CAMS Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2950 To provide for a fundamental research program for the application of ad- vanced computing practices to materials science challenges at the Depart- ment of Energy, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 30, 2021 Mr. WEBER of Texas (for himself and Mr. LUCAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To provide for a fundamental research program for the appli- cation of advanced computing practices to materials science challenges at the Department of Energy, 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 ‘‘Computing Advance- 4 ments for Materials Science Act’’ or the ‘‘CAMS Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:12 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2950.IH H2950 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2950 IH SEC. 2. COMPUTATIONAL MATERIALS AND CHEMISTRY. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 303 of the Department of 2 Energy Research and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 18641) 3 is amended by— 4 (1) redesignating subsections (d) and (e) as 5 subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and 6 (2) inserting after subsection (c) the following: 7 ‘‘(d) COMPUTATIONAL MATERIALS AND CHEM- 8 ISTRY.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall support 10 a program of fundamental research for the applica- 11 tion of advanced computing practices to foundational 12 and emerging research problems in chemistry and 13 materials science. 14 ‘‘(2) COMPUTATIONAL MATERIALS AND CHEM- 15 ISTRY SCIENCE CENTERS.— 16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 17 activities authorized under paragraph (1), the 18 Director shall select and establish up to four 19 computational materials and chemistry science 20 centers to develop open-source, robust, and vali- 21 dated computational codes and user-friendly 22 software, coupled with innovative use of experi- 23 mental and theoretical data, to enable the de- 24 sign, discovery, and development of new mate- 25 rials and chemical systems including chemical 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:12 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2950.IH H2950 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2950 IH catalysis research and development. These cen- 1 ters shall also focus on overcoming challenges 2 and maximizing the benefits of exascale and 3 other high performance computing systems. 4 ‘‘(B) SELECTION.—The Director shall se- 5 lect centers under paragraph (1) on a competi- 6 tive, merit-reviewed basis. The Director shall 7 consider applications from the National Labora- 8 tories, institutes of higher education, multi-in- 9 stitutional collaborations, and other appropriate 10 entities. 11 ‘‘(C) DURATION.—A center established 12 under this subsection shall receive support for 13 a period of not more than 5 years, subject to 14 the availability of appropriations. 15 ‘‘(D) RENEWAL.—Upon the expiration of 16 any period of support of a center under this 17 paragraph, the Director may renew support for 18 the center, on a merit-reviewed basis, for a pe- 19 riod of not more than 5 years. 20 ‘‘(E) TERMINATION.—Consistent with the 21 existing authorities of the Department, the Di- 22 rector may terminate an underperforming cen- 23 ter for cause during the performance period. 24 ‘‘(3) MATERIALS RESEARCH DATABASE.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:12 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2950.IH H2950 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2950 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall 1 support the development of a web-based plat- 2 form to provide access to a database of com- 3 puted information on known and predicted ma- 4 terials properties and computational tools to ac- 5 celerate breakthroughs in materials discovery 6 and design. 7 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM.—In carrying out this 8 paragraph, the Director shall— 9 ‘‘(i) conduct cooperative research with 10 industry, academia, and other research in- 11 stitutions to facilitate the design of novel 12 materials; 13 ‘‘(ii) leverage existing high perform- 14 ance computing systems to conduct high- 15 throughput calculations, and develop com- 16 putational and data mining algorithms for 17 the prediction of material properties; 18 ‘‘(iii) advance understanding, pre- 19 diction, and manipulation of materials; 20 ‘‘(iv) strengthen the foundation for 21 new technologies and advanced manufac- 22 turing; and 23 ‘‘(v) drive the development of ad- 24 vanced materials for applications that span 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:12 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2950.IH H2950 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2950 IH the Department’s missions in energy, envi- 1 ronment, and national security. 2 ‘‘(C) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this 3 section, the Director shall leverage programs 4 and activities across the Department.’’. 5 (b) FUNDING.—Out of funds authorized to be appro- 6 priated for the Basic Energy Sciences program of the Of- 7 fice of Science at the Department of Energy, there shall 8 be made available to the Secretary to carry out activities 9 under this subsection $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal 10 years 2022 through 2031. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:12 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2950.IH H2950 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS