PUBLIC LAW 102-240—DEC. 18, 1991 105 STAT. 1979 "Maglev Project Office"), which shall be headed by the program director, and shall enter into such arrangements as may be necessary for funding, staffing, office space, and other requirements that will allow the Maglev Project Office to carry out its functions. In carrying out such program, the program director shall consult with appropriate Federal officials, including the Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. (2) PHASE ONE CONTRACTS.— (A) REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS. —Not later than 12 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Maglev Project Office shall release a request for proposals for development of conceptual designs for a maglev system and for research to facilitate the development of such conceptual designs. (B) AWARD OF CONTRACTS. — Not later than 15 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary and the Assistant Secretary shall, based on the recommendations of the program director, award 1-year contracts for research and development to no fewer than 5 eligible applicants. If fewer than 5 complete applications have been received, contracts shall be awarded to as many eligible applicants as is practical. (C) FACTORS AND CONDITIONS TO BE CONSIDERED.— The Sec- Reports, retary and the Assistant Secretary may approve contracts under subparagraph (B) only after consideration of factors relating to the construction and operation of a magnetic levitation system, including the cost-effectiveness, ease of maintenance, safety, limited environmental impact, ability to achieve sustained high speeds, ability to operate along the Interstate highway rights-of-way, the potential for the guideway design to be a national standard, the applicant's resources, capabilities, and history of successfully designing and developing systems of similar complexity, and the desirability of geographic diversity among contractors and only if the applicant agrees to submit a report to the Maglev Project Office detailing the results of the research and development and agrees to provide for matching of the phase one contract at a 90 percent Federal, 10 percent non- Federal, cost share. (3) PHASE TWO CONTRACTS. —Within 3 months of receiving the final reports of contract activities under paragraph (2), and based only on such reports and the recommendations of the program director, the Secretary and the Assistant Secretary shall select not more than 3 eligible applicants from among the contract recipients submitting reports under paragraph (2) to receive 18-month contracts for research and development leading to a detailed design for a prototype maglev system. The Secretary and the Assistant Secretary may only award contracts under this paragraph if— (A) they determine that the applicant has demonstrated technical merit for the conceptual design and the potential for further development of such design into an operational prototype as described in paragraph (4), (B) the applicant agrees to submit the detailed design within such 18-month period to the Maglev Project Office and the selection committee described in paragraph (4), and
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