I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5505 

To provide for the establishment of clean technology consortia to enhance 

the economic, environmental, and energy security of the United States 

by promoting domestic development, manufacture, and deployment of 

clean technologies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 19, 2019 

Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. TONKO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. 

MCNERNEY, and Ms. HAALAND) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 

the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of 

such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of clean technology consortia to enhance the economic, environmental, and energy security of the United States by promoting domestic 

development, manufacture, and deployment of clean technologies, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Consortia-Led Energy 

5 and Advanced Manufacturing Networks Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) CLEAN TECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘‘clean 

4 technology’’ means a technology, production process, 

5 or methodology that— 

6 (A) produces energy from solar, wind, geo7 thermal, biomass, tidal, wave, ocean, or another 

8 renewable energy source (as defined in section 

9 609 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies 

10 Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 918c)); 

11 (B) more efficiently transmits, distributes, 

12 or stores energy; 

13 (C) enhances energy efficiency for build14 ings and industry, including combined heat and 

15 power; 

16 (D) enables the development of a Smart 

17 Grid (as described in section 1301 of the En18 ergy Independence and Security Act of 2007 

19 (42 U.S.C. 17381)), including integration of re20 newable energy sources and distributed genera21 tion, demand response, demand side manage22 ment, and systems analysis; 

23 (E) produces an advanced or sustainable 

24 material with energy or energy efficiency appli25 cations; 

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1 (F) improves energy efficiency for trans2 portation, including electric vehicles; or 

3 (G) enhances water security through im4 proved water management, conservation, dis5 tribution, or end use applications. 

6 (2) ADVANCED MANUFACTURING.—The term 

7 ‘‘advanced manufacturing’’— 

8 (A) means a manufacturing process that 

9 makes extensive use of computer, high preci10 sion, or information technologies integrated 

11 with a high performance workforce in a produc12 tion system capable of furnishing a hetero13 geneous mix of products in small or large vol14 umes with either the efficiency of mass produc15 tion or the flexibility of custom manufacturing 

16 in order to respond quickly to customer de17 mands; and 

18 (B) includes both new ways to manufac19 ture existing products and the manufacture of 

20 new products emerging from new advanced 

21 technologies. 

22 (3) CLUSTER.—The term ‘‘cluster’’ means a 

23 network of entities directly involved in the research, 

24 development, finance, and commercial application of 

25 clean technologies and advanced manufacturing 

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1 whose geographic proximity facilitates the use and 

2 sharing of skilled human resources, infrastructure, 

3 research facilities, educational and training institu4 tions, venture capital, and input suppliers. 

5 (4) CONSORTIUM.—The term ‘‘consortium’’ 

6 means a clean technology consortium established in 

7 accordance with this Act. 

8 (5) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means an 

9 activity with respect to which a consortium provides 

10 support under this Act. 

11 (6) QUALIFYING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘quali12 fying entity’’ means— 

13 (A) an institution of higher education that 

14 has entered into a partnership agreement with 

15 a private-sector entity; 

16 (B) a Federal or State entity with a focus 

17 on developing clean technologies or clusters, as 

18 determined by the Secretary; 

19 (C) a nongovernmental organization with 

20 expertise in translational research, clean tech21 nology, or cluster development; or 

22 (D) any other entity determined appro23 priate by the Secretary. 

24 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of Commerce. 

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1 (8) TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH.—The term 

2 ‘‘translational research’’ means the coordination of 

3 basic or applied research with technical applications 

4 to enable promising discoveries or inventions to 

5 achieve commercial application. 

6 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF CLEAN TECHNOLOGY CON7 SORTIA PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish and 

9 carry out a program to establish clean technology con10 sortia to enhance the economic, environmental, and energy 

11 security of the United States by promoting domestic devel12 opment, manufacture, and deployment of clean, state-of13 the-art technologies. 

14 (b) PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall carry out the 

15 program established under subsection (a) by leveraging 

16 the expertise and resources of private research commu17 nities, institutions of higher education, industry, venture 

18 capital, National Laboratories (as defined in section 2 of 

19 the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801)), and 

20 other participants in technology innovation— 

21 (1) to support collaborative, cross-disciplinary 

22 research and development in clean technologies and 

23 advanced manufacturing; and 

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1 (2) to develop and accelerate the commercial 

2 application of innovative clean technologies and ad3 vanced manufacturing practices. 

4 (c) ROLE OF THE SECRETARY.—The Secretary 

5 shall— 

6 (1) carry out and oversee all aspects of the pro7 gram established under subsection (a); 

8 (2) select recipients of grants for the establish9 ment and operation of consortia through a competi10 tive selection process; and 

11 (3) coordinate the innovation activities of con12 sortia with activities carried out by the Secretary of 

13 Energy, the Secretary of Defense, other Federal 

14 agency heads, industry, and institutions of higher 

15 education, including by annually— 

16 (A) issuing guidance regarding national 

17 clean technology and advanced manufacturing 

18 development priorities and strategic objectives; 

19 and 

20 (B) convening a conference relating to 

21 clean technology and advanced manufacturing, 

22 which shall bring together representatives of 

23 Federal agencies, industry, institutions of high24 er education, and other entities to share reVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Dec 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5505.IH H5505
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1 search and commercialization results, program 

2 plans, and opportunities for collaboration. 

3 (d) PURPOSES OF CONSORTIA.—The purposes of the 

4 consortia shall include— 

5 (1) promoting new innovative clean technologies 

6 that have demonstrated interest and potential for 

7 commercialization; 

8 (2) expanding advanced manufacturing capabili9 ties, networks, supply chains, and assets, in the area 

10 of clean technologies, that contribute to regional and 

11 national manufacturing competitiveness and poten12 tial for growth; 

13 (3) promoting job creation and entrepreneur14 ship through the establishment of new companies, 

15 the expansion of existing companies, and commer16 cialization of clean technologies; 

17 (4) providing technical or financial assistance to 

18 companies looking to invest in clean technologies, 

19 new products or services, or enhanced processes that 

20 will grow sales and jobs; 

21 (5) determining opportunities and challenges 

22 that companies are facing and how to improve their 

23 use or production of clean technologies; 

24 (6) assisting individual small- and medium-sized 

25 enterprises with adopting and utilizing new clean 

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1 technologies and related business and advanced 

2 manufacturing practices; 

3 (7) accelerating investment in and deployment 

4 of clean technologies through public-private partner5 ships; 

6 (8) encouraging partnering between and among 

7 emerging and established clean technology and ad8 vanced manufacturing enterprises; or 

9 (9) demonstrating a comprehensive and success10 ful model for commercialization of clean technologies 

11 for promotion and emulation. 

12 SEC. 4. APPLICATIONS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under this Act, 

14 a consortium shall submit to the Secretary an application 

15 in such manner, at such time, and containing such infor16 mation as the Secretary determines to be necessary. 

17 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—A consortium shall be eligible to 

18 receive a grant under this Act if— 

19 (1) the consortium consists of— 

20 (A) one or more research universities that 

21 can demonstrate a significant annual clean 

22 technology research budget, entrepreneurial 

23 support programs, and technology licensing ex24 pertise; and 

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1 (B) a total of three or more qualifying en2 tities that can demonstrate expertise in 

3 translational research, clean technology, and 

4 cluster development; 

5 (2) the members of the consortium have estab6 lished a binding agreement that documents— 

7 (A) the structure of the partnership agree8 ment; 

9 (B) a governance and management struc10 ture that enables cost-effective implementation 

11 of the program; 

12 (C) a conflicts-of-interest policy, including 

13 procedures, consistent with those of the Depart14 ment of Commerce, to ensure that employees 

15 and designees for consortium activities who are 

16 in decision-making capacities disclose all mate17 rial conflicts of interest, including financial, or18 ganizational, and personal conflicts of interest; 

19 (D) an accounting structure that meets the 

20 requirements of the Secretary and that may be 

21 audited under this Act; and 

22 (E) the existence of an external advisory 

23 committee; 

24 (3) the consortium receives funding from non25 Federal sources, such as a State and participants of 

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1 the consortium, that may be used to support 

2 projects; 

3 (4) the consortium is part of an existing cluster 

4 or demonstrates high potential to develop a new 

5 cluster; and 

6 (5) the consortium operates as a nonprofit or7 ganization or as a public-private partnership under 

8 an operating agreement led by a nonprofit organiza9 tion. 

10 (c) DISQUALIFICATION.—The Secretary may dis11 qualify an application from a consortium under this Act 

12 if the Secretary determines that the conflicts-of-interest 

13 policy of the consortium is inadequate. 

14 (d) EXTERNAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

16 grant under this Act, a consortium shall establish an 

17 external advisory committee, the members of which 

18 shall have extensive and relevant scientific, technical, 

19 industry, financial, or research management exper20 tise. 

21 (2) DUTIES.—An external advisory committee 

22 shall— 

23 (A) review the proposed plans, programs, 

24 project selection criteria, and projects of the 

25 consortium; and 

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1 (B) ensure that projects selected by the 

2 consortium meet the applicable conflicts-of-in3 terest policy of the consortium. 

4 (3) MEMBERS.—An external advisory com5 mittee shall consist of— 

6 (A) representatives of the members of the 

7 consortium; and 

8 (B) such representatives of industry, in9 cluding entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, 

10 as the members of the consortium determine to 

11 be necessary. 

12 (4) SECRETARY AS MEMBER.—The Secretary 

13 shall join the external advisory committee of a con14 sortium that receives a grant under this Act. 

15 SEC. 5. GRANTS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award grants, 

17 on a competitive basis— 

18 (1) not later than 2 years after the date of en19 actment of this Act, to at least 1 consortium; and 

20 (2) not later than 10 years after such date of 

21 enactment, to not fewer than 6 consortia. 

22 (b) TERMS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The initial term of a grant 

24 awarded under this Act shall not exceed 5 years. 

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1 (2) EXTENSION.—The Secretary may extend 

2 the term of a grant awarded under this Act for a 

3 period of not more than 5 additional years. 

4 (c) AMOUNTS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant awarded to a con6 sortium under this Act shall not exceed the lesser 

7 of— 

8 (A) $30,000,000 per fiscal year; or 

9 (B) the collective contributions of non-Fed10 eral entities to the consortium, as described 

11 under section 4(b)(3). 

12 (2) FLEXIBILITY.—In determining the amount 

13 of a grant under this section, the Secretary shall 

14 consider— 

15 (A) the translational research capacity of 

16 the consortium; 

17 (B) the financial, human, and facility re18 sources of the qualifying entities; and 

19 (C) the cluster of which the consortium is 

20 a part. 

21 (3) INCREASES IN AMOUNTS.—Subject to para22 graph (1), a consortium may request an increase in 

23 the amount of a grant awarded under this Act at the 

24 time the consortium requests an extension of an ini25 tial grant. 

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1 (d) USE OF AMOUNTS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), a 

3 consortium awarded a grant under this Act shall use 

4 the amounts to support translational research, tech5 nology development, manufacturing innovation, and 

6 commercialization activities relating to clean tech7 nology. 

8 (2) PROJECT SELECTION.—As a condition of 

9 receiving a grant under this Act, a consortium 

10 shall— 

11 (A) develop and make available to the pub12 lic on the website of the Department of Com13 merce proposed plans, programs, project selec14 tion criteria, and terms for individual project 

15 awards; 

16 (B) establish policies— 

17 (i) to prevent resources provided to 

18 the consortium from being used to displace 

19 private sector investment otherwise likely 

20 to occur, including investment from private 

21 sector entities that are members of the 

22 consortium; 

23 (ii) to facilitate the participation of 

24 private entities that invest in clean tech25 nologies to perform due diligence on award 

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1 proposals, to participate in the award re2 view process, and to provide guidance to 

3 projects supported by the consortium; and 

4 (iii) to facilitate the participation of 

5 parties with a demonstrated history of 

6 commercial application of clean tech7 nologies in the development of consortium 

8 projects; 

9 (C) oversee project solicitations, review 

10 proposed projects, and select projects for 

11 awards; and 

12 (D) monitor project implementation. 

13 (3) LIMITATIONS.— 

14 (A) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—A con15 sortium may use not more than 10 percent of 

16 the amounts awarded to the consortium for ad17 ministrative expenses. 

18 (B) PROHIBITION ON USE.—A consortium 

19 may not use any amounts awarded to the con20 sortium under this Act to construct a new 

21 building or facility. 

22 (e) AUDITS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—A consortium that receives a 

24 grant under this Act shall carry out, in accordance 

25 with such requirements as the Secretary may preVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:44 Dec 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5505.IH H5505
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1 scribe, an annual audit to determine whether the 

2 grant has been used in accordance with this Act. 

3 (2) REPORT.—The consortium shall submit a 

4 copy of each audit under paragraph (1) to the Sec5 retary and the Comptroller General of the United 

6 States. 

7 (3) GAO REVIEW.—As a condition of receiving 

8 a grant under this Act, a consortium shall allow the 

9 Comptroller General of the United States, on the re10 quest of the Comptroller General, full access to the 

11 books, records, and personnel of the consortium. 

12 (4) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

13 shall submit to Congress annually a report that in14 cludes— 

15 (A) a copy of each audit carried out under 

16 paragraph (1); and 

17 (B) any recommendations of the Secretary 

18 relating to the clean technology consortia pro19 gram. 

20 (f) REVOCATION OF AWARDS.—The Secretary shall 

21 have the authority— 

22 (1) to review grants awarded under this Act; 

23 and 

24 (2) to revoke a grant awarded under this Act 

25 if the Secretary determines that a consortium has 

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1 used the grant in a manner that is not consistent 

2 with this Act. 

3 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

5 out this section $100,000,000. 

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