1.This Act may be cited as the
H-Prize Act of
2006
.
2.In this Act:
(1)The term
administering entity
means the entity with which the Secretary
enters into an agreement under section 3(c).
(2)The
term Department
means the Department of Energy.
(3)The
term Secretary
means the Secretary of Energy.
3.
(a)The Secretary shall
carry out a program to competitively award cash prizes only in conformity with
this Act to advance the research, development, demonstration, and commercial
application of hydrogen energy technologies.
(b)Advertising and
Solicitation of Competitors
(1)The Secretary shall widely advertise prize
competitions to encourage broad participation, including participation
by—
(A)individuals;
(B)institutions of higher education, including
historically Black colleges and universities and other institutions serving
minorities; and
(C)large and small businesses, including
businesses owned or controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged
persons.
(2)Announcement
through Federal Register notice
(A)The Secretary shall
announce each prize competition by publishing a notice in the Federal
Register.
(B)The notice shall include a description
of—
(i)the subject of the competition;
(ii)the duration of the competition;
(iii)the eligibility requirements for
participation in the competition;
(iv)the process for participants to register
for the competition;
(v)the amount of the prize; and
(vi)the criteria for awarding the prize.
(c)Administering
the Competitions
(1)The Secretary shall
enter into an agreement with a private, nonprofit entity to administer the
prize competitions, subject to this Act.
(2)The duties of the administering entity
under the agreement shall include—
(A)advertising prize
competitions and the results of the prize competitions;
(B)raising funds from
private entities and individuals to pay for administrative costs and contribute
to cash prizes;
(C)working with the
Secretary to develop the criteria for selecting winners in prize competitions,
based on goals provided by the Secretary;
(D)determining, in
consultation with the Secretary, the appropriate amount for each prize to be
awarded;
(E)selecting judges in
accordance with section 4(d), using criteria developed in consultation with the
Secretary; and
(F)preventing the unauthorized use or
disclosure of the intellectual property, trade secrets, and confidential
business information of registered participants.
(d)
(1)Cash prizes under this Act shall consist of funds
appropriated under section 8 and any funds provided by the administering entity
for the cash prizes (including funds raised pursuant to subsection
(c)(2)(B)).
(2)The Secretary may accept funds from other Federal
agencies for the cash prizes.
(3)The Secretary may not give any special
consideration to any private sector entity or individual in return for a
donation to the administering entity.
(e)
(1)The Secretary may not
issue a notice required by subsection (b)(2) until all the funds needed to pay
out the announced amount of the prize have been appropriated or committed in
writing by the administering entity.
(2)Increase in
amount of prizeThe Secretary
may increase the amount of a prize after an initial announcement is made under
subsection (b)(2) if—
(A)notice of the
increase is provided in the same manner as the initial notice of the prize;
and
(B)the funds needed
to pay out the announced amount of the increase have been appropriated or
committed in writing by the administering entity.
4.
(a)The
Secretary shall establish prizes for—
(1)advancements in components or systems
related to—
(A)hydrogen
production;
(B)hydrogen
storage;
(C)hydrogen
distribution; and
(D)hydrogen
utilization;
(2)prototypes of
hydrogen-powered vehicles or other hydrogen-based products that best meet or
exceed objective performance criteria, such as completion of a race over a
certain distance or terrain or generation of energy at certain levels of
efficiency; and
(3)transformational changes in technologies
for the distribution or production of hydrogen that meet or exceed far-reaching
objective criteria that—
(A)shall include minimal carbon emissions;
and
(B)may include cost criteria designed to
facilitate the eventual market success of a winning technology.
(b)
(1)
(A)To the extent
permitted under section 3(e), the prizes authorized under subsection (a)(1)
shall be awarded biennially to the most significant advance made in each of the
4 subcategories described in subparagraphs (A) through (D) of subsection (a)(1)
since the submission deadline of the previous prize competition in the same
category under subsection (a)(1) or the date of enactment of this Act,
whichever is later, unless no such advance is significant enough to merit an
award.
(B)Maximum amount
for single prizeNo single
prize described in subparagraph (A) may exceed $1,000,000.
(C)If less than
$4,000,000 is available for a prize competition under subsection (a)(1), the
Secretary may—
(i)omit 1 or more subcategories;
(ii)reduce the amount of the prizes; or
(iii)not hold a prize competition.
(2)
(A)To the extent
permitted under section 3(e), prizes authorized under subsection (a)(2) shall
be awarded biennially in alternate years from the prizes authorized under
subsection (a)(1).
(B)The Secretary may
award no more than 1 prize under subsection (a)(1) in each 2-year
period.
(C)Maximum amount
for single prizeNo single
prize under this paragraph may exceed $4,000,000.
(D)Insufficient
qualified entriesIf no
registered participant meets the objective performance criteria established
pursuant to subsection (c) for a competition under this paragraph, the
Secretary shall not award a prize.
(3)Transformational
technologies
(A)To the extent
permitted under section 3(e), the Secretary shall announce 1 prize competition
authorized under subsection (a)(3) as soon as practicable after the date of
enactment of this Act.
(B)A prize offered under
this paragraph shall—
(i)be in an amount not less than
$10,000,000;
(ii)be paid to the winner in a lump sum;
and
(iii)include an additional amount paid to the
winner as a match for each dollar of non-Federal funding raised by the winner
for the hydrogen technology beginning on the date the winner was named.
(C)
(i)The match described
in subparagraph (B)(iii) shall be provided until the earlier of—
(I)the date that is 3 years after the date the
prize winner is named; or
(II)the date on which the full amount of the
prize has been paid out.
(ii)A prize winner may elect to have the match
amount paid to another entity that is continuing the development of the winning
technology.
(iii)The Secretary shall announce the rules for
receiving the match in the notice required by section 3(b)(2).
(D)The Secretary shall award a prize under
this paragraph only when a registered participant has met the objective
criteria established for the prize pursuant to subsection (c) and announced
pursuant to section 3(b)(2).
(E)
(i)Not more than
$10,000,000 in Federal funds may be used for the prize award under this
paragraph.
(ii)As a condition of
entering into an agreement under section 3(c), the administering entity shall
seek to raise $40,000,000 in non-Federal funds toward the matching award under
this paragraph.
(c)In establishing the criteria required by
this Act, the Secretary shall consult with—
(1)the Hydrogen
Technical and Fuel Cell Advisory Committee of the Department;
(2)other Federal
agencies, including the National Science Foundation; and
(3)private
organizations, including professional societies, industry associations, the
National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Engineering.
(d)
(1)For each prize competition, the Secretary shall assemble
a panel of qualified judges to select the 1 or more winners on the basis of the
criteria established under subsection (c).
(2)Judges
for each prize competition shall include individuals from outside the
Department, including from the private sector.
(3)A
judge may not—
(A)have personal or financial interests in, or
be an employee, officer, director, or agent of, any entity that is a registered
participant in the prize competition for which the judge will serve as a judge;
or
(B)have a familial or financial relationship
with an individual who is a registered participant in the prize competition for
which the judge will serve as a judge.
5.To be eligible to win a prize under this
Act, an individual or entity—
(1)shall have complied with all the
requirements in accordance with the Federal Register notice required under
section 3(b)(2);
(2)in the case of a
private entity, shall be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of
business in the United States;
(3)in the case of an
individual (whether participating singly or in a group), shall be a citizen of,
or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in, the United States;
and
(4)shall not be a Federal entity, a Federal
employee acting within the scope of employment, or an employee of a national
laboratory acting within the scope of employment.
6.
(a)Subject to subsection
(b), the Federal Government shall not, by virtue of offering or awarding a
prize under this Act, be entitled to any intellectual property rights derived
as a consequence of, or direct relation to, the participation by a registered
participant in a competition authorized by this Act.
(b)Negotiation of
licenses permittedThis
section does not prevent the Federal Government from negotiating a license for
the use of intellectual property developed for a prize competition under this
Act.
7.
(a)
(1)As a condition of
participation in a competition under this Act, the Secretary may require
registered participants to waive claims against the Federal Government and the
administering entity (except claims for willful misconduct) for any injury,
death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits arising from the
participation of the registered participants in a competition under this
Act.
(2)The Secretary shall
provide notice of any waiver required under this subsection in the notice
required by section 3(b)(2).
(3)The Secretary may not require a registered
participant to waive claims against the administering entity arising out of the
unauthorized use or disclosure by the administering entity of the intellectual
property, trade secrets, or confidential business information of the registered
participant.
(b)
(1)As
a condition of participation in a competition under this Act, a registered
participant shall be required to obtain liability insurance or demonstrate
financial responsibility, in amounts determined by the Secretary, for claims
by—
(A)a third party for
death, bodily injury, or property damage or loss resulting from an activity
carried out in connection with participation in a competition under this Act;
and
(B)the Federal
Government for damage or loss to Government property resulting from such an
activity.
(2)Federal
Government insured
(A)The Federal
Government shall be named as an additional insured under the insurance policy
of a registered participant required under paragraph (1)(A).
(B)Mandatory
indemnificationAs a
condition of participation in a competition under this Act, a registered
participant shall be required to agree to indemnify the Federal Government
against third party claims for damages arising from or related to competition
activities.
8.Authorization of
appropriations
(a)Authorization of
Appropriations
(1)There are authorized to be appropriated to
the Secretary to carry out this Act for the period of fiscal years 2007 through
2016—
(A)$20,000,000 for
awards described in section 4(a)(1);
(B)$20,000,000 for
awards described in section 4(a)(2); and
(C)$10,000,000 for
the award described in section 4(a)(3).
(2)In
addition to the amounts authorized in paragraph (1), there are authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary for the administrative costs of carrying out this
Act $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2016.
(b)
(1)Funds appropriated
for prize awards under this Act—
(A)shall remain available until expended;
and
(B)may be transferred, reprogrammed, or
expended for other purposes only after the expiration of 10 fiscal years after
the fiscal year for which the funds were originally appropriated.
(2)No provision in
this Act permits obligation or payment of funds in violation of section 1341 of
title 31, United States Code (commonly known as the Anti-Deficiency
Act
).
9.The Secretary shall
ensure that funds provided under this Act will be used only to supplement, and
not to supplant, Federal research and development programs.
10.The authority provided by this Act shall
terminate on September 30, 2017.