110 HR 2867 IH: Independence Prize Act of U.S. House of Representatives 2007-06-26 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2867 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 26, 2007 Mr. McHenry introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Energy to establish a program for making prizes for advanced or transformational technologies for the production, consumption, and distribution of nonpetroleum-based alternative energy and energy efficiency.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Independence Prize Act of 2007.

2.

Findings

The Congress finds that— (1)it is critical to eliminate the United States' dependence on foreign sources of oil; (2)the United States imports 58 percent of the total oil requirements of the United States, 41 percent of which comes from countries belonging to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, including Iran, Venezuela, and Libya; and (3)American taxpayers have funded over $20,000,000,000 of research and development in the areas of energy and renewable energy programs, nuclear energy, and science in the last 5 fiscal years.

3.

Establishment of program

The Secretary of Energy shall establish a program for awarding prizes to United States' entities for research, development, and commercialization of advanced or transformational technologies for the production, consumption, and distribution of nonpetroleum-based alternative energy and energy efficiency, with the goal of eliminating the United States' reliance on foreign sources of energy.

4.

Prize competition guidelines

The Secretary, in consultation with the advisory committee established under section 5, shall publish guidelines for advertising prize competitions and their results, determining the amount of each prize, selecting the winners of prize competitions, and otherwise administering prize competitions under this Act.

5.

Advisory committee

(a)

In general

The Secretary shall establish an advisory committee, consisting of experts on the subjects for which prizes may be awarded under this Act. The advisory committee shall advise the Secretary on designing the program, establishing the guidelines required under section 4, selecting the winners of prize competitions, and otherwise administering this Act. (b)

Limitations

Members of the advisory committee may not— (1)have personal or financial interests in, or be an employee, officer, director, or agent of, any entity that is a participant in a prize competition under this Act; or (2)have a familial or financial relationship with an individual who is a participant in a prize competition under this Act.

6.

Disclosure of information

The Secretary shall design the program under this Act to prevent the unauthorized use or disclosure of a prize competition participant’s intellectual property, trade secrets, and confidential business information.

7.

Funding

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for carrying out this Act $250,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2011.