
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 15USC278k]

 
                      TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND TRADE
 
        CHAPTER 7--NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY
 
Sec. 278k. Regional Centers for the Transfer of Manufacturing 
        Technology
        

(a) Creation and support of Centers; affiliations; merit review in 
        determining awards; objectives

    The Secretary, through the Director and, if appropriate, through 
other officials, shall provide assistance for the creation and support 
of Regional Centers for the Transfer of Manufacturing Technology 
(hereafter in this chapter referred to as the ``Centers''). Such centers 
\1\ shall be affiliated with any United States-based nonprofit 
institution or organization, or group thereof, that applies for and is 
awarded financial assistance under this section in accordance with the 
description published by the Secretary in the Federal Register under 
subsection (c)(2) of this section. Individual awards shall be decided on 
the basis of merit review. The objective of the Centers is to enhance 
productivity and technological performance in United States 
manufacturing through--
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    \1\ So in original. Probably should be capitalized.
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        (1) the transfer of manufacturing technology and techniques 
    developed at the Institute to Centers and, through them, to 
    manufacturing companies throughout the United States;
        (2) the participation of individuals from industry, 
    universities, State governments, other Federal agencies, and, when 
    appropriate, the Institute in cooperative technology transfer 
    activities;
        (3) efforts to make new manufacturing technology and processes 
    usable by United States-based small- and medium-sized companies;
        (4) the active dissemination of scientific, engineering, 
    technical, and management information about manufacturing to 
    industrial firms, including small- and medium-sized manufacturing 
    companies; and
        (5) the utilization, when appropriate, of the expertise and 
    capability that exists in Federal laboratories other than the 
    Institute.

(b) Activities of Centers

    The activities of the Centers shall include--
        (1) the establishment of automated manufacturing systems and 
    other advanced production technologies, based on research by the 
    Institute, for the purpose of demonstrations and technology 
    transfer;
        (2) the active transfer and dissemination of research findings 
    and Center expertise to a wide range of companies and enterprises, 
    particularly small- and medium-sized manufacturers; and
        (3) loans, on a selective, short-term basis, of items of 
    advanced manufacturing equipment to small manufacturing firms with 
    less than 100 employees.

(c) Duration and amount of support; program descriptions; applications; 
        merit review; evaluations of assistance; applicability of patent 
        law

    (1) The Secretary may provide financial support to any Center 
created under subsection (a) of this section for a period not to exceed 
six years. The Secretary may not provide to a Center more than 50 
percent of the capital and annual operating and maintenance funds 
required to create and maintain such Center.
    (2) The Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register, within 90 
days after August 23, 1988, a draft description of a program for 
establishing Centers, including--
        (A) a description of the program;
        (B) procedures to be followed by applicants;
        (C) criteria for determining qualified applicants;
        (D) criteria, including those listed under paragraph (4), for 
    choosing recipients of financial assistance under this section from 
    among the qualified applicants; and
        (E) maximum support levels expected to be available to Centers 
    under the program in the fourth through sixth years of assistance 
    under this section.

The Secretary shall publish a final description under this paragraph 
after the expiration of a 30-day comment period.
    (3) Any nonprofit institution, or group thereof, or consortia of 
nonprofit institutions, including entities existing on August 23, 1988, 
may submit to the Secretary an application for financial support under 
this subsection, in accordance with the procedures established by the 
Secretary and published in the Federal Register under paragraph (2). In 
order to receive assistance under this section, an applicant shall 
provide adequate assurances that it will contribute 50 percent or more 
of the proposed Center's capital and annual operating and maintenance 
costs for the first three years and an increasing share for each of the 
last three years. Each applicant shall also submit a proposal for the 
allocation of the legal rights associated with any invention which may 
result from the proposed Center's activities.
    (4) The Secretary shall subject each such application to merit 
review. In making a decision whether to approve such application and 
provide financial support under this subsection, the Secretary shall 
consider at a minimum (A) the merits of the application, particularly 
those portions of the application regarding technology transfer, 
training and education, and adaptation of manufacturing technologies to 
the needs of particular industrial sectors, (B) the quality of service 
to be provided, (C) geographical diversity and extent of service area, 
and (D) the percentage of funding and amount of in-kind commitment from 
other sources.
    (5) Each Center which receives financial assistance under this 
section shall be evaluated during its third year of operation by an 
evaluation panel appointed by the Secretary. Each such evaluation panel 
shall be composed of private experts, none of whom shall be connected 
with the involved Center, and Federal officials. An official of the 
Institute shall chair the panel. Each evaluation panel shall measure the 
involved Center's performance against the objectives specified in this 
section. The Secretary shall not provide funding for the fourth through 
the sixth years of such Center's operation unless the evaluation is 
positive. If the evaluation is positive, the Secretary may provide 
continued funding through the sixth year at declining levels. After the 
sixth year, a Center may receive additional financial support under this 
section if it has received a positive evaluation through an independent 
review, under procedures established by the Institute. Such an 
independent review shall be required at least every two years after the 
sixth year of operation. Funding received for a fiscal year under this 
section after the sixth year of operation shall not exceed one third of 
the capital and annual operating and maintenance costs of the Center 
under the program.
    (6) The provisions of chapter 18 of title 35 shall (to the extent 
not inconsistent with this section) apply to the promotion of technology 
from research by Centers under this section except for contracts for 
such specific technology extension or transfer services as may be 
specified by statute or by the Director.

(d) Acceptance of funds from other Federal departments and agencies

    In addition to such sums as may be authorized and appropriated to 
the Secretary and Director to operate the Centers program, the Secretary 
and Director also may accept funds from other Federal departments and 
agencies for the purpose of providing Federal funds to support Centers. 
Any Center which is supported with funds which originally came from 
other Federal departments and agencies shall be selected and operated 
according to the provisions of this section.

(Mar. 3, 1901, ch. 872, Sec. 25, as added Pub. L. 100-418, title V, 
Sec. 5121(a), Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1433; amended Pub. L. 102-245, 
title I, Sec. 105(e), Feb. 14, 1992, 106 Stat. 12; Pub. L. 105-309, 
Sec. 2, Oct. 30, 1998, 112 Stat. 2935.)


                               Amendments

    1998--Subsec. (c)(5). Pub. L. 105-309 substituted ``. After the 
sixth year, a Center may receive additional financial support under this 
section if it has received a positive evaluation through an independent 
review, under procedures established by the Institute. Such an 
independent review shall be required at least every two years after the 
sixth year of operation. Funding received for a fiscal year under this 
section after the sixth year of operation shall not exceed one third of 
the capital and annual operating and maintenance costs of the Center 
under the program.'' for ``, which are designed to ensure that the 
Center no longer needs financial support from the Institute by the 
seventh year. In no event shall funding for a Center be provided by the 
Department of Commerce after the sixth year of the operation of a 
Center.''
    1992--Subsec. (c)(6). Pub. L. 102-245, Sec. 105(e)(1), inserted 
before period at end ``except for contracts for such specific technology 
extension or transfer services as may be specified by statute or by the 
Director''.
    Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 102-245, Sec. 105(e)(2), amended subsec. (d) 
generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (d) read as follows: ``There are 
authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of carrying out this 
section, a combined total of not to exceed $40,000,000 for fiscal years 
1989 and 1990. Such sums shall remain available until expended.''


     Additional Renewal of Federal Financial Assistance for Centers

    Pub. L. 105-277, div. A, Sec. 101(b) [title II], Oct. 21, 1998, 112 
Stat. 2681-50, 2681-83, which provided that Federal financial assistance 
awarded by the Secretary of Commerce to a Regional Center for the 
Transfer of Manufacturing Technology could continue beyond six years and 
could be renewed for additional periods, not to exceed one year, at a 
rate not to exceed one-third of the Center's total annual costs or the 
level of funding in the sixth year, whichever was less, subject before 
any such renewal to a positive evaluation of the Center and to a finding 
by the Secretary of Commerce that continuation of Federal funding to the 
Center was in the best interest of the Regional Centers for the Transfer 
of Manufacturing Technology Program, was from the Departments of 
Commerce Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies 
Appropriations Act, 1999, and was not repeated in subsequent 
appropriations Acts. Similar provisions were contained in the following 
prior appropriation acts:
    Pub. L. 105-119, title II, Nov. 26, 1997, 111 Stat. 2476.
    Pub. L. 104-208, div. A, title I, Sec. 101(a) [title II], Sept. 30, 
1996, 110 Stat. 3009, 3009-36.
    Pub. L. 103-317, title II, Aug. 26, 1994, 108 Stat. 1741.


                     Publication in Federal Register

    Pub. L. 100-519, title I, Sec. 102(d), Oct. 24, 1988, 102 Stat. 
2590, provided that: ``The requirement of section 25(c)(2) of the Act of 
March 3, 1901, [15 U.S.C. 278k(c)(2)], shall be considered to have been 
met by the publication made by the National Bureau of Standards on July 
18, 1988 (53 Fed. Reg. 27060).''

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 272, 278l of this title; 
title 10 section 2199.
