I'm thinking the answer is no... but I am wondering if there is any way to create a tech which is the same for all factions without having to create separate techs for each faction and their tech trees.  

I am working on a terraforming mod which utilizes rare resources (unfortunately cannot consume them, but can tie them up, take a long time, and cost a lot... so harder to abuse)... but I would like to add a total of 4 techs.  It is just a pain in the butt to have to create four entries for every faction... and then have to write instructions for users who use the mod to make it also usable with their custom races (if their races use unique tech trees).