IMAGINE Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2197 To encourage the research and use of innovative materials and associated techniques in the construction and preservation of the domestic transpor- tation and water infrastructure system, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 26, 2021 Mr. CICILLINE (for himself, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, and Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committees on Science, Space, and Technology, and Energy and Com- merce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To encourage the research and use of innovative materials and associated techniques in the construction and preser- vation of the domestic transportation and water infra- structure system, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Innovative Materials 4 for America’s Growth and Infrastructure Newly Expanded 5 Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘IMAGINE Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2197.IH H2197 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2197 IH SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 1 The purposes of this Act are— 2 (1) to encourage the research and use of inno- 3 vative materials, in concert with traditional mate- 4 rials, and associated techniques in the construction 5 and preservation of the domestic infrastructure net- 6 work; 7 (2) to accelerate the deployment and extend the 8 service life, improve the performance, and reduce the 9 cost of infrastructure projects; and 10 (3) to improve the economy, resilience, main- 11 tainability, sustainability, and safety of the domestic 12 infrastructure network. 13 SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY INNOVATIVE MATERIALS STAND- 14 ARDS TASK FORCE. 15 (a) DEFINITION OF INNOVATIVE MATERIAL.—In this 16 section, the term ‘‘innovative material’’, with respect to 17 an infrastructure project, includes a material, or a com- 18 bination or process for use of materials, that, as deter- 19 mined by the appropriate Secretary or agency head— 20 (1) enhances the overall service life, sustain- 21 ability, and resiliency of the project; or 22 (2) provides ancillary benefits relative to widely 23 adopted state of practice technologies. 24 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2197.IH H2197 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2197 IH (1) to encourage the research, design, and use 1 of innovative materials, in concert with traditional 2 materials, and associated techniques in the construc- 3 tion and preservation of the domestic infrastructure 4 network; 5 (2) to accelerate the deployment, extend the 6 service life, improve the performance, and reduce the 7 cost of infrastructure projects; and 8 (3) to improve the economy, resilience, main- 9 tainability, sustainability, and safety of the domestic 10 infrastructure network. 11 (c) ESTABLISHMENT.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 13 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 14 of the National Institute of Standards and Tech- 15 nology shall establish an Interagency Innovative Ma- 16 terials Standards Task Force (referred to in this 17 section as the ‘‘Task Force’’) composed of the heads 18 of Federal agencies responsible for significant civil 19 infrastructure projects, including the Administrator 20 of the Federal Highway Administration. 21 (2) CHAIRPERSON.—The Director of the Na- 22 tional Institute of Standards and Technology shall 23 serve as Chairperson of the Task Force. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2197.IH H2197 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2197 IH (d) DUTIES.—The Task Force shall coordinate and 1 improve, with respect to infrastructure construction, retro- 2 fitting, rehabilitation, and other improvements— 3 (1) Federal testing standards; 4 (2) Federal design and use guidelines; 5 (3) Federal regulations; and 6 (4) other applicable standards and performance 7 and sustainability metrics. 8 (e) REPORT.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 10 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Task 11 Force shall conduct, and submit to the appropriate 12 committees of Congress a report that describes the 13 results of, a study— 14 (A) to assess the standards and perform- 15 ance metrics for the use of innovative materials 16 in infrastructure projects; 17 (B) to identify any barriers, regulatory or 18 otherwise, relating to the standards described in 19 subparagraph (A) that preclude the use of cer- 20 tain products or associated techniques; and 21 (C) to identify opportunities for the devel- 22 opment of standardized designs and materials 23 genome approaches that design and use innova- 24 tive materials to reduce costs, improve perform- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2197.IH H2197 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2197 IH ance and sustainability, and extend the service 1 life of infrastructure assets. 2 (2) REPORT.—The report under paragraph (1) 3 shall— 4 (A) identify any non-Federal entities or 5 other organizations, including the American As- 6 sociation of State Highway and Transportation 7 Officials, that develop relevant standards; and 8 (B) outline a strategy to improve coordina- 9 tion and information sharing between the enti- 10 ties described in subparagraph (A) and any rel- 11 evant Federal agencies. 12 (f) IMPROVED COORDINATION.—Not later than 2 13 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Task 14 Force shall collaborate with any non-Federal entity identi- 15 fied under subsection (e)(2)(A)— 16 (1) to identify and carry out appropriate re- 17 search, testing methods, and processes relating to 18 the development and use of innovative materials; 19 (2) to develop new methods and processes relat- 20 ing to the development and use of innovative mate- 21 rials, as the applicable agency head determines to be 22 necessary; 23 (3) to contribute to the development of stand- 24 ards, performance metrics, and guidelines for the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2197.IH H2197 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2197 IH use of innovative materials and approaches in civil 1 infrastructure projects; 2 (4) to develop a plan for addressing potential 3 barriers, regulatory or otherwise, identified in sub- 4 section (e)(1)(B); and 5 (5) to develop a plan for the development of 6 standardized designs that use innovative materials to 7 reduce costs, improve performance and sustain- 8 ability, and extend the service life of infrastructure 9 assets. 10 SEC. 4. INNOVATIVE MATERIAL INNOVATION HUBS. 11 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 12 (1) HUB.—The term ‘‘Hub’’ means an Innova- 13 tive Material Innovation Hub established under this 14 section. 15 (2) INNOVATIVE MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘inno- 16 vative material’’, with respect to an infrastructure 17 project, includes a material, or a combination or 18 process for use of materials, that, as determined by 19 the Secretary— 20 (A) enhances the overall service life, sus- 21 tainability, and resiliency of the project; or 22 (B) provides ancillary benefits relative to 23 widely adopted state of practice technologies. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2197.IH H2197 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2197 IH (3) QUALIFYING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘quali- 1 fying entity’’ means— 2 (A) an institution of higher education (as 3 defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Edu- 4 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))); 5 (B) an appropriate Federal or State entity, 6 including a federally-funded research and devel- 7 opment center of the Department of Transpor- 8 tation; 9 (C) a university transportation center 10 under section 5505 of title 49, United States 11 Code; and 12 (D) a research and development entity in 13 existence on the date of enactment of this Act 14 focused on innovative materials that the Sec- 15 retary determines to be similar in scope and in- 16 tent to a Hub. 17 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 18 the Secretary of Transportation. 19 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 21 out a program to enhance the development of inno- 22 vative materials in the United States by making 23 awards to consortia for establishing and operating 24 Innovative Material Innovation Hubs to conduct and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2197.IH H2197 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2197 IH support multidisciplinary, collaborative research, de- 1 velopment, demonstration, standardized design de- 2 velopment, and commercial application of innovative 3 materials. 4 (2) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall en- 5 sure the coordination of, and avoid duplication of, 6 the activities of each Hub with the activities of— 7 (A) other research entities of the Depart- 8 ment of Transportation, including the Federal 9 Highway Administration; and 10 (B) research entities of other Federal 11 agencies, as appropriate. 12 (c) COMPETITIVE SELECTION PROCESS.— 13 (1) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive an 14 award for the establishment and operation of a Hub 15 under subsection (b)(1), a consortium shall— 16 (A) be composed of not fewer than 2 quali- 17 fying entities; 18 (B) operate subject to a binding agree- 19 ment, entered into by each member of the con- 20 sortium, that documents— 21 (i) the proposed partnership agree- 22 ment, including the governance and man- 23 agement structure of the Hub; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2197.IH H2197 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2197 IH (ii) measures the consortium will un- 1 dertake to enable cost-effective implemen- 2 tation of activities under the program de- 3 scribed in subsection (b)(1); and 4 (iii) a proposed budget, including fi- 5 nancial contributions from non-Federal 6 sources; and 7 (C) operate as a nonprofit organization. 8 (2) APPLICATION.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—A consortium seeking 10 to establish and operate a Hub under sub- 11 section (b)(1) shall submit to the Secretary an 12 application at such time, in such manner, and 13 containing such information as the Secretary 14 may require, including a detailed description 15 of— 16 (i) each element of the consortium 17 agreement required under paragraph 18 (1)(B); and 19 (ii) any existing facilities the consor- 20 tium intends to use for Hub activities. 21 (B) REQUIREMENT.—If the consortium 22 members will not be located at 1 centralized lo- 23 cation, the application under subparagraph (A) 24 shall include a communications plan that en- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2197.IH H2197 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2197 IH sures close coordination and integration of Hub 1 activities. 2 (3) SELECTION.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall se- 4 lect consortia for awards for the establishment 5 and operation of Hubs through a competitive 6 selection process. 7 (B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting con- 8 sortia under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 9 shall consider— 10 (i) any existing facilities a consortium 11 has identified to be used for Hub activities; 12 (ii) maintaining geographic diversity 13 in locations of selected Hubs; 14 (iii) the demonstrated ability of the 15 recipient to conduct and support multi- 16 disciplinary, collaborative research, devel- 17 opment, demonstration, standardized de- 18 sign development, and commercial applica- 19 tion of innovative materials; 20 (iv) the demonstrated research, tech- 21 nology transfer, and education resources 22 available to the recipient to carry out this 23 section; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2197.IH H2197 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2197 IH (v) the ability of the recipient to pro- 1 vide leadership in solving immediate and 2 long-range national and regional transpor- 3 tation problems related to innovative mate- 4 rials; 5 (vi) the demonstrated ability of the re- 6 cipient to disseminate results and spur the 7 implementation of transportation research 8 and education programs through national 9 or statewide continuing education pro- 10 grams; 11 (vii) the demonstrated commitment of 12 the recipient to the use of peer review prin- 13 ciples and other research best practices in 14 the selection, management, and dissemina- 15 tion of research projects; 16 (viii) the performance metrics to be 17 used in assessing the performance of the 18 recipient in meeting the stated research, 19 technology transfer, education, and out- 20 reach goals; and 21 (ix) the ability of the recipient to im- 22 plement the proposed program in a cost-ef- 23 ficient manner, including through cost 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2197.IH H2197 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2197 IH sharing and overall reduced overhead, fa- 1 cilities, and administrative costs. 2 (4) TRANSPARENCY.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 4 provide to each applicant, on request, any mate- 5 rials, including copies of reviews (with any in- 6 formation that would identify a reviewer re- 7 dacted), used in the evaluation process of the 8 proposal of the applicant. 9 (B) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall sub- 10 mit to the Committee on Transportation and 11 Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 12 and the Committee on Environment and Public 13 Works of the Senate a report the describes the 14 overall review process under paragraph (2), 15 given the considerations under paragraph 16 (3)(B), that includes— 17 (i) specific criteria of evaluation used 18 in the review; 19 (ii) descriptions of the review process; 20 and 21 (iii) explanations of the selected 22 awards. 23 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 May 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2197.IH H2197 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2197 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 1 appropriated to carry out this section such sums as 2 are necessary. 3 (2) AVAILA [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]