[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3385 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3385

To strengthen provisions in the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and 
   Development Act of 1974 with respect to potential Climate Change.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 16, 1999

 Mr. Barton of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred 
                      to the Committee on Science

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To strengthen provisions in the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and 
   Development Act of 1974 with respect to potential Climate Change.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION. 1. PURPOSE

    The purpose of this Act is to strengthen provisions of the Federal 
Nonnuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 1974 to authorize and 
undertake a long-term research, development, and demonstration program 
to--
            (1) develop new and enhance existing technologies that 
        reduce or avoid anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases;
            (2) develop new technologies that could remove and 
        sequester greenhouse gases from emissions streams; and
            (3) develop new technologies and practices to remove and 
        sequester greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

SEC. 2. CLIMATE TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION 
              PROGRAM.

    Subtitle B of title XXI of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 
13471) is amended by adding the following new subsection:

``SEC. 2120. CLIMATE TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION 
              PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to direct the 
Secretary to further the goals of development and commercialization of 
technologies, through widespread application and utilization of which 
will assist in stabilizing global concentrations of greenhouse gases, 
by the conduct of a long-term research, development, and demonstration 
program undertaken with selected industry participants or consortia.
    ``(b) Program.--The Secretary, in consultation with the Advisory 
Board established under section 2302, shall establish a long-term 
Climate Technology Research, Development, and Demonstration Program, in 
accordance with sections 3001 and 3002.
    ``(c) Program Objectives.--The program shall foster--
            ``(1) development of new technologies and the enhancement 
        of existing technologies that reduce or avoid anthropogenic 
        emissions of greenhouse gases and improve energy efficiency;
            ``(2) development of new technologies that are able to 
        remove and sequester greenhouse gases from emissions streams; 
        and
            ``(3) development of new technologies and practices to 
        remove and sequester greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
    ``(d) Program Plan.--
            ``(1) Initial plan.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
        of enactment of this section, the Secretary, in consultation 
        with appropriate representatives of industry, institutions of 
        higher education, Department of Energy national laboratories, 
        and professional and technical societies, shall prepare and 
        submit to the Congress a 10-year program plan to guide 
        activities under this section.
            ``(2) Biennial update.--The Secretary shall biennially 
        update and resubmit the program plan to the Congress.
    ``(e) Proposals.--
            ``(1) Solicitation.--Not later than one year after the date 
        of submittal of the 10-year program plan, and consistent with 
        sections 3001 and 3002, the Secretary shall solicit proposals 
        for conducting activities consistent with the 10-year program 
        plan and select one or more proposals not later than 180 days 
        after such solicitations.
            ``(2) Qualifications.--In order for a proposal to be 
        considered by the Secretary, an applicant shall provide 
        evidence that the applicant has in existence--
                    ``(A) the technical capability to enable it to make 
                use of existing research support and facilities in 
                carrying out its research objectives;
                    ``(B) a multi-disciplinary research staff 
                experienced in--
                            ``(i) energy generation, transmission, 
                        distribution and end-use technologies; or
                            ``(ii) technologies or practices able to 
                        sequester, avoid, or capture greenhouse gas 
                        emissions; or
                            ``(iii) other directly related technologies 
                        or practices;
                    ``(C) access to facilities and equipment to enable 
                the conduct of laboratory-scale testing or 
                demonstration of technologies or related processes 
                undertaken through the program.
            ``(3) Proposal criteria.--Each proposal shall--
                    ``(A) demonstrate the support of the relevant 
                industry by describing--
                            ``(i) how the relevant industry has 
                        participated in deciding what research 
                        activities will be undertaken;
                            ``(ii) how the relevant industry will 
                        participate in the evaluation of the 
                        applicant's progress in research and 
                        development activities; and
                            ``(iii) the extent to which industry funds 
                        are committed to the applicant's submission;
                    ``(B) have a commitment for matching funds from 
                non-Federal sources, which shall consist of--
                            ``(i) cash; or
                            ``(ii) as determined by the Secretary, the 
                        fair market value of equipment, services, 
                        materials, appropriate technology transfer 
                        activities, and other assets directly related 
                        to the proposal's cost;
                    ``(C) include a single-year and multi-year 
                management plan that outline how the research and 
                development activities will be administered and carried 
                out;
                    ``(D) state the annual cost of the proposal and a 
                breakdown of those costs; and
                    ``(E) describe the technology transfer mechanisms 
                that the applicant will use to make available research 
                results to industry and to other researchers.
            ``(4) Contents of proposal.--A proposal under this 
        subsection shall include--
                    ``(A) an explanation of how the proposal will 
                expedite the research, development, demonstration, and 
                commercialization of technologies capable of--
                            ``(i) reducing or avoiding anthropogenic 
                        emissions of greenhouse gases;
                            ``(ii) removing and sequestering greenhouse 
                        gases from emissions streams; or
                            ``(iii) removing and sequestering 
                        greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.
                    ``(B) evidence of consideration of whether the 
                unique capabilities of Department of Energy national 
                laboratories warrant collaboration with those 
                laboratories, and the extent of the collaboration 
                proposed;
                    ``(C) a description of the extent to which the 
                proposal includes collaboration with relevant industry 
                or other groups or organizations;
                    ``(D) evidence of the ability of the applicant to 
                undertake and complete the proposed project;
                    ``(E) evidence of applicant's ability to 
                successfully introduce the technology into commerce, as 
                demonstrated by past experience and current 
                relationships with industry; and
                    ``(F) a demonstration of continued financial 
                commitment during the entire term of the proposal from 
                all industrial sectors involved in the technology 
                development.
    ``(f) Selection of Proposals.--From the proposals submitted, the 
Secretary shall select for funding one or more proposals that--
            ``(1) will best result in carrying out needed research, 
        development, and demonstration related to technologies able to 
        assist in the stabilization of global greenhouse gas 
        concentrations through one or more of the following 
        approaches--
                    ``(A) improvement in the performance of fossil-
                fueled energy technologies;
                    ``(B) development of greenhouse gas capture and 
                sequestration technologies and processes;
                    ``(C) cost reduction and acceleration of deployment 
                of renewable resource and distributed generation 
                technologies;
                    ``(D) development of an advanced nuclear generation 
                design; and
                    ``(E) improvement in the efficiency of electrical 
                generation, transmission, distribution, and end use;''
                    ``(F) design and use of--
                            ``(i) closed-loop multi-stage industrial 
                        processes that minimize raw material 
                        consumption and waste streams;
                            ``(ii) advanced co-production systems (such 
                        as coal-based chemical processing and biomass 
                        fuel processing); and
                            ``(iii) recycling and industrial-ecology 
                        programs integrating energy efficiency.
            ``(2) represent research and development in specific areas 
        identified in the program plan developed biennially by the 
        Secretary and submitted to Congress under subsection (c);
            ``(3) demonstrate strong industry support;
            ``(4) ensure the timely transfer of technology to industry; 
        and
            ``(5) otherwise best carry out this section.
    ``(g) Annual Progress Reports.--The Director of the Office of 
Science and Technology, in consultation with the Director of the Office 
of Management and Budget, shall prepare and submit an annual report to 
Congress that--
            ``(1) certifies that the program objectives are adequately 
        focused, peer-reviewed and merit-reviewed, and not 
        unnecessarily duplicative with the science and technology 
        research being conducted by other Federal agencies and agents, 
        and
            ``(2) states whether the program as conducted in the prior 
        year addresses an adequate breadth and range of technologies 
        and solutions to address anthropogenic climate change, 
including--
                    ``(A) capture and sequestration of greenhouse gas 
                emissions;
                    ``(B) development of photovoltaic, high-efficiency 
                coal, advanced nuclear, and fuel cell generation 
                technologies;
                    ``(C) cost reduction and acceleration of deployment 
                of renewable resource and distributed generation 
                technologies; and
                    ``(D) improvement in the efficiency of electrical 
                generation, transmission, distribution, and end use;
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $200,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2001 through 2010, to remain available until expended. This 
authorization is supplemental to existing authorities and shall not be 
construed as a cap on the Department of Energy's Research, Development 
and Demonstration programs.''.

SEC. 3. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND IMPLEMENTING PROGRAM FOR ENERGY 
              RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND DEMONSTRATION.

    Section 6 of the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Development 
Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5905) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (3) by striking the period at the 
                end and inserting ``, and''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) solutions to the effective management of greenhouse 
        gas emissions in the long term by the development of 
        technologies and practices designed to--
                    ``(A) reduce or avoid anthropogenic emissions of 
                greenhouse gases;
                    ``(B) remove and sequester greenhouse gases from 
                emissions streams; and
                    ``(C) remove and sequester greenhouse gases from 
                the atmosphere.''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``subsection 
                (a)(1) through (3)'' and inserting ``paragraphs (1) 
                through (4) of subsection (a); and
                    (B) in paragraph (3)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (R), by striking 
                        ``and'' at the end;
                            (ii) in subparagraph (S), by striking the 
                        period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(T) to pursue a long-term climate technology 
                strategy designed to demonstrate a variety of 
                technologies by which stabilization of greenhouse gases 
                might be best achieved, including--
                            ``(i) the accelerated commercial 
                        demonstration of low-cost and high efficiency 
                        photovoltaic power systems;
                            ``(ii) advanced clean coal technology;
                            ``(iii) advanced nuclear power plant 
                        design;
                            ``(iv) fuel cell technology development for 
                        cost-effective application in residential, 
                        industrial and transportation applications;
                            ``(v) low cost carbon sequestration 
                        practices and technologies including 
                        biotechnology, tree physiology, soil 
                        productivity and remote sensing;
                            ``(vi) hydro and other renewables;
                            ``(vii) electrical generation, transmission 
                        and distribution technologies and end use 
                        technologies; and
                            ``(viii) bio-energy technology.''

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purpose of this Act and the provisions of the Federal 
Nonnuclear Energy Research and Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5901, 
et seq.) amended by this Act, the following terms are defined as 
follows:
            ``(1) Climate change.--The term `climate change' means a 
        change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to 
        human activity which is in addition to natural climate 
        variability observed over comparable time periods.
            ``(2) Greenhouse gases.--The term `greenhouse gases' means 
        those gaseous constituents of the atmosphere, both natural and 
anthropogenic, that absorb and re-emit infrared radiation.
            ``(3) Greenhouse gas sequestration.--The term `greenhouse 
        gas sequestration' means extracting one or more greenhouse 
        gases from the atmosphere or an emissions stream through a 
        technological process designed to extract and isolate those 
        gases from the atmosphere or an emissions stream; or the 
        natural process of photosynthesis that extracts carbon dioxide 
        from the atmosphere and stores it as carbon in trees, roots, 
        stems, soils, foliage, and durable wood products.''.
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