[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7197 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7197

     To authorize the Secretary of Energy to make grants to local 
educational agencies for purposes of supporting renewable energy-based 
                heating and cooling systems in schools.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 29, 2018

Miss Rice of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred 
            to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To authorize the Secretary of Energy to make grants to local 
educational agencies for purposes of supporting renewable energy-based 
                heating and cooling systems in schools.

    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 ``Renewable HVAC Energy And Technology 
for Schools Act'' or the ``Renewable HEAT for Schools Act''.

SEC. 2. RENEWABLE ENERGY HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEMS GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Energy shall, from funds 
appropriated pursuant to subsection (g), make grants to local 
educational agencies for purposes of encouraging schools to use heating 
and cooling systems that use renewable energy.
    (b) Application.--To be eligible to receive a grant under this 
section, a local educational agency shall submit an application to the 
Secretary, in a time and manner to be prescribed by the Secretary, that 
identifies proposed projects such grant would be used to fund.
    (c) Selection.--In selecting grant recipients, the Secretary shall 
give priority to applicants whose applications--
            (1) propose projects that address the needs of schools with 
        heating or cooling systems in need of immediate replacement; 
        and
            (2) propose an effective plan for the evaluation, 
        measurement, and verification of energy savings.
    (d) Use of Funds.--Funds made available by a grant made under this 
section may be used by a recipient only to--
            (1) install a heating or cooling system that uses renewable 
        energy in an elementary school or secondary school; or
            (2) maintain and repair such a system installed using funds 
        from a grant made under this section.
    (e) Cost-Sharing.--A local educational agency that receives a grant 
under this section shall provide, from non-Federal sources, not less 
than 50 percent of the funds for the total cost of each project funded 
by such grant. The non-Federal share may be provided in the form of in-
kind contributions.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Elementary school.--The term ``elementary school'' has 
        the meaning given such term in section 8101 of the Elementary 
        and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
            (2) Geothermal heat pump.--The term ``geothermal heat 
        pump'' means a system that provides heating and cooling by 
        exchanging heat directly or indirectly with the ground using--
                    (A) a closed loop system, which transfers heat by 
                way of buried or immersed pipes that contain a mix of 
                water and working fluid;
                    (B) an open loop system, which circulates ground or 
                surface water directly into the building and returns 
                the water to the same aquifer or surface water source; 
                or
                    (C) a food grade plate heat exchanger to transfer 
                heat between a municipal or private potable water 
                supply system and a closed interior loop employing heat 
                pumps, in which the potable water utilized could be 
                returned to the municipal or private supply system 
                after passing through the heat exchanger.
            (3) Local educational agency.--The term ``local educational 
        agency'' has the meaning given such term in section 8101 of the 
        Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
        7801).
            (4) Renewable energy.--The term ``renewable energy'' means 
        energy generated from--
                    (A) a renewable energy resource, as defined in 
                section 403(2) of the Renewable Energy Resources Act of 
                1980 (42 U.S.C. 7372(2));
                    (B) geothermal resources, including a geothermal 
                heat pump; or
                    (C) any other source the Secretary determines 
                appropriate for purposes of this section.
            (5) Secondary school.--The term ``secondary school'' has 
        the meaning given such term in section 8101 of the Elementary 
        and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
            (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 
through 2023 for purposes of carrying out this section.
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