S. 189

One Hundred Eighth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,

the seventh day of January, two thousand and three

An Act

To authorize appropriations for nanoscience, nanoengineering, and nanotechnology

research, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘21st Century Nanotechnology

Research and Development Act’’.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL NANOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAM.

(a) NATIONAL NANOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAM.—The President

shall implement a National Nanotechnology Program. Through

appropriate agencies, councils, and the National Nanotechnology

Coordination Office established in section 3, the Program shall—

(1) establish the goals, priorities, and metrics for evaluation

for Federal nanotechnology research, development, and other

activities;

(2) invest in Federal research and development programs

in nanotechnology and related sciences to achieve those goals;

and

(3) provide for interagency coordination of Federal

nanotechnology research, development, and other activities

undertaken pursuant to the Program.

(b) PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.—The activities of the Program shall

include—

(1) developing a fundamental understanding of matter that

enables control and manipulation at the nanoscale;

(2) providing grants to individual investigators and interdisciplinary teams of investigators;

(3) establishing a network of advanced technology user

facilities and centers;

(4) establishing, on a merit-reviewed and competitive basis,

interdisciplinary nanotechnology research centers, which

shall—

(A) interact and collaborate to foster the exchange of

technical information and best practices;

(B) involve academic institutions or national laboratories and other partners, which may include States and

industry;

(C) make use of existing expertise in nanotechnology

in their regions and nationally;

(D) make use of ongoing research and development

at the micrometer scale to support their work in

nanotechnology; and
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(E) to the greatest extent possible, be established in

geographically diverse locations, encourage the participation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities that

are part B institutions as defined in section 322(2) of the

Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061(2)) and

minority institutions (as defined in section 365(3) of that

Act (20 U.S.C. 1067k(3))), and include institutions located

in States participating in the Experimental Program to

Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR);

(5) ensuring United States global leadership in the development and application of nanotechnology;

(6) advancing the United States productivity and industrial

competitiveness through stable, consistent, and coordinated

investments in long-term scientific and engineering research

in nanotechnology;

(7) accelerating the deployment and application of

nanotechnology research and development in the private sector,

including startup companies;

(8) encouraging interdisciplinary research, and ensuring

that processes for solicitation and evaluation of proposals under

the Program encourage interdisciplinary projects and collaborations;

(9) providing effective education and training for

researchers and professionals skilled in the interdisciplinary

perspectives necessary for nanotechnology so that a true interdisciplinary research culture for nanoscale science, engineering,

and technology can emerge;

(10) ensuring that ethical, legal, environmental, and other

appropriate societal concerns, including the potential use of

nanotechnology in enhancing human intelligence and in developing artificial intelligence which exceeds human capacity, are

considered during the development of nanotechnology by— (A) establishing a research program to identify ethical,

legal, environmental, and other appropriate societal concerns related to nanotechnology, and ensuring that the

results of such research are widely disseminated;

(B) requiring that interdisciplinary nanotechnology

research centers established under paragraph (4) include

activities that address societal, ethical, and environmental

concerns;

(C) insofar as possible, integrating research on societal,

ethical, and environmental concerns with nanotechnology

research and development, and ensuring that advances

in nanotechnology bring about improvements in quality

of life for all Americans; and

(D) providing, through the National Nanotechnology

Coordination Office established in section 3, for public input

and outreach to be integrated into the Program by the

convening of regular and ongoing public discussions,

through mechanisms such as citizens’ panels, consensus

conferences, and educational events, as appropriate; and

(11) encouraging research on nanotechnology advances that

utilize existing processes and technologies.

(c) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT.—The National Science and Technology Council shall oversee the planning, management, and

coordination of the Program. The Council, itself or through an

appropriate subgroup it designates or establishes, shall—
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(1) establish goals and priorities for the Program, based

on national needs for a set of broad applications of

nanotechnology;

(2) establish program component areas, with specific priorities and technical goals, that reflect the goals and priorities

established for the Program;

(3) oversee interagency coordination of the Program,

including with the activities of the Defense Nanotechnology

Research and Development Program established under section

246 of the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act

for Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107–314) and the National

Institutes of Health;

(4) develop, within 12 months after the date of enactment

of this Act, and update every 3 years thereafter, a strategic

plan to guide the activities described under subsection (b),

meet the goals, priorities, and anticipated outcomes of the

participating agencies, and describe—

(A) how the Program will move results out of the

laboratory and into application for the benefit of society;

(B) the Program’s support for long-term funding for

interdisciplinary research and development in

nanotechnology; and

(C) the allocation of funding for interagency

nanotechnology projects;

(5) propose a coordinated interagency budget for the Program to the Office of Management and Budget to ensure the

maintenance of a balanced nanotechnology research portfolio

and an appropriate level of research effort;

(6) exchange information with academic, industry, State

and local government (including State and regional

nanotechnology programs), and other appropriate groups conducting research on and using nanotechnology;

(7) develop a plan to utilize Federal programs, such as

the Small Business Innovation Research Program and the Small

Business Technology Transfer Research Program, in support

of the activity stated in subsection (b)(7);

(8) identify research areas that are not being adequately

addressed by the agencies’ current research programs and

address such research areas;

(9) encourage progress on Program activities through the

utilization of existing manufacturing facilities and industrial

infrastructures such as, but not limited to, the employment

of underutilized manufacturing facilities in areas of high

unemployment as production engineering and research

testbeds; and

(10) in carrying out its responsibilities under paragraphs

(1) through (9), take into consideration the recommendations

of the Advisory Panel, suggestions or recommendations developed pursuant to subsection (b)(10)(D), and the views of academic, State, industry, and other appropriate groups conducting

research on and using nanotechnology.

(d) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Council shall prepare an annual

report, to be submitted to the Senate Committee on Commerce,

Science, and Transportation and the House of Representatives Committee on Science, and other appropriate committees, at the time

of the President’s budget request to Congress, that includes—
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(1) the Program budget, for the current fiscal year, for

each agency that participates in the Program, including a

breakout of spending for the development and acquisition of

research facilities and instrumentation, for each program

component area, and for all activities pursuant to subsection

(b)(10);

(2) the proposed Program budget for the next fiscal year,

for each agency that participates in the Program, including

a breakout of spending for the development and acquisition

of research facilities and instrumentation, for each program

component area, and for all activities pursuant to subsection

(b)(10);

(3) an analysis of the progress made toward achieving

the goals and priorities established for the Program;

(4) an analysis of the extent to which the Program has

incorporated the recommendations of the Advisory Panel; and

(5) an assessment of how Federal agencies are implementing the plan described in subsection (c)(7), and a description of the amount of Small Business Innovative Research

and Small Business Technology Transfer Research funds supporting the plan.

SEC. 3. PROGRAM COORDINATION.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish a National

Nanotechnology Coordination Office, with a Director and full-time

staff, which shall—

(1) provide technical and administrative support to the

Council and the Advisory Panel;

(2) serve as the point of contact on Federal nanotechnology

activities for government organizations, academia, industry,

professional societies, State nanotechnology programs,

interested citizen groups, and others to exchange technical and

programmatic information;

(3) conduct public outreach, including dissemination of

findings and recommendations of the Advisory Panel, as appropriate; and

(4) promote access to and early application of the technologies, innovations, and expertise derived from Program

activities to agency missions and systems across the Federal

Government, and to United States industry, including startup

companies.

(b) FUNDING.—The National Nanotechnology Coordination

Office shall be funded through interagency funding in accordance

with section 631 of Public Law 108–7.

(c) REPORT.—Within 90 days after the date of enactment of

this Act, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy

shall report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and

Transportation, and the House of Representatives Committee on

Science on the funding of the National Nanotechnology Coordination

Office. The report shall include—

(1) the amount of funding required to adequately fund

the Office;

(2) the adequacy of existing mechanisms to fund this Office;

and

(3) the actions taken by the Director to ensure stable

funding of this Office.
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SEC. 4. ADVISORY PANEL.

(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish or designate

a National Nanotechnology Advisory Panel.

(b) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Advisory Panel established or designated by the President under subsection (a) shall consist primarily

of members from academic institutions and industry. Members of

the Advisory Panel shall be qualified to provide advice and information on nanotechnology research, development, demonstrations, education, technology transfer, commercial application, or societal and

ethical concerns. In selecting or designating an Advisory Panel,

the President may also seek and give consideration to recommendations from the Congress, industry, the scientific community

(including the National Academy of Sciences, scientific professional

societies, and academia), the defense community, State and local

governments, regional nanotechnology programs, and other appropriate organizations.

(c) DUTIES.—The Advisory Panel shall advise the President

and the Council on matters relating to the Program, including

assessing—

(1) trends and developments in nanotechnology science and

engineering;

(2) progress made in implementing the Program;

(3) the need to revise the Program;

(4) the balance among the components of the Program,

including funding levels for the program component areas;

(5) whether the program component areas, priorities, and

technical goals developed by the Council are helping to maintain

United States leadership in nanotechnology;

(6) the management, coordination, implementation, and

activities of the Program; and

(7) whether societal, ethical, legal, environmental, and

workforce concerns are adequately addressed by the Program.

(d) REPORTS.—The Advisory Panel shall report, not less frequently than once every 2 fiscal years, to the President on its

assessments under subsection (c) and its recommendations for ways

to improve the Program. The first report under this subsection

shall be submitted within 1 year after the date of enactment of

this Act. The Director of the Office of Science and Technology

Policy shall transmit a copy of each report under this subsection

to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Technology,

the House of Representatives Committee on Science, and other

appropriate committees of the Congress.

(e) TRAVEL EXPENSES OF NON-FEDERAL MEMBERS.—Non-Federal members of the Advisory Panel, while attending meetings

of the Advisory Panel or while otherwise serving at the request

of the head of the Advisory Panel away from their homes or regular

places of business, may be allowed travel expenses, including per

diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section 5703 of title

5, United States Code, for individuals in the government serving

without pay. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit members of the Advisory Panel who are officers or employees

of the United States from being allowed travel expenses, including

per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with existing law.

(f) EXEMPTION FROM SUNSET.—Section 14 of the Federal

Advisory Committee Act shall not apply to the Advisory Panel.
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SEC. 5. TRIENNIAL EXTERNAL REVIEW OF THE NATIONAL NANOTECHNOLOGY PROGRAM.

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

Coordination Office shall enter into an arrangement with the

National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences

to conduct a triennial evaluation of the Program, including— (1) an evaluation of the technical accomplishments of the

Program, including a review of whether the Program has

achieved the goals under the metrics established by the Council;

(2) a review of the Program’s management and coordination

across agencies and disciplines;

(3) a review of the funding levels at each agency for the

Program’s activities and the ability of each agency to achieve

the Program’s stated goals with that funding;

(4) an evaluation of the Program’s success in transferring

technology to the private sector;

(5) an evaluation of whether the Program has been successful in fostering interdisciplinary research and development;

(6) an evaluation of the extent to which the Program has

adequately considered ethical, legal, environmental, and other

appropriate societal concerns;

(7) recommendations for new or revised Program goals;

(8) recommendations for new research areas, partnerships,

coordination and management mechanisms, or programs to be

established to achieve the Program’s stated goals;

(9) recommendations on policy, program, and budget

changes with respect to nanotechnology research and development activities;

(10) recommendations for improved metrics to evaluate

the success of the Program in accomplishing its stated goals;

(11) a review of the performance of the National

Nanotechnology Coordination Office and its efforts to promote

access to and early application of the technologies, innovations,

and expertise derived from Program activities to agency missions and systems across the Federal Government and to United

States industry;

(12) an analysis of the relative position of the United States

compared to other nations with respect to nanotechnology

research and development, including the identification of any

critical research areas where the United States should be the

world leader to best achieve the goals of the Program; and

(13) an analysis of the current impact of nanotechnology

on the United States economy and recommendations for

increasing its future impact.

(b) STUDY ON MOLECULAR SELF-ASSEMBLY.—As part of the

first triennial review conducted in accordance with subsection (a),

the National Research Council shall conduct a one-time study to

determine the technical feasibility of molecular self-assembly for

the manufacture of materials and devices at the molecular scale.

(c) STUDY ON THE RESPONSIBLE DEVELOPMENT OF NANOTECH- NOLOGY.—As part of the first triennial review conducted in accordance with subsection (a), the National Research Council shall conduct a one-time study to assess the need for standards, guidelines,

or strategies for ensuring the responsible development of

nanotechnology, including, but not limited to— (1) self-replicating nanoscale machines or devices;

(2) the release of such machines in natural environments;
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(3) encryption;

(4) the development of defensive technologies;

(5) the use of nanotechnology in the enhancement of human

intelligence; and

(6) the use of nanotechnology in developing artificial intelligence.

(d) EVALUATION TO BE TRANSMITTED TO CONGRESS.—The

Director of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office shall

transmit the results of any evaluation for which it made arrangements under subsection (a) to the Advisory Panel, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House

of Representatives Committee on Science upon receipt. The first

such evaluation shall be transmitted no later than June 10, 2005,

with subsequent evaluations transmitted to the Committees every

3 years thereafter.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION.—There are authorized to

be appropriated to the Director of the National Science Foundation

to carry out the Director’s responsibilities under this Act—

(1) $385,000,000 for fiscal year 2005;

(2) $424,000,000 for fiscal year 2006;

(3) $449,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and

(4) $476,000,000 for fiscal year 2008.

(b) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Energy to carry out the Secretary’s

responsibilities under this Act—

(1) $317,000,000 for fiscal year 2005;

(2) $347,000,000 for fiscal year 2006;

(3) $380,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and

(4) $415,000,000 for fiscal year 2008.

(c) NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION.—

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator of

the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to carry out

the Administrator’s responsibilities under this Act—

(1) $34,100,000 for fiscal year 2005;

(2) $37,500,000 for fiscal year 2006;

(3) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and

(4) $42,300,000 for fiscal year 2008.

(d) NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY.—

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Director of the

National Institute of Standards and Technology to carry out the

Director’s responsibilities under this Act—

(1) $68,200,000 for fiscal year 2005;

(2) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2006;

(3) $80,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and

(4) $84,000,000 for fiscal year 2008.

(e) ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY.—There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator of the Environmental

Protection Agency to carry out the Administrator’s responsibilities

under this Act—

(1) $5,500,000 for fiscal year 2005;

(2) $6,050,000 for fiscal year 2006;

(3) $6,413,000 for fiscal year 2007; and

(4) $6,800,000 for fiscal year 2008.
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SEC. 7. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE PROGRAMS.

(a) NIST PROGRAMS.—The Director of the National Institute

of Standards and Technology shall—

(1) as part of the Program activities under section 2(b)(7),

establish a program to conduct basic research on issues related

to the development and manufacture of nanotechnology,

including metrology; reliability and quality assurance; processes

control; and manufacturing best practices; and

(2) utilize the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program to the extent possible to ensure that the research conducted under paragraph (1) reaches small- and medium-sized

manufacturing companies.

(b) CLEARINGHOUSE.—The Secretary of Commerce or his designee, in consultation with the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office and, to the extent possible, utilizing resources at the

National Technical Information Service, shall establish a clearinghouse of information related to commercialization of nanotechnology

research, including information relating to activities by regional,

State, and local commercial nanotechnology initiatives; transition

of research, technologies, and concepts from Federal nanotechnology

research and development programs into commercial and military

products; best practices by government, universities and private

sector laboratories transitioning technology to commercial use;

examples of ways to overcome barriers and challenges to technology

deployment; and use of manufacturing infrastructure and workforce.

SEC. 8. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PROGRAMS.

(a) RESEARCH CONSORTIA.—

(1) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PROGRAM.—The Secretary of

Energy shall establish a program to support, on a meritreviewed and competitive basis, consortia to conduct interdisciplinary nanotechnology research and development designed

to integrate newly developed nanotechnology and microfluidic

tools with systems biology and molecular imaging.

(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Of the sums

authorized for the Department of Energy under section 6(b),

$25,000,000 shall be used for each fiscal year 2005 through

2008 to carry out this section. Of these amounts, not less

than $10,000,000 shall be provided to at least 1 consortium

for each fiscal year.

(b) RESEARCH CENTERS AND MAJOR INSTRUMENTATION.—The

Secretary of Energy shall carry out projects to develop, plan, construct, acquire, operate, or support special equipment, instrumentation, or facilities for investigators conducting research and development in nanotechnology.

SEC. 9. ADDITIONAL CENTERS.

(a) AMERICAN NANOTECHNOLOGY PREPAREDNESS CENTER.—The

Program shall provide for the establishment, on a merit-reviewed

and competitive basis, of an American Nanotechnology Preparedness Center which shall—

(1) conduct, coordinate, collect, and disseminate studies

on the societal, ethical, environmental, educational, legal, and

workforce implications of nanotechnology; and

(2) identify anticipated issues related to the responsible

research, development, and application of nanotechnology, as
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well as provide recommendations for preventing or addressing

such issues.

(b) CENTER FOR NANOMATERIALS MANUFACTURING.—The Program shall provide for the establishment, on a merit reviewed

and competitive basis, of a center to—

(1) encourage, conduct, coordinate, commission, collect, and

disseminate research on new manufacturing technologies for

materials, devices, and systems with new combinations of

characteristics, such as, but not limited to, strength, toughness,

density, conductivity, flame resistance, and membrane separation characteristics; and

(2) develop mechanisms to transfer such manufacturing

technologies to United States industries.

(c) REPORTS.—The Council, through the Director of the National

Nanotechnology Coordination Office, shall submit to the Senate

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the

House of Representatives Committee on Science—

(1) within 6 months after the date of enactment of this

Act, a report identifying which agency shall be the lead agency

and which other agencies, if any, will be responsible for establishing the Centers described in this section; and

(2) within 18 months after the date of enactment of this

Act, a report describing how the Centers described in this

section have been established.

SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) ADVISORY PANEL.—The term ‘‘Advisory Panel’’ means

the President’s National Nanotechnology Advisory Panel established or designated under section 4.

(2) NANOTECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘‘nanotechnology’’ means

the science and technology that will enable one to understand,

measure, manipulate, and manufacture at the atomic, molecular, and supramolecular levels, aimed at creating materials,

devices, and systems with fundamentally new molecular

organization, properties, and functions.

(3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means the National

Nanotechnology Program established under section 2.

(4) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the National

Science and Technology Council or an appropriate subgroup

designated by the Council under section 2(c).

(5) ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY USER FACILITY.—The term

‘‘advanced technology user facility’’ means a nanotechnology

research and development facility supported, in whole or in

part, by Federal funds that is open to all United States

researchers on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis.
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(6) PROGRAM COMPONENT AREA.—The term ‘‘program

component area’’ means a major subject area established under

section 2(c)(2) under which is grouped related individual

projects and activities carried out under the Program.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.