[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 26, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H7091-H7092]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COST-SHARE ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2022
Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 6933) to amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require
reporting relating to certain cost-share requirements.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 6933
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 ``Cost-Share Accountability
Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
Section 988 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C.
16352) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Reporting.--Not later than 120 days after the
enactment of the Cost-Share Accountability Act of 2022, and
at least quarterly thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and Committee
on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the Committee
on Appropriations of the Senate, and shall make publicly
available, a report on the use by the Department during the
period covered by the report of the authority to reduce or
eliminate cost-sharing requirements provided by subsections
(b)(3) or (c)(2).''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Beyer) and the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
General Leave
Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on H.R. 6933, the bill now under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Virginia?
There was no objection.
Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 6933, the Cost-Share
Accountability Act of 2022. Many of the clean-energy technologies
deployed throughout the Nation today have benefited from financial
support from the Department of Energy. The Cost-Share Accountability
Act of 2022 would strengthen reporting requirements related to certain
cost-share requirements at the Department of Energy. Better reporting
on financial assistance will help us ensure that taxpayer dollars are
being spent wisely.
Madam Speaker, I thank Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee
Ranking Member Obernolte and Chairman Foster for their work on this
important legislation, and I urge adoption of H.R. 6933.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6933, the Cost-Share
Accountability Act of 2022.
As the ranking member of the House Science Committee, I am proud of
the work my colleagues and I have done to support innovative research,
development, demonstration, and commercial application activities for
the Department of Energy.
To give just a few examples, last summer, the full House passed H.R.
3593, our comprehensive reauthorization of the Office of Science.
Additionally, the committee passed bipartisan legislation authorizing
cutting-edge R&D activities across a variety of
[[Page H7092]]
fields such as biomanufacturing, abandoned well remediation,
microelectronics, and low-emissions manufacturing.
However, directing the Department to conduct these activities is only
a part of our job. Congress must be an active partner for the
Department of Energy in ensuring we get the best return on our Federal
research and development investments. This legislation institutes a
basic, commonsense reporting requirement that facilitates congressional
oversight of the Department of Energy's financial awards.
As a bit of background, for each research, development,
demonstration, or commercial application award the Department of Energy
issues, it must require that a non-Federal source pay a certain
percentage of the cost of the project. However, the Department has the
authority to reduce or eliminate this requirement under certain
circumstances and fund a larger percentage of the project's cost.
This authority to modify these cost-share requirements is useful for
supporting the development of novel technologies and encouraging new
potential partner organizations to compete for awards. However, the
Department must wield this authority carefully and be a responsible
steward of the taxpayers' dollars.
The Cost-Share Accountability Act of 2022 requires the Department to
submit quarterly reports to Congress on the use of its authority to
modify or eliminate the statutory cost-share requirement for research,
development, demonstration, and commercial application activities that
it funds. This legislation requires the Department to make these
reports public, increasing public awareness and transparency regarding
the Department's funding decisions.
The reports will be an important tool for Congress in monitoring the
Department's energy technology programs and holding it accountable for
its fiscal decisions. Additionally, these reports can inform future
legislation on research and development programs and any potential
adjustments to the cost-share requirements.
This basic reporting requirement in no way impedes the Department's
ability to continue to use its authority to waive the cost-share
requirement. Again, it simply provides Congress and the public with
more data on how and when the Department exercises its authority.
Madam Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support this simple
reporting requirement, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Obernolte).
Mr. OBERNOLTE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma
(Mr. Lucas), my friend and colleague, for yielding time.
Research and development grants from the Department of Energy play a
vital role in catalyzing the development of new energy technology in
the United States. The awarding of those grants is governed by the
Energy Policy Act of 2005.
Among other things, the act requires the DOE to impose a cost-sharing
requirement on non-Federal applicants for those grants. This is very
appropriate because it gives the grant applicants some skin in the
game, some financial participation of their own.
These cost-sharing requirements can be as low as 20 percent with
respect to research and development grants and as high as 50 percent
for grants like commercialization or demonstration projects.
As the gentleman from Oklahoma said, the DOE is empowered to, in
appropriate circumstances, waive those cost-sharing requirements.
Several months ago, the SST Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee
had a hearing in which we examined some of the circumstances under
which that discretion to waive or reduce cost-sharing had been applied
by the DOE.
Now, to be clear, we actually concluded that the DOE had
appropriately used its authority in these circumstances. However, we
were very surprised by the lack of transparency in this process and how
difficult it was to obtain the information about how often the DOE was
using this authority and under what circumstances.
This bill is a very simple answer to that difficulty and a solution
to this problem. H.R. 6933, the Cost-Share Accountability Act of 2022,
will impose a reporting requirement on the DOE in which it will be
required quarterly to make reports to both the relevant committees of
jurisdiction in the House and the Senate on the number of occasions and
the circumstances in which it wielded this authority to reduce or
eliminate cost-shares in grants that it awards.
This will allow us here in Congress to better fulfill our oversight
responsibilities toward the Department of Energy.
Also, and equally importantly, it will provide transparency to the
applicants for these grants under what circumstances it is appropriate
for the DOE to waive these cost-sharing requirements.
This is a basic good-governance bill, and I urge my colleagues to
support it. I thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Foster), my friend
and colleague, for being my bipartisan co-lead on this legislation.
Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LUCAS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
The Cost-Share Accountability Act of 2022 institutes a simple
reporting requirement to assist Congress in monitoring the Department
of Energy's financial awards under its research, development,
demonstration, and commercial applications programs.
The reports required by this bill will provide valuable information
to Congress on how the Department administers the statutory cost-share
requirement. They will also assist Congress in fulfilling its
responsibilities to oversee our Federal agencies' use of taxpayers'
resources.
This legislation is a simple improvement to support accounting at the
Department of Energy for its spending decisions and helps maximize the
value of our R&D dollars.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I also urge my colleagues to support H.R.
6933, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Beyer) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 6933.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. TIFFANY. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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