42 U.S.C. § 1862b — Establishment of Program

Page 5086 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 1862b II of Pub. L. 100–570, Oct. 31, 1988, 102 Stat. 2873, known as the Academic Research Facilities Modernization Act of 1988, which enacted sections 1862a to 1862d of this title, repealed former sections 1862a and 1862b of this title, and repealed provisions set out as a note under section 1861 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title of 1988 Amend- ments note set out under section 1861 of this title and Tables. CODIFICATION Section was enacted as part of the Academic Re- search Facilities Modernization Act of 1988, and also as part of the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1988, and not as part of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 which comprises this chapter. PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 1862a, Pub. L. 100–418, title VI, § 6402, Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1542, related to establishment of National Science Foundation Academic Research Fa- cilities Modernization Program, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 100–570, § 206. § 1862b. Establishment of Program (a) Establishment; purpose (1) To carry out sections 1862a to 1862d of this title, the Director shall establish and carry out a new Academic Research Facilities Moderniza- tion Program (hereafter in sections 1862a to 1862d of this title referred to as the ‘‘Program’’), under which awards are made to institutions of higher education, independent nonprofit re- search institutions, and research museums, and consortia thereof, for the repair, renovation, or, in exceptional cases, replacement of obsolete science and engineering facilities primarily de- voted to research. (2) Such awards shall, consistent with the functions of the Foundation set forth in section 1862 of this title and through established Foun- dation selection procedures, serve to— (A) promote the modernization of graduate academic science and engineering research laboratories and related facilities so as to fa- cilitate and support research in the scientific and engineering disciplines; (B) assist those academic institutions that historically have received relatively little Federal research and development funds to im- prove their academic science and engineering infrastructures and broaden and strengthen the Nation’s science and engineering base; and (C) promote the modernization of under- graduate academic science and engineering re- search laboratories and related facilities so as to facilitate and support research in the sci- entific and engineering disciplines. (b) Improvement projects; maximum amounts (1) The Program shall be carried out through projects which involve the repair, renovation, or, in exceptional cases, replacement of specific science and engineering facilities devoted pri- marily to research at eligible institutions, or consortia thereof, and for which funds are awarded in response to specific proposals sub- mitted by such eligible institutions or consortia in accordance with procedures prescribed by the Director pursuant to section 1862c of this title. (2) Awards made under the Program shall not exceed $7,000,000 to any institution or consor- tium over any period of 5 years for the repair, renovation, or, in exceptional cases, replace- ment of academic research facilities. (3) The Director shall, in making awards under the Program, consider the extent to which that institution or consortium has received funds for the repair, renovation, construction, or replace- ment of academic facilities from any other Fed- eral funding source within the 5-year period im- mediately preceding the application. The Direc- tor shall give priority to institutions or con- sortia that have not received such funds in the preceding 5 years. (4) The Director shall, in awarding funds under sections 1862a to 1862d of this title, consider the distribution of funds among institutions of dif- ferent sizes and geographical locations. (c) Criteria for award of funds Criteria for the award of funds to any institu- tion for a project under the Program shall in- clude— (1) the quality of the research and training to be carried out in the facility or facilities in- volved; (2) the need for the proposed repair, renova- tion, or, in exceptional cases, replacement based on an analysis of the age and condition of existing research facilities and equipment; (3) the congruence of the institution’s re- search and training activities with the future research needs of the Nation and the research mission of the Foundation; (4) the contribution that the project will make toward meeting national, regional, and institutional research and related training needs; (5) in the case of an institution that histori- cally has received relatively little Federal re- search and development funding, the contribu- tion the proposed project will make to improv- ing the institution’s academic scientific and engineering infrastructure and broadening the Nation’s science and engineering base; and (6) the impact of the award on the overall geographic distribution of awards made under the Program, with the objective of avoiding undue concentration of awards. (Pub. L. 100–570, title II, § 203, Oct. 31, 1988, 102 Stat. 2874.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Section was enacted as part of the Academic Re- search Facilities Modernization Act of 1988, and also as part of the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1988, and not as part of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 which comprises this chapter. PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 1862b, Pub. L. 100–418, title VI, § 6403, Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1544, related to establishment of National Science Foundation College Science Instru- mentation Program, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 100–570, § 206. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries MAJOR RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION Pub. L. 107–368, § 13, Dec. 19, 2002, 116 Stat. 3055, re- quired Director of the National Science Foundation to conduct a review and assessment of the major research Page 5087 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 1862c instrumentation program and, not later than 1 year after Dec. 19, 2002, submit a report, including specified estimates, descriptions and analyses, of findings and recommendations to certain Congressional committees, and also required the Director to enter into an arrange- ment with the National Academy of Sciences to assess the need for an interagency program to establish and support fully equipped, state-of-the-art university- based centers for interdisciplinary research and ad- vanced instrumentation development, and not later than 15 months after Dec. 19, 2002, to transmit to the committees the assessment conducted by the National Academy of Sciences together with the Foundation’s reaction to the assessment. § 1862c. Procedures, guidelines, and planning ac- tivities (a) Procedures (1) The Director shall, consistent with the ob- jectives of the Program and the criteria set forth in section 1862b(c) of this title, set forth procedures for the Program. (2) The procedures so prescribed shall contain such terms, conditions, and guidelines as may be necessary in the light of Program objectives, but shall in any event provide that— (A) funds to carry out the Program will be awarded only on the basis of merit after a comprehensive review using established Foun- dation procedures; (B) the membership of merit review panels that assess proposals will be broadly rep- resentative of eligible institutions, including research universities and predominantly un- dergraduate and minority institutions; (C) the institution receiving an award shall provide at least 50 percent of the cost, in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, of the repair, ren- ovation, or replacement involved and shall provide this contribution from private or non- Federal public sources, except that the Direc- tor may accept a match of less than 50 per- cent, but at least 30 percent, for institutions which are not ranked among the top 100 of the institutions receiving Federal research and de- velopment funding, as documented in the lat- est annual report of the Foundation entitled ‘‘Federal Support to Universities, Colleges, and Selected Nonprofit Institutions’’; and (D) to the extent practicable, eligible insti- tutions of a given type will compete against similar institutions for Program awards. (b) Comprehensive planning activities The Director shall conduct comprehensive planning activities, including surveys of re- search facility needs and other information- gathering activities, necessary to implement the Program and to develop the procedures called for under subsection (a) of this section. (c) Guidelines Prior to the issuance of the comprehensive plan required by subsection (d) of this section, and consistent with the Program criteria set forth in section 1862b(c) of this title, the Direc- tor shall publish in the Federal Register pro- posed Program guidelines for public review for a comment period of 30 days. Such guidelines shall provide detailed information on eligibility, cri- teria, terms, and conditions and shall include, but not be limited to— (1) definitions for the terms ‘‘institutions of higher education’’, ‘‘private non-profit re- search organizations’’, ‘‘research museums’’, ‘‘consortia’’, ‘‘facilities’’, ‘‘facilities primarily devoted to research’’, ‘‘instrumentation’’, ‘‘equipment’’, ‘‘repair’’, ‘‘renovation’’, and ‘‘re- placement’’; (2) selection criteria to be used by the Foun- dation in evaluating proposals from institu- tions and consortia thereof, including criteria for evaluating scientific merit and for evalu- ating the age and condition of existing re- search facilities; and (3) requirements for matching a Program award with contributions from non-Federal sources. (d) Comprehensive plan The Director, after gathering appropriate in- formation and after considering comments on the proposed Program guidelines published in the Federal Register pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, shall develop a comprehensive plan for the Program that— (1) defines the appropriate roles and respon- sibilities of the Federal Government, institu- tions of higher education, State governments, private foundations, and other appropriate or- ganizations; (2) states what procedures will be used to en- sure that predominantly undergraduate insti- tutions and colleges and universities that his- torically have received little Federal research and development funding will receive substan- tial percentages of the funds awarded under sections 1862a to 1862d of this title; (3) states the estimated percentage of Pro- gram funds available for each category of eli- gible institutions, including predominantly undergraduate institutions and colleges and universities that historically have received little Federal research and development fund- ing as well as research universities; and (4) evaluates and addresses, to the maximum extent possible, a variety of factors which in- clude— (A) the unique circumstances and research facilities needs of research universities, un- dergraduate institutions, and other institu- tions whose enrollment includes substantial percentages of minorities underrepresented in science and engineering research; (B) innovative approaches in the manage- ment of the Program that address both short-term and long-term aspects of the ren- ovation, repair, and replacement of aca- demic research facilities; (C) programmatic approaches that recog- nize and support excellence, strengthen sci- entific and engineering research potential and, to the maximum extent possible and consistent with the purposes of this Act, as- sure an equitable distribution of resources with respect to institutions and geo- graphical areas; and (D) any recommendations necessary to im- prove the Program and further meet the pur- poses of sections 1862a to 1862d of this title. (e) Report The Director shall prepare and submit, not later than June 15, 1989, a report containing the comprehensive plan required by subsection (d) of this section to the Committee on Labor and