Statutory Authorities
NTIS' basic authority to operate a permanent clearinghouse of scientific and technical information is codified as chapter 23 of Title 15 of the United States Code (15 U.S.C. 1151-1157). This chapter also established NTIS' authority to charge fees for its products and services and to recover all costs through such fees "to the extent feasible."
This authority was restated in the National Technical Information Act of 1988, codified at 15 U.S.C. 3704b. That Act gave NTIS the authority to enter into joint ventures and declared the Clearinghouse to be a permanent Federal function that could not be eliminated or privatized without Congressional approval.
That Act was amended by the American Technology Preeminence Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-245) which:
- required all costs associated with bibliographic control to be recovered by fees,
- required agencies to make copies of their scientific and technical reports available to NTIS, and
- directed NTIS to focus on developing new electronic methods and media for disseminating information.
Another statute having a profound impact on NTIS is the Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations Act for FY 1993 (Public Law 102-395) which established NTIS Revolving Fund and gave it the authority to use that Fund without further approval by Congress.
In addition, section 1526 of Title 15 of the United States Code authorizes NTIS to accept payments in advance for services to be provided to other agencies.
Read more about this topic: National Technical Information Service
Famous quotes containing the word authorities:
“Fathers are still considered the most important “doers” in our culture, and in most families they are that. Girls see them as the family authorities on careers, and so fathers’ encouragement and counsel is important to them. When fathers don’t take their daughters’ achievements and plans seriously, girls sometimes have trouble taking themselves seriously.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)