(a)
In General— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall enter into an agreement with the National Academies under which the National Academies shall conduct a study to—
(1)
develop guidelines, best practices, and examples consistent with the criteria in subsection (b) to aid States in drawing congressional district maps; and
(2)
define metrics, limitations to such metrics, and other factors for the criteria in subsection (b).
(b)
Map Criteria—
(1)
Requirements— The guidelines, best practices, and examples developed under subsection (a) shall—
(A)
comply with the Constitution of the United States, including the requirement of equal population; and
(2)
Considerations— The guidelines, best practices, and examples developed under subsection (a) shall consider factors related to—
(A)
maintaining geographic contiguity and compactness;
(B)
respecting natural and existing political boundaries;
(C)
respecting communities of interest; and
(D)
maintaining partisan fairness.
(c)
Completion of Study— The Study required under subsection (a) shall be completed at the later of—
(2)
the date that is 1 year after the date of the agreement in subsection (a).
(d)
Report— After the completion of the study, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress and make publicly available the results of the study described in subsection (a).