H.R. 1806 — what changed

It is the sense of Congress that—

“(4) in the case of National Science Foundation Master Teaching Fellowships for teachers with bachelor’s degrees in their field and working toward a master’s degree—

“(A) offering academic courses leading to a master’s degree and leadership training to prepare individuals to become master teachers in elementary and secondary schools; and

“(B) offering programs both during and after matriculation in the program for which the fellowship is received to enable fellows to become highly effective mathematics and science teachers, including mentoring, training, induction, and professional development activities, to fulfill the service requirements of this section, including the requirements of subsection (e), and to exchange ideas with others in their fields.”

“(g) Support for Master Teaching Fellows while enrolled in a master’s degree program—A National Science Foundation Master Teacher Fellow may receive a maximum of 1 year of fellowship support while enrolled in a master’s degree program as described in subsection (c)(4)(A), except that if such fellow is enrolled in a part-time program, such amount shall be prorated according to the length of the program.”

Section 2 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 272) is amended—

changed “(22) “(23) participate in and support scientific and technical conferences;

changed “(23) “(24) perform pre-competitive measurement science and technology research in partnership with institutions of higher education and industry to promote United States industrial competitiveness; and”

The National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 271 et seq.) is amended by striking sections 18, 19, and 19A and inserting the following:

“18. Education and outreach

“(a) In general—The Director may support, promote, and coordinate activities and efforts to enhance public awareness and understanding of measurement sciences, standards, and technology by the general public, industry, and academia in support of the Institute’s mission.

“(b) Research fellowships

“(1) In general—The Director may award research fellowships and other forms of financial and logistical assistance, including direct stipend awards, to—

“(A) students at institutions of higher education within the United States who show promise as present or future contributors to the mission of the Institute; and

“(B) United States citizens for research and technical activities of the Institute.

“(2) Selection—The Director shall select persons to receive such fellowships and assistance on the basis of ability and of the relevance of the proposed work to the mission and programs of the Institute.

“(3) Definition—For the purposes of this subsection, financial and logistical assistance includes, notwithstanding section 1345 of title 31, United States Code, or any contrary provision of law, temporary housing and local transportation to and from the Institute facilities.

changed “(c) Post-Doctoral Fellowship Program—The Post-doctoral fellowship program—The Director shall establish and conduct a post-doctoral fellowship program, subject to the availability of appropriations, that shall include not fewer than 20 fellows per fiscal year. In evaluating applications for fellowships under this subsection, the Director shall give consideration to the goal of promoting the participation of underrepresented students in research areas supported by the Institute.”

Section 25 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k) is amended to read as follows:

“25. Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership

“(a) Establishment and purpose

“(1) In general—The Secretary, through the Director and, if appropriate, through other officials, shall provide assistance for the creation and support of manufacturing extension centers, to be known as the “Hollings Manufacturing Extension Centers”, for the transfer of manufacturing technology and best business practices (in this Act referred to as the “Centers”). The program under this section shall be known as the “Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership”.

“(2) Affiliations—Such Centers shall be affiliated with any United States-based public or nonprofit institution or organization, or group thereof, that applies for and is awarded financial assistance under this section.

“(3) Objective—The objective of the Centers is to enhance competitiveness, productivity, and technological performance in United States manufacturing through—

“(A) the transfer of manufacturing technology and techniques developed at the Institute to Centers and, through them, to manufacturing companies throughout the United States;

“(B) the participation of individuals from industry, institutions of higher education, State governments, other Federal agencies, and, when appropriate, the Institute in cooperative technology transfer activities;

“(C) efforts to make new manufacturing technology and processes usable by United States-based small and medium-sized companies;

“(D) the active dissemination of scientific, engineering, technical, and management information about manufacturing to industrial firms, including small and medium-sized manufacturing companies;

“(E) the utilization, when appropriate, of the expertise and capability that exists in Federal laboratories other than the Institute;

“(F) the provision to community colleges and area career and technical education schools of information about the job skills needed in small and medium-sized manufacturing businesses in the regions they serve; and

“(G) promoting and expanding certification systems offered through industry, associations, and local colleges, when appropriate.

“(b) Activities—The activities of the Centers shall include—

“(1) the establishment of automated manufacturing systems and other advanced production technologies, based on Institute-supported research, for the purpose of demonstrations and technology transfer;

“(2) the active transfer and dissemination of research findings and Center expertise to a wide range of companies and enterprises, particularly small and medium-sized manufacturers; and

“(3) the facilitation of collaborations and partnerships between small and medium-sized manufacturing companies and community colleges and area career and technical education schools to help such colleges and schools better understand the specific needs of manufacturers and to help manufacturers better understand the skill sets that students learn in the programs offered by such colleges and schools.

“(c) Operations

“(1) Financial support—The Secretary may provide financial support to any Center created under subsection (a). The Secretary may not provide to a Center more than 50 percent of the capital and annual operating and maintenance funds required to create and maintain such Center.

“(2) Regulations—The Secretary shall implement, review, and update the sections of the Code of Federal Regulations related to this section at least once every 3 years.

“(3) Application

“(A) In general—Any nonprofit institution, or consortium thereof, or State or local government, may submit to the Secretary an application for financial support under this section, in accordance with the procedures established by the Secretary.

“(B) Cost sharing—In order to receive assistance under this section, an applicant for financial assistance under subparagraph (A) shall provide adequate assurances that non-Federal assets obtained from the applicant and the applicant’s partnering organizations will be used as a funding source to meet not less than 50 percent of the costs incurred. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the costs incurred means the costs incurred in connection with the activities undertaken to improve the competitiveness, management, productivity, and technological performance of small and medium-sized manufacturing companies.

changed “(C) Agreements with other entities—In meeting the 50-percent 50 percent requirement, it is anticipated that a Center will enter into agreements with other entities such as private industry, institutions of higher education, and State governments to accomplish programmatic objectives and access new and existing resources that will further the impact of the Federal investment made on behalf of small and medium-sized manufacturing companies.

“(D) Legal rights—Each applicant under subparagraph (A) shall also submit a proposal for the allocation of the legal rights associated with any invention which may result from the proposed Center’s activities.

“(4) Merit review—The Secretary shall subject each such application to merit review. In making a decision whether to approve such application and provide financial support under this section, the Secretary shall consider, at a minimum, the following:

“(A) The merits of the application, particularly those portions of the application regarding technology transfer, training and education, and adaptation of manufacturing technologies to the needs of particular industrial sectors.

“(B) The quality of service to be provided.

“(C) Geographical diversity and extent of service area.

“(D) The percentage of funding and amount of in-kind commitment from other sources.

“(5) Evaluation

“(A) In general—Each Center that receives financial assistance under this section shall be evaluated during its third year of operation by an evaluation panel appointed by the Secretary.

“(B) Composition—Each such evaluation panel shall be composed of private experts, none of whom shall be connected with the involved Center, and Federal officials.

“(C) Chair—An official of the Institute shall chair the panel.

“(D) Performance measurement—Each evaluation panel shall measure the involved Center’s performance against the objectives specified in this section.

“(E) Positive evaluation—If the evaluation is positive, the Secretary may provide continued funding through the sixth year.

“(F) Probation—The Secretary shall not provide funding unless the Center has received a positive evaluation. A Center that has not received a positive evaluation by the evaluation panel shall be notified by the panel of the deficiencies in its performance and shall be placed on probation for one year, after which time the panel shall reevaluate the Center. If the Center has not addressed the deficiencies identified by the panel, or shown a significant improvement in its performance, the Director shall conduct a new competition to select an operator for the Center or may close the Center.

“(G) Additional financial support—After the sixth year, a Center may receive additional financial support under this section if it has received a positive evaluation through an independent review, under procedures established by the Institute.

“(H) Eight-year review—A Center shall undergo an independent review in the 8th year of operation. Each evaluation panel shall measure the Center’s performance against the objectives specified in this section. A Center that has not received a positive evaluation as a result of an independent review shall be notified by the Program of the deficiencies in its performance and shall be placed on probation for one year, after which time the Program shall reevaluate the Center. If the Center has not addressed the deficiencies identified by the review, or shown a significant improvement in its performance, the Director shall conduct a new competition to select an operator for the Center or may close the Center.

“(I) Recompetition—If a recipient of a Center award has received financial assistance for 10 consecutive years, the Director shall conduct a new competition to select an operator for the Center consistent with the plan required in this Act. Incumbent Center operators in good standing shall be eligible to compete for the new award.

“(J) Reports

“(i) Plan—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015, the Director shall transmit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a plan as to how the Institute will conduct reviews, assessments, and reapplication competitions under this paragraph.

“(ii) Independent assessment—The Director shall contract with an independent organization to perform an assessment of the implementation of the reapplication competition process under this paragraph within 3 years after the transmittal of the report under clause (i). The organization conducting the assessment under this clause may consult with the MEP Advisory Board.

“(iii) Comparison of centers—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015, the Director shall transmit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report providing information on the first and second years of operations for centers operating from new competitions or recompetition as compared to longstanding centers. The report shall provide detail on the engagement in services provided by Centers and the characteristics of services provided, including volume and type of services, so that the Committees can evaluate whether the cost-sharing ratio has an effect on the services provided at Centers.

“(6) Patent rights—The provisions of chapter 18 of title 35, United States Code, shall apply, to the extent not inconsistent with this section, to the promotion of technology from research by Centers under this section except for contracts for such specific technology extension or transfer services as may be specified by statute or by the Director.

“(7) Protection of Center client confidential information—Section 552 of title 5, United States Code, shall apply to the following information obtained by the Federal Government on a confidential basis in connection with the activities of any participant involved in the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership:

“(A) Information on the business operation of any participant in a Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership program or of a client of a Center.

“(B) Trade secrets possessed by any client of a Center.

“(8) Advisory boards—Each Center’s advisory boards shall institute a conflict of interest policy, approved by the Director, that ensures the Board represents local small and medium-sized manufacturers in the Center’s region. Board Members may not serve as a vendor or provide services to the Center, nor may they serve on more than one Center’s oversight board simultaneously.

“(d) Acceptance of funds

“(1) In general—In addition to such sums as may be appropriated to the Secretary and Director to operate the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the Secretary and Director also may accept funds from other Federal departments and agencies and, under section 2(c)(7), from the private sector for the purpose of strengthening United States manufacturing.

“(2) Allocation of funds

“(A) Funds accepted from other Federal departments or agencies—The Director shall determine whether funds accepted from other Federal departments or agencies shall be counted in the calculation of the Federal share of capital and annual operating and maintenance costs under subsection (c).

“(B) Funds accepted from the private sector—Funds accepted from the private sector under section 2(c)(7), if allocated to a Center, may not be considered in the calculation of the Federal share under subsection (c) of this section.

“(e) MEP Advisory Board

“(1) Establishment—There is established within the Institute a Manufacturing Extension Partnership Advisory Board (in this subsection referred to as the “MEP Advisory Board”).

“(2) Membership

“(A) In general—The MEP Advisory Board shall consist of not fewer than 10 members broadly representative of stakeholders, to be appointed by the Director. At least 2 members shall be employed by or on an advisory board for the Centers, at least 1 member shall represent a community college, and at least 5 other members shall be from United States small businesses in the manufacturing sector. No member shall be an employee of the Federal Government.

“(B) Term—Except as provided in subparagraph (C) or (D), the term of office of each member of the MEP Advisory Board shall be 3 years.

“(C) Vacancies—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.

“(D) Serving consecutive terms—Any person who has completed two consecutive full terms of service on the MEP Advisory Board shall thereafter be ineligible for appointment during the one-year period following the expiration of the second such term.

“(3) Meetings—The MEP Advisory Board shall meet not less than 2 times annually and shall provide to the Director—

“(A) advice on Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership programs, plans, and policies;

“(B) assessments of the soundness of Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership plans and strategies; and

“(C) assessments of current performance against Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership program plans.

“(4) Federal Advisory Committee Act applicability

“(A) In general—In discharging its duties under this subsection, the MEP Advisory Board shall function solely in an advisory capacity, in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

“(B) Exception—Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act shall not apply to the MEP Advisory Board.

“(5) Report—The MEP Advisory Board shall transmit an annual report to the Secretary for transmittal to Congress within 30 days after the submission to Congress of the President’s annual budget request in each year. Such report shall address the status of the program established pursuant to this section and comment on the relevant sections of the programmatic planning document and updates thereto transmitted to Congress by the Director under subsections (c) and (d) of section 23.

“(f) Competitive Grant Program

“(1) Establishment—The Director shall establish, within the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, under this section and section 26, a program of competitive awards among participants described in paragraph (2) for the purposes described in paragraph (3).

“(2) Participants—Participants receiving awards under this subsection shall be the Centers, or a consortium of such Centers.

“(3) Purpose—The purpose of the program under this subsection is to add capabilities to the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, including the development of projects to solve new or emerging manufacturing problems as determined by the Director, in consultation with the Director of the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership program, the MEP Advisory Board, and small and medium-sized manufacturers. One or more themes for the competition may be identified, which may vary from year to year, depending on the needs of manufacturers and the success of previous competitions. Centers may be reimbursed for costs incurred under the program.

“(4) Applications—Applications for awards under this subsection shall be submitted in such manner, at such time, and containing such information as the Director shall require, in consultation with the MEP Advisory Board.

“(5) Selection—Awards under this subsection shall be peer reviewed and competitively awarded. The Director shall endeavor to have broad geographic diversity among selected proposals. The Director shall select proposals to receive awards that will—

“(A) improve the competitiveness of industries in the region in which the Center or Centers are located;

“(B) create jobs or train newly hired employees; and

“(C) promote the transfer and commercialization of research and technology from institutions of higher education, national laboratories, and nonprofit research institutes.

“(6) Program contribution—Recipients of awards under this subsection shall not be required to provide a matching contribution.

“(7) Global marketplace projects—In making awards under this subsection, the Director, in consultation with the MEP Advisory Board and the Secretary, may take into consideration whether an application has significant potential for enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized United States manufacturers in the global marketplace.

“(8) Duration—Awards under this subsection shall last no longer than 3 years.

“(g) Evaluation of obstacles unique to small manufacturers—The Director shall—

“(1) evaluate obstacles that are unique to small manufacturers that prevent such manufacturers from effectively competing in the global market;

“(2) implement a comprehensive plan to train the Centers to address such obstacles; and

“(3) facilitate improved communication between the Centers to assist such manufacturers in implementing appropriate, targeted solutions to such obstacles.

“(h) Definitions—In this section—

“(1) the term “area career and technical education school” has the meaning given such term in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302); and

“(2) the term community college means an institution of higher education (as defined under section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))) at which the highest degree that is predominately awarded to students is an associate’s degree.”

added Section 28 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278n) is amended—

changed Section 20(c)(1) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278g–3(c)(1)) 278g—3(c)(1)) is amended by striking “the National Security Agency,”.

It is the Sense of Congress that—

“(1) Co-design—The term co-design means the joint development of application algorithms, models, and codes with computer technology architectures and operating systems to maximize effective use of high-end computing systems.

“(2) Department—The term Department means the Department of Energy.

“(3) Exascale—The term exascale means computing system performance at or near 10 to the 18th power floating point operations per second.

“(4) High-end computing system—The term high-end computing system means a computing system with performance that substantially exceeds that of systems that are commonly available for advanced scientific and engineering applications.

“(5) Institution of higher education—The term institution of higher education has the meaning given the term in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).

“(6) Leadership system—The term “leadership system” means a high-end computing system that is among the most advanced in the world in terms of performance in solving scientific and engineering problems.

“(7) National laboratory—The term National Laboratory means any one of the seventeen laboratories owned by the Department.

“(8) Secretary—The term Secretary means the Secretary of Energy.

“(9) Software technology—The term software technology includes optimal algorithms, programming environments, tools, languages, and operating systems for high-end computing systems.”

“(3) partner with universities, National Laboratories, and industry to ensure the broadest possible application of the technology developed in this program to other challenges in science, engineering, medicine, and industry.”

“(d) Exascale computing program

“(1) In general—The Secretary shall conduct a coordinated research program to develop exascale computing systems to advance the missions of the Department.

“(2) Execution—The Secretary shall, through competitive merit review, establish two or more National Laboratory-industry-university partnerships to conduct integrated research, development, and engineering of multiple exascale architectures, and—

“(A) conduct mission-related co-design activities in developing such exascale platforms;

“(B) develop those advancements in hardware and software technology required to fully realize the potential of an exascale production system in addressing Department target applications and solving scientific problems involving predictive modeling and simulation and large-scale data analytics and management; and

“(C) explore the use of exascale computing technologies to advance a broad range of science and engineering.

“(3) Administration—In carrying out this program, the Secretary shall—

“(A) provide, on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis, access for researchers in United States industry, institutions of higher education, National Laboratories, and other Federal agencies to these exascale systems, as appropriate; and

“(B) conduct outreach programs to increase the readiness for the use of such platforms by domestic industries, including manufacturers.

“(4) Reports

“(A) Integrated strategy and program management plan—The Secretary shall submit to Congress, not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015, a report outlining an integrated strategy and program management plan, including target dates for prototypical and production exascale platforms, interim milestones to reaching these targets, functional requirements, roles and responsibilities of National Laboratories and industry, acquisition strategy, and estimated resources required, to achieve this exascale system capability. The report shall include the Secretary's plan for Departmental organization to manage and execute the Exascale Computing Program, including definition of the roles and responsibilities within the Department to ensure an integrated program across the Department. The report shall also include a plan for ensuring balance and prioritizing across ASCR subprograms in a flat or slow-growth budget environment.

“(B) Status reports—At the time of the budget submission of the Department for each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit a report to Congress that describes the status of milestones and costs in achieving the objectives of the exascale computing program.

“(C) Exascale merit report—At least 18 months prior to the initiation of construction or installation of any exascale-class computing facility, the Secretary shall transmit a plan to the Congress detailing—

“(i) the proposed facility's cost projections and capabilities to significantly accelerate the development of new energy technologies;

“(ii) technical risks and challenges that must be overcome to achieve successful completion and operation of the facility; and

“(iii) an independent assessment of the scientific and technological advances expected from such a facility relative to those expected from a comparable investment in expanded research and applications at terascale-class and petascale-class computing facilities, including an evaluation of where investments should be made in the system software and algorithms to enable these advances.”

added Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit 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 current ability of domestic manufacturers to meet the procurement requirements for major ongoing projects funded by the Office of Science of the Department, including a calculation of the percentage of equipment acquired from domestic manufacturers for this purpose.

removed In this title—

Section 994 of Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16358) is amended to read as follows:

“994. Strategic research portfolio analysis and coordination plan

“(a) In general—The Secretary shall periodically review all of the science and technology activities of the Department in a strategic framework that takes into account the frontiers of science to which the Department can contribute, the national needs relevant to the Department's statutory missions, and global energy dynamics.

“(b) Coordination analysis and plan—As part of the review under subsection (a), the Secretary shall develop a plan to improve coordination and collaboration in research, development, demonstration, and commercial application activities across Department organizational boundaries.

“(c) Plan contents—The plan shall describe—

“(1) cross-cutting scientific and technical issues and research questions that span more than one program or major office of the Department;

“(2) how the applied technology programs of the Department are coordinating their activities, and addressing those questions;

changed “(3) ways in which the technical interchange within the Department, particularly between the Office of Science and the applied technology programs, can be enhanced, including limited ways in which the research agendas of the Office of Science and the applied programs can better interact and assist each other;

“(4) a description of how the Secretary will ensure that the Department’s overall research agenda include, in addition to fundamental, curiosity-driven research, fundamental research related to topics of concern to the applied programs, and applications in Departmental technology programs of research results generated by fundamental, curiosity-driven research;

“(5) critical assessments of any ongoing programs that have experienced sub-par performance or cost over-runs of 10 percent or more over one or more years; and

“(6) activities that may be more effectively left to the States, industry, nongovernmental organizations, institutions of higher education, or other stakeholders.

“(d) Plan transmittal—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015, and every 4 years thereafter, the Secretary shall transmit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate the results of the review under subsection (a) and the coordination plan under subsection (b).”

“(a) In general—The Secretary shall conduct a fuel cycle research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program (referred to in this section as the “program”) on fuel cycle options that improve uranium resource utilization, maximize energy generation, minimize nuclear waste creation, improve safety, mitigate risk of proliferation, and improve waste management in support of a national strategy for spent nuclear fuel and the reactor concepts research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program under section 952(c).

“(b) Fuel cycle options—Under this section the Secretary may consider implementing the following initiatives:

“(1) Open cycle—Developing fuels, including the use of nonuranium materials and alternate claddings, for use in reactors that increase energy generation, improve safety performance and margins, and minimize the amount of nuclear waste produced in an open fuel cycle.

“(2) Recycle—Developing advanced recycling technologies, including advanced reactor concepts to improve resource utilization, reduce proliferation risks, and minimize radiotoxicity, decay heat, and mass and volume of nuclear waste to the greatest extent possible.

“(3) Advanced storage methods—Developing advanced storage technologies for both onsite and long-term storage that substantially prolong the effective life of current storage devices or that substantially improve upon existing nuclear waste storage technologies and methods, including repositories.

“(4) Fast test reactor—Investigating the potential research benefits of a fast test reactor user facility to conduct experiments on fuels and materials related to fuel forms and fuel cycles that will increase fuel utilization, reduce proliferation risks, and reduce nuclear waste products.

changed “(5) Other technologies—Developing any other technology or initiative that the Secretary determines is likely Advanced reactor innovation—Developing an advanced reactor innovation testbed where national laboratories, universities, and industry can address advanced reactor design challenges to advance the objectives enable construction and operation of the program.privately funded reactor prototypes to resolve technical uncertainty for United States-based designs for future domestic and international markets.

added “(6) Other technologies—Developing any other technology or initiative that the Secretary determines is likely to advance the objectives of the program.

“(c) Additional advanced recycling and crosscutting activities—In addition to and in support of the specific initiatives described in paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (b), the Secretary may support the following activities:

“(1) Development and testing of integrated process flow sheets for advanced nuclear fuel recycling processes.

“(2) Research to characterize the byproducts and waste streams resulting from fuel recycling processes.

“(3) Research and development on reactor concepts or transmutation technologies that improve resource utilization or reduce the radiotoxicity of waste streams.

“(4) Research and development on waste treatment processes and separations technologies, advanced waste forms, and quantification of proliferation risks.

“(5) Identification and evaluation of test and experimental facilities necessary to successfully implement the advanced fuel cycle initiative.

“(6) Advancement of fuel cycle-related modeling and simulation capabilities.

“(7) Research to understand the behavior of high-burnup fuels.”

“958. Nuclear energy enabling technologies

“(a) In general—The Secretary shall conduct a program to support the integration of activities undertaken through the reactor concepts research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program under section 952(c) and the fuel cycle research and development program under section 953, and support crosscutting nuclear energy concepts. Activities commenced under this section shall be concentrated on broadly applicable research and development focus areas.

“(b) Activities—Activities conducted under this section may include research involving—

“(1) advanced reactor materials;

“(2) advanced radiation mitigation methods;

“(3) advanced proliferation and security risk assessment methods;

“(4) advanced sensors and instrumentation;

changed “(5) high performance computation modeling, including multiphysics, multidimensional modeling simulation for nuclear energy systems, and continued development of advanced modeling simulation capabilities through national laboratory, industry, and university partnerships for operations and safety performance improvements of light water reactors for currently deployed and near-term reactors and advanced reactors and for the development of small modular reactors; and

“(6) any crosscutting technology or transformative concept aimed at establishing substantial and revolutionary enhancements in the performance of future nuclear energy systems that the Secretary considers relevant and appropriate to the purpose of this section.

“(c) Report—The Secretary shall submit, as part of the annual budget submission of the Department, a report on the activities of the program conducted under this section, which shall include a brief evaluation of each activity’s progress.”

Section 911 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16191) is amended to read as follows:

“911. Energy efficiency

“(a) Objectives—The Secretary shall conduct programs of energy efficiency research, development, demonstration, and commercial application, including activities described in this subtitle. Such programs shall prioritize activities that industry by itself is not likely to undertake because of technical challenges or regulatory uncertainty, and take into consideration the following objectives:

“(1) Increasing energy efficiency.

“(2) Reducing the cost of energy.

“(3) Reducing the environmental impact of energy-related activities.

“(b) Programs—Programs under this subtitle shall include research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of—

changed “(1) innovative, affordable technologies to improve the energy efficiency and environmental performance of vehicles, including weight and drag reduction technologies, technologies, modeling, and simulation for increasing vehicle connectivity and automation, and whole-vehicle design optimization;

“(2) cost-effective technologies, for new construction and retrofit, to improve the energy efficiency and environmental performance of buildings, using a whole-buildings approach;

changed “(3) advanced technologies to improve the energy efficiency, environmental performance, and process efficiency of energy-intensive and waste-intensive industries; andindustries;

changed “(4) technologies to improve the energy efficiency of appliances and mechanical systems for buildings in extreme climates, including cogeneration, trigeneration, and polygeneration units.”units;

added “(5) advanced battery technologies; and

added “(6) fuel cell and hydrogen technologies.”

changed Section 912 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16192) is and the item relating thereto in the table of contents of that Act are repealed.

changed Section 915 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16195) is and the item relating thereto in the table of contents of that Act are repealed.

Section 932 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16232) is amended to read as follows:

“932. Bioenergy program

“(a) Program—The Secretary shall conduct a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application for bioenergy, including innovations in—

“(1) biopower energy systems;

“(2) biofuels;

“(3) bioproducts;

“(4) integrated biorefineries that may produce biopower, biofuels, and bioproducts; and

“(5) cross-cutting research and development in feedstocks.

“(b) Biofuels and Bioproducts—The goals of the biofuels and bioproducts programs shall be to develop, in partnership with industry and institutions of higher education—

“(1) advanced biochemical and thermochemical conversion technologies capable of making fuels from lignocellulosic feedstocks that are price-competitive with fossil-based fuels and fully compatible with either internal combustion engines or fuel cell-powered vehicles;

changed “(2) advanced biotechnology processes capable conversion of making biomass to biofuels and bioproducts with emphasis as part of integrated biorefineries based on development either biochemical processes, thermochemical processes, or hybrids of biorefinery technologies using enzyme-based processing systems; these processes; and

“(3) other advanced processes that will enable the development of cost-effective bioproducts, including biofuels.

“(c) Retrofit Technologies for the Development of Ethanol From Cellulosic Materials—The Secretary shall establish a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application for technologies and processes to enable biorefineries that exclusively use corn grain or corn starch as a feedstock to produce ethanol to be retrofitted to accept a range of biomass, including lignocellulosic feedstocks.

changed “(d) Limitations—None of the funds authorized for carrying out this section may be used to fund commercial biofuels production for defense purposes in collaboration with the Department of Defense and the Department of Agriculture.purposes.

“(e) Definitions—In this section:

“(1) Biomass—The term biomass means—

“(A) any organic material grown for the purpose of being converted to energy;

“(B) any organic byproduct of agriculture (including wastes from food production and processing) that can be converted into energy; or

“(C) any waste material that can be converted to energy, is segregated from other waste materials, and is derived from—

“(i) any of the following forest-related resources: mill residues, precommercial thinnings, slash, brush, or otherwise nonmerchantable material;

“(ii) wood waste materials, including waste pallets, crates, dunnage, manufacturing and construction wood wastes (other than pressure-treated, chemically treated, or painted wood wastes), and landscape or right-of-way tree trimmings, but not including municipal solid waste, gas derived from the biodegradation of municipal solid waste, or paper that is commonly recycled; or

“(iii) solids derived from waste water treatment processes.

changed “(2) Lignocellulosic feedstock—The term lignocellulosic feedstock means any portion of a plant or coproduct from conversion, including crops, trees, forest residues, grasses, and agricultural residues not specifically grown for food, including from barley grain, grapeseed, rice bran, rice hulls, rice straw, soybean matter, cornstover, and sugarcane bagasse.”

changed Section 934 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16234) is and the item relating thereto in the table of contents of that Act are repealed.

Section 961 of Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16291) is amended to read as follows:

“961. Fossil energy

“(a) In general—The Secretary shall carry out research, development, demonstration, and commercial application programs in fossil energy, including activities under this subtitle, with the goal of improving the efficiency, effectiveness, and environmental performance of fossil energy production, upgrading, conversion, and consumption. Such programs shall take into consideration the following objectives:

“(1) Increasing the energy conversion efficiency of all forms of fossil energy through improved technologies.

“(2) Decreasing the cost of all fossil energy production, generation, and delivery.

“(3) Promoting diversity of energy supply.

“(4) Decreasing the dependence of the United States on foreign energy supplies.

“(5) Decreasing the environmental impact of energy-related activities.

“(6) Increasing the export of fossil energy-related equipment, technology, and services from the United States.

changed “(b) LimitationsObjectives—To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall seek to—

added “(1) leverage existing programs;

added “(2) consolidate and coordinate activities throughout the Department to promote collaboration and crosscutting approaches;

added “(3) ensure activities are undertaken in a manner that does not duplicate other activities within the Department or other Federal Government activities; and

added “(4) identify programs that may be more effectively left to the States, industry, nongovernmental organizations, institutions of higher education, or other stakeholders.

added “(c) Limitations

“(1) Uses—None of the funds authorized for carrying out this section may be used for Fossil Energy Environmental Restoration.

“(2) Institutions of higher education—Not less than 20 percent of the funds appropriated for carrying out section 964 of this Act for each fiscal year shall be dedicated to research and development carried out at institutions of higher education.

added “(3) Use for regulatory assessments or determinations—The results of any research, development, demonstration, or commercial application projects or activities of the Department authorized under this subtitle may not be used for regulatory assessments or determinations by Federal regulatory authorities.

added “(d) Assessments

removed “(3) Use for regulatory assessments or determinations—The results of any research, development, demonstration, or commercial application projects or activities of the Department may not be used for regulatory assessments or determinations by Federal regulatory authorities.

removed “(c) Assessments

“(1) Constraints against bringing resources to market—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress an assessment of the technical, institutional, policy, and regulatory constraints to bringing new domestic fossil resources to market.

“(2) Technology capabilities—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress a long-term assessment of existing and projected technological capabilities for expanded production from domestic unconventional oil, gas, and methane reserves.”

“(12) specific additional programs to address water use and reuse;

“(13) the testing, including the construction of testing facilities, of high temperature materials for use in advanced systems for combustion or use of coal; and

“(14) innovations to application of existing coal conversion systems designed to increase efficiency of conversion, flexibility of operation, and other modifications to address existing usage requirements.”

“(b) Transformational coal technology program

“(1) In general—As part of the program established under subsection (a), the Secretary may carry out a program designed to undertake research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of technologies, including the accelerated development of—

“(A) chemical looping technology;

“(B) supercritical carbon dioxide power generation cycles;

“(C) pressurized oxycombustion, including new and retrofit technologies; and

“(D) other technologies that are characterized by the use of—

“(i) alternative energy cycles;

“(ii) thermionic devices using waste heat;

“(iii) fuel cells;

“(iv) replacement of chemical processes with biotechnology;

“(v) nanotechnology;

“(vi) new materials in applications (other than extending cycles to higher temperature and pressure), such as membranes or ceramics;

“(vii) carbon utilization, such as in construction materials, using low quality energy to reconvert back to a fuel, or manufactured food;

“(viii) advanced gas separation concepts; and

“(ix) other technologies, including—

“(I) modular, manufactured components; and

changed “(II) innovative production or research techniques, such as using 3-D 3–D printer systems, for the production of early research and development prototypes.

“(2) Cost share—In carrying out the program described in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall enter into partnerships with private entities to share the costs of carrying out the program. The Secretary may reduce the non-Federal cost share requirement if the Secretary determines that the reduction is necessary and appropriate considering the technological risks involved in the project.”

“(1) In general—In carrying out programs authorized by this section, the Secretary shall identify cost and performance goals for coal-based technologies that would permit the continued cost-competitive use of coal for the production of electricity, chemical feedstocks, transportation fuels, and other marketable products.”

“(6) Advisory committee

“(A) In general—Subject to subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall establish an advisory committee to undertake, not less frequently than once every 3 years, a review and prepare a report on the progress being made by the Department of Energy to achieve the goals described in subsections (a) and (b) of section 962 and subsection (b) of this section.

“(B) Membership requirements—Members of the advisory committee established under subparagraph (A) shall be appointed by the Secretary.”

“(d) Study of carbon dioxide pipelines—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress the results of a study to assess the cost and feasibility of engineering, permitting, building, maintaining, regulating, and insuring a national system of carbon dioxide pipelines.”

Section 5012 of the America COMPETES Act (42 U.S.C. 16538) is amended—

“(1) In general—The goals of ARPA–E shall be to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States and to ensure that the United States maintains a technological lead through the development of advanced energy technologies.”

“(n) Protection of proprietary information

“(1) In general—The following categories of information collected by the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy from recipients of financial assistance awards shall be considered privileged and confidential and not subject to disclosure pursuant to section 552 of title 5, United States Code:

“(A) Plans for commercialization of technologies developed under the award, including business plans, technology to market plans, market studies, and cost and performance models.

“(B) Investments provided to an awardee from third parties, such as venture capital, hedge fund, or private equity firms, including amounts and percentage of ownership of the awardee provided in return for such investments.

“(C) Additional financial support that the awardee plans to invest or has invested into the technology developed under the award, or that the awardee is seeking from third parties.

“(D) Revenue from the licensing or sale of new products or services resulting from the research conducted under the award.

“(2) Effect of subsection—Nothing in this subsection affects—

“(A) the authority of the Secretary to use information without publicly disclosing such information; or

“(B) the responsibility of the Secretary to transmit information to Congress as required by law.”