[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6213 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6213

  To limit further taxpayer exposure from the loan guarantee program 
     established under title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2012

Mr. Upton (for himself, Mr. Stearns, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Terry, Mr. Stivers, 
 Mr. Latham, Mr. Scott of South Carolina, Mr. Gingrey of Georgia, Mrs. 
Ellmers, Mr. Lance, Mr. Rogers of Michigan, Mr. Whitfield, Mr. Burgess, 
Mr. Sullivan, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Pompeo, Mrs. Myrick, Mr. Harper, Mr. 
Flake, and Mr. Olson) introduced the following bill; which was referred 
    to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the 
    Committee on Science, Space, 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 limit further taxpayer exposure from the loan guarantee program 
     established under title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

    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 ``No More Solyndras Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) President Obama took office amidst a weak economy and 
        high unemployment, yet he remained committed to advancing an 
        expansive ``green jobs'' agenda that received substantial 
        funding with the passage of the American Recovery and 
        Reinvestment Act of 2009, commonly known as the stimulus 
        package.
            (2) The stimulus package allocated $90 billion to various 
        green energy programs, and related appropriations provided $47 
        billion for loan guarantees authorized under title XVII of the 
        Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16511 et seq.).
            (3) Such title XVII authorized the Secretary of Energy to 
        issue loan guarantees for projects that avoid, reduce, or 
        sequester air pollutants or greenhouse gases and employ new or 
        significantly improved technologies compared with commercial 
        technologies in service at the time the guarantee is issued.
            (4) Loan guarantees issued under such title XVII were 
        required to provide a reasonable prospect of repayment and were 
        expressly required to be subject to the condition that the 
        obligation is not subordinate to other financing.
            (5) The stimulus package expanded such title XVII by adding 
        section 1705 to include projects that use commercial technology 
        for renewable energy systems, electric power transmission 
        systems, and leading-edge biofuels projects and by 
        appropriating $6,000,000,000 in funding to pay the credit 
        subsidy costs for section 1705 loan guarantees for projects 
        that commence construction no later than September 30, 2011.
            (6) The Department of Energy, since the enactment of the 
        stimulus package, has issued loan guarantees under such title 
        XVII for 28 projects totaling $15,100,000,000 under the section 
        1705 program, and, according to the Government Accountability 
        Office, issued conditional loan guarantees for four projects 
        totaling $4,400,000,000 under the section 1705 program and four 
        projects totaling $10,600,000,000 under the section 1703 
        program.
            (7) Three of the first five companies that received section 
        1705 loan guarantees for their projects, Solyndra, Inc., Beacon 
        Power Corporation, and Abound Solar, Inc., have declared 
        bankruptcy.
            (8) The bankruptcy of the first section 1705 loan guarantee 
        recipient, Solyndra, Inc., could result in a loss to taxpayers 
        of over $530,000,000.
            (9) The investigation of the Solyndra loan guarantee by the 
        Committee on Energy and Commerce has demonstrated that the 
        review in 2009 of the Solyndra application by the Department of 
        Energy and the Office of Management and Budget was driven by 
        politics and ideology and divorced from economic reality where 
        the Department of Energy ignored concerns about the company's 
        financial condition and market for its products.
            (10) Despite an express provision in such title XVII 
        prohibiting subordination of the United States taxpayers' 
        financial interest, the Department of Energy restructured the 
        Solyndra loan guarantee in February 2011, resulting in the 
        taxpayers losing priority to Solyndra's investors in the event 
        of a default.
            (11) The Inspector General of the Department of the 
        Treasury concluded that it was unclear whether the Department 
        of Energy's consultation requirement with the Secretary of the 
        Treasury on the Solyndra loan guarantee was met; that the 
        consultation that did occur was rushed with the Department of 
        the Treasury expressing that ``the train really has left the 
        station on this deal''; and that no documentation was retained 
        as to how the Department of the Treasury's serious concerns 
        with the loan guarantee were addressed.
            (12) The Government Accountability Office concluded that 
        the Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Program under title 
        XVII has treated applicants inconsistently; that the Department 
        of Energy did not follow its own process for reviewing 
        applications and documenting its analysis and decisions, 
        increasing the likelihood of taxpayer exposure to financial 
        risk from a default; and that the Department of Energy's 
        absence of adequate documentation made it difficult for the 
        Department to defend its decisions on loan guarantees as sound 
        and fair.
            (13) A memorandum prepared for the President dated October 
        25, 2010, from Carol Browner, Ron Klain, and Larry Summers, 
        principal advisors to the President, noted the risk presented 
        by loan guarantee projects because most of the projects had 
        little ``skin in the game'' from private investors.
            (14) A January 2012 report conducted at the request of the 
        Chief of Staff to the President concluded that the portfolio of 
        projects the Department of Energy included in the loan program 
        were higher risk investments that private capital markets do 
        not generally invest in.
            (15) The Department of Energy's section 1705 program has 
        expired but the Department of Energy has announced that it will 
        continue to consider applications for loan guarantees under the 
        section 1703 program.
            (16) The Department of Energy has approximately 
        $34,000,000,000 in remaining lending authority to issue new 
        loan guarantees under the section 1703 program.

SEC. 3. SUNSET.

    (a) No New Applications.--The Secretary of Energy shall not issue 
any new loan guarantee pursuant to title XVII of the Energy Policy Act 
of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16511 et seq.) for any application submitted to the 
Department of Energy after December 31, 2011.
    (b) Pending Applications.--With respect to any application 
submitted pursuant to section 1703 or 1705 of the Energy Policy Act of 
2005 before December 31, 2011:
            (1) No guarantee shall be made until the Secretary of the 
        Treasury has reviewed the proposed guarantee and made a written 
        recommendation to the Secretary of Energy on the merits of the 
        guarantee.
            (2) The Secretary of the Treasury shall transmit the 
        written recommendation required under paragraph (1) to the 
        Secretary of Energy not later than 30 days after receiving the 
        proposal from the Secretary of Energy.
            (3) Before making a guarantee under such title XVII, the 
        Secretary of Energy shall take into consideration the written 
        recommendation made by the Secretary of the Treasury under 
        paragraph (1).
            (4) If the Secretary of Energy makes a guarantee that does 
        not conform to the written recommendation made by the Secretary 
        of the Treasury under paragraph (1), not later than 30 days 
        after making such guarantee the Secretary of Energy shall 
        transmit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 
        of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural 
        Resources of the Senate a written explanation of the 
        Secretary's reasons for deviating from the Secretary of the 
        Treasury's recommendation.
    (c) Transparency.--
            (1) Reports to congress.--Not later than 60 days after 
        making a guarantee as provided in subsection (b), the Secretary 
        of Energy shall transmit to the Committee on Energy and 
        Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
        Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report that 
        includes information regarding--
                    (A) the review and decisionmaking process utilized 
                by the Secretary in making the guarantee;
                    (B) the terms of the guarantee;
                    (C) the recipient; and
                    (D) the technology and project for which the loan 
                guarantee will be used.
            (2) Protecting confidential business information.--A report 
        under paragraph (1) shall provide all relevant information, but 
        the Secretary shall take all necessary steps to protect 
        confidential business information with respect to the recipient 
        of the loan guarantee and the technology used.

SEC. 4. RESTATING THE RESTRUCTURING OF LOAN GUARANTEES.

    With respect to any restructuring of the terms of a loan guarantee 
issued pursuant to title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the 
Secretary of Energy--
            (1) shall consult with the Secretary of the Treasury 
        regarding any restructuring of the terms and conditions of the 
        loan guarantee, including any deviations from the financial 
        terms of the loan guarantee; and
            (2) shall not subordinate the interests of the United 
        States Government to any other financing for the project.

SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS.

    (a) In General.--Any Federal official who is responsible for the 
issuance of a loan guarantee under title XVII of the Energy Policy Act 
of 2005 in a manner that violates the requirements of such title or of 
this Act shall be subject to appropriate administrative discipline 
including, when circumstances warrant, suspension from duty without pay 
or removal from office.
    (b) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the term ``Federal 
official'' means--
            (1) an individual serving in a position in level I, II, 
        III, IV, or V of the Executive Schedule, as provided in 
        subchapter II of chapter 53 of title 5, United States Code; and
            (2) an individual serving in a Senior Executive Service 
        position, as provided in subchapter II of chapter 31 of title 
        5, United States Code.
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