1.This Act may be cited as the
H-Prize Act of
2007
.
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 by individuals,
universities (including historically Black colleges and universities and other
minority serving institutions), and large and small businesses (including
businesses owned or controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged
persons).
(2)Announcement through federal register
noticeThe Secretary shall
announce each prize competition by publishing a notice in the Federal Register.
This notice shall include the subject of the competition, the duration of the
competition, the eligibility requirements for participation in the competition,
the process for participants to register for the competition, the amount of the
prize, and the criteria for awarding the prize.
(c)Administering the
CompetitionsThe Secretary
shall enter into an agreement with a private, nonprofit entity to administer
the prize competitions, subject to the provisions of this Act. The duties of
the administering entity under the agreement shall include—
(1)advertising prize competitions and their
results;
(2)raising funds from private entities and
individuals to pay for administrative costs and to contribute to cash
prizes;
(3)working with the Secretary to develop the
criteria for selecting winners in prize competitions, based on goals provided
by the Secretary;
(4)determining, in consultation with the
Secretary, the appropriate amount for each prize to be awarded;
(5)selecting judges in accordance with section
4(d), using criteria developed in consultation with the Secretary; and
(6)preventing the unauthorized use or
disclosure of a registered participant’s intellectual property, trade secrets,
and confidential business information.
(d)Prizes under this Act shall consist of
Federal appropriated funds and any funds provided by the administering entity
(including funds raised pursuant to subsection (c)(2)) for such cash prizes.
The Secretary may accept funds from other Federal agencies for such cash
prizes. 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)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. The Secretary may increase the amount of a prize
after an initial announcement is made under subsection (b)(2) if—
(1)notice of the increase is provided in the
same manner as the initial notice of the prize; and
(2)the funds needed to pay out the announced
amount of the increase have been appropriated or committed in writing by the
administering entity.
(f)The authority to announce prize
competitions under this Act shall terminate on September 30, 2018.
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, which shall include minimal carbon emissions and which may
include cost criteria designed to facilitate the eventual market success of a
winning technology.
(b)
(1)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 four 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. No one such
prize may exceed $1,000,000. If less than $4,000,000 is available for a prize
competition under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary may omit one or more
subcategories, reduce the amount of the prizes, or not hold a prize
competition.
(2)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). The
Secretary is authorized to award up to one prize in this category in each
2-year period. No such prize may exceed $4,000,000. If no registered
participants meet the objective performance criteria established pursuant to
subsection (c) for a competition under this paragraph, the Secretary shall not
award a prize.
(3)Transformational technologiesTo the extent permitted under section 3(e),
the Secretary shall announce one prize competition authorized under subsection
(a)(3) as soon after the date of enactment of this Act as is practicable. A
prize offered under this paragraph shall be not less than $10,000,000, paid to
the winner in a lump sum, and an additional amount paid to the winner as a
match for each dollar of private funding raised by the winner for the hydrogen
technology beginning on the date the winner was named. The match shall be
provided for 3 years after the date the prize winner is named or until the full
amount of the prize has been paid out, whichever occurs first. A prize winner
may elect to have the match amount paid to another entity that is continuing
the development of the winning technology. The Secretary shall announce the
rules for receiving the match in the notice required by section 3(b)(2). 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). Not more than
$10,000,000 in Federal funds may be used for the prize award under this
paragraph. The administering entity shall seek to raise $40,000,000 toward the
matching award under this paragraph.
(c)In establishing the criteria required by
this Act, the Secretary shall consult with—
(1)the Department’s Hydrogen Technical and
Fuel Cell Advisory Committee;
(2)other Federal agencies, including the
National Science Foundation; and
(3)private organizations, including
professional societies, industry associations, and the National Academy of
Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.
(d)For each prize competition, the Secretary
shall assemble a panel of qualified judges to select the winner or winners on
the basis of the criteria established under subsection (c). Judges for each
prize competition shall include individuals from outside the Department,
including from the private sector. A judge may not—
(1)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 he or she will serve as a judge;
or
(2)have a familial or financial relationship
with an individual who is a registered participant in the prize competition for
which he or she 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,
and 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
(3)shall not be a Federal entity, a Federal
employee acting within the scope of his employment, or an employee of a
national laboratory acting within the scope of his employment.
6.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. This section shall not be construed to prevent the Federal Government from
negotiating a license for the use of intellectual property developed for a
prize competition under this Act.
7.
(a)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
registered participants’ participation in a competition under this Act. The
Secretary shall give notice of any waiver required under this subsection in the
notice required by section 3(b)(2). 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 registered
participant’s intellectual property, trade secrets, or confidential business
information.
(b)
(1)Registered participants 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 insuredThe Federal Government shall be named as an
additional insured under a registered participant’s insurance policy required
under paragraph (1)(A), and registered participants 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 for the period encompassing fiscal years 2008 through 2017 for
carrying out this Act—
(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
each of fiscal years 2008 through 2017 $2,000,000 for the administrative costs
of carrying out this Act.
(b)Funds appropriated for prize awards under
this Act shall remain available until expended, and 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. No provision in this Act permits obligation or payment of funds
in violation of section 1341 of title 31 of the United States Code (commonly
referred to as the Anti-Deficiency Act).
9.The programs created under this Act shall
not be considered a substitute for Federal research and development
programs.