[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6414 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6414

To encourage and increase the use of crowdsourcing and citizen science 
    methods within the Federal Government to advance and accelerate 
 scientific research, literacy, and diplomacy, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 30, 2016

 Mr. Tonko (for himself, Mr. McKinley, and Mr. Kilmer) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 
                           Government Reform

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To encourage and increase the use of crowdsourcing and citizen science 
    methods within the Federal Government to advance and accelerate 
 scientific research, literacy, and diplomacy, 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 ``Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science 
Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the authority granted to Federal agencies under the 
        America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-
        358) to pursue the use of incentive prizes and challenges has 
        yielded numerous benefits;
            (2) crowdsourcing and citizen science projects have a 
        number of additional unique benefits, including accelerating 
        scientific research and data acquisition, improving science 
        literacy, and connecting citizens to the missions of Federal 
        agencies; and
            (3) granting Federal agencies the direct, explicit 
        authority to use crowdsourcing and citizen science will 
        encourage its appropriate use, including protection of human 
        subjects and other ethical considerations, to advance agency 
        missions and stimulate and facilitate broader public 
        participation in the innovation process, yielding numerous 
        benefits to the Federal Government and citizens who participate 
        in such projects.

SEC. 3. CROWDSOURCING AND CITIZEN SCIENCE.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Citizen science.--The term ``citizen science'' means a 
        form of open collaboration in which individuals or 
        organizations participate in the scientific process in various 
        ways, including--
                    (A) enabling the formulation of research questions;
                    (B) creating and refining project design;
                    (C) conducting scientific experiments;
                    (D) collecting and analyzing data;
                    (E) interpreting the results of data;
                    (F) developing technologies and applications;
                    (G) making discoveries; and
                    (H) solving problems.
            (2) Crowdsourcing.--The term ``crowdsourcing'' means a 
        method to obtain needed services, ideas, or content by 
        soliciting voluntary contributions from a group of individuals 
        or organizations, especially from an online community.
            (3) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of 
        the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
            (4) Federal agency.--The term ``Federal agency''--
                    (A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), means--
                            (i) any Executive agency (as defined in 
                        section 105 of title 5, United States Code); 
                        and
                            (ii) any military department (as set forth 
                        in section 102 of such title); and
                    (B) does not include any legislative branch agency.
            (5) Participant.--The term ``participant'' means any 
        individual or other entity that has consented as a volunteer in 
        a crowdsourcing or citizen science project under this section.
            (6) Related entity.--The term ``related entity'' means--
                    (A) a Federal Government contractor or 
                subcontractor, at any tier; and
                    (B) a supplier, user, customer, cooperating party, 
                grantee, investigator, fellow, or detailee of a Federal 
                agency.
    (b) Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Authorized.--
            (1) In general.--The head of each Federal agency, or the 
        heads of multiple Federal agencies working cooperatively, may 
        utilize crowdsourcing and citizen science approaches to conduct 
        activities designed to advance the mission of the respective 
        Federal agency or the joint mission of Federal agencies, as 
        applicable.
            (2) Voluntary services.--Notwithstanding section 1342 of 
        title 31, United States Code, the head of a Federal agency may 
        accept, subject to regulations issued by the Office of 
        Personnel Management, voluntary services from participants 
        under this section if such services--
                    (A) are performed as a part of a crowdsourcing or 
                citizen science project authorized under paragraph (1);
                    (B) are not financially compensated for their time; 
                and
                    (C) will not be used to displace any employee of 
                the Federal Government.
    (c) Participation.--
            (1) Outreach.--The head of each Federal agency engaged in a 
        crowdsourcing or citizen science project under this section 
        shall make public and promote such project to encourage broad 
        participation of consenting participants.
            (2) Consent, registration, and terms of use.--
                    (A) In general.--Each Federal agency is authorized 
                to determine the appropriate level of consent, 
                registration, or acknowledgment of the terms of use 
                that is required from participants in crowdsourcing or 
                citizen science projects on a per-project basis.
                    (B) Disclosures.--In seeking consent, conducting 
                registration, or developing terms of use for a project 
                under this subsection, a Federal agency shall disclose 
                the privacy, intellectual property, data ownership, 
                compensation, service, program, and other terms of use 
                to the participant in a clear and reasonable manner.
                    (C) Mode of consent.--A Federal agency or Federal 
                agencies, as applicable, may obtain consent 
                electronically or in written form from participants to 
                the volunteer service terms of a crowdsourcing or 
                citizen science project authorized under this section.
            (3) Protections for human subjects.--Any crowdsourcing or 
        citizen science project that involves research involving human 
        subjects shall be subject to part 46 of title 28, Code of 
        Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation).
            (4) Data.--While not neglecting security and privacy 
        protections, Federal agencies shall endeavor to make data 
        collected through a crowdsourcing or citizen science project 
        authorized under this section open and available, in machine 
        readable formats, to the public. As part of the consent 
        process, the Federal agency shall notify all participants--
                    (A) of the expected uses of the data compiled 
                through the project;
                    (B) if the Federal agency will retain ownership of 
                such data;
                    (C) if and how the data and results from the 
                project would be made available for public or third 
                party use; and
                    (D) if participants are authorized to publish such 
                data.
            (5) Technologies and applications.--While not neglecting 
        the intellectual property rights of the Federal Government, 
        Federal agencies shall endeavor to make technologies, 
        applications, code, and derivations of such intellectual 
        property developed through a crowdsourcing or citizen science 
        project under this section open and available to the public.
            (6) Liability.--Each participant in a crowdsourcing or 
        citizen science project under this section shall agree--
                    (A) to assume any and all risks associated with 
                such participation; and
                    (B) to waive all claims against the Federal 
                Government and its related entities, except for claims 
                based on willful misconduct, for any injury, death, 
                damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits 
                (whether direct, indirect, or consequential) arising 
                from participation in the project.
            (7) Scientific integrity.--Federal agencies coordinating 
        citizen science projects shall make all practicable efforts to 
        ensure that participants adhere to all relevant scientific 
        integrity or other applicable ethics policies.
    (d) Multisector Partnerships.--The head of each Federal agency 
engaged in crowdsourcing or citizen science under this section, or the 
heads of multiple Federal agencies working cooperatively, may enter 
into a contract or other agreement to share administrative duties for 
such activities with--
            (1) a for-profit or nonprofit private sector entity, 
        including a private institution of higher education; or
            (2) a State, tribal, local, or foreign government agency, 
        including a public institution of higher education.
    (e) Funding.--In carrying out crowdsourcing and citizen science 
activities under this section, the head of a Federal agency, or the 
heads of multiple Federal agencies working cooperatively--
            (1) may use funds appropriated by Congress;
            (2) may publicize projects and accept funds or in kind 
        support for such activities from--
                    (A) other Federal agencies;
                    (B) for-profit or nonprofit private sector 
                entities, including private institutions of higher 
                education; or
                    (C) State, tribal, local, or foreign government 
                agencies, including public institutions of higher 
                education; and
            (3) may not give any special consideration to any entity 
        described in paragraph (2) in return for such funds or in kind 
        support.
    (f) Facilitation.--
            (1) General services administration assistance.--The 
        Administrator of the General Services Administration, in 
        coordination with the Director, shall, at no cost to Federal 
        agencies, identify and develop relevant products, training, and 
        services to facilitate the use of crowdsourcing and citizen 
        science activities under this section, including by specifying 
        the appropriate contract vehicles and technology and 
        organizational platforms to enhance the ability of Federal 
        agencies to carry out the activities under this section to 
        further the policy objectives of the Federal Government.
            (2) Additional guidance.--The head of each Federal agency 
        engaged in crowdsourcing or citizen science under this section 
        is encouraged to consult any guidance provided by the Director, 
        including the Federal Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science 
        Toolkit, to designate a coordinator for their agency's 
        crowdsourcing and citizen science activities, and to share best 
        practices with other agencies, including participation of staff 
        in the Federal Community of Practice for Crowdsourcing and 
        Citizen Science.
    (g) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Director shall include, as a 
        component of the report required under section 24(p) of the 
        Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 
        3719(p)), a report on the activities carried out under this 
        section.
            (2) Information included.--The report required under 
        paragraph (1) shall include--
                    (A) a summary of each crowdsourcing and citizen 
                science project conducted by any Federal agency during 
                the most recently completed 2 fiscal years, including a 
                description of the proposed goals of each crowdsourcing 
                and citizen science project;
                    (B) the participation rates, submission levels, 
                number of consents, or any other statistic that might 
                be considered relevant in each crowdsourcing and 
                citizen science project;
                    (C) a description of--
                            (i) the resources (including personnel and 
                        funding) that were used in the execution of 
                        each crowdsourcing and citizen science project;
                            (ii) the activities for which such 
                        resources were used; and
                            (iii) how the obligations and expenditures 
                        relating to the project's execution were 
                        allocated among the accounts of the Federal 
                        agency;
                    (D) a summary of the use of crowdsourcing and 
                citizen science methods by all Federal agencies, 
                including interagency and multisector partnerships; and
                    (E) any other information that the Director 
                considers relevant.
    (h) Savings Provisions.--Nothing in this section may be construed--
            (1) to affect the authority to conduct crowdsourcing and 
        citizen science authorized by any other provision of law; or
            (2) to displace Federal Government resources allocated to 
        the Federal agencies that use crowdsourcing or citizen science 
        authorized under this section to carry out a project.
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