ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY.

SEC. 5131. ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY. (a) Advanced Technology Program.—The Act of March 3, 1901, as amended by this part, is further amended by adding after section 27 the following new section: “advanced technology program “Sec. 28. (a) There is established in the Institute an Advanced Technology Program (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘Program’) for the purpose of assisting United States businesses in creating and applying the generic technology and research results necessary to— “(1) commercialize significant new scientific discoveries and technologies rapidly; and “(2) refine manufacturing technologies. The Secretary, acting through the Director, shall assure that the Program focuses on improving the competitive position of the United States and its businesses, gives preference to discoveries and to technologies that have great economic potential, and avoids providing undue advantage to specific companies. “(b) Under the Program established in subsection (a), and consistent with the mission and policies of the Institute, the Secretary, acting through the Director, and subject to subsections (c) and (d), may— “(1) aid United States joint research and development ventures (hereafter in this section referred to as ‘joint ventures’) (which may also include universities and independent research organizations), including those involving collaborative technology demonstration projects which develop and test prototype equipment and processes, through— “(A) provision of organizational and technical advice; and “(B) participation in such joint ventures, if the Secretary, acting through the Director, determines participation to be appropriate, which may include (i) partial start-up funding, (ii) provision of a minority share of the cost of such joint ventures for up to 5 years, and (iii) making available equipment, facilities, and personnel, provided that emphasis is placed on areas where the Institute has scientific or technological expertise, on solving generic problems of specific industries, and on making those industries more competitive in world markets; 102 STAT. 1440 “(2) enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with United States businesses, especially small businesses, and with independent research organizations, provided that emphasis is placed on applying the Institute’s research, research techniques, and expertise to those organizations’ research programs; “(3) involve the Federal laboratories in the Program, where appropriate, using among other authorities the cooperative research and development agreements provided for under section 12 of the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980; and “(4) carry out, in a manner consistent with the provisions of this section, such other cooperative research activities with joint ventures as may be authorized by law or assigned to the Program by the Secretary. “(c) The Secretary, acting through the Director, is authorized to take all actions necessary and appropriate to establish and operate the Program, including— “(1) publishing in the Federal Register draft criteria and, no later than six months after the date of the enactment of this section, following a public comment period, final criteria, for the selection of recipients of assistance under subsection (b) (1) and (2); “(2) monitoring how technologies developed in its research program are used, and reporting annually to the Congress on the extent of any overseas transfer of these technologies; “(3) establishing procedures regarding financial reporting and auditing to ensure that contracts and awards are used for the purposes specified in this section, are in accordance with sound accounting practices, and are not funding existing or planned research programs that would be conducted in the same time period in the absence of financial assistance under the Program; “(4) assuring that the advice of the Committee established under section 10 is considered routinely in carrying out the responsibilities of the Institute; and “(5) providing for appropriate dissemination of Program research results. “(d) When entering into contracts or making awards under subsection (b), the following shall apply: “(1) No contract or award may be made until the research project in question has been subject to a merit review, and has, in the opinion of the reviewers appointed by the Director and the Secretary, acting through the Director, been shown to have scientific and technical merit. “(2) In the case of joint ventures, the Program shall not make an award unless, in the judgment of the Secretary, acting through the Director, Federal aid is needed if the industry in question is to form a joint venture quickly. “(3) No Federal contract or cooperative agreement under subsection (b)(2) shall exceed $2,000,000 over 3 years, or be for more than 3 years unless a full and complete explanation of such proposed award, including reasons for exceeding these limits, is submitted in writing by the Secretary to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives. The proposed contract or cooperative agreement may be executed only after 30 calendar days on which both Houses of Congress are in session have elapsed since such submission. Federal funds made available under subsec-102 STAT. 1441tion (b)(2) shall be used only for direct costs and not for indirect costs, profits, or management fees of the contractor. “(4) In determining whether to make an award to a particular joint venture, the Program shall consider whether the members of the joint venture have made provisions for the appropriate participation of small United States businesses in such joint venture. “(5) Section 552 of title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to the following information obtained by the Federal Government on a confidential basis in connection with the activities of any business or any joint venture receiving funding under the Program— “(A) information on the business operation of any member of the business or joint venture; and “(B) trade secrets possessed by any business or any member of the joint venture. “(6) Intellectual property owned and developed by any business or joint venture receiving funding or by any member of such a joint venture may not be disclosed by any officer or employee of the Federal Government except in accordance with a written agreement between the owner or developer and the Program. “(7) The Federal Government shall be entitled to a share of the licensing fees and royalty payments made to and retained by any business or joint venture to which it contributes under this section in an amount proportional to the Federal share of the costs incurred by the business or joint venture as determined by independent audit “(8) If a business or joint venture fails before the completion of the period for which a contract or award has been made, after all allowable costs have been paid and appropriate audits conducted, the unspent balance of the Federal funds shall be returned by the recipient to the Program. “(9) Upon dissolution of any joint venture or at the time otherwise agreed upon, the Federal Government shall be entitled to a snare of the residual assets of the joint venture proportional to the Federal share of the costs of the joint venture as determined by independent audit. “(e) As used in this section, the term ‘joint research and development venture’ has the meaning given to such term in section 2(a)(6) of the National Cooperative Research Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4301(a)(6)).”. (b) Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology.—Section 10 of the Act of March 3, 1901, is amended to read as follows: “visiting committee on advanced technology “Sec. 10. (a) There is established within the Institute a Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘Committee’). The Committee shall consist of nine members appointed by the Director, at least five of whom shall be from United States industry. The Director shall appoint as original members of the Committee any final members of the National Bureau of Standards Visiting Committee who wish to serve in such capacity In addition to any powers and functions otherwise granted to it by this Act, the Committee shall review and make recommendations regarding general policy for the Institute, its organization, its 102 STAT. 1442budget, and its programs within the framework of applicable national policies as set forth by the President and the Congress. “(b) The persons appointed as members of the Committee— “(1) shall be eminent in fields such as business, research, new product development, engineering, labor, education, management consulting, environment, and international relations; “(2) shall be selected solely on the basis of established records of distinguished service; “(3) shall not be employees of the Federal Government; and “(4) shall be so selected as to provide representation of a cross-section of the traditional and emerging United States industries. The Director is requested, in making appointments of persons as members of the Committee, to give due consideration to any recommendations which may be submitted to the Director by the National Academies, professional societies, business associations, labor associations, and other appropriate organizations. “(c) (1) The term of office of each member of the Committee, other than the original members, shall be 3 years; except that any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall be appointed for the remainder of such term. Any person who has completed two consecutive full terms of service on the Committee shall thereafter be ineligible for appointment during the one-year period following the expiration of the second such term. “(2) The original members of the Committee shall be elected to three classes of three members each; one class shall have a term of one year, one a term of two years, and the other a term of three years. “(d) The Committee shall meet at least quarterly at the call of the Chairman or whenever one-third of the members so request in writing. A majority of the members of the Committee not having a conflict of interest in the matter being considered by the Committee shall constitute a quorum. Each member shall be given appropriate notice, whenever possible, not less than 15 days prior to any meeting, of the call of such meeting. “(e) The Committee shall have an executive committee, and may delegate to it or to the Secretary such of the powers and functions granted to the Committee by this Act as it deems appropriate. The Committee is authorized to appoint from among its members such other committees as it deems necessary, and to assign to committees so appointed such survey and advisory functions as the Committee deems appropriate to assist it in exercising its powers and functions under this Act. “(f) The election of the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Committee shall take place at each annual meeting occurring in an even-numbered year. The Vice Chairman shall perform the duties of the Chairman in his absence. In case a vacancy occurs in the chairmanship or vice chairmanship, the Committee shall elect a member to fill such vacancy. “(g) The Committee may, with the concurrence of a majority of its members, permit the appointment of a staff consisting of not more than four professional staff members and such clerical staff members as may be necessary. Such staff shall be appointed by the Director, after consultation with the Chairman of the Committee, and assigned at the direction of the Committee. The professional members of such staff may be appointed without regard to the 102 STAT. 1443provisions of title 5, United States Code, governing appointments in the competitive service and the provisions of chapter 51 of title 5 of such Code relating to classification, and compensated at a rate not exceeding the appropriate rate provided for individuals in grade GS–18 of the General Schedule under section 5332 of title 5 of such Code, as may be necessary to provide for the performance of such duties as may be prescribed by the Committee in connection with the exercise of its powers and functions under this Act. “(h) (1) The Committee shall render an annual report to the Secretary for submission to the Congress on or before January 31 in each year. Such report shall deal essentially, though not necessarily exclusively, with policy issues or matters which affect the Institute, including the Program established under section 28, or with which the Committee in its official role as the private sector policy advisor of the Institute is concerned. Each such report shall identify areas of research and research techniques of the Institute of potential importance to the long-term competitiveness of United States industry, in which the Institute possesses special competence, which could be used to assist United States enterprises and United States industrial joint research and development ventures. “(2) The Committee shall render to the Secretary and the Congress such additional reports on specific policy matters as it deems appropriate.”. (c) National Academies of Sciences and Engineering Study of Government-Industry Cooperation in Civilian Technology.— (1) Within 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall enter into contracts with the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering for a thorough review of the various types of arrangements under which the private sector in the United States and the Federal Government cooperate in civilian research and technology transfer, including activities to create or apply generic, nonproprietary technologies. The purpose of the review is to provide the Secretary and Congress with objective information regarding the uses, strengths, and limitations of the various types of cooperative technology arrangements that have been used in the United States. The review is to provide both an analysis of the ways in which these arrangements can help improve the technological performance and international competitiveness of United States industry, and also to provide the Academies’ recommendations regarding ways to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of these types of cooperative arrangements. A special emphasis shall be placed on discussions of these subjects among industry leaders, labor leaders, and officials of the executive branch and Congress. The Secretary is authorized to seek and accept funding for this study from both Federal agencies and private industry. (2) The members of the review panel shall be drawn from among industry and labor leaders, entrepreneurs, former government officials with great experience in civilian research and technology, and scientific and technical experts, including experts with experience with Federal laboratories. (3) The review shall analyze the strengths and weaknesses of different types of Federal-industry cooperative arrangements in civilian technology, including but not limited to— (A) Federal programs which provide technical services and information to United States companies; 102 STAT. 1444 (B) cooperation between Federal laboratories and United States companies, including activities under the Technology Share Program created by Executive Order 12591; (C) Federal research and technology transfer arrangements with selected business sectors; (D) Federal encouragement of, and assistance to, private joint research and development ventures; and (E) such other mechanisms of Federal-industry cooperation as may be identified by the Secretary. (4) A report based on the findings and recommendations of the review panel shall be submitted to the Secretary, the President, and Congress within 18 months after the Secretary signs the contracts with the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering.