Department of Energy Research and Innovation Act
Latest action. Became public lawWhat a bill becomes when enacted, numbered by Congress and order of enactment: Public Law 119-4 is the 4th law of the 119th Congress.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) No: 115-246.
Department of Energy Research and Innovation Act
TITLE I--LABORATORY MODERNIZATION AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
Laboratory Modernization and Technology Transfer Act
(Sec. 102) This bill instructs the Department of Energy (DOE) to permit specified National Laboratories owned by DOE to use funds authorized to support technology transfer within DOE to: (1) carry out early stage and precommercial technology demonstration activities to remove technology barriers limiting private sector interest, and (2) demonstrate potential commercial applications of any research and technologies arising from activities of the national laboratories.
(Sec. 103) The bill expresses the sense of Congress that Congress, DOE, and energy industry participants should advance efforts to promote international, domestic, and regional cooperation on the research and development of energy innovations that:
provide clean, affordable, and reliable energy;
promote economic growth;
are critical for energy security; and
are sustainable without government support.
(Sec. 104) DOE shall ensure that laboratory operating contractors do not allocate costs of general and administrative overhead to laboratory-directed research and development. This prohibition does not apply to certain national security laboratories.
(Sec. 105) DOE shall establish and maintain a public database, accessible on its website, containing a searchable listing of each unclassified research and development project contract, grant, cooperative agreement, task order for a federally funded research and development center, or other DOE-administered transaction.
DOE shall provide information through such database on relevant literature and patents that are associated with each such project contract, grant, or cooperative agreement, or other transaction, of DOE.
(Sec. 106) Within one year of enactment of this bill and as often as determined to be necessary thereafter, DOE shall report on its ability to successfully transfer new energy technologies to the private sector.
(Sec. 107) DOE shall carry out the Agreements for Commercializing Technology pilot program in accordance with this bill, including by giving the contractors of the national laboratories increased authority to negotiate contract terms and making every such facility eligible for the program. The pilot program is extended through FY2019.
The summary continues for 118 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Public Law" stage on September 28, 2018. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
This bill has been enacted. It is law.
The record's latest action, on September 28, 2018: Became Public Law No: 115-246.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
LAMAR SMITH (R-TX) introduced it on January 20, 2017, and 20 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 8 Democrats, 12 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HousePassed
- SenatePassed
- PresidentSigned into law