[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 103 (Thursday, June 16, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3004-S3006]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Ms. Cantwell):
S. 4420. A bill to provide for advancements in carbon removal
research, quantification, and commercialization, including by
harnessing natural processes, and for other purposes; to the Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Carbon
Removal and Emissions Storage Technologies Act, the CREST Act. I am
pleased to be partnering with Senator Cantwell on this bill. Our
bipartisan bill would direct the Department of Energy to research and
evaluate the feasibility of innovative carbon removal and storage
pathways. The name the CREST Act alludes to the fact that we have
reached the ``crest'' of our emissions and we must work to bring them
down.
With more and more private and public sector commitments to reach
net-zero emissions within certain timeframes, companies are scrambling
to invest in quantifiable, durable, and verifiable carbon removal
solutions. Microsoft, for example, has made a commitment to be carbon
negative by 2030. Even though Microsoft plans to reduce its greenhouse
gas emissions by more than half, it will need to remove the rest of its
carbon emissions. In order to do this, Microsoft plans to invest $1
billion in carbon removal technologies, such as direct air capture,
forestation, and carbon mineralization.
Despite the growing number of companies that are looking to offset
their emissions, current cost estimates show that private sector
investment alone will not be sufficient to research and deploy carbon
removal pathways. I strongly supported the Energy Act of 2020, which
authorized the first comprehensive Federal carbon removal research and
development program, and the bipartisan infrastructure, which invested
$3.6 billion in direct air capture. Although these investments have
been significant, more work is needed in further research, increased
testing, and enhanced public-private partnerships to help aid in
scaling carbon removal technologies.
The CREST Act would expand the Department of Energy's carbon removal
research and development programs to include carbon removal pathways
that can permanently sequester carbon dioxide or use carbon dioxide to
produce biofuels or products. The key areas of focus for research and
development in our legislation are biomass carbon removal and storage,
geological removal, atmospheric and aquatic removal, carbon dioxide
storage, and carbon dioxide removal quantification.
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Our legislation also aims to accelerate the commercialization of
innovative carbon solutions through a pilot program at the Department
of Energy. This pilot program would be charged with accelerating the
deployment of affordable and proven carbon removal technologies. This
reverse-auction style pilot program would position the government to
purchase innovative and promising technologies, subject to certain
criteria, and reduce the costs of those technologies. This would allow
companies that may not have as much purchasing power as Microsoft to
participate in carbon removal to help offset emissions.
This pilot program would also support companies that are leading the
way in carbon removal technology, like Running Tide in Maine, in
bringing down the cost of its product. Running Tide captures carbon
dioxide using kelp microforests, sun, ocean currents, and gravity. This
new and exciting company grows floating kelp microforest attached to
biodegradable buoys that sink as they break down. The carbon captured
through the floating microforest is effectively removed for hundreds of
years once it hits the ocean floor. Running Tide hopes to soon be
selling ``kelp carbon credits'' to help offset private entities'
emissions. They are currently working to commercialize quickly. These
innovative solutions are the kinds that our new pilot program would
seek to encourage.
Mr. President, climate change is a significant environmental
challenge that requires innovative and global solutions to reduce
greenhouse gas pollution. While carbon removal and storage is only a
small part of the solution, it is critical that we expand our country's
work in this area. Our bipartisan bill has earned endorsements from
Bipartisan Policy Center Action, ClearPath Action, Citizens for
Responsible Energy Solutions, and many others. I urge my colleagues to
join Senator Cantwell and me in supporting this legislation.
______
By Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mrs. Feinstein):
S. 4424. A bill to amend the Recreation and Public Purposes Act to
authorize sales and leases of certain Federal land to federally
recognized Indian Tribes, and for other purposes; to the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources.
Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan
Recreation and Public Purposes Tribal Parity Act to correct a long-
standing and unjust oversight that prevents Tribal governments from
having the same opportunities as State and local governments do to buy
and lease public lands for recreational purposes.
Current law allows the Bureau of Land Management to lease or sell
certain public lands to State and local governments or qualifying
nonprofits if those lands will be used for explicit public and
recreational purposes. These lands are used for a variety of public and
recreational purposes, like historic monument sites, schools,
firehouses, law enforcement facilities, courthouses, health facilities,
hospitals, and parks. However, the law does not allow the BLM to sell
or lease these lands to Tribal governments.
Our bill would allow Tribal governments to participate in the program
in the same way that State and local governments do. Doing so would
help ensure Tribal nations enjoy the same opportunities for land
acquisition as State and local governments and nonprofit organizations
do.
Tribal governments were not considered when the Recreation and Public
Purposes Act became law in 1926. The omission leaves Tribes without the
same opportunities as other governments to use public lands for these
beneficial purposes. This disadvantage is clear, as the sale and lease
of public lands is often at a discount compared to fair market value.
This issue is part of the greater need to correct longstanding barriers
that undermine the sovereignty of Tribal governments and our efforts to
right historic wrongs.
The Federal Government owns about 640 million acres of land, about
28% of the total land in the United States. Public lands potentially
available for disposal by the Bureau of Land Management alone are
located across at least 18 States. The exclusion of Indian Tribes from
qualifying for acquisition of these lands is not based on any clear
policy rationale.
As our Nation works to strengthen Tribal sovereignty and self-
determination, it is important that we ensure our laws treat Tribal
governments in equal regard as State and local governments and ensure
they have the opportunity for positive and productive land use
activity.
I thank Senator Feinstein for introducing this legislation with me in
the Senate, and Congressman LaMalfa for championing this effort in the
House of Representatives. I look forward to working with my colleagues
to enact this commonsense bill as quickly as possible.
______
By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Tillis, and Mr. Grassley):
S. 4430. A bill to amend title 35, United States Code, to establish
an interagency task force between the United States Patent and
Trademark Office and the Food and Drug Administration for purposes of
sharing information and providing technical assistance with respect to
patents, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I 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. 4430
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 ``Interagency Patent
Coordination and Improvement Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Decisions by the United States Patent and Trademark
Office relating to patents may implicate, or have relevance
to, information housed at or involving other Federal
agencies.
(2) Entities submitting patent applications to the United
States Patent and Trademark Office may also submit
information to, or share information with, other Federal
agencies, necessitating accuracy and consistency in those
representations.
(3) Research has shown that patent examiners may benefit
from additional information that is housed at, or is
available to, Federal agencies other than the United States
Patent and Trademark Office in order to assess prior art and
the state of science and technology.
(4) The Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual
Property and Director of the United States Patent and
Trademark Office is encouraged to work with other Federal
agencies.
SEC. 3. REPORT BY UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE.
Not later than 4 years after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual
Property and Director of the United States Patent and
Trademark Office shall submit to the Committee on the
Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of
the House of Representatives a report that contains--
(1) a description of the frequency with which--
(A) information is provided by the Food and Drug
Administration to the United States Patent and Trademark
Office through the Interagency Task Force on Patents
established under section 15 of title 35, United States Code,
as added by section 4(a) of this Act, or under processes
established by that Task Force; and
(B) the information described in subparagraph (A) is used
in patent examinations;
(2) an identification of which methods of providing
information, as described in paragraph (1)(A), and types of
information so shared, are most useful to patent examiners;
(3) any recommendations for changes to be made by Congress
to the mandate, funding, or operations of the Task Force
described in paragraph (1)(A); and
(4) an identification of other Federal agencies with which
the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
should explore opportunities for coordination that are
similar to those undertaken with the Food and Drug
Administration through the activities of the Task Force
described in paragraph (1)(A).
SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON PATENTS.
(a) In General.--Chapter 1 of title 35, United States Code,
is amended--
(1) in section 2(c), by adding at the end the following:
``(6)(A) In exercising the Director's powers and duties
under this section relating to patents, and decisions or
actions involving patents, for human drugs and biological
products, the Director shall, through the Interagency Task
Force on Patents established under section 15, consult with
the Commissioner of Food and Drugs in the manner described in
that section.
``(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term `decisions
or actions involving patents' means decisions or actions
taken with respect to patents under this title.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
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``Sec. 15. Interagency Task Force on Patents
``(a) Establishment.--There is established an interagency
task force, to be known as the Interagency Task Force on
Patents (referred to in this section as the `task force'), to
coordinate efforts between the Director and the Commissioner
of Food and Drugs (referred to in this section as the
`Commissioner') regarding communication about, evaluation of,
and effective implementation of the activities of the Office
and the Food and Drug Administration with respect to patents,
and decisions or actions involving patents (as defined in
section 2(c)(6)(B)), for human drugs and biological products.
``(b) Memorandum of Understanding.--The Director and the
Commissioner shall enter into a memorandum of understanding,
or update an existing memorandum of understanding, for the
purposes of implementing and carrying out the duties of the
task force.
``(c) Membership.--The task force shall be comprised of
employees of the Office, who shall be appointed by the
Director, and employees of the Food and Drug Administration,
who shall be appointed by the Commissioner, who have
appropriate expertise and decision-making authority regarding
operational, administrative, technical, medical,
pharmacological, clinical, and scientific matters to carry
out the functions of the task force.
``(d) Activities.--The task force shall carry out the
following functions regarding interagency coordination to
promote reciprocal access of information:
``(1) Sharing information on the general processes of the
Office and the Food and Drug Administration, what each such
agency considers in its respective review of applications,
and how each such agency evaluates those applications, which
may be undertaken through routine and ongoing meetings,
workshops, and training sessions.
``(2) Sharing information on new approvals of patents,
human drugs and biological products, new technologies and
prior art (as appropriate on a case-by-case basis), and
scientific trends and developments.
``(3) Establishing a process that requires--
``(A) the Director to request from the Commissioner (and
the Commissioner to provide to the Director, upon receiving
such a request)--
``(i) appropriate information for use by employees of the
Office with responsibility to examine patent applications
under section 131 (referred to in this section as `patent
examiners') regarding when certain information relating to a
human drug or biological product approval, which may include
updates to a label or newly approved indications, is made
publicly available, including when such information is posted
online; and
``(ii) appropriate access for patent examiners to relevant
sources of product application, approval, patent, and
labeling information or communications between the Food and
Drug Administration and the prescription drug or biological
product sponsors that may not currently be subject to public
disclosure, as appropriate and only to the extent necessary
for the Office to carry out the responsibilities of the
Office, including ensuring accurate representations and the
enforcement of the limitation on granting a patent because
the claimed invention that would be the subject of the patent
was on sale before the effective filing date of the claimed
invention, as described in section 102(a)(1); and
``(B) the Office to assist the Food and Drug Administration
in its ministerial role of listing appropriate and accurate
descriptions of patents.
``(4) Establishing a process to ensure that, in appropriate
circumstances, at the request of the Director, the
Commissioner shall consult with or otherwise furnish
specific, available information to the Office with respect to
certain applications, responses, or affidavits after
rejections in order to assist patent examiners in carrying
out the duties of those patent examiners.
``(e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in subsection
(d)(3)(B) shall be construed as--
``(1) directing the Office to interfere with or delay the
ministerial function of the Food and Drug Administration of
listing patents; or
``(2) indicating the position of the Office regarding the
ability to assert a patent in infringement litigation.
``(f) Confidentiality.--
``(1) In general.--The task force shall establish
appropriate protocols to safeguard confidentiality and
prevent the inappropriate disclosure of information when
sharing information between the Office and the Food and Drug
Administration.
``(2) Potential remedies.--In establishing protocols under
paragraph (1), the task force shall identify appropriate
remedies for any potential injury suffered when confidential
information is made available, including inadvertently,
through the sharing of information described in that
paragraph.''.
(b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of
sections for chapter 1 of title 35, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``15. Interagency Task Force on Patents.''.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized
to be appropriated to the Under Secretary of Commerce for
Intellectual Property and Director of the United States
Patent and Trademark Office and the Commissioner of Food and
Drugs such sums as may be necessary for the purposes of
carrying out the functions of the Interagency Task Force on
Patents established under section 15 of title 35, United
States Code, as added by subsection (a).
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