[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3269 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3269
To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish an award program to
honor achievements in nanotechnology, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 16, 2008
Mr. Wyden (for himself and Ms. Snowe) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Commerce to establish an award program to
honor achievements in nanotechnology, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Nanotechnology Innovation and Prize
Competition Act of 2008''.
SEC. 2. NANOTECHNOLOGY AWARD PROGRAM.
(a) Program Established.--The Secretary of Commerce shall establish
a program to award prizes to eligible persons described in subsection
(b) for achievement in 1 or more of the following applications of
nanotechnology:
(1) Improvement of the environment, consistent with the
Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry of the Environmental
Protection Agency.
(2) Development of alternative energy that has the
potential to lessen the dependence of the United States on
fossil fuels.
(3) Improvement of human health, consistent with
regulations promulgated by the Food and Drug Administration of
the Department of Health and Human Services.
(4) Development of consumer products.
(b) Eligible Person.--An eligible person described in this
subsection is--
(1) an individual who is--
(A) a citizen or legal resident of the United
States; or
(B) a member of a group that includes citizens or
legal residents of the United States; or
(2) an entity that is incorporated and maintains its
primary place of business in the United States.
(c) Establishment of Board.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Commerce shall establish
a board to administer the program established under subsection
(a).
(2) Membership.--The board shall be composed of not less
than 15 and not more than 21 members appointed by the
President, of whom--
(A) not less than 1 shall--
(i) be a representative of the interests of
academic, business, and nonprofit
organizations; and
(ii) have expertise in--
(I) the field of nanotechnology; or
(II) administering award
competitions; and
(B) not less than 1 shall be from each of--
(i) the Department of Energy;
(ii) the Environmental Protection Agency;
(iii) the Food and Drug Administration of
the Department of Health and Human Services;
(iv) the National Institutes of Health of
the Department of Health and Human Services;
(v) the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health of the Department of Health
and Human Services;
(vi) the National Institute of Standards
and Technology of the Department of Commerce;
and
(vii) the National Science Foundation.
(d) Awards.--The board established under subsection (c) shall make
awards under the program established under subsection (a) as follows:
(1) Financial prize.--The board may hold a financial award
competition and award a financial award in an amount determined
before the commencement of the competition to the first
competitor to meet such criteria as the board shall establish.
(2) Recognition prize.--The board may recognize an eligible
person for superlative achievement in 1 or more nanotechnology
applications described in subsection (a). The award shall not
include any financial remuneration.
(e) Administration.--
(1) Contracting.--The board established under subsection
(c) may contract with a private organization to administer a
financial award competition described in subsection (d)(1).
(2) Solicitation of funds.--A member of the board or any
administering organization with which the board has a contract
under paragraph (1) may solicit funds from a private person to
be used for a financial award under subsection (d)(1).
(3) Limitation on participation of donors.--The board may
allow a donor who is a private person described in paragraph
(2) to participate in the determination of criteria for an
award under subsection (d), but such donor may not solely
determine the criteria for such award.
(4) No advantage for donation.--A donor who is a private
person described in paragraph (2) shall not be entitled to any
special consideration or advantage with respect to
participation in a financial award competition under subsection
(d)(1).
(f) Intellectual Property.--The Federal Government may not acquire
an intellectual property right in any product or idea by virtue of the
submission of such product or idea in any competition under subsection
(d)(1).
(g) Liability.--The board established under subsection (c) may
require a competitor in a financial award competition under subsection
(d)(1) to waive liability against the Federal Government for injuries
and damages that result from participation in such competition.
(h) Annual Report.--Each year, the board established under
subsection (c) shall submit to Congress a report on the program
established under subsection (a).
(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated sums for the program established under subsection (a) as
follows:
(1) For administration of prize competitions under
subsection (d), $750,000 for each fiscal year.
(2) For the awarding of a financial prize award under
subsection (d)(1), in addition to any amounts received under
subsection (e)(2), $2,000,000 for each fiscal year.
<all>