IIB 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2980 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 5, 2023 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation AN ACT To provide for Department of Energy and National Science Foundation research and development coordination, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Dec 06, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2980.RFS H2980 2 HR 2980 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘DOE and NSF Inter- 2 agency Research Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND NATIONAL SCIENCE 4 FOUNDATION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 5 COORDINATION. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy (in this 7 section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) and the Director 8 of the National Science Foundation (in this section re- 9 ferred to as the ‘‘Director’’) shall carry out cross-cutting 10 and collaborative research and development activities fo- 11 cused on the joint advancement of Department of Energy 12 and National Science Foundation mission requirements 13 and priorities. 14 (b) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Sec- 15 retary and the Director shall coordinate the activities 16 under subsection (a) through the establishment of a 17 memorandum of understanding, or other appropriate 18 interagency agreement. Such memorandum or agreement, 19 as the case may be, shall require the use of a competitive, 20 merit-reviewed process, which considers applications from 21 Federal agencies, National Laboratories, institutions of 22 higher education, non-profit institutions, and other appro- 23 priate entities. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Dec 06, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2980.RFS H2980 3 HR 2980 RFS (c) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the activities 1 under subsection (a), the Secretary and the Director 2 may— 3 (1) conduct collaborative research in a variety 4 of focus areas, such as— 5 (A) basic plasma science and engineering, 6 including applications in astrophysics, materials 7 science, fusion science, and accelerator science; 8 (B) fundamental biological and computa- 9 tional science and engineering, including com- 10 putational neuroscience and neuromorphic com- 11 puting, including in collaboration with the pro- 12 gram authorized under section 306 of the De- 13 partment of Energy Research and Innovation 14 Act (42 U.S.C. 18644); 15 (C) modeling and simulation, machine 16 learning, artificial intelligence, data assimila- 17 tion, large-scale data analytics, predictive anal- 18 ysis, and advanced computational, storage, and 19 networking capabilities in order to optimize al- 20 gorithms for purposes related to energy and cli- 21 mate; 22 (D) quantum information sciences, includ- 23 ing quantum computing and quantum network 24 infrastructure, including in collaboration with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Dec 06, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2980.RFS H2980 4 HR 2980 RFS the programs authorized under sections 403 1 and 404 of the National Quantum Initiative Act 2 (15 U.S.C. 8853 and 8854); 3 (E) energy and materials science and engi- 4 neering, including artificial photosynthesis, 5 plasma, solar fuels, and fusion, including in col- 6 laboration with the programs authorized under 7 sections 303 and 307 of the Department of En- 8 ergy Research and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 9 18641 and 18645), and section 973 of the En- 10 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16313); 11 (F) advanced manufacturing technologies, 12 including efficient storage systems and alter- 13 natives to high-temperature processing, for the 14 purposes of optimizing energy consumption, in- 15 cluding in collaboration with the program au- 16 thorized under section 975 of the Department 17 of Energy Research and Innovation Act (42 18 U.S.C. 16315); 19 (G) microelectronics, including novel chip 20 architectures, memory systems, and intercon- 21 nects; and 22 (H) advanced physics, including high en- 23 ergy and particle physics, accelerator research 24 and development, and high performance com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Dec 06, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2980.RFS H2980 5 HR 2980 RFS putational tools, including in collaboration with 1 the programs authorized under section 303 of 2 the Department of Energy Research and Inno- 3 vation Act (42 U.S.C. 18641); 4 (2) promote collaboration, open community- 5 based development, and data and information shar- 6 ing between Federal agencies, National Labora- 7 tories, institutions of higher education, nonprofit in- 8 stitutions, and other appropriate entities by pro- 9 viding the necessary access and secure data and in- 10 formation transfer capabilities; 11 (3) support research infrastructure, including 12 new facilities and equipment, as the Secretary and 13 Director determine necessary; and 14 (4) organize education, training, and research 15 initiatives relating to STEM education and work- 16 force development, including— 17 (A) internships, fellowships, and other re- 18 search or work-based learning opportunities; 19 (B) educational programming for students 20 at all levels, especially experiential and project- 21 based learning opportunities; and 22 (C) professional development opportunities 23 for educators and researchers. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Dec 06, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2980.RFS H2980 6 HR 2980 RFS (d) AGREEMENTS.—In carrying out the activities 1 under subsection (a), the Secretary and the Director are 2 authorized to— 3 (1) carry out reimbursable agreements between 4 the Department of Energy, the National Science 5 Foundation, and other entities in order to maximize 6 the effectiveness of research and development; and 7 (2) collaborate with other Federal agencies, as 8 appropriate. 9 (e) REPORT.—Not later than two years after the date 10 of the enactment of this section, the Secretary and the 11 Director shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, 12 and Technology of the House of Representatives and the 13 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the 14 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 15 the Senate a report detailing the following: 16 (1) Interagency coordination between each Fed- 17 eral agency involved in the research and development 18 activities carried out under this section. 19 (2) Potential opportunities to expand the tech- 20 nical capabilities of the Department of Energy and 21 the National Science Foundation. 22 (3) Collaborative research achievements. 23 (4) Areas of future mutually beneficial suc- 24 cesses. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Dec 06, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2980.RFS H2980 7 HR 2980 RFS (5) Continuation of coordination activities be- 1 tween the Department of Energy and the National 2 Science Foundation. 3 (f) RESEARCH SECURITY.—The activities authorized 4 under this section shall be applied in a manner consistent 5 with subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Develop- 6 ment, Competition, and Innovation Act (enacted as divi- 7 sion B of Public Law 117–167; 42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.). 8 Passed the House of Representatives December 4, 2023. Attest: KEVIN F. MCCUMBER, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:03 Dec 06, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2980.RFS H2980