[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5750 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5750

 To direct the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Secretary of Energy, 
   and the Secretary of Agriculture to collaborate to determine the 
 feasibility of creating the Green Nuclear Fertilizer Program, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 27, 2023

 Mr. Donalds introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Energy 
    and Commerce, 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 direct the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Secretary of Energy, 
   and the Secretary of Agriculture to collaborate to determine the 
 feasibility of creating the Green Nuclear Fertilizer Program, and for 
                            other purposes.

    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 ``Green Nuclear Fertilizer Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Green fertilizers, such as those produced by energy 
        generated by an advanced nuclear reactor, are nitrate-based 
        mineral fertilizers with the same chemical and physical 
        composition as fertilizers produced with fossil fuels, but have 
        a lower carbon footprint.
            (2) Pink hydrogen is hydrogen that is produced through 
        electrolysis generated by nuclear energy, including energy 
        generated by advanced nuclear reactors.
            (3) In 2023, approximately 95 percent of the hydrogen 
        produced in the United States came from natural gas through a 
        process called steam methane reforming.
            (4) Hydrogen is an essential feedstock for ammonia 
        production, which is very energy intensive process, but this 
        process could be augmented with advanced nuclear technology.
            (5) Ammonia is a commodity chemical used for fertilizers, 
        and is produced through a high-pressure, high-heat catalytic 
        reaction of nitrogen and hydrogen.
            (6) The ammonia market is expected to be one of the early 
        deployment opportunities for advanced nuclear reactors through 
        the sale of pink hydrogen.
            (7) According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, 
        ammonia is the second-most produced chemical in the world by 
        mass.
            (8) The International Energy Agency estimates ammonia 
        production capacity will need to increase nearly 40 percent by 
        2050 to account for expected global population and economic 
        growth.
            (9) According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 88 percent of 
        ammonia consumption in the United States is for fertilizer 
        production.
            (10) In 2021, the United States had 35 active ammonia 
        production plants across 16 States, with 60 percent of 
        production capacity located in Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas.
            (11) China produces almost a third of the world's ammonia 
        supply, using coal as the primary hydrogen feedstock.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that Congress--
            (1) understands the potential for the United States to be a 
        global leader in producing pink hydrogen, zero-emissions 
        ammonia, and green nuclear fertilizer;
            (2) believes the pink hydrogen market for ammonia in 
        fertilizer products could be a considerable early market 
        opportunity to assist with providing assurance to nuclear 
        supply chain manufacturers while decreasing market risks 
        associated with deploying advanced nuclear reactors;
            (3) encourages the United States to take advantage of this 
        global leadership opportunity, both by assisting with advanced 
        nuclear reactor deployment and providing farmers throughout the 
        United States and rest of the world with green nuclear 
        fertilizer; and
            (4) recognizes the positive environmental impacts that 
        green nuclear fertilizer can have.

SEC. 4. EXAMINATION OF FEASIBILITY OF GREEN NUCLEAR FERTILIZER PROGRAM.

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Secretary of Energy, and the 
Secretary of Agriculture shall collaborate to jointly examine--
            (1) the feasibility of establishing and carrying out a 
        program, to be led by the Secretary of Agriculture and to be 
        known as the Green Nuclear Fertilizer Program, under which the 
        Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Secretary of Energy, and the 
        Secretary of Agriculture would--
                    (A) act as a liaisons between the energy generating 
                industry, the hydrogen production industry, the ammonia 
                production industry, the fertilizer industry, and the 
                agriculture industry;
                    (B) to the extent authorized, ease regulatory 
                restrictions associated with green nuclear fertilizer, 
                including regulatory restrictions associated with 
                licensing and deploying advanced nuclear reactors; and
                    (C) act as a single source of contact for 
                stakeholders interested in producing, purchasing, or 
                selling green nuclear fertilizer such that stakeholders 
                could contact and receive necessary information on 
                green nuclear fertilizer, including safety information, 
                information about the environmental benefits of green 
                nuclear fertilizer, and other information;
            (2) if establishing and carrying the Green Nuclear 
        Fertilizer Program is determined to be feasible under paragraph 
        (1)--
                    (A) what the goals of the Green Nuclear Fertilizer 
                Program should be;
                    (B) who will have access to the Green Fertilizer 
                Program in both the nuclear industry and the 
                agriculture industry, including advanced nuclear 
                reactor developers, electric utilities, farmers, and 
                fertilizer producers; and
                    (C) how the Green Nuclear Fertilizer Program could 
                provide resources or other assistance in establishing 
                industry agreements for green nuclear fertilizer, 
                including power purchase agreements, offtake 
                agreements, or other contractual arrangements for green 
                nuclear fertilizer;
            (3) the economic impacts, both domestically and 
        internationally, of producing and using green nuclear 
        fertilizers compared to fertilizers that are not produced with 
        zero-emissions ammonia;
            (4) the health impacts associated with using green nuclear 
        fertilizer, and a comparison of such health impacts to the 
        health impacts of using fertilizers that are not produced with 
        zero-emissions ammonia;
            (5) whether there is any impact on crops and overall yield 
        associated with using green nuclear fertilizer;
            (6) regulatory changes needed to ease the way and prepare 
        for the creation, sale, and procurement of green nuclear 
        fertilizer; and
            (7) issues relating to infrastructure for the production of 
        green nuclear fertilizer, including--
                    (A) whether use of advanced nuclear reactors to 
                produce pink hydrogen would impact existing fertilizer 
                production infrastructure;
                    (B) how advanced nuclear reactors could be used 
                with existing infrastructure, including currently 
                operational, retiring, and retired infrastructure, to 
                produce pink hydrogen;
                    (C) challenges associated with retrofitting 
                existing infrastructure to deploy advanced nuclear 
                reactors to be used for variable purposes, such as 
                providing electricity to the electric grid and hydrogen 
                production, based on necessity; and
                    (D) challenges associated with constructing new 
                pink hydrogen production facilities that are powered by 
                an advanced nuclear reactor.

SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

    Not later than 365 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Secretary of Energy, and the 
Secretary of Agriculture shall jointly submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report on the examination conducted under 
section 4, including--
            (1) a determination on whether the establishment of the 
        Green Nuclear Fertilizer Program is feasible and--
                    (A) if it is determined to be feasible, a plan to 
                develop the Program, and a description of steps for 
                Congress to take to make the Program successful; and
                    (B) if it is determined not to be feasible, a 
                description of why it is not feasible, and possible 
                solutions to make the Program feasible; and
            (2) an analysis of how such a Program would--
                    (A) increase market demand for the deployment of 
                advanced nuclear reactors in the United States; and
                    (B) benefit the agriculture industry.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Advance nuclear reactor.--The term ``advanced nuclear 
        reactor'' has the meaning given the term in section 3(1) of the 
        Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (42 U.S.C. 2215 
        note).
            (2) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the 
                Committee on Agriculture of the House of 
                Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Environment and Public Works, 
                the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and the 
                Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of 
                the Senate.
            (3) Green nuclear fertilizer.--The term ``green nuclear 
        fertilizer'' means fertilizer that is produced with zero-
        emissions ammonia.
            (4) Pink hydrogen.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``pink hydrogen'' means 
                hydrogen that is produced through electrolysis 
                generated by nuclear energy.
                    (B) Exclusion.--The term ``pink hydrogen'' does not 
                include thermal hydrogen.
            (5) Zero-emissions ammonia.--The term ``zero-emissions 
        ammonia'' means ammonia that is produced with pink hydrogen and 
        nitrogen.
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