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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5557 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5557
To establish in the National Institute of Standards and Technology a
program of measurement research, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 24, 2026
Mr. Budd (for himself and Ms. Blunt Rochester) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish in the National Institute of Standards and Technology a
program of measurement research, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Standards and Calibration for
American Leadership in Engineering Biology Act'' or the ``SCALE Biology
Act''.
SEC. 2. NIST BIOMETROLOGY LABORATORY PROGRAM.
(a) Certain Implementation Activities.--Section 2(c) of the
National Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 272(c))
is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting a
comma after ``Director'';
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (22) through (32) as
paragraphs (23) through (33), respectively; and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (21) the following:
``(22) perform research to facilitate and support the
development of a voluntary, consensus-based set of technical
standards, guidelines, best practices, methodologies,
procedures, and processes for engineering biology,
biomanufacturing, biotechnology, and biometrology;''.
(b) Biometrology Laboratory Program.--The National Institute of
Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 271 et seq.) is amended--
(1) by redesignating section 36 (15 U.S.C. 271 note) as
section 37; and
(2) by inserting after section 35 (15 U.S.C. 278t) the
following:
``SEC. 36. BIOMETROLOGY LABORATORY PROGRAM.
``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Director,
shall establish a program of measurement research for engineering
biology, biomanufacturing, and biotechnology (in this section referred
to as the `biometrology laboratory program').
``(b) Purposes.--The purposes of the biometrology laboratory
program are the following:
``(1) To support innovation and industrial competitiveness
in engineering biology, biomanufacturing, and biotechnology.
``(2) To improve the accuracy, interoperability, and
reliability of biological data and materials.
``(3) To support the safe, secure, and responsible
development and application of biological technologies across
sectors to support economic and national security.
``(c) Activities.--In carrying out the biometrology laboratory
program, the Director shall carry out the following:
``(1) Support basic measurement science and technology
research for engineering biology, biomanufacturing, and
biotechnology to advance the following:
``(A) Measurement technologies to support
foundational understanding of the mechanisms of
conversion of DNA information into cellular function.
``(B) Technologies for measurement of biomolecular
components and related systems used for engineering
biology, biomanufacturing, and biotechnology, including
biomolecular components and related systems pertinent
to commercial scale and distributed manufacturing of
products.
``(C) Tools, technical standards, guidelines, best
practices, methodologies, procedures, and processes for
biological data.
``(D) Life cycle and sustainability assessments of
engineering biology, biomanufacturing, and
biotechnology products.
``(E) The development of technical standards,
guidelines, best practices, methodologies, procedures,
and processes that can inform and address biorisk,
biosafety, and biosecurity concerns.
``(F) Other areas of measurement science and
technology research determined by the Director to be
critical to the development and deployment of
biometrology.
``(2) Inform and expand the development of measurements
infrastructure needed to develop technical standards to
establish interoperability and facilitate commercial
development of the following:
``(A) Biometrology technology.
``(B) Engineering biology, biomanufacturing, and
biotechnology.
``(3) Seek to convene representatives of industry,
institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations,
Federal laboratories, and other Federal agencies engaged in
engineering biology, biomanufacturing, and biotechnology
research and development to develop coordinated technical
roadmaps for authoritative measurement of the molecular
components of the cell.
``(4) Provide access to user facilities with advanced or
unique equipment, services, materials, and other resources to
industry, institutions of higher education, nonprofit
organizations, and Federal, State, and Tribal government
agencies to perform research and testing.
``(5) Establish or expand, as appropriate, collaborative
partnerships or consortia with other Federal agencies engaged
in engineering biology, biomanufacturing, and biotechnology
research and development, institutions of higher education,
Federal laboratories, and industry to advance engineering
biology, biomanufacturing, and biotechnology applications.
``(6) Support graduate and postgraduate research and
training in biometrology.
``(7) Establish and periodically update, as appropriate,
common definitions and terminology pertaining to engineering
biology, biomanufacturing, biotechnology, and the bioeconomy,
and maintain a publicly available lexicon of such definitions
and terminology.
``(8) Support extramural research, as appropriate, that
helps the Institute in advancing measurement science,
standards, and guidelines for biometrology, engineering
biology, biomanufacturing, and biotechnology.
``(9) In coordination with the heads of relevant Federal
agencies, as appropriate, identify where technical standards,
standardized assessments, or other governance pathways are
needed to manage risks and support the commercialization of
novel engineering biology, biomanufacturing, and biotechnology.
``(d) Engineering Biology Foundry.--In carrying out the
biometrology laboratory program, and in partnership with industry,
institutions of higher education, and nonprofit organizations, the
Director shall support the development of engineering biology related
foundries to improve measurement assurance and make the engineering of
living measurement systems more predicable, scalable, and routine.
``(e) Outreach.--
``(1) In general.--In carrying out the activities under
subsection (c), the Director shall seek input from other
Federal agencies, institutions of higher education, nonprofit
organizations, industry, and Manufacturing USA institutes with
relevant experience, on an ongoing basis, to help inform
research and development priorities, including through
workshops and other multi-stakeholder activities.
``(2) Institutions of higher education.--To promote the
broadest participation in biometrology research and ensure
training outreach will engage all types of institutions of
higher education, input sought under paragraph (1) shall
include input from minority-serving institutions, historically
Black colleges and universities, Tribal Colleges or
Universities, and public institutions of higher education that,
according to data published by the National Center for Science
and Engineering Statistics, are not, on average, among the top
100 institutions in Federal research and development
expenditures.
``(3) Definitions.--In this subsection:
``(A) Historically black college and university.--
The term `historically Black college and university'
means a part B institution, as defined in section 322
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061).
``(B) Minority-serving institution.--The term
`minority-serving institution' means an eligible
institution under section 371(a) of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)).
``(C) Nonprofit organization.--The term `nonprofit
organization' means an organization described in
section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
and exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such
code.
``(D) Tribal college or university.--The term
`Tribal College or University' has the meaning given
that term in section 316 of the Higher Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c).
``(f) Coordination.--
``(1) Federal departments and agencies.--In carrying out
the activities under subsection (c), the Director shall
coordinate with the heads of appropriate Federal departments
and agencies, including the Executive Office of the President
and the National Engineering Biology Research and Development
Initiative established pursuant to section 10402 of the
Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (42
U.S.C. 19132).
``(2) Manufacturing usa program.--The Director shall
coordinate the activities carried out pursuant to subsection
(c) with the Manufacturing USA Program and, to the maximum
extent practicable, leverage existing capabilities of
Manufacturing USA institutes to support United States
leadership in biomanufacturing.
``(3) Biomass feedstock utilization.--The Director, as
practicable and appropriate, shall support efforts relating to
the coordination and development of biomass feedstock
utilization with the Secretary of Energy and the Biomass
Research and Development Board established pursuant to section
9008 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7
U.S.C. 8108).
``(g) Research Security.--The activities authorized under this
section shall be carried out in accordance with the provision of
subtitle D of title VI of the Research and Development, Competition,
and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 19231 et seq.) and section 223 of the
William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2021 (42 U.S.C. 6605).
``(h) Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Director shall submit to the Committee
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of
Representatives, and make publicly available on the website of the
Institute, a report regarding the implementation by the Institute of
the biometrology laboratory program.
``(i) Implementation Plan.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this section, the Director shall submit to the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on
Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and
Technology and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives, and make available on a public website of the
Institute, a plan to carry out the biometrology laboratory program,
including the following:
``(1) A plan for establishing the biometrology laboratory
program within the Institute as described in this section,
including in relation to existing measurement laboratories.
``(2) A plan for how the Institute will carry out the
activities of the biometrology laboratory program.
``(3) A plan for how to leverage existing infrastructure
and expertise of the Institute to drive international
cooperation for the advancement of voluntary consensus
standards.
``(j) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) In general.--The following terms have the meanings
given those terms, respectively, in section 10401 of the
Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (42
U.S.C. 19131):
``(A) Biological data.
``(B) Biomanufacturing.
``(C) Biometrology.
``(D) Biorisk.
``(E) Biosecurity.
``(F) Engineering biology.
``(2) Additional terms.--
``(A) Bioeconomy.--The term `bioeconomy' means the
economic activity derived from the life sciences,
particularly in the areas of biotechnology and
biomanufacturing, including industries, products,
services, and the workforce.
``(B) Biomass.--The term `biomass' means any
material of biological origin that is available on a
renewable or recurring basis.
``(C) Biosafety.--The term `biosafety' means the
practices, controls, and containment infrastructure
that reduce the risk of unintended exposure to,
contamination with, release of, or harm from pathogens,
toxics, and biological materials.
``(D) Biotechnology.--The term `biotechnology'
means technology that applies to or is enabled by life
sciences innovation or product development.
``(E) Institution of higher education.--The term
`institution of higher education' has the meaning given
that term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)).
``(F) Manufacturing usa institute.--The term
`Manufacturing USA institute' has the meaning given
that term in section 34(d).
``(G) Nonprofit organization.--The term `nonprofit
organization' means an organization described in
section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
and exempt from tax under section 501(a) of such code.
``(H) Technical standard.--The term `technical
standard' has the meaning given that term in section
12(d)(5) of the National Technology Transfer and
Advancement Act of 1995 (15 U.S.C. 272 note).''.
SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.
(a) Repeal.--Section 10221 of the Research and Development,
Competition, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 18931) is repealed, and the
item relating to such section in the table of contents in sections 1
and 10000 for such Act is struck.
(b) Definitions.--
(1) Global definitions.--Section 10002 of the Research and
Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 18901)
is amended--
(A) by striking paragraphs (4) and (6); and
(B) by redesignating--
(i) paragraph (5) as paragraph (4); and
(ii) paragraphs (7) through (30) as
paragraphs (5) through (28), respectively.
(2) Title definitions.--Section 10401 of the Research and
Development, Competition, and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 19131)
is amended--
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as
paragraphs (7) and (8), respectively; and
(B) by inserting before paragraph (7), as so
redesignated, the following new paragraphs:
``(2) Biological data.--The term `biological data' means
the information, including associated descriptors, derived from
the structure, function, or process of a biological system(s)
that is measured, collected, or aggregated for analysis.
``(3) Biomanufacturing.--The term `biomanufacturing' means
the use of biological systems, including the use of biomass as
a feedstock, to produce commercially important goods and
services.
``(4) Biorisk.--The term `biorisk' means the effect of
uncertainty expressed by the combination of the consequences
and the associated likelihood of occurrence that a biological
event will adversely affect the health of humans, nonhuman
animals, or the environment.
``(5) Biosecurity.--The term `biosecurity' means the
security measures designed to prevent the loss, theft, misuse,
diversion, unauthorized possession or material introduction, or
intentional release of pathogens, toxics, biological materials,
and related information or technology.
``(6) Engineering biology.--The term `engineering biology'
means the design, construction, or assembly of the components
of living systems (such as genetics circuits, enzymes, or
metabolic pathways) to achieve an intended function or
outcome.''.
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