[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7144 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7144

    To provide for a national biological data center, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 26, 2008

  Mr. Duncan introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide for a national biological data center, 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. NATIONAL BIOLOGICAL DATA CENTER.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 
United States Geological Survey, shall--
            (1) establish a national biological data center (in this 
        Act referred to as the ``center'') to collect nonhuman 
        biological data and make such data available for public use; 
        and
            (2) seek to enter into a contract with a small business for 
        the purpose of managing the center.
    (b) Contract Term.--The contract under subsection (a) shall have a 
term of 10 years.
    (c) Entity Selection.--
            (1) Competitive procedures.--The Secretary shall use 
        competitive procedures (as defined in section 4(5) of the 
        Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403(5))) to 
        enter into the contract under subsection (a).
            (2) Qualification requirements.--To qualify to participate 
        in the competitive procedures under paragraph (1), a small 
        business shall have--
                    (A) no more than 500 employees;
                    (B) demonstrated expertise in--
                            (i) managing scientific and technical 
                        information;
                            (ii) implementing scientific information 
                        projects;
                            (iii) presenting scientific data in an 
                        objective manner; and
                            (iv) managing interagency collaborations 
                        related to scientific and technical 
                        information;
                    (C) demonstrated involvement with biodiversity 
                information programs and the National Biological 
                Information Infrastructure of the United States 
                Geological Survey (through partnership or other form of 
                collaboration); and
                    (D) a demonstrated ability and willingness to 
                partner with a research university and a national 
                laboratory with expertise in biodiversity and 
                computational sciences.
    (d) Leadership.--The head of the center shall be appointed by the 
Secretary, in consultation with the program director of the National 
Biological Information Infrastructure.
    (e) Duties of the National Biological Data Center.--The duties of 
the center shall be determined by the Secretary and shall include, at a 
minimum, the following activities:
            (1) Collect nonhuman biological data from Federal, public, 
        private, and nonprofit entities, including--
                    (A) the National Biological Information 
                Infrastructure; and
                    (B) institutions and organizations that partner 
                with the National Biological Information 
                Infrastructure.
            (2) Develop partnerships with public and private entities 
        that are nationally recognized for computational capabilities 
        and computer capacity to allow the center to efficiently 
        develop a digital network for the storage and retrieval of data 
        collected under paragraph (1).
            (3) Develop partnerships with academic and scientific 
        institutions in the United States to increase the quantity of 
        data--
                    (A) collected under paragraph (1); and
                    (B) made available for public use under paragraph 
                (4).
            (4) Subject to Federal statutes and regulations relating to 
        the disclosure of information collected under paragraph (1), 
        including statutes and regulations related to intellectual 
        property and section 552 of title 5, United States Code, make 
        available for use by Federal, State, and local governments and 
        members of the public any federally funded data collected under 
        paragraph (1).
            (5) Make the data described in paragraph (4) available--
                    (A) through a single electronic search function; or
                    (B) in any case in which such data is not 
                electronically maintained, at a one location.
            (6) Organize and manage data collected under paragraph (1) 
        in a manner that--
                    (A) enables efficient and effective use of the data 
                by the public;
                    (B) presents the data in an objective manner; and
                    (C) is consistent with efforts made by the National 
                Biological Information Infrastructure to organize and 
                manage nonhuman biological data for public use.
            (7) Prepare compilations that combine data from multiple 
        data sets to improve the ease of use of such data sets by 
        Federal, State, and local governments and by members of the 
        public.
            (8) Conduct public awareness activities that promote the 
        use of the data made available under paragraph (4) for purposes 
        of encouraging--
                    (A) economic development;
                    (B) the development of public policy (including 
                policy relating to land use, economic development, 
                conservation, and preservation);
                    (C) scientific research; and
                    (D) science, technology, engineering, and 
                mathematics education.
            (9) Hold an annual conference on nonhuman biological data 
        collection for experts from Federal, State, and local 
        governments and public and private entities for the purpose of 
        providing advice to the head of the center related to improving 
        the performance of the center.
            (10) Collect fees from State and local governments and 
        members of the public for the use of--
                    (A) compilations prepared under paragraph (7); and
                    (B) other products produced by the center, except 
                that the center may not collect a fee solely for 
                accessing data collected by the center from another 
                source.
    (f) Duties of Other Entities.--
            (1) In general.--Subject to Federal statutes and 
        regulations relating to the disclosure of information collected 
        under subsection (d)(1), including statutes and regulations 
        related to intellectual property and section 552 of title 5, 
        United States Code, any entity that collects or stores 
        federally funded data on or after the end of the one-year 
        period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act shall 
        submit or make available such data to the center, in a form and 
        manner described in standards published by the center, unless 
        such data has been submitted to the National Biological 
        Information Infrastructure.
            (2) National biological information infrastructure.--
        Subject to Federal statutes and regulations relating to the 
        disclosure of information collected under subsection (d)(1), 
        including statutes and regulations related to intellectual 
        property and section 552 of title 5, United States Code, the 
        National Biological Information Infrastructure shall submit or 
        make available to the center, in a form and manner described in 
        standards published by the center, all federally funded data 
        that it stores or receives.
    (g) Availability of Fees.--Subject to appropriation, fees collected 
under subsection (d)(10) shall remain available for use by the center 
for activities under subsection (d).
    (h)  Reports.--
            (1) Annual report to secretary.--Not later than January 1 
        of each year following the date of enactment of this Act, the 
        head of the center shall submit to the Secretary of the 
        Interior an annual report containing--
                    (A) information on the activities of the center 
                during the preceding fiscal year and the plans of the 
                center for activities in the current fiscal year; and
                    (B) such additional information as the Secretary 
                may require.
            (2) Annual report to congress.--Not later than April 1 of 
        each year following the date of enactment of this Act, the 
        Secretary of the Interior shall submit to Congress an annual 
        report on--
                    (A) information on the activities of the center 
                during the preceding fiscal year and the plans of the 
                center for activities in the current fiscal year; and
                    (B) the administration of the contract entered into 
                under subsection (a).
    (i) Federally Funded Data Defined.--For purposes of this Act, the 
term ``federally-funded data'' means nonhuman biological data that is 
collected, maintained, or stored, in whole or in part, through the use 
of Federal funds.
    (j) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $8,000,000 per fiscal year. 
Amounts appropriated under this subsection shall remain available until 
expended.
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