[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1368 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1368
To provide for Department of Energy and National Aeronautics and Space
Administration research and development coordination, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 14, 2025
Mr. Begich (for himself, Mr. Kennedy of Utah, and Mr. Whitesides)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for Department of Energy and National Aeronautics and Space
Administration research and development coordination, 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 ``DOE and NASA Interagency Research
Coordination Act''.
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE
ADMINISTRATION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT COORDINATION.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Energy (in this section referred
to as the ``Secretary'') and the Administrator of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration (in this section referred to as
the ``Administrator'') may carry out, as practicable, cross-cutting and
collaborative research and development activities to support the
advancement of Department of Energy and National Aeronautics and Space
Administration mission requirements and priorities. The Secretary and
Administrator, in accordance with subsection (e), may make competitive
awards to carry out such activities.
(b) Memoranda of Understanding.--The Secretary and the
Administrator shall coordinate the activities under subsection (a)
through memoranda of understanding, or other appropriate interagency
agreements.
(c) Coordination.--In carrying out the activities under subsection
(a), the Secretary and the Administrator may carry out the following:
(1) Conduct collaborative research and development
activities in a variety of focus areas that may include the
following:
(A) Propulsion systems and components, including
nuclear thermal and nuclear electric propulsion,
radioisotope power systems, thermoelectric generators,
advanced nuclear fuels, and heater units.
(B) Modeling and simulation, machine learning, data
assimilation, large scale data analytics, and
predictive analysis in order to optimize algorithms for
mission-related purposes.
(C) Fundamental high energy physics, astrophysics,
and cosmology, including the nature of dark energy and
dark matter, in accordance with section 305 of the
Department of Energy Research and Innovation Act (42
U.S.C. 18643).
(D) Fundamental earth and environmental sciences,
in accordance with section 306 of the Department of
Energy Research and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 18644)
and section 60501 of title 51, United States Code.
(E) Quantum information sciences, including quantum
computing and quantum network infrastructure, in
accordance with sections 403 and 404 of the National
Quantum Initiative Act (15 U.S.C. 8853 and 8854).
(F) Radiation health effects, in accordance with
section 306 of the Department of Energy Research and
Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 18644).
(G) Ground- and space-based technology necessary
for the transmission to the Earth's surface of solar
energy collected in space.
(H) Other areas of potential research and
development collaboration the Secretary and the
Administrator determine important to achieving agency
missions and objectives.
(2) Develop methods to accommodate large voluntary data
sets on space and aeronautical information on high-performance
computing systems with variable quality and scale.
(3) Promote collaboration and data and information sharing
between the Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, the National Laboratories, and other
appropriate entities by providing the necessary access and
secure data and information transfer capabilities.
(4) Support the Administration's access to the Department's
research infrastructure and capabilities, as practicable.
(d) Agreements.--In carrying out the activities under subsection
(a), the Secretary and the Administrator are authorized to--
(1) carry out reimbursable and non-reimbursable agreements
between the Department of Energy and the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration; and
(2) collaborate with other Federal agencies, as
appropriate.
(e) Merit Review Process.--The Secretary and the Administrator
shall ensure any competitive awards made to carry out the activities
under section (a) shall follow all appropriate laws and agency
policies, including the following:
(1) Selection by merit-review-based processes.
(2) Consideration of applications from Federal agencies,
National Laboratories, institutions of higher education, non-
profit institutions, and other appropriate entities.
(f) Report.--Not later than two years after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Secretary and the Administrator shall
submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House
of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the
Senate, a report detailing the following:
(1) Interagency research and development coordination
activities between the Department of Energy and the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration carried out under this
section.
(2) How such coordination activities expand the technical
capabilities of the Department and the Administration.
(3) Collaborative research and development achievements.
(4) Areas of future mutually beneficial activities,
including potential applications of clean energy technologies,
such as marine energy.
(5) Continuation of coordination activities between the
Department of Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
(g) Research Security.--The activities authorized under this
section shall be applied in a manner consistent with subtitle D of
title VI of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation
Act (enacted as division B Public Law 117-167; 42 U.S.C. 19231 et
seq.).
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