II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1756

To enhance the ability of the National Laboratories to meet Department

of Energy missions, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 20, 1999

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself and Mrs. MURRAY) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To enhance the ability of the National Laboratories to meet

Department of Energy missions, 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 ‘‘National Laboratories

5 Partnership Improvement Act of 1999.’’

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) The National Laboratories play a crucial

9 role in the Department of Energy’s ability to achieve
2

S 1756 IS

1 its missions in national security, science, energy, and

2 environment.

3 (2) The National Laboratories must be on the

4 leading edge of advances in science and technology

5 to help the Department to achieve its missions.

6 (3) The private sector is now performing a

7 much larger share of the Nation’s research and de8 velopment activities, and is on the leading edge of

9 many technologies that could be adapted to meet de10 partmental missions.

11 (4) To be able to help the Department to

12 achieve its missions in the most cost effective man13 ner, the National Laboratories must take advantage,

14 to the greatest extent practicable, of the scientific

15 and technological expertise that exists in the private

16 sector, as well as at leading universities, through

17 joint research and development projects, personnel

18 exchanges, and other arrangements.

19 (5) The Department needs to strengthen the re20 gional technology infrastructure of firms, research

21 and academic institutions, non-profit and govern22 mental organizations, and work force around its Na23 tional Laboratories to maintain the long-term vital24 ity of the laboratories and ensure their continued ac-
3

S 1756 IS

1 cess to the widest range of high quality research,

2 technology and personnel.

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

4 For purposes of this Act, except for sections 8 and

5 9—

6 (1) the term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart7 ment of Energy;

8 (2) the term ‘‘departmental mission’’ means

9 any of the functions vested in the Secretary of En10 ergy by the Department of Energy Organization Act

11 (42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) or other law;

12 (3) the term ‘‘institution of higher education’’

13 has the meaning given such term in section 1201(a)

14 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.

15 1141(a));

16 (4) the term ‘‘multiprogram National Labora17 tory’’ means any of the following institutions owned

18 by the Department of Energy—

19 (A) Argonne National Laboratory;

20 (B) Brookhaven National Laboratory;

21 (C) Idaho National Engineering and Envi22 ronmental Laboratory;

23 (D) Lawrence Berkeley National Labora24 tory;
4

S 1756 IS

1 (E) Lawrence Livermore National Labora2 tory;

3 (F) Los Alamos National Laboratory;

4 (G) Oak Ridge National Laboratory;

5 (H) Pacific Northwest National Labora6 tory;

7 (I) Sandia National Laboratory;

8 (5) the term ‘‘National Laboratory or facility’’

9 means any of the multiprogram National Labora10 tories or any of the following institutions owned by

11 the Department of Energy—

12 (A) Ames Laboratory;

13 (B) East Tennessee Technology Park;

14 (C) Environmental Measurement Labora15 tory;

16 (D) Federal Energy Technology Center;

17 (E) Fermi National Accelerator Labora18 tory;

19 (F) National Renewable Energy Labora20 tory;

21 (G) Nevada Test Site;

22 (H) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory;

23 (I) Savannah River Technology Center;

24 (J) Stanford Linear Accelerator Center;
5

S 1756 IS

1 (K) Thomas Jefferson National Accel2 erator Facility;

3 (L) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant; or

4 (M) other similar organization of the De5 partment designated by the Secretary that en6 gages in technology transfer activities;

7 (6) the term ‘‘nonprofit institution’’ has the

8 meaning given such term in section 4 of the Steven9 son-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15

10 U.S.C. 3703(5));

11 (7) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

12 of Energy;

13 (8) the term ‘‘small business concern’’ has the

14 meaning given such term in section 3 of the Small

15 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632);

16 (9) the term ‘‘technology-related business con17 cern’’ means a for-profit corporation, company, asso18 ciation, firm, partnership, or small business concern

19 that—

20 (A) conducts scientific or engineering re21 search,

22 (B) develops new technologies,

23 (C) manufactures products based on new

24 technologies, or

25 (D) performs technological services; and
6

S 1756 IS

1 (10) the term ‘‘technology cluster’’ means a ge2 ographic concentration of—

3 (A) technology-related business concerns;

4 (B) institutions of higher education; or

5 (C) other nonprofit institutions;

6 that reinforce each other’s performance through for7 mal or informal relationships.

8 SEC. 4. REGIONAL TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE PRO9 GRAM.

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish

11 a Regional Technology Infrastructure Program in accord12 ance with this section.

13 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program shall be

14 to improve the ability of National Laboratories or facilities

15 to support departmental missions by—

16 (1) stimulating the development of technology

17 clusters in the vicinity of National Laboratories or

18 facilities;

19 (2) improving the ability of National Labora20 tories or facilities to leverage commercial research,

21 technology, products, processes, and services; and

22 (3) encouraging the exchange of scientific and

23 technological expertise between National Labora24 tories or facilities and—

25 (A) institutions of higher education,
7

S 1756 IS

1 (B) technology-related business concerns,

2 (C) nonprofit institutions, and

3 (D) agencies of State, tribal, or local

4 governments—

5 that are located in the vicinity of a National Labora6 tory or facility.

7 (c) PROGRAM PHASES.—The Secretary shall conduct

8 the Regional Technology Infrastructure Program in two

9 phases as follows:

10 (1) PILOT PHASE.—No later than six months

11 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec12 retary shall provide $1,000,000 to each of the multi13 program National Laboratories to conduct Regional

14 Technology Infrastructure Program pilots.

15 (2) FULL IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than

16 eighteen months after the date of enactment of this

17 Act, the Secretary shall expand or alter the Regional

18 Technology Infrastructure Program to include

19 whichever National Laboratories or facilities the

20 Secretary determines to be appropriate based upon

21 the experience of the program to date and the extent

22 to which the pilot projects under paragraph (1) met

23 the requirements of subsections (e) and (f).

24 (d) PROJECTS.—The Secretary shall authorize the di25 rector of each National Laboratory or facility designated
8

S 1756 IS

1 under subsection (c) to implement the Regional Tech2 nology Infrastructure Program at such National Labora3 tory or facility through projects that meet the require4 ments of subsections (e) and (f).

5 (e) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—Each project funded

6 under this program shall meet the following requirements:

7 (1) MINIMUM PARTICIPANTS.—Each project

8 shall at a minimum include—

9 (A) a National Laboratory or facility;

10 (B) a business located within the vicinity

11 of the participating National Laboratory or fa12 cility; and

13 (C) one or more of the following entities

14 that is located within the vicinity of the partici15 pating National Laboratory or facility—

16 (i) an institution of higher education,

17 (ii) a nonprofit institution,

18 (iii) an agency of a State, local, or

19 tribal government, or

20 (iv) an additional business.

21 (2) COST SHARING.—

22 (A) MINIMUM AMOUNT.—Not less than 50

23 percent of the costs of each project funded

24 under this section shall be provided from non25 Federal sources.
9

S 1756 IS

1 (B) QUALIFIED FUNDING AND RE2 SOURCES.—

3 (i) The calculation of costs paid by

4 the non-Federal sources to a project shall

5 include cash, personnel, services, equip6 ment, and other resources expended on the

7 project.

8 (ii) Independent research and develop9 ment expenses of Government contractors

10 that qualify for reimbursement under sec11 tion 31–205–18(e) of the Federal Acquisi12 tion Regulations issued pursuant to section

13 25(c)(1) of the Office of Federal Procure14 ment Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 421(c)(1))

15 may be credited towards costs paid by non16 Federal sources to a project, if the ex17 penses meet the other requirements of this

18 section.

19 (iii) No funds or other resources ex20 pended either before the start of a project

21 under this program or outside the project’s

22 scope of work shall be credited toward the

23 costs paid by the non-Federal sources to

24 the project.
10

S 1756 IS

1 (3) COMPETITIVE SELECTION.—All projects

2 where a party other than the Department or a Na3 tional Laboratory or facility receives funding under

4 this program shall be competitively selected using

5 procedures determined to be appropriate by the Sec6 retary.

7 (4) ACCOUNTING STANDARDS.—Any partici8 pants receiving funding under this program, other

9 than a National Laboratory or facility, may use gen10 erally accepted accounting principles for maintaining

11 accounts, books, and records relating to the project.

12 (5) LIMITATIONS.—No Federal funds shall be

13 made available under this program for—

14 (A) construction; or

15 (B) any project for more than five years.

16 (f) CRITERIA.—

17 (1) MANDATORY CRITERIA.—The Secretary

18 shall not authorize the provision of Federal funds

19 for a project under this section unless there is a de20 termination by the Director of the National Labora21 tory or facility managing the project that the project

22 is likely—

23 (A) to succeed, based on its technical

24 merit, team members, management approach,

25 resources, and project plan; and
11

S 1756 IS

1 (B) to improve the participating National

2 Laboratory or facility’s ability to achieve tech3 nical success in meeting departmental missions,

4 promote the commercial development of techno5 logical innovations made at such Laboratory or

6 facility, and use commercial innovations to

7 achieve its missions.

8 (2) ADDITIONAL CRITERIA.—The Secretary

9 shall also require the consideration of the following

10 factors by the Director of the National Laboratory

11 or facility managing projects under this section in

12 providing Federal funds to projects under this

13 section—

14 (A) the potential of the project to promote

15 the development of a commercially sustainable

16 technology cluster, one that will derive most of

17 the demand for its products or services from

18 the private sector, in the vicinity of the partici19 pating National Laboratory or facility;

20 (B) the commitment shown by non-Federal

21 organizations to the project, based primarily on

22 the nature and amount of the financial and

23 other resources they will risk on the project;

24 (C) the extent to which the project involves

25 a wide variety and number of institutions of
12

S 1756 IS

1 higher education, nonprofit institutions, and

2 technology-related business concerns located in

3 the vicinity of the participating National Lab4 oratory or facility that will make substantive

5 contributions to achieving the goals of the

6 project;

7 (D) the extent of participation in the

8 project by agencies of State, tribal, or local gov9 ernments that will make substantive contribu10 tions to achieving the goals of the project;

11 (E) the extent to which the project focuses

12 on promoting the development of technology-re13 lated business concerns that are small business

14 concerns located in the vicinity of the National

15 Laboratory or facility or involves such small

16 business concerns substantively in the project.

17 (3) SAVINGS CLAUSE.—Nothing in this sub18 section shall limit the Secretary from requiring the

19 consideration of other factors, as appropriate, in de20 termining whether to fund projects under this sec21 tion.

22 SEC. 5. SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCACY AND ASSISTANCE.

23 (a) ADVOCACY FUNCTION.—The Secretary shall di24 rect the Director of each multiprogram National Labora25 tory, and may direct the Director of each other National
13

S 1756 IS

1 Laboratory or facility the Secretary determines to be ap2 propriate, to establish a small business advocacy function

3 that is organizationally independent of the procurement

4 function at the National Laboratory or facility. The mis5 sion of the small business advocacy function shall be to

6 increase the participation of small business concerns, par7 ticularly those small business concerns located near the

8 laboratory and small business concerns that are owned by

9 women or minorities, in procurements and collaborative

10 research conducted by the National Laboratory or facility.

11 The person or office vested with the small business advo12 cacy function shall—

13 (1) report to the Director of the National Lab14 oratory or facility on the actual participation of

15 small business concerns in procurements and col16 laborative research along with recommendations, if

17 appropriate, on how to improve participation;

18 (2) make available to small business concerns

19 training, mentoring, and clear, up-to-date informa20 tion on how to participate in the procurements and

21 collaborative research, including how to submit effec22 tive proposals;

23 (3) increase the awareness inside the National

24 Laboratory or facility of the capabilities and oppor25 tunities presented by small business concerns; and
14

S 1756 IS

1 (4) establish guidelines for the program under

2 subsection (b) and report on the effectiveness of

3 such program to the Director of the National Lab4 oratory or facility.

5 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS ASSIST6 ANCE PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall direct the Director

7 of each multiprogram National Laboratory, and may di8 rect the Director of each other National Laboratory or fa9 cility the Secretary determines to be appropriate, to estab10 lish a program to provide small business concerns—

11 (1) assistance directed at making them more ef12 fective and efficient subcontractors or suppliers to

13 the National Laboratory or facility; or

14 (2) general technical assistance to improve the

15 small business concern’s products or services.

16 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—None of the funds expended on

17 a program under subsection (b) may be used for direct

18 grants to the small business concerns.

19 SEC. 6. TECHNOLOGY PARTNERSHIPS OMBUDSMAN.

20 (a) APPOINTMENT OF OMBUDSMAN.—The Secretary

21 shall direct the Director of each multiprogram National

22 Laboratory, and may direct the Director of each other Na23 tional Laboratory or facility the Secretary determines to

24 be appropriate, to appoint a technology partnership om25 budsman to hear and help resolve complaints from outside
15

S 1756 IS

1 organizations regarding each laboratory’s policies and ac2 tions with respect to technology partnerships (including

3 cooperative research and development agreements), pat4 ents, and technology licensing. Each ombudsman shall—

5 (1) be a senior official of the National Labora6 tory or facility who is not involved in day-to-day

7 technology partnerships, patents, or technology li8 censing; and

9 (2) report to the Director of the National Lab10 oratory or facility.

11 (b) DUTIES.—Each ombudsman shall—

12 (1) serve as the focal point for assisting the

13 public and industry in resolving complaints and dis14 putes with the laboratory regarding technology part15 nerships, patents, and technology licensing;

16 (2) promote the use of collaborative alternative

17 dispute resolution techniques such as mediation to

18 facilitate the speedy and low-cost resolution of com19 plaints and disputes, when appropriate; and

20 (3) report, through the Director of the National

21 Laboratory or facility, to the Department annually

22 on the number and nature of complaints and dis23 putes raised, along with the ombudsman’s assess24 ment of their resolution, consistent with the protec25 tion of confidential and sensitive information.
16

S 1756 IS

1 SEC. 7. MOBILITY OF TECHNICAL PERSONNEL.

2 (a) GENERAL POLICY.—Not later than two years

3 after the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall ensure

4 that each contractor operating a National Laboratory or

5 facility has policies and procedures, including an employee

6 benefits program, that do not create disincentives to the

7 transfer of scientific and technical personnel among the

8 contractor-operated National Laboratory or facilities.

9 (b) EXTENSION.—The Secretary may delay imple10 mentation of the policy in subsection (a) if the Secretary—

11 (1) determines that the implementation of the

12 policy within two years would be unnecessarily ex13 pensive or disruptive to the operations of the con14 tractor-operated National Laboratory or facilities;

15 and

16 (2) recommends to Congress alternative meas17 ures to increase the mobility of technical personnel

18 among the contractor-operated National Laboratory

19 or facilities.

20 (c) STUDY OF WIDER MOBILITY.—Not later than

21 two years after the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

22 shall recommend to Congress legislation to reduce any

23 undue disincentives to scientific and technical personnel

24 employed by a contractor-operated National Laboratory or

25 facility taking a job with an institution of higher edu26 cation, nonprofit institution, or technology-related busi-
17

S 1756 IS

1 ness concern that is located in the vicinity of the National

2 Laboratory or facility.

3 SEC. 8. OTHER TRANSACTIONS AUTHORITY.

4 Section 646 of the Department of Energy Organiza5 tion Act (42 U.S.C. 7256) is amended by adding at the

6 end the following new subsection:

7 ‘‘(g)(1) In addition to other authorities granted to the

8 Secretary to enter into procurement contracts, leases, co9 operative agreements, grants, and other similar arrange10 ments, the Secretary may enter into other transactions

11 with public agencies, private organizations, or persons on

12 such terms as the Secretary may deem appropriate in fur13 therance of functions now or hereafter vested in the Sec14 retary, including research, development, or demonstration

15 projects. Such other transactions shall not be subject to

16 the provisions of section 9 of the Federal Nonnuclear En17 ergy Research and Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C.

18 5908).

19 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall not disclose any trade

20 secret or commercial or financial information submitted

21 by a non-Federal entity under paragraph (1) that is privi22 leged and confidential.

23 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall not disclose, for five years

24 after the date the information is received, any other infor25 mation submitted by a non-Federal entity under para-
18

S 1756 IS

1 graph (1), including any proposal, proposal abstract, docu2 ment supporting a proposal, business plan, or technical

3 information that is privileged and confidential.

4 ‘‘(C) The Secretary may protect from disclosure, for

5 up to five years, any information developed pursuant to

6 a transaction under paragraph (1) that would be protected

7 from disclosure under section 552(b)(4) of title 5, United

8 States Code, if obtained from a person other than a Fed9 eral agency.’’.

10 SEC. 9. AMENDMENTS TO THE STEVENSON-WYDLER ACT.

11 (a) STRATEGIC PLANS.—Section 12(a) of the Steven12 son-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C.

13 3710a(a)) is amended by inserting after ‘‘joint work state14 ment’’ the following: ‘‘or, if permitted by the agency, in

15 an agency-approved annual strategic plan.’’.

16 (b) FEDERAL WAIVERS.—Subsection 12(b) of the

17 Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15

18 U.S.C. 3710a(b)) is amended by adding at the end the

19 following:

20 ‘‘(6) The director of a government-operated lab21 oratory (in the case of a Government operated lab22 oratory) or a designated official of the agency (in

23 the case of a contractor-operated laboratory) may

24 waive any license retained by the Government under

25 paragraphs (1)(A), 2, or 3(D) in whole or in part
19

S 1756 IS

1 and according to negotiated terms and conditions if

2 the director or designated official, as appropriate,

3 finds that the requirement for the license would sub4 stantially inhibit the commercialization of an inven5 tion that would otherwise serve an important Fed6 eral mission.’’.

7 (c) TIME REQUIRED FOR APPROVAL.—Section

8 12(c)(5) of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation

9 Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a(c)(5)) is amended—

10 (1) by striking subparagraph (C);

11 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub12 paragraph (C);

13 (3) by striking ‘‘with a small business firm’’

14 and inserting ‘‘if’’ after ‘‘statement’’ in subpara15 graph (C)(i) (as redesignated); and

16 (4) by adding after subparagraph (C)(iii) (as

17 redesignated) the following:

18 ‘‘(iv) Any agency that has contracted

19 with a non-Federal entity to operate a lab20 oratory may develop and provide to such

21 laboratory one or more model cooperative

22 research and development agreements, for

23 the purposes of standardizing practices

24 and procedures, resolving common legal

25 issues, and enabling review of cooperative
20

S 1756 IS

1 research and development agreements to

2 be carried out in a routine and prompt

3 manner.

4 ‘‘(v) A federal agency may waive the

5 requirements of clause (i) or (ii) under

6 such circumstances as the agency deems

7 appropriate. However, the agency may not

8 take longer than 30 days to review and ap9 prove, request modifications to, or dis10 approve any proposed agreement or joint

11 work statement that it elects to receive.’’.

Æ