6 U.S.C. § 187 Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency

• Library: United States Statutes
• Edition: 2023 Edition
• Currency: Current through P.L. 118-19 (published on www.congress.gov on 10/06/2023)

(a) Definitions

In this section:

(1) Fund

The term "Fund" means the Acceleration Fund for Research and Development of Homeland Security Technologies established in subsection (c).

(2) Homeland security research

The term "homeland security research" means research relevant to the detection of, prevention of, protection against, response to, attribution of, and recovery from homeland security threats, particularly acts of terrorism.

(3) HSARPA

The term "HSARPA" means the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency established in subsection (b).

(4) Under Secretary

The term "Under Secretary" means the Under Secretary for Science and Technology.

(b) Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency

(1) Establishment

There is established the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency.

(2) Director

HSARPA shall be headed by a Director, who shall be appointed by the Secretary. The Director shall report to the Under Secretary.

(3) Responsibilities

The Director shall administer the Fund to award competitive, merit-reviewed grants, cooperative agreements or contracts to public or private entities, including businesses, federally funded research and development centers, and universities. The Director shall administer the Fund to-

(A) support basic and applied homeland security research to promote revolutionary changes in technologies that would promote homeland security;

(B) advance the development, testing and evaluation, and deployment of critical homeland security technologies;

(C) accelerate the prototyping and deployment of technologies that would address homeland security vulnerabilities; and

(D) conduct research and development for the purpose of advancing technology for the investigation of child exploitation crimes, including child victim identification, trafficking in persons, and child pornography, and for advanced forensics.

(4) Targeted competitions

The Director may solicit proposals to address specific vulnerabilities identified by the Director.

(5) Coordination

The Director shall ensure that the activities of HSARPA are coordinated with those of other relevant research agencies, and may run projects jointly with other agencies.

(6) Personnel

In hiring personnel for HSARPA, the Secretary shall have the hiring and management authorities described in section 1101 ¹ of the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 ( 5 U.S.C. 3104 note; Public Law 105-261). The term of appointments for employees under subsection (c)(1) of that section may not exceed 5 years before the granting of any extension under subsection (c)(2) of that section.