§7259a Activities of Department of Energy Facilities

Summary

The Secretary of Energy may run research and similar work at DOE sites for other federal agencies, state or local governments, and private people or groups. The work must be the kind the Secretary is already allowed to do by law, including under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, and the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 1974. The Secretary must charge whoever asks for the work for the direct costs and the overhead, including site-wide indirect costs. The Secretary may also add a Federal administrative charge up to 3 percent of the full cost, which can include depreciation and imputed interest. That 3 percent charge can be waived for small businesses, colleges, non-profits, and state or local governments. Any waivers made before October 17, 1998 must be ended within 2 years after that date unless the Secretary decides to keep them. The Secretary may run a pilot program with contractors to try lower overhead rates at contractor-run facilities. The pilot must start by October 1, 1999, end on September 30, 2003, and include a joint review of overhead items; an interim report to Congress is due by January 31, 2003. This does not change the Department’s normal user-fee practice at its facilities.