[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1426 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1426

 To ensure public access to published materials concerning scientific 
research and development activities funded by Federal science agencies.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 18, 2015

Mr. Sensenbrenner (for himself and Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                     Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To ensure public access to published materials concerning scientific 
research and development activities funded by Federal science agencies.

    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 ``Public Access to Public Science 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY.

    (a) In General.--Each covered agency shall formulate and implement 
a public access policy to make covered works publicly available, 
without charge, starting on the first day after the end of the embargo 
period of the covered work, in a manner consistent with copyright law.
    (b) Specifications.--The public access policy shall--
            (1) allow the public to read, download, and analyze by 
        machine covered works in digital form;
            (2) facilitate easy public search of, analysis of, and 
        access to, covered works;
            (3) encourage public-private collaboration to--
                    (A) maximize the potential for interoperability 
                between public and private platforms;
                    (B) avoid unnecessary duplication of existing 
                mechanisms; and
                    (C) maximize the impact of the covered agency's 
                research investment;
            (4) ensure that attribution to authors, journals, and 
        original publishers is maintained; and
            (5) ensure that publications and metadata are stored in an 
        archive that--
                    (A) provides, whenever appropriate, for long-term 
                preservation of, and access to, the full content of 
                covered works without charge, taking into account the 
                balance of cost and public value;
                    (B) uses a standard, widely available, and, to the 
                extent possible, nonproprietary archival format for 
                text and associated content, including images, video, 
                and supporting data;
                    (C) provides access for individuals with 
                disabilities consistent with section 508 of the 
                Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d); and
                    (D) enables integration and interoperability with 
                other public access repositories.
    (c) Metadata.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), a covered agency's 
public access policy shall ensure full public access to metadata of 
covered works without charge beginning at the time when the covered 
work is first published in a data format that ensures interoperability 
with current and anticipated future search technology. Whenever 
possible, the metadata shall provide a link to the location where the 
full text and associated supplemental materials will be made available 
at the end of the applicable embargo period.

SEC. 3. FORMULATION OF PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY.

    (a) In General.--Each public access policy shall include--
            (1) a strategy for enabling the public to electronically 
        locate and access publications resulting from federally funded 
        scientific research;
            (2) a strategy for maintaining a repository or 
        repositories, either within the covered agency, through an 
        arrangement with another Federal agency or agencies, or through 
        an arrangement with a public or private entity, including an 
        arrangement to provide free public access in perpetuity, ensure 
        interoperability with other technology, and ensure the long-
        term preservation of such research, so long as the covered 
        agency maintains an active Web link to the repository or 
        repositories for public access;
            (3) a strategy for incorporating existing covered works 
        into the repository or repositories required under paragraph 
        (2) to the extent practicable;
            (4) a strategy for notifying research funding recipients of 
        their obligations under this Act; and
            (5) a strategy for taking into account different funding 
        models for scholarly publishing, including author-pays fees, in 
        the covered agency's grant and other funding mechanisms.
    (b) Coordination With Other Federal Agencies.--In developing its 
public access policy, the covered agency shall collaborate and 
coordinate with other Federal agencies to maximize the consistency and 
compatibility of public access across the Federal Government.
    (c) Report to Congress.--Not later than 3 months after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, each covered agency shall transmit a report, 
containing its public access policy and a description of the mechanism 
described in section 6(a), to the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.

SEC. 4. IMPLEMENTATION OF PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than January 1, 2016, a covered agency 
shall implement its public access policy.
    (b) Input.--In implementing such policy and the mechanism described 
in section 6(a), a covered agency shall consider input provided by 
relevant stakeholders and other Federal agencies.
    (c) Clarification.--Nothing in this Act shall affect the 
application of United States copyright law.

SEC. 5. PERIODIC REVIEW.

    (a) In General.--Not less than once every 5 years, each covered 
agency shall revise, as necessary, its public access policy, including 
the mechanism described in section 6(a).
    (b) Report to Congress.--Each covered agency shall transmit a 
report containing its revised public access policy and the mechanism 
described in section 6(a), as revised under subsection (a), to the 
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate not later than 30 days after completing 
such revision.

SEC. 6. MODIFICATION OF EMBARGO PERIOD.

    (a) Mechanism To Extend Embargo Period.--Each covered agency, in 
coordination with relevant stakeholders, shall provide a mechanism for 
a stakeholder to petition to extend the embargo period for a specific 
covered work under this section by presenting evidence that the public 
interest will be substantially and uniquely harmed under a covered 
agency's public access policy related to such work. If a covered agency 
determines that the public interest will be substantially and uniquely 
harmed after reviewing the petition, the covered agency may extend the 
embargo period by no more than 6 months at a time from its current 
embargo period.
    (b) Agreement To Shorten Embargo Period.--A covered agency may 
shorten the embargo period for a specific covered work under this 
section only to the extent that the shortened embargo period is 
mutually agreed to by the agency and the publisher of the covered work.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act--
            (1) the term ``covered agency'' means--
                    (A) the National Aeronautics and Space 
                Administration;
                    (B) the National Science Foundation;
                    (C) the National Institute of Standards and 
                Technology; and
                    (D) the National Weather Service.
            (2) the term ``covered work'' means any research results 
        published in a peer-reviewed scholarly publication based on 
        research funded in whole or in part by a covered agency, but 
        does not include--
                    (A) research progress reports presented at 
                professional meetings or conferences;
                    (B) laboratory notes, preliminary data analyses, 
                notes of the author, phone logs, or other information 
                used to produce final manuscripts;
                    (C) classified research; or
                    (D) work not submitted to a peer-reviewed 
                publication or work that is rejected by a peer-reviewed 
                publication; and
            (3) the term ``embargo period'' means the period of time of 
        no more than 12 months after the initial date of publication of 
        a covered work, unless such period is modified under section 6.
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