IIB 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 554 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2009 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

To authorize activities for support of nanotechnology 

research and development, 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 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Nanotechnol3 ogy Initiative Amendments Act of 2009’’. 

4 SEC. 2. NATIONAL NANOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAM AMEND5 MENTS. 

6 The 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and De7 velopment Act (15 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking section 2(c)(4) and inserting the 

9 following new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(4) develop, within 12 months after the date 

11 of enactment of the National Nanotechnology Initia12 tive Amendments Act of 2009, and update every 3 

13 years thereafter, a strategic plan to guide the activi14 ties described under subsection (b) that specifies 

15 near-term and long-term objectives for the Program, 

16 the anticipated time frame for achieving the near17 term objectives, and the metrics to be used for as18 sessing progress toward the objectives, and that de19 scribes— 

20 ‘‘(A) how the Program will move results 

21 out of the laboratory and into applications for 

22 the benefit of society, including through co23 operation and collaborations with nanotechnol24 ogy research, development, and technology tran25 sition initiatives supported by the States; 


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1 ‘‘(B) how the Program will encourage and 

2 support interdisciplinary research and develop3 ment in nanotechnology; and 

4 ‘‘(C) proposed research in areas of national 

5 importance in accordance with the requirements 

6 of section 5 of the National Nanotechnology 

7 Initiative Amendments Act of 2009;’’; 

8 (2) in section 2— 

9 (A) in subsection (d)— 

10 (i) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

11 through (5) as paragraphs (2) through (6), 

12 respectively; and 

13 (ii) by inserting the following new 

14 paragraph before paragraph (2), as so re15 designated by clause (i) of this subpara16 graph: 

17 ‘‘(1) the Program budget, for the previous fiscal 

18 year, for each agency that participates in the Pro19 gram, including a breakout of spending for the de20 velopment and acquisition of research facilities and 

21 instrumentation, for each program component area, 

22 and for all activities pursuant to subsection 

23 (b)(10);’’; and 

24 (B) by inserting at the end the following 

25 new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(e) STANDARDS SETTING.—The agencies partici2 pating in the Program shall support the activities of com3 mittees involved in the development of standards for nano4 technology and may reimburse the travel costs of scientists 

5 and engineers who participate in activities of such commit6 tees.’’; 

7 (3) by striking section 3(b) and inserting the 

8 following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(b) FUNDING.—(1) The operation of the National 

10 Nanotechnology Coordination Office shall be supported by 

11 funds from each agency participating in the Program. The 

12 portion of such Office’s total budget provided by each 

13 agency for each fiscal year shall be in the same proportion 

14 as the agency’s share of the total budget for the Program 

15 for the previous fiscal year, as specified in the report re16 quired under section 2(d)(1). 

17 ‘‘(2) The annual report under section 2(d) shall in18 clude— 

19 ‘‘(A) a description of the funding required by 

20 the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office to 

21 perform the functions specified under subsection (a) 

22 for the next fiscal year by category of activity, in23 cluding the funding required to carry out the re24 quirements of section 2(b)(10)(D), subsection (d) of 

25 this section, and section 5; 


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1 ‘‘(B) a description of the funding required by 

2 such Office to perform the functions specified under 

3 subsection (a) for the current fiscal year by category 

4 of activity, including the funding required to carry 

5 out the requirements of subsection (d); and 

6 ‘‘(C) the amount of funding provided for such 

7 Office for the current fiscal year by each agency par8 ticipating in the Program.’’; 

9 (4) by inserting at the end of section 3 the fol10 lowing new subsection: 

11 ‘‘(d) PUBLIC INFORMATION.—(1) The National 

12 Nanotechnology Coordination Office shall develop and 

13 maintain a database accessible by the public of projects 

14 funded under the Environmental, Health, and Safety, the 

15 Education and Societal Dimensions, and the Nanomanu16 facturing program component areas, or any successor pro17 gram component areas, including a description of each 

18 project, its source of funding by agency, and its funding 

19 history. For the Environmental, Health, and Safety pro20 gram component area, or any successor program compo21 nent area, projects shall be grouped by major objective as 

22 defined by the research plan required under section 3(b) 

23 of the National Nanotechnology Initiative Amendments 

24 Act of 2009. For the Education and Societal Dimensions 

25 program component area, or any successor program comVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:35 Feb 13, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H554.RFS H554

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1 ponent area, the projects shall be grouped in subcategories 

2 of— 

3 ‘‘(A) education in formal settings; 

4 ‘‘(B) education in informal settings; 

5 ‘‘(C) public outreach; and 

6 ‘‘(D) ethical, legal, and other societal issues. 

7 ‘‘(2) The National Nanotechnology Coordination Of8 fice shall develop, maintain, and publicize information on 

9 nanotechnology facilities supported under the Program, 

10 and may include information on nanotechnology facilities 

11 supported by the States, that are accessible for use by in12 dividuals from academic institutions and from industry. 

13 The information shall include at a minimum the terms and 

14 conditions for the use of each facility, a description of the 

15 capabilities of the instruments and equipment available for 

16 use at the facility, and a description of the technical sup17 port available to assist users of the facility.’’; 

18 (5) in section 4(a)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘or designate’’; 

20 (B) by inserting ‘‘as a distinct entity’’ 

21 after ‘‘Advisory Panel’’; and 

22 (C) by inserting at the end ‘‘The Advisory 

23 Panel shall form a subpanel with membership 

24 having specific qualifications tailored to enable 


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1 it to carry out the requirements of subsection 

2 (c)(7).’’; 

3 (6) in section 4(b)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘or designated’’ and ‘‘or 

5 designating’’; and 

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

7 ‘‘At least one member of the Advisory Panel 

8 shall be an individual employed by and rep9 resenting a minority-serving institution.’’; 

10 (7) by amending section 5 to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 5. TRIENNIAL EXTERNAL REVIEW OF THE NATIONAL 

12 NANOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAM. 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 

14 Nanotechnology Coordination Office shall enter into an ar15 rangement with the National Research Council of the Na16 tional Academy of Sciences to conduct a triennial review 

17 of the Program. The Director shall ensure that the ar18 rangement with the National Research Council is con19 cluded in order to allow sufficient time for the reporting 

20 requirements of subsection (b) to be satisfied. Each tri21 ennial review shall include an evaluation of the— 

22 ‘‘(1) research priorities and technical content of 

23 the Program, including whether the allocation of 

24 funding among program component areas, as des25 ignated according to section 2(c)(2), is appropriate; 


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1 ‘‘(2) effectiveness of the Program’s manage2 ment and coordination across agencies and dis3 ciplines, including an assessment of the effectiveness 

4 of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office; 

5 ‘‘(3) Program’s scientific and technological ac6 complishments and its success in transferring tech7 nology to the private sector; and 

8 ‘‘(4) adequacy of the Program’s activities ad9 dressing ethical, legal, environmental, and other ap10 propriate societal concerns, including human health 

11 concerns. 

12 ‘‘(b) EVALUATION TO BE TRANSMITTED TO CON13 GRESS.—The National Research Council shall document 

14 the results of each triennial review carried out in accord15 ance with subsection (a) in a report that includes any rec16 ommendations for ways to improve the Program’s man17 agement and coordination processes and for changes to 

18 the Program’s objectives, funding priorities, and technical 

19 content. Each report shall be submitted to the Director 

20 of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office, who 

21 shall transmit it to the Advisory Panel, the Committee on 

22 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, 

23 and the Committee on Science and Technology of the 

24 House of Representatives not later than September 30 of 


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1 every third year, with the first report due September 30, 

2 2010. 

3 ‘‘(c) FUNDING.—Of the amounts provided in accord4 ance with section 3(b)(1), the following amounts shall be 

5 available to carry out this section: 

6 ‘‘(1) $500,000 for fiscal year 2010. 

7 ‘‘(2) $500,000 for fiscal year 2011. 

8 ‘‘(3) $500,000 for fiscal year 2012.’’; and 

9 (8) in section 10— 

10 (A) by amending paragraph (2) to read as 

11 follows: 

12 ‘‘(2) NANOTECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘nanotech13 nology’ means the science and technology that will 

14 enable one to understand, measure, manipulate, and 

15 manufacture at the nanoscale, aimed at creating ma16 terials, devices, and systems with fundamentally new 

17 properties or functions.’’; and 

18 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

19 paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(7) NANOSCALE.—The term ‘nanoscale’ means 

21 one or more dimensions of between approximately 1 

22 and 100 nanometers.’’. 

23 SEC. 3. SOCIETAL DIMENSIONS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY. 

24 (a) COORDINATOR FOR SOCIETAL DIMENSIONS OF

25 NANOTECHNOLOGY.—The Director of the Office of 


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1 Science and Technology Policy shall designate an associate 

2 director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy 

3 as the Coordinator for Societal Dimensions of Nanotech4 nology. The Coordinator shall be responsible for oversight 

5 of the coordination, planning, and budget prioritization of 

6 activities required by section 2(b)(10) of the 21st Century 

7 Nanotechnology Research and Development Act (15 

8 U.S.C. 7501(b)(10)). The Coordinator shall, with the as9 sistance of appropriate senior officials of the agencies 

10 funding activities within the Environmental, Health, and 

11 Safety and the Education and Societal Dimensions pro12 gram component areas of the Program, or any successor 

13 program component areas, ensure that the requirements 

14 of such section 2(b)(10) are satisfied. The responsibilities 

15 of the Coordinator shall include— 

16 (1) ensuring that a research plan for the envi17 ronmental, health, and safety research activities re18 quired under subsection (b) is developed, updated, 

19 and implemented and that the plan is responsive to 

20 the recommendations of the subpanel of the Advi21 sory Panel established under section 4(a) of the 21st 

22 Century Nanotechnology Research and Development 

23 Act (15 U.S.C. 7503(a)), as amended by this Act; 

24 (2) encouraging and monitoring the efforts of 

25 the agencies participating in the Program to allocate 


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1 the level of resources and management attention 

2 necessary to ensure that the ethical, legal, environ3 mental, and other appropriate societal concerns re4 lated to nanotechnology, including human health 

5 concerns, are addressed under the Program, includ6 ing the implementation of the research plan de7 scribed in subsection (b); and 

8 (3) encouraging the agencies required to de9 velop the research plan under subsection (b) to iden10 tify, assess, and implement suitable mechanisms for 

11 the establishment of public-private partnerships for 

12 support of environmental, health, and safety re13 search. 

14 (b) RESEARCH PLAN.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Coordinator for Societal 

16 Dimensions of Nanotechnology shall convene and 

17 chair a panel comprised of representatives from the 

18 agencies funding research activities under the Envi19 ronmental, Health, and Safety program component 

20 area of the Program, or any successor program com21 ponent area, and from such other agencies as the 

22 Coordinator considers necessary to develop, periodi23 cally update, and coordinate the implementation of 

24 a research plan for this program component area. In 

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1 vened by the Coordinator shall solicit and be respon2 sive to recommendations and advice from— 

3 (A) the subpanel of the Advisory Panel es4 tablished under section 4(a) of the 21st Cen5 tury Nanotechnology Research and Develop6 ment Act (15 U.S.C. 7503(a)), as amended by 

7 this Act; and 

8 (B) the agencies responsible for environ9 mental, health, and safety regulations associ10 ated with the production, use, and disposal of 

11 nanoscale materials and products. 

12 (2) DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS.—The plan 

13 required under paragraph (1) shall include a de14 scription of how the Program will help to ensure the 

15 development of— 

16 (A) standards related to nomenclature as17 sociated with engineered nanoscale materials; 

18 (B) engineered nanoscale standard ref19 erence materials for environmental, health, and 

20 safety testing; and 

21 (C) standards related to methods and pro22 cedures for detecting, measuring, monitoring, 

23 sampling, and testing engineered nanoscale ma24 terials for environmental, health, and safety im25 pacts. 


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1 (3) COMPONENTS OF PLAN.—The plan required 

2 under paragraph (1) shall, with respect to activities 

3 described in paragraphs (1) and (2)— 

4 (A) specify near-term research objectives 

5 and long-term research objectives; 

6 (B) specify milestones associated with each 

7 near-term objective and the estimated time and 

8 resources required to reach each milestone; 

9 (C) with respect to subparagraphs (A) and 

10 (B), describe the role of each agency carrying 

11 out or sponsoring research in order to meet the 

12 objectives specified under subparagraph (A) and 

13 to achieve the milestones specified under sub14 paragraph (B); 

15 (D) specify the funding allocated to each 

16 major objective of the plan and the source of 

17 funding by agency for the current fiscal year; 

18 and 

19 (E) estimate the funding required for each 

20 major objective of the plan and the source of 

21 funding by agency for the following 3 fiscal 

22 years. 

23 (4) TRANSMITTAL TO CONGRESS.—The plan re24 quired under paragraph (1) shall be submitted not 

25 later than 60 days after the date of enactment of 


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1 this Act to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

2 and Transportation of the Senate and the Com3 mittee on Science and Technology of the House of 

4 Representatives. 

5 (5) UPDATING AND APPENDING TO REPORT.— 

6 The plan required under paragraph (1) shall be up7 dated annually and appended to the report required 

8 under section 2(d) of the 21st Century Nanotechnol9 ogy Research and Development Act (15 U.S.C. 

10 7501(d)). 

11 (c) NANOTECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIPS.— 

12 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—As part of the program 

13 authorized by section 9 of the National Science 

14 Foundation Authorization Act of 2002, the Director 

15 of the National Science Foundation shall provide 1 

16 or more grants to establish partnerships as defined 

17 by subsection (a)(2) of that section, except that each 

18 such partnership shall include 1 or more businesses 

19 engaged in the production of nanoscale materials, 

20 products, or devices. Partnerships established in ac21 cordance with this subsection shall be designated as 

22 ‘‘Nanotechnology Education Partnerships’’. 

23 (2) PURPOSE.—Nanotechnology Education 

24 Partnerships shall be designed to recruit and help 

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1 ondary level courses of instruction in nanotechnol2 ogy. At a minimum, grants shall be used to sup3 port— 

4 (A) professional development activities to 

5 enable secondary school teachers to use cur6 ricular materials incorporating nanotechnology 

7 and to inform teachers about career possibilities 

8 for students in nanotechnology; 

9 (B) enrichment programs for students, in10 cluding access to nanotechnology facilities and 

11 equipment at partner institutions, to increase 

12 their understanding of nanoscale science and 

13 technology and to inform them about career 

14 possibilities in nanotechnology as scientists, en15 gineers, and technicians; and 

16 (C) identification of appropriate nanotech17 nology educational materials and incorporation 

18 of nanotechnology into the curriculum for sec19 ondary school students at one or more organiza20 tions participating in a Partnership. 

21 (3) SELECTION.—Grants under this subsection 

22 shall be awarded in accordance with subsection (b) 

23 of such section 9, except that paragraph (3)(B) of 

24 that subsection shall not apply. 

25 (d) UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION PROGRAMS.— 


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1 (1) ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED.—As part of the 

2 activities included under the Education and Societal 

3 Dimensions program component area, or any suc4 cessor program component area, the Program shall 

5 support efforts to introduce nanoscale science, engi6 neering, and technology into undergraduate science 

7 and engineering education through a variety of 

8 interdisciplinary approaches. Activities supported 

9 may include— 

10 (A) development of courses of instruction 

11 or modules to existing courses; 

12 (B) faculty professional development; and 

13 (C) acquisition of equipment and instru14 mentation suitable for undergraduate education 

15 and research in nanotechnology. 

16 (2) COURSE, CURRICULUM, AND LABORATORY

17 IMPROVEMENT AUTHORIZATION.—There are author18 ized to be appropriated to the Director of the Na19 tional Science Foundation to carry out activities de20 scribed in paragraph (1) through the Course, Cur21 riculum, and Laboratory Improvement program 

22 from amounts authorized under section 

23 7002(c)(2)(B) of the America COMPETES Act, 

24 $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2010. 


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1 (3) ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION AU2 THORIZATION.—There are authorized to be appro3 priated to the Director of the National Science 

4 Foundation to carry out activities described in para5 graph (1) through the Advanced Technology Edu6 cation program from amounts authorized under sec7 tion 7002(c)(2)(B) of the America COMPETES Act, 

8 $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2010. 

9 (e) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.—The National 

10 Science and Technology Council shall establish under the 

11 Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology Sub12 committee an Education Working Group to coordinate, 

13 prioritize, and plan the educational activities supported 

14 under the Program. 

15 (f) SOCIETAL DIMENSIONS IN NANOTECHNOLOGY

16 EDUCATION ACTIVITIES.—Activities supported under the 

17 Education and Societal Dimensions program component 

18 area, or any successor program component area, that in19 volve informal, precollege, or undergraduate nanotechnol20 ogy education shall include education regarding the envi21 ronmental, health and safety, and other societal aspects 

22 of nanotechnology. 

23 (g) REMOTE ACCESS TO NANOTECHNOLOGY FACILI24 TIES.—(1) Agencies supporting nanotechnology research 

25 facilities as part of the Program shall require the entities 


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1 that operate such facilities to allow access via the Internet, 

2 and support the costs associated with the provision of such 

3 access, by secondary school students and teachers, to in4 struments and equipment within such facilities for edu5 cational purposes. The agencies may waive this require6 ment for cases when particular facilities would be inappro7 priate for educational purposes or the costs for providing 

8 such access would be prohibitive. 

9 (2) The agencies identified in paragraph (1) shall re10 quire the entities that operate such nanotechnology re11 search facilities to establish and publish procedures, guide12 lines, and conditions for the submission and approval of 

13 applications for the use of the facilities for the purpose 

14 identified in paragraph (1) and shall authorize personnel 

15 who operate the facilities to provide necessary technical 

16 support to students and teachers. 

17 SEC. 4. TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER. 

18 (a) PROTOTYPING.— 

19 (1) ACCESS TO FACILITIES.—In accordance 

20 with section 2(b)(7) of 21st Century Nanotechnology 

21 Research and Development Act (15 U.S.C. 

22 7501(b)(7)), the agencies supporting nanotechnology 

23 research facilities as part of the Program shall pro24 vide access to such facilities to companies for the 

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1 ment of prototypes of nanoscale products, devices, or 

2 processes (or products, devices, or processes enabled 

3 by nanotechnology) for determining proof of concept. 

4 The agencies shall publicize the availability of these 

5 facilities and encourage their use by companies as 

6 provided for in this section. 

7 (2) PROCEDURES.—The agencies identified in 

8 paragraph (1)— 

9 (A) shall establish and publish procedures, 

10 guidelines, and conditions for the submission 

11 and approval of applications for use of nano12 technology facilities; 

13 (B) shall publish descriptions of the capa14 bilities of facilities available for use under this 

15 subsection, including the availability of tech16 nical support; and 

17 (C) may waive recovery, require full recov18 ery, or require partial recovery of the costs as19 sociated with use of the facilities for projects 

20 under this subsection. 

21 (3) SELECTION AND CRITERIA.—In cases when 

22 less than full cost recovery is required pursuant to 

23 paragraph (2)(C), projects provided access to nano24 technology facilities in accordance with this sub25 section shall be selected through a competitive, 


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1 merit-based process, and the criteria for the selec2 tion of such projects shall include at a minimum— 

3 (A) the readiness of the project for tech4 nology demonstration; 

5 (B) evidence of a commitment by the ap6 plicant for further development of the project to 

7 full commercialization if the proof of concept is 

8 established by the prototype; and 

9 (C) evidence of the potential for further 

10 funding from private sector sources following 

11 the successful demonstration of proof of con12 cept. 

13 The agencies may give special consideration in se14 lecting projects to applications that are relevant to 

15 important national needs or requirements. 

16 (b) USE OF EXISTING TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PRO17 GRAMS.— 

18 (1) PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.—Each agency 

19 participating in the Program shall— 

20 (A) encourage the submission of applica21 tions for support of nanotechnology related 

22 projects to the Small Business Innovation Re23 search Program and the Small Business Tech24 nology Transfer Program administered by such 

25 agencies; and 


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1 (B) through the National Nanotechnology 

2 Coordination Office and within 6 months after 

3 the date of enactment of this Act, submit to the 

4 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans5 portation of the Senate and the Committee on 

6 Science and Technology of the House of Rep7 resentatives— 

8 (i) the plan described in section 

9 2(c)(7) of the 21st Century Nanotechnol10 ogy Research and Development Act (15 

11 U.S.C. 7501(c)(7)); and 

12 (ii) a report specifying, if the agency 

13 administers a Small Business Innovation 

14 Research Program and a Small Business 

15 Technology Transfer Program— 

16 (I) the number of proposals re17 ceived for nanotechnology related 

18 projects during the current fiscal year 

19 and the previous 2 fiscal years; 

20 (II) the number of such pro21 posals funded in each year; 

22 (III) the total number of nano23 technology related projects funded and 

24 the amount of funding provided for 


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1 fiscal year 2004 through fiscal year 

2 2008; and 

3 (IV) a description of the projects 

4 identified in accordance with sub5 clause (III) which received private sec6 tor funding beyond the period of 

7 phase II support. 

8 (2) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND

9 TECHNOLOGY.—The Director of the National Insti10 tute of Standards and Technology in carrying out 

11 the requirements of section 28 of the National Insti12 tute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 

13 278n) shall— 

14 (A) in regard to subsection (d) of that sec15 tion, encourage the submission of proposals for 

16 support of nanotechnology related projects; and 

17 (B) in regard to subsection (g) of that sec18 tion, include a description of how the require19 ment of subparagraph (A) of this paragraph is 

20 being met, the number of proposals for nano21 technology related projects received, the number 

22 of such proposals funded, the total number of 

23 such projects funded since the beginning of the 

24 Technology Innovation Program, and the out25 comes of such funded projects in terms of the 


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1 metrics developed in accordance with such sub2 section (g). 

3 (3) TIP ADVISORY BOARD.—The TIP Advisory 

4 Board established under section 28(k) of the Na5 tional Institute of Standards and Technology Act 

6 (15 U.S.C. 278n(k)), in carrying out its responsibil7 ities under subsection (k)(3), shall provide the Di8 rector of the National Institute of Standards and 

9 Technology with— 

10 (A) advice on how to accomplish the re11 quirement of paragraph (2)(A) of this sub12 section; and 

13 (B) an assessment of the adequacy of the 

14 allocation of resources for nanotechnology re15 lated projects supported under the Technology 

16 Innovation Program. 

17 (c) INDUSTRY LIAISON GROUPS.—An objective of the 

18 Program shall be to establish industry liaison groups for 

19 all industry sectors that would benefit from applications 

20 of nanotechnology. The Nanomanufacturing, Industry Li21 aison, and Innovation Working Group of the National 

22 Science and Technology Council shall actively pursue es23 tablishing such liaison groups. 

24 (d) COORDINATION WITH STATE INITIATIVES.—Sec25 tion 2(b)(5) of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research 


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1 and Development Act (15 U.S.C. 7501(b)(5)) is amended 

2 to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(5) ensuring United States global leadership in 

4 the development and application of nanotechnology, 

5 including through coordination and leveraging Fed6 eral investments with nanotechnology research, de7 velopment, and technology transition initiatives sup8 ported by the States;’’. 

9 SEC. 5. RESEARCH IN AREAS OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Program shall include sup11 port for nanotechnology research and development activi12 ties directed toward application areas that have the poten13 tial for significant contributions to national economic com14 petitiveness and for other significant societal benefits. The 

15 activities supported shall be designed to advance the devel16 opment of research discoveries by demonstrating technical 

17 solutions to important problems in such areas as nano18 electronics, energy efficiency, health care, and water reme19 diation and purification. The Advisory Panel shall make 

20 recommendations to the Program for candidate research 

21 and development areas for support under this section. 

22 (b) CHARACTERISTICS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Research and development 

24 activities under this section shall— 


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1 (A) include projects selected on the basis 

2 of applications for support through a competi3 tive, merit-based process; 

4 (B) involve collaborations among research5 ers in academic institutions and industry, and 

6 may involve nonprofit research institutions and 

7 Federal laboratories, as appropriate; 

8 (C) when possible, leverage Federal invest9 ments through collaboration with related State 

10 initiatives; and 

11 (D) include a plan for fostering the trans12 fer of research discoveries and the results of 

13 technology demonstration activities to industry 

14 for commercial development. 

15 (2) PROCEDURES.—Determination of the re16 quirements for applications under this subsection, 

17 review and selection of applications for support, and 

18 subsequent funding of projects shall be carried out 

19 by a collaboration of no fewer than 2 agencies par20 ticipating in the Program. In selecting applications 

21 for support, the agencies shall give special consider22 ation to projects that include cost sharing from non23 Federal sources. 

24 (3) INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH CENTERS.— 

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1 tion may be supported through interdisciplinary 

2 nanotechnology research centers, as authorized by 

3 section 2(b)(4) of the 21st Century Nanotechnology 

4 Research and Development Act (15 U.S.C. 

5 7501(b)(4)), that are organized to investigate basic 

6 research questions and carry out technology dem7 onstration activities in areas such as those identified 

8 in subsection (a). 

9 (c) REPORT.—Reports required under section 2(d) of 

10 the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Develop11 ment Act (15 U.S.C. 7501(d)) shall include a description 

12 of research and development areas supported in accord13 ance with this section, including the same budget informa14 tion as is required for program component areas under 

15 paragraphs (1) and (2) of such section 2(d). 

16 SEC. 6. NANOMANUFACTURING RESEARCH. 

17 (a) RESEARCH AREAS.—The Nanomanufacturing 

18 program component area, or any successor program com19 ponent area, shall include research on— 

20 (1) development of instrumentation and tools 

21 required for the rapid characterization of nanoscale 

22 materials and for monitoring of nanoscale manufac23 turing processes; and 


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HR 554 RFS 

1 (2) approaches and techniques for scaling the 

2 synthesis of new nanoscale materials to achieve in3 dustrial-level production rates. 

4 (b) GREEN NANOTECHNOLOGY.—Interdiciplinary re5 search centers supported under the Program in accord6 ance with section 2(b)(4) of the 21st Century Nanotech7 nology Research and Development Act (15 U.S.C. 

8 7501(b)(4)) that are focused on nanomanufacturing re9 search and centers established under the authority of sec10 tion 5(b)(3) of this Act shall include as part of the activi11 ties of such centers— 

12 (1) research on methods and approaches to de13 velop environmentally benign nanoscale products and 

14 nanoscale manufacturing processes, taking into con15 sideration relevant findings and results of research 

16 supported under the Environmental, Health, and 

17 Safety program component area, or any successor 

18 program component area; 

19 (2) fostering the transfer of the results of such 

20 research to industry; and 

21 (3) providing for the education of scientists and 

22 engineers through interdisciplinary studies in the 

23 principles and techniques for the design and develop24 ment of environmentally benign nanoscale products 

25 and processes. 


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1 (c) REVIEW OF NANOMANUFACTURING RESEARCH

2 AND RESEARCH FACILITIES.— 

3 (1) PUBLIC MEETING.—Not later than 12 

4 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

5 National Nanotechnology Coordination Office shall 

6 sponsor a public meeting, including representation 

7 from a wide range of industries engaged in 

8 nanoscale manufacturing, to— 

9 (A) obtain the views of participants at the 

10 meeting on— 

11 (i) the relevance and value of the re12 search being carried out under the Nano13 manufacturing program component area of 

14 the Program, or any successor program 

15 component area; and 

16 (ii) whether the capabilities of nano17 technology research facilities supported 

18 under the Program are adequate— 

19 (I) to meet current and near20 term requirements for the fabrication 

21 and characterization of nanoscale de22 vices and systems; and 

23 (II) to provide access to and use 

24 of instrumentation and equipment at 

25 the facilities, by means of networking 


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1 technology, to individuals who are at 

2 locations remote from the facilities; 

3 and 

4 (B) receive any recommendations on ways 

5 to strengthen the research portfolio supported 

6 under the Nanomanufacturing program compo7 nent area, or any successor program component 

8 area, and on improving the capabilities of nano9 technology research facilities supported under 

10 the Program. 

11 Companies participating in industry liaison groups 

12 shall be invited to participate in the meeting. The 

13 Coordination Office shall prepare a report docu14 menting the findings and recommendations resulting 

15 from the meeting. 

16 (2) ADVISORY PANEL REVIEW.—The Advisory 

17 Panel shall review the Nanomanufacturing program 

18 component area of the Program, or any successor 

19 program component area, and the capabilities of 

20 nanotechnology research facilities supported under 

21 the Program to assess— 

22 (A) whether the funding for the Nano23 manufacturing program component area, or any 

24 successor program component area, is adequate 


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HR 554 RFS 

1 and receiving appropriate priority within the 

2 overall resources available for the Program; 

3 (B) the relevance of the research being 

4 supported to the identified needs and require5 ments of industry; 

6 (C) whether the capabilities of nanotech7 nology research facilities supported under the 

8 Program are adequate— 

9 (i) to meet current and near-term re10 quirements for the fabrication and charac11 terization of nanoscale devices and sys12 tems; and 

13 (ii) to provide access to and use of in14 strumentation and equipment at the facili15 ties, by means of networking technology, to 

16 individuals who are at locations remote 

17 from the facilities; and 

18 (D) the level of funding that would be 

19 needed to support— 

20 (i) the acquisition of instrumentation, 

21 equipment, and networking technology suf22 ficient to provide the capabilities at nano23 technology research facilities described in 

24 subparagraph (C); and 


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1 (ii) the operation and maintenance of 

2 such facilities. 

3 In carrying out its assessment, the Advisory Panel 

4 shall take into consideration the findings and rec5 ommendations from the report required under para6 graph (1). 

7 (3) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 

8 the date of enactment of this Act, the Advisory 

9 Panel shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 

10 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

11 Committee on Science and Technology of the House 

12 of Representatives a report on its assessment re13 quired under paragraph (2), along with any rec14 ommendations and a copy of the report prepared in 

15 accordance with paragraph (1). 

16 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act, terms that are defined in section 10 of 

18 the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Develop19 ment Act (15 U.S.C. 7509) have the meaning given those 

20 terms in that section. 

Passed the House of Representatives February 11, 

2009. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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