The Director shall establish a voluntary National Supply Chain Database, subject to the availability of appropriations.
The purpose of the voluntary National Supply Chain Database shall be to assist the Federal Government and industry sectors in minimizing disruptions to the United States supply chain by having an assessment of United States manufacturers’ capabilities.
In establishing the National Supply Chain Database, the Director shall consider the findings and recommendations from the study authorized pursuant to section 9413 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116–283), including measures to secure and protect the Database from adversarial attacks and vulnerabilities.
The Director shall establish the infrastructure for the National Supply Chain Database through the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership, established pursuant to section 278k of title 15, by connecting information from the Centers (as such term is defined in such section) through the Database.
The National Supply Chain Database, and any information contained therein that is not publicly released by the Institute, shall be exempt from public disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5.
The Director, acting through the Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership program, may work with the National Defense Technology and Industrial Base Council established under section 4812 of title 10 as the Director considers appropriate, to include in the National Supply Chain Database information regarding the defense manufacturing supply chain.
Nothing in this section may be construed to require any private sector entity to share data, including proprietary information, with the Director or the National Supply Chain Database.
Nothing in this section may be construed to grant the Director, or the head of any other Federal agency, any authority to promulgate regulations or set standards on manufacturers, based on data within the National Supply Chain Database, that was not in effect on the day before August 9, 2022.