I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2820 

To provide for the establishment and operation of Advanced Composites 

Development Centers. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 12, 2011 

Mr. MICHAUD introduced the following bill 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2011 

Referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition 

to the Committees on Homeland Security, Armed Services, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment and operation of Advanced 

Composites Development Centers. 

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 ‘‘Advanced Composites 

5 Development Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ADVANCED COMPOSITES DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transpor2 tation, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of De3 fense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall 

4 carry out a program to improve our Nation’s trans5 portation infrastructure, advance the technologies 

6 used to produce alternative energy, enhance our 

7 military security, and develop new disaster mitiga8 tion systems by making grants to consortia to estab9 lish and operate Advanced Composites Development 

10 Centers. In doing so, they shall work with stake11 holders to identify problems that can be solved over 

12 a period of 5 years through the development of an 

13 advanced composite material. By working with the 

14 private sector and focusing on solutions to problems 

15 that can be researched, developed, and demonstrated 

16 over a short period of time, each Center will strive 

17 to produce new composite materials that are lighter, 

18 stronger, and more durable than existing materials 

19 and have an immediate practical application. 

20 (2) DESIGNATION OF CENTERS.—The Centers 

21 shall be designated as follows: 

22 (A) The Secretary of Transportation shall 

23 designate 1 Center for the development of ad24 vanced composites in civil infrastructure and 

25 transportation. 


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1 (B) The Secretary of Energy shall des2 ignate 1 Center for the development of ad3 vanced composites in energy technology. 

4 (C) The Secretary of Defense shall des5 ignate 1 Center for the development of ad6 vanced composites in military operations. 

7 (D) The Secretary of Homeland Security 

8 shall designate 1 Center for the development of 

9 advanced composites in disaster prevention and 

10 response. 

11 (E) Any 2 or more of the Secretaries de12 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (D) may 

13 work together to explore opportunities to des14 ignate a single Center that addresses issues of 

15 importance to the Departments of each such 

16 Secretary. 

17 (3) ADDITIONAL COLLABORATION.—Each Sec18 retary designating a Center under paragraph (2) 

19 may include reviewers from the Director of the Na20 tional Institute of Standards and Technology and 

21 the Director of the National Science Foundation to 

22 leverage work that has been done at facilities sup23 ported by each of those agencies. 

24 (b) CONSORTIA.— 


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1 (1) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 

2 grant under this section for the establishment and 

3 operation of a Center, a consortium shall— 

4 (A) be composed of qualifying entities, in5 cluding at least 1 prime applicant and 1 private 

6 company; 

7 (B) operate subject to a binding agreement 

8 entered into by its members that documents— 

9 (i) the proposed partnership agree10 ment, including the governance and man11 agement structure of the Center; 

12 (ii) measures to enable cost-effective 

13 implementation of the program under this 

14 section; 

15 (iii) a proposed budget, including fi16 nancial contributions from non-Federal 

17 sources; 

18 (iv) conflict of interest procedures 

19 consistent with subsection (d)(2), all 

20 known material conflicts of interest, and 

21 corresponding mitigation plans; and 

22 (v) an accounting structure that en23 ables the Secretary to ensure that the con24 sortium has complied with the require25 ments of this section; and 


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1 (C) operate as a nonprofit organization. 

2 (2) APPLICATION.—A consortium seeking to es3 tablish and operate a Center under this section, act4 ing through a prime applicant, shall transmit to the 

5 Secretary an application at such time, in such form, 

6 and accompanied by such information as the Sec7 retary shall require, including a detailed description 

8 of the elements of the consortium agreement re9 quired under paragraph (1)(B). If the consortium 

10 members will not be located at one centralized loca11 tion, such application shall include a communica12 tions plan that ensures close coordination and inte13 gration of the Center’s activities. 

14 (c) SELECTION AND SCHEDULE.— 

15 (1) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall select 

16 consortia for grants for the establishment and oper17 ation of Centers through competitive selection proc18 esses. In selecting consortia, the Secretary shall con19 sider— 

20 (A) the information a consortium must dis21 close according to subsection (b); 

22 (B) any existing facilities a consortium will 

23 provide for Center activities; 

24 (C) experience in design, prototyping, and 

25 testing advanced composites; 


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1 (D) existing ISO 17025 certification; 

2 (E) experience and achievements working 

3 with the private sector and commercializing 

4 composite materials technologies; and 

5 (F) opportunities to leverage previous sup6 port that a member of the consortium has re7 ceived from the Department or Departments 

8 awarding the grant, the National Institute of 

9 Standards and Technology, or the National 

10 Science Foundation to research, develop, dem11 onstrate, or commercialize an advanced com12 posite. 

13 (2) SCHEDULE.—Grants made for the estab14 lishment and operation of a Center shall be for a pe15 riod not to exceed 5 years, after which the grant 

16 may be renewed, subject to a competitive selection 

17 process. 

18 (d) CENTER OPERATIONS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Centers shall conduct or 

20 provide for multidisciplinary, collaborative research, 

21 development, demonstration, and commercial appli22 cation of advanced composites technologies within 

23 the technology development focus area or areas des24 ignated for the Center by the Secretary under sub25 section (a)(2). Each Center shall— 


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1 (A) encourage collaboration and commu2 nication among the member qualifying entities 

3 of the consortium and awardees by conducting 

4 activities whenever practicable at one central5 ized location; 

6 (B) develop and publish on the website of 

7 the Department or Departments of the desig8 nating Secretary proposed plans and programs; 

9 (C) submit an annual report to the Sec10 retary summarizing the Center’s activities, in11 cluding detailing organizational expenditures 

12 and describing each project undertaken by the 

13 Center; and 

14 (D) monitor project implementation and 

15 coordination. 

16 (2) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.— 

17 (A) PROCEDURES.—Centers shall establish 

18 conflict of interest procedures, consistent with 

19 those of the Department or Departments of the 

20 designating Secretary, to ensure that employees 

21 and consortia designees for Center activities 

22 who are in decisionmaking capacities disclose all 

23 material conflicts of interest, including finan24 cial, organizational, and personal conflicts of in25 terest. 


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1 (B) DISQUALIFICATION AND REVOCA2 TION.—The Secretary may disqualify an appli3 cation or revoke funds distributed to a Center 

4 if the Secretary discovers a failure to comply 

5 with conflict of interest procedures established 

6 under subparagraph (A). 

7 (e) OVERSIGHT BOARD.—Each Secretary described 

8 in subsection (a)(1) shall establish and maintain within 

9 its Department an Oversight Board to oversee the 

10 progress of Centers. 

11 (f) PRIORITY CONSIDERATION.—The Secretary shall 

12 give priority consideration to applications in which 1 or 

13 more of the institutions comprising the applicant consor14 tium are 1890 Land Grant Institutions (as defined in sec15 tion 2 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Edu16 cation Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 7061)), Predomi17 nantly Black Institutions (as defined in section 318 of the 

18 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059e)), Tribal 

19 Colleges or Universities (as defined in section 316(b) of 

20 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)), 

21 or Hispanic Serving Institutions (as defined in section 318 

22 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059e)). 

23 (g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

24 (1) ADVANCED COMPOSITES.—The term ‘‘ad25 vanced composites’’ means polymer matrix composite 


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1 materials, including synthetic and natural fibers, as 

2 well as synthetic and bio-based resins, used in struc3 tural, load-bearing applications. These materials 

4 may be enhanced with nano-additives, and may be 

5 used in combination with traditional and other ad6 vanced materials. 

7 (2) CENTER.—The term ‘‘Center’’ means an 

8 Advanced Composites Development Center estab9 lished in accordance with this section. 

10 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

11 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

12 meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the 

13 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

14 (4) PRIME APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘prime ap15 plicant’’ means an institution of higher education 

16 serving as the lead entity applying for a grant under 

17 this section. 

18 (5) QUALIFYING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘quali19 fying entity’’ includes— 

20 (A) an appropriate State or Federal entity; 

21 (B) a nonprofit nongovernmental organiza22 tion with expertise in advanced composites tech23 nology research, development, demonstration, or 

24 commercial application; 


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1 (C) any other relevant entity the Secretary 

2 considers appropriate; or 

3 (D) a United States private company with 

4 expertise in advanced composites technology re5 search, development, demonstration, or com6 mercial application. 

7 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

8 the Secretary or Secretaries designating a Center 

9 under subsection (a)(2). 

10 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated to each of the Secre12 taries described in subsection (a)(1) to carry out this sec13 tion— 

14 (1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2012; 

15 (2) $16,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; 

16 (3) $17,500,000 for fiscal year 2014; 

17 (4) $19,000,000 for fiscal year 2015; and 

18 (5) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2016. 

Æ 


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