[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2194 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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114th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2194
To promote the use of clean cookstoves and fuels to save lives, improve
livelihoods, empower women, and protect the environment by creating a
thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking
solutions.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 22, 2015
Ms. Collins (for herself and Mr. Durbin) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To promote the use of clean cookstoves and fuels to save lives, improve
livelihoods, empower women, and protect the environment by creating a
thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking
solutions.
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 ``Clean Cookstoves and Fuels Support
Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Nearly one-half of the world's population cooks their
food over open fires or inefficient, polluting, and unsafe
cookstoves using wood, agricultural waste, dung, coal, or other
solid fuels. Smoke from the use of these traditional cookstoves
and open fires is associated with a number of chronic and acute
diseases and injuries, including respiratory illnesses such as
pneumonia, heart disease, and cancer, with women and young
children affected disproportionately.
(2) The Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (referred to in
this paragraph as the ``Study'') doubled the mortality
estimates for exposure to smoke from cookstoves, referred to as
``household air pollution'', from 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 deaths
annually, which the Study indicates is more than the deaths
from malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS combined. The Study
attributes 3,500,000 deaths to cookstoves smoke exposures
indoors and 500,000 deaths to the contribution of cookstoves to
outdoor air pollution. Millions more are sickened from the
toxic smoke and thousands suffer burns annually from open fires
or unsafe cookstoves and fuels. More recently, the World Health
Organization found that this type of household air pollution
claimed 4,300,000 lives in 2012. The Study ranks household air
pollution as the fourth worst overall health risk factor in the
world and as the second worst health risk factor in the world
for women and girls. Cookstove smoke exposures are particularly
prominent in developing regions of Asia and Africa.
(3) The amount of biomass cooking fuel required each year
can reach up to 2 tons per family. Where demand for local
biomass outstrips the natural regrowth of resources, local
environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity often
result.
(4) Tremendous amounts of time, a burden shouldered
disproportionately by women and children, is spent collecting
and managing cooking fuel resources. As nearby fuel supplies
dwindle, women are forced to go farther to find fuel to cook
their families' meals. In some areas, such as conflict zones or
refugee camps, women and girls risk rape and gender-based
violence during the up to 20 hours per week they spend away
from their communities gathering firewood.
(5) Recent studies show that black carbon created from
traditional cookstoves significantly contributes to regional
air pollution and climate change. Black carbon emissions from
residential cookstoves in developing countries account for an
estimated 21 percent of the total global inventory, and
mitigation in this sector represents a large potential public
health and environmental benefit.
(6) The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is an
innovative public-private partnership hosted by the United
Nations Foundation that was created to enable the adoption of
clean and efficient stoves in 100,000,000 homes by 2020. The
Alliance works with public, private, and non-profit partners to
overcome market barriers that currently impede the production,
deployment, and use of clean cookstoves and fuels in the
developing world.
(7) The United States Government has invested more than
$114,000,000 to the sector, including approximately $76,000,000
in research, $31,000,000 in field implementation activities,
and $7,000,000 in financing, through the first 5 years of the
Alliance to help spur the adoption of clean cookstoves and
fuels in 100,000,000 households by 2020. For the second 5 years
of the Alliance, beginning with fiscal year 2016, the United
States Government anticipates support of up to $175,000,000 to
the sector as follows:
(A) $125,000,000 from the United States Agency for
International Development.
(B) $30,000,000 from the Department of Health and
Human Services through the National Institutes of
Health.
(C) $5,000,000 from the Department of Health and
Human Services through the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
(D) $15,000,000 from the Environmental Protection
Agency.
(E) The Overseas Private Investment Corporation has
renewed its commitment of up to $50,000,000 in debt
financing or insurance that meet their credit and
lending standards to support projects that provide
clean, consistent, and affordable access to energy and
energy savings through the manufacture, sale, and
purchase of cookstoves.
(8) This commitment targets a wide range of work, including
expanded research on cookstoves performance, marketing, and
adoption; expanded research on the health, climate and air
quality benefits of clean cookstoves; and expanded field
efforts in Kenya, Haiti, Bangladesh, and Nigeria.
(9) Additional Federal support may be provided to the clean
cooking sector, including by the Department of Energy, the
Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the Peace
Corps.
(10) The Millennium Challenge Corporation, in 2010, prior
to the launch of the Alliance, committed the largest stoves-
related investment to date in Mongolia. The $45,300,000
commitment focused on economic growth from energy efficiency
and improved air quality.
SEC. 3. ADVANCEMENT OF GLOBAL ALLIANCE FOR CLEAN COOKSTOVES GOAL.
The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of Energy, the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Administrator of the United
States Agency for International Development, the Director of the
National Science Foundation, the President of the Overseas Private
Investment Corporation, and the heads of other relevant Federal
agencies, and in coordination with relevant international
nongovernmental organizations and private and governmental entities,
shall work to advance the goals and work of the Global Alliance for
Clean Cookstoves, including through--
(1) applied research and development to improve design,
lower costs, promote technology adoption, conduct health
research and evaluation, and develop global industry standards
and testing protocols for cookstoves and fuels in order to help
ensure minimum standards for efficiency and cleanliness are
met;
(2) diplomatic engagement to encourage a commercial market
for clean cookstoves and fuels, reduce trade barriers, promote
consumer awareness, improve access to large-scale carbon
financing, and foster women-owned businesses along the entire
business value chain;
(3) international development projects to help build
commercial businesses to manufacture, market, distribute, sell,
and service clean cookstoves and fuels;
(4) development efforts related to refugee camps, disaster
relief, and long-term humanitarian and empowerment programs
aimed at assisting women and girls; and
(5) financing or insurance to support projects that provide
access to clean, affordable energy and energy savings through
the manufacture, sale, and purchase of clean cookstoves and
fuels.
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) Department of State and United States Agency for International
Development.--From funds available to the Department of State and the
United States Agency for International Development, there are
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for fiscal
years 2016 through 2020 to work with the Global Alliance for Clean
Cookstoves and foreign governments, including--
(1) to engage in a wide range of diplomatic activities,
including with countries across the globe and with United
States embassies abroad, to support Alliance activities and the
clean cookstoves and fuels sector, and to continue the clean
cooking initiative under the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to
reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants;
(2) to advance programs that support the adoption of
affordable cookstoves that require less fuel to meet household
energy needs and release fewer pollutants, as a means to
improve health, reduce environmental degradation, mitigate
climate change, foster economic growth, and empower women; and
(3) to carry out other activities under this Act.
(b) Department of Energy.--From funds available to the Department
of Energy, there are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of
Energy such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2016 through 2020
to work with the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, including--
(1) to conduct research to spur development of low-cost,
low-emission, high-efficiency cookstoves through research in
areas such as combustion, heat transfer, and materials
development;
(2) to conduct research to spur development of low-
emission, high-efficiency biomass fuels;
(3) to support innovative small businesses in the United
States that are developing advanced cookstoves and improved
cookstove assessment devices; and
(4) to carry out other activities under this Act.
(c) National Institutes of Health.--From funds available to the
National Institutes of Health, there are authorized to be appropriated
to the Secretary of Health and Human Services such sums as may be
necessary for fiscal years 2016 through 2020 for the National
Institutes of Health to work with the Global Alliance for Clean
Cookstoves, including--
(1) to support health research and training to improve the
health and lives of those at risk from household burning of
solid fuels, including--
(A) dedicated resources for research on household
air pollution to ensure adoption of life-saving
interventions and policy formulation; and
(B) regional network research and training hubs in
global environmental health and occupational health
with a household air pollution focus; and
(2) to carry out other activities under this Act.
(d) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.--From funds
available to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are
authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Health and Human
Services such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2016 through
2020 for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to work with
the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, including--
(1) to evaluate cookstove and fuel programs to better
understand their public health benefits and key determinants of
adoption;
(2) to promote a better understanding of the relationship
between human exposures and health outcomes from the use of
traditional cookstoves and open fires; and
(3) to carry out other activities under this Act.
(e) Environmental Protection Agency.--From funds available to the
Environmental Protection Agency, there are authorized to be
appropriated to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2016 through 2020
for the Environmental Protection Agency to work with the Global
Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, including--
(1) to conduct cookstove and fuel testing and evaluation in
the lab and field, including evaluation of fuel efficiency and
air pollutant emissions that affect human health and the
environment, and to develop international standards regarding
fuel use, emissions, and safety of cookstoves and fuels;
(2) to conduct climate, health, and air quality research,
including with United States institutions of higher education,
on the air quality and climatic benefits of interventions for
cookstoves and residential burning, and to continue the
cookstoves initiative under the Climate and Clean Air Coalition
to reduce emissions of short-lived climate pollutants; and
(3) to carry out other activities under this Act.
(f) National Science Foundation.--From funds available to the
National Science Foundation, there are authorized to be appropriated to
the Director of the National Science Foundation such sums as may be
necessary for fiscal years 2016 through 2020 for the National Science
Foundation to work with the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves,
including--
(1) to support research related to the climate, air
quality, and health benefits of the adoption of clean
cookstoves and fuels; and
(2) to carry out other activities under this Act.
(g) Department of Agriculture.--From funds available to the
Department of Agriculture, there are authorized to be appropriated to
the Secretary of Agriculture such sums as may be necessary for fiscal
years 2016 through 2020 for the Department of Agriculture to work with
the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, including--
(1) to provide technical expertise on policy questions
facing the cookstoves sector and to help align the Alliance
with ongoing international efforts that promote the sustainable
production and use of clean burning biomass cooking fuels, to
optimize natural resource conservation and agricultural
productivity; and
(2) to carry out other activities under this Act.
(h) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.--From funds
available to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(referred to in this subsection as ``NOAA''), there are authorized to
be appropriated to the Administrator of NOAA such sums as may be
necessary for fiscal years 2016 through 2020 for NOAA to work with the
Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, including--
(1) to partner with scientists in other countries to
monitor global black carbon emissions and assess climate
impacts and benefits of switching to clean cookstoves; and
(2) to carry out other activities under this Act.
(i) Peace Corps.--From funds available to the Peace Corps, there
are authorized to be appropriated to the Director of the Peace Corps
such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2016 through 2020 for
the Peace Corps to work with the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves,
including--
(1) to train community members to select, construct, and
maintain clean cookstoves and fuels, provide ongoing support to
sustain their use, and help families, schools, and others
access grants to lower the cost; and
(2) to carry out other activities under this Act.
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