IMAGINE Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6898 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 MAY 15, 2020 Mr. CICILLINE (for himself, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. YOUNG, and Mr. POSEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc- ture, and in addition to the Committees on Science, Space, and Tech- nology, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction 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 2020’’ or the ‘‘IMAGINE Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:30 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6898.IH H6898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6898 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. DEFINITION OF INNOVATIVE MATERIAL. 14 In this Act, the term ‘‘innovative material’’, with re- 15 spect to an infrastructure project, includes those materials 16 or combinations and processes for use of materials that 17 enhance the overall service life, sustainability, and resil- 18 iency of the project or provide ancillary benefits relative 19 to widely adopted state of practice technologies, as deter- 20 mined by the appropriate Secretary or agency head. 21 SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY INNOVATIVE MATERIALS STAND- 22 ARDS TASK FORCE. 23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 25 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:30 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6898.IH H6898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6898 IH of the National Institute of Standards and Tech- 1 nology shall establish an Interagency Innovative Ma- 2 terials Standards Task Force (referred to in this 3 section as the ‘‘Task Force’’) composed of the heads 4 of Federal agencies responsible for significant civil 5 infrastructure projects, including— 6 (A) the Administrator of the Federal High- 7 way Administration; 8 (B) the Commanding General and Chief of 9 Engineers of the Corps of Engineers; 10 (C) the Assistant Secretary of the Army 11 for Civil Works; and 12 (D) the Administrator of the Environ- 13 mental Protection Agency. 14 (2) CHAIRPERSON.—The Director of the Na- 15 tional Institute of Standards and Technology shall 16 serve as Chairperson of the Task Force. 17 (b) PURPOSE.—The Task Force shall coordinate and 18 improve, with respect to infrastructure construction, retro- 19 fitting, rehabilitation, and other improvements— 20 (1) Federal testing standards; 21 (2) Federal design and use guidelines; 22 (3) Federal regulations; and 23 (4) other applicable standards. 24 (c) REPORT.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:30 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6898.IH H6898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6898 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 1 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Task 2 Force shall conduct, and submit to the appropriate 3 committees of Congress a report that describes the 4 results of, a study— 5 (A) to assess the standards for the use of 6 innovative materials in infrastructure projects; 7 (B) to identify any barriers, regulatory or 8 otherwise, relating to the standards described in 9 subparagraph (A) that preclude the use of cer- 10 tain products or associated techniques; and 11 (C) to identify opportunities for the devel- 12 opment of standardized designs that use inno- 13 vative materials to reduce costs, improve per- 14 formance, and extend the service life of infra- 15 structure assets. 16 (2) REPORT.—The report under paragraph (1) 17 shall— 18 (A) identify any non-Federal entities or 19 other organizations, including the American As- 20 sociation of State Highway and Transportation 21 Officials, that develop relevant standards; and 22 (B) outline a strategy to improve coordina- 23 tion and information sharing between the enti- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:30 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6898.IH H6898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 6898 IH ties described in subparagraph (A) and any rel- 1 evant Federal agencies. 2 (d) IMPROVED COORDINATION.—Not later than 2 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Task 4 Force shall collaborate with any non-Federal entity identi- 5 fied under subsection (c)(2)(A)— 6 (1) to identify and carry out appropriate re- 7 search, testing methods, and processes relating to 8 the development and use of innovative materials; 9 (2) to develop new methods and processes relat- 10 ing to the development and use of innovative mate- 11 rials, as the applicable agency head determines to be 12 necessary; 13 (3) to contribute to the development of stand- 14 ards and guidelines for the use of innovative mate- 15 rials and approaches in civil infrastructure projects; 16 (4) to develop a plan for addressing potential 17 barriers, regulatory or otherwise, identified in sub- 18 section (c)(1)(B); and 19 (5) to develop a plan for the development of 20 standardized designs that use innovative materials to 21 reduce costs, improve performance, and extend the 22 service life of infrastructure assets. 23 SEC. 5. INNOVATIVE MATERIAL INNOVATION HUBS. 24 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:30 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6898.IH H6898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 6898 IH (1) HUB.—The term ‘‘Hub’’ means an Innova- 1 tive Material Innovation Hub established under this 2 section. 3 (2) QUALIFYING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘quali- 4 fying entity’’ means— 5 (A) an institution of higher education (as 6 defined in section 101(a) of the Higher Edu- 7 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a))); 8 (B) an appropriate Federal or State entity, 9 including a federally funded research and devel- 10 opment center of the Department of Transpor- 11 tation; 12 (C) a university transportation center 13 under section 5505 of title 49, United States 14 Code; 15 (D) an Innovative Material Innovation 16 Hub in existence on the date of enactment of 17 this Act; and 18 (E) any other relevant entity the Secretary 19 determines to be appropriate. 20 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 21 the Secretary of Transportation. 22 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAM.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 24 out a program to enhance the development of inno- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:30 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6898.IH H6898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 6898 IH vative materials in the United States by making 1 awards to consortia for establishing and operating 2 new Hubs, to be known as ‘‘Innovative Material In- 3 novation Hubs’’, to conduct and support multidisci- 4 plinary, collaborative research, development, dem- 5 onstration, standardized design development, and 6 commercial application of innovative materials. 7 (2) LOCATION OF HUBS.—To the extent prac- 8 ticable, each Hub shall be located at 1 centralized lo- 9 cation. 10 (3) TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT FOCUS.—The 11 Secretary shall designate for each new Hub a unique 12 innovative material focus, such as material develop- 13 ment, infrastructure applications, and other focus 14 areas identified by the Secretary. 15 (4) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall en- 16 sure the coordination of, and avoid unnecessary du- 17 plication of, the activities of each Hub with the ac- 18 tivities of— 19 (A) other research entities of the Depart- 20 ment of Transportation, including the Federal 21 Highway Administration; 22 (B) the National Laboratories (as defined 23 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 24 (42 U.S.C. 15801)); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:30 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6898.IH H6898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 6898 IH (C) the Corps of Engineers; 1 (D) the Environmental Protection Agency; 2 (E) the Federal Emergency Management 3 Agency; 4 (F) the National Institute of Standards 5 and Technology; 6 (G) the Department of Defense; 7 (H) an industry consortium meeting the 8 requirements under subsection (c)(1); and 9 (I) any other Federal agencies or industry 10 consortia conducting substantially similar work. 11 (c) APPLICATION PROCESS.— 12 (1) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive an 13 award for the establishment and operation of a Hub 14 under subsection (b)(1), a consortium shall— 15 (A) be composed of not fewer than 2 quali- 16 fying entities; 17 (B) operate subject to a binding agree- 18 ment, entered into by each member of the con- 19 sortium, that documents— 20 (i) the proposed partnership agree- 21 ment, including the governance and man- 22 agement structure of the Hub; 23 (ii) measures the consortium will un- 24 dertake to enable cost-effective implemen- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:30 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6898.IH H6898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 6898 IH tation of activities under the program de- 1 scribed in subsection (b)(1); and 2 (iii) a proposed budget, including fi- 3 nancial contributions from non-Federal 4 sources; and 5 (C) operate as a nonprofit organization. 6 (2) APPLICATION.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—A consortium seeking 8 to establish and operate a Hub under sub- 9 section (b)(1) shall submit to the Secretary an 10 application at such time, in such manner, and 11 containing such information as the Secretary 12 may require, including a detailed description 13 of— 14 (i) each element of the consortium 15 agreement required under paragraph 16 (1)(B); and 17 (ii) any existing facilities the consor- 18 tium intends to provide for Hub activities. 19 (B) REQUIREMENT.—If the consortium 20 members will not be located at 1 centralized lo- 21 cation, the application under subparagraph (A) 22 shall include a communications plan that en- 23 sures close coordination and integration of Hub 24 activities. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:30 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6898.IH H6898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 6898 IH (3) SELECTION.— 1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall se- 2 lect consortia for awards for the establishment 3 and operation of Hubs through a competitive 4 selection process. 5 (B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting con- 6 sortia under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 7 shall consider— 8 (i) the information disclosed by the 9 consortium under this subsection; 10 (ii) any existing facilities a consortium 11 will provide for Hub activities; and 12 (iii) maintaining regional variety in lo- 13 cations of selected Hubs. 14 (d) TERM.—An award made to a Hub under this sec- 15 tion shall be for a period of not more than 5 years, subject 16 to the availability of appropriations, after which the award 17 may be renewed, subject to a rigorous merit review. 18 (e) HUB OPERATIONS.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each Hub shall conduct or 20 provide for multidisciplinary, collaborative research, 21 development, demonstration, and commercial appli- 22 cation of innovative materials within the technology 23 development focus designated under subsection 24 (b)(3). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:30 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6898.IH H6898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 6898 IH (2) ACTIVITIES.—Each Hub shall— 1 (A) encourage collaboration and commu- 2 nication among the member qualifying entities 3 of the consortium as described in subsection 4 (c)(1) and awardees; 5 (B) develop and publish proposed plans 6 and programs on a publicly accessible website; 7 (C) submit to the Department of Trans- 8 portation an annual report summarizing the ac- 9 tivities of the Hub, including information— 10 (i) detailing organizational expendi- 11 tures; and 12 (ii) describing each project under- 13 taken by the Hub; and 14 (D) monitor project implementation and 15 coordination. 16 (3) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—Each Hub shall 17 maintain conflict of interest procedures, consistent 18 with the conflict of interest procedures of the De- 19 partment of Transportation. 20 (4) PROHIBITION ON CONSTRUCTION.— 21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 22 subparagraph (B)— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:30 Jun 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6898.IH H6898 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 6898 IH (i) no funds provided under this sec- 1 tion may be used for construction of new 2 buildings or facilities for Hubs; and 3 (ii) construction of new buildings or 4 facilities shall not be considered as part of 5 the non-Federal share of a Hub cost-shar- 6 ing agreement. 7 (B) TEST BED AND RENOVATION EXCEP- 8 TION.—Nothing in this paragraph prohibits the 9 use of funds provided under this section or non- 10 Federal cost share funds for the construction of 11 a test bed or renovations to existing buildings 12 or facilities for the purposes of research if the 13 Secretary determines that the test bed or ren- 14 ovations are limited to a scope and scale nec- 15 essary for the research to be conducted. 16 SEC. 6. TURNER-FAIRBANK HIGHWAY RESEARCH CENTER. 17 Section 503(b)(7) of title 23, United States Code, is 18 amended by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘(C) INNOVATIVE MATERIALS.— 20 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF INNOVATIVE MA- 21 TERIAL.—In this subparagraph, the term 22 ‘innovative material’, with respect to an in- 23 frastructure project, includes high perform- 24 ance asphalt mixtures and concrete formu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:30 Ju [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]