S. 4835
Bureau of Industry and Security License Administration Enhancement Act
Sponsor: Kevin Cramer
1 cosponsor
Official summary
Written by the Congressional Research Service.
Bureau of Industry and Security License Administration Enhancement Act
This bill revises certain processes used by the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) to review applications for export licenses.
Specifically, the bill requires BIS to administer any export control license or other authorization considered pursuant to an is informed letter or similar guidance or communication sent to a U.S. or foreign person in the same way as the standard interagency process. (An is informed letter notifies individual companies and universities of supplemental license requirements and requires compliance with the letter's license requirements. BIS guidance states that noncompliance with a letter is treated the same as noncompliance with any other license requirement under the Export Administration Regulations.)
The bill requires any is informed letter or similar guidance or communication to be terminated within 60 days after issuing a related license or other authorization unless BIS publishes a regulation that provides for the parameters of the letter or guidance or publishes the communication in the Federal Register.
BIS must establish standards and factors that licensing officers should use when applying a presumption-of-denial standard to license applications. BIS must submit these factors to Congress prior to publishing them in the Federal Register.
The bill expands the requirements for BIS technical advisory committees, including by requiring BIS to establish committees for specified topics.
BIS must review (and report to Congress on) the implementation of a 2025 interim final rule, which provides additional due diligence procedures regarding advanced computing integrated circuits.
Text of the bill
Part I of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4811 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
1769. Enhancement of administration of export control licenses
(a) Enhancement of administration of certain communications
(1) In general. The Secretary shall administer any export control license or other authorization considered pursuant to an is-informed letter or similar targeted regulatory guidance or supplemental license requirement communication sent to a United States person or foreign person by the same interagency process as any license or other authorization administered pursuant to the Export Administration Regulations.
(2) Publication. Not later than 60 days after issuing a license or other authorization described in paragraph (1), the is-informed letter or similar targeted regulatory guidance or supplemental license requirement communication with respect to the license or authorization shall terminate unless the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Energy, publishes in the Code of Federal Regulations a regulation that provides for the parameters of the letter or guidance or publishes in the Federal Register the communication.
(b) Standards and factors for presumption of denial standard
(1) In general. Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register the standards and factors that licensing officers should consider when considering a license under a presumption of denial standard.
(2) Submission to Congress. Not later than 7 days prior to the date the Secretary publishes or otherwise makes available to the public such standards and factors, the Secretary shall submit such standards and factors to—
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate.