Volume 92 · 1049
Public Law 95–434
To authorize the appropriation of specified dollar amounts for each of the National Science Foundation’s major program areas (and certain subprograms), and to provide requirements relating to periods of availability and transfers of the authorized funds.
Approved October 10, 1978
Statutory text
An Act
To authorize the appropriation of specified dollar amounts for each of the National Science Foundation’s major program areas (and certain subprograms), and to provide requirements relating to periods of availability and transfers of the authorized funds.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
That this Act may be cited as the “National Science Foundation Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1979”.
Sec. 2.
There is hereby authorized to be appropriated to the National Science Foundation for the fiscal year 1979 for the following categories:
Mathematical and Physical Sciences and Engineering, $265,700,000.
Astronomical, Atmospheric, Earth, and Ocean Sciences, $224,700,000.
United States Antarctic Program, $51,200,000.
Biological, Behavioral, and Social Sciences, $157,000,000.
Science Education Programs, $84,800,000.
Applied Science and Research Applications, $69,700,000.
Scientific, Technological, and International Affairs, $23,500,000.
Program Development and Management, $53,300,000.
Of the total amount authorized under subsection (a)(6)—
$2,000,000 is authorized for a “Handicapped Research Program”;
$200,000 is authorized for the design of a program in Appropriate Technology; and
not less than 12.5 per centum shall be expended to small business concerns.
Sec. 3.
Appropriations made under the authority provided in sections 2 and 5 shall remain available for obligation, for expenditure, or for obligation and expenditure for periods specified in the Acts making the appropriations.
Sec. 4.
From appropriations made under this Act, not more than
Limitation.
$5,000 may be used for official consultation, representation, or other extraordinary expenses upon the determination of the Director of the National Science Foundation, and his determination shall be final and conclusive upon the accounting officers of the Government.
Sec. 5.
In addition to the sums authorized by section 2, not more than $4,500,000 is authorized to be appropriated for the fiscal year 1979 for expenses of the National Science Foundation incurred outside the United States, to be paid for in foreign currencies that the Treasury Department determines to be excess to the normal requirements of the United States.
Sec. 6.
Funds may be transferred among the categories listed in
Transfer of funds.
section 2(a), but neither the total funds transferred from any category nor the total funds transferred to any category may exceed 10 per centum of the amount authorized for that category in section 2, unless—
thirty legislative days have passed after the Director of the National Science Foundation or his designee has transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the President of the Senate, to the Committee on Science and Technology of the House of Representatives, and to the Committee on Human Resources of the Senate a written report containing a full and complete explanation of the transfer involved and the reason for it, or
before the expiration of thirty legislative days both the Committee on Science and Technology of the House and the Committee on Human Resources of the Senate have written to the Director to the effect that they have no objection to the proposed transfer.
Sec. 7.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this or any other
Act, the Director of the National Science Foundation shall keep the Committee on Science and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Human Resources of the Senate fully and currently informed with respect to all of the activities of the National Science Foundation.
Sec. 8.
The Director of the National Science Foundation, in
Feasibility study.
consultation with the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and technical experts in public agencies, private organizations, and academic institutions, is authorized to determine the need to provide support under this Act for a study of the feasibility of transmitting solar energy to Earth by using orbital structures manufactured from lunar or asteroidal materials, and the impact of such a feasibility study, if any, on existing National Science Foundation programs.
If the Foundation determines that such a feasibility study is necessary, the Foundation is authorized to conduct such a study directly or by grants or contracts with public agencies, private organizations, or academic institutions.
At the conclusion of any such study the Foundation shall prepare and submit to the President and to the Congress a report of the study, together with such recommendations as the Foundation deems appropriate.
Of the funds authorized in section 2, $500,000 shall be available to carry out the provisions of this subsection.
Approved October 10, 1978.