II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3269 

To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish an award program to 

honor achievements in nanotechnology, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 16, 2008 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Ms. SNOWE) introduced the following bill; which 

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

Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish an award 

program to honor achievements in nanotechnology, 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 ‘‘Nanotechnology Inno5 vation and Prize Competition Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NANOTECHNOLOGY AWARD PROGRAM. 

7 (a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—The Secretary of 

8 Commerce shall establish a program to award prizes to 

9 eligible persons described in subsection (b) for achieveVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:31 Jul 17, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3269.IS S3269

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1 ment in 1 or more of the following applications of 

2 nanotechnology: 

3 (1) Improvement of the environment, consistent 

4 with the Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry of 

5 the Environmental Protection Agency. 

6 (2) Development of alternative energy that has 

7 the potential to lessen the dependence of the United 

8 States on fossil fuels. 

9 (3) Improvement of human health, consistent 

10 with regulations promulgated by the Food and Drug 

11 Administration of the Department of Health and 

12 Human Services. 

13 (4) Development of consumer products. 

14 (b) ELIGIBLE PERSON.—An eligible person described 

15 in this subsection is— 

16 (1) an individual who is— 

17 (A) a citizen or legal resident of the 

18 United States; or 

19 (B) a member of a group that includes 

20 citizens or legal residents of the United States; 

21 or 

22 (2) an entity that is incorporated and maintains 

23 its primary place of business in the United States. 

24 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF BOARD.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce 

2 shall establish a board to administer the program es3 tablished under subsection (a). 

4 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The board shall be com5 posed of not less than 15 and not more than 21 

6 members appointed by the President, of whom— 

7 (A) not less than 1 shall— 

8 (i) be a representative of the interests 

9 of academic, business, and nonprofit orga10 nizations; and 

11 (ii) have expertise in— 

12 (I) the field of nanotechnology; or 

13 (II) administering award com14 petitions; and 

15 (B) not less than 1 shall be from each of— 

16 (i) the Department of Energy; 

17 (ii) the Environmental Protection 

18 Agency; 

19 (iii) the Food and Drug Administra20 tion of the Department of Health and 

21 Human Services; 

22 (iv) the National Institutes of Health 

23 of the Department of Health and Human 

24 Services; 


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1 (v) the National Institute for Occupa2 tional Safety and Health of the Depart3 ment of Health and Human Services; 

4 (vi) the National Institute of Stand5 ards and Technology of the Department of 

6 Commerce; and 

7 (vii) the National Science Foundation. 

8 (d) AWARDS.—The board established under sub9 section (c) shall make awards under the program estab10 lished under subsection (a) as follows: 

11 (1) FINANCIAL PRIZE.—The board may hold a 

12 financial award competition and award a financial 

13 award in an amount determined before the com14 mencement of the competition to the first competitor 

15 to meet such criteria as the board shall establish. 

16 (2) RECOGNITION PRIZE.—The board may rec17 ognize an eligible person for superlative achievement 

18 in 1 or more nanotechnology applications described 

19 in subsection (a). The award shall not include any 

20 financial remuneration. 

21 (e) ADMINISTRATION.— 

22 (1) CONTRACTING.—The board established 

23 under subsection (c) may contract with a private or24 ganization to administer a financial award competi25 tion described in subsection (d)(1). 


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1 (2) SOLICITATION OF FUNDS.—A member of 

2 the board or any administering organization with 

3 which the board has a contract under paragraph (1) 

4 may solicit funds from a private person to be used 

5 for a financial award under subsection (d)(1). 

6 (3) LIMITATION ON PARTICIPATION OF DO7 NORS.—The board may allow a donor who is a pri8 vate person described in paragraph (2) to participate 

9 in the determination of criteria for an award under 

10 subsection (d), but such donor may not solely deter11 mine the criteria for such award. 

12 (4) NO ADVANTAGE FOR DONATION.—A donor 

13 who is a private person described in paragraph (2) 

14 shall not be entitled to any special consideration or 

15 advantage with respect to participation in a financial 

16 award competition under subsection (d)(1). 

17 (f) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.—The Federal Gov18 ernment may not acquire an intellectual property right in 

19 any product or idea by virtue of the submission of such 

20 product or idea in any competition under subsection 

21 (d)(1). 

22 (g) LIABILITY.—The board established under sub23 section (c) may require a competitor in a financial award 

24 competition under subsection (d)(1) to waive liability 


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1 against the Federal Government for injuries and damages 

2 that result from participation in such competition. 

3 (h) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each year, the board estab4 lished under subsection (c) shall submit to Congress a re5 port on the program established under subsection (a). 

6 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 are authorized to be appropriated sums for the program 

8 established under subsection (a) as follows: 

9 (1) For administration of prize competitions 

10 under subsection (d), $750,000 for each fiscal year. 

11 (2) For the awarding of a financial prize award 

12 under subsection (d)(1), in addition to any amounts 

13 received under subsection (e)(2), $2,000,000 for 

14 each fiscal year. 

Æ 


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