[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 123 (Tuesday, September 14, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7091-S7093]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself and Ms. Landrieu):
S. 3780. A bill to establish a building efficiency retrofit loan
credit support program, a State building revolving fund grant program,
and a commercial and large building grant program; to the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources.
Mrs. SHAHEEN. Mr. President. I rise today to join with my colleague
and fellow member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee,
Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, to introduce the Recovery Through
Building Renovation Act of 2010.
There is enormous potential to reduce our nation's energy consumption
and create jobs by investing in energy efficiency, especially through
renovating existing buildings.
According to the Energy Information Administration, buildings account
for more than 48 percent of total energy consumption in the United
States. That is more than transportation sector and more than the
industrial sector. More than 70 percent of the commercial buildings in
this country are older than 20 years and these buildings are
significantly less efficient than buildings built today. Improvements
to these types of buildings can improve efficiency by 20 to 40 percent
using widely available technologies and the payback period can be as
little 5 years.
These investments in building efficiency pay for themselves and then
some.
Most importantly, Senator Landrieu and I view this legislation as
part of our broader effort here to create jobs and contribute to our
economic recovery.
Updating buildings with modern energy efficiency technologies not
only saves money on energy costs, it also creates jobs. Jobs in the
construction industry. Jobs in the manufacturing industry. Jobs in the
retail sector of the economy. These jobs can't be outsourced and they
are jobs that can serve as an important part of our clean, alternative
energy economy.
Yet despite all this potential, there is actually very little of this
energy efficient renovation taking place because of financial barriers.
Most commercial buildings are leased and investments in energy
efficiency by building owners are uncertain because the tenant, not the
owner, will capture the energy savings. This is often referred to as a
``split incentive.'' Likewise, lenders typically will not accept
projected energy savings--even if guaranteed by an energy services
company--as sufficient collateral to finance a building renovation.
Our legislation would use the DOE loan guarantee program to help
unlock private capital and encourage investment in building retrofit
projects and programs.
The Recovery Through Building Renovation Act expands the existing DOE
loan guarantee program to cover buildings in the commercial and
industrial sectors, in schools and universities, and hospitals so that
they can be renovated to be more energy efficient.
Our legislation also establishes a competitive grant program within
DOE to allow states to capitalize revolving loan funds to renovate
municipal buildings. This program is modeled after the highly
successful Texas LoanSTAR program. Finally, it also establishes a DOE
grant program to capitalize loan loss reserve funds for tax-district
financing programs, such as property assessed clean energy, or ``PACE''
programs, which a number of states are utilizing.
There is so much potential that exists here and I think we need to
put existing programs to work, like the loan guarantee program, to
unlock private capital and reap the benefits that will come from making
these buildings more energy efficient.
I encourage my colleagues to support our legislation.
Mr. President, 1 ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be
printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 3780
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 ``Recovery Through Building
Renovation Act of 2010''.
SEC. 2. BUILDING EFFICIENCY RETROFIT LOAN CREDIT SUPPORT
PROGRAM.
Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C.
16511 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 1706. BUILDING RETROFIT FINANCING PROGRAM.
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Credit support.--The term `credit support' means a
guarantee or commitment to issue a guarantee or other forms
of credit enhancement to ameliorate risks for efficiency
obligations.
``(2) Efficiency obligation.--The term `efficiency
obligation' means a debt or repayment obligation incurred in
connection with financing a project, or a portfolio of such
debt or payment obligations.
``(3) Project.--The term `project' means the installation
of efficiency or renewable energy measures in a building (or
in multiple buildings on a given property) that are expected
to increase the energy efficiency of the building (including
fixtures) in accordance with criteria established by the
Secretary.
``(b) Eligible Projects.--
``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding sections 1703 and 1705,
the Secretary may provide credit support under this section,
in accordance with section 1702.
``(2) Inclusions.--Buildings eligible for credit support
under this section include commercial, industrial, municipal,
university, school, and hospital facilities that satisfy
criteria established by the Secretary.
``(c) Guidelines.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish
guidelines for credit support provided under this section.
``(2) Requirements.--The guidelines established by the
Secretary under this subsection shall include--
``(A) standards for assessing the energy savings that could
reasonably be expected to result from a project;
``(B) examples of financing mechanisms (and portfolios of
such financing mechanisms) that qualify as efficiency
obligations;
[[Page S7092]]
``(C) the threshold levels of energy savings that a
project, at the time of issuance of credit support, shall be
reasonably expected to achieve to be eligible for credit
support;
``(D) the eligibility criteria the Secretary determines to
be necessary for making credit support available under this
section; and
``(E) any lien priority requirements that the Secretary
determines to be necessary.
``(3) Efficiency obligations.--The financing mechanisms
qualified by the Secretary under paragraph (2)(B) may
include--
``(A) loans, including loans made by the Federal Financing
Bank;
``(B) power purchase agreements, including energy
efficiency power purchase agreements;
``(C) energy services agreements, including energy
performance contracts;
``(D) property assessed clean energy bonds and other tax
assessment-based financing mechanisms;
``(E) aggregate on-meter agreements that finance retrofit
projects; and
``(F) any other efficiency obligations the Secretary
determines to be appropriate.
``(4) Priorities.--In carrying out this section, the
Secretary shall prioritize--
``(A) the maximization of energy savings with the available
credit support funding;
``(B) the establishment of a clear application and approval
process that allows private building owners, lenders, and
investors to reasonably expect to receive credit support for
projects that conform to guidelines; and
``(C) the distribution of projects receiving credit support
under this section across States or geographical regions of
the United States.
``(5) Minimum energy savings requirement.--
``(A) In general.--In carrying out this section, the
Secretary shall establish an initial minimum energy savings
requirement for eligible projects that, to the maximum extent
practicable, results in the greatest amount of energy savings
on a per project basis.
``(B) Adjustments.--
``(i) In general.--Not less than once each year, the
Secretary shall adjust the minimum energy savings requirement
described in subparagraph (A) and any other credit support
terms the Secretary determines to be necessary, including the
maximum percentage of the efficiency obligation that may be
guaranteed, taking into account market conditions and the
available funding.
``(ii) Advanced notice.--If the Secretary adjusts the
energy savings requirement, the Secretary shall provide at
least 90 days advanced public notice.
``(d) Limitation.--Notwithstanding section 1702(c), the
Secretary shall not issue credit support under this section
in an amount that exceeds--
``(1) 90 percent of the principal amount of the efficiency
obligation that is the subject of the credit support; or
``(2) $10,000,000 for any single project.
``(e) Aggregation of Projects.--To the extent provided in
the guidelines developed in accordance with subsection (c),
the Secretary may issue credit support on a portfolio, or
pool of projects, that are not required to be geographically
contiguous, if each efficiency obligation in the pool
fulfills the requirements described in this section.
``(f) Application.--
``(1) In general.--To be eligible to receive credit support
under this section, the applicant shall submit to the
Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary determines to be
necessary.
``(2) Contents.--An application submitted under this
section shall include assurances by the applicant that--
``(A) each contractor carrying out the project--
``(i) meets minimum experience level criteria, including
local retrofit experience, as determined by the Secretary;
and
``(ii) beginning on the date on which credit support is
issued, will comply with subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title
40, United States Code (commonly known as the ``Davis-Bacon
Act'');
``(B) the project is reasonably expected to achieve energy
savings, as set forth in the application using any
methodology that meets the standards described in the program
guidelines;
``(C) the project meets any technical criteria described in
the program guidelines;
``(D) the recipient of the credit support and the parties
to the efficiency obligation will provide the Secretary
with--
``(i) any information the Secretary requests to assess the
energy savings that result from the project, including
historical energy usage data and detailed descriptions of the
building work, as described in the program guidelines; and
``(ii) permission to access information relating to
building operations and usage for the period described in the
program guidelines; and
``(E) any other assurances that the Secretary determines to
be necessary.
``(3) Determination.--Not later than 90 days after
receiving an application, the Secretary shall make a final
determination on the application, which may include requests
for additional information.
``(g) Fees.--
``(1) In general.--In addition to the fees required by
section 1702(h)(1), the Secretary may charge reasonable fees
for credit support provided under this section.
``(2) Availability.--Fees collected under this section
shall be subject to section 1702(h)(2).
``(h) Underwriting.--The Secretary may delegate the
underwriting activities under this section to 1 or more
entities that the Secretary determines to be qualified.
``(i) Report.--Not later than 1 year after commencement of
the program, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate
committees of Congress a report that describes in reasonable
detail--
``(1) the manner in which this section is being carried
out;
``(2) the number and type of projects supported;
``(3) the types of funding mechanisms used to provide
credit support to projects;
``(4) the energy savings expected to result from projects
supported by this section;
``(5) any tracking efforts the Secretary is using to
calculate the actual energy savings produced by the projects;
and
``(6) any plans to improve the tracking efforts described
in paragraph (5).
``(j) Funding.--
``(1) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized
to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section
$500,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2011 through
2020, to remain available until expended.
``(2) Administrative costs.--Not more than 1 percent of any
amounts made available to the Secretary under paragraph (1)
may be used by the Secretary for administrative costs
incurred in carrying out this section.''.
SEC. 3. MUSH BUILDING REVOLVING FUND.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Project.--The term ``project'' means an energy
efficiency retrofit project that meets the terms of this
section and criteria determined to be necessary by the
Secretary.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Energy.
(3) State.--The term ``State'' has the meaning given the
term in section 412 of the Energy Conservation and Production
Act (42 U.S.C. 6862).
(b) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish the MUSH
Building Efficiency Program to provide grants to State
revolving funds to finance projects.
(c) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
this program, a State shall have, or propose to establish, a
program to finance or support building improvement projects
on buildings that are owned or controlled by--
(1) a municipality;
(2) a State or public university, including a community
college;
(3) a school or school district, including a technical
school or a vocational school; and
(4) a State, city, or other publicly owned hospital.
(d) Terms and Conditions.--
(1) In general.--As a condition of receiving a grant under
this section, a State shall--
(A) develop technical energy assessment report guidelines
for each project to be carried out under this section;
(B) develop procedures--
(i) to monitor energy consumption prior to, and for at
least 3 years after, the completion of each project carried
out using State revolving funds;
(ii) to make data publicly available in aggregated summary
reports regarding the performance of each project carried out
using State revolving funds; and
(iii) to analyze energy savings, in kilowatt hours and
dollars, before and for at least 3 years after the completion
of each project carried out using State revolving funds; and
(C) incorporate training on audit techniques in any
guidelines or procedures developed for State revolving funds
that receive a grant under this section.
(2) Maximum repayment term.--A State receiving a grant
under this section shall not enter into any obligations with
a repayment term that exceeds 15 years.
(3) Conflict of interest.--A commissioning organization or
individual that receives compensation for professional
services relating to a project carried out under this section
shall not acquire any direct or indirect financial interest
in the sale of energy efficiency equipment or products that
are directly related to the project.
(e) Report.--Not later than 1 year after commencement of
the MUSH Building Efficiency Program, the Secretary shall
submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report
that--
(1) describes in detail the manner in which this section
has been carried out;
(2) aggregates the project performance data of the State
programs receiving a grant under this section; and
(3) includes any recommendations of the Secretary on
modifications that may improve the grant program.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as are
necessary.
SEC. 4. ENERGY EFFICIENCY SUPPORT PROGRAM.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Project.--The term ``project'' means an energy
efficiency retrofit project that meets the criteria described
in subsection (c).
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Energy.
(b) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a program
that provides grants to State or tribal governments to
support property assessed clean energy bonds and other tax
assessment-based financing mechanisms to support building
retrofits that meet the criteria described in subsection (c).
[[Page S7093]]
(c) Authorization, Terms, and Conditions.--
(1) Authorization.--
(A) In general.--In carrying out this section, the
Secretary shall provide grants to capitalize loan loss
reserves for property assessed clean energy bonds and other
tax assessment-based financing mechanisms managed by State or
tribal governments.
(B) Maximum.--No eligible entity shall receive a grant
under this section that exceeds a total amount of
$10,000,000.
(2) Eligible programs.--
(A) In general.--A grant under this section shall be used
to finance building retrofit projects that are expected to
produce significant energy efficiency gains.
(B) Use of funds.--A State or tribal government that
receives a grant under this section shall use the funds to
provide credit enhancements or establish other loan loss
reserve funds approved by the Secretary.
(C) Conditions.--As a condition of receiving a grant under
this section, a State or tribal government shall provide to
the Secretary such assurances as the Secretary determines to
be necessary, including assurances that the State or tribal
government shall--
(i) provide support for each financing mechanism approved
by the Secretary, including property assessed clean energy
bonds and tax lien financing;
(ii) for each project receiving financial assistance under
this section, develop comprehensive procedures for--
(I) monitoring energy consumption prior to the commencement
of, and at least 3 years after completion of, each project;
and
(II) analyzing energy savings achieved, measured in
kilowatt hours and dollars, prior to the commencement of, and
at least 3 years after completion of, each project; and
(III) making data recorded from each project publicly
available in aggregated summary reports describing the
performance of each project; and
(D) incorporate training on audit techniques in any
guidelines developed for the capital loan loss reserves.
(d) Program Coordination and Aggregation.--Subject to
subsection (c)(1) and approval of the Secretary, eligible
State or tribal governments may combine grants provided under
this section to create multijurisdictional programs to
support projects that meet the requirements of this section.
(e) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the commencement
of the program, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate
committees of Congress a report that--
(1) describes in detail the manner in which this section
has been carried out;
(2) aggregates the project performance data of the State,
local, and tribal government programs receiving funding under
this section; and
(3) includes any recommendations of the Secretary on
modifications that may improve the grant program.
(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as are
necessary.
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