The term industry-led joint research and development venture or joint venture means a business arrangement that consists of two or more separately-owned, for-profit companies that perform research and development in the project; control the joint venture's membership, research directions, and funding priorities; and share total project costs with the Federal Government. The joint venture may include additional companies, independent research organizations, universities, and/or governmental laboratories (other than NIST) which may or may not contribute funds (other than Federal funds) to the project and perform research and development. A for-profit company or an independent research organization may serve as an Administrator and perform administrative tasks on behalf of a joint venture, such as handling receipts and disbursements of funds and making antitrust filings. The following activities are not permissible for ATP-funded joint ventures:

The Program finds that the company's participation in the Program would be in the economic interest of the United States, as evidenced by investments in the United States in research, development, and manufacturing (including, for example, the manufacture of major components or subassemblies in the United States); significant contributions to employment in the United States; and agreement with respect to any technology arising from assistance provided by the Program to promote the manufacture within the United States of products resulting from that technology (taking into account the goals of promoting the competitiveness of United States industry), and to procure parts and materials from competitive suppliers; and

Sec. 295.5 Use of Pre-Proposals in the Selection Process.

To reduce proposal preparation costs incurred by proposers and to make the selection process more efficient, NIST may use mandatory or optional preliminary qualification processes based on preproposals. In such cases, announcements requesting pre-proposals will be published as indicated in section 295.7, and will seek abbreviated proposals (pre-proposals) that address both of the selection criteria, but in considerably less detail than full proposals. The Program will review the pre-proposals in accordance with the selection criteria and provide written feedback to the proposers to determine whether the proposed projects appear sufficiently promising to warrant further development into full proposals. Proposals are neither "accepted" nor "rejected" at the preproposal stage. When the full proposals are received in response to the notice of availability of funds described in section 295.7, the review and selection process will occur as described in section 295.4.

Sec. 295.6 Criteria for Selection.

The evaluation criteria to be used in selecting any proposal for funding under this program, and their respective weights, are listed in this section. No proposal will be funded unless the Program determines that it has scientific and technological merit and that the proposed technology has strong potential for broad-based economic benefits to the nation. Additionally, no proposal will be funded that does not require Federal support, that is product development rather than high-risk R&D, that does not display an appropriate level of commitment from the proposer, or does not have an adequate technical and commercialization plan.

Scientific and Technological Merit (50%)
The proposed technology must be highly innovative. The research must be challenging, with high technical risk. It must be aimed at overcoming an important problem(s) or exploiting a promising opportunity. The technical leverage of the technology must be adequately explained. The research must have a strong potential for advancing the state of the art and contributing significantly to the U.S. scientific and technical knowledge base. The technical plan must be clear and concise; clearly identify the core innovation, the technical approach, major technical hurdles, and the attendant risks; and clearly establish feasibility through adequately detailed plans linked to major technical barriers. The plan must address the questions of "what, how, where, when, why, and by whom" in substantial detail. The Program will assess the proposing team's relevant experience for pursuing the technical plan. The team carrying out the work must demonstrate a high level of scientific/technical expertise to conduct the R&D and have access to the necessary research facilities.

Potential for Broad-Based Economic Benefits (50%)
The proposed technology must have a strong potential to generate substantial benefits to the nation that extend significantly beyond the direct returns to the proposing organization(s). The proposal must explain why ATP support is needed and what difference ATP funding is expected to make in terms of what will be accomplished with the ATP funding versus without it. The pathways to economic benefit must be described, including the proposer's plan for getting the technology into commercial use, as well as additional routes that might be taken to achieve broader diffusion of the technology. The proposal should identify the expected returns that the proposer expects to gain, as well as returns that are expected to accrue to others, i.e., spillover effects. The Program will assess the proposer's relevant experience and level of commitment to the project and project's organizational structure and management plan, including the extent to which participation by small businesses is encouraged and is a key component in a joint venture proposal, and for large company single proposers, the extent to which subcontractor/subrecipient teaming arrangements are featured and are a key component of the proposal.

Sec. 295.7 Notice of Availability of Funds.

The Program shall publish at least annually a Federal Register notice inviting interested parties to submit proposals, and may more frequently publish invitations for proposals in the Commerce Business Daily, based upon the annual notice. Proposals must be submitted in accordance with the guidelines in the ATP Proposal Preparation Kit as identified in the published notice. Proposals will only be considered for funding when submitted in response to an invitation published in the Federal Register, or a related announcement in the Commerce Business Daily.

Sec 295.8 Intellectual Property Rights; Publication of Research Results.

Sec. 295.9 Protection of Confidential Information.

As required by section 278n(d)(5) of Title 15 of the United States Code, the following information obtained by the Secretary on a confidential basis in connection with the activities of any business or joint research and development venture receiving funding under the program shall be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act—

Sec. 295.10 Special Reporting and Auditing Requirements.

Each award by the Program shall contain procedures regarding technical, business, and financial reporting and auditing requirements to ensure that awards are being used in accordance with the Program's objectives and applicable Federal cost principles. The purpose of the technical reporting is to monitor "best effort" progress toward overall project goals. The purpose of the business reporting system is to monitor project performance against the Program's mission as required by the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) mandate for program evaluation. The audit standards to be applied to ATP awards are the Government Auditing Standards (GAS) issued by the Comptroller General of the United States (also known as yellow book standards) and the ATP program-specific audit guidelines. The ATP program-specific audit guidelines include guidance on the number of audits required under an award. In the interest of efficiency, the recipients are encouraged to retain their own independent CPA firm to perform these audits. The Department of Commerce's Office of Inspector General (OIG) reserves the right to conduct audits as deemed necessary and appropriate.

Sec. 295.20 Types of Assistance Available.

This Subpart describes the types of assistance that may be provided under the authority of 15 U.S.C. § 278n(b)(1). Such assistance includes but is not limited to:

Sec. 295.21 Qualifications of Proposers.

Subject to the limitations set out in section 295.3, assistance under this Subpart is available only to industry-led joint research and development ventures. These joint ventures may include universities, independent research organizations, and governmental entities. Proposals for funding under this Subpart may be submitted on behalf of a joint venture by a for-profit company or an independent research organization that is a member of the joint venture. Proposals should include letters of commitment or excerpts of such letters from all proposed members of the joint venture, verifying the availability of cost-sharing funds, and authorizing the party submitting the proposal to act on behalf of the venture with the Program on all matters pertaining to the proposal. No costs shall be incurred under an ATP project by the joint venture members until such time as a joint venture agreement has been executed by all of the joint venture members and approved by NIST. NIST will withhold approval until it determines that a sufficient number of members have signed the joint venture agreement. Costs will only be allowed after the execution of the joint venture agreement and approval by NIST.

Sec. 295.23 Dissolution of Joint Research and Development Ventures.

Upon dissolution of any joint research and development venture receiving funds under these procedures or at a time otherwise agreed upon, the Federal Government shall be entitled to a share of the residual assets of the joint venture proportional to the Federal share of the costs of the joint venture as determined by independent audit.

Sec. 295.24 Registration.

Joint ventures selected for funding under the Program must notify the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission under the National Cooperative Research Act of 1984. No funds will be released prior to receipt by the Program of copies of such notification.

Sec. 295.30 Types of Assistance Available.

Sec. 295.31 Qualification of Proposers.