To provide for the establishment of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.

Summary: Establishes the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) within the Department of Energy to reduce the amount of energy the United States imports from foreign sources by 20% over the next 10 years.



Establishes the Energy Independence Acceleration Fund, administered by the ARPA-E Director for the award of competitive grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts to institutions of higher education, companies, or consortia, including federally funded research and development centers, to achieve specified goals through targeted acceleration of: (1) energy-related research; (2) development of resultant techniques, processes, and technologies, and related testing and evaluation; and (3) demonstration and commercial application of the most promising technologies and research applications.

Directs the Secretary to establish procedures and criteria for recoupment of the federal share of each project supported under this Act.

Requires the President's Committee on Science and Technology to evaluate for Congress and the public how well ARPA-E is achieving its goals and mission.

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The United States faces a range of energy challenges 
        that affect our economy, security, and environment. 
        Fundamentally, these challenges involve science and technology.
            (2) The Department of Energy already has some of the 
        mechanisms necessary to promote long-term research, but it 
        lacks the mechanisms for quickly transforming the results into 
        technology that meets national needs.
            (3) A recent report of the Secretary of Energy's Advisory 
        Board's Task Force on the Future of Science Programs at the 
        Department of Energy concluded that ``America can meet its 
        energy needs only if we make a strong and sustained investment 
        in research in physical science, engineering, and applicable 
        life sciences and if we translate advancing scientific 
        knowledge into practice''.
            (4) The Department of Defense, since 1958, has used its 
        Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) for 
        aggressively addressing real-time defense problems through 
        targeted programs of research and technology development that 
        have improved our national defense through transformation 
        technologies.
            (5) The National Academy of Sciences' report entitled 
        ``Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing 
        America for a Brighter Economic Future'' recommends creating a 
        new agency within the Department of Energy to sponsor 
        ``creative, out-of-the-box, transformational, generic energy 
        research in those areas where industry by itself cannot or will 
        not undertake such sponsorship, where risks and pay-offs are 
        high''. Such an organization would be able to accelerate the 
        process by which research is transformed to address energy-
        related economic, environmental, and security issues to 
        decrease dependence on foreign energy through targeted research 
        and technology development.

SEC. 2. ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY-ENERGY.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established the Advanced Research 
Projects Agency-Energy (in this Act referred to as ``ARPA-E'') within 
the Department of Energy.
    (b) Goal.--The goal of ARPA-E is to reduce the amount of energy the 
United States imports from foreign sources by 20 percent over the next 
10 years by--
            (1) promoting revolutionary changes in the critical 
        technologies that would promote energy independence;
            (2) turning cutting-edge science and engineering into 
        technologies for energy and environmental application; and
            (3) accelerating innovation in energy and the environment 
        for both traditional and alternative energy sources and in 
        energy efficiency mechanisms to decrease the Nation's reliance 
        on foreign energy sources.
    (c) Director.--ARPA-E shall be headed by a Director who shall be 
appointed by the Secretary of Energy. The Director shall report to the 
Secretary.
    (d) Responsibilities.--The Director shall administer the Fund 
established under section 3 to award competitive grants, cooperative 
agreements, or contracts to institutions of higher education, 
companies, or consortia of such entities which may include federally 
funded research and development centers, to achieve the goals stated in 
subsection (b) through targeted acceleration of--
            (1) energy-related research;
            (2) development of resultant techniques, processes, and 
        technologies, and related testing and evaluation; and
            (3) demonstration and commercial application of the most 
        promising technologies and research applications.
    (e) Personnel.--
            (1) Program managers.--The Director shall designate 
        employees to serve as program managers for each of the programs 
        established pursuant to the responsibilities established for 
        ARPA-E under subsection (d). Program managers shall be 
        responsible for--
                    (A) establishing research and development goals for 
                the program, including through the convening of 
                workshops and conferring with outside experts, as well 
                as publicizing its goals to the public and private 
                sectors;
                    (B) soliciting applications for specific areas of 
                particular promise, especially those which the private 
                sector cannot or will not provide funding;
                    (C) selecting research projects for support under 
                the program from among application submitted to ARPA-E, 
                following consideration of--
                            (i) the novelty and scientific and 
                        technical merit of the proposed projects;
                            (ii) the demonstrated capabilities of the 
                        applicants to successfully carry out the 
                        proposed research project; and
                            (iii) such other criteria as are 
                        established by the Director; and
                    (D) monitoring the progress of projects supported 
                under the program.
            (2) Hiring and management.--In hiring personnel for ARPA-E, 
        the Secretary shall have the hiring and management authorities 
        described in section 1101 of the Strom Thurmond National 
        Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (5 U.S.C. 3104 
        note). For purposes of subsection (c)(1) of that section, the 
        term of appointments for employees may not exceed 5 years 
        before the granting of any extension.
    (f) Coordination.--The Director shall ensure that the activities of 
ARPA-E are coordinated with those of other relevant research agencies, 
and may carry out projects jointly with other agencies.

SEC. 3. FUND.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury the Energy 
Independence Acceleration Fund (in this Act referred to as the 
``Fund''), which shall be administered by the Director of ARPA-E for 
the purposes of carrying out this Act.
    (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Director of ARPA-E for deposit in the Fund 
$300,000,000 for fiscal year 2007, $375,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, 
$468,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, $585,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, 
$732,000,000 for fiscal year 2011, and $915,000,000 for fiscal year 
2012, to remain available until expended.

SEC. 4. RECOUPMENT.

    (a) Requirement.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish procedures and 
criteria for the recoupment of the Federal share of each project 
supported under this Act. Such recoupment shall occur within a 
reasonable period of time following the date of the completion of such 
project, but not later than 20 years following such date, taking into 
account the effect of recoupment on--
            (1) the commercial competitiveness of the entity carrying 
        out the project;
            (2) the profitability of the project; and
            (3) the commercial viability of the technology utilized.
    (b) Waiver.--The Secretary may at any time waive or defer all or 
some portion of the recoupment requirement as necessary for the 
commercial viability of the project.
    (c) Availability of Funds.--Revenue received by the Federal 
Government pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the Fund 
and shall be available with further appropriation to fund future 
grants, contracts, and cooperative agreement as authorized by the 
Director.
    (d) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section--
            (1) the term ``for-profit entity'' means a licensee or 
        successor in interest to a venture member, or any other for-
        profit person or entity, or combination of such persons or 
        entities, that earns or accrues amounts subject to this 
        section;
            (2) the term ``product or invention supported by or 
        produced as a result of funding under this Act'' includes any 
        product or invention of a venture member based on or using any 
        technology or invention arising out of a venture funded under 
        this Act; and
            (3) the term ``revenue generated by or resulting from a 
        product or invention'' includes revenue derived from the sale 
        or licensing of patents or other rights with respect to the 
        product or invention.

SEC. 5. ADVICE.

    (a) Advisory Committees.--The Director may seek advice on any 
aspect of ARPA-E from--
            (1) existing Department of Energy advisory committees; and
            (2) new advisory committees organized to support the 
        programs of ARPA-E and to provide advice and assistance on--
                    (A) specific program tasks; or
                    (B) overall direction of ARPA-E.
    (b) Applicability.--Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee 
Act shall not apply to advisory committees organized under subsection 
(a)(2).
    (c) Additional Sources of Advice.--The Director may seek advice and 
review from the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy for 
Engineering, and any other professional or scientific organization with 
expertise in specific processes or technologies under development by 
ARPA-E.

SEC. 6. ARPA-E EVALUATION.

     After ARPA-E has been in operation for 54 months, the President's 
Committee on Science and Technology shall begin an evaluation (to be 
completed within 12 months) of how well ARPA-E is achieving its goals 
and mission. The evaluation shall include the recommendation of such 
Committee on whether ARPA-E should be continued or terminated, as well 
as lessons-learned from its operation. The evaluation shall be made 
available to Congress and to the public upon completion.