Title 15 › Chapter CHAPTER 7— - NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY › § 278s
The Secretary must create a Manufacturing USA Program inside the Institute and build a Manufacturing USA Network made up of regional institutes. The Program’s goals are to make U.S. manufacturing more competitive; speed up research, innovation, and the move of new technologies into large-scale, cost-effective production; help companies get access to costly infrastructure and supply chains; grow the advanced manufacturing workforce; share best practices; attract non‑Federal money so institutes can be sustainable without long-term Federal support; create and keep jobs; and support regional innovation initiatives. “Agency head” means the leader of any Executive agency except the Department of Defense. “Regional innovation initiative” is the term used in section 3722(f)(1) of this title. A Manufacturing USA institute is a group set up to solve advanced manufacturing problems. Each institute focuses on a manufacturing process, new materials, enabling technologies, supply-chain methods, or similar areas (for example, nanotech, photonics, robotics, advanced batteries, quantum science, advanced materials, and others). Institutes must include partners from industry, universities, community colleges, labs, government, and nonprofits. They do R&D, prototyping, workforce training, supply‑chain integration, outreach to small and diverse manufacturers, and technology roadmaps, and may do other activities that match the Program goals. The Secretary and the Secretary of Energy must, and other agency heads may, give financial help to plan, start, or support institutes. Awards last 5–7 years and can be renewed after a strict merit review. Applicants must show current and expected non‑Federal funding. Reviews must be competitive, use diverse expert reviewers, bar political appointees from the review group, and follow conflict‑of‑interest rules. Agencies must set metrics, performance standards, and assess each funded institute 5 years after award and every 5 years after that. Non‑Federal funding must make up at least 50% of an institute’s support unless waived for certain costs. The Secretary may fund test beds and facilities, give competitive grants for workforce and outreach to non‑funded institutes, and must run a National Program Office that coordinates the Network, makes a strategic plan (due December 16, 2015) and updates it every 4 years, keeps a public clearinghouse, and reports annually to Congress through December 31, 2030. The law also sets DOE funding levels: $70,000,000 each year for fiscal years 2020–2022 and $84,000,000 each year for fiscal years 2023–2024, and authorizes up to $5,000,000 per year for fiscal years 2015–2019 from the Industrial Technical Services account, with necessary amounts for 2020–2030. The Comptroller General must report every 3 years and deliver a final report by December 31, 2030.
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Commerce and Trade — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
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15 U.S.C. § 278s
Title 15 — Commerce and Trade
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73