42 U.S.C. § 19313

(a) In general The Secretary shall delegate to Directors of National Laboratories the authority to allow their non-Federal employees— (1) to engage in outside employment, including start-up companies based on licensing technologies developed at National Laboratories and consulting in their areas of expertise, and receive compensation from such entities; and (2) to engage in outside activities related to their areas of expertise at the National Laboratory and may allow employees, in their employment capacity at such outside employment, to access the National Laboratories under the same contracting mechanisms as non-Laboratory employees and entities, in accordance with appropriate conflict of interest protocols. (b) Requirements If a Director elects to use the authority granted by subsection (a) of this section, the Director, or their designee, shall— (1) require employees to disclose to and obtain approval from the Director or their designee prior to engaging in any outside employment; (2) develop and require appropriate conflict of interest protocols for employees that engage in outside employment; (3) maintain the authority to terminate employees engaging in outside employment if they are found to violate terms, including conflict of interest protocols, mandated by the Director; and (4) ensure that any such programs or activities are in conformance with the Department’s research security policies, including DOE Order 486.1. (c) Additional restrictions Employees engaging in outside employment may not— (1) allow such activities to interfere with or impede their duties at the National Laboratory; (2) engage in activities related to outside employment using National Laboratory government equipment, property, or resources, unless such activities are performed under National Laboratory contracting mechanisms, such as Cooperative Research and Development Agreements or Strategic Partnership Projects, whereby all conflicts of interest requirements apply; or (3) use their position at a National Laboratory to provide an unfair competitive advantage to an outside employer or start-up activity. (d) Federal ethics Nothing in this section shall affect existing Federal ethics rules applicable to Federal personnel.