Official Summaries

DOE and NASA Interagency Research Coordination Act

This bill provides statutory authority for a research and development partnership between the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Specifically, the bill authorizes DOE and NASA to enter into a memorandum of understanding to support cross-cutting and collaborative research and development that furthers the missions of both agencies. Through the partnership, DOE and NASA may conduct research in a variety of focus areas (e.g., dark matter), develop ways to support large voluntary data sets on space and aeronautical information, promote multi-agency data sharing, and support NASA's access to DOE research infrastructure.

DOE and NASA must jointly report on their collaboration.

Current Full Text

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1368 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1368


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 25, 2025

    Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
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.).

            Passed the House of Representatives March 24, 2025.

            Attest:

                                             KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,

                                                                 Clerk.