[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1096 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1096

    To require the Secretary of Energy to establish an EnergyGrant 
    Competitive Education Program to competitively award grants to 
  consortia of institutions of higher education in regions to conduct 
  research, extension, and education programs relating to the energy 
                         needs of the regions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 20, 2009

   Mr. Wyden introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To require the Secretary of Energy to establish an EnergyGrant 
    Competitive Education Program to competitively award grants to 
  consortia of institutions of higher education in regions to conduct 
  research, extension, and education programs relating to the energy 
                         needs of the regions.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ENERGYGRANT COMPETITIVE EDUCATION PROGRAM.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 1001(a)).
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy, acting through the Director appointed under 
        subsection (c).
            (3) State.--The term ``State'' means--
                    (A) a State;
                    (B) the District of Columbia;
                    (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and
                    (D) any other territory or possession of the United 
                States.
    (b) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish and carry out a 
program to awards grants, on a competitive basis, to each consortium of 
institutions of higher education operating in each of the regions 
established under subsection (d) to conduct research, extension, and 
education programs relating to the energy needs of the regions.
    (c) Director.--The Secretary shall appoint a Director to carry out 
the program established under this section.
    (d) Grants.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall use amounts made 
        available under this section to award grants, on a competitive 
        basis, to each consortium of institutions of higher education 
        located in each of at least 6 regions established by the 
        Secretary that, collectively, cover all States.
            (2) Manner of distribution.--
                    (A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (B), in making grants for a fiscal year under this 
                section, the Secretary shall award grants to each 
                consortium of institutions of higher education in equal 
                amounts for each region of not less than $50,000,000 
                for each region.
                    (B) Territories and possessions.--The Secretary may 
                adjust the amount of grants awarded to a consortium of 
                institutions of higher education in a region under this 
                section if the region contains territories or 
                possessions of the United States.
            (3) Plans.--As a condition of an initial grant under this 
        section, a consortium of institutions of higher education in a 
        region shall submit to the Secretary for approval a plan that--
                    (A) addresses the energy needs for the region; and
                    (B) describes the manner in which the proposed 
                activities of the consortium will address those needs.
            (4) Failure to comply with requirements.--If the Secretary 
        finds on the basis of a review of the annual report required 
        under subsection (g) or on the basis of an audit of a 
        consortium of institutions of higher education conducted by the 
        Secretary that the consortium has not complied with the 
        requirements of this section, the consortium shall be 
        ineligible to receive further grants under this section for 
        such period of time as may be prescribed by the Secretary.
    (e) Use of Funds.--
            (1) Competitive grants.--
                    (A) In general.--A consortium of institutions of 
                higher education in a region that is awarded a grant 
                under this section shall use the grant to conduct 
                research, extension, and education programs relating to 
                the energy needs of the region, including--
                            (i) the promotion of low-carbon clean and 
                        green energy and related jobs that are 
                        applicable to the region;
                            (ii) the development of low-carbon green 
                        fuels to reduce dependency on oil;
                            (iii) the development of energy storage and 
                        energy management innovations for intermittent 
                        renewable technologies; and
                            (iv) the accelerated deployment of 
                        efficient-energy technologies in new and 
                        existing buildings and in manufacturing 
                        facilities.
                    (B) Administration.--
                            (i) In general.--Subject to clauses (ii) 
                        through (vi), the Secretary shall make grants 
                        under this paragraph in accordance with section 
                        989 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 
                        16353).
                            (ii) Priority.--A consortium of 
                        institutions of higher education in a region 
                        shall give a higher priority to programs that 
                        are consistent with the plan approved by the 
                        Secretary for the region under subsection 
                        (d)(3).
                            (iii) Term.--A grant awarded to a 
                        consortium of institutions of higher education 
                        under this section shall have a term that does 
                        not exceed 5 years.
                            (iv) Cost-sharing requirement.--As a 
                        condition of receiving a grant under this 
                        paragraph, the Secretary shall require the 
                        recipient of the grant to share costs relating 
                        to the program that is the subject of the grant 
                        in accordance with section 988 of the Energy 
                        Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352).
                            (v) Buildings and facilities.--Funds made 
                        available for grants under this section shall 
                        not be used for the construction of a new 
                        building or facility or the acquisition, 
                        expansion, remodeling, or alteration of an 
                        existing building or facility (including site 
                        grading and improvement and architect fees).
                            (vi) Limitation on indirect costs.--A 
                        consortium of institutions of higher education 
                        may not recover the indirect costs of using 
                        grants under subparagraph (A) in excess of the 
                        limits established under paragraph (2).
                    (C) Federally funded research and development 
                centers.--
                            (i) In general.--A federally funded 
                        research and development center may be a member 
                        of a consortium of institutions of higher 
                        education that receives a grant under this 
                        section.
                            (ii) Scope.--The Secretary shall ensure 
                        that the scope of work performed by a single 
                        federally funded research and development 
                        center in the consortium is not more 
                        significant than the scope of work performed by 
                        any of the other academic institutions of 
                        higher education in the consortium.
            (2) Administrative expenses.--A consortium of institutions 
        of higher education may use up to 15 percent of the funds 
        described in subsection (d) to pay administrative and indirect 
        expenses incurred in carrying out paragraph (1), unless 
        otherwise approved by the Secretary.
    (f) Grant Information Analysis Center.--A consortium of 
institutions of higher education in a region shall maintain an Energy 
Analysis Center at 1 or more of the institutions of higher education to 
provide the institutions of higher education in the region with 
analysis and data management support.
    (g) Annual Reports.--Not later than 90 days after the end of each 
fiscal year, a consortium of institutions of higher education receiving 
a grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary a report that 
describes the policies, priorities, and operations of the program 
carried out by the consortium of institutions of higher education under 
this section during the fiscal year.
    (h) Administration.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish such criteria and 
procedures as are necessary to carry out this section.
    (i) Coordination.--The Secretary shall coordinate with the 
Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Commerce each activity 
carried out under the program under this section--
            (1) to avoid duplication of efforts; and
            (2) to ensure that the program supplements and does not 
        supplant--
                    (A) the Sun Grant program established under section 
                7526 of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 
                (7 U.S.C. 8114); and
                    (B) the national Sea Grant college program carried 
                out by the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 
                Atmospheric Administration.
    (j) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out--
            (1) this section $300,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 
        through 2014; and
            (2) the activities of the Department of Energy (including 
        biomass and bioenergy feedstock assessment research) under the 
        Sun Grant program established under section 7526 of the Food, 
        Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8114) 
        $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014.
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