To accelerate the development and early deployment of systems for the capture and storage of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel electric generation facilities, and for other purposes.

Summary: Carbon Capture and Storage Early Deployment Act - Authorizes qualified industry organizations to conduct a referendum among the owners or operators of distribution utilities delivering fossil fuel-based electricity for the creation of a Carbon Storage Research Corporation. Requires the Corporation to be established as a division or affiliate of the Electric Power Research Institute upon approval of those persons representing two-thirds of the total quantity of fossil fuel-based electricity delivered to retail consumers.

Requires the Corporation, annually, to collect an assessment on such distribution utilities that shall reflect the relative carbon dioxide emission rates of different fossil fuel-based electricity. Sets initial rates of assessment for coal, natural gas, and oil. Authorizes the Corporation to adjust the assessments to reflect changes in the expected quantities of such electricity from different fuel types such that the assessments generate between $1.0 billion and $1.1 billion annually.

Authorizes the Corporation to collect assessments and conduct operations for 10 years. Dissolves the Corporation after 15 years.

Provides for the Corporation to use funds derived from assessments to: (1) issue grants and contracts to private, academic, and governmental entities to accelerate the commercial demonstration or availability of carbon dioxide capture and storage technologies and methods; and (2) purchase carbon dioxide through reverse auctions or other acquisition methods when needed to conduct tests of carbon dioxide store sites in the case of established projects that are storing carbon dioxide emissions.

 Requires: (1) the Corporation to support large-scale demonstrations of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies capable of advancing the technologies to commercial readiness; and (2) the Corporation's Board to establish policies regarding the ownership of intellectual property developed as a result of Corporation support that encourage individual ingenuity and invention.

Authorizes Corporation grants or contracts for programs or projects of the Department of Energy (DOE) or its affiliated national laboratories and other fossil energy research entities and of academic organizations or consortia to accelerate the commercial development and demonstration of CCS or carbon capture and conversion technologies.

Provides for recovery of a distribution facility's costs of complying with this Act.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Carbon Capture and Storage Early 
Deployment Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.
            (2) Distribution utility.--The term ``distribution 
        utility'' means an electric utility that has a legal, 
        regulatory, or contractual obligation to deliver electricity 
        directly to retail consumers.
            (3) Electric utility.--The term ``electric utility'' has 
        the meaning provided by section 3(22) of the Federal Power Act 
        (16 U.S.C. 796(22)).
            (4) Fossil fuel-based electricity.--The term ``fossil fuel-
        based electricity'' means electricity that is produced from the 
        combustion of fossil fuels.
            (5) Fossil fuel.--The term ``fossil fuel'' means coal, 
        petroleum, natural gas or any derivative of coal, petroleum, or 
        natural gas.
            (6) Corporation.--The term ``Corporation'' means the Carbon 
        Storage Research Corporation established in accordance with 
        this Act.
            (7) Qualified industry organization.--The term ``qualified 
        industry organization'' means any association or group of 
        owners or operators of distribution utilities delivering fossil 
        fuel-based electricity who collectively represent at least 20 
        percent of the volume of fossil fuel-based electricity 
        delivered by distribution utilities to consumers in the United 
        States.

SEC. 3. CARBON STORAGE RESEARCH CORPORATION.

    (a) Establishment.--Qualified industry organizations may conduct, 
at their own expense, a referendum among the owners or operators of 
distribution utilities delivering fossil fuel-based electricity for the 
creation of a Carbon Storage Research Corporation. Such referendum 
shall be conducted by an independent auditing firm agreed to by the 
qualified industry organizations. Voting rights in such referendum 
shall be based on the quantity of fossil fuel-based electricity 
delivered to consumers in the previous calendar year or other 
representative period. Upon approval of those persons representing two-
thirds of the total quantity of fossil fuel-based electricity delivered 
to retail consumers, the Corporation shall be established. All 
distribution utilities voting in the referendum shall certify to the 
independent auditing firm the quantity of fossil fuel-based electricity 
represented by their vote.
    (b) Termination.--The Corporation shall be authorized to collect 
assessments and conduct operations pursuant to this Act for a 10-year 
period from the date 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 
After such 10-year period, the Corporation is no longer authorized to 
collect assessments and shall be dissolved on the date 15 years after 
such date of enactment, unless the period is extended by an Act of 
Congress.
    (c) Governance.--The Corporation shall operate as a division or 
affiliate of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and be 
managed by a Board of not more than 12 members responsible for its 
operations, including compliance with this Act. The Institute, working 
in consultation with industry organizations representing investor-owned 
utilities, utilities owned by a Federal or State agency or 
municipality, and rural electric cooperatives, shall appoint the Board. 
The Board shall include at least one representative of each of the 
following:
            (1) Investor-owned utilities.
            (2) Utilities owned by a Federal or State agency or a 
        municipality.
            (3) Rural electric cooperatives.
            (4) Fossil fuel producers.
    (d) Compensation.--Corporation Board members shall receive no 
compensation for their services, nor shall Corporation Board members be 
reimbursed for expenses relating to their service.
    (e) Terms.--Corporation Board members shall serve terms of 4 years 
and may serve not more than 2 full consecutive terms. Members filling 
unexpired terms may serve not more than a total of 8 consecutive years. 
Former members of the Corporation Board may be reappointed to the 
Corporation Board if they have not been members for a period of 2 
years. Initial appointments to the Corporation Board shall be for terms 
of 1, 2, 3, and 4 years, staggered to provide for the selection of 3 
members each year.
    (f) Status of Corporation.--The Corporation shall not be considered 
to be an agency, department, or instrumentality of the United States, 
and no officer or director or employee of the Corporation shall be 
considered to be an officer or employee of the United States 
Government, for purposes of title 5 or title 31 of the United States 
Code, or for any other purpose, and no funds of the Corporation shall 
be treated as public money for purposes of chapter 33 of title 31, 
United States Code, or for any other purpose.

SEC. 4. FUNCTIONS AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE CORPORATION.

    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (d), the 
Corporation shall use all funds derived from assessments under section 
5 to issue grants and contracts to private, academic, and governmental 
entities with the purpose of accelerating the commercial demonstration 
or availability of carbon dioxide capture and storage technologies and 
methods, including technologies which capture and store, or capture and 
convert, carbon dioxide. Grants and awards shall be made on a 
competitive basis reflecting best overall value and prospect for 
achieving the purposes of this Act. Board Members shall not participate 
in making grants or awards to entities with whom they are affiliated. 
The Corporation may use such funds to purchase carbon dioxide through 
reverse auctions or other acquisition methods, when needed to conduct 
tests of carbon dioxide storage sites, in the case of established 
projects that are storing carbon dioxide emissions or for other 
purposes consistent with the purposes of this Act. The Corporation 
shall support large-scale demonstrations of carbon capture and Storage 
technologies capable of advancing the technologies to commercial 
readiness. Pilot-scale and similar small-scale projects are not 
eligible for support by the Corporation. Supported projects should 
encompass a range of different coal and other fossil fuel varieties, be 
geographically diverse, involve diverse storage media, and employ 
capture and storage, or capture and conversion, technologies 
potentially suitable either for new or for retrofit applications. The 
Board shall also establish policies regarding the ownership of 
intellectual property developed as a result of Corporation grants and 
other forms of technology support. Such policies shall encourage 
individual ingenuity and invention.
    (b) Relationship to Department of Energy and Academic 
Organizations.--The Board may approve grants or contracts to support 
programs or projects under the auspices of the Department of Energy or 
its affiliated national laboratories and other fossil energy research 
entities, including the Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnerships, 
where such support promises to accelerate the commercial development 
and demonstration of carbon capture and storage, or carbon capture and 
conversion, technologies. Grant and contract support also may be 
provided to projects or programs managed by academic organizations or 
consortia, where such support promises to accelerate the commercial 
development and demonstration of carbon capture and storage 
technologies.
    (c) Administration.--The members of the Board of Directors of the 
Corporation shall elect a Chairman and other officers as necessary, may 
establish committees and subcommittees of the Corporation, and shall 
adopt rules and bylaws for the conduct of business and the 
implementation of this Act. The Corporation Board shall consult with 
the Electric Power Research Institute Advisory Council and the 
Secretary and the Director of the Department's National Energy 
Technology Laboratory to obtain advice and recommendations on plans, 
programs, project selection criteria, and projects to be funded by the 
Corporation. The Board shall appoint an Executive Director and 
professional support staff who may be employees of the Electric Power 
Research Institute.
    (d) Administrative Expenses.--Up to 5 percent of the funds 
collected in any fiscal year under section 5 may be used for the 
administrative expenses of operating the Corporation (not including 
costs incurred in the determination and collection of the assessments 
pursuant to section 5).
    (e) Budget.--Before August 1 each year, the Corporation shall 
publish for public review and comment a budget plan for the next 
calendar year, including the probable costs of all programs, projects, 
and contracts and a recommended rate of assessment sufficient to cover 
such costs. The Secretary may recommend programs and activities the 
Secretary considers appropriate.
    (f) Records; Audits.--The Corporation shall keep minutes, books, 
and records that clearly reflect all of the acts and transactions of 
the Corporation and make public such information. The books of the 
Corporation shall be audited by a certified public accountant at least 
once each fiscal year and at such other times as the Corporation may 
designate. Copies of each audit shall be provided to the Congress, all 
members of the Corporation, all qualified industry organizations, and 
to other members of the industry upon request. If the audit determines 
that the Corporation's practices fail to meet generally accepted 
accounting principles the assessment collection authority of the 
Corporation under section 5 shall be suspended until a certified public 
accountant renders a subsequent opinion that the failure has been 
corrected.
    (g) Public Access.--(1) The Corporation Board's meetings shall be 
open to the public and shall occur after at least 30 days advance 
public notice. Meetings of the Board of Directors may be closed to the 
public where the agenda of such meetings includes only confidential 
matters pertaining to project selection, the award of grants or 
contracts, personnel matter, or the receipt of legal advice.
    (2) The minutes of all meetings of the Corporation shall be made 
available to and readily accessible by the public.
    (h) Annual Report.--Each year the Corporation shall prepare and 
make publicly available a report which includes an identification and 
description of all programs and projects undertaken by the Corporation 
during the previous year as well as those planned for the coming year. 
The report shall also detail the allocation or planned allocation of 
Corporation resources for each such program and project.

SEC. 5. ASSESSMENTS.

    (a) Amount.--(1) In all calendar years following its establishment, 
the Corporation shall collect an assessment on distribution utilities 
for all fossil fuel-based electricity delivered directly to retail 
consumers. The assessments shall reflect the relative carbon dioxide 
emission rates of different fossil fuel-based electricity, and 
initially shall be not less than the following amounts for coal, 
natural gas, and oil:

                                                     Rate of assessment
  Fuel type:                                         per kilowatt hour:
        Coal...............................................    $0.00043
        Natural Gas........................................    $0.00022
        Oil................................................    $0.00032
    (2) The Corporation is authorized to adjust the assessments on 
fossil fuel-based electricity to reflect changes in the expected 
quantities of such electricity from different fuel types, such that the 
assessments generate not less than $1.0 billion and not more than $1.1 
billion annually. The Corporation is authorized to supplement 
assessments through additional financial commitments.
    (b) Investment of Funds.--Pending disbursement pursuant to a 
program, plan, or project, the Corporation may invest funds collected 
through assessments under this section, and any other funds received by 
the Corporation, only in obligations of the United States or any agency 
thereof, in general obligations of any State or any political 
subdivision thereof, in any interest-bearing account or certificate of 
deposit of a bank that is a member of the Federal Reserve System, or in 
obligations fully guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United 
States.
    (c) Reversion of Unused Funds.--If the Corporation does not 
disburse, dedicate or assign 75 percent or more of the available 
proceeds of the assessed fees in any calendar year 7 or more years 
following its establishment, due to an absence of qualified projects or 
similar circumstances, it shall reimburse the remaining undedicated or 
unassigned balance of such fees, less administrative and other expenses 
authorized by this Act, to the distribution utilities upon which such 
fees were assessed, in proportion to their collected assessments.

SEC. 6. COMPLIANCE WITH CORPORATION ASSESSMENTS.

    The Corporation may bring an action in the appropriate court of the 
United States to compel compliance with an assessment levied by the 
Corporation under this Act. A successful action for compliance under 
this section may also require payment by the defendant of the costs 
incurred by the Corporation in bringing such action.

SEC. 7. MIDCOURSE REVIEW.

    Not later than 5 years following establishment of the Corporation, 
the Comptroller General of the United States shall prepare an analysis, 
and report to Congress, assessing the Corporation's activities, 
including project selection and methods of disbursement of assessed 
fees, impacts on the prospects for commercialization of carbon capture 
and storage technologies, and adequacy of funding. The report shall 
also make such recommendations as may be appropriate in each of these 
areas. The Corporation shall reimburse the Government Accountability 
Office for the costs associated with performing this midcourse review.

SEC. 8. RECOVERY OF COSTS.

    (a) In General.--All costs that are incurred by a distribution 
utility to comply with the requirements of this Act shall be deemed 
necessary and reasonable costs and shall be fully and contemporaneously 
recoverable in all jurisdictions. A distribution utility whose 
transmission, delivery, or sales of electric energy are subject to any 
form of rate regulation shall not be denied the opportunity to recover 
the full amount of the costs associated with complying with this Act, 
notwithstanding any other law, regulation, rule, administrative order, 
or any agreement, including any settlement agreement, between the 
distribution utility and any regulatory authority, including any State 
regulatory authority, or any other party.
    (b) Ratepayer Rebates.--Regulatory authorities that approve cost 
recovery pursuant to section 8(a) may order rebates to ratepayers to 
the extent that distribution utilities are reimbursed undedicated or 
unassigned balances pursuant to section 5(c).

SEC. 9. LOBBYING RESTRICTIONS.

    No funds collected by the Corporation shall be used in any manner 
for influencing legislation or elections, except that the Corporation 
may recommend to the Secretary and the Congress changes in this Act or 
other statutes that would further the purposes of this Act.

SEC. 10. DAVIS-BACON COMPLIANCE.

    The Corporation shall ensure that entities receiving grants, 
contracts, or other financial support from the Corporation for the 
project activities authorized by this Act are in compliance with the 
Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. 276a--276a-5).