42 U.S.C. § 19081 — Facility operation and maintenance

(a) In general. The Director must continue the Facility Operation Transition pilot program for a total of five years. (b) Cost sharing. This program pays between 10 and 50 percent of the operations and maintenance costs for major research facilities that are still within their first five years of operating. How much it pays depends on the facility's operations and maintenance costs and on how much of that cost the managing directorate or division can absorb on its own. (c) Report. After the pilot's fifth year, the Director must send Congress a report. It must assess, using feedback from the research community, how well the pilot worked at: helping research directorates and divisions balance spending between research grants and initial facility operating costs; encouraging the creation of new world-class facilities; supporting partnerships with other agencies and other countries; funding the core parts of multidisciplinary facilities; and covering the costs of retiring facilities. If the Director finds the pilot effective, the report must also include a plan to make it permanent.