Sec. 7. Interagency working group

680 words·~3 min read·/bill/116/hr/36/ih/section-7

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The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, acting through the National Science and Technology Council, shall establish an interagency working group for the purpose of coordinating Federal science agency efforts to reduce the prevalence of sexual harassment involving grant personnel. The working group shall be chaired by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (or the Director’s designee) and shall include a representative from each Federal science agency with annual extramural research expenditures totaling over $1,000,000,000. The interagency working group established under subsection

(a)shall coordinate Federal science agency efforts to implement the policy guidelines developed under subsection (c)(2). The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall— not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate an inventory of Federal science agency policies, procedures, and resources dedicated to preventing and responding to reports of sexual harassment; and not later than 6 months after the date on which the inventory is submitted under paragraph (1)— in consultation with outside stakeholders, develop a uniform set of policy guidelines for Federal science agencies; and submit a report to the committees referred to in paragraph

(1)containing such guidelines; encourage and monitor efforts of Federal science agencies to develop or maintain and implement policies based on the guidelines developed under paragraph (2); not later than 1 year after the date on which the inventory under paragraph

(1)is submitted, and every 5 years thereafter, the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall report to Congress on the implementation by Federal science agencies of the policy guidelines developed under paragraph (2); and update such policy guidelines as needed. In developing policy guidelines under subsection (c)(2), the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall include guidelines that require— grantees to submit to the Federal science agency or agencies from which the grantees receive funding reports relating to— findings or determinations of sexual harassment; and any decisions made to place grant personnel on administrative leave or impose any administrative action on grant personnel related to any sexual harassment investigation; the sharing and archiving of reports of sexual harassment from grantees submitted under paragraph

(1)with relevant Federal science agencies on a quarterly basis; and to the extent practicable, ensure consistency among relevant Federal agencies with regards to the policies and procedures for receiving reports submitted pursuant to paragraph (1), which may include the designation of a single agency to field reports so submitted. In developing policy guidelines under subsection (c)(2), the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall consider guidelines that— require grantees to periodically assess their organizational climate using climate surveys, focus groups, and exit interviews; require grantees to publish on a publicly available internet website the results of assessments conducted pursuant to paragraph (1), disaggregated by gender and, if possible, race, ethnicity, disability status, and sexual orientation; require grantees to make public on an annual basis the number of reports of sexual harassment at each such institution; require grantees to regularly assess and improve policies, procedures, and interventions to reduce the prevalence of sexual harassment; require each grantee to describe in its grant proposal a code of conduct for maintaining a healthy and welcoming workplace for grant personnel; and reward and incentivize grantees working to create a climate intolerant of sexual harassment. Each Federal science agency shall— develop or maintain and implement policies with respect to sexual harassment that are consistent with policy guidelines under subsection (c)(2) and that protect the privacy of all parties involved in any report and investigation of sexual harassment, except to the extent necessary to carry out an investigation; and broadly disseminate such policies to current and potential recipients of research grants awarded by such agency. The interagency working group established under subsection

(a)shall terminate on the date that is 7 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.