Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 102 Part 2.djvu/436

 102 STAT. 1440 Contracts.

Federal Register, publication. Reports. Contracts.

Contracts.

PUBLIC LAW 100-418—AUG. 23, 1988

"(2) enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with United States businesses, especially smedl 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 sigreements 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 0)X2) 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-

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