Promoting Small Business Innovation through Partnerships with National Labs Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3574 To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require the establishment of a small business voucher program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 27, 2019 Mr. LUJA´N (for himself and Mr. FLEISCHMANN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require the establishment of a small business voucher program, 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 ‘‘Promoting Small Busi- 4 ness Innovation through Partnerships with National Labs 5 Act of 2019’’. 6 SEC. 2. SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCACY AND ASSISTANCE. 7 Section 1003 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 8 U.S.C. 16393) is amended— 9 (1) in subsection (a)— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3574.IH H3574 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3574 IH (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 1 by striking ‘‘, and may require the Director of 2 a single-purpose research facility,’’ and insert- 3 ing ‘‘(as defined in section 2) and the Director 4 of each single-purpose research facility’’; 5 (B) in paragraph (1)— 6 (i) by striking ‘‘increase’’ and insert- 7 ing ‘‘encourage’’; and 8 (ii) by striking ‘‘collaborative re- 9 search,’’ and inserting ‘‘research, develop- 10 ment, demonstration, and commercial ap- 11 plication activities, including product devel- 12 opment,’’; 13 (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘procure- 14 ment and collaborative research’’ and inserting 15 ‘‘the activities described in paragraph (1)’’; 16 (D) in paragraph (3)— 17 (i) by inserting ‘‘facilities,’’ before 18 ‘‘training’’; and 19 (ii) by striking ‘‘procurement and col- 20 laborative research activities’’ and insert- 21 ing ‘‘the activities described in paragraph 22 (1)’’; and 23 (E) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘for the 24 program under subsection (b)’’ and inserting 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3574.IH H3574 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3574 IH ‘‘and metrics for the programs under sub- 1 sections (b) and (c)’’; 2 (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as 3 subsections (d) and (e), respectively; 4 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol- 5 lowing: 6 ‘‘(c) SMALL BUSINESS VOUCHER PROGRAM.— 7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 8 ‘‘(A) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ 9 means— 10 ‘‘(i) the Director of each National 11 Laboratory; and 12 ‘‘(ii) the Director of each single-pur- 13 pose research facility. 14 ‘‘(B) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term 15 ‘National Laboratory’ has the meaning given 16 the term in section 2. 17 ‘‘(C) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ 18 means the program established under para- 19 graph (2). 20 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, work- 21 ing with the Office of Technology Transitions and 22 the Technology Transfer Coordinator appointed 23 under section 1001(a), and in consultation with the 24 Directors, shall establish a program to provide small 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3574.IH H3574 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3574 IH business concerns with vouchers under paragraph 1 (3)— 2 ‘‘(A) to achieve the goal described in sub- 3 section (a)(1); and 4 ‘‘(B) to improve the products, services, and 5 capabilities of small business concerns in the 6 mission space of the Department. 7 ‘‘(3) VOUCHERS.—Under the program, the Di- 8 rectors are authorized to provide to small business 9 concerns vouchers to be used at National Labora- 10 tories and single-purpose research facilities for— 11 ‘‘(A) research, development, demonstra- 12 tion, technology transfer, or commercial appli- 13 cation activities; or 14 ‘‘(B) any other activities that the applica- 15 ble Director determines appropriate. 16 ‘‘(4) EXPEDITED CONTRACTING.— 17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, work- 18 ing with the Directors, shall establish a stream- 19 lined approval process for expedited contracting 20 between— 21 ‘‘(i) small business concerns selected 22 to receive a voucher under the program; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3574.IH H3574 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 3574 IH ‘‘(ii) the National Laboratories and 1 single-purpose research facilities. 2 ‘‘(B) DECISIONMAKING AUTHORITY.—The 3 Secretary shall determine the appropriate deci- 4 sionmaking authority at the National Labora- 5 tories and single-purpose research facilities with 6 respect to the expedited contracting described 7 in subparagraph (A). 8 ‘‘(5) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.—In car- 9 rying out the program, the Secretary shall require 10 cost-sharing in accordance with section 988.’’; and 11 (4) in subsection (e) (as so redesignated), by 12 striking ‘‘$5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 13 through 2008’’ and inserting ‘‘$25,000,000 for fiscal 14 year 2020 and each fiscal year thereafter’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3574.IH H3574 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS