(2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several States of 
the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Common-
wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other commonwealth, 
territory, or possession of the United States. 
(b) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise required by law, in calculating the 
cost effectiveness of the cost of the Administration engaging in an activity 
as compared to a commercial provider, the Administrator shall compare the 
cost of the Administration engaging in the activity using full cost account-
ing principles with the price the commercial provider will charge for such 
activity. 
§ 30309. Use of abandoned and underutilized buildings, 
grounds, and facilities 
(a) DEFINITION
OF DEPRESSED COMMUNITIES.—In this section, the 
term ‘‘depressed communities’’ means rural and urban communities that are 
relatively depressed, in terms of age of housing, extent of poverty, growth 
of per capita income, extent of unemployment, job lag, or surplus labor. 
(b) IN GENERAL.—In any case in which the Administrator considers the 
purchase, lease, or expansion of a facility to meet requirements of the Ad-
ministration, the Administrator shall consider whether those requirements 
could be met by the use of one of the following: 
(1) Abandoned or underutilized buildings, grounds, and facilities in 
depressed communities that can be converted to Administration usage 
at a reasonable cost, as determined by the Administrator. 
(2) Any military installation that is closed or being closed, or any 
facility at such an installation. 
(3) Any other facility or part of a facility that the Administrator de-
termines to be— 
(A) owned or leased by the United States for the use of another 
agency of the Federal Government; and 
(B) considered by the head of the agency involved to be— 
(i) excess to the needs of that agency; or 
(ii) underutilized by that agency. 
§ 30310. Exception to alternative fuel procurement require-
ment 
Section 526(a) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 
U.S.C. 17142(a)) does not prohibit the Administration from entering into 
a contract to purchase a generally available fuel that is not an alternative 
or synthetic fuel or predominantly produced from a nonconventional petro-
leum source, if— 
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(1) the contract does not specifically require the contractor to pro-
vide an alternative or synthetic fuel or fuel from a nonconventional pe-
troleum source; 
(2) the purpose of the contract is not to obtain an alternative or syn-
thetic fuel or fuel from a nonconventional petroleum source; and 
(3) the contract does not provide incentives for a refinery upgrade 
or expansion to allow a refinery to use or increase its use of fuel from 
a nonconventional petroleum source. 
CHAPTER 305—MANAGEMENT AND REVIEW 
Sec. 
30501.
Lessons learned and best practices. 
30502.
Whistleblower protection. 
30503.
Performance assessments. 
30504.
Assessment of science mission extensions. 
§ 30501. Lessons learned and best practices 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall transmit to the Committee on 
Science and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate an implementation 
plan describing the Administration’s approach for obtaining, implementing, 
and sharing lessons learned and best practices for its major programs and 
projects not later than 180 days after December 30, 2005. The implementa-
tion plan shall be updated and maintained to ensure that it is current and 
consistent with the burgeoning culture of learning and safety that is emerg-
ing at the Administration. 
(b) REQUIRED CONTENT.—The implementation plan shall contain at a 
minimum the lessons learned and best practices requirements for the Ad-
ministration, the organizations or positions responsible for enforcement of 
the requirements, the reporting structure, and the objective performance 
measures indicating the effectiveness of the activity. 
(c) INCENTIVES.—The Administrator shall provide incentives to encour-
age sharing and implementation of lessons learned and best practices by em-
ployees, projects, and programs, as well as penalties for programs and 
projects that are determined not to have demonstrated use of those re-
sources. 
§ 30502. Whistleblower protection 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after December 30, 2005, the 
Administrator shall transmit to the Committee on Science and Technology 
of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation of the Senate a plan describing steps to be taken by 
the Administration to protect from retaliation Administration employees 
who raise concerns about substantial and specific dangers to public health 
and safety or about substantial and specific factors that could threaten the 
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success of a mission. The plan shall be designed to ensure that Administra-
tion employees have the full protection required by law. The Administrator 
shall implement the plan not more than 1 year after its transmittal. 
(b) GOAL.—The Administrator shall ensure that the plan describes a sys-
tem that will protect employees who wish to raise or have raised concerns 
described in subsection (a). 
(c) PLAN.—At a minimum, the plan shall include, consistent with Federal 
law— 
(1) a reporting structure that ensures that the officials who are the 
subject of a whistleblower’s complaint will not learn the identity of the 
whistleblower; 
(2) a single point to which all complaints can be made without fear 
of retribution; 
(3) procedures to enable the whistleblower to track the status of the 
case; 
(4) activities to educate employees about their rights as whistle-
blowers and how they are protected by law; 
(5) activities to educate employees about their obligations to report 
concerns and their accountability before and after receiving the results 
of the investigations into their concerns; and 
(6) activities to educate all appropriate Administration Human Re-
sources professionals, and all Administration managers and super-
visors, regarding personnel laws, rules, and regulations. 
(d) REPORT.—Not later than February 15 of each year beginning Feb-
ruary 15, 2007, the Administrator shall transmit a report to the Committee 
on Science and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate on the con-
cerns described in subsection (a) that were raised during the previous fiscal 
year. At a minimum, the report shall provide— 
(1) the number of concerns that were raised, divided into the cat-
egories of safety and health, mission assurance, and mismanagement, 
and the disposition of those concerns, including whether any employee 
was disciplined as a result of a concern having been raised; and 
(2) any recommendations for reforms to further prevent retribution 
against employees who raise concerns. 
§ 30503. Performance assessments 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The performance of each division in the Science direc-
torate of the Administration shall be reviewed and assessed by the National 
Academy of Sciences at 5-year intervals. 
(b) TIMING.—Beginning with the first fiscal year following December 30, 
2005, the Administrator shall select at least one division for review under 
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this section. The Administrator shall select divisions so that all disciplines 
will have received their first review within 6 fiscal years of December 30, 
2005. 
(c) REPORTS.—Not later than March 1 of each year, beginning with the 
first fiscal year after December 30, 2005, the Administrator shall transmit 
a report to the Committee on Science and Technology of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 
of the Senate— 
(1) setting forth in detail the results of any external review under 
subsection (a); 
(2) setting forth in detail actions taken by the Administration in re-
sponse to any external review; and 
(3) including a summary of findings and recommendations from any 
other relevant external reviews of the Administration’s science mission 
priorities and programs. 
§ 30504. Assessment of science mission extensions 
(a) ASSESSMENT.—The Administrator shall carry out biennial reviews 
within each of the Science divisions to assess the cost and benefits of ex-
tending the date of the termination of data collection for those missions that 
have exceeded their planned mission lifetime. 
(b) CONSULTATION AND CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF 
INSTRUMENTS ON MISSIONS.—For those missions that have an operational 
component, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or any 
other affected agency shall be consulted and the potential benefits of instru-
ments on missions that are beyond their planned mission lifetime taken into 
account. 
CHAPTER 307—INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND 
COMPETITION 
Sec. 
30701.
Competitiveness and international cooperation. 
30702.
Foreign contract limitation. 
30703.
Foreign launch vehicles. 
30704.
Offshore performance of contracts for the procurement of goods and services. 
§ 30701. Competitiveness and international cooperation 
(a) LIMITATION.— 
(1) SOLICITATION OF COMMENT.—As part of the evaluation of the 
costs and benefits of entering into an obligation to conduct a space 
mission in which a foreign entity will participate as a supplier of the 
spacecraft, spacecraft system, or launch system, the Administrator 
shall solicit comment on the potential impact of such participation 
through notice published in Commerce Business Daily at least 45 days 
before entering into such an obligation. 
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