II

Calendar No. 388

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1325

[Report No. 105–196]

To authorize appropriations for the Technology Administration of the Department of Commerce for fiscal years 1998 and 1999, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 28, 1997

Mr. FRIST (for himself, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. BURNS, Mr. HOLLINGS, Mr.

THURMOND, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. KERRY, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr.

LIEBERMAN, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. MOYNIHAN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr.

WELLSTONE, Mr. SPECTER, and Mr. DODD) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,

Science, and Transportation

MAY 22, 1998

Reported by Mr. MCCAIN, with amendments and an amendment to the title

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To authorize appropriations for the Technology Administration of the Department of Commerce for fiscal years

1998 and 1999, 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,
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1 SECTION l. SHORT TITLE.

2 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Technology Adminis3 tration Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1998 and

4 1999’’.

5 This Act may be cited as the Technology Administra6 tion Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1998, 1999, and

7 2000.

8 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

9 In this title:

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

11 the Director of the National Institute of Standards

12 and Technology.

13 (2) MAJOR REORGANIZATION.—With respect to

14 the National Institute of Standards and Technology,

15 the term ‘‘major reorganization’’ means any reorga16 nization of the Institute that involves the reassign17 ment of more than 25 percent of the employees of

18 the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

19 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

20 the Secretary of Commerce.

21 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR SCI22 ENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL RESEARCH AND

23 SERVICES.

24 (a) LABORATORY ACTIVITIES.—There are authorized

25 to be appropriated to the Department of Commerce for

26 use by the Secretary of Commerce for the Scientific and
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1 Technical Research and Services laboratory activities of

2 the National Institute of Standards and Technology—

3 (1) $278,352,000 for fiscal year 1998; and

4 $271,900,000 for fiscal year 1998;

5 (2) $287,658,000 for fiscal year 1999. 1999;

6 and

7 (3) $296,287,000 for fiscal year 2000.

8 (b) CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be

10 appropriated to the Department of Commerce for

11 use by the Secretary of Commerce for construction

12 and maintenance of facilities of the National Insti13 tute of Standards and Technology—

14 (A) $16,692,000 for fiscal year 1998; and

15 $95,000,000 for fiscal year 1998;

16 (B) $67,000,000 for fiscal year 1999.

17 1999; and

18 (C) $56,700,000 for fiscal year 2000.

19 (2) PROHIBITION.—None of the funds author20 ized by paragraph (1)(B) for construction of facili21 ties may be obligated unless the Secretary of Com22 merce has certified to the Committee on Commerce,

23 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the

24 Committee on Science of the House of Representa25 tives that the obligation of funds is consistent with
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1 a plan for meeting the needs of the facilities of the

2 National Institute of Standards and Technology that

3 the Secretary has transmitted to those committees.

4 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE OF5 FICE OF THE UNDER SECRETARY FOR TECH6 NOLOGY.

7 There are authorized to be appropriated to the De8 partment of Commerce for use by the Secretary of Com9 merce for the activities of the Under Secretary for Tech10 nology, the Office of Technology Policy, and the Office of

11 Air and Space Commercialization (as established under

12 section 415 of this title)—

13 (1) $9,230,000 for fiscal year 1998; and

14 $8,500,000 for fiscal year 1998;

15 (2) $10,807,400 for fiscal year 1999. 1999; and

16 (3) $11,132,000 for fiscal year 2000.

17 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR INDUS18 TRIAL TECHNOLOGY SERVICES.

19 There are authorized to be appropriated to the De20 partment of Commerce for use by the Secretary of Com21 merce for the industrial technology services activities of

22 the National Institute of Standards and Technology—

23 (1) $309,040,000 $306,000,000 for fiscal year

24 1998, of which—
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1 (A) $198,000,000 $192,500,000 shall be for

2 the Advanced Technology Program under sec3 tion 28 of the National Institute of Standards

4 and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278n); and

5 (B) $111,040,000 $113,500,000 shall be

6 for the manufacturing extension partnerships

7 program under sections 25 and 26 of the Na8 tional Institute of Standards and Technology

9 Act (15 U.S.C. 278k and 278l); and

10 (2) $318,371,000 for fiscal year 1999, of

11 which—

12 (A) $204,000,000 shall be for the Ad13 vanced Technology Program under section 28

14 of the National Institute of Standards and

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

16 (B) $114,371,000 shall be for the manu17 facturing extension partnerships program under

18 sections 5 25 and 26 of the National Institute

19 of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C.

20 278k and 278l). 278l); and

21 (3) $324,491,000 for fiscal year 2000, of which—

22 (A) $210,120,000 shall be for the Advanced

23 Technology Program under section 28 of the Na24 tional Institute of Standards and Technology Act

25 (15 U.S.C. 278n); and
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1 (B) $114,371,000 shall be for the manufac2 turing extension partnerships program under

3 sections 25 and 26 of the National Institute of

4 Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k

5 and 278l).

6 SEC. 6. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECH7 NOLOGY ACT AMENDMENTS.

8 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 28 of the National Insti9 tute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278n)

10 is amended—

11 (1) in subsection (d)—

12 (A) in paragraph (1)—

13 (i) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘(1)’’;

14 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and be of a nature

15 and scope that would not be pursued in a

16 timely manner without Federal assistance’’

17 after ‘‘technical merit’’; and

18 (iii) by adding at the end the follow19 ing:

20 ‘‘(B) Each applicant for a contract or

21 award under the Program shall certify that the

22 applicant has made an effort to secure private

23 market funding for the research project in24 volved. That certification shall include a written
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1 narrative description of the efforts made by the

2 applicant to secure that funding.’’; and

3 (B) by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(12) A large business may participate in a re5 search project that is the subject of a contract or

6 award under paragraph (3) only as a member of a

7 joint venture that includes 1 or more small busi8 nesses as members.’’;

9 (2) in subsection (j)—

10 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para11 graph (1);

12 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as

13 paragraph (5); and

14 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the

15 following:

16 ‘‘(2) the term ‘large business’ means a business

17 that—

18 ‘‘(A) is not a small business; and

19 ‘‘(B) has gross annual revenues in an

20 amount greater than $2,500,000,000;

21 ‘‘(3) the term ‘medium business’ means a busi22 ness that—

23 ‘‘(A) is not a small business; and

24 ‘‘(B) has gross annual revenues in an

25 amount less than or equal to $2,500,000,000;
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1 ‘‘(4) the term ‘small business’ means a small

2 business concern, as described in section 3(a)(1) of

3 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)(1)); and’’;

4 (3) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub5 section (m); and

6 (4) by inserting after subsection (i) the follow7 ing:

8 ‘‘(j) Notwithstanding subsection (b)(1)(B) and sub9 section (d)(3), the Director may grant an extension be10 yond the applicable deadline specified in subsection

11 (b)(1)(B) or (d)(3) for a joint venture or single applicant

12 recipient of assistance to expend Federal funds to com13 plete the project assisted with that assistance, if that ex14 tension—

15 ‘‘(1) is granted with no additional cost to the

16 Federal Government; and

17 ‘‘(2) is in the interest of the Federal Govern18 ment.

19 ‘‘(k)(1) The Secretary, acting through the Director,

20 may vest title to tangible personal property in any recipi21 ent of financial assistance under this section if—

22 ‘‘(A) the property is purchased with funds pro23 vided under this section; and
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1 ‘‘(B) the Secretary, acting through the Direc2 tor, determines that the vesting of such property

3 furthers the objectives of the Institute.

4 ‘‘(2) Vesting under this subsection shall—

5 ‘‘(A) be subject to such limitations as are pre6 scribed by the Secretary, acting through the Direc7 tor; and

8 ‘‘(B) be made without further obligation to the

9 United States Government.

10 In carrying out this section, the Secretary, acting through

11 the Director, shall ensure that the requirements of Cir12 cular No. A–110 issued by the Office of Management and

13 Budget are met with respect to the valuation of cost-share

14 items used by participants in the Program.’’. Program.

15 ‘‘(l) AWARDS BASED ON COMPETITION.—All amounts

16 appropriated for grants under subsection (b) for fiscal years

17 beginning after the date of enactment of the Technology Ad18 ministration Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1998,

19 1999, and 2000 shall be used for grants awarded on the

20 basis of general open competition.’’.

21 (b) ADDITIONAL AMENDMENT.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 28(d)(11)(A) of the

23 National Institute of Standards and Technology Act

24 (15 U.S.C. 278n(d)(11)(A)) is amended by striking

25 the period at the end of the first sentence and in-
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1 serting the following: ‘‘or any other university or

2 nonprofit awardee or subawardee (as those terms

3 are defined by the Secretary) receiving financial as4 sistance under this section, as agreed by the parties,

5 notwithstanding the requirements of chapter 18 of

6 title 35, United States Code.’’.

7 (2) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by

8 this subsection shall apply only with respect to as9 sistance for which solicitations for proposals are

10 made after the date of enactment of this title.

11 SEC. 7. MANUFACTURING EXTENSION PARTNERSHIP PRO12 GRAM CENTER EXTENSION.

13 Section 25(c)(5) of the National Institute of Stand14 ards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k(c)(5)) is

15 amended by striking ‘‘, which are designed’’ and all that

16 follows through ‘‘operation of a Center.’’ and inserting

17 ‘‘. After the sixth year, a Center may receive additional

18 financial support under this section if that Center has re19 ceived a positive evaluation through a review, under proce20 dures and criteria established by the Institute. The review

21 referred to in the preceding sentence shall be required not

22 later than 2 years after the sixth year, and not less fre23 quently than every 2 years thereafter. The funding re24 ceived by a Center for a fiscal year under this section after

25 the sixth year of operation shall be for capital and annual
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1 operating expenses and maintenance costs. The proportion

2 of funding that the Center receives after the sixth year

3 of operation from funds made available to carry out this

4 section for the costs referred to in the preceding sentence

5 shall not exceed the proportion of that funding received

6 by the Center for each of those costs during the sixth year

7 of operation of the Center.’’.

8 SEC. 8. MALCOLM BALDRIGE NATIONAL QUALITY AWARD.

9 Section 17(c)(1) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology

10 Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3711a(c)(1)) is amend11 ed by adding at the end the following:

12 ‘‘(D) Health care providers.

13 ‘‘(E) Education providers.’’.

14 SEC. 9. NEXT GENERATION INTERNET.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

16 (b), none of the funds authorized by this title, or any other

17 Act enacted before the date of enactment of this Act, may

18 be used for the programs and activities for the Internet

19 project known as the ‘‘Next Generation Internet’’.

20 (b) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a),

21 funds described in that subsection may be used for the

22 continuation of programs and activities related to Next

23 Generation Internet that were funded and carried out dur24 ing fiscal year 1997.
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1 SEC. 10. NOTICE.

2 (a) NOTICE OF REPROGRAMMING.—If any funds ap3 propriated pursuant to the amendments made by this Act

4 are subject to a reprogramming action that requires notice

5 to be provided to the Committees on Appropriations of the

6 Senate and the House of Representatives, notice of that

7 action shall concurrently be provided to the Committee on

8 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and

9 the Committee on Science of the House of Representa10 tives.

11 (b) NOTICE OF REORGANIZATION.—Not later than

12 15 days before any major reorganization of any program,

13 project, or activity of the National Institute of Standards

14 and Technology, the Director shall provide notice to the

15 Committees on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

16 and Appropriations of the Senate and the Committees on

17 Science and Appropriations of the House of Representa18 tives.

19 SEC. 11. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE YEAR 2000 PROBLEM.

20 With the year 2000 rapidly approaching, it is the

21 sense of Congress that the Director should—

22 (1) give high priority to correcting all 2-digit

23 date-related problems in the computer systems of

24 the National Institute of Standards and Technology

25 to ensure that those systems continue to operate ef26 fectively in the year 2000 and in subsequent years;
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1 (2) as soon as practicable after the date of en2 actment of this title, assess the extent of the risk to

3 the operations of the National Institute of Standards

4 and Technology posed by the problems referred to in

5 paragraph (1), and plan and budget for achieving

6 compliance for all of the mission-critical systems of

7 the system by the year 2000; and

8 (3) develop contingency plans for those systems

9 that the National Institute of Standards and Tech10 nology is unable to correct by the year 2000.

11 SEC. 12. ENHANCEMENT OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

12 PROGRAMS.

13 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—

14 (1) EDUCATIONALLY USEFUL FEDERAL EQUIP15 MENT.—The term ‘‘educationally useful Federal

16 equipment’’ means computers and related peripheral

17 tools and research equipment that is appropriate for

18 use in schools.

19 (2) SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘school’’ means a pub20 lic or private educational institution that serves any

21 of the grades of kindergarten through grade 12.

22 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—It is the sense of Congress

24 that the Director should, to the greatest extent prac25 ticable and in a manner consistent with applicable
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1 Federal law (including Executive Order No. 12999),

2 donate educationally useful Federal equipment to

3 schools in order to enhance the science and mathe4 matics programs of those schools.

5 (2) REPORTS—

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year

7 after the date of enactment of this title, and an8 nually thereafter, the Director shall prepare

9 and submit to the President a report. The

10 President shall submit the report to Congress

11 at the same time as the President submits a

12 budget request to Congress under section

13 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code.

14 (B) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report

15 prepared by the Director under this paragraph

16 shall describe any donations of educationally

17 useful Federal equipment to schools made dur18 ing the period covered by the report.

19 SEC. 13. TEACHER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ENHANCE20 MENT INSTITUTE PROGRAM.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Institute of Stand22 ards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 271 et seq.) is

23 amended by inserting after section 19 the following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 19A. (a) The Director shall establish within the

2 Institute a teacher science and technology enhancement

3 program.

4 ‘‘(b) The purpose of the program under this section

5 shall be to provide for professional development of mathe6 matics and science teachers of elementary, middle, and

7 secondary schools (as those terms are defined by the Di8 rector), including providing for the improvement of those

9 teachers with respect to the teaching of science—

10 ‘‘(1) teaching strategies;

11 ‘‘(2) self-confidence; and

12 ‘‘(3) the understanding of science and the im13 pacts of science on commerce.

14 ‘‘(c) In carrying out the program under this section,

15 the Director shall focus on the areas of—

16 ‘‘(1) scientific measurements;

17 ‘‘(2) tests and standards development;

18 ‘‘(3) industrial competitiveness and quality;

19 ‘‘(4) manufacturing;

20 ‘‘(5) technology transfer; and

21 ‘‘(6) any other area of expertise of the Institute

22 that the Director determines to be appropriate.

23 ‘‘(d) The Director shall develop and issue procedures

24 and selection criteria for participants in the program.
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1 Each such participant shall be a teacher described in sub2 section (b).

3 ‘‘(e) The Director shall issue awards under the pro4 gram to participants. In issuing the awards, the Director

5 shall ensure that the maximum number of participants

6 practicable participate in the program. In order to ensure

7 a maximum level of participation of participants, the pro8 gram under this section shall be conducted on an annual

9 basis during the summer months, during the period of

10 time when a majority of elementary, middle, and second11 ary schools have not commenced a school year.

12 ‘‘(f) The program shall provide for teachers participa13 tion in activities at the Institute laboratory facilities of the

14 Institute.’’.

15 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—The following

16 amounts of the funds made available by appropriations

17 pursuant to section 3(a) shall be used to carry out the

18 teacher science and technology enhancement program

19 under section 19A of the National Institute of Standards

20 and Technology, as added by subsection (a) of this section:

21 (1) $1,500,000 for fiscal year 1998.

22 (2) $2,500,000 for fiscal year 1999.
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1 SEC. 14. JOINT STUDY BY THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF

2 SCIENCE AND THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF

3 ENGINEERING.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—

5 (1) CONTRACT.—Not later than 90 days after

6 the date of enactment of this title, the Secretary of

7 Commerce shall enter into a contract with the Na8 tional Academy of Science and the National Acad9 emy of Engineering to provide for a joint study to

10 be conducted by those academies under this section.

11 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this

12 subsection shall be construed to apply the Federal

13 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) to the Na14 tional Academy of Science or the National Academy

15 of Engineering.

16 (b) STUDY PANEL.—In carrying out the study under

17 this section, the appropriate officials of the National Acad18 emy of Science and the National Academy of Engineering

19 shall establish a study panel. The members appointed to

20 the study panel shall include—

21 (1) industry and labor leaders;

22 (2) entrepreneurs;

23 (3) individuals who—

24 (A) have previously served as government

25 officials; and
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1 (B) have recognized expertise and experi2 ence with respect to civilian research and tech3 nology; and

4 (4) individuals with recognized expertise and

5 experience with respect to science and technology,

6 including individuals who have had experience work7 ing with or for a Federal laboratory.

8 (c) CONTENTS OF STUDY.—The study conducted

9 under this section shall—

10 (1) provide for a thorough review of the effec11 tiveness of the Advanced Technology Program (re12 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Program’’) under

13 section 28 of the National Institute of Standards

14 and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278n);

15 (2) carry out a root cause analysis to deter16 mine—

17 (A) which aspects of the Program have

18 been effective in stimulating the development of

19 technology; and

20 (B) strategies used to conduct the Pro21 gram that have failed; and

22 (3) examine alternative approaches to accom23 plish the purposes of the Program.

24 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the Sec25 retary of Commerce enters into contracts under subsection
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1 (a) for the conduct of the joint study under this section,

2 the study panel established under subsection (b) shall pre3 pare, and submit to the Secretary of Commerce, for trans4 mittal to the President and Congress, a study that in5 cludes the findings of the panel with respect to the results

6 of the study.

7 SEC. 15. OFFICE OF AIR AND SPACE COMMERCIALIZATION.

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within

9 the Department of Commerce an Office of Air and Space

10 Commercialization (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Of11 fice’’).

12 (b) DIRECTOR.—The Office shall be headed by a Di13 rector, who shall be a senior executive and shall be com14 pensated at a level in the Senior Executive Service under

15 section 5382 of title 5, United States Code, as determined

16 by the Secretary of Commerce.

17 (c) FUNCTIONS OF THE OFFICE; DUTIES OF THE DI18 RECTOR.—The Office shall be the principal unit for the

19 coordination of space-related issues, programs, and initia20 tives within the Department of Commerce. The primary

21 responsibilities of the Director, in carrying out the func22 tions of the Office, shall include—

23 (1) promoting commercial provider investment

24 in space activities by collecting, analyzing, and dis25 seminating information on space markets, and con-
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1 ducting workshops and seminars to increase aware2 ness of commercial space opportunities;

3 (2) assisting United States commercial provid4 ers in the efforts of those providers to conduct busi5 ness with the United States Government;

6 (3) acting as an industry advocate within the

7 executive branch of the Federal Government to en8 sure that the Federal Government meets the space9 related requirements of the Federal Government, to

10 the fullest extent feasible, with respect to commer11 cially available space goods and services;

12 (4) ensuring that the United States Govern13 ment does not compete with United States commer14 cial providers in the provision of space hardware and

15 services otherwise available from United States com16 mercial providers;

17 (5) promoting the export of space-related goods

18 and services;

19 (6) representing the Department of Commerce

20 in the development of United States policies and in

21 negotiations with foreign countries to ensure free

22 and fair trade internationally in the area of space

23 commerce; and

24 (7) seeking the removal of legal, policy, and in25 stitutional impediments to space commerce.
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1 SEC. 16. EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COM2 PETITIVE TECHNOLOGY.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5 of the Stevenson Wydler

4 Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3704) is

5 amended by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(f) EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COM7 PETITIVE TECHNOLOGY.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting

9 through the Under Secretary, shall establish a pro10 gram to be known as the Experimental Program to

11 Stimulate Competitive Technology (referred to in

12 this subsection as the ‘program’). The purpose of

13 the program shall be to strengthen the technological

14 competitiveness of those States that have historically

15 received less Federal research and development

16 funds than those received by a majority of the

17 States.

18 ‘‘(2) ARRANGEMENTS.—In carrying out the

19 program, the Secretary, acting through the Under

20 Secretary, shall—

21 ‘‘(A) enter into such arrangements as may

22 be necessary to provide for the coordination of

23 the program through the State committees es24 tablished under the Experimental Program to

25 Stimulate Competitive Research of the National

26 Science Foundation; and
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1 ‘‘(B) cooperate with—

2 ‘‘(i) any State science and technology

3 council established under the program

4 under subparagraph (A); and

5 ‘‘(ii) representatives of small business

6 firms and other appropriate technology7 based businesses.

8 ‘‘(3) GRANTS.—In carrying out the program,

9 the Secretary, acting through the Under Secretary,

10 may make grants or enter into cooperative agree11 ments to provide, for—

12 ‘‘(A) technology research and development;

13 ‘‘(B) technology transfer from university

14 research;

15 ‘‘(C) technology deployment and diffusion;

16 and

17 ‘‘(D) the strengthening of technological ca18 pabilities through consortia comprised of—

19 ‘‘(i) technology-based small business

20 firms;

21 ‘‘(ii) industries and emerging compa22 nies;

23 ‘‘(iii) universities; and

24 ‘‘(iv) State and local development

25 agencies and entities.
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1 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS FOR MAKING AWARDS.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In making grant

3 awards under this subsection, the Secretary,

4 acting through the Under Secretary, shall en5 sure that the awards are awarded on a competi6 tive basis that includes a review of the merits

7 of the activities that are the subject of the

8 award.

9 ‘‘(B) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The

10 non-Federal share of the activities (other than

11 planning activities) carried out under a grant

12 under this subsection shall be not less than 25

13 percent of the cost of those activities.

14 ‘‘(5) CRITERIA FOR STATES.—With respect to

15 States that participate in the program, the Sec16 retary, acting through the Under Secretary, shall es17 tablish criteria for achievement by each State that

18 participates in the program. Upon the achievement

19 of all such criteria, a State shall cease to be eligible

20 to participate in the program.

21 ‘‘(6) COORDINATION.—To the extent prac22 ticable, in carrying out this section, the Secretary,

23 acting through the Under Secretary, shall coordinate

24 the program with other programs of the Department

25 of Commence.
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1 ‘‘(7) REPORT.—

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90

3 days after the date of enactment of the Tech4 nology Administration Authorization Act for

5 Fiscal Years 1998 and 1999, the Under Sec6 retary shall prepare and submit a report that

7 meets the requirements of this paragraph to the

8 Secretary. Upon receipt of the report, the Sec9 retary shall transmit a copy of the report to the

10 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans11 portation of the Senate and the Committee on

12 Science of the House of Representatives.

13 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS FOR REPORT.—The

14 report prepared under this paragraph shall con15 tain with respect to the program—

16 ‘‘(i) a description of the structure and

17 procedures of the program;

18 ‘‘(ii) a management plan for the pro19 gram;

20 ‘‘(iii) a description of the merit-based

21 review process to be used in the program;

22 ‘‘(iv) milestones for the evaluation of

23 activities to be assisted under the program

24 in each of fiscal years 1998 and 1999;
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1 ‘‘(v) an assessment of the eligibility of

2 each State that participates in the Experi3 mental Program to Stimulate Competitive

4 Research of the National Science Founda5 tion to participate in the program under

6 this subsection; and

7 ‘‘(vi) the evaluation criteria with re8 spect to which the overall management and

9 effectiveness of the program will be evalu10 ated pursuant to paragraph (8).

11 ‘‘(8) EVALUATION.—Not earlier than the date

12 that is 4 years after the date on which the program

13 is established, the Secretary, acting through the

14 Under Secretary, shall carry out an evaluation of the

15 program. In carrying out the evaluation the Sec16 retary, acting through the Under Secretary, shall

17 apply the criteria described in paragraph

18 (7)(B)(vi).’’.

19 (b) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made available by

20 appropriations pursuant to section 4—

21 (1) for fiscal year 1998, $1,650,000 shall be

22 used to carry out the Experimental Program to

23 Stimulate Competitive Technology established under

24 section 5(f) of the Stevenson Wydler Technology In-
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1 novation Act of 1980, as added by subsection (a) of

2 this section; and

3 (2) for fiscal year 1999, $3,000,000 shall be

4 used to carry out the program referred to in para5 graph (1).

6 SEC. 17. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION AS ALTER7 NATIVE QUALITY AUTHORITY.

8 Any fastener used on an aircraft or component, sys9 tem, subassembly, or part of an aircraft that has been man10 ufactured or altered by, or under the direction and control

11 of, the holder of a Type Certificate, Production Certificate,

12 Parts Manufacturer Approval, or Technical Standard

13 Order Authorization issued by the Federal Aviation Admin14 istration, or manufactured or altered subject to a quality

15 assurance program approved by the Federal Aviation Ad16 ministration, is deemed to comply with the provisions of

17 the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) and any

18 regulation issued thereunder.

19 SEC. 18. INTERNATIONAL ARCTIC RESEARCH CENTER.

20 There are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for

21 each of fiscal years 1999 and 2000 for the Federal share

22 of the administrative costs of the International Arctic Re23 search Center.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A Bill to authorize

appropriations for the Technology Administration of the
27

•S 1325 RS

Department of Commerce for fiscal years 1998, 1999,

and 2000, and for other purposes.’’.
Calendar No. 388

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1325

[Report No. 105–196]

A BILL

To authorize appropriations for the Technology Adposes. fiscal years 1998 and 1999, and for other pur- ministration of the Department of Commerce for

MAY 22, 1998

Reported with amendments and an amendment to the

title