2021 US Code
Title 15 - Commerce and Trade
Chapter 7 - National Institute of Standards and Technology
Sec. 278e - Functions and activities

In the performance of the functions of the Institute the Secretary of Commerce is authorized to undertake the following activities: (a) The purchase, repair, and cleaning of uniforms for guards; (b) the care, maintenance, protection, repair, and alteration of Institute buildings and other plant facilities, equipment, and property; (c) the rental of field sites and laboratory, office, and warehouse space; (d) the purchase of reprints from technical journals or other periodicals and the payment of page charges for the publication of research papers and reports in such journals; (e) the furnishing of food and shelter without repayment therefor to employees of the Government at Arctic and Antarctic stations; (f) for the conduct of observations on radio propagation phenomena in the Arctic or Antarctic regions, the appointment of employees at base rates established by the Secretary of Commerce which shall not exceed such maximum rates as may be specified from time to time in the appropriation concerned, and without regard to the civil service and classification laws and sections 5542 to 5546 of title 5; (g) the erection on leased property of specialized facilities and working and living quarters when the Secretary of Commerce determines that this will best serve the interests of the Government; and (h) the provision of transportation services for employees of the Institute between the facilities of the Institute and nearby public transportation, notwithstanding section 1344 of title 31.

(Mar. 3, 1901, ch. 872, §15, as added Pub. L. 85–890, §1, Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1711; amended Pub. L. 92–317, §3(e), June 22, 1972, 86 Stat. 235; Pub. L. 100–418, title V, §5115(a)(1), Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1433; Pub. L. 104–113, §8(2), Mar. 7, 1996, 110 Stat. 779.)

"Sections 5542 to 5546 of title 5" substituted in text for "titles II and III of the Federal Employees Pay Act of 1945" on authority of Pub. L. 89–554, §7(b), Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 631, the first section of which enacted Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.

1996—Pub. L. 104–113 struck out "and" before "(g)" and inserted before period at end "; and (h) the provision of transportation services for employees of the Institute between the facilities of the Institute and nearby public transportation, notwithstanding section 1344 of title 31".

1988—Pub. L. 100–418 substituted "functions of the Institute" for "functions of the National Bureau of Standards" and "Institute buildings" for "Bureau buildings".

1972—Pub. L. 92–317 substituted, in cl. (b), "the care, maintenance, protection, repair, and alteration of Bureau buildings and other plant facilities, equipment, and property" for "the repair and alteration of buildings and other plant facilities".

Pub. L. 114–329, title I, §113, Jan. 6, 2017, 130 Stat. 2993, provided that:

"(a) Supervisory Authority.—The Department of Commerce Office of Security shall directly manage the law enforcement and site security programs of NIST [National Institute of Standards and Technology] through an assigned Director of Security for NIST without increasing the number of full-time equivalent employees of the Department of Commerce, including NIST.

"(b) Reports.—The Director of Security for NIST shall provide an activities and security report on a quarterly basis for the first year after the date of enactment of this Act [Jan. 6, 2017], and on an annual basis thereafter, to the Under Secretary for Standards and Technology and the appropriate committees of Congress [Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives]."