zli12321/Bills huggingface dataset:
Research Works Act - Prohibits a federal agency from adopting, maintaining, continuing, or otherwise engaging in any policy, program, or other activity that: (1) causes, permits, or authorizes network dissemination of any private-sector research work without the prior consent of the publisher; or (2) requires that any actual or prospective author, or the author's employer, assent to such network dissemination. Defines "private-sector research work" as an article intended to be published in a scholarly or scientific publication, or any version of such an article, that is not a work of the U.S. government, describing or interpreting research funded in whole or in part by a federal agency and to which a commercial or nonprofit publisher has made or has entered into an arrangement to make a value-added contribution, including peer review or editing, but does not include progress reports or raw data outputs routinely required to be created for and submitted directly to a funding agency in the course of research.

Date: 2011-12-16
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Government operations and politics
Repeals the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Act. (The Act established the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation, an independent establishment of the executive branch authorized to award fellowships to outstanding individuals to encourage new discoveries in all fields of endeavor for the benefit of mankind.) Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit all funds in the Christopher Columbus Scholarship Fund into the general fund of the Treasury.

Date: 2012-08-02
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Education
Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2011 - Directs specified federal agencies participating in the National High-Performance Computing Program to: (1) transmit to Congress a cybersecurity strategic research and development plan and triennial updates, and (2) develop and annually update an implementation roadmap for such plan. Expands permitted National Science Foundation (NSF) grants for basic research on innovative approaches to the structure of computer and network hardware and software that are aimed at enhancing computer security to include research into identity management, crimes against children, and organized crime. Requires applications for the establishment of Computer and Network Security Research Centers to include a description of how such Centers will partner with government laboratories, for-profit entities, other institutions of higher education, or nonprofit research institutions. Repeals the Cyber Security Faculty Development Traineeship Program. Requires the NSF Director to continue carrying out a Scholarship for Service program under the Cyber Security Research and Development Act. Directs the President to transmit a report to Congress addressing the cybersecurity workforce needs of the federal government. Requires the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director to convene a cybersecurity university-industry task force to explore mechanisms for carrying out collaborative R&D activities. Revises provisions concerning the development and dissemination by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of security risk checklists associated with computer systems that are, or are likely to become, widely used within the federal government. Requires conducting intramural security research activities under NIST's computing standards program. Requires the NIST Director to: (1) ensure coordination of U.S. government representation in the international development of technical standards related to cybersecurity; (2) maintain a cybersecurity awareness and education program through the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership program; and (3) continue a program to support development of technical standards, metrology, testbeds, and conformance criteria with regard to identity management research and development.

Date: 2011-06-07
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Forensic Science and Standards Act of 2012 - Establishes a national forensic science research program to improve, expand, and coordinate federal research in forensic sciences. Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to enter into a contract with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to develop a report identifying the most critical forensic science disciplines that require further research to strengthen the scientific foundation in those disciplines and making recommendations. Establishes a National Forensic Science Coordinating Office at the NSF to coordinate among federal agencies: (1) the development of a unified federal research strategy to enhance the validity and reliability of forensic science disciplines; (2) the development of a five-year roadmap, updated triennially, for the unified strategy; and (3) any necessary programs, policies, and budgets to support implementation of the roadmap. Directs NSF to create a merit-reviewed, competitive forensic science research grants program to improve the foundation and practice of forensic science in the United States, based on recommendations in the unified strategy. Requires NSF to: (1) establish two forensic science research centers to conduct research consistent with the unified strategy, (2) award a grant of up to $10 million to each center, and (3) conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the grants program every four years. Directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to identify or coordinate the development of forensic science standards to enhance the validity and reliability of forensic science activities. Requires NIST to establish a Forensic Science Advisory Committee to provide advice to federal agencies, NIST, and the Department of Justice. Instructs the Attorney General to promote the adoption of the standards developed under this Act.

Date: 2012-07-12
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Nanotechnology Advancement and New Opportunities Act - Directs the Secretary of Commerce, if $100 million is made available from the private sector for establishing a Nanomanufacturing Investment Partnership, to establish such a Partnership to provide funding for precommercial nanomanufacturing research and development projects.

Allows the Partnership to provide funding through direct investments in specified mechanisms designed to advance nanomanufacturing. Requires return on investment of amounts resulting from the commercialization of developed technologies to the Partnership.

Requires establishment of an advisory board to assist the Secretary in carrying out the Partnership.

Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to allow a tax credit for the purchase of qualified nanotechnology developer stock.

Authorizes establishment within the Technology Administration of a grant program to support the establishment and development of incubators (entities affiliated with or housed in degree-granting institutions that provide space and coordinated and specialized services to certain entrepreneurial businesses). Establishes a Nanotechnology Startup Advisory Council.

Directs the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center for the development of computer aided design tools for nanotechnology applications.

Requires the establishment of nanotechnology research grant programs by the: (1) Secretary of Energy (DOE) to address the need for clean, cheap, renewable energy; (2) Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address technologies for remediation of pollution and other environmental protection technologies; (3) Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to address the need for sensors and other materials related to homeland security needs; and (4) Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to address health related applications of nanotechnology.

Requires the Director of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office to transmit a nanotechnology research strategy that establishes priorities for the federal government and industry.

Amends the IRC to: (1) allow a tax credit for nanotechnology education and training program expenses; and (2) revise, for purposes of Hope and Lifetime Learning tax credits, the definition of "eligible educational institution" to include commercial nanotechnology training providers.

Directs the NSF to establish: (1) a grant program for the development of curriculum materials for interdisciplinary nanotechnology courses at institutions of higher education, and (2) establish a program to encourage manufacturing companies to enter into partnerships with occupational training centers for the development of training to support nanotechnology manufacturing.

Directs the Secretary of Energy to transmit a strategy for increasing interaction on nanotechnology issues between scientists and engineers at the Department of Energy's national laboratories and in the informal science education community.

Date: 2013-01-23
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
American Discoveries and American Jobs Commission Act of 2013 - Establishes the Commission on American Discoveries and American Jobs to study: (1) the state of technology transfer from federally funded research to the private sector; (2) the possibilities for the federal government to collect royalties from early research that leads to the commercialization of a profitable product or technology; (3) the potential adverse consequences of such royalties on technology transfer, commercialization, and economic growth; and (4) the potential benefits of reinvesting revenues from federal royalties into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and seeding future federally funded research.

Requires submission to Congress of recommendations of specified regulatory and statutory changes.

Date: 2013-02-12
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Research and Development Tax Credit Extension Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make permanent the tax credit for increasing research activities, and (2) increase the rate of the alternative simplified research tax credit.

Date: 2013-02-28
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Taxation
Public Access to Public Science Act - Directs each of the covered agencies (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA], National Science Foundation [NSF], National Institute of Standards and Technology [NIST], and National Weather Service [NWS]) to formulate and implement a public access policy to make covered works publicly available, without charge, on the day after the end of an embargo period.

Defines: (1) "covered work" as any peer-reviewed research results published in scholarly publications, with certain exceptions, that are based on research funded in whole or in part by a covered agency; and (2) "embargo period" as the period of time no more than 12 months after the initial date of publication of a covered work, unless modified.

Specifies that the public access policy shall: (1) allow the public to read, download, and analyze by machine covered works in digital form; (2) facilitate easy public search of, analysis of, and access to covered works; (3) encourage public-private collaboration; (4) ensure that attribution to authors, journals, and original publishers is maintained; and (5) ensure that publications and metadata are stored in an archive.

Requires a covered agency's public access policy to ensure full public access to covered works' metadata, without charge, upon first publication.

Requires each covered agency, in coordination with specified stakeholders, to provide a mechanism for a stakeholder to petition to change the embargo period for specific covered works by presenting evidence that the public will be substantially and uniquely harmed under the agency's public access policy related to that work.

Date: 2013-09-20
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
21st Century Investment Act of 2013 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) make permanent the tax credit for increasing research activities; (2) allow an increased 25% tax credit rate for research expenses incurred in the United States; and (3) increase to 15%, through 2022, the tax deduction for income attributable to domestic manufacturing production activities for which substantially all of the research and development occurred in the United States.

Date: 2013-11-19
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Taxation
Establishes in the legislative branch the Commission on Health Care Savings through Innovative Wireless Technologies, which shall:

 examine the cost savings to the U.S. health care system that can be achieved by increasing the use of wireless health information technologies by patients, caregivers, and health care providers; examine existing scientific research studying the medical effectiveness of such technologies; examine existing payment models and incentive payment programs that provide federal financial reimbursement or funding for the use of such technologies; examine options for Congress and federal agencies to incentivize and promote innovation and technological advancements in the area of such technologies; examine barriers to marketplace entry that impede efforts to develop new, and improve existing, wireless health information technologies; identify appropriate situations and recommend methods for integrating such technologies into federal health care programs; develop a proposal for a comprehensive program to encourage such integration; develop cost estimate approaches that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) can use to more accurately assess the cost savings the government can achieve by increasing the use of such technologies by patients, caregivers, and health care providers; and submit an interim report within 9 months and a final report within 18 months after its final member is appointed.

Date: 2013-11-21
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Health
Igniting American Research Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax credit for increasing research expenditures, to: (1) extend such credit through 2014; (2) increase the rate of the alternative simplified research tax credit to 20% and make such credit permanent; (3) allow a 20% research tax credit for payments to a tax-exempt biotechnology research consortium for biotechnology research; and (4) modify the requirements relating to the eligibility of an energy research consortium for the tax credit to require at least 3 unrelated persons (currently, 5 unrelated persons) to make payments to such a consortium for energy research.

Date: 2013-12-12
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Taxation
Regional Innovation and Entrepreneurship Enhancement Act of 2014 - Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to: (1) expand the duties and reporting requirements of the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, including by requiring the development of a strategic plan to guide the activities of the Office; (2) authorize appropriations for such Office for FY2014-FY2018; and (3) modify the Regional Innovation Program established by such Act to eliminate provisions relating to science and research parks and require outreach to public and private sector entities in rural communities to encourage participation in Program activities.

Date: 2014-01-16
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
America Competes Reauthorization Act of 2014 - Establishes, revises, and extends specified science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs, as well as education, research, and training programs.

Authorizes appropriations for FY2015-FY2019 for: (1) the National Science Foundation (NSF), (2) the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and (3) the Department of Energy (DOE) for activities of the Office of Science.

Date: 2014-03-06
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Next Generation Research Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish the Next Generation of Research Initiative in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to coordinate NIH policies and programs aimed at promoting and providing opportunities for new researchers.

Requires the NIH to: (1) promote policies and programs to improve opportunities for new researchers; (2) develop or modify policies, as needed, including to strengthen mentorship programs and enhance diversity efforts; and (3) request the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a comprehensive study and report on policies affecting the next generation of researchers as part of a study on biomedical and behavioral research personnel.

Date: 2014-09-11
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Health
Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act - Amends the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act to authorize the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support entrepreneurial programs that recruit and support women to extend their focus beyond the laboratory and into the commercial world.

Date: 2014-09-18
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Violent Content Research Act of 2013 - Directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS), jointly, to undertake to enter into appropriate arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to conduct a comprehensive study and investigation of whether exposure to violent video games and programming has a harmful effect on children that is distinguishable from any other factors.

Requires such study and investigation to consider whether: (1) such exposure causes children to act aggressively or causes other measurable harm to children, has a disproportionately harmful effect on the behavior of children already prone to aggression or on the behavior of other identifiable groups of children, and has a harmful effect that is distinguishable from other types of media; (2) any identified harm has a direct and long-lasting impact on a child's well-being; and (3) current or emerging characteristics of violent video games have a uniquely harmful effect on the behavior of children, considering video games' concretely interactive nature.

Requires an identification of gaps in current research which, if closed, could provide information regarding any causal connection between such exposure and children's behavior.

Requires such agencies, in entering into any such arrangements, to request the NAS to report the results to Congress, FTC, FCC, and HSS.

Date: 2013-01-24
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Commerce
Federal Data Center Consolidation Act of 2013 - Requires the heads of specified federal agencies, assisted by their chief information officers, to submit to the Administrator for the Office of E-Government and Information Technology of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) each fiscal year: (1) a comprehensive inventory of data centers owned, operated, or maintained by each such agency; and (2) a multi-year strategy to achieve the consolidation and optimization of such data centers that includes performance metrics, a timeline for agency activities to be completed under the OMB Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI), and year-by-year calculations of investments and cost savings.

Provides that for any year that the Department of Defense (DOD) is required to submit a performance plan for the reduction of resources required for data servers and centers, DOD: (1) may submit to the Administrator, in lieu of the multi-year strategy, the defense-wide plan and report on cost savings required by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012; and (2) shall submit the comprehensive inventory required by this Act unless the defense-wide plan contains a comparable comprehensive inventory.

Requires the Administrator to: (1) establish deadlines for annual reporting and requirements such agencies must meet to be considered in compliance with this Act, (2) develop and make publicly available a goal for the amount of planned cost savings and optimization improvements achieved through the FDCCI during a specified period, (3) aggregate the reported cost savings of each agency and optimization improvements achieved to date through the FDCCI and compare such savings to the projected cost savings and optimization improvements achieved through the FDCCI, and (4) report to Congress. Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to review and verify the quality and completeness of the asset inventory and strategy of each agency and report to Congress.

Requires such agencies to implement their data center consolidation and optimization strategies consistent with federal guidelines on cloud computing security, including: (1) applicable provisions in the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), and (2) guidance published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). 

Authorizes the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the Secretary of Defense to waive the applicability of any provision of this Act to any national security system if such waiver is in the interest of national security. Requires the Director or the Secretary to submit to specified congressional committees a statement describing the waiver and the reasons for it.

Repeals this Act effective on October 1, 2018.

Date: 2013-10-30
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Government operations and politics
America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2014 or America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Reauthorization Act of 2014 - Establishes, revises, and extends specified science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs, as well as education, research, and training programs.

Amends the America Competes Reauthorization Act of 2010 to revise requirements for updating the five-year STEM education strategic plan and require the Office of Science and Technology Policy to convene a subcommittee on research productivity.

 Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to revise requirements for prize competitions to stimulate innovation.

Establishes requirements for educational and outreach activities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Reauthorizes specified National Institute of Standards and Technology programs and amends the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to modify the Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

Reauthorizes specified National Science Foundation (NSF) programs and establishes requirements for grants and educational programs. Establishes grants and requirements for specified activities to promote STEM education and teacher training.

Requires the NSF to encourage the development of the Innovation Corps and other training programs that focus on graduate student professional development. Establishes grants for traineeship programs.

Requires the National Science Board to assess metrics for evaluating science and engineering comprehension in grades K-12.

Requires the Department of Education (DOE) to award grants for STEM secondary schools.

Reauthorizes the Department of Commerce's Regional Innovation Program and permits loan guarantees for science park infrastructure.

National Nanotechnology Initiative Amendments Act of 2014 - Amends the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act to revise requirements for management and review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative.

Date: 2014-07-31
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Sustainable Chemistry Research and Development Act of 2014 - Directs the President to establish an interagency Sustainable Chemistry Program to promote and coordinate federal sustainable chemistry research, development, demonstration, technology transfer, commercialization, education, and training activities.

Directs the President to establish an Interagency Working Group that includes representatives from specified federal agencies to oversee the planning, management, and coordination of the Program.

Requires the Interagency Working Group to establish an Advisory Council on Sustainable Chemistry to make recommendations to it and provide it with advice and assistance.

Requires participating agencies to report to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Program activities and appropriations.

Requires the Interagency Working Group to submit a report to Congress, as well as to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Instructs the Interagency Working Group to lead agencies in awarding grants to institutions of higher education to establish partnerships with companies across the value chain in the chemical industry to: (1) create collaborative research, development, demonstration, technology transfer, and commercialization programs; and (2) train students and retrain professional scientists and engineers in the use of sustainable chemistry concepts and strategies.

Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to contract with the National Research Council to assess the current status of sustainable chemistry research in the United States.

Directs the Interagency Working Group to produce a national strategy for sustainable chemistry that provides a framework for advancing sustainable chemistry research.

Date: 2014-09-18
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Engineering Biology Research and Development Act of 2015

Directs the President to implement a National Engineering Biology Research and Development Program to advance societal well-being, national security, and economic productivity and competitiveness through:

 advancing areas of research at the intersection of the biological, physical, and information sciences and engineering; supporting social science research that advances the field of engineering biology and contributes to the adoption of new products, processes, and technologies; expanding the number of researchers, educators, and students with engineering biology training; accelerating the translation and commercialization of engineering biology research and development by the private sector; and improving the interagency planning and coordination of federal government activities related to engineering biology. Directs the President to designate an interagency committee on engineering biology to oversee the planning, management, and coordination of the Program.

Requires the President to designate an advisory committee on engineering biology research and development to assess the progress being made in implementing the Program.

Directs the National Science Foundation to contract with the National Academies to convene a workshop to review the ethical, legal, environmental, and other appropriate societal issues related to engineering biology research and development.

Requires the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out specified research activities as part of the Program.

Date: 2015-01-28
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Science Prize Competitions Act 

Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 regarding prize competitions, allowing an agency to waive liability insurance requirements for participants.

Allows an agency to enter into a grant, contract, cooperative agreement, or other agreement with a private sector for-profit as well as a nonprofit entity (as under current law) to administer a prize competition.

Permits the use of funds from private sector for-profit entities to support a prize competition.

Prohibits an agency from giving special consideration to any private sector for-profit entity in return for a donation.

Limits the use of federal funds to those made available by appropriations Acts.

Date: 2015-02-27
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
American Innovation Act 

This bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to require certain adjustments to discretionary spending limits in FY2016-FY2021 to accommodate increases in appropriations for agencies that perform basic science research.

Adjustments are required for the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy Office of Science, Department of Defense science and technology programs, National Institute of Standards and Technology Scientific and Technical Research and Services, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Mission Directorate.

The bill also requires annual appropriations for each of the programs and agencies referenced in this bill to be at least the amount appropriated in FY2015.

The bill exempts appropriations provided pursuant to this bill from sequestration. Sequestration is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals.

Date: 2015-03-17
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to issue draft guidance on the dissemination of scientific and medical information that is not included in the approved labeling of drugs and medical devices.

Date: 2015-05-19
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Health
This bill directs the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to reduce the administrative burdens of researchers funded by the NIH.

Date: 2015-05-19
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Health
Scientific Research in the National Interest Act

 (Sec. 2) This bill directs the National Science Foundation (NSF) to award federal funding for basic research and education in the sciences through a new research grant or cooperative agreement only if it makes an affirmative determination, justified in writing, that the grant or agreement promotes the progress of science in the United States, is worthy of federal funding, and meets certain other criteria.

The bill declares that such a determination shall be made after a research grant or cooperative agreement proposal has first satisfied the NSF's reviews for Merit and Broader Impacts.

Date: 2015-07-29
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Next Generation Researchers Act

This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to establish the Next Generation of Researchers Initiative in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to coordinate NIH policies and programs aimed at promoting and providing opportunities for new researchers and earlier research independence.

The NIH must: (1) promote policies and programs to improve opportunities for new researchers and promote earlier research independence; (2) develop, modify, or accelerate policies, as needed, to promote opportunities for new researchers and earlier research independence, including policies to enhance training opportunities for research-related career options, strengthen mentorship programs, enhance diversity efforts, and help new researchers obtain renewal funding; (3) coordinate with agencies and academic institutions to improve tracking of career progress of biomedical postdoctoral researchers and students; and (4) request the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a comprehensive study and report on policies affecting the next generation of researchers as part of a study on biomedical and behavioral research personnel.

Date: 2015-09-09
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Health
Building Opportunity for Student Startups Act or the BOSS Act

This bill directs the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study on the role of incubators and accelerators in the commercialization of federally funded research and regional economic development.

The study shall: (1) include an examination of metrics for comparing startups that have, and startups that have not, completed incubator or accelerator programs; (2) include the role of incubators and accelerators in developing regional innovation clusters; and (3) identify best practices in the structure, goals, operation, management, and funding mechanisms of leading incubators and accelerators.

Date: 2015-11-05
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Spectrum Challenge Prize Act of 2015

This bill requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to conduct prize competitions to accelerate the development and commercialization of technology that improves spectrum efficiency and is capable of cost-effective deployment.

Not more than $5 million, in the aggregate, may be awarded to prize competition winners.

The Federal Communications Commission must publish a technical paper providing criteria that may be used for the design of such competitions.

Date: 2015-12-08
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Cooperative Research and Development Fund Authorization Act of 2016

 This bill directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to make funds available to DOE national laboratories for the federal cost share of cooperative research and development agreements that support the maturing of laboratory technology and the transferring of it to the private sector. 

 DOE shall: (1) determine the apportionment of such funds to each DOE national laboratory; (2) ensure that special consideration is given to small business firms and consortia involving such firms in the selection of which agreements will receive such funds; and (3) ensure that the performance evaluation metrics of each laboratory's operating contractor provide incentives for, and measure the effectiveness of, such contractor's cooperative research and development agreement program at maturing laboratory technology and transferring it to the private sector.

Date: 2016-02-12
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Nanotechnology Advancement and New Opportunities Act

This bill directs the Department of Commerce, if $100 million is made available from the private sector for establishing a Nanomanufacturing Investment Partnership, to establish such a Partnership to provide funding for precommercial nanomanufacturing research and development projects.

 The Partnership may provide funding through direct investments in specified mechanisms designed to advance nanomanufacturing.

 Commerce shall establish an advisory board to assist it in carrying out the Partnership.

The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to allow a tax credit for the purchase of qualified nanotechnology developer stock.

Commerce may establish within the Technology Administration a grant program to support the establishment and development of incubators (entities affiliated with or housed in degree-granting institutions that provide space and coordinated and specialized services to certain entrepreneurial businesses). Commerce shall establish a Nanotechnology Startup Advisory Council.

 The National Science Foundation (NSF) shall establish a Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center for the development of computer aided design tools for nanotechnology applications.

 The bill requires the establishment of nanotechnology research grant programs by: (1) the Department of Energy (DOE) to address the need for clean, cheap, renewable energy; (2) the Environmental Protection Agency to address technologies for remediation of pollution and other environmental protection technologies; (3) the Department of Homeland Security to address the need for sensors and other materials related to homeland security needs; and (4) the Department of Health and Human Services to address health-related applications of nanotechnology.

 The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office shall transmit a nanotechnology research strategy establishing priorities for the federal government and industry.

 The bill amends the IRC to: (1) allow a tax credit for nanotechnology education and training program expenses; and (2) revise, for purposes of Hope and Lifetime Learning tax credits, the definition of "eligible educational institution" to include commercial nanotechnology training providers.

 The NSF shall establish: (1) a grant program for the development of curriculum materials for interdisciplinary nanotechnology courses at institutions of higher education, and (2) a program to encourage manufacturing companies to enter into partnerships with occupational training centers for the development of training to support nanotechnology manufacturing.

 DOE shall transmit to Congress a strategy for increasing interaction on nanotechnology issues between scientists and engineers at DOE national laboratories and in the informal science education community.

Date: 2016-03-23
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
This bill prohibits the National Science Foundation from using or providing funds to others to conduct a study to determine which facets of social interaction about politics are most stress-inducing, for which kinds of people, and in which contexts.

Date: 2016-04-21
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
This bill prohibits the National Science Foundation from using or furnishing to others funds to study the history of standards and standardization in the United States, including standards related to uniform systems of weights, measures, timekeeping, electrical units, and product specifications governing everything from screw threads to paper sizes.

Date: 2016-05-27
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

National Institute of Standards and Technology Campus Security Act

(Sec. 2) This bill requires the Department of Commerce Office of Security to manage the law enforcement and security programs of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) directly through an assigned Director of Security.

This bill shall be carried out without increasing the number of full time equivalent employees of Commerce, including the NIST.

The Director of Security shall make periodic activities and security reports to the Under Secretary for Standards and Technology and to Congress.

The Government Accountability Office shall report to Congress, one year after enactment of this bill, on the costs and performance of the NIST Police Services Group.

Date: 2016-07-06
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Act of 2016

This bill authorizes executive agencies to: (1) use crowdsourcing and citizen science approaches to conduct activities designed to advance their missions, (2) accept volunteer services performed as part of a crowdsourcing or citizen science project, and (3) enter into an agreement to share administrative duties for such activities with private sector entities or state, tribal, local, or foreign government agencies.

"Citizen science" means a form of open collaboration in which individuals or organizations participate in the scientific process. "Crowdsourcing" means a method to obtain needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting voluntary contributions from a group of individuals or organizations, especially from an online community.

Agencies shall: (1) make public and promote such projects to encourage broad participation of consenting participants, and (2) endeavor to make data collected through such projects open and available, in machine readable formats, to the public.

The General Services Administration shall identify and develop relevant products, training, and services to facilitate the use of crowdsourcing and citizen science activities.

Date: 2016-11-30
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Government operations and politics
NIST Plumbing Research Act of 2016

This bill directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to:

 establish or designate a laboratory to conduct research on premise plumbing in relation to water safety, security, efficiency, sustainability, and resilience; conduct an organizational review of all research and other activities related to premise plumbing conducted by federal entities; and appoint one or more officers or employees of the NIST to liaise with non-federal entities that are conducting research or other activities related to premise plumbing. The bill defines "premise plumbing" as the water distribution system within the property lines of a property, including all buildings and permanent structures on such property. This term also includes building supply and distribution pipes, fixtures, fittings, water heaters, water-treating and water-using equipment, and all respective joints, connections, devices, and appurtenances.

Date: 2016-12-02
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
American Innovation Act 

This bill amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to require certain adjustments to discretionary spending limits in FY2016-FY2021 to accommodate increases in appropriations for agencies that perform basic science research.

Adjustments are required for the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy Office of Science, Department of Defense science and technology programs, National Institute of Standards and Technology Scientific and Technical Research and Services, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Mission Directorate.

The bill also requires annual appropriations for each of the programs and agencies referenced in this bill to be at least the amount appropriated in FY2015.

The bill exempts appropriations provided pursuant to this bill from sequestration. Sequestration is a process of automatic, usually across-the-board spending reductions under which budgetary resources are permanently cancelled to enforce specific budget policy goals.

Date: 2015-03-16
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Grace Period Restoration Act of 2015

Amends federal patent law to revise the one-year grace period under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) that prohibits certain pre-filing disclosures made during the year preceding the effective filing date of a claimed invention from being considered prior art that would make the claim ineligible for a patent based on lack of novelty or obvious subject matter grounds. (A disclosure that is prior art generally means that a patent cannot be issued for a claimed invention because the invention was already patented, described in a printed publication, in public use, on sale, available to the public, or described in an issued patent or a previously filed application.)

Prohibits an inventor's or any other person's pre-filing disclosure from barring the patentability of certain claims based on lack of novelty or obvious subject matter grounds if, before such disclosure and within the one-year period before the filing date, the claimed invention was already publicly disclosed in a printed publication by the inventor, a joint inventor, or another who obtained the claimed invention from the inventor or a joint inventor. Allows an inventor who discloses an invention in a printed publication in such a manner in the year before filing a patent claim for the invention to remain entitled to the patent, regardless of any subsequent disclosures by third parties.

Excludes certain disclosures from being considered prior art under the revised grace period.

Requires the amendments made by this Act to take effect as if enacted as part of the AIA.

Date: 2015-04-14
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Commerce
Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Act of 2015

This bill authorizes each federal agency, or multiple federal agencies working cooperatively, to use crowdsourcing and citizen science approaches to conduct activities designed to advance the agency's mission or the joint mission of the group of agencies.

"Citizen science" means a form of open collaboration in which individuals or organizations participate in the scientific process in various ways, including developing technologies and applications and making discoveries.

"Crowdsourcing" means a method to obtain needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting voluntary contributions from a group of individuals or organizations, especially from an online community.

Each federal agency engaged in a crowdsourcing or citizen science project shall make public and promote it to encourage broad participation of consenting participants.

The General Services Administration shall identify and develop relevant products and services to facilitate the use of crowdsourcing and citizen science activities.

Date: 2015-09-30
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
American Innovators and Entrepreneurs Act

This bill amends the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2010 to direct the National Science Foundation (NSF) to:

 carry out an Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program to award grants for entrepreneurship and commercialization education to science and engineering researchers and students and institutions of higher education to increase the economic impact of federally funded research; and develop and provide access through specified Nodes, Sites, and Teams to I-Corps program curriculum by supporting entrepreneurship and commercialization education and training for faculty, students, postdoctoral fellows, and other science and engineering researchers. The purpose of grants shall be to increase the capacity of science and engineering researchers and students to engage successfully in entrepreneurial activities and to help transition the results of federally funded research into the marketplace.

The Treasury may:

 locate and recover U.S. government assets on behalf of any executive, judicial, or legislative agency; and retain a portion of recovered amounts to cover administrative and operational costs associated with locating and recovering those assets.

Date: 2016-04-28
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Science Prize Competitions Act of 2016

This bill amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 regarding prize competitions, including to allow an agency to waive insurance requirements.

 Each prize competition shall be published on a publicly accessible government website rather than in the Federal Register.

Date: 2016-05-12
Topic: Technology (R&D)
Subject: Science, technology, communications
Flexible Spending Accounts Growth and Opportunities Act of 2007 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit the carryover of up to $1,000 of unused health benefits in a health flexible spending arrangement to the next plan year of such spending arrangement.

Date: 2007-01-05
Topic: Health (Long-term Care)
Subject: Taxation