DOE and NASA Interagency Research Coordination Act

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. federal laws
• Most recent activity: Defunct
• Most recent activity date: 2025-01-03

Risk subdomain coverage

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• AI system security vulnerabilities

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

This document has minimal to no coverage of AI risk domains. It is primarily a research coordination authorization act that mentions machine learning and data analytics as research areas but does not address AI risks, harms, or governance challenges. No risk subdomains receive substantive coverage.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Scientific Research & Development Services
• Public Administration (excl. National Security)

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Educational Services

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document primarily governs research and development activities within the Scientific Research and Development Services sector, specifically coordinating collaborative R&D between federal agencies (DOE and NASA). It also has minimal coverage of Public Administration through its establishment of interagency coordination mechanisms.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding federal statute enacted by the U.S. Congress with mandatory language establishing legal obligations for the Department of Energy and NASA to coordinate research activities.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress; House of Representatives; Senate
• Summary: The document was enacted by the U.S. Congress, as indicated by the standard legislative enactment clause and the passage through both chambers.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Department of Energy; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; National Laboratories; institutions of higher education; non-profit institutions
• Summary: The Act applies to and governs the research coordination activities between DOE and NASA, and extends to entities receiving competitive awards including federal agencies, national laboratories, universities, and non-profits.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Department of Energy; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives; Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate
• Summary: The Secretary of Energy and NASA Administrator are responsible for implementing and ensuring compliance with the Act's requirements, including merit review processes and research security. Congressional committees provide oversight through reporting requirements.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives; Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate
• Summary: Congressional committees are designated to receive reports on the implementation and outcomes of the research coordination activities, providing oversight and monitoring of the program.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Plan and Design
• Collect and Process Data
• Build and Use Model
• Verify and Validate
• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document primarily addresses the Plan and Design stage through research coordination and the Build and Use Model stage through machine learning and data analytics research. It does not substantively cover data collection, validation, deployment, or operational monitoring of AI systems.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

No technical scope terms identified.

Technical Scope Summary

The document explicitly mentions machine learning, data analytics, and algorithm optimization as research areas but does not define or distinguish between AI models, AI systems, or specific AI types such as frontier AI, general purpose AI, or generative AI. No compute thresholds or model weight distribution approaches are mentioned.