I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4905 
To guide and provide for research activities at the Department of Energy 
Office of Science, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 22, 2010 
Mr. BAIRD (for himself and Mrs. BIGGERT) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology 
A BILL 
To guide and provide for research activities at the Depart-
ment of Energy Office of Science, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Energy 
Office of Science Authorization Act of 2010’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
Except as otherwise provided, in this Act: 
(1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 
means the Department of Energy. 
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(2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 
the Director of the Office of Science. 
(3) OFFICE OF SCIENCE.—The term ‘‘Office of 
Science’’ means the Department of Energy Office of 
Science. 
(4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Energy. 
SEC. 3. OFFICE OF SCIENCE ACTIVITIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out, 
through the Office of Science, research, development, dem-
onstration, and commercial application activities in science 
supporting the missions of the Department, including pro-
grams on basic energy sciences, biological and environ-
mental research, advanced scientific computing research, 
fusion energy sciences, high energy physics, and nuclear 
physics. 
(b) SUPPORTING ACTIVITIES.—The activities de-
scribed in subsection (a) shall include providing for rel-
evant facilities and infrastructure, analysis, coordination, 
and education and outreach activities. 
(c) OTHER AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In addition to 
the activities authorized under this Act, the Office of 
Science shall carry out such other activities it is author-
ized or required to carry out by law. 
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(d) COORDINATION
AND JOINT ACTIVITIES.—The 
Department’s Under Secretary for Science shall ensure 
the coordination of activities under this Act with the other 
activities of the Department, and shall support joint activi-
ties among the programs of the Department. 
SEC. 4. BASIC ENERGY SCIENCES PROGRAM. 
(a) PROGRAM.—As part of the activities authorized 
under section 3, the Director shall carry out a program 
in basic energy sciences, including materials sciences and 
engineering, chemical sciences, biosciences, and geo-
sciences, for the purpose of providing the scientific founda-
tions for new energy technologies. 
(b) USER FACILITIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall carry out 
a program for the construction, operation, and main-
tenance of national user facilities to support the pro-
gram under this section. As practicable, these facili-
ties shall serve the needs of the Department, indus-
try, the academic community, and other relevant en-
tities to create and examine new materials and 
chemical processes for the purposes of advancing 
new energy technologies and improving the competi-
tiveness of the United States. These facilities shall 
include— 
(A) high-intensity light sources; 
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(B) neutron sources; 
(C) electron beam characterization centers; 
and 
(D) nanoscale science research centers. 
(2) 
FACILITY
CONSTRUCTION
AND
UP-
GRADES.—Consistent with the Office of Science’s 
project management practices, the Director shall 
support construction of— 
(A) the National Synchrotron Light Source 
II; and 
(B) a Second Target Station at the Spall-
ation Neutron Source. 
(c) ENERGY FRONTIER RESEARCH CENTERS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall carry out 
a grant program to provide awards, on a competi-
tive, merit-reviewed basis, to multi-institutional col-
laborations or other appropriate entities to meet en-
ergy research, development, demonstration, and 
commercial application needs identified in— 
(A) the Grand Challenges report of the De-
partment’s Basic Energy Sciences Advisory 
Committee; 
(B) energy-related Grand Challenges for 
Engineering, as described by the National 
Academy of Engineering; or 
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(C) other relevant reports identified by the 
Director. 
(2) COLLABORATIONS.—A collaboration receiv-
ing a grant under this subsection may include mul-
tiple types of institutions and private sector entities. 
(3) DURATION.—Grants shall be provided 
under this subsection to a collaboration or entity for 
a period of not more than 5 years. Grants may be 
renewed for an additional 5 years on a competitive, 
merit-reviewed basis. 
(4) NO
FUNDING
FOR
CONSTRUCTION.—No 
funding provided pursuant to this subsection may be 
used for the construction of new buildings or facili-
ties. 
(d) 
ACCELERATOR
RESEARCH
AND
DEVELOP-
MENT.—The Director shall carry out research and devel-
opment on advanced accelerator technologies relevant to 
the development of Basic Energy Sciences user facilities, 
in consultation with the Office of Science’s High Energy 
Physics and Nuclear Physics programs. 
SEC. 5. BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 
PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—As part of the activities author-
ized under section 3, the Director shall carry out a pro-
gram of research, development, demonstration, and com-
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mercial application in the areas of biological, climate, and 
environmental systems science to support the energy and 
environmental missions of the Department. 
(b) BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS SCIENCE SUBPROGRAM.— 
(1) SUBPROGRAM.—As part of the activities au-
thorized under subsection (a), the Director shall 
carry out a subprogram of research, development, 
and demonstration on fundamental, structural, com-
putational, and systems biology to increase systems- 
level understanding of complex biological systems, 
which shall include activities to— 
(A) increase cost-effective sustainable pro-
duction of biomass-based liquid transportation 
fuels, bioenergy, and biobased products that 
minimize greenhouse gas emissions; 
(B) remove carbon dioxide from the atmos-
phere, through photosynthesis and other bio-
logical processes, for sequestration and storage; 
and 
(C) destroy, immobilize, or remove con-
taminants from subsurface environments, in-
cluding at facilities of the Department. 
(2) RESEARCH PLAN.—Not later than 1 year 
after the date of enactment of this Act, and at least 
once every 2 years thereafter, the Director shall pre-
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pare and transmit to Congress a research plan de-
scribing how the subprogram authorized under this 
subsection will be undertaken. 
(3) BIOENERGY RESEARCH CENTERS.— 
(A) ESTABLISHMENT
OF
CENTERS.—In 
carrying out the subprogram under paragraph 
(1), the Director shall establish or maintain at 
least 3 bioenergy research centers to accelerate 
basic biological research, development, dem-
onstration, and commercial application of bio-
mass-based liquid transportation fuels, bio-
energy, and biobased products that reduce 
greenhouse gas emissions and are produced 
from a variety of regionally diverse feedstocks. 
(B) 
GEOGRAPHIC
DISTRIBUTION.—The 
Secretary shall ensure that the bioenergy re-
search centers under this paragraph are estab-
lished in geographically diverse locations. 
(C) SELECTION AND DURATION.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—A center under this 
paragraph shall be selected on a competi-
tive basis for a period of 5 years. 
(ii) REAPPLICATION.—After the end 
of the period described in clause (i), a 
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grantee may reapply for selection on a 
competitive, merit-reviewed basis. 
(4) ENABLING SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY PLAN.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in con-
sultation with other relevant Federal agencies, 
the academic community, research-based non-
profit entities, and the private sector, shall de-
velop a comprehensive plan for federally sup-
ported research and development activities that 
will support the energy and environmental mis-
sions of the Department and accelerate the 
growth of a competitive synthetic biology indus-
try in the United States. 
(B) PLAN.—The plan developed under sub-
paragraph (A) shall assess the need to create a 
database for synthetic biology information, the 
need and process for developing standards for 
biological parts, components and systems, and 
the need for a federally funded facility that en-
ables the discovery, design, development, pro-
duction, and systematic use of parts, compo-
nents, and systems created through synthetic 
biology. 
(C) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The Sec-
retary shall transmit the plan developed under 
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program on the elementary constituents of matter and en-
ergy and the nature of space and time. 
(b) NEUTRINO RESEARCH.—As part of the program 
described in subsection (a), the Director shall carry out 
research activities on the nature of the neutrino, which 
may— 
(1) include collaborations with the National 
Science Foundation on relevant projects; and 
(2) utilize components of existing accelerator 
facilities to produce neutrino beams of sufficient in-
tensity to explore research priorities identified by the 
High Energy Physics Advisory Panel or the National 
Academy of Sciences. 
(c) DARK
ENERGY
AND
DARK
MATTER
RE-
SEARCH.—As part of the program described in subsection 
(a), the Director shall carry out research activities on the 
nature of dark energy and dark matter. These activities 
shall be consistent with research priorities identified by 
the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel or the National 
Academy of Sciences, and may include— 
(1) the development of space-based and land- 
based facilities and experiments; and 
(2) collaborations with the National Aeronautics 
and Space Administration, the National Science 
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