[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2312 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2312

   To authorize the Secretary of Energy to make grants to encourage 
  cooperation between the United States and China on joint research, 
 development, or commercialization of carbon capture and sequestration 
  technology, improved energy efficiency, or renewable energy sources.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 7, 2009

 Mr. Israel (for himself, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr. Kirk, and Mrs. 
Davis of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
    to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the 
 Committee on Science and Technology, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To authorize the Secretary of Energy to make grants to encourage 
  cooperation between the United States and China on joint research, 
 development, or commercialization of carbon capture and sequestration 
  technology, improved energy efficiency, or renewable energy sources.

    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 ``United States-China Energy 
Cooperation Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The December 2004 National Intelligence Council report 
        entitled ``Mapping the Global Future in 2020'' states that the 
        single most important factor affecting the demand for energy 
        will be global economic growth, especially that of China and 
        India.
            (2) The United States and China are both rich in coal and 
        look to it for a majority of their electricity needs.
            (3) China is building its power generation base for the 
        first time and the United States is preparing to replace a 
        generation of aging electric power facilities.
            (4) Carbon capture and sequestration is a viable technology 
        that still needs significant amounts of research and 
        development before it can be widely commercialized.
            (5) A study by MIT (2007) on ``The Future of Coal'' 
        outlines the need for several integrated projects to 
        demonstrate the feasibility of carbon capture and sequestration 
        in a variety of countries and geological settings.
            (6) The United States and China are already working 
        together on the FutureGen project in the United States. 
        FutureGen is an initiative to build the world's first 
        integrated sequestration and hydrogen production research power 
        plant. The project is intended to create the world's first 
        zero-emissions fossil fuel plant.
            (7) Joint American-Chinese research and development on 
        carbon capture technology would improve the energy security of 
        both nations.
            (8) Further, both the United States and China are actively 
        seeking to promote industrial efficiency and conservation. 
        United States industry consumes more than one third of all 
        energy used in the United States. The United States Department 
        of Energy's Industrial Technologies program aims to invest in 
        research and development to reduce industrial energy use while 
        stimulating productivity and growth.
            (9) The industrial sector represents 68 percent of all 
        primary energy consumption in China. In 2006, China's National 
        Development and Reform Commission launched a major program to 
        improve energy efficiency in China's 1,000 largest enterprises, 
        which together consume one third of China's primary energy. 
        Additionally, the Chinese Government plans to retire many 
        inefficient power plants and close many inefficient industrial 
        plants.
            (10) There is a need to build capacity among scholars in 
        both China and the United States in the area of analytic energy 
        and climate change policy.

SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Application.--In order to receive a grant under this Act, an 
eligible entity shall submit an application to the Secretary containing 
such information and assurances as the Secretary may require.
    (b) Selection.--The Secretary shall review any application 
submitted by any eligible entity and select eligible entities meeting 
criteria established by the Secretary to receive a grant under this 
section. The amount of each grant awarded for a fiscal year under this 
section shall be determined by the Secretary.
    (c) Recoupment.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish procedures 
        and criteria for recoupment in connection with any eligible 
        project carried out by an eligible entity that receives a grant 
        under this section, which has led to the development of a 
        product or process which is marketed or used.
            (2) Amount required.--
                    (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), such 
                recoupment shall be required as a condition for award 
                and be proportional to the Federal share of the costs 
                of such project, and shall be derived from the proceeds 
                of royalties or licensing fees received in connection 
                with such product or process.
                    (B) In the case where a product or process is used 
                by the recipient of a grant under this section for the 
                production and sale of its own products or processes, 
                the recoupment shall consist of a payment equivalent to 
                the payment which would be made under subparagraph (A).
            (3) Waiver.--The Secretary may at any time waive or defer 
        all or some of the recoupment requirements of this subsection 
        as necessary, depending on--
                    (A) the commercial competitiveness of the entity or 
                entities developing or using the product or process;
                    (B) the profitability of the project; and
                    (C) the commercial viability of the product or 
                process utilized.
            (4) Exception.--The requirement under this subsection shall 
        not apply to purely academic endeavors that have no commercial 
        value.
    (d) Use of Existing Programs.--The Secretary shall carry out this 
section through existing programs at the Department of Energy.
    (e) Report.--Not later than 180 days after receiving a grant under 
this section, each recipient shall submit a report to the Secretary--
            (1) documenting how the recipient used the grant funds; and
            (2) evaluating the level of success of each project funded 
        by the grant.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means a 
        joint venture comprised of both Chinese and United States 
        private business entities, a joint venture comprised of both 
        Chinese academic persons (who reside and work in China) and 
        United States academic persons, or a joint venture comprised of 
        both Chinese and United States Federal, State, or local 
        government entities which--
                    (A) carries out an eligible project; and
                    (B) is selected by the Secretary using the criteria 
                established by the Secretary.
            (2) Eligible project.--The term ``eligible project'' means 
        a project to encourage cooperation between the United States 
        and China on joint energy and climate change policy education 
        programs and joint research, development, or commercialization 
        of carbon capture and sequestration technology, improved energy 
        efficiency, or renewable energy sources.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary is authorized to expend not more 
than $20,000,000 to carry out this Act for each of fiscal years 2009 
through 2019.
    (b) Relationship to Other Laws.--Amounts authorized under this 
section may be made available notwithstanding any other provision of 
law that restricts assistance to foreign countries.
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