Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 114 Part 1.djvu/469

 PUBLIC LAW 106-224—JUNE 20, 2000 114 STAT. 433 (c) DUTIES.—The Advisory Committee shall— (1) advise the points of contact with respect to the Initiative; and (2) evaluate whether, and make recommendations in writing to the Board to ensure that— (A) funds authorized for the Initiative are distributed and used in a manner that is consistent with the goals of the Initiative; (B) the points of contact are funding proposals under this title that are selected on the basis of merit, as determined by an independent panel of scientific and technical peers; and (C) activities under this title are carried out in accordance with this title. (d) COORDINATION.— To avoid duplication of effort, the Advisory Committee shall coordinate its activities with those of other Federal advisory committees working in related areas. (e) MEETINGS. —The Advisory Committee shall meet at least quarterly to enable the Advisory Committee to CEury out the duties of the Advisory Committee under subsection (c). (f) TERMS. —Members of the Advisory Committee shall be appointed for a term of 3 years, except that— (1) one-third of the members initially appointed shall be appointed for a term of 1 year; and (2) one-third of the members initially appointed shall be appointed for a term of 2 years. SEC. 307. BIOMASS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE. Grants. (a) IN GENERAL. — The Secretary of Agriculture and the Sec- 7 USC 7624 note. retary of Energy, acting through their respective points of contact and in consultation with the Board, shall establish and carry out a Biomass Research and Development Initiative under which competitively awarded grants, contracts, and jfinancial assistance are provided to, or entered into with, eligible entities to carry out rescarch on biobased industrial products. (b) PURPOSES.— The purposes of grants, contracts, and assistance under this section shall be— (1) to stimulate collaborative activities by a diverse range of experts in all aspects of biomass processing for the purpose of conducting fundamental and innovation-targeted research and technology development; (2) to enhance creative and imaginative approaches toward biomass processing that will serve to develop the next generation of advanced technologies making possible low cost and sustainable biobased industried products; (3) to strengthen the intellectual resources of the United States through the training and education of future scientists, engineers, managers, and business leaders in the field of biomass processing; and (4) to promote integrated research partnerships among colleges, universities, national laboratories. Federal and State research agencies, and the private sector as the best means of overcoming technical challenges that spam multiple reseairch and engineering disciplines and of gaining better leverage from limited Federal research funds. (c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—

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