42 U.S.C. § 5907a — Small grant program

Page 6634 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 5907a 1 See References in Text note below. § 5907a. Small grant program (a) Establishment There shall be established within the Depart- ment of Energy a program for appropriate tech- nology under the direction of the Secretary. The Secretary shall develop and implement a pro- gram of small grants for the purpose of encour- aging development and demonstration projects described in subsection (c) of this section. (b) Limitation The aggregate amount of financial support made available to any participant in such pro- gram, including affiliates, under this section shall not exceed $50,000 during any two-year pe- riod. (c) Systems and technologies to be developed and demonstrated Funds made available under this section shall be used to provide for a coordinated and ex- panded effort for the development and dem- onstration of, and the dissemination of informa- tion with respect to, energy-related systems and supporting technologies appropriate to— (1) the needs of local communities and the enhancement of community self-reliance through the use of available resources; (2) the use of renewable resources and the conservation of nonrenewable resources; (3) the use of existing technologies applied to novel situations and uses; (4) applications which are energy-con- serving, environmentally sound, small scale, durable and low cost; and (5) applications which demonstrate sim- plicity of installation, operation and mainte- nance. (d) Eligible participants; simplified application procedures; report to Secretary; allocation criteria; guidelines (1) Grants, agreements or contracts under this section may be made to individuals, local non- profit organizations and institutions, State and local agencies, Indian tribes and small busi- nesses. The Secretary shall develop simplified procedures with respect to application for sup- port under this section. (2) Each grant, agreement or contract under this section shall be governed by the provisions of section 9 of the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 1974 [42 U.S.C. 5908] and shall contain effective provisions under which the Secretary shall receive a full written report of activities supported in whole or in part by funds made available by the Secretary; and (3) In determining the allocation of funds among applicants for support under this section the Secretary may take into consideration: (A) the potential for energy savings or en- ergy production; (B) the type of fuel saved or produced; (C) the potential impact on local or regional energy or environmental problems; and (D) such other criteria as the Secretary finds necessary to achieve the purposes of this Act or the purposes of the Federal Nonnuclear En- ergy Research and Development Act of 1974 [42 U.S.C. 5901 et seq.]. Guidelines implementing this section shall be promulgated with full opportunity for public comment. (e) Reports to Congress The Secretary shall— (1) prepare and submit no later than October 1, 1977, a detailed report on plans for imple- mentation, including the timing of implemen- tation, of the provisions of this section to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Science and Technology of the House of Representa- tives and shall keep such committees fully and currently informed concerning the develop- ment of such plans; and (2) include as a part of the annual report re- quired by section 15(a)(1) 1 of the Federal Non- nuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 1974 beginning in 1977, a full and com- plete report on the program under this sec- tion. (Pub. L. 95–39, title I, § 112, June 3, 1977, 91 Stat. 186; Pub. L. 95–91, title III, § 301(a), title VII, §§ 703, 707, Aug. 4, 1977, 91 Stat. 577, 606, 607.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT This Act, referred to in subsec. (d)(3)(D), means Pub. L. 95–39, June 3, 1977, 91 Stat. 180, which to the extent classified to the Code enacted sections 5816a, 5817a, 5903c, 5907a, 5915a, 5918, and 7001 to 7011 of this title, amended sections 5813, 5818, and 5912 of this title, and enacted provisions set out as notes under sections 5906, 5907, 5914, and 7001 of this title. For complete classifica- tion of this Act to the Code, see Tables. The Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Devel- opment Act of 1974, referred to in subsec. (d)(3)(D), is Pub. L. 93–577, Dec. 31, 1974, 88 Stat. 1878, which is clas- sified generally to this chapter (§ 5901 et seq.). For com- plete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 5901 of this title and Tables. Section 15 of the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Re- search and Development Act of 1974, referred to in sub- sec. (e)(2), was classified to section 5914 of this title and was omitted from the Code. CODIFICATION Section was not enacted as part of the Federal Non- nuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 1974 which comprises this chapter. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries CHANGE OF NAME Committee on Science and Technology of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 5, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Jan. 5, 2011. TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS ‘‘Secretary’’, meaning Secretary of Energy, sub- stituted for ‘‘Administrator’’, ‘‘Administration’’, and ‘‘Assistant Administrator for Conservation and Devel- opment’’, meaning Energy Research and Development Administration and Administrator thereof, in subsecs. (a), (d), and (e) and ‘‘Department of Energy’’ sub- stituted for ‘‘Administration’’ in subsec. (a) pursuant to sections 301(a), 703, and 707 of Pub. L. 95–91, which are classified to sections 7151(a), 7293, and 7297 of this title and which terminated Energy Research and Devel- opment Administration and transferred its functions and functions of Administrator thereof (with certain exceptions) to Secretary of Energy. Page 6635 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 5908 1 So in original. Probably should be a comma. § 5908. Patents and inventions (a) Vesting of title to invention and issuance of patents to United States; prerequisites Whenever any invention is made or conceived in the course of or under any contract of the De- partment, other than nuclear energy research, development, and demonstration pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) and the Secretary determines that— (1) the person who made the invention was employed or assigned to perform research, de- velopment, or demonstration work and the in- vention is related to the work he was em- ployed or assigned to perform, or that it was within the scope of his employment duties, whether or not it was made during working hours, or with a contribution by the Govern- ment of the use of Government facilities, equipment, materials, allocated funds, infor- mation proprietary to the Government, or services of Government employees during working hours; or (2) the person who made the invention was not employed or assigned to perform research, development, or demonstration work, but the invention is nevertheless related to the con- tract or to the work or duties he was employed or assigned to perform, and was made during working hours, or with a contribution from the Government of the sort referred to in clause (1).1 title to such invention shall vest in the United States, and if patents on such invention are issued they shall be issued to the United States, unless in particular circumstances the Sec- retary waives all or any part of the rights of the United States to such invention in conformity with the provisions of this section. (b) Contract as requiring report to Department of invention, etc., made in course of contract Each contract entered into by the Department with any person shall contain effective provi- sions under which such person shall furnish promptly to the Department a written report containing full and complete technical informa- tion concerning any invention, discovery, im- provement, or innovation which may be made in the course of or under such contract. (c) Waiver by Secretary of rights of United States; regulations prescribing procedures; record of waiver determinations; objectives Under such regulations in conformity with the provisions of this section as the Secretary shall prescribe, the Secretary may waive all or any part of the rights of the United States under this section with respect to any invention or class of inventions made or which may be made by any person or class of persons in the course of or under any contract of the Department if he determines that the interests of the United States and the general public will be best served by such waiver. The Department shall maintain a publicly available, periodically updated record of waiver determinations. In making such deter- minations, the Secretary shall have the fol- lowing objectives: (1) Making the benefits of the energy re- search, development, and demonstration pro- gram widely available to the public in the shortest practicable time. (2) Promoting the commercial utilization of such inventions. (3) Encouraging participation by private per- sons in the Department’s energy research, de- velopment, and demonstration program. (4) Fostering competition and preventing undue market concentration or the creation or maintenance of other situations incon- sistent with the antitrust laws. (d) Considerations applicable at time of con- tracting for waiver determination by Sec- retary In determining whether a waiver to the con- tractor at the time of contracting will best serve the interests of the United States and the general public, the Secretary shall specifically include as considerations— (1) the extent to which the participation of the contractor will expedite the attainment of the purposes of the program; (2) the extent to which a waiver of all or any part of such rights in any or all fields of tech- nology is needed to secure the participation of the particular contractor; (3) the extent to which the contractor’s com- mercial position may expedite utilization of the research, development, and demonstration program results; (4) the extent to which the Government has contributed to the field of technology to be funded under the contract; (5) the purpose and nature of the contract, including the intended use of the results devel- oped thereunder; (6) the extent to which the contractor has made or will make substantial investment of financial resources or technology developed at the contractor’s private expense which will di- rectly benefit the work to be performed under the contract; (7) the extent to which the field of tech- nology to be funded under the contract has been developed at the contractor’s private ex- pense; (8) the extent to which the Government in- tends to further develop to the point of com- mercial utilization the results of the contract effort; (9) the extent to which the contract objec- tives are concerned with the public health, public safety, or public welfare; (10) the likely effect of the waiver on com- petition and market concentration; and (11) in the case of a nonprofit educational in- stitution, the extent to which such institution has a technology transfer capability and pro- gram, approved by the Secretary as being con- sistent with the applicable policies of this sec- tion. (e) Considerations applicable to identified inven- tion for waiver determination by Secretary In determining whether a waiver to the con- tractor or inventor or rights to an identified in- vention will best serve the interests of the United States and the general public, the Sec- retary shall specifically include as consider-