Union Calendar No. 316

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1742

[Report No. 106–512, Part I]

A BILL

To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2000

and 2001 for the environmental and scientific research, development, and demonstration programs, projects, and activities of the Office ofResearch and Development and Science AdvisoryBoard of the Environmental Protection Agency,and for other purposes.

APRIL 11, 2000

Committee on Commerce discharged; committed to the

Committee of the Whole House on the State of theUnion and ordered to be printed
IB

Union Calendar No. 316

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1742

[Report No. 106–512, Part I]

To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2000 and 2001 for the environmental and scientific research, development, and demonstration programs, projects, and activities of the Office of Research and Development

and Science Advisory Board of the Environmental Protection Agency,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 10, 1999

Mr. CALVERT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Science

MARCH 6, 2000

Reported with amendments and referred to the Committee on Commerce for

a period ending not later than April 7, 2000, for consideration of such

provisions of the bill and amendment as fall within the jurisdiction of

that committee pursuant to clause 1(f), rule X

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

APRIL 7, 2000

Referral to the Committee on Commerce extended for a period ending not

later than April 11, 2000

APRIL 11, 2000

Committee on Commerce discharged; committed to the Committee of the

Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 10, 1999]

A BILL

To authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2000 and 2001

for the environmental and scientific research, development, and demonstration programs, projects, and activities of the Office of Research and Development and

Science Advisory Board of the Environmental Protection

Agency, 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 ‘‘Environmental Protec5 tion Agency Office of Research and Development and

6 Science Advisory Board Authorization Act of 1999’’.

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

8 For the purposes of this Act—

9 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Admin10 istrator of the Agency;

11 (2) the term ‘‘Agency’’ means the Environmental

12 Protection Agency; and

13 (3) the term ‘‘Assistant Administrator’’ means

14 the Assistant Administrator for Research and Devel15 opment of the Agency.
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1 SEC. 3. OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro3 priated to the Administrator for the Office of Research and

4 Development for environmental research and development

5 and scientific research, development, and demonstration

6 programs for which specific sums are not authorized under

7 other authority of law $504,022,100 for fiscal year 2000

8 and $519,940,600 for fiscal year 2001, to remain available

9 until expended, of which $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2000

10 and $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2001 shall be for the Mickey

11 Leland Urban Air Toxics Research Center, and of which

12 $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and $5,000,000 for fiscal

13 year 2001 shall be for the Gulf Coast Hazardous Substance

14 Research Center.

15 (b) LIMITATION.—None of the amounts authorized

16 under subsection (a) may be obligated until 30 days after

17 the Administrator submits to the Committee on Science and

18 the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep19 resentatives, and the Committee on Environment and Pub20 lic Works and the Committee on Appropriations of the Sen21 ate, a report detailing, for fiscal year 2000 and each of the

22 2 previous fiscal years, for all Office of Research and Devel23 opment environmental research and development and sci24 entific research, development, and demonstration programs,

25 projects and activities, by appropriation goal and

26 objectives—
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1 (1) a description of, and funding requested or al2 located for, each such program, project and activity;

3 (2) an identification of all recipients of funds to

4 conduct such programs, projects and activities; and

5 (3) an estimate of the amounts to be expended by

6 each recipient of funds identified under paragraph

7 (2).

8 (c) EXCLUSION.—In the computation of the 30-day pe9 riod described in subsection (b), there shall be excluded any

10 day on which either House of Congress is not in session

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

12 certain.

13 SEC. 4. SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH REVIEW.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall assign to

15 the Assistant Administrator the duties of—

16 (1) developing a strategic plan for environmental

17 research and development and scientific research, de18 velopment, and demonstration programs throughout

19 the Agency;

20 (2) integrating that strategic plan into ongoing

21 Agency environmental research and development and

22 scientific research, development, and demonstration

23 planning activities; and

24 (3) reviewing all Agency environmental research

25 and development and scientific research, development,
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1 and demonstration programs to ensure the research,

2 development, and demonstration—

3 (A) is of high quality; and

4 (B) does not duplicate any other environ5 mental research and development and scientific

6 research, development, and demonstration pro7 grams being conducted by the Agency.

8 (b) REPORT.—The Assistant Administrator shall

9 transmit annually to the Administrator and to the Com10 mittee on Science and the Committee on Appropriations of

11 the House of Representatives, and to the Committee on En12 vironment and Public Works and the Committee on Appro13 priations of the Senate, a report detailing—

14 (1) all Agency environmental research and devel15 opment and scientific research, development, and

16 demonstration programs the Assistant Administrator

17 finds is not of sufficiently high quality; and

18 (2) all Agency environmental research and devel19 opment and scientific research, development, and

20 demonstration programs the Assistant Administrator

21 finds duplicate other Agency environmental research

22 and development and scientific research, development,

23 and demonstration programs.
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1 SEC. 5. SCIENCE TO ACHIEVE RESULTS (STAR) GRADUATE

2 STUDENT FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.

3 In carrying out the Science To Achieve Results

4 (STAR) Graduate Student Fellowship Program, the Ad5 ministrator shall ensure that any fellowship award to a stu6 dent selected after the date of the enactment of this Act is

7 used only to support scientific research that would further

8 missions of the Office of Research and Development.

9 SEC. 6. SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD.

10 (a) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Science Advisory Board

11 shall submit to Congress and to the Administrator an an12 nual report that contains the views of the Science Advisory

13 Board on proposed environmental research and develop14 ment and scientific research, development, and demonstra15 tion programs as described in the Agency’s budget. Such

16 report shall be submitted to Congress as soon as practicable

17 after the submission of the Agency’s budget to Congress. The

18 Administrator shall cooperate with the Chairperson of the

19 Science Advisory Board, particularly with respect to the

20 timely provision of budget information to the Science Advi21 sory Board, to allow the Science Advisory Board to carry

22 out its duties under this subsection.

23 (b) EVALUATION.—The Science Advisory Board shall

24 conduct periodic evaluations of selected areas of the current

25 and planned environmental research and development and

26 scientific research, development, and demonstration pro-
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1 grams of the Agency. The areas of evaluation shall be se2 lected by the Administrator, in consultation with the

3 Science Advisory Board, the Office of Research and Devel4 opment, and other Agency programs, or by the appropriate

5 committees of the Congress in consultation with the Science

6 Advisory Board. Reports containing the Science Advisory

7 Board’s evaluations and recommendations shall be filed

8 with such committees and the Administrator. The Adminis9 trator shall provide to such committees a written response

10 to the Science Advisory Board’s evaluation and rec11 ommendations within 60 days after the Science Advisory

12 Board’s report has been submitted.

13 (c) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The Administrator

14 shall submit to the Congress any report required by law

15 to be submitted to the Administrator by the Science Advi16 sory Board. The Administrator shall make any such sub17 mission not later than 60 days after the Administrator re18 ceives the report from the Science Advisory Board.

19 (d) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be ap20 propriated to the Administrator $2,636,200 for fiscal year

21 2000 and $2,768,000 for fiscal year 2001 for activities of

22 the Science Advisory Board.

23 SEC. 7. NOTICE.

24 (a) REPROGRAMMING.—The Administrator may use

25 for any authorized activities of the Office of Research and
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1 Development or the Science Advisory Board under this

2 Act—

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

4 the total funding for a fiscal year of an environ5 mental research or development or scientific research,

6 development, or demonstration program, project or

7 activity of the Office of Research and Development or

8 the Science Advisory Board; or

9 (2) after the expiration of 60 days after trans10 mitting to the Committee on Science and the Com11 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Representa12 tives, and to the Committee on Environment and

13 Public Works and the Committee on Appropriations

14 of the Senate, a report described in subsection (b), up

15 to 25 percent of the total funding for a fiscal year of

16 an environmental research or development or sci17 entific research, development, or demonstration pro18 gram, project or activity of the Office of Research and

19 Development or the Science Advisory Board.

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

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

22 of the action proposed to be taken and the facts and cir23 cumstances relied upon in support of such proposed action.

24 (2) In the computation of the 60-day period under sub25 section (a)(2), there shall be excluded any day on which
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1 either House of Congress is not in session because of an

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

3 (c) LIMITATIONS.—In no event may funds be used pur4 suant to subsection (a) for an environmental research or

5 development or scientific research, development, or dem6 onstration program, project or activity for which funding

7 has been requested to the Congress but which has not been

8 funded by the Congress.

9 (d) ANNUAL OPERATING PLAN.—The Administrator

10 shall provide simultaneously to the Committee on Science

11 and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep12 resentatives, and to the Committee on Environment and

13 Public Works and the Committee on Appropriations of the

14 Senate, any annual operating plan or other operational

15 funding document, including any additions or amendments

16 thereto, provided to any committee of Congress.

17 (e) COPY OF REPORTS.—In addition to the documents

18 required under subsection (d), the Administrator shall pro19 vide copies simultaneously to the Committee on Science and

20 the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep21 resentatives, and to the Committee on Environment and

22 Public Works and the Committee on Appropriations of the

23 Senate, of any report relating to the environmental research

24 or development or scientific research, development, or dem25 onstration programs, projects or activities of the Office of
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1 Research and Development or the Science Advisory Board

2 prepared at the direction of any committee of Congress.

3 (f) NOTICE OF REORGANIZATION.—The Administrator

4 shall provide notice to the Committee on Science and the

5 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representa6 tives, and to the Committee on Environment and Public

7 Works and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate,

8 not later than 15 days before any major reorganization of

9 any environmental research or development or scientific re10 search, development, or demonstration program, project or

11 activity of the Office of Research and Development or the

12 Science Advisory Board.

13 SEC. 8. BUDGET REQUEST FORMAT.

14 The Administrator shall provide to the Congress, to be

15 transmitted at the same time as the Agency’s annual budget

16 request submission, a detailed justification for budget au17 thorization for the programs, projects and activities for

18 which funds are authorized by this Act. Each such docu19 ment shall include, for the fiscal year for which funding

20 is being requested and for the 2 previous fiscal years—

21 (1) a description of, and funding requested or al22 located for, each such program, project and activity;

23 (2) an identification of all recipients of funds to

24 conduct such programs, projects and activities; and
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1 (3) an estimate of the amounts to be expended by

2 each recipient of funds identified under paragraph

3 (2).

4 The document required by this section shall be presented

5 in the format employed by, and with the level of detail in6 cluded in, the document entitled ‘‘Department of Energy FY

7 2000 Congressional Budget Request, DOE/CR–0062, Vol8 ume 3’’, dated February 1999.

9 SEC. 9. LIMITS ON USE OF FUNDS.

10 (a) TRAVEL.—Not more than 1 percent of the funds

11 authorized by this Act may be used either directly or indi12 rectly to fund travel costs of the Agency or travel costs for

13 persons awarded contracts or subcontracts by the Agency.

14 As part of the Agency’s annual budget request submission

15 to the Congress, the Administrator shall submit a report

16 to the Committee on Science and the Committee on Appro17 priations of the House of Representatives, and to the Com18 mittee on Environment and Public Works and the Com19 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate, that identifies—

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

21 Agency and for persons awarded contracts or sub22 contracts by the Agency for the fiscal year of such

23 budget submission, as well as for the 2 previous fiscal

24 years;

25 (2) the major purposes for such travel; and
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1 (3) the sources of funds for such travel.

2 (b) TRADE ASSOCIATIONS.—No funds authorized by

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

4 a grant, contract, subcontract, or any other form of finan5 cial assistance awarded by the Agency to a trade associa6 tion on a noncompetitive basis. As part of the Agency’s an7 nual budget request submission to the Congress, the Admin8 istrator shall submit a report to the Committee on Science

9 and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep10 resentatives, and to the Committee on Environment and

11 Public Works and the Committee on Appropriations of the

12 Senate, that identifies—

13 (1) the estimated amount of funds provided by

14 the Agency to trade associations, by trade association,

15 for the fiscal year of such budget submission, as well

16 as for the 2 previous fiscal years;

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

18 by each such trade association; and

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

20 each such trade association.

21 (c) KYOTO PROTOCOL.—None of the funds authorized

22 by this Act may be used to propose or issue rules, regula23 tions, decrees, or orders for the purpose of implementation,

24 or in preparation for implementation, of the Kyoto Protocol

25 which was adopted on December 11, 1997, in Kyoto, Japan,
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1 at the Third Conference of the Parties to the United Nations

2 Framework Convention on Climate Change, which has not

3 been submitted to the Senate for advice and consent to rati4 fication pursuant to article II, section 2, clause 2 of the

5 United States Constitution, and which has not entered into

6 force pursuant to article 25 of the Protocol.

7 (d) ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND

8 DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.—Of the amounts authorized

9 under section 3(a), $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 shall be

10 for a field-scale environmental research and development

11 project at an existing site for remediation of soils contami12 nated by recalcitrant hydrocarbon and lead contaminants

13 using technologies and processes capable of homogenizing

14 soil while injecting both oxidizers and catalysts to the degree

15 necessary for chemical oxidation to occur and that renders

16 lead contaminants essentially inert.

17 SEC. 10. LIMITATION ON DEMONSTRATIONS.

18 The Agency shall provide funding for scientific dem19 onstration projects of the Office of Research and Develop20 ment or the Science Advisory Board only for technologies

21 or processes that can be reasonably expected to yield new,

22 measurable benefits to the cost, efficiency, or performance

23 of the technology or process.
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1 SEC. 11. FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION.

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

3 be appropriated by this Act may be used to award, amend,

4 or modify a contract of the Office of Research and Develop5 ment or the Science Advisory Board in a manner that devi6 ates from the Federal Acquisition Regulation, unless the Ad7 ministrator grants, on a case-by-case basis, a waiver to

8 allow for such a deviation. The Administrator may not dele9 gate the authority to grant such a waiver.

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

11 a contract award, amendment, or modification for which

12 the Administrator intends to grant such a waiver, the Ad13 ministrator shall submit to the Committee on Science and

14 the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep15 resentatives, and to the Committee on Environment and

16 Public Works and the Committee on Appropriations of the

17 Senate, a report notifying the committees of the waiver and

18 setting forth the reasons for the waiver.

19 SEC. 12. REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS.

20 None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this

21 Act may be used by the Agency to prepare or initiate Re22 quests for Proposals (RFPs) for a program, project or activ23 ity if the program, project or activity has not been specifi24 cally authorized by Congress.
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1 SEC. 13. PRODUCTION OR PROVISION OF ARTICLES OR

2 SERVICES.

3 None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this

4 Act may be used by any program, project or activity of

5 the Office of Research and Development or the Science Advi6 sory Board to produce or provide articles or services for

7 the purpose of selling the articles or services to a person

8 outside the Federal Government, unless the Administrator

9 determines that comparable articles or services are not

10 available from a commercial source in the United States.

11 SEC. 14. ELIGIBILITY FOR AWARDS.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall exclude

13 from consideration for grant agreements made after fiscal

14 year 1999 by the Office of Research and Development or

15 the Science Advisory Board, under the programs, projects

16 and activities for which funds are authorized under this

17 Act, any person who received funds, other than those de18 scribed in subsection (b), appropriated for a fiscal year

19 after fiscal year 1999, under a grant agreement from any

20 Federal funding source for a project that was not subjected

21 to a competitive, merit-based award process, except as spe22 cifically authorized by this Act. Any exclusion from consid23 eration pursuant to this section shall be effective for a pe24 riod of 5 years after the person receives such Federal funds.

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

26 receipt of Federal funds by a person due to the membership
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1 of that person in a class specified by law for which assist2 ance is awarded to members of the class according to a for3 mula provided by law or under circumstances permitting

4 other than full and open competition under the Federal Ac5 quisition Regulation.

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

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

8 principal purpose is to transfer a thing of value to the re9 cipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimula10 tion authorized by a law of the United States, and does

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

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

13 United States Government. Such term does not include a

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

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

16 and development agreement (as such term is defined in sec17 tion 12(d)(1) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innova18 tion Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a(d)(1))).

19 SEC. 15. INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.

20 The Administrator shall make available through the

21 Internet home page of the Environmental Protection Agency

22 the abstracts relating to all research grants and awards

23 made with funds authorized by this Act. Nothing in this

24 section shall be construed to require or permit the release
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1 of any information prohibited by law or regulation from

2 being released to the public.

Amend the title to read as follows: ‘‘A bill to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2000 and 2001 for the

environmental research and development and scientific

research, development, and demonstration programs of

the Office of Research and Development and Science Advisory Board of the Environmental Protection Agency,

and for other purposes.’’.