
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 42USC6602]

 
                 TITLE 42--THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
 
 CHAPTER 79--SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY, ORGANIZATION AND PRIORITIES
 
 SUBCHAPTER I--NATIONAL SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY AND 
                               PRIORITIES
 
Sec. 6602. Congressional declaration of policy


(a) Principles

    In view of the foregoing, the Congress declares that the United 
States shall adhere to a national policy for science and technology 
which includes the following principles:
        (1) The continuing development and implementation of strategies 
    for determining and achieving the appropriate scope, level, 
    direction, and extent of scientific and technological efforts based 
    upon a continuous appraisal of the role of science and technology in 
    achieving goals and formulating policies of the United States, and 
    reflecting the views of State and local governments and 
    representative public groups.
        (2) The enlistment of science and technology to foster a healthy 
    economy in which the directions of growth and innovation are 
    compatible with the prudent and frugal use of resources and with the 
    preservation of a benign environment.
        (3) The conduct of science and technology operations so as to 
    serve domestic needs while promoting foreign policy objectives.
        (4) The recruitment, education, training, retraining, and 
    beneficial use of adequate numbers of scientists, engineers, and 
    technologists, and the promotion by the Federal Government of the 
    effective and efficient utilization in the national interest of the 
    Nation's human resources in science, engineering, and technology.
        (5) The development and maintenance of a solid base for science 
    and technology in the United States, including: (A) strong 
    participation of and cooperative relationships with State and local 
    governments and the private sector; (B) the maintenance and 
    strengthening of diversified scientific and technological 
    capabilities in government, industry, and the universities, and the 
    encouragement of independent initiatives based on such capabilities, 
    together with elimination of needless barriers to scientific and 
    technological innovation; (C) effective management and dissemination 
    of scientific and technological information; (D) establishment of 
    essential scientific, technical and industrial standards and 
    measurement and test methods; and (E) promotion of increased public 
    understanding of science and technology.
        (6) The recognition that, as changing circumstances require 
    periodic revision and adaptation of this subchapter, the Federal 
    Government is responsible for identifying and interpreting the 
    changes in those circumstances as they occur, and for effecting 
    subsequent changes in this subchapter as appropriate.

(b) Implementation

    To implement the policy enunciated in subsection (a) of this 
section, the Congress declares that:
        (1) The Federal Government should maintain central policy 
    planning elements in the executive branch which assist Federal 
    agencies in (A) identifying public problems and objectives, (B) 
    mobilizing scientific and technological resources for essential 
    national programs, (C) securing appropriate funding for programs so 
    identified, (D) anticipating future concerns to which science and 
    technology can contribute and devising strategies for the conduct of 
    science and technology for such purposes, (E) reviewing 
    systematically Federal science policy and programs and recommending 
    legislative amendment thereof when needed. Such elements should 
    include an advisory mechanism within the Executive Office of the 
    President so that the Chief Executive may have available 
    independent, expert judgment and assistance on policy matters which 
    require accurate assessments of the complex scientific and 
    technological features involved.
        (2) It is a responsibility of the Federal Government to promote 
    prompt, effective, reliable, and systematic transfer of scientific 
    and technological information by such appropriate methods as 
    programs conducted by nongovernmental organizations, including 
    industrial groups and technical societies. In particular, it is 
    recognized as a responsibility of the Federal Government not only to 
    coordinate and unify its own science and technology information 
    systems, but to facilitate the close coupling of institutional 
    scientific research with commercial application of the useful 
    findings of science.
        (3) It is further an appropriate Federal function to support 
    scientific and technological efforts which are expected to provide 
    results beneficial to the public but which the private sector may be 
    unwilling or unable to support.
        (4) Scientific and technological activities which may be 
    properly supported exclusively by the Federal Government should be 
    distinguished from those in which interests are shared with State 
    and local governments and the private sector. Among these entities, 
    cooperative relationships should be established which encourage the 
    appropriate sharing of science and technology decisionmaking, 
    funding support, and program planning and execution.
        (5) The Federal Government should support and utilize 
    engineering and its various disciplines and make maximum use of the 
    engineering community, whenever appropriate, as an essential element 
    in the Federal policymaking process.
        (6) Comprehensive legislative support for the national science 
    and technology effort requires that the Congress be regularly 
    informed of the condition, health and vitality, and funding 
    requirements of science and technology, the relation of science and 
    technology to changing national goals, and the need for legislative 
    modification of the Federal endeavor and structure at all levels as 
    it relates to science and technology.

(c) Procedures

    The Congress declares that, in order to expedite and facilitate the 
implementation of the policy enunciated in subsection (a) of this 
section, the following coordinate procedures are of paramount 
importance:
        (1) Federal procurement policy should encourage the use of 
    science and technology to foster frugal use of materials, energy, 
    and appropriated funds; to assure quality environment; and to 
    enhance product performance.
        (2) Explicit criteria, including cost-benefit principles where 
    practicable, should be developed to identify the kinds of applied 
    research and technology programs that are appropriate for Federal 
    funding support and to determine the extent of such support. 
    Particular attention should be given to scientific and technological 
    problems and opportunities offering promise of social advantage that 
    are so long range, geographically widespread, or economically 
    diffused that the Federal Government constitutes the appropriate 
    source for undertaking their support.
        (3) Federal promotion of science and technology should emphasize 
    quality of research, recognize the singular importance of stability 
    in scientific and technological institutions, and for urgent tasks, 
    seek to assure timeliness of results. With particular reference to 
    Federal support for basic research, funds should be allocated to 
    encourage education in needed disciplines, to provide a base of 
    scientific knowledge from which future essential technological 
    development can be launched, and to add to the cultural heritage of 
    the Nation.
        (4) Federal patent policies should be developed, based on 
    uniform principles, which have as their objective the preservation 
    of incentives for technological innovation and the application of 
    procedures which will continue to assure the full use of beneficial 
    technology to serve the public.
        (5) Closer relationships should be encouraged among 
    practitioners of different scientific and technological disciplines, 
    including the physical, social, and biomedical fields.
        (6) Federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities should 
    assure efficient management of laboratory facilities and equipment 
    in their custody, including acquisition of effective equipment, 
    disposal of inferior and obsolete properties, and cross-servicing to 
    maximize the productivity of costly property of all kinds. Disposal 
    policies should include attention to possibilities for further 
    productive use.
        (7) The full use of the contributions of science and technology 
    to support State and local government goals should be encouraged.
        (8) Formal recognition should be accorded those persons whose 
    scientific and technological achievements have contributed 
    significantly to the national welfare.
        (9) The Federal Government should support applied scientific 
    research, when appropriate, in proportion to the probability of its 
    usefulness, insofar as this probability can be determined; but while 
    maximizing the beneficial consequences of technology, the Government 
    should act to minimize foreseeable injurious consequences.
        (10) Federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities should 
    establish procedures to insure among them the systematic interchange 
    of scientific data and technological findings developed under their 
    programs.

(Pub. L. 94-282, title I, Sec. 102, May 11, 1976, 90 Stat. 460.)

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 6614 of this title.
