1.This Act may be cited as the
Consortia-Led Energy Advancement
Networks Act
or the CLEAN Act
.
2.
(a)The Secretary shall carry out a program to
establish Clean Energy Consortia to enhance the Nation’s economic,
environmental, and energy security by promoting commercial application of clean
energy technology and ensuring that the United States maintains a technological
lead in the development and commercial application of state-of-the-art energy
technologies. To achieve these purposes the program shall leverage the
expertise and resources of the university and private research communities,
industry, venture capital, national laboratories, and other participants in
energy innovation to support collaborative, cross-disciplinary research and
development in areas not being served by the private sector in order to develop
and accelerate the commercial application of innovative clean energy
technologies.
(b)For
purposes of this section:
(1)The term clean energy technology
means
a technology that—
(A)produces energy
from solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, tidal, wave, ocean, and other renewable
energy resources (as such term is defined in section 610 of the Public Utility
Regulatory Policies Act of 1978);
(B)more efficiently
transmits, distributes, or stores energy;
(C)enhances energy
efficiency for buildings and industry, including combined heat and
power;
(D)enables the
development of a Smart Grid (as described in section 1301 of the Energy
Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17381)), including integration
of renewable energy resources and distributed generation, demand response,
demand side management, and systems analysis;
(E)produces an
advanced or sustainable material with energy or energy efficiency applications;
(F)improves energy
efficiency for transportation, including electric vehicles; or
(G)enhances water security through improved
water management, conservation, distribution, and end use applications.
(2)The term cluster
means a
network of entities directly involved in the research, development, finance,
and commercial application of clean energy technologies whose geographic
proximity facilitates utilization and sharing of skilled human resources,
infrastructure, research facilities, educational and training institutions,
venture capital, and input suppliers.
(3)The
term Consortium
means a Clean Energy Consortium established in
accordance with this section.
(4)The
term project
means an activity with respect to which a
Consortium provides support under subsection (e).
(5)The term qualifying entity
means each of
the following:
(A)A research
university.
(B)A State or Federal
institution with a focus on the advancement of clean energy
technologies.
(C)A nongovernmental
organization with research or technology transfer expertise in clean energy
technology development.
(6)The
term Secretary
means the Secretary of Energy.
(7)Technology
development focusThe term technology development
focus
means the unique clean energy technology or technologies in which
a Consortium specializes.
(8)The term translational research
means
coordination of basic or applied research with technical applications to enable
promising discoveries or inventions to achieve commercial application of energy
technology.
(c)The Secretary shall—
(1)have ultimate
responsibility for, and oversight of, all aspects of the program under this
section;
(2)select recipients of grants for the
establishment and operation of Consortia through a competitive selection
process;
(3)coordinate the innovation activities of
Consortia with those occurring through other Department of Energy entities,
including the National Laboratories, the Advanced Research Projects
Agency—Energy, Energy Innovation Hubs, and Energy Frontier Research
Collaborations, and within industry, including by annually—
(A)issuing guidance
regarding national energy research and development priorities and strategic
objectives; and
(B)convening a
conference of staff of the Department of Energy and representatives from such
other entities to share research results, program plans, and opportunities for
collaboration.
(d)Entities
eligible for supportA consortium shall be eligible to receive
support under this section if—
(1)it is composed
of—
(A)2 research
universities with a combined annual research budget of $500,000,000; and
(B)1 or more
additional qualifying entities;
(2)its members have
established a binding agreement that documents—
(A)the structure of
the partnership agreement;
(B)a governance and
management structure to enable cost-effective implementation of the
program;
(C)a conflicts of
interest policy consistent with subsection (e)(1)(B);
(D)an accounting
structure that meets the requirements of the Department of Energy and can be
audited under subsection (f)(4); and
(E)that it has an
External Advisory Committee consistent with subsection (e)(3);
(3)it receives
funding from States, consortium participants, or other non-Federal sources, to
be used to support project awards pursuant to subsection (e);
(4)it is part of an
existing cluster or demonstrates high potential to develop a new cluster;
and
(5)it operates as a
nonprofit organization.
(e)
(1)A
Consortium shall support translational research activities leading to
commercial application of clean energy technologies, in accordance with the
purposes of this section, through issuance of awards to projects managed by
qualifying entities and other entities meeting the Consortium’s project
criteria. Each Consortium shall—
(A)develop and make
available to the public through the Department of Energy’s Web site proposed
plans, programs, project selection criteria, and terms for individual project
awards under this subsection;
(B)establish conflict of interest procedures,
consistent with those of the Department of Energy, to ensure that employees and
designees for Consortium activities who are in decisionmaking capacities
disclose all material conflicts of interest, including financial,
organizational, and personal conflicts of interest;
(C)establish
policies—
(i)to
prevent resources provided to the Consortium from being used to displace
private sector investment otherwise likely to occur, including investment from
private sector entities that are members of the Consortium;
(ii)to
facilitate the participation of private entities that invest in clean energy
technologies to perform due diligence on award proposals, to participate in the
award review process, and to provide guidance to projects supported by the
Consortium; and
(iii)to
facilitate the participation of parties with a demonstrated history of
commercial application of clean energy technologies in the development of
Consortium projects;
(D)oversee project
solicitations, review proposed projects, and select projects for awards;
and
(E)monitor project
implementation.
(2)Consortia, with prior
approval of the Secretary, shall distribute awards under this subsection to
support clean energy technology projects conducting translational research,
provided that at least 50 percent of such support shall be provided to projects
related to a Consortium’s clean energy technology development focus. Upon
approval by the Secretary, all remaining funds shall be available to support
any clean energy technology projects conducting translational research.
(3)External
advisory committee
(A)Each Consortium shall
establish an External Advisory Committee, the members of which shall have
extensive and relevant scientific, technical, industry, financial, or research
management expertise. The External Advisory Committee shall review the
Consortium’s proposed plans, programs, project selection criteria, and projects
and shall ensure that projects selected for awards meet the conflict of
interest policies of the Consortium. External Advisory Committee members other
than those representing Consortium members shall serve for no more than 3
years. All External Advisory Committee members shall comply with the
Consortium’s conflict of interest policies and procedures.
(B)The External Advisory Committee shall
consist of—
(i)5
members selected by the Consortium’s research universities;
(ii)2
members selected by the Consortium’s other qualifying entities;
(iii)2 members selected at large by other
External Advisory Committee members to represent the entrepreneur and venture
capital communities; and
(iv)1
member appointed by the Secretary.
(4)The Secretary may
disqualify an application or revoke funds distributed to a Consortium if the
Secretary discovers a failure to comply with conflict of interest procedures
established under paragraph (1)(B).
(f)
(1)The Secretary shall
make grants under this section in accordance with section 989 of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16353). The Secretary shall award grants, on a
competitive basis, to 6 regional Consortia, each for an initial period not to
exceed 5 years. The Secretary may extend the term of such award by up to 5
additional years, and a Consortium may compete to receive an increase in
funding that it shall receive during any such extension. A Consortium shall be
eligible to compete for a new award after the expiration of the term of any
award, including any extension of such term, under this subsection.
(2)Grants under this subsection shall be in an
aggregate amount not greater than $120,000,000 per fiscal year.
(3)Grants distributed under this section shall
be used exclusively to support project awards pursuant to subsection (e)(1) and
(2), provided that a Consortium may use not more than 10 percent of the amount
of its grant for its administrative expenses related to making such awards.
Grants made under this section shall not be used for construction of new
buildings or facilities, and construction of new buildings or facilities shall
not be considered as part of the non-Federal share of a cost sharing agreement
under this section.
(4)Consortia
shall conduct, in accordance with such requirements as the Secretary may
prescribe, annual audits to determine the extent to which grants distributed to
Consortia under this subsection, and awards under subsection (e), have been
utilized in a manner consistent with this section. Auditors shall transmit a
report of the results of each audit to the Secretary and to the Government
Accountability Office. The Secretary shall include such reports in an annual
report to Congress, along with a plan to remedy any deficiencies cited in the
reports. The Government Accountability Office may review such audits as
appropriate and shall have full access to the books, records, and personnel of
Consortia to ensure that grants distributed to Consortia under this subsection,
and awards made under subsection (e), have been utilized in a manner consistent
with this section.
(5)The Secretary shall have authority to review awards made
under this subsection and to revoke such awards if the Secretary determines
that a Consortium has used the award in a manner not consistent with the
requirements of this section.