IB

Union Calendar No. 367

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1656

[Report No. 106–492, Part I]

To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2000 and 2001 for the commercial

application of energy technology and related civilian energy and scientific

programs, projects, and activities of the Department of Energy, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 3, 1999

Mr. CALVERT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, and in addition to the Committees on Commerce, and

Education and the Workforce, 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

FEBRUARY 3, 2000

Reported from the Committee on Science with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

FEBRUARY 3, 2000

Referral to the Committees on Commerce, and Education and the Workforce,

extended for a period ending not later than April 14, 2000

APRIL 14, 2000

Referral to the Committees on Commerce, and Education and the Workforce,

extended for a period ending not later than May 26, 2000

MAY 26, 2000

Referral to the Committees on Commerce, and Education and the Workforce,

extended for a period ending not later than June 7, 2000

JUNE 7, 2000

Referral to the Committees on Commerce, and Education and the Workforce,

extended for a period ending not later than June 9, 2000
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JUNE 9, 2000

Committees on Commerce, and Education and the Workforce, discharged;

committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the

Union and ordered to be printed

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 3, 1999]

A BILL

To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2000 and 2001

for the commercial application of energy technology and

related civilian energy and scientific programs, projects,

and activities of the Department of Energy, 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 ‘‘Department of Energy

5 Commercial Application of Energy Technology Authoriza6 tion Act of 1999’’.

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

8 For the purposes of this Act—

9 (1) the term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart10 ment of Energy; and

11 (2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of

12 Energy.

13 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

14 (a) ENERGY SUPPLY.—There are authorized to be ap15 propriated to the Secretary for Energy Supply commercial
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1 application of energy technology and related civilian energy

2 and scientific research, development, and demonstration op3 eration and maintenance and construction programs,

4 projects, and activities for which specific sums are not au5 thorized under other authority of law $309,662,000 for fis6 cal year 2000 and $306,857,000 for fiscal year 2001, to re7 main available through the end of fiscal year 2002, of

8 which—

9 (1) $136,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

10 $131,840,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Nuclear

11 Energy, including—

12 (A) $85,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

13 $87,550,000 for fiscal year 2001 for Termination

14 Costs;

15 (B) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

16 $30,900,000 for fiscal year 2001 for the Fast

17 Flux Test Facility;

18 (C) $13,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

19 $13,390,000 for fiscal year 2001 for Isotope Sup20 port; and

21 (D) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 for com22 pletion of Project 98–E–201, Isotope Production

23 Facility, Los Alamos National Laboratory;
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1 (2) $50,750,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

2 $51,703,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Environ3 ment, Safety, and Health;

4 (3) $9,100,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

5 $9,148,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Technical

6 Information Management;

7 (4) $102,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

8 $102,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Field

9 Operations; and

10 (5) $11,812,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

11 $12,166,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Oak

12 Ridge Landlord.

13 (b) NON-DEFENSE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT.—

14 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary

15 for Non-Defense Environmental Management commercial

16 application of energy technology and related civilian energy

17 and scientific research, development, and demonstration op18 eration and maintenance programs, projects, and activities

19 for which specific sums are not authorized under other au20 thority of law $330,934,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

21 $340,862,000 for fiscal year 2001, to remain available

22 through the end of fiscal year 2002, of which—

23 (1) $211,146,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

24 $217,480,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Site

25 Closure;
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1 (2) $100,866,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

2 $103,892,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for the Site/

3 Project Completion; and

4 (3) $18,922,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

5 $19,490,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Post

6 2006 Completion.

7 (c) FOSSIL ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.—

8 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary

9 for Fossil Energy Research and Development Environ10 mental Restoration commercial application of energy tech11 nology and related civilian energy and scientific research,

12 development, and demonstration operation and mainte13 nance programs, projects, and activities for which specific

14 sums are not authorized under other authority of law

15 $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $10,300,000 for fiscal

16 year 2001, to remain available through the end of fiscal

17 year 2002.

18 (d) ENERGY CONSERVATION RESEARCH AND DEVEL19 OPMENT.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the

20 Secretary for Energy Conservation Research and Develop21 ment commercial application of energy technology and re22 lated civilian energy and scientific research, development,

23 and demonstration operation and maintenance programs,

24 projects, and activities for which specific sums are not au25 thorized under other authority of law $52,163,000 for fiscal
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1 year 2000 and $53,727,890 for fiscal year 2001, to remain

2 available through the end of fiscal year 2002, of which—

3 (1) $10,700,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

4 $11,021,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Clean

5 Cities;

6 (2) $12,802,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

7 $13,186,060 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Building

8 Standards and Guidelines;

9 (3) $13,343,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

10 $13,743,290 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for Lighting

11 and Appliance Standards; and

12 (4) $15,318,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

13 $15,777,540 for fiscal year 2001 for Management and

14 Planning for the Building Technology, State and

15 Community Sector (nongrants).

16 SEC. 4. NOTICE.

17 (a) REPROGRAMMING.—The Secretary may use for

18 any authorized civilian energy or scientific research, devel19 opment, and demonstration and commercial application of

20 energy technology programs, projects, and activities of the

21 Department—

22 (1) up to the lesser of $250,000 or 5 percent of

23 the total funding for a fiscal year of another such pro24 gram, project, or activity of the Department; or
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1 (2) after the expiration of 60 days after trans2 mitting to the Committee on Science and the Com3 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Representa4 tives, and to the Committee on Energy and Natural

5 Resources and the Committee on Appropriations of

6 the Senate, a report described in subsection (b), up to

7 25 percent of the total funding for a fiscal year of an8 other such program, project, or activity of the Depart9 ment.

10 (b) REPORT.—(1) The report referred to in subsection

11 (a)(2) is a report containing a full and complete statement

12 of the action proposed to be taken and the facts and cir13 cumstances relied upon in support of such proposed action.

14 (2) In the computation of the 60-day period under sub15 section (a)(2), there shall be excluded any day on which

16 either House of Congress is not in session because of an

17 adjournment of more than 3 days to a day certain.

18 (c) LIMITATIONS.—In no event may funds be used pur19 suant to subsection (a) for a civilian energy or scientific

20 research, development, and demonstration or commercial

21 application of energy technology program, project, or activ22 ity for which funding has been requested to the Congress

23 but which has not been funded by the Congress.

24 (d) NOTICE OF REORGANIZATION.—The Secretary

25 shall provide notice to the Committee on Science and the
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1 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representa2 tives, and to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re3 sources and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate,

4 not later than 15 days before any major reorganization of

5 any civilian energy or scientific research, development, and

6 demonstration or commercial application of energy tech7 nology program, project, or activity of the Department.

8 (e) COPY OF REPORTS.—The Secretary shall provide

9 copies to the Committee on Science and the Committee on

10 Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and to the

11 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Com12 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate, of any report relat13 ing to the civilian energy or scientific research, develop14 ment, and demonstration or commercial application of en15 ergy technology activities of the Department prepared at

16 the direction of any committee of Congress.

17 SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON DEMONSTRATIONS.

18 The Department shall provide funding for civilian en19 ergy or scientific or commercial application of energy tech20 nology demonstration programs, projects, and activities

21 only for technologies or processes that can be reasonably ex22 pected to yield new, measurable benefits to the cost, effi23 ciency, or performance of the technology or process.
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1 SEC. 6. LIMITS ON GENERAL PLANT PROJECTS.

2 If, at any time during the construction of a civilian

3 energy or scientific research, development, and demonstra4 tion or commercial application of energy technology project

5 of the Department for which no specific funding level is pro6 vided by law, the estimated cost (including any revision

7 thereof) of the project exceeds $2,000,000, the Secretary may

8 not continue such construction unless the Secretary has fur9 nished a complete report to the Committee on Science and

10 the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep11 resentatives, and to the Committee on Energy and Natural

12 Resources and the Committee on Appropriations of the Sen13 ate, explaining the project and the reasons for the estimate

14 or revision.

15 SEC. 7. LIMITS ON CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS.

16 (a) LIMITATION.—Except as provided in subsection

17 (b), construction on a civilian energy or scientific research,

18 development, and demonstration or commercial application

19 of energy technology project of the Department for which

20 funding has been specifically provided by law may not be

21 started, and additional obligations may not be incurred in

22 connection with the project above the authorized funding

23 amount, whenever the current estimated cost of the construc24 tion project exceeds by more than 10 percent the higher of—

25 (1) the amount authorized for the project, if the

26 entire project has been funded by the Congress; or
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1 (2) the amount of the total estimated cost for the

2 project as shown in the most recent budget justifica3 tion data submitted to Congress.

4 (b) NOTICE.—An action described in subsection (a)

5 may be taken if—

6 (1) the Secretary has submitted to the Committee

7 on Science and the Committee on Appropriations of

8 the House of Representatives, and to the Committee

9 on Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee

10 on Appropriations of the Senate, a report on the pro11 posed actions and the circumstances making such ac12 tions necessary; and

13 (2) a period of 30 days has elapsed after the date

14 on which the report is received by the committees.

15 (c) EXCLUSION.—In the computation of the 30-day pe16 riod described in subsection (b)(2), there shall be excluded

17 any day on which either House of Congress is not in session

18 because of an adjournment of more than 3 days to a day

19 certain.

20 (d) EXCEPTION.—Subsections (a) and (b) shall not

21 apply to any construction project which has a current esti22 mated cost of less than $2,000,000.
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1 SEC. 8. AUTHORITY FOR CONCEPTUAL AND CONSTRUCTION

2 DESIGN.

3 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR CONCEPTUAL DESIGN.—(1)

4 Subject to paragraph (2) and except as provided in para5 graph (3), before submitting to Congress a request for funds

6 for a construction project that is in support of a civilian

7 energy or scientific research, development, and demonstra8 tion or commercial application of energy technology pro9 gram, project, or activity of the Department, the Secretary

10 shall complete a conceptual design for that project.

11 (2) If the estimated cost of completing a conceptual

12 design for a civilian energy or scientific research, develop13 ment, and demonstration or commercial application of en14 ergy technology construction project exceeds $750,000, the

15 Secretary shall submit to Congress a request for funds for

16 the conceptual design before submitting a request for funds

17 for the construction project.

18 (3) The requirement in paragraph (1) does not apply

19 to a request for funds for a construction project, the total

20 estimated cost of which is less than $2,000,000.

21 (b) AUTHORITY FOR CONSTRUCTION DESIGN.—(1) The

22 Secretary may carry out construction design (including ar23 chitectural and engineering services) in connection with

24 any proposed construction project that is in support of a

25 civilian energy or scientific research, development, and

26 demonstration or commercial application of energy tech-
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1 nology program of the Department if the total estimated

2 cost for such design does not exceed $250,000.

3 (2) If the total estimated cost for construction design

4 in connection with any construction project described in

5 paragraph (1) exceeds $250,000, funds for such design must

6 be specifically authorized by law.

7 SEC. 9. LIMITS ON USE OF FUNDS.

8 (a) CLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGY RESERVE.—No funds

9 in the Clean Coal Technology Reserve may be used to ini10 tiate or carry out a clean coal technology energy demonstra11 tion project based outside the United States.

12 (b) TRAVEL.—Not more than 1 percent of the funds

13 authorized by this Act may be used either directly or indi14 rectly to fund travel costs of the Department or travel costs

15 for persons awarded contracts or subcontracts by the De16 partment. As part of the Department’s annual budget re17 quest submission to the Congress, the Secretary shall submit

18 a report to the Committee on Science and the Committee

19 on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, and to

20 the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the

21 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, that

22 identifies—

23 (1) the estimated amount of travel costs by the

24 Department and for persons awarded contracts or

25 subcontracts by the Department for the fiscal year of
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1 such budget submission, as well as for the 2 previous

2 fiscal years;

3 (2) the major purposes for such travel; and

4 (3) the sources of funds for such travel.

5 (c) TRADE ASSOCIATIONS.—No funds authorized by

6 this Act may be used either directly or indirectly to fund

7 a grant, contract, subcontract, or any other form of finan8 cial assistance awarded by the Department to a trade asso9 ciation on a noncompetitive basis. As part of the Depart10 ment’s annual budget request submission to the Congress,

11 the Secretary shall submit a report to the Committee on

12 Science and the Committee on Appropriations of the House

13 of Representatives, and to the Committee on Energy and

14 Natural Resources and the Committee on Appropriations

15 of the Senate, that identifies—

16 (1) the estimated amount of funds provided by

17 the Department to trade associations, by trade asso18 ciation, for the fiscal year of such budget submission,

19 as well as for the 2 previous fiscal years;

20 (2) the services either provided or to be provided

21 by each such trade association; and

22 (3) the sources of funds for services provided by

23 each such trade association.
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1 SEC. 10. MANAGEMENT AND OPERATING CONTRACTS.

2 (a) COMPETITIVE PROCEDURE REQUIREMENT.—None

3 of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or

4 any prior Act may be used to award a management and

5 operating contract for a federally owned or operated non6 military energy laboratory of the Department unless such

7 contract is awarded using competitive procedures or the

8 Secretary grants, on a case-by-case basis, a waiver to allow

9 for such a deviation. The Secretary may not delegate the

10 authority to grant such a waiver.

11 (b) CONGRESSIONAL NOTICE.—At least 60 days before

12 a contract award, amendment, or modification for which

13 the Secretary intends to grant such a waiver, the Secretary

14 shall submit to the Committee on Science and the Com15 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives,

16 and to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

17 and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, a re18 port notifying the committees of the waiver and setting

19 forth the reasons for the waiver.

20 SEC. 11. FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION.

21 (a) REQUIREMENT.—None of the funds authorized to

22 be appropriated by this Act or any prior Act for any com23 mercial application of energy technology or civilian energy

24 or scientific research, development, and demonstration or

25 commercial application of energy technology programs,

26 projects, and activities may be used to award, amend, or
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1 modify a contract of the Department in a manner that devi2 ates from the Federal Acquisition Regulation, unless the

3 Secretary grants, on a case-by-case basis, a waiver to allow

4 for such a deviation. The Secretary may not delegate the

5 authority to grant such a waiver.

6 (b) CONGRESSIONAL NOTICE.—At least 60 days before

7 a contract award, amendment, or modification for which

8 the Secretary intends to grant such a waiver, the Secretary

9 shall submit to the Committee on Science and the Com10 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives,

11 and to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

12 and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate, a re13 port notifying the committees of the waiver and setting

14 forth the reasons for the waiver.

15 SEC. 12. REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS.

16 None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this

17 Act or any prior Act may be used by the Department to

18 prepare or initiate Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for a ci19 vilian energy or scientific research, development, and dem20 onstration or commercial application of energy technology

21 program, project, or activity if the program, project, or ac22 tivity has not been specifically authorized by Congress.
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1 SEC. 13. PRODUCTION OR PROVISION OF ARTICLES OR

2 SERVICES.

3 (a) RESTRICTION.—Except as provided in subsection

4 (b), none of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this

5 Act or any prior Act may be used by any civilian energy

6 or scientific research, development, and demonstration or

7 commercial application of energy technology program,

8 project, or activity of the Department to produce or provide

9 articles or services for the purpose of selling the articles or

10 services to a person outside the Federal Government, unless

11 the Secretary determines that comparable articles or serv12 ices are not available from a commercial source in the

13 United States.

14 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) does not apply to the

15 transmission and sale of electricity by any Federal power

16 marketing administration.

17 SEC. 14. ELIGIBILITY FOR AWARDS.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall exclude from

19 consideration for grant agreements for civilian energy or

20 scientific research, development, and demonstration or com21 mercial application of energy technology activities made by

22 the Department after fiscal year 1999 any person who re23 ceived funds, other than those described in subsection (b),

24 appropriated for a fiscal year after fiscal year 1999, under

25 a grant agreement from any Federal funding source for a

26 program, project, or activity that was not subjected to a
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1 competitive, merit-based award process, except as specifi2 cally authorized by this Act. Any exclusion from consider3 ation pursuant to this section shall be effective for a period

4 of 5 years after the person receives such Federal funds.

5 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to the

6 receipt of Federal funds by a person due to the membership

7 of that person in a class specified by law for which assist8 ance is awarded to members of the class according to a for9 mula provided by law or under circumstances permitting

10 other than full and open competition under the Federal Ac11 quisition Regulation.

12 (c) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

13 term ‘‘grant agreement’’ means a legal instrument whose

14 principal purpose is to transfer a thing of value to the re15 cipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimula16 tion authorized by a law of the United States, and does

17 not include the acquisition (by purchase, lease, or barter)

18 of property or services for the direct benefit or use of the

19 United States Government. Such term does not include a

20 cooperative agreement (as such term is used in section 6305

21 of title 31, United States Code) or a cooperative research

22 and development agreement (as such term is defined in sec23 tion 12(d)(1) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innova24 tion Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a(d)(1))).
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1 SEC. 15. EXTERNAL REGULATION.

2 (a) AUTHORITY.—

3 (1) ELIMINATION OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

4 AUTHORITY.—Except as provided in paragraph (2),

5 effective January 1, 2000, the Department shall have

6 no regulatory or enforcement authority, through rules,

7 regulations, orders, and standards, or reporting re8 quirements, with respect to Federal, State, and local

9 environmental, safety, and health requirements at

10 any federally owned or operated nonmilitary energy

11 laboratory.

12 (2) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding paragraph

13 (1), the Department shall retain regulatory or en14 forcement authority described in paragraph (1) at

15 any federally owned or operated nonmilitary energy

16 laboratory to the extent that no other Federal, State,

17 or local governmental agency has such regulatory or

18 enforcement authority.

19 (b) NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION AUTHOR20 ITY.—

21 (1) ENFORCEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES.—Effective

22 January 1, 2000, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

23 shall assume the regulatory and enforcement respon24 sibilities of the Department under the Atomic Energy

25 Act of 1954 with regard to federally owned or oper26 ated nonmilitary energy laboratories, including such
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1 responsibilities with respect to accelerator-produced

2 radioactive material and ionizing radiation gener3 ating machines.

4 (2) LICENSED ENTITY.—For the purposes of car5 rying out at federally owned or operated nonmilitary

6 energy laboratories regulatory and enforcement re7 sponsibilities described in paragraph (1), the Nuclear

8 Regulatory Commission may regulate and license or

9 provide certification for the Department, the Depart10 ment’s contractor, or both.

11 (3) DECOMMISSIONING.—A contractor operating

12 a federally owned nonmilitary energy laboratory shall

13 not be responsible for the costs of decommissioning

14 that facility. No enforcement action may be taken

15 against such contractor for any violation of Nuclear

16 Regulatory Commission decommissioning require17 ments, if such violation is the result of a failure of

18 the Department to authorize or fund decommissioning

19 activities. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and

20 the Department shall, not later than July 1, 2000,

21 enter into a memorandum of understanding estab22 lishing decommissioning procedures and requirements

23 for federally owned or operated nonmilitary energy

24 laboratories.

25 (c) OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH.—
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1 (1) OSHA JURISDICTION.—Notwithstanding any

2 other provision of law, effective January 1, 2000, the

3 Occupational Safety and Health Administration shall

4 assume the regulatory and enforcement responsibil5 ities of the Department relating to matters covered by

6 the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 with

7 regard to all federally owned or operated nonmilitary

8 energy laboratories. The Department’s contractor or

9 contractors operating those laboratories shall be con10 sidered employers for purposes of the Occupational

11 Safety and Health Act of 1970.

12 (2) APPLICABILITY.—Section 4(b)(1) of the Occu13 pational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C.

14 653(b)(1)) does not apply with respect to the Depart15 ment’s regulation, or the Nuclear Regulatory Commis16 sion’s regulation, of federally owned or operated non17 military energy laboratories.

18 (3) RADIATION REGULATIONS.—With respect to

19 federally owned or operated nonmilitary energy lab20 oratories, the Secretary of Labor may enforce the reg21 ulations contained in part 20 of title 10 of the Code

22 of Federal Regulations, relating to Protection from

23 Radiation, to the same extent as regulations issued

24 under section 6(b) of the Occupational Safety and

25 Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 655(b)).
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1 (4) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The

2 Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Occupa3 tional Safety and Health Administration shall, with4 in 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,

5 enter into a memorandum of understanding to govern

6 the exercise of their respective authorities over occupa7 tional safety and health hazards at federally owned or

8 operated nonmilitary energy laboratories.

9 (d) CIVIL PENALTIES.—The Department’s contractor

10 operating a federally owned or operated nonmilitary energy

11 laboratory shall not be liable for civil penalties under the

12 Atomic Energy Act of 1954 or the Occupational Safety and

13 Health Act of 1970 for any actions taken before October

14 1, 2000, pursuant to the transfer of regulatory and enforce15 ment responsibilities required by this section.

16 (e) INDEMNIFICATION.—The Secretary shall continue

17 to indemnify federally owned or operated nonmilitary en18 ergy laboratories in accordance with the provisions of sec19 tion 170d. of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.

20 (f) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REPORTING REQUIRE21 MENT.—By October 31, 1999, the Secretary shall transmit

22 to the Committee on Science and the Committee on Appro23 priations of the House of Representatives, and the Com24 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Com25 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate, a plan for the ter-
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1 mination of the Department’s regulatory and enforcement

2 responsibilities for federally owned or operated nonmilitary

3 energy laboratories required by this section. The report shall

4 include—

5 (1) a detailed transition plan, drafted in coordi6 nation with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and

7 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration,

8 giving the schedule for termination of self-regulation

9 authority as outlined in subsection (a), including the

10 activities to be coordinated with the Nuclear Regu11 latory Commission and the Occupational Safety and

12 Health Administration;

13 (2) a description of any issues remaining to be

14 resolved with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the

15 Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or

16 other external regulators, and a timetable for resolv17 ing such issues before January 1, 2000;

18 (3) an estimate of—

19 (A) the annual cost of administering and

20 implementing self-regulation of environmental,

21 safety, and health activities at federally owned

22 or operated nonmilitary energy laboratories;

23 (B) the number of Federal and contractor

24 employees administering and implementing such

25 self-regulation;
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1 (C) the cost of external regulation based on

2 the pilot projects of simulated Nuclear Regu3 latory Commission regulation which have al4 ready been conducted; and

5 (D) the extent and schedule by which the

6 Department and laboratory staffs will be reduced

7 as a result of implementation of this section; and

8 (4) a description of regulatory or enforcement

9 authorities the Department determines it will be re10 quired to retain pursuant to subsection (a)(2).

11 SEC. 16. INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.

12 The Secretary shall make available through the Inter13 net home page of the Department the abstracts relating to

14 all research grants and awards made with funds authorized

15 by this Act. Nothing in this section shall be construed to

16 require or permit the release of any information prohibited

17 by law or regulation from being released to the public.

18 SEC. 17. MORATORIUM ON FOREIGN VISITORS PROGRAM.

19 (a) MORATORIUM.—Until the appropriate conditions

20 are met under subsection (c), the Secretary may not admit

21 any individual who is a citizen of a nation that is named

22 on the current Department of Energy List of Sensitive

23 Countries to—

24 (1) any classified facility of a laboratory owned

25 by the Department; or
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1 (2) any facility of a laboratory owned by the De2 partment for the purposes of conducting activities re3 lated to any of the sensitive subjects listed in part 1

4 of Appendix 4 of the February 1997 document enti5 tled ‘‘Guidelines on Export Control and Nonprolifera6 tion’’, issued by the Nuclear Transfer and Supplier

7 Policy Division of the Office of Arms Control and

8 Nonproliferation of the Office of Nonproliferation and

9 National Security of the Department.

10 (b) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—(1) The Secretary may

11 waive the prohibition in subsection (a) on a case-by-case

12 basis with respect to specific individuals whose admission

13 to a laboratory owned by the Department is determined by

14 the Secretary to be necessary for the national security of

15 the United States.

16 (2) Not later than 30 days after granting a waiver

17 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall transmit to the

18 committees described in subsection (e) a report in writing

19 regarding the waiver. The report shall identify each indi20 vidual for whom such a waiver is granted and, with respect

21 to each such individual, provide a detailed justification for

22 the waiver and the Secretary’s certification that the admis23 sion of that individual to a laboratory owned by the De24 partment is necessary for the national security of the

25 United States.
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1 (3) The authority of the Secretary under paragraph

2 (1) may not be delegated.

3 (c) CONDITIONS FOR LIFTING MORATORIUM.—The

4 moratorium on a laboratory owned by the Department shall

5 be lifted when the Secretary, in consultation with and with

6 the concurrence of the Director of the Federal Bureau of

7 Investigation, transmits to the Congress a report certifying

8 that—

9 (1) all of the applicable counterintelligence and

10 safeguards and security measures contained in Presi11 dential Decision Directive 61 have been fully imple12 mented at the laboratory, and that adequate oversight

13 and resources exist to ensure that they are properly

14 followed;

15 (2) all of the additional applicable counterintel16 ligence and safeguards and security measures an17 nounced by the Secretary on March 17, 1999, and

18 March 31, 1999, have been fully implemented at the

19 laboratory, and that adequate oversight and resources

20 exist to ensure that they are appropriately followed;

21 and

22 (3) all of the guidelines in February 1997 docu23 ment entitled ‘‘Guidelines on Export Control and

24 Nonproliferation’’, issued by the Nuclear Transfer and

25 Supplier Policy Division of the Office of Arms Con-
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1 trol and Nonproliferation of the Office of Non2 proliferation and National Security of the Depart3 ment are being followed with respect to all activities

4 at the laboratory.

5 (d) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—(1) The Director of the

6 Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secretary jointly

7 shall transmit to the committees described in subsection (e)

8 an annual report, the first of which shall be transmitted

9 not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of

10 this Act, on counterintelligence and safeguards and security

11 activities at the laboratories owned by the Department, in12 cluding facilities and areas at those laboratories at which

13 unclassified work is carried out.

14 (2) The report required by paragraph (1) shall

15 include—

16 (A) a description of the status of counterintel17 ligence and safeguards and security at each of the lab18 oratories owned by the Department;

19 (B) a description of the status of the conditions

20 for lifting the moratorium under subsection (c); and

21 (C) a net assessment of the foreign visitors pro22 gram at the laboratories owned by the Department,

23 prepared by a panel of individuals with expertise in

24 intelligence, counterintelligence, and nuclear weapons

25 design matters.
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1 (e) COMMITTEES.—The Committees referred to in this

2 section are the Committee on Armed Services, the Com3 mittee on Appropriations, the Committee on Commerce,

4 Science, and Transportation, the Committee on Energy and

5 Natural Resources, and the Select Committee on Intelligence

6 of the Senate, and the Committee on Armed Services, the

7 Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Com8 merce, the Committee on Science, and the Permanent Select

9 Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives.

10 SEC. 18. TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER COORDINATION.

11 Within 90 days after the date of the enactment of this

12 Act, the Secretary shall ensure, for the laboratories owned

13 by the Department carrying out programs under this Act—

14 (1) consistency of technology transfer policies

15 and procedures with respect to patenting, licensing,

16 and commercialization;

17 (2) the availability to aggrieved private sector

18 entities on request of binding alternative dispute reso19 lution, nonbinding alternative dispute resolution, me20 diation, negotiation between authorized representa21 tives of the disputing parties, or resolution by the De22 partment’s site contracting officer to resolve disputes

23 regarding all technology transfer and intellectual

24 property matters, with costs and damages to be pro-
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1 vided for by the contractor to the extent that any such

2 resolution attributes fault to the contractor;

3 (3) annual reports to the Secretary, as part of

4 the annual performance evaluation, on technology

5 transfer and intellectual property successes, current

6 technology transfer and intellectual property disputes

7 involving the laboratory, and progress toward resolv8 ing those disputes; and

9 (4) training to ensure that laboratory personnel

10 responsible for patenting, licensing, and commer11 cialization activities are knowledgeable of the appro12 priate legal, procedural, and ethical issues necessary

13 to carry out those activities with the highest possible

14 professional and ethical standards.

15 SEC. 19. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REGULATIONS RELAT16 ING TO THE SAFEGUARDING AND SECURITY

17 OF RESTRICTED DATA.

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 18 of title I of the Atomic

19 Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2271 et seq.) is amended

20 by inserting after section 234A the following new section:

21 ‘‘SEC. 234B. CIVIL MONETARY PENALTIES FOR VIOLA22 TIONS OF DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REGULATIONS RE23 GARDING SECURITY OF CLASSIFIED OR SENSITIVE INFOR24 MATION OR DATA.—
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1 ‘‘a. Any person who has entered into a contract or

2 agreement with the Department of Energy, or a subcontract

3 or subagreement thereto, and who violates (or whose em4 ployee violates) any applicable rule, regulation, or order

5 prescribed or otherwise issued by the Secretary pursuant

6 to this Act relating to the safeguarding or security of Re7 stricted Data or other classified or sensitive information

8 shall be subject to a civil penalty of not to exceed $100,000

9 for each such violation.

10 ‘‘b. The Secretary shall include in each contract with

11 a contractor of the Department provisions which provide

12 an appropriate reduction in the fees or amounts paid to

13 the contractor under the contract in the event of a violation

14 by the contractor or contractor employee of any rule, regula15 tion, or order relating to the safeguarding or security of

16 Restricted Data or other classified or sensitive information.

17 The provisions shall specify various degrees of violations

18 and the amount of the reduction attributable to each degree

19 of violation.

20 ‘‘c. The powers and limitations applicable to the as21 sessment of civil penalties under section 234A, except for

22 subsection d. of that section, shall apply to the assessment

23 of civil penalties under this section.’’.
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1 (b) CLARIFYING AMENDMENT.—The section heading of

2 section 234A of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2282a) is amended by

3 inserting ‘‘SAFETY’’ before ‘‘REGULATIONS’’.

4 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections for

5 that Act is amended by inserting after the item relating

6 to section 234 the following new items:

‘‘Sec. 234A. Civil Monetary Penalties for Violations of Department of Energy

Safety Regulations.

‘‘Sec. 234B. Civil Monetary Penalties for Violations of Department of Energy Regulations Regarding Security of Classified or Sensitive Information or Data.’’.

7 SEC. 20. WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION.

8 (a) PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall establish a pro9 gram to ensure that an employee of the Department, or a

10 contractor employee, may not be discharged, demoted, or

11 otherwise discriminated against as a reprisal for disclosing

12 to a person or entity referred to in subsection (b) informa13 tion which the employee or contractor employee reasonably

14 believes to provide direct and specific evidence of a violation

15 described in subsection (c).

16 (b) COVERED PERSONS AND ENTITIES.—A person or

17 entity referred to in this subsection is the following:

18 (1) A Member of Congress.

19 (2) An employee of Congress who has an appro20 priate security clearance for access to the information.

21 (3) The Inspector General of the Department.

22 (4) The Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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1 (5) Any other element of the Federal Government

2 designated by the Secretary as authorized to receive

3 information of the type disclosed.

4 (c) COVERED VIOLATIONS.—A violation referred to in

5 subsection (a) is—

6 (1) a violation of law or Federal regulation;

7 (2) gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds,

8 or abuse of authority; or

9 (3) a false statement to Congress on an issue of

10 material fact.

11 SEC. 21. INVESTIGATION AND REMEDIATION OF ALLEGED

12 REPRISALS FOR DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN IN13 FORMATION TO CONGRESS.

14 (a) SUBMITTAL OF ALLEGATIONS TO INSPECTOR GEN15 ERAL.—A Department employee or contractor employee

16 who believes that the employee has been discharged, de17 moted, or otherwise discriminated against as a reprisal for

18 disclosing information referred to in subsection (a) of sec19 tion 20 in accordance with the provisions of that section

20 may submit a complaint relating to such action to the In21 spector General of the Department.

22 (b) INVESTIGATION.—(1) For each complaint sub23 mitted under subsection (a), the Inspector General shall—

24 (A) determine whether or not the complaint is

25 frivolous; and
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1 (B) if the Inspector General determines the com2 plaint is not frivolous, conduct an investigation of the

3 complaint.

4 (2) The Inspector General shall submit a report on

5 each investigation undertaken under paragraph (1)(B) to—

6 (A) the employee who submitted the complaint

7 on which the investigation is based;

8 (B) the contractor concerned, if any; and

9 (C) the Secretary.

10 (c) REMEDIAL ACTIONS.—(1) If the Secretary deter11 mines that an employee has been subjected to an adverse

12 personnel action referred to in subsection (a) in contraven13 tion of the provisions of section 20(a), the Secretary shall—

14 (A) in the case of a Department employee, take

15 appropriate actions to abate the action; or

16 (B) in the case of a contractor employee, order

17 the contractor concerned to take appropriate actions

18 to abate the action.

19 (2)(A) If a contractor fails to comply with an order

20 issued under paragraph (1)(B), the Secretary may file an

21 action for enforcement of the order in the appropriate

22 United States district court.

23 (B) In any action brought under subparagraph (A),

24 the court may grant appropriate relief, including injunctive

25 relief and compensatory and exemplary damages.
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1 (d) QUARTERLY REPORT.—(1) Not later than 30 days

2 after the commencement of each fiscal quarter, the Inspector

3 General shall submit to the Committee on Science and other

4 relevant committees of the House of Representatives, and

5 to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and

6 other relevant committees of the Senate, a report on the in7 vestigations undertaken under subsection (b)(1)(B) during

8 the preceding fiscal quarter, including a summary of the

9 results of such investigations.

10 (2) A report under paragraph (1) shall not identify

11 or otherwise provide any information on a person submit12 ting a complaint under this section without the consent of

13 the person.
Union Calendar No. 367

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1656

[Report No. 106–492, Part I]

A BILL

To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2000

and 2001 for the commercial application of energy technology and related civilian energy andscientific programs, projects, and activities of theDepartment of Energy, and for other purposes.

JUNE 9, 2000

Committees on Commerce, and Education and the Workforce, discharged; committed to the Committee of the

Whole House on the State of the Union and orderedto be printed