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‘‘AUTHORITY TO VEST TITLE TO TANGIBLE PERSONAL
PROPERTY FOR RESEARCH OR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
‘‘SEC. 313. Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, the Administrator may vest title in tangible property
(as that term is defined by the Administrator) in any par-
ticipant that enters into a cooperative agreement with the
Administrator if—
‘‘(1) the primary purpose of the participant is to
conduct scientific research or technology development;
‘‘(2) the property is acquired with amounts pro-
vided under a cooperative agreement between the par-
ticipant and the Administrator to conduct scientific
research or technology development;
‘‘(3) the Administrator determines that vesting
the title to the property in the participant furthers
the objectives of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration; and
‘‘(4) the vesting of the title in the participant is
made—
‘‘(A) on the condition that the United States
Government will not incur any further obliga-
tion; and
‘‘(B) subject to any other condition that the
Administrator considers to be appropriate.’’.
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SEC. 309. NASA MID-RANGE PROCUREMENT TEST PROGRAM.
Section 5062 of the Federal Acquisition Streamlining
Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 2473 nt) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a), by inserting after the first
sentence the following: ‘‘In addition to providing any
other notice of any acquisition under the test con-
ducted under this section, the Administrator shall
publish a notice of that acquisition in, or make such
a notice available through, the automated version of
the Commerce Business Daily published by the Sec-
retary of Commerce.’’;
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘an estimated
annual total obligation of funds of $500,000 or less’’
and inserting ‘‘a basic value (as that term is defined
by the Administrator)—
‘‘(1) of $2,000,000 or less; or
‘‘(2) if options to purchase are involved, of
$10,000,000 or less.’’;
(3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘$100,000,000’’
and inserting ‘‘$500,000,000’’; and
(4) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘4 years’’ and
inserting ‘‘6 years’’.
SEC. 310. SPACE ADVERTISING.
(a) DEFINITION.—Section 70102 of title 49, United
States Code, is amended—
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(1) by redesignating paragraphs (8) through (16)
as paragraphs (9) through (17), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(8) ‘obtrusive space advertising’ means adver-
tising in outer space that is capable of being recog-
nized by a human being on the surface of the Earth
without the aid of a telescope or other technological
device.’’.
(b) PROHIBITION.—Chapter 701 of title 49, United
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 70109
the following new section:
‘‘§ 70109a. Space advertising
‘‘(a) LICENSING.—Notwithstanding the provisions of
this chapter or any other provision of law, the Secretary
may not, for the launch of a payload containing any mate-
rial to be used for the purposes of obtrusive space
advertising—
‘‘(1) issue or transfer a license under this chap-
ter; or
‘‘(2) waive the license requirements of this chap-
ter.
‘‘(b) LAUNCHING.—No holder of a license under this
chapter may launch a payload containing any material to
be used for purposes of obtrusive space advertising on or
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after the date of enactment of the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2000.
‘‘(c) COMMERCIAL SPACE ADVERTISING.—Nothing in
this section shall apply to nonobtrusive commercial space
advertising, including advertising on—
‘‘(1) commercial space transportation vehicles;
‘‘(2) space infrastructure payloads;
‘‘(3) space launch facilities; and
‘‘(4) launch support facilities.’’.
(c) NEGOTIATION WITH FOREIGN LAUNCHING NA-
TIONS.—
(1) The President is requested to negotiate with
foreign launching nations for the purpose of reaching
1 or more agreements that prohibit the use of outer
space for obtrusive space advertising purposes.
(2) It is the sense of Congress that the President
should take such action as is appropriate and feasible
to enforce the terms of any agreement to prohibit the
use of outer space for obtrusive space advertising pur-
poses.
(3) As used in this subsection, the term ‘‘foreign
launching nation’’ means a nation—
(A) that launches, or procures the launching
of, a payload into outer space; or
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(B) from the territory or facility of which
a payload is launched into outer space.
(d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections for
chapter 701 is amended by inserting after the item relating
to section 70109 the following:
‘‘70109a. Space advertising.’’.
SEC. 311. AUTHORITY TO LICENSE NASA-DEVELOPED SOFT-
WARE.
Section 305 of the National Aeronautics and Space Act
of 1958 (42 U.S.C. 2457) is amended by adding at the end
thereof the following:
‘‘(m) AUTHORITY
TO LICENSE NASA-DEVELOPED
SOFTWARE.—Notwithstanding section 105 of title 17,
United States Code, the Administrator may assert copy-
right in computer software authored by a United States
Government employee when such software is created while
participating with a non-Federal party under an agree-
ment entered into under section 203(c)(5) and (c)(6) of this
Act. The Administrator may grant, to the non-Federal par-
ticipating party, for royalties or other consideration, li-
censes or assignments on computer software copyrighted
pursuant to this subsection and may retain and share such
royalties or other consideration consistent with section 14
of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology innovation Act of 1980
(15 U.S.C. 3710c).’’.
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SEC. 312. CARBON CYCLE REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGY.
(a) CARBON CYCLE REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGY
PROGRAM.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na-
tional Aeronautics and Space Administration shall
develop a carbon cycle remote sensing technology
program—
(A) to provide, on a near-continual basis, a
real-time and comprehensive view of vegetation
conditions; and
(B) to assess and model agricultural carbon
sequestration.
(2) USE OF CENTERS.—The Administrator of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall
use regional earth science application centers to con-
duct research under this section.
(3) RESEARCHED AREAS.—The areas that shall
be the subjects of research conducted under this section
include—
(A) the mapping of carbon-sequestering
land use and land cover;
(B) the monitoring of changes in land cover
and management;
(C) new systems for the remote sensing of
soil carbon; and
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(D) regional-scale carbon sequestration esti-
mation.
(b) REGIONAL EARTH SCIENCE APPLICATION CEN-
TER.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Na-
tional Aeronautics and Space Administration, may,
at the sole discretion of the Administrator based on
maximizing the use of public funds, carry out this
section through the Regional Earth Science Applica-
tion Center located at the University of Kansas (re-
ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Center’’), if the Center
enters into a partnership with a land-grant college or
university.
(2) DUTIES OF CENTER.—The Center shall serve
as a research facility and clearinghouse for satellite
data, software, research, and related information with
respect to remote sensing research conducted under
this section.
(3) USE OF CENTER.—The Administrator of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration may
use the Center for carrying out remote sensing re-
search relating to agricultural best practices.
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
$5,000,000 for fiscal years 2000 through 2002.
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SEC. 313. INDEMNIFICATION AND INSURANCE.
Section 431(d)(5) of the Departments of Veterans Af-
fairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Inde-
pendent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (42 U.S.C.
2458b nt) is amended by striking ‘‘before the date of enact-
ment of this Act.’’ and inserting ‘‘before July 31, 1999.’’.
Attest:
Secretary.
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