[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1870 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1870

                  To authorize Energy Innovation Hubs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 16, 2015

 Mr. Grayson introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
                  To authorize Energy Innovation Hubs.

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

SECTION 1. ENERGY INNOVATION HUBS.

    (a) Authorization of Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Energy shall carry out a 
        program to enhance the Nation's economic, environmental, and 
        energy security by making awards to consortia for establishing 
        and operating Energy Innovation Hubs to conduct and support, 
        whenever practicable at one centralized location, 
        multidisciplinary, collaborative research, development, 
        demonstration, and commercial application of advanced energy 
        technologies.
            (2) Technology development focus.--The Secretary shall 
        designate for each Hub a unique advanced energy technology 
        focus.
            (3) Coordination.--The Secretary shall ensure the 
        coordination of, and avoid unnecessary duplication of, the 
        activities of Hubs with those of other Department of Energy 
        research entities, including the National Laboratories, the 
        Advanced Research Projects Agency--Energy, Energy Frontier 
        Research Centers, and within industry.
    (b) Consortia.--
            (1) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive an award under 
        this section for the establishment and operation of a Hub, a 
        consortium shall--
                    (A) be composed of no fewer than 2 qualifying 
                entities; and
                    (B) operate subject to an agreement entered into by 
                its members that documents--
                            (i) the proposed partnership agreement, 
                        including the governance and management 
                        structure of the Hub;
                            (ii) measures to enable cost-effective 
                        implementation of the program under this 
                        section;
                            (iii) a proposed budget, including 
                        financial contributions from non-Federal 
                        sources;
                            (iv) a plan for managing intellectual 
                        property rights; and
                            (v) an accounting structure that enables 
                        the Secretary to ensure that the consortium has 
                        complied with the requirements of this section.
            (2) Application.--A consortium seeking to establish and 
        operate a Hub under this section, acting through a prime 
        applicant, shall transmit to the Secretary an application at 
        such time, in such form, and accompanied by such information as 
        the Secretary shall require, including a detailed description 
        of the elements of the consortium agreement required under 
        paragraph (1)(B). If the consortium members will not be located 
        at one centralized location, such application shall include a 
        communications plan that ensures close coordination and 
        integration of the Hub's activities.
    (c) Selection and Schedule.--The Secretary shall select consortia 
for awards for the establishment and operation of Hubs through 
competitive selection processes. In selecting consortia, the Secretary 
shall consider the information a consortium must disclose according to 
subsection (b), as well as any existing facilities a consortium will 
provide for Hub activities. Awards made to a Hub shall be for a period 
not to exceed 5 years, after which the award may be renewed, subject to 
a rigorous merit review. A Hub already in existence on the date of 
enactment of this Act may continue to receive support for a period of 5 
years beginning on the date of establishment of that Hub.
    (d) Hub Operations.--
            (1) In general.--Each Hub shall conduct or provide for 
        multidisciplinary, collaborative research, development, 
        demonstration, and, where appropriate, commercial application 
        of advanced energy technologies within the technology 
        development focus designated under subsection (a)(2). Each Hub 
        shall--
                    (A) encourage collaboration and communication among 
                the member qualifying entities of the consortium and 
                awardees by conducting activities whenever practicable 
                at one centralized location;
                    (B) develop and publish on the Department of 
                Energy's website proposed plans and programs;
                    (C) submit an annual report to the Secretary 
                summarizing the Hub's activities, including detailing 
                organizational expenditures, and describing each 
                project undertaken by the Hub; and
                    (D) monitor project implementation and 
                coordination.
            (2) Conflicts of interest.--
                    (A) Procedures.--Hubs shall maintain conflict of 
                interest procedures, consistent with those of the 
                Department of Energy, to ensure that employees and 
                consortia designees for Hub activities who are in 
                decisionmaking capacities disclose all material 
                conflicts of interest and avoid such conflicts.
                    (B) Disqualification and revocation.--The Secretary 
                may disqualify an application or revoke funds 
                distributed to a Hub if the Secretary discovers a 
                failure to comply with conflict of interest procedures 
                established under subparagraph (A).
            (3) Prohibition on construction.--
                    (A) In general.--No funds provided pursuant to this 
                section may be used for construction of new buildings 
                or facilities for Hubs. Construction of new buildings 
                or facilities shall not be considered as part of the 
                non-Federal share of a Hub cost-sharing agreement.
                    (B) Test bed and renovation exception.--Nothing in 
                this subsection shall prohibit the use of funds 
                provided pursuant to this section, or non-Federal cost 
                share funds, for research or for the construction of a 
                test bed or renovations to existing buildings or 
                facilities for the purposes of research if the 
                Secretary determines that the test bed or renovations 
                are limited to a scope and scale necessary for the 
                research to be conducted.
    (e) Termination.--Consistent with the existing authorities of the 
Department, the Secretary may terminate an underperforming Hub for 
cause during the performance period.
    (f) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) Advanced energy technology.--The term ``advanced energy 
        technology'' means--
                    (A) an innovative technology--
                            (i) that produces energy from solar, wind, 
                        geothermal, biomass, tidal, wave, ocean, or 
                        other renewable energy resources;
                            (ii) that produces nuclear energy;
                            (iii) for carbon capture and sequestration;
                            (iv) that enables advanced vehicles, 
                        vehicle components, and related technologies 
                        that result in significant energy savings;
                            (v) that generates, transmits, distributes, 
                        utilizes, or stores energy more efficiently 
                        than conventional technologies, including 
                        through Smart Grid technologies; or
                            (vi) that enhances the energy independence 
                        and security of the United States by enabling 
                        improved or expanded supply and production of 
                        domestic energy resources, including coal, oil, 
                        and natural gas;
                    (B) research, development, demonstration, and 
                commercial application activities necessary to ensure 
                the long-term, secure, and sustainable supply of energy 
                critical elements; or
                    (C) another innovative energy technology area 
                identified by the Secretary.
            (2) Energy critical element.--The term ``energy critical 
        element'' means any of a class of chemical elements that have a 
        high risk of a supply disruption and are critical to one or 
        more new, energy-related technologies such that a shortage of 
        such element would significantly inhibit large-scale deployment 
        of technologies that produce, transmit, store, or conserve 
        energy.
            (3) Hub.--The term ``Hub'' means an Energy Innovation Hub 
        established or operating in accordance with this section, 
        including any Energy Innovation Hub existing as of the date of 
        enactment of this Act.
            (4) Qualifying entity.--The term ``qualifying entity'' 
        means--
                    (A) an institution of higher education;
                    (B) an appropriate State or Federal entity, 
                including the Department of Energy Federally Funded 
                Research and Development Centers;
                    (C) a nongovernmental organization with expertise 
                in advanced energy technology research, development, 
                demonstration, or commercial application; or
                    (D) any other relevant entity the Secretary 
                considers appropriate.
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