mizes, any apparent conflict of interest, and avoids 
or neutralizes any actual conflict of interest, as a re-
sult of the agreement under this section. 
(3) AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS.—On entering 
an agreement under this section, the director of a 
National Laboratory shall submit to the Secretary 
for monitoring and review all records of the National 
Laboratory relating to the agreement. 
(4) RATES.—The director of a National Lab-
oratory may charge higher rates for services per-
formed under a partnership agreement entered into 
pursuant to this section, regardless of the full cost 
of recovery, if such funds are used exclusively to 
support further research and development activities 
at the respective National Laboratory. 
(d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 12 of the 
Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 
U.S.C. 3710a) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 
(2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, 
and indenting the subparagraphs appropriately; 
(B) by striking ‘‘Each Federal agency’’ 
and inserting the following: 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-
graph (2), each Federal agency’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding paragraph 
(1), in accordance with section 202(a) of the Depart-
ment of Energy Laboratory Modernization and 
Technology Transfer Act of 2014, approval by the 
Secretary of Energy shall not be required for any 
technology transfer agreement proposed to be en-
tered into by a National Laboratory of the Depart-
ment of Energy, the total cost of which (including 
the National Laboratory contributions and project 
recipient cost share) is less than $1,000,000.’’; and 
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘subsection 
(a)(1)’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘sub-
section (a)(1)(A)’’. 
SEC. 203. INCLUSION OF EARLY-STAGE TECHNOLOGY DEM-
ONSTRATION IN AUTHORIZED TECHNOLOGY 
TRANSFER ACTIVITIES. 
Section 1001 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 
U.S.C. 16391) is amended by— 
(1) redesignating subsection (g) as subsection 
(h); and 
(2) inserting after subsection (f) the following: 
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‘‘(g) 
EARLY-STAGE
TECHNOLOGY
DEMONSTRA-
TION.—The Secretary shall permit the directors of the Na-
tional Laboratories to use funds authorized to support 
technology transfer within the Department to carry out 
early-stage and pre-commercial technology demonstration 
activities to remove technology barriers that limit private 
sector interest and demonstrate potential commercial ap-
plications of any research and technologies arising from 
National Laboratory activities.’’. 
SEC. 204. FUNDING COMPETITIVENESS FOR INSTITUTIONS 
OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND OTHER NON-
PROFIT INSTITUTIONS. 
Section 988(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 
U.S.C. 16352(b)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Except as 
provided in paragraphs (2) and (3)’’ and inserting 
‘‘Except as provided in paragraphs (2), (3), and 
(4)’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) EXEMPTION FOR INSTITUTIONS OF HIGH-
ER
EDUCATION
AND
OTHER
NONPROFIT
INSTITU-
TIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) shall 
not apply to a research or development activity 
performed by an institution of higher education 
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or nonprofit institution (as defined in section 4 
of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation 
Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3703)). 
‘‘(B) TERMINATION
DATE.—The exemp-
tion under subparagraph (A) shall apply during 
the 6-year period beginning on the date of en-
actment of this paragraph.’’. 
SEC. 205. PARTICIPATION IN THE INNOVATION CORPS PRO-
GRAM. 
The Secretary may enter into an agreement with the 
Director of the National Science Foundation to enable re-
searchers funded by the Department to participate in the 
National Science Foundation Innovation Corps program. 
TITLE III—ASSESSMENT OF 
IMPACT 
SEC. 301. REPORT BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OF-
FICE. 
Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to Congress a report— 
(1) describing the results of the projects devel-
oped under sections 201, 202, and 203, including in-
formation regarding— 
(A) partnerships initiated as a result of 
those projects and the potential linkages pre-
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sented by those partnerships with respect to na-
tional priorities and other taxpayer-funded re-
search; and 
(B) whether the activities carried out 
under those projects result in— 
(i) fiscal savings; 
(ii) expansion of National Laboratory 
capabilities; 
(iii) increased efficiency of technology 
transfers; or 
(iv) an increase in general efficiency 
of the National Laboratory system; and 
(2) assess the scale, scope, efficacy, and impact 
of the Department’s efforts to promote technology 
transfer and private sector engagement at the Na-
tional Laboratories, and make recommendations on 
how the Department can improve these activities. 
Æ 
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