[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4897 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4897

   To reauthorize the Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency 
 Improvements Program of the Department of Agriculture through fiscal 
    year 2011 and to increase the annual level of Commodity Credit 
                  Corporation funding for the program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 7, 2006

   Mr. Udall of Colorado (for himself and Mr. Latham) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To reauthorize the Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency 
 Improvements Program of the Department of Agriculture through fiscal 
    year 2011 and to increase the annual level of Commodity Credit 
                  Corporation funding for the program.

    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 ``Renewable Energy Systems and Energy 
Efficiency Improvements Program Act of 2006''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Having an affordable, reliable, and plentiful energy 
        supply is critical to the United States economy.
            (2) Current and future risks to United States energy 
        security are increasing at the same time that domestic and 
        global energy demands are growing exponentially.
            (3) The greatest strength of United States agriculture has 
        always been the entrepreneurial strength of its farmers and 
        ranchers, and this entrepreneurial strength can be harnessed to 
        increase United States energy security.
            (4) The development of a broad range of renewable energy 
        sources, including wind power, biomass, ethanol, biodiesel, and 
        solar, offers the potential for farmers and ranchers to develop 
        additional sources of income, for rural businesses and 
        communities to prosper, and for the United States to lessen its 
        dependence on imported oil.
            (5) Support is growing for the ``25 by 25 objective'', 
        which envisions that by 2025, farm and ranch lands in the 
        United States will provide at least 25 percent of the energy 
        consumed in the United States.
            (6) Section 9006 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment 
        Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8106) established the Renewable Energy 
        Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program, which is 
        the keystone of the Act's energy title and the first 
        agricultural program to promote broad renewable energy and 
        energy efficiency measures for the farm and rural business 
        sectors.
            (7) The Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency 
        Improvements Program has already been a success, providing 
        grants and loans to farmers, ranchers, and rural businesses to 
        help them install renewable energy systems and make energy 
        efficiency improvements.
            (8) During its first two years in operation, the Renewable 
        Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program 
        leveraged approximately $44 million in grants into more than 
        $300 million in clean energy projects, including 250 megawatts 
        of wind power, 67 anaerobic digesters, 8 biofuels processing 
        facilities, 85 energy efficiency projects, and a range of other 
        proven energy efficiency technologies.
            (9) The Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency 
        Improvements Program enjoys strong bipartisan support in 
        Congress and among a broad range of farm, environmental, and 
        sustainable energy organizations.
            (10) Growing interest in the Renewable Energy Systems and 
        Energy Efficiency Improvements Program is evidenced by the 63 
        percent increase in the number of applications from 2004 to 
        2005 for assistance under the program, but the shortfall in 
        funding allowed only 40 percent of applications to be funded in 
        2005 (versus 70 percent in 2004).
            (11) Section 1301 of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 
        (Public Law 109-171; 120 Stat. 4) reduces fiscal year 2007 
        funding for the Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency 
        Improvements Program from $23 million to $3 million.

SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS AND ENERGY 
              EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS PROGRAM.

    Section 9006(f) of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 
2002 (7 U.S.C. 8106(f)), as amended by section 1301 of the Deficit 
Reduction Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-171; 120 Stat. 4), is further 
amended by striking ``$3,000,000 for fiscal year 2007'' and inserting 
``$46,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011''.
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