 accepted, 
14,239 were rejected in a first-stage evaluation, which included 
commentary generally by at least two consultants, usually for lack of 
competitive advantage. Of the 1709 remaining (not rejected in the first 
stage) 741 were recommended for DOE support. The continuous multi-stage 
evaluation process yielded, on average, two to three recommendations 
per month. For each of the 15,207 cases which were not recommended, a 
report was provided to the inventor commenting on the technology and 
giving reasons why DOE support was not warranted.
    The DOE will continue to evaluate inventions under its new 
Inventions and Innovation Program. DOE has issued a solicitation for 
proposals to be evaluated under the new program beginning on May 1, 
1998.
    NIST finds good cause to issue this rule in final without 
opportunity for notice and comment and delayed effective date because 
those procedures are unnecessary pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and 5 
U.S.C. 553(d)(3), since the Department of Energy is continuing the 
program in its entirety.

Executive Order 12866

    It has been determined that this Rule is ``not significant'' under 
section 3(f) of E.O. 12866.

List of Subjects in 15 CFR Part 270

    Energy, Inventions and patents.

    Accordingly, under the authority of 15 U.S.C. 271 et seq., part 270 
is removed from Title 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

    Dated: April 30, 1998.
Robert E. Hebner,
Acting Deputy Director.
[FR Doc. 98-12043 Filed 5-5-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-M
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