“Taken from House Conference Report 103-708
FY 1995 House Report…”

TITLE II-DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY

SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL RESEARCH AND SERVICES

Amendment No. 58: Appropriates $265,000,000 for the core research programs of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) instead of $279,420,000 as proposed by the House and $260,000,000 as proposed by the Senate.

The amount provided in the conference agreement fully funds the adjusted base program for this account, and provides an additional $39,000,000 for program enhancements. Within this increase, the conferees agree that $5,000,000 is for the international trade and standards program and $7,000,000 is for environmental technologies. The conferees expect NIST and the Department of Commerce to submit a reprogramming notification to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, under the standard reprogramming procedures contained in section 605 of this Act, indicating the proposed distribution of the remaining program increase by research category.

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

Amendment No. 59: Appropriates $525,000,000 for NIST external programs, instead of $495,960,000 as proposed by the House and $554,000,000 as proposed by the Senate, and includes language proposed by the Senate which will enable NIST to continue support for manufacturing technology centers that have existed for six years. The House bill contained no similar provision. The conference agreement deletes language proposed by the House and stricken by the Senate which would have delayed the availability of certain amounts provided under this heading.

The conferees support the efforts of NIST to promote the awareness of the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) throughout industry, particularly among small businesses and in geographically dispersed areas. The conferees also support the language included under the manufacturing extension partnership (MEP) program in both the House and Senate reports regarding the needs of rural areas and other areas serviced by geographically dispersed manufacturers.

The conferees note the establishment of the Environmental Technology Initiative under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promote the development of environmental technologies. The conferees expect NIST to coordinate with EPA and other agencies to maximize the impact of all Federal funding for development and commercialization of environmental technologies and to ensure that there is no program duplication in this area.

The following table reflects the distribution of these funds by program category:

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY

(In thousands of dollars)