[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16591-16603]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. VOINOVICH (for himself and Mr. Lieberman):
  S. 3341. A bill to reauthorize and improve the Federal Financial 
Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999; to the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Federal 
Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 2008 with Senator 
Lieberman.
  In 1999, I introduced the Federal Financial Assistance Management 
Improvement Act of 1999 with Senators Lieberman, Thompson and Durbin. 
My good friend from Ohio, Congressman Portman, introduced companion 
legislation in the House of Representatives,

[[Page 16592]]

and working together we were able to enact that legislation to improve 
the effectiveness and performance of Federal financial assistance 
programs, simplify Federal financial assistance application and 
reporting requirements, improve the delivery of services to the public 
and coordinate the delivery of such services.
  Progress was made under the provisions of the Federal Financial 
Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999, commonly known as ``PL 
106-107.'' A 2005 Government Accountability Office, GAO, report noted 
that ``[m]ore than 5 years after passage of P.L. 106-107, cross-agency 
work groups have made some progress in streamlining aspects of the 
early phases of the grants life cycle and in some specific aspects of 
overall grants management . . .'' However, GAO noted that work remained 
to be done, and in 2006 suggested that Congress consider reauthorizing 
the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999. 
The Act expired in November, and I believe Congress should heed GAO's 
advice and reauthorize this important law.
  The bill I am introducing today with Senator Lieberman reauthorizes 
the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act and makes 
improvements to that Act based on the 2005 and 2006 recommendations of 
GAO. The bill requires the Director of the Office of Management and 
Budget, OMB, to develop a public Web site that allows grant applicants 
to search and apply for grants, report on the use of grants, and 
provide required certifications and assurances for grants. I believe 
such a Web site will enhance the transparency required by the Federal 
Funding Accountability and Transparency Act that Congress enacted last 
year.
  The bill also requires the Director of OMB to develop a strategic 
plan for an end-to-end electronic capability that allows non-Federal 
entities to manage Federal financial assistance and requires each 
Federal agency to plan actions to implement that strategic plan. Each 
Federal agency would be required to report to OMB on progress made in 
achieving its objectives under the OMB strategic plan, and the Director 
of OMB would be required to report to Congress biennially on progress 
made in implementing the Federal Financial Assistance Management 
Improvement Act.
  In 1999 I said the Federal Financial Assistance Management 
Improvement Act was an important step toward detangling the web of 
duplicative Federal grants available to States, localities and 
community organizations. While some progress has been made to detangle 
that web, work remains to be done, and I hope that Congress will 
quickly reauthorize this law so that OMB and Federal agencies continue 
those efforts.
  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. 3341

       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 ``Federal Financial Assistance 
     Management Improvement Act of 2008''.

     SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION.

       Section 11 of the Federal Financial Assistance Management 
     Improvement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended--
       (1) in the section heading, by striking ``and sunset''; and
       (2) by striking ``and shall cease to be effective 8 years 
     after such date of enactment''.

     SEC. 3. WEBSITE RELATING TO FEDERAL GRANTS.

       Section 6 of the Federal Financial Assistance Management 
     Improvement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as subsections 
     (f) and (g), respectively;
       (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:
       ``(e) Website Relating to Federal Grants.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Director shall establish and 
     maintain a public website that serves as a central point of 
     information and access for applicants for Federal grants.
       ``(2) Contents.--To the maximum extent possible, the 
     website established under this subsection shall include, at a 
     minimum, for each Federal grant--
       ``(A) the grant announcement;
       ``(B) the statement of eligibility relating to the grant;
       ``(C) the application requirements for the grant;
       ``(D) the purposes of the grant;
       ``(E) the Federal agency funding the grant; and
       ``(F) the deadlines for applying for and awarding of the 
     grant.
       ``(3) Use by applicants.--The website established under 
     this subsection shall, to the greatest extent practical, 
     allow grant applicants to--
       ``(A) search the website for all Federal grants by type, 
     purpose, funding agency, program source, and other relevant 
     criteria;
       ``(B) apply for a Federal grant using the website;
       ``(C) manage, track, and report on the use of Federal 
     grants using the website; and
       ``(D) provide all required certifications and assurances 
     for a Federal grant using the website.''; and
       (3) in subsection (g), as so redesignated, by striking 
     ``All actions'' and inserting ``Except for actions relating 
     to establishing the website required under subsection (e), 
     all actions''.

     SEC. 4. REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION.

       The Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act 
     of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended by striking section 
     7 and inserting the following:

     ``SEC. 7. EVALUATION OF IMPLEMENTATION.

       ``(a) In General.--Not later than 9 months after the date 
     of enactment of the Federal Financial Assistance Management 
     Improvement Act of 2008, and every 2 years thereafter until 
     the date that is 15 years after the date of enactment of the 
     Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 
     2008, the Director shall submit to Congress a report 
     regarding the implementation of this Act.
       ``(b) Contents.--
       ``(1) In general.--Each report under subsection (a) shall 
     include, for the applicable period--
       ``(A) a list of all grants for which an applicant may 
     submit an application using the website established under 
     section 6(e);
       ``(B) a list of all Federal agencies that provide Federal 
     financial assistance to non-Federal entities;
       ``(C) a list of each Federal agency that has complied, in 
     whole or in part, with the requirements of this Act;
       ``(D) for each Federal agency listed under subparagraph 
     (C), a description of the extent of the compliance with this 
     Act by the Federal agency;
       ``(E) a list of all Federal agencies exempted under section 
     6(d);
       ``(F) for each Federal agency listed under subparagraph 
     (E)--
       ``(i) an explanation of why the Federal agency was 
     exempted; and
       ``(ii) a certification that the basis for the exemption of 
     the Federal agency is still applicable;
       ``(G) a list of all common application forms that have been 
     developed that allow non-Federal entities to apply, in whole 
     or in part, for multiple Federal financial assistance 
     programs (including Federal financial assistance programs 
     administered by different Federal agencies) through a single 
     common application;
       ``(H) a list of all common forms and requirements that have 
     been developed that allow non-Federal entities to report, in 
     whole or in part, on the use of funding from multiple Federal 
     financial assistance programs (including Federal financial 
     assistance programs administered by different Federal 
     agencies);
       ``(I) a description of the efforts made by the Director and 
     Federal agencies to communicate and collaborate with 
     representatives of non-Federal entities during the 
     implementation of the requirements under this Act;
       ``(J) a description of the efforts made by the Director to 
     work with Federal agencies to meet the goals of this Act, 
     including a description of working groups or other structures 
     used to coordinate Federal efforts to meet the goals of this 
     Act; and
       ``(K) identification and description of all systems being 
     used to disburse Federal financial assistance to non-Federal 
     entities.
       ``(2) Subsequent reports.--The second report submitted 
     under subsection (a), and each subsequent report submitted 
     under subsection (a), shall include--
       ``(A) a discussion of the progress made by the Federal 
     Government in meeting the goals of this Act, including the 
     amendments made by the Federal Financial Assistance 
     Management Improvement Act of 2008, and in implementing the 
     strategic plan submitted under section 8, including an 
     evaluation of the progress of each Federal agency that has 
     not received an exemption under section 6(d) towards 
     implementing the strategic plan; and
       ``(B) a compilation of the reports submitted under section 
     8(c)(3) during the applicable period.
       ``(c) Definition of Applicable Period.--In this section, 
     the term `applicable period' means--
       ``(1) for the first report submitted under subsection (a), 
     the most recent full fiscal year before the date of the 
     report; and

[[Page 16593]]

       ``(2) for the second report submitted under subsection (a), 
     and each subsequent report submitted under subsection (a), 
     the period beginning on the date on which the most recent 
     report under subsection (a) was submitted and ending on the 
     date of the report.''.

     SEC. 5. STRATEGIC PLAN.

       (a) In General.--The Federal Financial Assistance 
     Management Improvement Act of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is 
     amended--
       (1) by redesignating sections 8, 9, 10, and 11 as sections 
     9, 10, 11, and 12, respectively; and
       (2) by inserting after section 7, as amended by this Act, 
     the following:

     ``SEC. 8. STRATEGIC PLAN.

       ``(a) In General.--Not later than 18 months after the date 
     of enactment of the Federal Financial Assistance Management 
     Improvement Act of 2008, the Director shall submit to 
     Congress a strategic plan that--
       ``(1) identifies Federal financial assistance programs that 
     are suitable for common applications based on the common or 
     similar purposes of the Federal financial assistance;
       ``(2) identifies Federal financial assistance programs that 
     are suitable for common reporting forms or requirements based 
     on the common or similar purposes of the Federal financial 
     assistance;
       ``(3) identifies common aspects of multiple Federal 
     financial assistance programs that are suitable for common 
     application or reporting forms or requirements;
       ``(4) identifies changes in law, if any, needed to achieve 
     the goals of this Act; and
       ``(5) provides plans, timelines, and cost estimates for--
       ``(A) developing an entirely electronic, web-based process 
     for managing Federal financial assistance, including the 
     ability to--
       ``(i) apply for Federal financial assistance;
       ``(ii) track the status of applications for and payments of 
     Federal financial assistance;
       ``(iii) report on the use of Federal financial assistance, 
     including how such use has been in furtherance of the 
     objectives or purposes of the Federal financial assistance; 
     and
       ``(iv) provide required certifications and assurances;
       ``(B) ensuring full compliance by Federal agencies with the 
     requirements of this Act, including the amendments made by 
     the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act 
     of 2008;
       ``(C) creating common applications for the Federal 
     financial assistance programs identified under paragraph (1), 
     regardless of whether the Federal financial assistance 
     programs are administered by different Federal agencies;
       ``(D) establishing common financial and performance 
     reporting forms and requirements for the Federal financial 
     assistance programs identified under paragraph (2), 
     regardless of whether the Federal financial assistance 
     programs are administered by different Federal agencies;
       ``(E) establishing common applications and financial and 
     performance reporting forms and requirements for aspects of 
     the Federal financial assistance programs identified under 
     paragraph (3), regardless of whether the Federal financial 
     assistance programs are administered by different Federal 
     agencies;
       ``(F) developing mechanisms to ensure compatibility between 
     Federal financial assistance administration systems and State 
     systems to facilitate the importing and exporting of data;
       ``(G) developing common certifications and assurances, as 
     appropriate, for all Federal financial assistance programs 
     that have common or similar purposes, regardless of whether 
     the Federal financial assistance programs are administered by 
     different Federal agencies; and
       ``(H) minimizing the number of different systems used to 
     disburse Federal financial assistance.
       ``(b) Consultation.--In developing and implementing the 
     strategic plan under subsection (a), the Director shall 
     consult with representatives of non-Federal entities and 
     Federal agencies that have not received an exemption under 
     section 6(d).
       ``(c) Federal Agencies.--
       ``(1) In general.--Not later than 6 months after the date 
     on which the Director submits the strategic plan under 
     subsection (a), the head of each Federal agency that has not 
     received an exemption under section 6(d) shall develop a plan 
     that describes how the Federal agency will carry out the 
     responsibilities of the Federal agency under the strategic 
     plan, which shall include--
       ``(A) clear performance objectives and timelines for action 
     by the Federal agency in furtherance of the strategic plan; 
     and
       ``(B) the identification of measures to improve 
     communication and collaboration with representatives of non-
     Federal entities on an on-going basis during the 
     implementation of this Act.
       ``(2) Consultation.--The head of each Federal agency that 
     has not received an exemption under section 6(d) shall 
     consult with representatives of non-Federal entities during 
     the development and implementation of the plan of the Federal 
     agency developed under paragraph (1).
       ``(3) Reporting.--Not later than 2 years after the date on 
     which the head of a Federal agency that has not received an 
     exemption under section 6(d) develops the plan under 
     paragraph (1), and every 2 years thereafter until the date 
     that is 15 years after the date of enactment of the Federal 
     Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 2008, the 
     head of the Federal agency shall submit to the Director a 
     report regarding the progress of the Federal agency in 
     achieving the objectives of the plan of the Federal agency 
     developed under paragraph (1).''.
       (b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--Section 5(d) of 
     the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act 
     of 1999 (31 U.S.C. 6101 note) is amended by inserting ``, 
     until the date on which the Federal agency submits the first 
     report by the Federal agency required under section 8(c)(3)'' 
     after ``subsection (a)(7)''.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Ms. LANDRIEU:
  S. 3342. A bill to improve access to technology by and increase 
entrepreneurship among small businesses located in rural communities, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Small Business and 
Entrepreneurship.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to speak on 
behalf of small businesses in the rural areas of my State, as well as 
rural small businesses nationwide. This is because small businesses are 
crucial to rural communities as they account for 90 percent of all 
rural establishments. In 1998, small firms employed 60 percent of rural 
workers and over 1.2 million small firms were located in rural areas. 
While Louisiana has major metropolitan areas such as New Orleans, Baton 
Rouge, Shreveport, and Lafayette, my State has countless rural 
communities which are vital to our State's economy. In fact, Louisiana 
has 13.8 million acres of hardwood and softwood forests, in addition to 
the fact that the State is one of the 10 largest producers of 
agricultural products. These include cotton, sugar cane, rice, pecans, 
soybeans, strawberries, and cattle. We are proud of our natural and 
agricultural resources, just as Louisianans are proud of our culture 
and cuisine.
  As I mentioned, rural small businesses are key to the economy in my 
State, just as they are in other States. While the Department of 
Agriculture has various programs to help rural communities, the Small 
Business Administration, SBA, remains the primary Federal agency 
focused on promoting small businesses. From my positions on the Senate 
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship as well as the Senate 
Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General 
Government, I have focused on improving SBA's ability to serve small 
businesses in Louisiana. One area that I believe this Congress can 
truly make a difference in addressing the main challenges facing rural 
small businesses. In talking to various stakeholders, I have repeatedly 
heard that two of the traditional obstacles to small business expansion 
in rural areas are lack of access to technology and capital.
  For my part, I would like to offer some commonsense solutions to help 
address these and other challenges facing our rural small businesses. 
These businesses are the backbone of our economy so we should give them 
every opportunity to succeed. In particular, I am proud to introduce 
today the, ``Rural Small Business Enhancement Act of 2008.'' This bill 
provides necessary improvements to SBA programs to help the agency 
better assist rural small businesses.
  First, as you may know, in 1982 Congress established a 5-year 
government-wide Small Business Innovation Research, SBIR, program. This 
program has been extended three times, most recently by Public Law 106-
554, which continues the SBIR program through September 30, 2008. The 
SBIR program was created to help meet the Federal Government's research 
and development needs. Among other things, the SBIR program was 
established to stimulate technological innovation related to each 
participating agency's goals and missions, to encourage agencies to use 
small businesses to meet Federal research and development needs, and to 
increase private sector commercialization of innovation derived from 
Federal research and development. The SBIR program had awarded over $17 
billion to more than 82,000 projects from its inception to 2004.

[[Page 16594]]

  In addition to the SBIR program, Congress also created the Small 
Business Technology Transfer, STTR, program. STTR is another important 
small business program that expands funding opportunities for small 
business in the area of Federal research and development. This program 
expands the public/private sector partnership to include joint venture 
opportunities for small businesses and nonprofit research institutions. 
For example, our university labs are important to the country in that 
they provide the engine for high-technology innovation. However, if 
innovation cannot be translated from the classroom or the lab to the 
marketplace, it cannot benefit the lives of everyday people. STTR 
combines the strengths of small businesses and universities to transfer 
technology/products from the lab to the marketplace. The small 
businesses in particular benefit from commercialization, which supports 
jobs and the U.S. economy.
  As part of the 2000 Reauthorization of the SBIR program, Congress 
also created the Federal and State Technology Partnership Program, or 
FAST. FAST was created to strengthen the technological competitiveness 
of small business concerns by providing competitive grants to States to 
help support the SBIR program. These grants are traditionally used to 
assist technology transfers by universities to small businesses, 
provide technical assistance to firms participating in the SBIR 
program, and encourage commercialization of technology developed 
through SBIR funding. The FAST program has proven vital to States like 
Louisiana, which have traditionally been in the lower tier of States in 
terms of SBIR/STTR awards and total dollars. For example, in fiscal 
year 2003, Louisiana ranked 44 in terms of total SBIR award dollars out 
of the other 50 States, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. That 
year Louisiana had 14 Phase I and II awards for a total of $2,373,062. 
Compare that to the 3 ranked State of Maryland which had 325 awards for 
$96,533,591. For this reason, technical assistance provided under FAST 
grants is extremely important to businesses in my State. In general, 
the more SBIR applications that are submitted by small businesses in a 
State, the more SBIR awards are made in that State.
  The FAST program has allowed the Louisiana Business and Technology 
Center, LBTC, located at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, to 
establish the Louisiana SBIR/STTR Phase Zero Program. This program 
allows LBTC to grant up to $3,000 to companies needed help in writing 
SBIR Phase One grant applications and up to $5,000 for Phase Two 
proposals. One of the companies that benefitted from FAST and the Phase 
Zero Program was Mezzo Systems. Mezzo Systems is a provider of design 
analysis and prototyping services for micro fluidic, optic, magneto, 
and electronic devices. The company was an incubator tenant of the LBTC 
at LSU and I was able to visit with them at the center in 2003. With 
the support of my office and the LBTC, Mezzo won five SBIR awards 
totalling $1.3 million. One of these awards was an SBIR grant from the 
Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency totalling $750,000.
  Through the FAST program, several spinoff companies at Louisiana 
Technical University in Ruston, Louisiana have also received SBIR 
funding to support research and development related to commercial 
application of their innovations. This is because Louisiana Tech 
recognizes the value of expanding the local service network for 
technology-based, small and rural businesses through programs like 
FAST.
  While my State has utilized the FAST program successfully in the 
past, I believe that rural areas, such as Louisiana, need additional 
technical assistance to help our small businesses compete in the SBIR 
program. In particular, I am concerned about the non-Federal match that 
is required for this program. Currently, each participating State that 
receives FAST awards is required to match each Federal dollar that is 
provided with their own funds. I do not oppose this approach as each 
recipient should put up funds as the Federal Government is putting up 
the majority of funds for these activities. However, as currently 
structured, each State in the bottom 18 States receiving the fewest 
SBIR Phase I awards is required to put up 50 cents for each Federal 
dollar. This makes sense as the lower tier of States need additional 
technical assistance so they should have an incentive to apply for 
these grants. Next, each State in 1 of the 16 States receiving the 
greatest number of Phase I awards are required to match dollar for 
dollar each Federal dollar awarded. States not included in either of 
these two categories, those in the middle tier, are required to match 
75 cents for each Federal dollar. There was also included a special 
match requirement for low-income areas, which is 50 cents for each 
Federal dollar.
  In reviewing this current structure, it is clear that rural areas and 
rural small businesses could benefit from a reduced match requirement 
for the FAST program. Just as low-income areas and States which are the 
bottom 18 States for SBIR awards are provided a 50-cent match 
requirement, FAST award recipients in rural areas should be provided a 
reduced match requirement. My bill would make this important revision 
and would also further reduce the match requirement, to 35 cents, for 
FAST grants from rural areas which are also in the bottom 18 States. 
This increased technical assistance would go a long way and really 
provide assistance where it is most needed--our rural small businesses 
and universities. Furthermore, this change does not affect the 
allocation of SBIR program awards but does provide rural areas with a 
level playing field when competing for these awards.
  As I mentioned, the SBIR program is set to expire on September 30, 
2008. It is important that we reauthorize this program given its 
importance to our country, universities and small businesses. Almost as 
important as reauthorizing this program is ensuring that the necessary 
technical assistance programs are also extended. Small business owners 
often lack the resources and expertise necessary to improve the quality 
of their proposals. That is where programs such as FAST come in to 
help. For SBIR/STTR, Congress also created a program which was 
particularly helpful to rural small businesses. In particular, the 
Rural Outreach Program was created by Senator Kit Bond in 1997 to help 
the lower tier SBIR/STTR States increase their participation and 
success in both programs. Funds under this program helped these 25 
underrepresented States establish or expand programs to assist small 
high technology businesses through training, counselling, and outreach. 
Activities included workshops, one-on-one counselling for small 
businesses, and the expansion of the base of high-technology/economic 
development service providers.
  While this program was extremely helpful to rural States like 
Louisiana, President Bush each year tried to cut the program in his 
budget. Along with Senator John Kerry and six other Senators, in 2004 I 
sent a letter to then SBA Administrator Hector Barreto urging him to 
restore Rural Outreach Program funds in his fiscal year 2005 budget. 
Unfortunately, it is my understanding that no additional funding was 
provided and the program was not reauthorized. In my bill I include a 
reauthorization of the Rural Outreach Program. It is my hope to work 
closely with Senators Bond and Kerry to reauthorize this important 
program when we reauthorize the overall SBIR program. I would also note 
that I believe the Rural Outreach program, which I understand may have 
been intended to phase out as the FAST program ramped up, can coexist 
with the FAST program. With the change included in this bill for the 
FAST program, along with reauthorizing the Rural Outreach Program, the 
States at the lower tier of SBIR awards would receive the help needed 
most--technical assistance. Rural States and those at the bottom of the 
rankings in SBIR awards deserve more, not less, technical assistance 
dollars. That is so that they can provide the help necessary to foster 
innovation and commercialization in their States.
  Next, both the SBIR and STTR programs are administered by the SBA 
Office of Technology. Eleven agencies

[[Page 16595]]

participate in the SBIR program and five agencies participate in the $2 
billion STTR program, yet I have repeatedly heard concerns from 
stakeholders that the Office of Technology is understaffed and 
overwhelmed. The employees in this office deserve tremendous credit for 
their service in running these vital programs but they also deserve 
additional help. Groups in my State have told me about calling the 
office for assistance with understanding SBIR/STTR rules. They 
indicated that the office was helpful, but slow. For example, when an 
award is granted, the agency administering the award provides the names 
of numerous staff members that may be contacted for SBIR reporting, 
funds management, technical assistance, and other needs. There does not 
appear to be the same capacity for assistance or outreach in the Office 
of Technology. If one considers that both SBIR/STTR provide hundreds of 
awards worth hundreds of millions of dollars each year, additional 
funds for staff to oversee these programs is a wise investment of 
taxpayer funds. The bill I am introducing today would require SBA to 
hire five additional employees and provide the agency with the funds to 
hire them.
  While the Rural Small Business Enhancement Act includes these 
provisions which focus on existing SBA programs, there also is a need 
for new programs to help our rural small businesses. The Federal 
Government disposes of or sells thousands of unused computers each 
year. Some of this technology could be better utilized in the hands of 
entrepreneurs in rural communities. Recently, the SBA Office of 
Advocacy worked with U.S. Department of Agriculture to donate a 
warehouse of used Department of Health and Human Services computers to 
rural communities. Given that the SBA is charged with promoting 
entrepreneurship in low-income and rural communities, it is a natural 
agency to spearhead an initiative to donate/discount used Federal 
computers to rural/low-income areas. According to information provided 
to my office by SBA, the agency currently has about 7,000 desktop 
personal computers and 2,700 laptops. Some estimates say that perhaps 
as many as 10 percent of these computers are targeted for disposal 
every month or so. When SBA disposes of these computers, they follow 
General Services Administration guidelines to either dispose of them 
through excess property auctions or through contractors. I would like 
to see SBA help address the technology challenges of rural small 
businesses by donating these used computers to these businesses or 
offering them at discounted prices. As such, my bill creates a 3 year 
pilot program at SBA where the agency would provide not less than 1,000 
excess government computers each year to small businesses in rural 
areas.
  Lastly, rural small businesses, just as with businesses in 
metropolitan areas, need capital to expand or survive. Unfortunately, 
many smaller lenders which have served rural areas have merged with 
larger banks in recent years. These local banks are traditionally the 
only source of capital in the community. To address this issue, my bill 
directs the Administrator to establish a rural lending outreach 
program. This program would provide not more than an 85 percent 
guaranty for loans of $250,000 or less. Since the program is targeted 
for rural areas, there is a requirement that the program be carried out 
only through lenders in rural areas. I would note that this particular 
provision is also included in a bill which I have cosponsored, S. 2920, 
the ``SBA Reauthorization and Improvement Act'' which was introduced by 
Senators Kerry, Snowe, and Levin.
  In the coming 2 months, both the House and Senate will be working to 
reauthorize the SBIR program. As we reauthorize the SBIR program, 
Congress should not forget the role that rural small businesses and 
universities play in fostering innovation and development. For example, 
in Louisiana, we have multiple universities participating in these 
programs and collaborating with local small businesses. I have already 
mentioned LSU and Louisiana Tech. Louisiana Tech in particular has 
steadily increased its activity in the SBIR program at a key time for 
the region. This is because the Barksdale Air Force base located in 
Shreveport, which is 70 miles from Ruston, is looking to secure the 
permanent Cyber Command. This command would protect the United States 
from cyber warfare. All of the universities, colleges, and parishes in 
this area are collaborating on securing this command, which could mean 
thousands of jobs for the region. As they look to attract additional 
technology-based businesses, the SBIR/STTR program has proven to be an 
important economic development tool for local businesses and 
communities. For my part, I want to ensure that universities like 
Louisiana Tech in rural areas have every opportunity to compete on a 
level playing field for SBIR dollars. I also would like to provide our 
rural small businesses with the tools necessary to partner with these 
institutions to commercialize the products of their research. The bill 
I introduce today would accomplish both of these goals and, in the 
process, it would improve the ability of SBA to assist rural small 
businesses. I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense 
legislation as we must foster development in our rural small 
businesses. Without these businesses, our country cannot truly compete 
on the international stage. This is because our Fortune 500 companies 
and large urban areas are instrumental in the success of the United 
States but rural small businesses and rural areas form the backbone of 
this country.
  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. 3342

       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 ``Rural Small Business 
     Enhancement Act of 2008''.

     SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act, the terms ``Administration'' and 
     ``Administrator'' mean the Small Business Administration and 
     the Administrator thereof, respectively.

     SEC. 3. RURAL AREAS.

       Section 34(e)(2) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 
     6657d(e)(2)) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and (D) as 
     subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively; and
       (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
       ``(C) Rural areas.--
       ``(i) In general.--Except as provided in clause (ii), the 
     non-Federal share of the cost of the activity carried out 
     using an award or under a cooperative agreement under this 
     section shall be 50 cents for each Federal dollar that will 
     be directly allocated by a recipient described in paragraph 
     (A) to serve small business concerns located in a rural area.
       ``(ii) SBIR awards.--For a recipient located in a rural 
     area that is located in a States as described in subparagraph 
     (A)(i), the non-Federal share of the cost of the activity 
     carried out using an award or under a cooperative agreement 
     under this section shall be 35 cents for each Federal dollar 
     that will be directly allocated by a recipient described in 
     paragraph (A) to serve small business concerns located in the 
     rural area.
       ``(iii) Definition of rural area.--In this subparagraph, 
     the term `rural area' has the meaning given that term in 
     section 1393(a)(2)) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.''.

     SEC. 4. RURAL OUTREACH PROGRAM.

       Section 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) is 
     amended by inserting after subsection (r) the following:
       ``(s) Outreach.--
       ``(1) Definition of eligible state.--In this subsection, 
     the term `eligible State' means a State--
       ``(A) if the total value of contracts awarded to the State 
     during fiscal year 2004 under this section was less than 
     $10,000,000; and
       ``(B) that certifies to the Administration described in 
     paragraph (2) that the State will, upon receipt of assistance 
     under this subsection, provide matching funds from non-
     Federal sources in an amount that is not less than 50 percent 
     of the amount provided under this subsection.
       ``(2) Program authority.--Of amounts made available to 
     carry out this section for each of the fiscal years 2009 
     through 2020, the Administrator may expend with eligible 
     States not more than $2,000,000 in each such fiscal year in 
     order to increase the participation of small business 
     concerns located in those States in the programs under this 
     section.
       ``(3) Amount of assistance.--The amount of assistance 
     provided to an eligible State under this subsection in any 
     fiscal year--

[[Page 16596]]

       ``(A) shall be equal to twice the total amount of matching 
     funds from non-Federal sources provided by the State; and
       ``(B) shall not exceed $100,000.
       ``(4) Use of assistance.--Assistance provided to an 
     eligible State under this subsection shall be used by the 
     State, in consultation with State and local departments and 
     agencies, for programs and activities to increase the 
     participation of small business concerns located in the State 
     in the programs under this section, including--
       ``(A) the establishment of quantifiable performance goals, 
     including goals relating to
       ``(i) the number of program awards under this section made 
     to small business concerns in the State; and
       ``(ii) the total amount of Federal research and development 
     contracts awarded to small business concerns in the State;
       ``(B) the provision of competition outreach support to 
     small business concerns in the State that are involved in 
     research and development; and
       ``(C) the development and dissemination of educational and 
     promotional information relating to the programs under this 
     section to small business concerns in the State.''.

     SEC. 5. RURAL SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY PILOT PROGRAM.

       (a) Definitions.--In this section--
       (1) the term ``qualified small business concern'' means a 
     small business concern located in a rural area;
       (2) the term ``rural area'' has the meaning given that term 
     in section 1393(a)(2)) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 
     and
       (3) the term ``small business concern'' has the same 
     meaning as under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 
     U.S.C. 632).
       (b) Report.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in coordination 
     with the Administrator of General Services, shall submit to 
     the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the 
     Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of 
     Representatives a report describing--
       (1) the number of Government-owned computers in the 
     possession of the Administration, including the number of 
     working computers, nonworking computers, desktop computers, 
     and laptop computers;
       (2) the number of Government-owned computers disposed of by 
     the Administration during the 5-year period ending on the 
     date of enactment of this Act, including the number of such 
     computers that were working computers, nonworking computers, 
     desktop computers, or laptop computers;
       (3) the procedures of the Administration for the disposal 
     of Government-owned computers;
       (4) the plans of the Administrator for carrying out the 
     pilot program under subsection (c).
       (c) Pilot Program.--
       (1) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
     of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall establish a 
     pilot program to provide not more than 1,000 excess 
     Government-owned computers each year to qualified small 
     business concerns at no cost or a reduced cost.
       (2) Purposes of program.--The pilot program established 
     under paragraph (1) shall be designed to--
       (A) encourage entrepreneurship in rural areas;
       (B) assist small business concerns in accessing technology; 
     and
       (C) accelerate the growth of qualified small business 
     concerns.
       (3) Termination.--The authority to conduct the pilot 
     program under this subsection shall terminate 3 years after 
     the date of enactment of this Act.
       (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated to the Administrator such sums as are 
     necessary to carry out this section.

     SEC. 6. OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY.

       (a) In General.--The Administrator shall hire not less than 
     5 additional full-time equivalent employees for the Office of 
     Technology of the Administration.
       (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized 
     to be appropriated to the Administrator such sums as are 
     necessary to carry out this section.

     SEC. 7. RURAL LENDING OUTREACH PROGRAM.

       Section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) 
     is amended--
       (1) by striking paragraph (25)(C);
       (2) by redesignating paragraph (32) relating to increased 
     veteran participation, as added by section 208 of the 
     Military Reservist and Veteran Small Business Reauthorization 
     and Opportunity Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-186; 122 Stat. 
     631), as paragraph (33);
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(34) Rural lending outreach program.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Administrator shall carry out a 
     rural lending outreach program to provide not more than an 85 
     percent guaranty for loans of not more than $250,000. The 
     program shall be carried out only through lenders located in 
     rural areas (as the term `rural' is defined in section 501(f) 
     of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 
     695(f))).
       ``(B) Loan terms.--For a loan made through the program 
     under this paragraph--
       ``(i) the Administrator shall approve or disapprove the 
     loan within 36 hours of the time the Administrator receives 
     the application;
       ``(ii) the program shall use abbreviated application and 
     documentation requirements; and
       ``(iii) minimum credit standards, as the Administrator 
     considers necessary to limit the rate of default on loans 
     made under the program, shall apply.''.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. GRASSLEY:
  S. 3343. A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to 
provide for a disclosure requirement under the Medicare program for 
physicians referring for imaging services; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I am pleased today to introduce the 
Medicare Imaging Disclosure Sunshine Act of 2008.
  I agreed to a short-term Medicare extension bill last December with 
the understanding that this would give us the opportunity to include 
other priorities in a bipartisan Medicare package this year. One of the 
significant issues I had hoped to address was the lack of transparency 
in physician self-referrals for imaging services in the Medicare 
program.
  The recently-enacted Medicare bill requires accreditation for 
providers of the technical component of advanced diagnostic imaging 
services such as magnetic resonance imaging, MRI, computed tomography, 
CT, scans, and positron emission tomography, PET, and it establishes a 
demonstration project to assess appropriate physician use of these 
services. However, Mr. President, the legislation regrettably fails to 
address an issue that has contributed significantly to the rapid growth 
in Medicare spending for imaging services: physician self-referrals for 
imaging services in their offices and in facilities where they own or 
lease advanced imaging equipment. According to a June 2008 report of 
the Government Accountability Office, Medicare Part B spending for 
imaging services more than doubled in 6 years, growing from $6.89 
billion in 2000 to $14.11 billion in 2006. During this time, the 
percentage of Medicare spending on imaging services provided in 
physician offices grew from 58 percent, about $4 billion, in 2000 to 64 
percent, about $9 billion, in 2006. Spending on advanced imaging 
services, such as MRIs, CT scans, and nuclear medicine, also grew 
substantially faster than other imaging services.
  Beneficiaries need more transparency and disclosure of potential 
conflicts of interest when physicians write referrals for imaging 
services. An imaging disclosure provision was included in the Medicare 
bill that I introduced in June, and it was included in the agreement 
that Senator Baucus and I reached for this year's Medicare bill. The 
provision was not onerous nor was it overly proscriptive: it merely 
required referring physicians to disclose any conflict of interest 
related to their ownership of advanced imaging facilities or equipment. 
Patients still would be free to choose their physicians' imaging 
facility or equipment or to go elsewhere. Unfortunately, the imaging 
disclosure provision was dropped from the Medicare bill that Congress 
enacted once the process became partisan.
  It is for this reason that I am introducing this bill. The Medicare 
Imaging Disclosure Sunshine Act does just what the name implies: it 
requires referring physicians to shed some light on their relationship 
to imaging facilities and equipment they own by disclosing that 
ownership interest and providing beneficiaries with a list of 
alternative providers. The referring physician is required to inform 
the individual in writing at the time of referral that he or she can 
obtain imaging services elsewhere if they choose to do so and to 
provide a list of imaging suppliers located where the individual 
resides. The imaging services covered by the requirement include MRIs, 
CT scans, PET, and other radiology services specified as designated 
health services that the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
determines appropriate. The requirement would be effective in January 
2010.
  Technology has made great advances in imaging services in recent 
years, and improvements in imaging hold much promise for earlier and 
more accurate diagnoses of life-threatening diseases which often may 
lead to improved outcomes for patients. But we

[[Page 16597]]

must do more to help control the potential for overutilization of 
imaging services. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, or MedPAC, 
and others have expressed serious concerns that the sizeable growth in 
the volume of imaging services needs to be addressed. In March 2005, 
MedPAC recommended that the Secretary of HHS establish standards for 
providers of diagnostic imaging services and measure physicians' use of 
imaging services with their peers. Those recommendations were addressed 
to some degree in the Medicare bill that Congress enacted. However, 
another key MedPAC recommendation--that the Secretary of HHS strengthen 
the rules limiting physicians' financial incentives to order imaging 
services--unfortunately was ignored.
  The June 2008 GAO Report noted that physicians in specialties other 
than radiology generated an increasing share of revenue from in-office 
imaging services from 2000 to 2006. They also found that in-office 
imaging spending per beneficiary, like other Medicare spending, varied 
widely across geographic regions of the country. By 2006, in-office 
imaging spending per beneficiary varied from $62 in Vermont to $472 in 
Florida, nearly eight times as much. This raises additional concerns 
about overuse since research on geographic variations on health care 
spending shows that, generally, providing more services does not lead 
to improved health care outcomes. In GAO's view, the shift in imaging 
services from hospital settings to physician offices has the potential 
to encourage overuse in light of the financial incentives that exist 
for physicians to supplement lower professional fees for interpreting 
imaging tests with relatively higher fees for performing the tests. 
They concluded that physician ownership of imaging equipment is a way 
to generate additional revenue for a practice.
  The Medicare Imaging Disclosure Sunshine Act will provide another 
necessary tool to address the significant increase in Medicare spending 
for in-office imaging services by providing more transparency and 
shedding some light on physician referrals to facilities and medical 
imaging equipment they own. I urge my colleagues to support this 
legislation.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. ROCKEFELLER:
  S. 3345. A bill to promote the capture and sequestration of carbon 
dioxide, to promote the use of energy produced from coal, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, today I introduce the Future Fuels 
Act of 2008. Put simply, I think coal--especially clean coal--is a 
critical part of the solution to America's energy independence and to 
our national security. The bill I will describe this morning presents 
several technological options that will help put us on a path toward 
achieving greater energy independence, while also tackling the grave 
threat to human health, property, and the world's economy that is 
global climate change.
  I know that there are some, in this chamber and around the country, 
who would demonize coal. But the reality is that coal is what we have--
in abundance. We just can't ignore this resource or the incredible 
potential that it has not just to generate electricity, but as a 
potential transportation fuel source. The challenges that we face 
today--and they are challenges which I firmly believe can be overcome 
with the right combination of resources and American know-how--is how 
to use coal to produce energy in cleaner ways than we do now, and to 
accelerate development of carbon capture and sequestration, CCS, 
technologies to see to it that we don't make our current climate 
problems worse.
  In addition to the bill I am introducing today, in West Virginia we 
have been working with major companies and our coal industry to promote 
some exciting next generation projects that will produce a range of 
value-added products out of coal--electricity, chemical feedstocks, 
fertilizer, diesel and aviation fuels. If we can pull off what we are 
trying to do, it will be, in a word, transformational.
  My colleagues know that from Maine to California, West Virginia to 
Washington State, our constituents are paying more at the gasoline 
pump, in the supermarket aisles, and for virtually everything else. 
American families are being crushed by the weight of the rising cost of 
living--especially our seniors, veterans, and low-income families, who 
often live on fixed incomes. They are looking for solutions, not 
lengthy and circular debates on how this energy crisis came about and 
who is to blame for not fixing it. They are looking for the people they 
sent to Washington to examine all the options, work together for the 
common good, and to stop playing partisan or parochial games.
  As a Senator from West Virginia, I can tell you that the people of my 
State know a thing or two about coal. They know that from small towns 
to major cities, from the Capitol building to the Vegas strip, coal 
generates nearly 50 percent of the Nation's electricity. It lights our 
homes, schools, and workplaces, and while the summer sun beats down, 
coal-burning power plants keep us cool. West Virginians, like so many 
others in this country who have considered our energy options, 
understand that coal also has the potential to run our cars and trucks 
and keep our planes flying. West Virginians--like the relatively few of 
us who are proud to call ourselves Coal State Senators--understand that 
the only thing keeping us from turning this promise into a reality is a 
laser-focused commitment from our government and the Nation's 
industries to unleash good old American ingenuity.
  The Future Fuels Act can be the foundation for our efforts. In a way 
not seen since the Manhattan Project helped us win World War II, and at 
least not since we fulfilled President Kennedy's promise to put a man 
on the Moon and bring him safely back to Earth, the Future Fuels Act 
would bring together the best minds in government and the private 
sector to figure out commercially viable solutions to carbon capture 
and sequestration. In achieving what is undoubtedly the greatest 
environmental challenge of this century, the best minds throughout the 
world, working together, will renew the promise of a better standard of 
living that coal showed the world at the dawn of the industrial age. 
For Americans blessed with abundant reserves of this resource, the 
Future Fuels Act can allow coal to be the source of most of the clean 
energy we must have in the coming decades.
  I understand there are those who believe that coal can never be part 
of the solution, because its detractors have made it such a poster 
child of the problem. Let's be honest. No energy policy choice can be 
made that does not have an environmental consequence. Oil drilling 
obviously does--and mining coal does, as well.
  But it is not just the use of fossil fuels that has consequences. 
Wind power probably has more than its fair share of detractors, due to 
perceived threats to migratory birds and bats, and what some consider 
an unacceptable disruption of scenic vistas. Ethanol has been blamed 
for rising food prices and for the minimal value of the energy it 
produces relative to its production costs. Nuclear energy is touted by 
its proponents as a carbon-free option that should have its share of 
the nation's electricity generation expanded. Yet we have never figured 
out what to do about the permanent storage of, and human health and 
safety concerns regarding, highly radioactive waste with a half-life 
measured in tens of thousands of years. It is clear to me, at least, 
that the fundamentally flawed Yucca Mountain plan is not the answer. 
Natural gas-powered plants emit somewhat less than coal-fired plants, 
but are still not clean. In any event, installing new gas pipelines or 
trying to open a liquefied natural gas terminal inevitably runs 
utilities into the classic problem of ``not in my backyard,'' or NIMBY. 
The point is we need to find energy alternatives that are accessible, 
can be used wisely, preserve our standard of living, and make positive 
strides to heal our broken world.
  Anyone who has watched the nightly news lately or who has read a 
newsmagazine in the last several years knows that global climate change 
is no

[[Page 16598]]

longer cloaked in uncertainty or shrouded in doubt. The sheer 
repetition of major meteorological calamities renders discussion of 
``storms of the century'' mute. Meanwhile, all too frequently floods, 
hurricanes, and typhoons are characterized as ``500-year events.'' 
We've watched the floodwaters rise in the heartland of America, forest 
fires rage out West, and both our Atlantic and Pacific coastlines 
battered by more common storms. The permafrost in the Arctic Tundra is 
thawing and releasing methane, and the polar ice caps are melting. 
Growing seasons are changing, and temperate zones are shifting. The 
damaging effects of global climate change are not suffered only by 
humanity; an increasing number of plant and animal species are facing 
extinction.
  Whether you believe that climate change is happening or not; whether 
you accept the science of it all, or not, is beside the point. One 
thing is clear--we can't afford to be wrong, and doing nothing is not 
an option any longer. Our national policy can not be to merely clean up 
after more and more terrible weather affects more and more parts of the 
country--we'll go steadily more bankrupt if we do. We need to start 
addressing the root cause of it all--and that means fundamental changes 
in the ways we harness the immense power of fossil fuels, like coal, 
and permanent solutions for the carbon produced.
  To do this, my legislation will expand incentives for clean coal 
technologies, establish an incentive to capture a potent greenhouse gas 
currently being vented into the atmosphere, create a low-cost program 
to promote responsible conversion of coal to transportation fuels, help 
develop new pipeline networks connecting the coalfields to the gas 
pump, and devote substantial resources to enable government and private 
sector scientists to turn the corner on commercially viable CCS.
  The United States has more than a 250-year supply of coal stored 
beneath the hills of Appalachia and in several places around the 
country. To use this abundance in a responsible and environmentally 
appropriate way, the Future Fuels Act will do the following:
  It will expand tax incentive and clean coal energy bond programs in 
current law designed to defray costs incurred by investor-owned 
utilities and public power providers when they choose advanced clean 
coal technologies to replace and supplement our current fleet of 
electricity generating plants. We have provided money for this purpose 
over the last decade, but given the scope of the challenge, we have up 
until now provided pennies on the dollar. The Future Fuels Act will 
provide $10.3 billion--$8.3 billion in expanded clean coal tax 
incentives and an additional $2 billion for municipal and cooperative 
energy providers in clean coal energy bonds.
  It will establish a new incentive available to companies that mine 
coal underground to capture and sequester methane. Methane is more than 
20 times as potent a heat-trapping greenhouse gas as an equal volume of 
carbon dioxide. It is liberated as a natural byproduct of the 
excavation of coal, and is currently vented to prevent explosions and 
to purify the air coal miners breathe. This incentive would allow coal 
companies that voluntarily capture methane and prevent it from being 
released into the atmosphere to offset some of the costs of that 
capture.
  It will create a ``stand-by'' loan program for development of 
environmentally responsible coal conversion facilities. Coal-based fuel 
developers would receive no Federal funds to build or operate their 
facilities, but would be able to tap into a loan program with strict 
repayment terms when the world price of oil drops below a figure to be 
set in statute. As a frustrating summer of high gasoline prices and 
airlines teetering on the edge of collapse because of high jet fuel 
costs makes clear, we need a new set of solutions to meet our energy 
demand. The Future Fuels Act will move us toward a time when we can run 
our cars, trucks, planes, and trains with domestic coal-derived fuel.
  It will establish a tax incentive for the construction of pipeline 
infrastructure to bring coal-based fuels to the marketplace. Because 
our current network of oil and gas pipelines serves, naturally, where 
oil and gas is found, it may not be adequate or geographically able to 
serve new sources of fuels in the coalfields of Appalachia and other 
regions of the country where coal conversion facilities might be built. 
This incentive would encourage pipeline companies to build out to new 
locations with untapped potential in coal reserves.
  But the Future Fuels Act is not just about using coal. It is about 
meeting the challenge of using coal in the carbon-constrained future we 
know is coming. The Future Fuels Act does this by harnessing the 
wisdom, scientific knowledge, and creativity of both government 
scientists and their private sector counterparts.
  First, it would put into motion the kind of massive research, 
development, demonstration, and technology deployment program we should 
have seen from the current Administration, which had promised to be a 
friend to coal, only to walk away from ongoing coal initiatives in our 
Federal laboratories. Instead of doing the work that would establish a 
sustainable future for coal, the Administration first denied climate 
change was a problem, and then cut the fossil fuel R&D. Consequently, 
we have lost eight years' worth of serious efforts to develop 
commercial-scale carbon capture and sequestration, or CCS, options. 
This is utterly inexcusable, but by increasing the size and investment 
in government CCS R&D, my legislation attempts to make up for that lost 
time. Our national labs have done groundbreaking work, especially West 
Virginia, but they have not been given the resources they need to truly 
accelerate their research and make it commercially available. In 
contrast, this legislation would authorize $650 million over the next 5 
fiscal years to develop commercial-scale carbon sequestration 
demonstrations in multiple geological and terrestrial formations, with 
the goal of storing 1 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.
  Finally, my bill would create the Future Fuels Corporation, FFC, a 
publicly funded but privately operated institution with two primary 
goals. First, the FFC accelerate research--and more importantly, 
commercial deployment--of CCS technologies. Without the combination of 
brainpower and private sector dedication to deadlines and results we 
may never get CCS technologies off the drawing board and on to power 
plants and other industrial emitting facilities.
  Second, the FFC will work to create new technologies and new 
production processes to enable the production of coal-based 
transportation fuels that are not only cleaner than petroleum-based 
fuels in use today, but which are made in plants that are cleaner, and 
which cause less environmental disruption than drilling for oil.
  Like so many of the other legislative responses to the current energy 
and economic crisis, my legislation is not a ``silver bullet.'' It is, 
however, a sincere attempt to offer American solutions to what is both 
an American and a global problem.
  We can never be truly energy ``independent,'' but we must resolve to 
be more energy ``resilient.'' We can do that when we tap into coal's 
still unbound potential. Likewise, we cannot expect the serious problem 
of global climate change to fix itself. The combination of our abundant 
coal and the innovative potential of the greatest scientists, 
technicians, and researchers in American business, academia, and 
government can make the energy resources of Saudi Arabia seem like a 
drop in the bucket. We need to foster policies to unleash these 
brilliant men and women to find and prove a range of carbon storage 
solutions, and then watch a waiting world beat a path to our doorstep.
  Known American coal reserves can produce electricity at current 
rates--and be converted to transportation fuels in sufficient amounts 
to supplant more than the petroleum we import from the Persian Gulf and 
elsewhere--for two centuries or more. No American president will have 
to call up the Guard and Reserve to secure the coalfields, and no 
American parent will

[[Page 16599]]

have trouble falling asleep because they're concerned about the safety 
of their son or daughter in uniform because the people who own the 
energy don't much like the American presence near the energy.
  That is why the Future Fuels Act is so important, and why I commend 
it to my colleagues.
  Mr. President, I ask 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. 3345

       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 ``Future Fuels Act of 2008''.

     SEC. 2. FUTURE FUELS CORPORATION.

       Subtitle A of title XVI of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 
     (Public Law 109-58; 119 Stat. 1109) is amended by adding at 
     the end the following:

     ``SEC. 1602. FUTURE FUELS CORPORATION.

       ``(a) Establishment.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Future Fuels Corporation (referred 
     to in this section as the `Corporation') is established as a 
     government corporation.
       ``(2) Administration.--The Corporation shall be subject 
     to--
       ``(A) this section; and
       ``(B) chapter 91 of title 31, United States Code.
       ``(3) Board of directors.--
       ``(A) In general.--The Corporation shall be managed by a 
     board of directors composed of 7 individuals who are citizens 
     of the United States, appointed by the President, by and with 
     the advice and consent of the Senate.
       ``(B) Chairperson.--The board of directors shall annually 
     elect a Chairperson from among the members of the board of 
     directors.
       ``(C) Term.--The term of a member of the board of directors 
     shall be 4 years.
       ``(4) Transfers.--The Secretary shall transfer to the 
     Corporation, from amounts appropriated and allocated to it, 
     such sums as may be necessary to meet the requirements of 
     this section.
       ``(b) Use of Funds.--Beginning in fiscal year 2009, funds 
     transferred by the Secretary to the Corporation under 
     subsection (a)(4) shall be expended by the Corporation to--
       ``(1) promote and deploy coal and coal cofired 
     polygeneration technologies;
       ``(2) reduce--
       ``(A) the carbon footprint of coal consumption; and
       ``(B) the production of coal-based byproducts; and
       ``(3) conduct widespread carbon sequestration research, 
     development, and deployment activities.''.

     SEC. 3. CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND 
                   DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.

       Section 963 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 
     16293) is amended--
       (1) in the section heading, by striking ``AND 
     SEQUESTRATION'' and inserting ``AND STORAGE'';
       (2) in subsection (a), by striking ``and sequestration'' 
     and inserting ``and storage''; and
       (3) by striking subsections (c) and (d) and inserting the 
     following:
       ``(c) Programmatic Activities.--
       ``(1) Goal.--The Secretary shall establish a program under 
     which the Secretary shall conduct activities necessary to 
     achieve the goal of annually sequestering at least 1,000,000 
     tons of carbon dioxide by January 1, 2015.
       ``(2) Review of existing data.--Not later than 180 days 
     after the date of enactment of the Future Fuels Act of 2008, 
     the Secretary shall--
       ``(A) verify and analyze the results of any assessment 
     conducted by any other Federal agency or a State relating to 
     geological storage capacity and the potential for carbon 
     injection rates, including a risk analysis of any potential 
     geologic storage areas assessed; and
       ``(B) submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a 
     report that describes the results of the verification and 
     analyses under subparagraph (A).
       ``(3) Recommendations.--As soon as practicable after the 
     date of enactment of the Future Fuels Act of 2008, the 
     Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of 
     Congress recommendations on appropriate regulatory and 
     advisory mechanisms for--
       ``(A) the determination of best technologies;
       ``(B) the identification and evaluation of state-of-the-art 
     research, development, and deployment strategies for carbon 
     capture and storage technologies;
       ``(C) the selection and operation of carbon dioxide 
     sequestration sites; and
       ``(D) the transfer of liability for the sites to the United 
     States.
       ``(4) Interstate compacts.--As soon as practicable after 
     the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
     develop model interstate compacts to govern the 
     transportation, injection, and storage of carbon dioxide.
       ``(5) Demonstration project.--The Secretary shall conduct 
     geological sequestration demonstration projects involving 
     carbon dioxide sequestration operations in a variety of 
     candidate geological settings, including--
       ``(A) oil and gas reservoirs;
       ``(B) unmineable coal seams;
       ``(C) deep saline aquifers;
       ``(D) basalt and shale formations; and
       ``(E) terrestrial sequestration, including restoration 
     project sites provided assistance by the Abandoned Mine 
     Reclamation Fund established by section 401 of the Surface 
     Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1231) .
       ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
       ``(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated 
     to carry out this section--
       ``(A) $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 and 2010;
       ``(B) $105,000,000 for fiscal year 2011;
       ``(C) $110,000,000 for fiscal year 2012;
       ``(D) $115,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; and
       ``(E) $120,000,000 for fiscal year 2014.
       ``(2) Availability of funds.--Funds made available for a 
     fiscal year under paragraph (1)--
       ``(A) shall remain available until expended, but not later 
     than September 30, 2014; and
       ``(B) may be reprogrammed, at the discretion of the 
     Secretary, for expenditure for other demonstration projects 
     under this title only after--
       ``(i) September 30, 2010; and
       ``(ii) the Secretary provides notice of the proposed 
     reprogramming to the appropriate committees of Congress.''.

     SEC. 4. STANDBY LOANS FOR QUALIFYING COAL-TO-LIQUID PROJECTS.

       Section 1702 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 
     16512) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(k) Standby Loans for Qualifying Coal-to-Liquid 
     Projects.--
       ``(1) Definitions.--In this subsection:
       ``(A) Cap price.--The term `cap price' means the market 
     price specified in a standby loan agreement above which the 
     qualifying CTL project is required to make payments to the 
     United States.
       ``(B) Conventional baseline emissions.--The term 
     `conventional baseline emissions' means--
       ``(i) the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of a facility 
     that produces combustible end products, using petroleum as a 
     feedstock, that are equivalent to combustible end products 
     produced by a facility of comparable size through a 
     qualifying CTL project;
       ``(ii) in the case of noncombustible products produced 
     through a qualifying CTL project, the average lifecycle 
     greenhouse gas emissions emitted by projects that--

       ``(I) are of comparable size; and
       ``(II) produce equivalent products using conventional 
     feedstocks; and

       ``(iii) in the case of synthesized gas intended for use as 
     a combustible fuel in lieu of natural gas produced by a 
     qualifying CTL project, the lifecycle greenhouse gas 
     emissions that would result from equivalent use of natural 
     gas.
       ``(C) Direct loan.--The term `direct loan' has the meaning 
     given the term in section 502 of the Federal Credit Reform 
     Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661a).
       ``(D) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means an 
     entity that conducts a qualifying CTL project.
       ``(E) Facility.--The term `facility' means a facility at 
     which the conversion of feedstocks to end products takes 
     place.
       ``(F) Full term.--The term `full term' means the full term 
     of a standby loan agreement, as specified in the standby loan 
     agreement under paragraph (2)(A)(ii)(III), which shall not be 
     more than the lesser of--
       ``(i) 30 years; or
       ``(ii) 90 percent of the projected useful life of the 
     qualifying CTL project, as determined by the Secretary.
       ``(G) Lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions.--The term 
     `lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions' means the difference 
     between--
       ``(i) the aggregate quantity of greenhouse gases 
     attributable to the production and transportation of end 
     products at a facility, including the production, extraction, 
     cultivation, distribution, marketing, and transportation of 
     feedstocks, and the subsequent distribution and use of any 
     combustible end products; and
       ``(ii)(I) any greenhouse gases captured at the facility and 
     sequestered;
       ``(II) the carbon content, expressed in units of carbon 
     dioxide equivalent, of any feedstock that is a renewable 
     biomass; and
       ``(III) the carbon content, expressed in units of carbon 
     dioxide equivalent, of any end products that do not result in 
     the release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
       ``(H) Long-term storage.--The term `long-term storage' 
     means sequestration with an expected maximum rate of carbon 
     dioxide leakage over a specified period of time that is 
     consistent with the objective of reducing atmospheric 
     concentrations of carbon dioxide, subject to a permit issued 
     under any law in effect as of the date of the sequestration.
       ``(I) Market price.--The term `market price' means the 
     average quarterly price of a

[[Page 16600]]

     petroleum price index specified in the standby loan 
     agreement.
       ``(J) Minimum price.--The term `minimum price' means a 
     market price specified in the standby loan agreement below 
     which the United States is obligated to make disbursements to 
     the qualifying CTL project.
       ``(K) Output.--The term `output' means all or a portion of 
     the liquid or gaseous transportation fuels produced from the 
     qualifying CTL project, as specified in the standby loan 
     agreement.
       ``(L) Primary term.--The term `primary term' means the 
     initial term of a standby loan agreement, as specified in the 
     agreement under paragraph (2)(A)(ii)(II), which shall not be 
     more than the lesser of--
       ``(i) 20 years; or
       ``(ii) 75 percent of the projected useful life of the 
     qualifying CTL project, as determined by the Secretary.
       ``(M) Qualifying ctl project.--The term `qualifying CTL 
     project' means a commercial-scale project that converts coal 
     to industrial feedstocks or 1 or more liquid or gaseous fuels 
     for transportation or other uses or a project conducted at a 
     facility that converts petroleum refinery waste products 
     (including petroleum coke) into 1 or more liquid or gaseous 
     transportation fuels--
       ``(i) that demonstrates the capture, sequestration, 
     disposal, or use of the carbon dioxide produced in the 
     conversion process; and
       ``(ii) for which--

       ``(I) the annual lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of the 
     project are at least 20 percent lower than conventional 
     baseline emissions;
       ``(II) at least 75 percent of the carbon dioxide that would 
     otherwise be released to the atmosphere at the facility in 
     the production of end products of the project is captured for 
     long-term storage; and
       ``(III) the eligible entity has entered into an enforceable 
     agreement with the Secretary to implement carbon capture at 
     the percentage that, by the end of the 5-year period after 
     commencement of commercial operation of the eligible 
     qualifying CTL project--

       ``(aa) represents the best available technology; and
       ``(bb) achieves a reduction in carbon emissions that is not 
     less than 75 percent.
       ``(N) Standby loan agreement.--The term `standby loan 
     agreement' means a loan agreement entered into under 
     paragraph (2)(A)(i).
       ``(2) Agreements.--
       ``(A) Standby loan agreement.--
       ``(i) In general.--The Secretary may enter into standby 
     loan agreements for the conduct of not more than 10 
     qualifying CTL projects, at least 1 of which may be a 
     qualifying CTL project primarily designed to produce 
     pipeline-quality natural gas from domestic coal.
       ``(ii) Requirements.--A standby loan agreement entered into 
     under clause (i) shall--

       ``(I) provide for a direct loan from the Secretary to the 
     eligible entity for the qualifying CTL project;
       ``(II) specify the primary term of the standby loan 
     agreement;
       ``(III) specify the full term of the standby loan 
     agreement; and
       ``(IV) establish a cap price and a minimum price for the 
     primary term of the standby loan agreement.

       ``(B) Profit-sharing agreement.--
       ``(i) In general.--Simultaneously with entering into a 
     standby loan agreement under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 
     may enter into a profit-sharing agreement with the eligible 
     entity.
       ``(ii) Requirements.--Under a profit-sharing agreement, if 
     the market price exceeds the cap price in a calendar quarter, 
     a profit-sharing payment shall be made for the calendar 
     quarter, in an amount equal to the difference between--

       ``(I) the amount that is equal to the product obtained by 
     multiplying--

       ``(aa) the amount that is equal to the difference between--

       ``(AA) the market price; and
       ``(BB) the cap price; and

       ``(bb) the output of the qualifying CTL project; and

       ``(II) the total amount of any loan repayments made for the 
     calendar quarter.

       ``(3) Loan disbursements.--
       ``(A) Disbursement.--A loan subject to a standby loan 
     agreement shall be disbursed during the primary term of the 
     standby loan agreement during any period in which the market 
     price falls below the minimum price.
       ``(B) Amount.--
       ``(i) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the total 
     amount of disbursements in any calendar quarter under 
     subparagraph (A) shall be equal to the product obtained by 
     multiplying--

       ``(I) the difference between--

       ``(aa) the minimum price; and
       ``(bb) the market price; and

       ``(II) the output of the qualifying CTL project.

       ``(ii) Limitation.--Notwithstanding clause (i), the total 
     amount of disbursements in any calendar quarter shall be not 
     more than the total amount of disbursements specified in the 
     applicable standby loan agreement.
       ``(4) Loan repayments.--
       ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), the 
     Secretary shall establish terms and conditions, including 
     interest rates and amortization schedules, for the repayment 
     of a loan under this subsection within the full term of the 
     standby loan agreement.
       ``(B) Limitations.--In establishing the terms and 
     conditions under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 
     provide that--
       ``(i) if, in any calendar quarter during the primary term 
     of the standby loan agreement, the market price is less than 
     the cap price--

       ``(I) the qualifying CTL project may elect to defer some or 
     all of the repayment obligations due during the applicable 
     calendar quarter; and
       ``(II) if an election is made under subclause (I), any 
     unpaid obligations will continue to accrue interest during 
     the deferral period;

       ``(ii)(I) if, in any calendar quarter during the primary 
     term of the agreement, the market price is greater than the 
     cap price, the qualifying CTL project shall meet the 
     scheduled repayment obligation and any deferred repayment 
     obligations, but shall not be required to pay in the 
     applicable calendar quarter an amount that is more than the 
     product obtained by multiplying--

       ``(aa) the amount that is equal to the difference between--

       ``(AA) the market price; and
       ``(BB) the cap price; and

       ``(bb) the output of the qualifying CTL project; and
       ``(II) the qualifying CTL project may elect to defer any 
     repayment obligation in excess of the amount determined under 
     subclause (I); and

       ``(C) at the end of the primary term of the standby loan 
     agreement, the cumulative amount of any deferred repayment 
     obligations and any accrued interest shall be amortized (with 
     interest) over the remainder of the full term of the standby 
     loan agreement.
       ``(5) Compliance with federal credit reform act.--
       ``(A) Upfront payment of cost of loan.--No standby loan 
     agreement may be entered into under this subsection unless 
     the eligible entity, on execution of the standby loan 
     agreement, makes an upfront payment to the United States that 
     the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
     determines is equal to the cost of the loan, as determined 
     under 502(5)(B) of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 
     U.S.C. 661a(5)(B)).
       ``(B) Minimization of risk to the government.--In making 
     the determination of the cost of the loan for purposes of 
     establishing the upfront payment under subparagraph (A), the 
     Secretary and the Director of the Office of Management and 
     Budget shall take into consideration the extent to which the 
     minimum price and the cap price reflect historical patterns 
     of volatility in actual oil prices relative to projections of 
     future oil prices, based on--
       ``(i) publicly available data from the Energy Information 
     Administration; and
       ``(ii) statistical methods and analyses that are 
     appropriate for the analysis of volatility in energy prices.
       ``(C) Treatment of payments.--
       ``(i) In general.--The value to the United States of an 
     upfront payment under subparagraph (A) and any profit-sharing 
     payments under paragraph (2)(B) shall be taken into account 
     for purposes of section 502(5)(B)(iii) of the Federal Credit 
     Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661a(5)(B)(iii)) in determining 
     the cost to the Federal Government of a loan under this 
     subsection.
       ``(ii) No cost.--If a loan under this subsection has no 
     cost to the Federal Government, the requirements of section 
     504(b) of the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 
     661c(b)) shall be considered to be satisfied.
       ``(6) Applicable law.--
       ``(A) No double benefit.--A qualifying CTL project 
     receiving a loan under this subsection may not, during the 
     primary term of the standby loan agreement, receive a Federal 
     loan guarantee under--
       ``(i) subsection (a); or
       ``(ii) any other law.
       ``(B) Subrogation, fees, and full faith and credit.--
     Subsections (g)(2), (h), and (j) shall apply to standby loans 
     under this subsection to the same extent the provisions apply 
     to loan guarantees.''.

     SEC. 5. CREDIT FOR MULTI-PRODUCT PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION.

       (a) In General.--Subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of 
     chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 
     adding at the end the following new section:

     ``SEC. 45Q. COAL-BASED TRANSPORTATION FUEL PIPELINE CREDIT.

       ``(a) In General.--For purposes of section 38, in the case 
     of an eligible taxpayer, the coal-based transportation fuel 
     pipeline credit for any taxable year is an amount equal to 
     the applicable amount for each gallon of qualified average 
     daily throughput with respect to an eligible pipeline during 
     the taxable year.
       ``(b) Applicable Amount.--For purposes of subsection (a), 
     the applicable amount is an amount equal to--
       ``(1) $0.02 per gallon for the first 1,000,000 gallons of 
     qualified average daily throughput, and
       ``(2) $0.01 per gallon for the number of gallons of 
     qualified average daily throughput in excess of 1,000,000 
     gallons.
       ``(c) Qualified Average Daily Throughput.--For purposes of 
     this section--
       ``(1) In general.--The term `qualified average daily 
     throughput' means the average of

[[Page 16601]]

     the amount of qualified fuel which enters the eligible 
     pipeline on each day during the taxable year.
       ``(2) Termination.--
       ``(A) In general.--No amount of qualified fuel entering an 
     eligible pipeline shall be taken into account for any day 
     after December 31, 2015.
       ``(B) Special rule.--In the case of any taxable year which 
     includes December 31, 2015, any day in such taxable year 
     following such date shall not be taken into account in 
     determining the qualified average daily throughput for such 
     year.
       ``(d) Other Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
       ``(1) Eligible taxpayer.--The term `eligible taxpayer' 
     means any taxpayer who owns an eligible pipeline.
       ``(2) Eligible pipeline.--The term `eligible pipeline' 
     means a pipeline--
       ``(A) the original use of which commences with the 
     taxpayer,
       ``(B) which is placed in service by the taxpayer after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act and before December 31, 
     2012,
       ``(C) no written binding contract for the construction of 
     which was in effect on or before December 31, 2007, and
       ``(D) which is used for the transportation of fuels derived 
     from coal.
     Rules similar to the rules of section 179C(c)(2) shall apply 
     for purposes of this paragraph.
       ``(3) Qualified fuel.--The term `qualified fuel' means any 
     liquid fuel derived from coal, or coal and biomass (as 
     defined in section 45K(c)(3)) through the Fischer-Tropsch 
     processor another process converting coal into liquid 
     fuel.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 38(b) of such the 
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to general business 
     credit) is amended by striking ``plus'' at the end of 
     paragraph (32), by striking the period at the end of 
     paragraph (33) and inserting ``, plus'', and by adding at the 
     end of following new paragraph:
       ``(34) the coal-based transportation fuel pipeline credit 
     under section 45Q(a).''.
       (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for subpart 
     B of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code 
     (relating to other credits) is amended by adding at the end 
     the following new section:

``Sec. 45Q. Coal-based transportation fuel pipeline credit.''.
       (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this subsection 
     shall apply to property placed in service after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 6. INCENTIVES TO CAPTURE COALMINE METHANE.

       (a) In General.--Section 45K of the Internal Revenue Code 
     of 1986 (relating to credit for producing fuel from a 
     nonconventional source) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following new subsection:
       ``(h) Application to Coalmine Methane Gas.--
       ``(1) In general.--This section shall apply to coalmine 
     methane gas--
       ``(A) captured or extracted by the taxpayer after the date 
     of the enactment of this subsection and before the date that 
     is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this 
     subsection, and
       ``(B) utilized as a fuel source or sold by or on behalf of 
     the taxpayer to an unrelated person after the date of the 
     enactment of this subsection and before the date that is 5 
     years after the date of the enactment of this subsection.
       ``(2) Coalmine methane gas.--For purposes of this 
     paragraph, the term `coalmine methane gas' means any methane 
     gas which is--
       ``(A) liberated during qualified coal mining operations, or
       ``(B) extracted up to 5 years in advance of qualified coal 
     mining operations as part of a specific plan to mine a coal 
     deposit.
       ``(3) Special rule for advanced extraction.--In the case of 
     coalmine methane gas which is captured in advance of 
     qualified coal mining operations, the credit under subsection 
     (a) shall be allowed only after the date the coal extraction 
     occurs in the immediate area where the coalmine methane gas 
     was removed.
       ``(4) Noncompliance with pollution laws.--For purposes of 
     subparagraphs (B) and (C), coal mining operations which are 
     not in compliance with the applicable State and Federal 
     pollution prevention, control, and permit requirements for 
     any period of time shall not be considered to be qualified 
     coal mining operations during such period.''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 7. EXPANDED CLEAN COAL TECHNOLOGY INCENTIVES.

       (a) Expansion and Modification of Advanced Coal Project 
     Investment Credit.--
       (1) Credit rate parity among projects.--Section 48A(a) of 
     the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to qualifying 
     advanced coal project credit) is amended by striking ``equal 
     to'' and all that follows and inserting ``equal to 30 percent 
     of the qualified investment for such taxable year.''.
       (2) Expansion of aggregate credits.--Section 48A(d)(3)(A) 
     of such Code (relating to aggregate credits) is amended by 
     striking ``$1,300,000,000'' and inserting ``$8,300,000,000''.
       (3) Authorization of additional projects.--
       (A) In general.--Subparagraph (B) of section 48A(d)(3) of 
     such Code (relating to aggregate credits) is amended to read 
     as follows:
       ``(B) Particular projects.--Of the dollar amount in 
     subparagraph (A), the Secretary is authorized to certify--
       ``(i) $800,000,000 for integrated gasification combined 
     cycle projects the application for which is submitted during 
     the period described in paragraph (2)(A)(i),
       ``(ii) $500,000,000 for projects which use other advanced 
     coal-based generation technologies the application for which 
     is submitted during the period described in paragraph 
     (2)(A)(i),
       ``(iii) $4,200,000,000 for integrated gasification combined 
     cycle projects the application for which is submitted during 
     the period described in paragraph (2)(A)(ii), and
       ``(iv) $2,800,000,000 for other advanced coal-based 
     generation technology projects the application for which is 
     submitted during the period described in paragraph 
     (2)(A)(ii).''.
       (B) Application period for additional projects.--
     Subparagraph (A) of section 48A(d)(2) of such Code (relating 
     to certification) is amended to read as follows:
       ``(A) Application period.--Each applicant for certification 
     under this paragraph shall submit an application meeting the 
     requirements of subparagraph (B). An applicant may only 
     submit an application--
       ``(i) for an allocation from the dollar amount specified in 
     clause (i) or (ii) of paragraph (3)(A) during the 3-year 
     period beginning on the date the Secretary establishes the 
     program under paragraph (1), and
       ``(ii) for an allocation from the dollar amount specified 
     in clause (iii) or (iv) of paragraph (3)(A) during the 3-year 
     period beginning at the earlier of the termination of the 
     period described in clause (i) or the date prescribed by the 
     Secretary.''.
       (C) Capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide emissions 
     requirement.--Section 48A(e)(1) of such Code (relating to 
     requirements) is amended by striking ``and'' at the end of 
     subparagraph (E), by striking the period at the end of 
     subparagraph (F) and inserting ``, and'', and by adding at 
     the end the following new subparagraph:
       ``(G) in the case of any project the application for which 
     is submitted during the period described in paragraph 
     (2)(A)(ii), the project includes equipment to separate and 
     sequester 65 percent of such project's total carbon dioxide 
     emissions.''.
       (4) Nameplate capacity.--Paragraph (1) of section 48A(e) of 
     such Code is amended by adding at the end the following new 
     flush sentence:
     ``For purposes of subparagraph (C), in determining total 
     nameplate generating capacity, the Secretary shall use the 
     electric output that is guaranteed by the provider or 
     supplier of the advanced coal-based generation technology 
     based upon a certified heat and material heat balance.''.
       (5) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection 
     shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
       (b) Clean Coal Energy Bonds.--
       (1) In general.--Subpart I of part IV of subchapter A of 
     chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 
     adding at the end the following new section:

     ``SEC. 54C. CLEAN COAL ENERGY BONDS.

       ``(a) Clean Coal Energy Bond.--For purposes of this 
     subchapter, the term `clean coal energy bond' means any bond 
     issued as part of an issue if--
       ``(1) the bond is issued by a qualified issuer pursuant to 
     an allocation by the Secretary to such issuer of a portion of 
     the national clean coal energy bond limitation under 
     subsection (c)(2),
       ``(2) 100 percent or more of the available project proceeds 
     from the sale of such issue are to be used for capital 
     expenditures incurred by qualified borrowers for 1 or more 
     qualified projects, and
       ``(3) the qualified issuer designates such bond for 
     purposes of this section and the bond is in registered form.
       ``(b) Qualified Project; Special Use Rules.--
       ``(1) In general.--The term `qualified project' means a 
     qualifying advanced coal project (as defined in section 
     48A(c)(1)) placed in service by a qualified borrower.
       ``(2) Refinancing rules.--For purposes of subsection 
     (a)(2), a qualified project may be refinanced with proceeds 
     of a clean coal energy bond only if the indebtedness being 
     refinanced (including any obligation directly or indirectly 
     refinanced by such indebtedness) was originally incurred by a 
     qualified borrower after the date of the enactment of this 
     section.
       ``(3) Reimbursement.--For purposes of subsection (a)(2), a 
     clean coal energy bond may be issued to reimburse a qualified 
     borrower for amounts paid after the date of the enactment of 
     this section with respect to a qualified project, but only 
     if--
       ``(A) prior to the payment of the original expenditure, the 
     qualified borrower declared its intent to reimburse such 
     expenditure with the proceeds of a clean coal energy bond,
       ``(B) not later than 60 days after payment of the original 
     expenditure, the qualified issuer adopts an official intent 
     to reimburse the original expenditure with such proceeds, and

[[Page 16602]]

       ``(C) the reimbursement is made not later than 18 months 
     after the date the original expenditure is paid.
       ``(4) Treatment of changes in use.--For purposes of 
     subsection (a)(2), the proceeds of an issue shall not be 
     treated as used for a qualified project to the extent that a 
     qualified borrower takes any action within its control which 
     causes such proceeds not to be used for a qualified project. 
     The Secretary shall prescribe regulations specifying remedial 
     actions that may be taken (including conditions to taking 
     such remedial actions) to prevent an action described in the 
     preceding sentence from causing a bond to fail to be a clean 
     coal energy bond.
       ``(c) Limitation on Amount of Bonds Designated.--
       ``(1) National limitation.--There is a national clean coal 
     energy bond limitation of $2,000,000,000.
       ``(2) Allocation by secretary.--The Secretary shall 
     allocate the amount described in paragraph (1) among 
     qualified projects in such manner as the Secretary determines 
     appropriate, except that the Secretary may not allocate more 
     than $1,250,000,000 of the national clean coal energy bond 
     limitation to finance qualified projects of qualified 
     borrowers which are governmental bodies.
       ``(d) Qualified Issuer; Qualified Borrower.--For purposes 
     of this section--
       ``(1) Qualified issuer.--The term `qualified issuer' 
     means--
       ``(A) a clean coal energy bond lender,
       ``(B) a cooperative electric company, or
       ``(C) a governmental body.
       ``(2) Qualified borrower.--The term `qualified borrower' 
     means--
       ``(A) a mutual or cooperative electric company described in 
     section 501(c)(12) or 1381(a)(2)(C), or
       ``(B) a governmental body.
       ``(3) Cooperative electric company.--The term `cooperative 
     electric company' means a mutual or cooperative electric 
     company described in section 501(c)(12) or section 
     1381(a)(2)(C), or a not-for-profit electric utility which has 
     received a loan or loan guarantee under the Rural 
     Electrification Act.
       ``(4) Clean coal energy bond lender.--The term `clean coal 
     energy bond lender' means a lender which is a cooperative 
     which is owned by, or has outstanding loans to, 100 or more 
     cooperative electric companies and is in existence on 
     February 1, 2002, and shall include any affiliated entity 
     which is controlled by such lender.
       ``(5) Governmental body.--The term `governmental body' 
     means any State, territory, possession of the United States, 
     the District of Columbia, Indian tribal government, and any 
     political subdivision thereof.
       ``(e) Special Rules Relating to Pool Bonds.--No portion of 
     a clean coal energy bond which is a pooled financing bond may 
     be allocable to any loan unless the borrower has entered into 
     a written loan commitment for such portion prior to the issue 
     date of such issue.
       ``(f) Other Definitions and Special Rules.--For purposes of 
     this section--
       ``(1) Pooled financing bond.--The term `pooled financing 
     bond' shall have the meaning given such term by section 
     149(f)(4)(A).
       ``(2) Ratable principal amortization required.--A bond 
     shall not be treated as a clean coal energy bond unless it is 
     part of an issue which provides for an equal amount principal 
     to be paid by the qualified issuer during each 12-month 
     period that the issue is outstanding (other than the first 
     12-month period).
       ``(g) Termination.--A bond shall not be treated as a clean 
     coal energy bond if such bond is issued after December 31, 
     2012.''.
       (2) Conforming amendments.--
       (A) Paragraph (1) of section 54A(d) is amended to read as 
     follows:
       ``(1) Qualified tax credit bond.--The term `qualified tax 
     credit bond' means--
       ``(A) a qualified forestry conservation bond, or
       ``(B) a clean coal energy bond,
     which is part of an issue that meets requirements of 
     paragraphs (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6).''.
       (B) Subparagraph (C) of section 54A(d)(2), as added by 
     section 106, is amended to read as follows:
       ``(C) Qualified purpose.--For purposes of this paragraph, 
     the term `qualified purpose' means--
       ``(i) in the case of a qualified forestry conservation 
     bond, a purpose specified in section 54B(e), and
       ``(ii) in the case of a clean coal energy bond, a qualified 
     project specified in section 54C(b).''.
       (C) The table of sections for subpart I of part IV of 
     subchapter A of chapter 1 is amended by adding at the end the 
     following new item:

``Sec. 54C. Clean coal energy bonds.''.

       (3) Issuance of regulations.--The Secretary of the Treasury 
     shall issues regulations required under section 54C of the 
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by this section) not 
     later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this 
     Act.
       (4) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection 
     shall apply to bonds issued after December 31, 2007.
       (c) Tax Credit for Carbon Dioxide Sequestration.--
       (1) In general.--Subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of 
     chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 
     business credits), as amended by this Act, is amended by 
     adding at the end the following new section:

     ``SEC. 45R. CREDIT FOR CARBON DIOXIDE SEQUESTRATION.

       ``(a) General Rule.--For purposes of section 38, the carbon 
     dioxide sequestration credit for any taxable year is an 
     amount equal to the sum of--
       ``(1) $20 per metric ton of qualified carbon dioxide which 
     is--
       ``(A) captured by the taxpayer at a qualified facility, and
       ``(B) disposed of by the taxpayer in secure geological 
     storage, and
       ``(2) $10 per metric ton of qualified carbon dioxide which 
     is--
       ``(A) captured by the taxpayer at a qualified facility, and
       ``(B) used by the taxpayer as a tertiary injectant in a 
     qualified enhanced oil or natural gas recovery project.
       ``(b) Qualified Carbon Dioxide.--For purposes of this 
     section--
       ``(1) In general.--The term `qualified carbon dioxide' 
     means carbon dioxide captured from an industrial source 
     which--
       ``(A) would otherwise be released into the atmosphere as 
     industrial emission of greenhouse gas, and
       ``(B) is measured at the source of capture and verified at 
     the point of disposal or injection.
       ``(2) Recycled carbon dioxide.--The term `qualified carbon 
     dioxide' includes the initial deposit of captured carbon 
     dioxide used as a tertiary injectant. Such term does not 
     include carbon dioxide that is re-captured, recycled, and re-
     injected as part of the enhanced oil and natural gas recovery 
     process.
       ``(c) Qualified Facility.--For purposes of this section, 
     the term `qualified facility' means any industrial facility--
       ``(1) which is owned by the taxpayer,
       ``(2) at which carbon capture equipment is placed in 
     service, and
       ``(3) which captures not less than 500,000 metric tons of 
     carbon dioxide during the taxable year.
       ``(d) Special Rules and Other Definitions.--For purposes of 
     this section--
       ``(1) Only carbon dioxide captured within the united states 
     taken into account.--The credit under this section shall 
     apply only with respect to qualified carbon dioxide the 
     capture of which is within--
       ``(A) the United States (within the meaning of section 
     638(1)), or
       ``(B) a possession of the United States (within the meaning 
     of section 638(2)).
       ``(2) Secure geological storage.--The Secretary, in 
     consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental 
     Protection Agency, shall establish regulations for 
     determining adequate security measures for the geological 
     storage of carbon dioxide under subsection (a)(1)(B) such 
     that the carbon dioxide does not escape into the atmosphere. 
     Such term shall include storage at deep saline formations and 
     unminable coal seems under such conditions as the Secretary 
     may determine under such regulations.
       ``(3) Tertiary injectant.--The term `tertiary injectant' 
     has the same meaning as when used within section 193(b)(1).
       ``(4) Qualified enhanced oil or natural gas recovery 
     project.--The term `qualified enhanced oil or natural gas 
     recovery project' has the meaning given the term `qualified 
     enhanced oil recovery project' by section 43(c)(2), by 
     substituting `crude oil or natural gas' for `crude oil' in 
     subparagraph (A)(i) thereof.
       ``(5) Credit attributable to taxpayer.--Any credit under 
     this section shall be attributable to the person that 
     captures and physically or contractually ensures the disposal 
     of or the use as a tertiary injectant of the qualified carbon 
     dioxide, except to the extent provided in regulations 
     prescribed by the Secretary.
       ``(6) Recapture.--The Secretary shall, by regulations, 
     provide for recapturing the benefit of any credit allowable 
     under subsection (a) with respect to any qualified carbon 
     dioxide which ceases to be captured, disposed of, or used as 
     a tertiary injectant in a manner consistent with the 
     requirements of this section.
       ``(7) Inflation adjustment.--In the case of any taxable 
     year beginning in a calendar year after 2008, there shall be 
     substituted for each dollar amount contained in subsection 
     (a) an amount equal to the product of--
       ``(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by
       ``(B) the inflation adjustment factor for such calendar 
     year determined under section 43(b)(3)(B) for such calendar 
     year, determined by substituting `2007' for `1990'.
       ``(e) Termination.--This section shall not apply to 
     qualified carbon dioxide after the date that is 5 years after 
     the date of the enactment of this Act.''.
       (2) Conforming amendment.--Section 38(b) of such Code 
     (relating to general business credit), as amended by this 
     Act, is amended by striking ``plus'' at the end of paragraph 
     (33), by striking the period at the end of paragraph (34) and 
     inserting ``, plus'', and by adding at the end of following 
     new paragraph:
       ``(35) the carbon dioxide sequestration credit determined 
     under section 45R(a).''.

[[Page 16603]]

       (3) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections for subpart 
     B of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code 
     (relating to other credits), as amended by this Act, is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``Sec. 45R. Credit for carbon dioxide sequestration.''.

       (4) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection 
     shall apply carbon dioxide captured after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act.

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