[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR30.36]

[Page 331]
 
                   TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
 
               CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
 
                   Subpart C--Post-Award Requirements
 
Sec. 30.36  Intangible property.

    (a) The recipient may copyright any work that is subject to 
copyright and was developed, or for which ownership was purchased, under 
an award. EPA reserves a royalty-free, nonexclusive and irrevocable 
right to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use the work for Federal 
purposes, and to authorize others to do so.
    (b) Recipients are subject to applicable regulations governing 
patents and inventions, including government-wide regulations issued by 
the Department of Commerce at 37 CFR part 401, ``Rights to Inventions 
Made by Nonprofit Organizations and Small Business Firms Under 
Government Grants, Contracts and Cooperative Agreements.''
    (c) The Federal Government has the right to:
    (1) Obtain, reproduce, publish or otherwise use the data first 
produced under an award; and
    (2) Authorize others to receive, reproduce, publish, or otherwise 
use such data for Federal purposes.
    (d)(1) In addition, in response to a Freedom of Information Act 
(FOIA) request for research data relating to published research findings 
produced under an award that were used by the Federal Government in 
developing an agency action that has the force and effect of law, the 
EPA shall request, and the recipient shall provide, within a reasonable 
time, the research data so that they can be made available to the public 
through the procedures established under the FOIA. If the EPA obtains 
the research data solely in response to a FOIA request, the agency may 
charge the requester a reasonable fee equaling the full incremental cost 
of obtaining the research data. This fee should reflect costs incurred 
by the agency, the recipient, and applicable subrecipients. This fee is 
in addition to any fees the agency may assess under the FOIA (5 U.S.C. 
552(a)(4)(A)).
    (2) The following definitions apply for purposes of this paragraph 
(d):
    (i) Research data is defined as the recorded factual material 
commonly accepted in the scientific community as necessary to validate 
research findings, but not any of the following: preliminary analyses, 
drafts of scientific papers, plans for future research, peer reviews, or 
communications with colleagues. This ``recorded'' material excludes 
physical objects (e.g., laboratory samples). Research data also do not 
include:
    (A) Trade secrets, commercial information, materials necessary to be 
held confidential by a researcher until they are published, or similar 
information which is protected under law; and
    (B) Personnel and medical information and similar information the 
disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of 
personal privacy, such as information that could be used to identify a 
particular person in a research study.
    (ii) Published is defined as either when:
    (A) Research findings are published in a peer-reviewed scientific or 
technical journal; or
    (B) A Federal agency publicly and officially cites the research 
findings in support of an agency action that has the force and effect of 
law.
    (iii) Used by the Federal Government in developing an agency action 
that has the force and effect of law is defined as when an agency 
publicly and officially cites the research findings in support of an 
agency action that has the force and effect of law.
    (e) Title to intangible property and debt instruments acquired under 
an award or subaward vests upon acquisition in the recipient. The 
recipient shall use that property for the originally-authorized purpose, 
and the recipient shall not encumber the property without approval of 
EPA. When no longer needed for the originally authorized purpose, 
disposition of the intangible property shall occur in accordance with 
the provisions of Sec. 30.34(g).

[61 FR 6067, Feb. 15, 1996, as amended at 65 FR 14407, 14417, Mar. 16, 
2000]