Establishment of program to facilitate voluntary streamlined process for local permitting of qualifying distributed energy systems

(a)

Definitions

In this section:(1)

Authority having jurisdiction

The term authority having jurisdiction means any State, county, local, or Tribal office or official with jurisdiction—(A)to issue permits relating to qualifying distributed energy systems;(B)to conduct inspections to enforce the requirements of a relevant code or standard relating to qualifying distributed energy systems; or(C)to approve the installation of, or the equipment and materials used in the installation of, qualifying distributed energy systems.(2)

Qualifying distributed energy system

The term qualifying distributed energy system means any equipment or materials installed in, on, or near a residential building to support onsite or local energy use, including—(A)to generate electricity from distributed renewable energy sources, including from—(i)solar photovoltaic systems or similar solar energy technologies; and(ii)wind power systems;(B)to store and discharge electricity from batteries with a capacity of at least 2 kilowatt hours;(C)to charge a plug-in electric drive vehicle at a power rate of at least 2 kilowatts; or(D)to refuel a hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle.(3)

Secretary

The term Secretary means the Secretary of Energy.(b)

Program

Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with trade associations and other entities representing distributed energy system installers and organizations representing State, local, and Tribal governments engaged in permitting, shall carry out a program to further develop, expand, and support the adoption of a voluntary streamlined permitting and inspection process for authorities having jurisdiction to use for the permitting of qualifying distributed energy systems.(c)

Activities of the program

In carrying out the program established under subsection (b), the Secretary shall—(1)further develop and expand an exemplary streamlined permitting process that includes an online permitting platform—(A)for expediting, standardizing, and streamlining permitting; and(B)that authorities having jurisdiction may voluntarily use to receive, review, and approve permit applications relating to qualifying distributed energy systems;(2)establish targets for the adoption of a streamlined, expedited permitting process by authorities having jurisdiction;(3)provide technical assistance and training directly or indirectly to authorities having jurisdiction on using and adopting the exemplary streamlined permitting process described in paragraph (1), including the adoption of any necessary building codes;(4)develop a voluntary inspection protocol and related tools to expedite, standardize, and streamline the inspection of qualifying distributed energy systems, including—(A)by investigating the potential for using remote inspections;(B)by investigating the potential for sample-based inspection for distributed energy system installers with a demonstrated track record of high-quality work; and(C)by investigating opportunities to integrate the voluntary inspection protocol into the online permitting platform described in paragraph (1) and the platforms of government software providers; and(5)take any other action to expedite, standardize, streamline, or improve the process for permitting, inspecting, or interconnecting qualifying distributed energy systems.(d)

Support services

The Secretary shall—(1)support the provision of technical assistance to authorities having jurisdiction, any administrator of the online permitting platform described in subsection (c)(1), government software providers, and any other entity determined appropriate by the Secretary in carrying out the activities described in subsection (c); and(2)provide such financial assistance as the Secretary determines appropriate from any funds appropriated to carry out this section.(e)

Authority having jurisdiction certification program

(1)

In general

The Secretary may certify authorities having jurisdiction that implement the exemplary streamlined permitting process described in subsection (c)(1).(2)

Process

The Secretary may confer a certification under paragraph (1) through existing programs within the Department of Energy.(3)

Prizes

The Secretary may award prizes to authorities having jurisdiction, using funds appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section, to encourage authorities having jurisdiction to adopt the exemplary streamlined permitting process or the voluntary inspection protocol established under paragraphs (1) and (4) of subsection (c), respectively.(f)

Authorization of appropriations

There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2027.