H. R. 4346—95 
Ultrafast Lasers: Reaching for the Brightest Light’ and the report 
from the Brightest Light Initiative workshop entitled ‘The Future 
of Intense Ultrafast Lasers in the U.S.’. The initiative should include 
research and development of petawatt-scale and of high average 
power laser technologies necessary for future facility needs in dis-
covery science and to advance energy technologies, as well as sup-
port for a user network of academic and National Laboratory high 
intensity laser facilities. 
‘‘(b) LEVERAGE.—The Director shall leverage new laser tech-
nologies for more compact, less complex, and low-cost accelerator 
systems needed for science applications. 
‘‘(c) COORDINATION.— 
‘‘(1) DIRECTOR.—The Director shall coordinate the initiative 
established under subsection (a) among all relevant programs 
within the Office of Science. 
‘‘(2) UNDER SECRETARY.—The Under Secretary for Science 
shall coordinate the initiative established under subsection (a) 
with other relevant programs within the Department and other 
Federal agencies. 
‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Out of funds author-
ized to be appropriated for the Office of Science in a fiscal year, 
there are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 
out the activities described in this section— 
‘‘(1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; 
‘‘(2) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; 
‘‘(3) $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2025; 
‘‘(4) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2026; and 
‘‘(5) $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2027. 
‘‘SEC. 314. HELIUM CONSERVATION PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a program 
to reduce the consumption of helium for Department grant recipi-
ents and facilities and encourage helium recycling and reuse. The 
program shall competitively award grants for— 
‘‘(1) the purchase of equipment to capture, reuse, and 
recycle helium; 
‘‘(2) the installation, maintenance, and repair of new and 
existing helium capture, reuse, and recycling equipment; and 
‘‘(3) helium alternatives research and development activi-
ties. 
‘‘(b) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enact-
ment of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innova-
tion Act, and every 3 years thereafter, the Director shall submit 
to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources of the Senate a report on the purchase of helium as 
part of research projects and facilities supported by the Department. 
The report shall include— 
‘‘(1) the quantity of helium purchased for projects and 
facilities supported by Department grants; 
‘‘(2) a cost-analysis for such helium; 
‘‘(3) to the maximum extent practicable, information on 
whether such helium was imported from outside the United 
States, and if available, the country or region of the world 
from which the helium was imported;
H. R. 4346—96 
‘‘(4) expected or experienced impacts of helium supply short-
ages or prices on the research projects and facilities supported 
by the Department; and 
‘‘(5) recommendations for reducing Department grant 
recipients’ exposure to volatile helium prices and supply short-
ages. 
‘‘(c) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the program under this 
section, the Director shall coordinate with the National Science 
Foundation and other relevant Federal agencies on helium conserva-
tion activities. 
‘‘(d) DURATION.—The program established under this section 
shall receive support for a period of not more than 5 years, subject 
to the availability of appropriations. 
‘‘(e) RENEWAL.—Upon expiration of any period of support of 
the program under this section, the Director may renew support 
for the program for a period of not more than 5 years. 
‘‘SEC. 315. OFFICE OF SCIENCE BIOLOGICAL THREAT PREPAREDNESS 
RESEARCH INITIATIVE. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish within the 
Office of Science a cross-cutting research initiative, to be known 
as the ‘Biological Threat Preparedness Research Initiative’, to lever-
age the innovative analytical resources and tools, user facilities, 
and advanced computational and networking capabilities of the 
Department in order to support efforts that prevent, prepare for, 
predict, and respond to biological threats to national security, 
including infectious diseases. 
‘‘(b) COMPETITIVE, MERIT-REVIEWED PROCESS.—The Secretary 
shall carry out the initiative established under subsection (a) 
through a competitive, merit-reviewed process, and consider applica-
tions from National Laboratories, institutions of higher education, 
multi-institutional collaborations, industry partners and other 
appropriate entities. 
‘‘(c) ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out the initiative established 
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(1) determine a comprehensive set of technical milestones 
for the research activities described in that subsection; 
‘‘(2) prioritize the objectives of— 
‘‘(A) supporting fundamental research and development 
in advanced analytics, experimental studies, materials syn-
thesis, and high-performance computing technologies 
needed in order to more quickly and effectively charac-
terize, model, simulate, and predict complex natural phe-
nomena and biological materials related to emerging 
biological threats; 
‘‘(B) supporting the development of tools that inform 
epidemiological modeling, and applying artificial intel-
ligence, machine learning, and other computing tools to 
accelerate such processes; 
‘‘(C) supporting research and capabilities that enhance 
understanding and modeling of the transport of pathogens 
in indoor and outdoor air and water environments; 
‘‘(D) identifying priority research opportunities and 
capabilities for molecular design and modeling for medical 
countermeasures; 
‘‘(E) ensuring that new experimental and computa-
tional tools are accessible to relevant research communities,
H. R. 4346—97 
including private sector entities and other Federal research 
institutions; and 
‘‘(F) supporting activities and projects that combine 
computational modeling and simulation with experimental 
research facilities and studies; 
‘‘(3) leverage the research infrastructure of the Department, 
including scientific computing user facilities, x-ray light sources, 
neutron scattering facilities, nanoscale science research centers, 
and sequencing and biocharacterization facilities; 
‘‘(4) leverage experience from existing modeling and simula-
tion research and work sponsored by the Department and pro-
mote collaboration and data sharing between National Labora-
tories, research entities, and user facilities of the Department 
by providing necessary access and secure data transfer capabili-
ties; and 
‘‘(5) ensure that new experimental and computational tools 
are accessible to relevant research communities, including pri-
vate sector entities, to address emerging biological threats. 
‘‘(d) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the initiative established 
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall coordinate activities with— 
‘‘(1) other relevant offices of the Department; 
‘‘(2) the National Nuclear Security Administration; 
‘‘(3) the National Laboratories; 
‘‘(4) the Director of the National Science Foundation; 
‘‘(5) the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention; 
‘‘(6) the Director of the National Institutes of Health; 
‘‘(7) the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; 
‘‘(8) the heads of other relevant Federal agencies; 
‘‘(9) institutions of higher education; and 
‘‘(10) the private sector. 
‘‘(e) INFECTIOUS DISEASES HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING 
RESEARCH CONSORTIUM.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordination with the 
Director of the National Science Foundation and the Director 
of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, shall establish 
and operate an Emerging Infectious Diseases High Performance 
Computing Research Consortium (referred to in this section 
as the ‘Consortium’), to support the initiative established under 
subsection (a) by providing, to the extent practicable, a central-
ized entity for multidisciplinary, collaborative, emerging infec-
tious disease and biosecurity research and development through 
high performance computing and advanced data analytics tech-
nologies and processes, in conjunction with the experimental 
research facilities and studies supported by the Department. 
‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.—The members of the Consortium may 
include representatives from relevant Federal agencies, the 
National Laboratories, the private sector, and institutions of 
higher education, which can each contribute relevant compute 
time, capabilities, or other resources. 
‘‘(3) ACTIVITIES.—The Consortium shall— 
‘‘(A) match applicants with available Federal and pri-
vate sector computing resources; 
‘‘(B) consider supplemental awards for computing part-
nerships with Consortium members to qualifying entities 
on a competitive merit-review basis;
H. R. 4346—98 
‘‘(C) encourage collaboration and communication among 
member representatives of the Consortium and awardees; 
‘‘(D) provide access to the high-performance computing 
capabilities, expertise, and user facilities of the Department 
and the National Laboratories; and 
‘‘(E) submit an annual report to the Secretary summa-
rizing the activities of the Consortium, including— 
‘‘(i) describing each project undertaken by the 
Consortium; 
‘‘(ii) detailing organizational expenditures; and 
‘‘(iii) evaluating contributions to the achievement 
of technical milestones as determined in subsection 
(a). 
‘‘(4) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall ensure the 
coordination of, and avoid unnecessary duplication of, the activi-
ties of the Consortium with the activities of other research 
entities of the Department, other Federal research institutions, 
institutions of higher education, and the private sector. 
‘‘(f) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation 
Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, 
and Technology and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 
the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation, and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 
and Pensions of the Senate, a report detailing the effectiveness 
of— 
‘‘(1) the interagency coordination among each Federal 
agency involved in the initiative established under subsection 
(a); 
‘‘(2) the collaborative research achievements of that initia-
tive, including the achievement of the technical milestones 
determined under that subsection; and 
‘‘(3) potential opportunities to expand the technical capabili-
ties of the Department. 
‘‘(g) FUNDING.—Out of funds authorized to be appropriated 
for the Office of Science in a fiscal year, there is authorized to 
be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the activities under 
this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027. 
‘‘SEC. 316. MIDSCALE INSTRUMENTATION AND RESEARCH EQUIPMENT 
PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish a midscale 
instrumentation and research equipment program to develop, 
acquire, and commercialize research instrumentation and equip-
ment needed to meet the missions of the Department and to provide 
platform technologies for the broader scientific community. 
‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES.—Under the program established under sub-
section (a), the Director shall— 
‘‘(1) enable the development and acquisition of novel, state- 
of-the-art instruments that— 
‘‘(A) range in cost from $1,000,000 to $20,000,000 each; 
and 
‘‘(B) would significantly accelerate scientific break-
throughs at user facilities; and 
‘‘(2) strongly encourage partnerships among— 
‘‘(A) National Laboratories;