[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 873 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 873

To authorize funding for catalysis science and engineering research and 
 development at the Department of Energy for fiscal years 2004 through 
                     2009, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 10, 2003

 Mr. Bingaman introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize funding for catalysis science and engineering research and 
 development at the Department of Energy for fiscal years 2004 through 
                     2009, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Energy Catalysis 
Research and Development Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that catalysis science is critical to the 
production of fuels for energy generation, the reduction of toxic waste 
streams, and the development of compounds to reduce global warming.

SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Energy, through the Director 
of the Office of Science of the Department of Energy, shall establish a 
program of research and development in catalysis science consistent 
with the Secretary's statutory authorities related to research and 
development.
    (b) Scope of the Program.--The program shall include efforts to--
            (1) enable catalyst design using--
                    (A) combined experimental and mechanistic 
                methodologies, and
                    (B) computational modeling of catalytic reactions 
                at the molecular level;
            (2) develop techniques for--
                    (A) high throughput synthesis of catalysts and 
                novel assays for rapid throughput catalyst testing of 
                small quantities of catalysts on diverse processes, and
                    (B) reducing the analytical cycle time by parallel 
                operation and automation,
                    (C) characterizing catalysts at the 0.1 to 2 
                nanometer scale, and
                    (D) characterizing catalysts in-situ under actual 
                operating conditions at high temperature and pressure,
            (3) synthesize catalysts with specific site architecture,
            (4) conduct research for the use of precious metals for 
        catalysis (excluding platinum, palladium, and rhodium),
            (5) translate molecular (picoscale) and nanoscale 
        fundamentals to the design of catalytic compounds.
    (c) Duties of the Director of the Office of Science.--In carrying 
out the program under this Act, the Director of the Office of Science 
shall--
            (1) support both individual investigators and 
        multidisciplinary teams of investigators that include teams 
        drawing upon the expertise of homogeneous, heterogeneous, and 
        biocatalyic investigators to pioneer new approaches in 
        catalytic design;
            (2) develop, plan, construct, acquire, share, or operate 
        special equipment or facilities for the use of investigators 
        conducting research and development in catalysis science in 
        collaboration with national user facilities such as nanoscience 
        and engineering centers;
            (3) support technology transfer activites to benefit 
        industry and other users of catalysis science and engineering; 
        and
            (4) coordinate research and development activities with 
        industry and other federal agencies.
    (d) Merit Review Required.--All grants, contracts, cooperative 
agreements, or other financial assistance awards under this Act shall 
be made only after independent merit review.
    (e) Triennial Assessment.--The National Academy of Sciences shall 
review the catalysis program every three years to report on gains made 
in the fundamental science of catalysis and its progress made towards 
developing new fuels for energy production, material fabrication 
processes and methods to reduce global warming.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    The following sums are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Secretary of Energy, to remain available until expended, for the 
purposes of carrying out this Act:
            (1) $33,000,000 for fiscal year 2004.
            (2) $35,000,000 for fiscal year 2005.
            (3) $36,500,000 for fiscal year 2006.
            (4) $38,200,000 for fiscal year 2007.
            (5) $40,100,000 for fiscal year 2008.
            (6) $42,100,000 for fiscal year 2009.
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