I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5839 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require the establishment of 

a small business voucher program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 16, 2018 

Mr. BEN RAY LUJA ́N of New Mexico (for himself, Mr. FLEISCHMANN, Mr. 

HULTGREN, and Mr. LIPINSKI) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require the 

establishment of a small business voucher program, 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 ‘‘Promoting Small Busi5 ness Innovation through Partnerships with National Labs 

6 Act of 2018’’. 

7 SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCACY AND ASSISTANCE. 

8 Section 1003 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

9 U.S.C. 16393) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

3 by striking ‘‘, and may require the Director of 

4 a single-purpose research facility,’’ and insert5 ing ‘‘(as defined in section 2) and the Director 

6 of each single-purpose research facility’’; 

7 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘increase’’ and insert9 ing ‘‘encourage’’; and 

10 (ii) by striking ‘‘collaborative re11 search,’’ and inserting ‘‘research, develop12 ment, demonstration, and commercial ap13 plication activities, including product devel14 opment,’’; 

15 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘procure16 ment and collaborative research’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘the activities described in paragraph (1)’’; 

18 (D) in paragraph (3)— 

19 (i) by inserting ‘‘facilities,’’ before 

20 ‘‘training’’; and 

21 (ii) by striking ‘‘procurement and col22 laborative research activities’’ and insert23 ing ‘‘the activities described in paragraph 

24 (1)’’; and 


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1 (E) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘for the 

2 program under subsection (b)’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘and metrics for the programs under sub4 sections (b) and (c)’’; 

5 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 

6 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; 

7 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(c) SMALL BUSINESS VOUCHER PROGRAM.— 

10 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

11 ‘‘(A) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ 

12 means— 

13 ‘‘(i) the Director of each National 

14 Laboratory; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the Director of each single-pur16 pose research facility. 

17 ‘‘(B) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term 

18 ‘National Laboratory’ has the meaning given 

19 the term in section 2. 

20 ‘‘(C) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ 

21 means the program established under para22 graph (2). 

23 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, work24 ing with the Office of Technology Transitions and 

25 the Technology Transfer Coordinator appointed 


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1 under section 1001(a), and in consultation with the 

2 Directors, shall establish a program to provide small 

3 business concerns with vouchers under paragraph 

4 (3)— 

5 ‘‘(A) to achieve the goal described in sub6 section (a)(1); and 

7 ‘‘(B) to improve the products, services, and 

8 capabilities of small business concerns in the 

9 mission space of the Department. 

10 ‘‘(3) VOUCHERS.—Under the program, the Di11 rectors are authorized to provide to small business 

12 concerns vouchers to be used at National Labora13 tories and single-purpose research facilities for— 

14 ‘‘(A) research, development, demonstra15 tion, technology transfer, or commercial appli16 cation activities; or 

17 ‘‘(B) any other activities that the applica18 ble Director determines appropriate. 

19 ‘‘(4) EXPEDITED CONTRACTING.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, work21 ing with the Directors, shall establish a stream22 lined approval process for expedited contracting 

23 between— 


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1 ‘‘(i) small business concerns selected 

2 to receive a voucher under the program; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) the National Laboratories and 

5 single-purpose research facilities. 

6 ‘‘(B) DECISIONMAKING AUTHORITY.—The 

7 Secretary shall determine the appropriate deci8 sionmaking authority at the National Labora9 tories and single-purpose research facilities with 

10 respect to the expedited contracting described 

11 in subparagraph (A). 

12 ‘‘(5) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.—In car13 rying out the program, the Secretary shall require 

14 cost-sharing in accordance with section 988.’’; and 

15 (4) in subsection (e) (as so redesignated), by 

16 striking ‘‘$5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 

17 through 2008’’ and inserting ‘‘$25,000,000 for fiscal 

18 year 2018 and each fiscal year thereafter’’. 

Æ 


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