§18961 — Title 42 The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code

§18961 National Supply Chain Database

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 163— - RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, COMPETITION, AND INNOVATION › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY FOR THE FUTURE › Part Part C— - Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership › § 18961

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Director must create a voluntary National Supply Chain Database if Congress provides the money. The database will help the federal government and industry find U.S. manufacturers and reduce supply problems. The Director must follow the 2021 study’s advice, including steps to keep the system safe from attacks. The database will be built through the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership by linking state Centers so it gives a national view and shows if some makers need to retool. It can include basic company details, overviews of capabilities and products, and proprietary information. It may use NAICS codes for sectors 31–33 (manufacturing), 54 (professional, scientific, technical services), and 48–49 (transportation and warehousing). The database will have three access levels: Level 1 public basic info, Level 2 deeper nonproprietary info for contributors, and Level 3 for proprietary data. Nonpublic material in the database is protected from public-record requests under 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(3). Only the company that contributed the data, the Institute and Center staff who sign nondisclosure agreements, and other federal agencies may access nonpublic content. The Director can share aggregated, de-identified reports. Companies may voluntarily add information and mark it in writing (or follow up in writing after an oral submission) to get extra protection from disclosure and from use in civil enforcement without their written consent. No company must share data, and the Director cannot make new rules for manufacturers based on database data that did not exist the day before August 9, 2022.

Title 42, §18961

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Director shall establish a voluntary National Supply Chain Database, subject to the availability of appropriations.

(b)The purpose of the voluntary National Supply Chain Database shall be to assist the Federal Government and industry sectors in minimizing disruptions to the United States supply chain by having an assessment of United States manufacturers’ capabilities.

(c)In establishing the National Supply Chain Database, the Director shall consider the findings and recommendations from the study authorized pursuant to section 9413 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116–283), including measures to secure and protect the Database from adversarial attacks and vulnerabilities.

(d)(1)The Director shall establish the infrastructure for the National Supply Chain Database through the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, established pursuant to section 278k of title 15, by connecting information from the Centers (as such term is defined in such section) through the Database.

(2)The Director shall ensure that connections under paragraph (1)—

(A)provide a national overview of the networks of supply chains of the United States; and

(B)support understanding of whether there is a need for some manufacturers to retool in some critical areas to meet the urgent need for key products.

(3)(A)The Director shall ensure that—

(i)each Center is connected to the National Supply Chain Database; and

(ii)each supply chain database maintained by a Center is interoperable with the Database.

(B)Nothing in this section may be construed to require a State or territory of the United States to establish a new supply chain database through the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership program.

(e)The Director, acting through the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership program or a designee of the program—

(1)shall maintain the National Supply Chain Database as an integration of State-level databases from the Center of each State or territory of the United States;

(2)may populate the Database with information from past or current clients of Centers; and

(3)may include in the Database information voluntarily provided by non-client private sector entities based and operating in the United States, as applicable and appropriate.

(f)The National Supply Chain Database may include the following:

(1)Basic private sector entity information.

(2)An overview of capabilities, accreditations, and products.

(3)Proprietary information.

(g)The National Supply Chain Database may, where applicable, use the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes as follows:

(1)Sector 31-33 – Manufacturing.

(2)Sector 54 – Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services.

(3)Sector 48-49 – Transportation and Warehousing.

(h)The National Supply Chain Database shall be multi-leveled as agreed to under terms of mutual disclosure as follows:

(1)Level 1 shall have the capability to provide basic private sector entity information and shall be available to the public.

(2)Level 2 shall have the capability to provide a deeper, nonproprietary overview into capabilities, products, and accreditations and shall be available to all companies that contribute to the Database.

(3)Level 3 shall have the capability to hold proprietary information.

(i)(1)The National Supply Chain Database, and any information contained therein that is not publicly released by the Institute, shall be exempt from public disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5.

(2)Access to a contributing private sector entity’s nonpublic content in the National Supply Chain Database shall be limited to—

(A)the contributing private sector entity, the Institute, and staff from a Center who sign a nondisclosure agreement, and

(B)other Federal departments and agencies,

(3)The Director may make aggregated, de-identified information available to contributing companies, Centers, or the public, as the Director considers appropriate, in support of the purposes of this section.

(j)The Director, acting through the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership program, may work with the National Defense Technology and Industrial Base Council established under section 4812 of title 10 as the Director considers appropriate, to include in the National Supply Chain Database information regarding the defense manufacturing supply chain.

(k)(1)Supply chain information that is voluntarily and lawfully submitted to the National Supply Chain Database by a private sector entity and accompanied by an express statement described in paragraph (2)—

(A)shall be exempt from disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5;

(B)may not be made available pursuant to any Federal, State, local, or Tribal authority pursuant to any Federal, State, local, or Tribal law requiring public disclosure of information or records; and

(C)may not, without the written consent of the private sector entity submitting such information, be used directly by the Director, or any other Federal, State, or local authority in any civil enforcement action brought by a Federal, State, Tribal, or local authority.

(2)The express statement described in this paragraph, with respect to information or records, is—

(A)in the case of written information or records, a written marking on the information or records substantially similar to the following: “This information is voluntarily submitted to the Federal Government in expectation of protection from disclosure as provided by the provisions of section 10253(k) of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act.”; or

(B)in the case of oral information, a written statement similar to the statement described in subparagraph (A) submitted within a reasonable period following the oral communication.

(l)(1)Nothing in this section may be construed to require any private sector entity to share data, including proprietary information, with the Director or the National Supply Chain Database.

(2)Nothing in this section may be construed to grant the Director, or the head of any other Federal agency, any authority to promulgate regulations or set standards on manufacturers, based on data within the National Supply Chain Database, that was not in effect on the day before August 9, 2022.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 9413 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, referred to in subsec. (c), is section 9413 of Pub. L. 116–283, div. H, title XCIV, Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4819, also known as the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. section 9413 of the Act is not classified to the Code. section 10253(k) of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act, referred to in subsec. (k)(2)(A), is section 10253(k) of Pub. L. 117–167, div. B, title II, Aug. 9, 2022, 136 Stat. 1500, which is classified to subsec. (k) of this section.