(a) Definitions.—In this section:
(1) ARPA–I.—
The term “ARPA–I” means the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Infrastructure established by subsection (b).
(5) Infrastructure.—
(A) In general.—
The term “infrastructure” means any transportation method or facility that facilitates the transit of goods or people within the United States (including territories).
(b) Establishment.—There is established within the Department an agency, to be known as the “Advanced Research Projects Agency–Infrastructure”, to support the development of science and technology solutions—
(c) Goals.—
(1) In general.—The goals of ARPA–I shall be—
(A) to advance the transportation infrastructure of the United States by developing innovative science and technology solutions that—
(i)
lower the long-term costs of infrastructure development, including costs of planning, construction, and maintenance;
(ii)
reduce the lifecycle impacts of transportation infrastructure on the environment, including through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions;
(B)
to ensure that the United States is a global leader in developing and deploying advanced transportation infrastructure technologies and materials.
(2) Research projects.—ARPA–I shall achieve the goals described in paragraph (1) by providing assistance under this section for infrastructure research projects that—
(A)
advance novel, early-stage research with practicable application to transportation infrastructure;
(B)
translate techniques, processes, and technologies, from the conceptual phase to prototype, testing, or demonstration;
(d) Director.—
(1) Appointment.—
ARPA–I shall be headed by a Director, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
(2) Qualifications.—
The Director shall be an individual who, by reason of professional background and experience, is especially qualified to advise the Secretary regarding, and manage research programs addressing, matters relating to the development of science and technology solutions to advance United States transportation infrastructure.
(4) Relationship to other programs.—
No other program within the Department shall report to the Director.
(5) Responsibilities.—The responsibilities of the Director shall include—
(B)
developing funding criteria, and assessing the success of programs, to achieve the goals described in subsection (c)(1) through the establishment of technical milestones;
(C)
administering available funding by providing to eligible entities assistance to achieve the goals described in subsection (c)(1);
(D)
terminating programs carried out under this section that are not achieving the goals of the programs; and
(E)
establishing a process through which eligible entities can submit to ARPA–I unsolicited research proposals for assistance under this section in accordance with subsection (f).
(e) Personnel.—
(1) In general.—
The Director shall establish and maintain within ARPA–I a staff with sufficient qualifications and expertise to enable ARPA–I to carry out the responsibilities under this section, in conjunction with other operations of the Department.
(2) Program directors.—
(B) Responsibilities.—Each program director shall be responsible for—
(i)
establishing research and development goals for the applicable program, including by convening workshops and conferring with outside experts;
(iii)
soliciting applications for specific areas of particular promise, especially in areas that the private sector or the Federal Government are not likely to carry out absent assistance from ARPA–I;
(v) selecting on the basis of merit each project to be supported under the applicable program, taking into consideration—
(II)
the demonstrated capabilities of eligible entities to successfully carry out proposed projects;
(III)
the extent to which an eligible entity took into consideration future commercial applications of a proposed project, including the feasibility of partnering with 1 or more commercial entities; and
(3) Hiring and management.—
(A) In general.—The Director may—
(i)
make appointments of scientific, engineering, and professional personnel, without regard to the civil service laws;
(ii)
fix the basic pay of such personnel at such rate as the Director may determine, but not to exceed level II of the Executive Schedule, without regard to the civil service laws; and
(iii) pay an employee appointed under this subparagraph payments in addition to basic pay, subject to the condition that the total amount of those additional payments for any 12-month period shall not exceed the least of—
(III)
the amount of the applicable limitation for a calendar year under section 5307(a)(1) of title 5.
(B) Private recruiting firms.—
The Director may enter into a contract with a private recruiting firm for the hiring of qualified technical staff to carry out this section.
(f) Research Proposals.—
(1) In general.—An eligible entity may submit to the Director an unsolicited research proposal at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Director may require, including a description of—
(2) Review.—The Director—
(A) shall review each unsolicited research proposal submitted under paragraph (1), taking into consideration—
(ii)
the demonstrated capabilities of the applicant to successfully carry out the research proposal;
(B) may approve a research proposal if the Director determines that the research—
(ii)
would not duplicate any other Federal research being conducted or funded by another Federal agency; and
(C)
(i) if funding is denied for the research proposal, shall provide to the eligible entity that submitted the proposal a written notice of the denial that, as applicable—
(ii) if the research proposal is approved for funding, shall provide to the eligible entity that submitted the proposal—
(g) Forms of Assistance.—On approval of a research proposal of an eligible entity, the Director may provide to the eligible entity assistance in the form of—
(h) Reports and Roadmaps.—
(1) Annual reports.—For each fiscal year, the Director shall provide to the Secretary, for inclusion in the budget request submitted by the Secretary to the President under section 1108 of title 31 for the fiscal year, a report that, with respect to the preceding fiscal year, describes—
(A) the projects that received assistance from ARPA–I, including—
(ii)
each such project that examines topics or technologies closely related to other activities funded by the Department, including an analysis of whether the Director achieved compliance with subsection (i)(1) in supporting the project; and
(2) Strategic vision roadmap.—
Not later than October 1, 2022, and not less frequently than once every 4 years thereafter, the Director shall submit to the relevant authorizing and appropriations committees of Congress a roadmap describing the strategic vision that ARPA–I will use to guide the selection of future projects for technology investment during the 4 fiscal-year period beginning on the date of submission of the report.
(i) Coordination and Nonduplication.—The Director shall ensure that—
(1) the activities of ARPA–I are coordinated with, and do not duplicate the efforts of, programs and laboratories within—
(2) no funding is provided by ARPA–I for a project, unless the eligible entity proposing the project—
(k) Partnerships.—The Director shall seek opportunities to enter into contracts or partnerships with minority-serving institutions (as described in any of paragraphs (1) through (7) of section 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)))—
(2)
to develop institutional capacity in advanced transportation infrastructure technologies and materials;
(l) University Transportation Centers.—The Director may—
(1)
partner with university transportation centers under section 5505 to accomplish the goals, and address the needs, of ARPA–I; and
(2)
sponsor and select for funding, in accordance with section 5505, competitively selected university transportation center grants, in addition to the assistance provided under section 5505, to address targeted technology and material goals of ARPA–I.
(m) Advice.—
(n) Evaluation.—
(2) Inclusions.—The evaluation under paragraph (1) may include—
(B)
a recommendation regarding whether ARPA–I, or the Department generally, should continue to allow entities to submit unsolicited research proposals; and
(C) a description of—
(ii)
the manner in which those lessons may apply to the operation of other programs of the Department.
(o) Protection of Information.—
(1) In general.—Each type of information described in paragraph (2) that is collected by ARPA–I from eligible entities shall be considered to be—
(2) Description of types of information.—The types of information referred to in paragraph (1) are—
(A)
information relating to plans for commercialization of technologies developed using assistance provided under this section, including business plans, technology-to-market plans, market studies, and cost and performance models;
(B)
information relating to investments provided to an eligible entity from a third party (such as a venture capital firm, a hedge fund, and a private equity firm), including any percentage of ownership of an eligible entity provided in return for such an investment;
(C) information relating to additional financial support that the eligible entity—
(q) Funding.—
(1) Authorization of appropriations.—
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary such sums as are necessary to carry out this section.
(2) Separate budget and appropriation.—
(A) Budget request.—
The budget request for ARPA–I shall be separate from the budget request of the remainder of the Department.
(B) Appropriations.—
The funding appropriated for ARPA–I shall be separate and distinct from the funding appropriated for the remainder of the Department.
(3) Allocation.—Of the amounts made available for a fiscal year under paragraph (1)—
(A) not less than 5 percent shall be used for technology transfer and outreach activities—
(ii)
within the responsibilities of the program directors described in subsection (e)(2)(B)(viii); and