15 U.S.C. § 278k — Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership

(a) Definitions: This section defines its key terms. "Appropriate committees of Congress" means the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Science Committee. "Area career and technical education school" and "secondary school" mean what title 20 says. A "Center" is a manufacturing extension center created under subsection (b) and connected to an eligible entity that gets funding under subsection (e). A "community college" is a college where an associate's degree is the highest degree most students earn. An "eligible entity" is a U.S. nonprofit, a college, or a state, territory, local, or tribal government (or a group of these). "Historically Black college and university," "minority-serving institution," and "Tribal College or University" mean what the named title 20 sections say. "Institution of higher education" means what title 20 says. "Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership" or "Program" means the program set up under subsection (b). "MEP Advisory Board" means the board set up under subsection (m). (b) Establishment and purpose: The Secretary, through the Director, must create a program that helps set up and support manufacturing extension centers, so businesses can get new manufacturing technology and better business practices. (c) Objective: The Program's goal is to make U.S. manufacturing more competitive, productive, and technologically advanced. It does this by: transferring Institute-developed technology to Centers and then to companies nationwide; getting people from industry, colleges, state governments, other federal agencies, and the Institute to work together on technology transfer; helping small and medium companies use new manufacturing technology; actively sharing scientific, engineering, technical, and management information with manufacturers, especially small and medium ones; using expertise from other federal agencies and labs when useful; telling secondary schools, community colleges, and career and technical schools — including in underserved and rural areas — what job skills local manufacturers need; expanding certification programs offered by industry, schools, and colleges (including historically Black colleges, Tribal Colleges, minority-serving institutions, and rural or underserved schools), such as training, apprenticeships, and expert access, to close skills gaps for small and medium manufacturers; and growing employment and wages at small and medium U.S. companies. (d) Activities: Each Center must: help set up automated manufacturing systems and other advanced production technology at U.S. facilities, including small and medium manufacturers, based on Institute research, for demonstration and technology transfer; actively share research findings and its own expertise with a wide range of U.S. companies, especially small and medium manufacturers; and help small and medium manufacturers partner with local high schools, community colleges, and career and technical schools — including in underserved and rural areas — so schools understand manufacturers' needs and manufacturers understand what skills students are learning. (e) Financial assistance: (1) Authorization: Except as (2) limits it, the Secretary can fund a Center's creation and support through a cooperative agreement with an eligible entity. (2) Cost sharing: The Secretary cannot pay more than 50 percent of a Center's capital, operating, and maintenance costs. (3) Rule of construction: Money an eligible entity gets for a Center under some other law doesn't count as money provided under (1). (4) Regulations: The Secretary can write or revise regulations needed to carry this out. (f) Applications: (1) In general: An eligible entity applies to the Secretary in whatever form, timing, and detail the Secretary requires. (2) Program description: The Secretary must create and update a description of the Program, application procedures, performance metrics, criteria for qualifying applicants, criteria for picking award recipients among qualified applicants, procedures for figuring allowable cost-share contributions, and any other policies or procedures needed. (3) Cost sharing: To be considered, an applicant must show it (and any partners) will get at least 50 percent of the Center's capital, operating, and maintenance costs from sources other than this section's funding. An applicant can team up with other entities — like private industry, colleges, or governments — to meet this requirement, if the Secretary decides the arrangement is reasonable, helps meet program goals, and follows the Program's cost-allocation rules. (4) Legal rights: Every application must propose how legal rights to any intellectual property from the Center's work will be divided. (5) Merit review of applications: The Secretary must give every application a merit review, weighing at minimum the application's quality — especially on technology transfer, training, education, and adapting technology to specific industries — the quality of service offered, how geographically diverse and wide the service area is, and how much funding and in-kind support comes from other sources. (g) Evaluations: (1) Third and eighth year evaluations by panel: The Secretary must have each Center evaluated in its third and eighth years by a panel the Secretary appoints, made up of private experts unconnected to that Center and federal officials, chaired by an Institute official. (2) Fifth year evaluations by Secretary: In a Center's fifth year, the Secretary personally reviews it. (3) Performance measurement: Evaluators judge a Center against the objective in (c), the performance metrics from (f)(2), and any other criteria the Secretary picks. (4) Positive evaluations: A positive evaluation lets funding continue — through year 5 after a third-year evaluation, through year 8 after a fifth-year evaluation, and through year 10 after an eighth-year evaluation. (5) Other than positive evaluations: A less-than-positive evaluation puts the Center on probation until it's reevaluated. The evaluators must tell the Center why, including its specific problems; help the Center fix those problems by giving it an analysis at least every 3 months, if appropriate; and reevaluate the Center within a year. The Secretary can keep funding the Center during probation, but afterward, funding stops unless the reevaluation is positive. (6) Failure to remedy: If a Center doesn't fix its problems or show real improvement by the end of probation, the Secretary must hold a competition under subsection (h) to pick a new operator. Once a new operator is picked, the Center counts as brand-new for evaluation and timing purposes. (h) Reapplication competition for financial assistance after 10 years: (1) In general: After an eligible entity has run a Center for 10 straight years, the Secretary must hold a competition, under the plan in subsection (i), to pick who operates it next. (2) Incumbent eligible entities: An entity that's run the Center for those 10 years and is in good standing can compete in that competition. (3) Treatment of Centers subject to reapplication competition: Once a new operator is chosen, the Center again counts as brand-new for evaluation timing purposes. (i) Process plan: Within 180 days of January 6, 2017, the Secretary had to create and send Congress a plan for how the Institute runs evaluations, competitions, and reapplication competitions under this section. (j) Operational requirements: If the federal government gets certain information through a Center's or the Program's work — a participant's or client's business information, or a client's trade secrets — that information is exempt from public disclosure under section 552 of title 5 (the Freedom of Information Act). (k) Oversight boards: (1) In general: To get funding for a Center, an eligible entity must set up a board to oversee the Center. (2) Standards: The Director must set standards for these boards, considering the type and structure of the eligible entity, covering membership, composition, term limits, conflicts of interest, and anything else the Director thinks necessary. (3) Membership: Each board must represent stakeholders from the Center's region, and a majority of members must own or work for small or medium manufacturers. No one can serve on more than one such board at a time. (4) Bylaws: Each board must adopt bylaws, approved by the Director, that include conflict-of-interest policies — such as disclosing relationships and recusing from decisions — to limit conflicts of interest. (l) Acceptance of funds: (1) In general: If Congress allows it in advance through appropriations laws, other federal agencies can transfer money to the Institute, and the Secretary and Director can accept private-sector cash donations under section 272(c)(7), to strengthen U.S. manufacturing under this section. (2) Competitive awards: Money accepted this way must usually be awarded to Centers competitively. But the Secretary and Director can make noncompetitive awards or contracts if the target manufacturing market is narrow geographically or in scope, five or fewer states or territories have Centers serving it, and the relevant Center or Centers got a positive evaluation most recently. (m) MEP Advisory Board: (1) Establishment: The Institute has a Manufacturing Extension Partnership Advisory Board. (2) Membership: The Director appoints at least 10 members who broadly represent stakeholders — at least 2 connected to a Center, at least 5 from small manufacturing businesses, and at least 1 representing a community college. No federal employee can serve on it. Members normally serve 3-year terms; someone filling a vacancy serves the rest of that term; and anyone who completes two full consecutive terms cannot be reappointed for 1 year after the second term ends. (3) Meetings: The Board must meet at least twice a year and give the Director advice on the Program's activities, plans, and policies; assessments of whether the Program's plans and strategies are sound; and assessments of how the Program is doing against its plans. (4) Applicability of chapter 10 of title 5: The Board acts only in an advisory role under chapter 10 of title 5, except that section 1013 of title 5 does not apply to it. (5) Annual report: The Board must send the Secretary, for forwarding to Congress, an annual report — no later than 30 days after the President's budget goes to Congress — describing the Program's status and the relevant parts of the Director's planning documents under section 278i. (n) Small manufacturers: (1) Evaluation of obstacles: The Director must identify what stops small U.S. manufacturers from competing globally, create a plan to train Centers to address those obstacles, and help Centers communicate better so manufacturers get targeted solutions. (2) Development of open access resources: The Secretary must build open, publicly available resources on best practices for sourcing inventory, managing supply chains, manufacturing techniques, available federal resources, and other topics that help small manufacturers compete and stay profitable.