I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1773

To amend the Spark M. Matsunaga Hydrogen Research, Development, and 

Demonstration Act of 1990, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 11, 2003

Mr. BOEHLERT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Science 

A BILL

To amend the Spark M. Matsunaga Hydrogen Research, 

Development, and Demonstration Act of 1990, 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 ‘‘George E. Brown, Jr. 

5 and Robert S. Walker Hydrogen Future Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MATSUNAGA ACT AMENDMENT. 

7 The Spark M. Matsunaga Hydrogen Research, Devel8 opment, and Demonstration Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

9 12401 et seq.) is amended by striking sections 102 

10 through 109 and inserting the following: 
2

•HR 1773 IH 

1 ‘‘SEC. 102. FINDINGS AND DEFINITIONS. 

2 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

3 ‘‘(1) the United States is currently dependent 

4 on foreign sources for a majority of its petroleum 

5 supply; 

6 ‘‘(2) the Nation’s dependence on foreign petro7 leum is expected to increase in the decades ahead; 

8 ‘‘(3) it is in the national interest to reduce de9 pendence on imported petroleum by accelerating 

10 Federal efforts to partner with the private sector in 

11 developing hydrogen and fuel cell technologies; 

12 ‘‘(4) it is in the national interest to support in13 dustry’s efforts to develop a light duty vehicle fleet 

14 that is free or near free of pollutant emissions and 

15 greenhouse gas emissions, and that helps to reduce 

16 the Nation’s dependence on petroleum in a manner 

17 that maintains the freedom of consumers to pur18 chase the kinds of vehicles they wish to drive and 

19 the freedom to refuel those vehicles safely and 

20 affordably; 

21 ‘‘(5) the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehi22 cles and supporting infrastructure will benefit from 

23 and accelerate the parallel advancement of fuel cells 

24 for stationary power that will enhance the resiliency, 

25 reliability, and environmental performance of the 

26 Nation’s electricity infrastructure; 
3

•HR 1773 IH 

1 ‘‘(6) fuel cell technology for consumer elec2 tronics and portable power will benefit from, and ad3 vance the development of, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles 

4 and supporting infrastructure; 

5 ‘‘(7) there is a need for deployment of bridging 

6 technologies that can contribute to reducing petro7 leum demand and decreasing air emissions, includ8 ing—

9 ‘‘(A) gasoline-electric and diesel-electric hy10 brid drive systems; 

11 ‘‘(B) advanced combustion engines (includ12 ing clean diesel), electric battery, and power 

13 electronics; and 

14 ‘‘(C) alternative fuels and other tech15 nologies; 

16 ‘‘(8) low-cost hydrogen production, storage, and 

17 delivery facilities are essential to the success of the 

18 FreedomCAR program; and 

19 ‘‘(9) vehicle technology development work 

20 should be performed in a manner that is cognizant 

21 of consumer acceptance and marketplace success. 

22 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

23 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Advisory Committee’ means the 

24 Hydrogen Technical and Fuel Cell Advisory Com25 mittee established under section 108 of this Act. 
4

•HR 1773 IH 

1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘Department’ means the Depart2 ment of Energy. 

3 ‘‘(3) The term ‘fuel cell’ means a device that di4 rectly converts the chemical energy of a fuel and an 

5 oxidant into electricity by an electrochemical process 

6 taking place at separate electrodes in the device. 

7 ‘‘(4) The term ‘FreedomCAR’ is the acronym 

8 for a Department initiative in automotive research 

9 and development entitled ‘Freedom Cooperative 

10 Automotive Research’. 

11 ‘‘(5) The term ‘infrastructure’ means the equip12 ment, systems, or facilities used to produce, dis13 tribute, deliver, or store hydrogen and other ad14 vanced clean fuels. 

15 ‘‘(6) The term ‘light duty vehicle’ means a car 

16 or truck classified by the Department of Transpor17 tation as a Class I or IIA vehicle. 

18 ‘‘(7) The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary 

19 of Energy. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 103. PROGRAM. 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct a 

22 research, development, demonstration, and commercial ap23 plication program designed to accelerate the use of hydro24 gen and related technologies in stationary and transpor-
5

•HR 1773 IH 

1 tation applications. The goals of the program shall in2 clude—

3 ‘‘(1) to enable a decision by automakers not 

4 later than 2015 to offer affordable and technically 

5 viable hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in the mass con6 sumer market; 

7 ‘‘(2) to enable production and delivery to con8 sumers of model year 2020 hydrogen fuel cell vehi9 cles that will have—

10 ‘‘(A) a range of at least three hundred 

11 miles; 

12 ‘‘(B) safety and performance comparable 

13 to vehicle technologies in the market; and 

14 ‘‘(C) when compared to light duty vehicles 

15 in model year 2003—

16 ‘‘(i) a fuel economy that is two and 

17 one half times the equivalent fuel economy

18 of comparable light duty vehicles in model 

19 year 2003; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) zero or near zero emissions of 

21 pollutants; and 

22 ‘‘(D) vehicle fuel system crash integrity 

23 and occupant protection; and 
6

•HR 1773 IH 

1 ‘‘(3) to enable by 2020 the safe and convenient 

2 commercial production and delivery of hydrogen that 

3 will have—

4 ‘‘(A) the capacity to meet the demand for 

5 stationary and mobile hydrogen fuel cells; 

6 ‘‘(B) safety and performance characteris7 tics comparable to other fuels; and 

8 ‘‘(C) improved overall efficiency and zero 

9 or near zero emissions when compared to fuels 

10 used in 2003. 

11 ‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES.—The program authorized under 

12 this section shall address—

13 ‘‘(1) production of hydrogen from diverse en14 ergy sources, including—

15 ‘‘(A) fossil fuels, in conjunction with car16 bon capture and sequestration; 

17 ‘‘(B) hydrogen-carrier fuels (including eth18 anol and methanol); 

19 ‘‘(C) renewable energy resources; and 

20 ‘‘(D) nuclear energy; 

21 ‘‘(2) delivery of hydrogen or hydrogen-carrier 

22 fuels, including—

23 ‘‘(A) transmission by pipeline and other 

24 distribution methods; and 
7

•HR 1773 IH 

1 ‘‘(B) safe, convenient, and economic refuel2 ing of vehicles either at central refueling sta3 tions or through distributed on-site generation; 

4 ‘‘(3) storage of hydrogen or hydrogen-carrier 

5 fuels, including development of materials for safe 

6 and economic storage in gaseous, liquid, or solid 

7 form at refueling facilities and onboard vehicles; 

8 ‘‘(4) development of safe, durable, affordable, 

9 and efficient fuel cells, including research and devel10 opment on fuel-flexible fuel cell power systems, im11 proved manufacturing processes, high-temperature 

12 membranes, cost-effective fuel processing for natural 

13 gas, fuel cell stack and system reliability, low tem14 perature operation, and cold start capability; and 

15 ‘‘(5) development, in conjunction with the Na16 tional Institute of Standards and Technology, of 

17 necessary codes and standards (including inter18 national codes and standards) and safety practices 

19 for the production, distribution, storage, and use of 

20 hydrogen, hydrogen-carrier fuels and related prod21 ucts. 

22 ‘‘(c) DEMONSTRATION.—In carrying out the dem23 onstration program under this section, the Secretary shall 

24 fund a limited number of projects and shall, to the extent 

25 practicable—
8

•HR 1773 IH 

1 ‘‘(1) select only projects that—

2 ‘‘(A) involve using hydrogen and related 

3 products at facilities or installations that would 

4 exist without the demonstration program, such 

5 as existing office buildings, military bases, vehi6 cle fleet centers, transit bus authorities, or 

7 parks; and 

8 ‘‘(B) depend on reliable power from hydro9 gen to carry out essential activities; and 

10 ‘‘(2) favor projects that—

11 ‘‘(A) lead to the replication of hydrogen 

12 technologies and draw such technologies into 

13 the marketplace; 

14 ‘‘(B) integrate in a single project both mo15 bile and stationary applications of hydrogen fuel 

16 cells; 

17 ‘‘(C) address the interdependency of de18 mand for hydrogen fuel cell applications and 

19 hydrogen fuel infrastructure; or 

20 ‘‘(D) raise awareness of hydrogen tech21 nology among the public. 

22 ‘‘(d) MERIT REVIEW.—The Secretary shall carry out 

23 the program under this section using a competitive, merit24 review process and consistent with the generally applicable 
9

•HR 1773 IH 

1 Federal laws and regulations governing awards of finan2 cial assistance, contracts, or other agreements. 

3 ‘‘(e) COST SHARING.—(1) For projects carried out 

4 through grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts 

5 under this section, the Secretary shall require a commit6 ment from non-Federal sources of at least—

7 ‘‘(A) 20 percent of the cost of a research and 

8 development project; and 

9 ‘‘(B) 50 percent of the cost of a demonstration 

10 project. 

11 ‘‘(2) The Secretary may reduce the cost-sharing re12 quirement under paragraph (1)—

13 ‘‘(A) if the Secretary determines that the 

14 project involves research of a basic or fundamental 

15 nature; 

16 ‘‘(B) if the Secretary determines that a dem17 onstration or commercial application project involves 

18 unusual technological risks; or 

19 ‘‘(C) for technical analyses or other activities 

20 that the Secretary does not expect to result in a 

21 marketable product. 

22 ‘‘(3) The Secretary may consider the size of the non23 Federal share in selecting projects. 
10

•HR 1773 IH 

1 ‘‘SEC. 104. FREEDOM CAR. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In coordination with the pro3 gram under section 103, the Secretary shall carry out a 

4 research, development, demonstration, and commercial ap5 plication program on advanced vehicle technologies, to be 

6 known as the FreedomCAR program. 

7 ‘‘(b) ACTIVITIES.—The FreedomCAR program shall 

8 address—

9 ‘‘(1) engine and emission control systems; 

10 ‘‘(2) energy storage, electric propulsion, and hy11 brid systems; 

12 ‘‘(3) automotive materials; 

13 ‘‘(4) clean fuels in addition to hydrogen; and 

14 ‘‘(5) other advanced vehicle technologies. 

15 ‘‘(c) DEMONSTRATION.—Demonstrations involving 

16 hydrogen shall be conducted as part of the program under 

17 section 103. 

18 ‘‘(d) MERIT REVIEW AND COST SHARING.—The Sec19 retary shall carry out the FreedomCAR program in com20 pliance with sections 103(d) and (e).

21 ‘‘SEC. 105. PLAN. 

22 ‘‘Not later than six months after the date of enact23 ment of the George E. Brown, Jr. and Robert S. Walker 

24 Hydrogen Future Act of 2003, the Secretary shall trans25 mit to the Congress a coordinated plan for the programs 

26 described in sections 103 and 104 and any other programs 
11

•HR 1773 IH 

1 of the Department that are directly related to fuel cells 

2 or hydrogen. The plan shall be consistent with the Na3 tional Hydrogen Energy Roadmap published by the De4 partment in October of 2002 and shall describe, at a min5 imum—

6 ‘‘(1) the agenda for the programs for the next 

7 five years, including what research, development, 

8 demonstration, and commercial application will be 

9 conducted to carry out each activity enumerated in 

10 sections 103(b) and 104(b); 

11 ‘‘(2) the role national laboratories, institutions 

12 of higher education, small businesses, and other pri13 vate sector firms are expected to play in the pro14 grams; 

15 ‘‘(3) the technical milestones that will be used 

16 to evaluate the programs for the next five years; 

17 ‘‘(4) the most significant technical hurdles that 

18 stand in the way of achieving the goals described in 

19 section 103(a), and how the programs will address 

20 those hurdles; and 

21 ‘‘(5) the policy assumptions that are driving the 

22 research agenda, including any assumptions that 

23 would affect the sources of hydrogen or the market24 ability of hydrogen-related products. 
12

•HR 1773 IH 

1 ‘‘SEC. 106. EDUCATION, OUTREACH, AND TECHNOLOGY 

2 TRANSFER. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may carry out 

4 programs and activities for interagency, intergovern5 mental, and international education, information ex6 change, and cooperation related to hydrogen and hydro7 gen-related products. 

8 ‘‘(b) TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER.—(1) The Secretary 

9 may conduct a program to transfer technology to the pri10 vate sector under this Act. The purpose of the technology 

11 transfer program is to foster the exchange of generic, non12 proprietary information and technology, developed under 

13 this Act, among industry, academia, and the Federal Gov14 ernment, to help the United States economy attain the 

15 economic benefits of this information and technology, 

16 among other purposes. 

17 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall direct the program author18 ized by this subsection with the advice and assistance of 

19 the Advisory Committee. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 107. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE. 

21 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 120 days 

22 after the date of enactment of the George E. Brown, Jr. 

23 and Robert S. Walker Hydrogen Future Act of 2003, the 

24 President shall establish an interagency task force, chaired 

25 by the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 
13

•HR 1773 IH 

1 Policy or his designee, with representatives from each of 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) The Department of Energy. 

4 ‘‘(2) The Department of Transportation. 

5 ‘‘(3) The Department of State. 

6 ‘‘(4) The Department of Defense. 

7 ‘‘(5) The Department of Commerce (including 

8 the National Institute of Standards and Tech9 nology). 

10 ‘‘(6) The Environmental Protection Agency. 

11 ‘‘(7) The National Aeronautics and Space Ad12 ministration. 

13 ‘‘(8) Other Federal agencies as the Director de14 termines appropriate. 

15 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—

16 ‘‘(1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The interagency task 

17 force shall work toward development of—

18 ‘‘(A) a safe, economical, and environ19 mentally sound hydrogen infrastructure; 

20 ‘‘(B) uniform hydrogen codes, standards, 

21 and safety protocols; 

22 ‘‘(C) fuel cells in government applications, 

23 including portable, stationary, and transpor24 tation applications; and 
14

•HR 1773 IH 

1 ‘‘(D) vehicle hydrogen fuel system integrity 

2 safety performance. 

3 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES.—The interagency task force 

4 may organize workshops and conferences, may issue 

5 publications, and may create databases to carry out 

6 its duties. The interagency task force shall—

7 ‘‘(A) foster the exchange of generic, non8 proprietary information and technology among 

9 industry, academia, and government; 

10 ‘‘(B) develop and maintain an inventory 

11 and assessment of hydrogen, fuel cells, and 

12 other advanced technologies, including the com13 mercial capability of each technology for the 

14 economic and environmentally safe production, 

15 distribution, delivery, storage, and use of hydro16 gen; 

17 ‘‘(C) integrate technical and other informa18 tion made available as a result of the programs 

19 and activities under this Act;

20 ‘‘(D) promote the marketplace introduction 

21 of infrastructure for hydrogen-powered fuel cell 

22 vehicles; and 

23 ‘‘(E) conduct an education program to pro24 vide hydrogen and fuel cell information to po-
15

•HR 1773 IH 

1 tential end-users in coordination with the pro2 gram under section 106. 

3 ‘‘(c) AGENCY COOPERATION.—The heads of all agen4 cies, including those whose agencies are not represented 

5 on the interagency task force, shall cooperate with and 

6 furnish information to the interagency task force and the 

7 Department. 

8 ‘‘SEC. 108. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

9 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Hydrogen Technical 

10 and Fuel Cell Advisory Committee shall be established to 

11 advise the Secretary on the programs and activities under 

12 this Act. 

13 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.—

14 ‘‘(1) MEMBERS.—The Secretary shall appoint 

15 not fewer than 12 nor more than 25 members. The 

16 Secretary shall appoint members to represent domes17 tic industry, academia, professional societies, govern18 ment agencies, and financial, environmental, and 

19 other appropriate organizations based on the Sec20 retary’s assessment of the technical and other quali21 fications of committee members and the needs of the 

22 Advisory Committee. 

23 ‘‘(2) TERMS.—The term of a member of the 

24 Advisory Committee shall be not more than three 

25 years. The Secretary may appoint members of the 
16

•HR 1773 IH 

1 Advisory Committee in a manner that allows the 

2 terms of the members serving at any time to expire 

3 at spaced intervals so as to ensure continuity in the 

4 functioning of the Advisory Committee. A member of 

5 the Advisory Committee whose term is expiring may 

6 be reappointed. 

7 ‘‘(3) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chair of the Advi8 sory Committee shall be a member of the Advisory 

9 Committee, elected by the members from among 

10 their number. 

11 ‘‘(c) REVIEW.—(1) The Advisory Committee shall re12 view and make recommendations to the Secretary in a bi13 ennial report on—

14 ‘‘(A) the implementation of programs and ac15 tivities under this Act; and 

16 ‘‘(B) the safety, economical, environmental, and 

17 other consequences of technologies for the produc18 tion, distribution, delivery, storage, or use of hydro19 gen and fuel cells. 

20 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall transmit the report under 

21 this subsection to the Congress along with a description 

22 of how the Secretary has implemented or plans to imple23 ment the recommendations, or an explanation of the rea24 sons that a recommendation will not be implemented. The 
17

•HR 1773 IH 

1 report shall be transmitted along with the President’s 

2 budget proposal. 

3 ‘‘(d) ADVISORY COMMITTEE SUPPORT.—The Sec4 retary shall provide resources necessary in the judgment 

5 of the Secretary for the Advisory Committee to carry out 

6 its responsibilities under this Act. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 109. EXTERNAL REVIEW. 

8 ‘‘(a) PLAN.—The Secretary shall enter into an ar9 rangement with a competitively selected nongovernmental 

10 entity, such as the National Academy of Sciences, to re11 view the plan prepared under section 105. The Secretary 

12 shall transmit the review to the Congress along with a plan 

13 to implement the review’s recommendations or an expla14 nation of the reasons that a recommendation will not be 

15 implemented. 

16 ‘‘(b) BIENNIAL REVIEW.—The Secretary shall enter 

17 into an arrangement with a competitively selected non18 governmental entity, such as the National Academy of 

19 Sciences, under which the entity will review the program 

20 under sections 103 and 104 every other year, beginning 

21 two years after the date of enactment of the George E. 

22 Brown, Jr. and Robert S. Walker Hydrogen Future Act 

23 of 2003. The entity shall review the research priorities, 

24 technical milestones, and plans for technology transfer and 

25 evaluate the progress toward achieving them. The Sec-
18

•HR 1773 IH 

1 retary shall transmit each review to the Congress along 

2 with a plan to implement the review’s recommendations 

3 or an explanation for the reasons that a recommendation 

4 will not be implemented. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 110. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. 

6 ‘‘(a) DUPLICATION.—The Secretary shall carry out 

7 the activities of this Act in a manner that avoids unneces8 sary duplication or displacement of, or competition with 

9 private sector activities. 

10 ‘‘(b) OTHER GOVERNMENTS.—In carrying out this 

11 Act, the Secretary may enter into cost-sharing agreements 

12 with Federal, State, or local governments to demonstrate 

13 applications using hydrogen and fuel cells. 

14 ‘‘(c) REPRESENTATION.—The Department may rep15 resent the United States interests with respect to activities 

16 and programs under this Act, in coordination with the De17 partment of Transportation, the National Institute of 

18 Standards and Technology, and other relevant Federal 

19 agencies, before governments and nongovernmental orga20 nizations including—

21 ‘‘(1) other Federal, State, regional, and local 

22 governments and their representatives; 

23 ‘‘(2) industry and its representatives, including 

24 members of the energy and transportation indus25 tries; and 
19

•HR 1773 IH 

1 ‘‘(3) in consultation with the Department of 

2 State, foreign governments and their representatives 

3 including international organizations. 

4 ‘‘(d) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this Act 

5 shall be construed to alter the regulatory authority of the 

6 Department. 

7 ‘‘SEC. 111. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

9 this Act, in addition to any amounts made available for 

10 these purposes under other Acts—

11 ‘‘(1) $273,500,000 for fiscal year 2004; 

12 ‘‘(2) $325,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 

13 ‘‘(3) $375,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

14 ‘‘(4) $400,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 

15 ‘‘(5) $425,000,000 for fiscal year 2008.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF HYDROGEN FUTURE ACT OF 1996. 

17 The Hydrogen Future Act of 1996 is repealed.

Æ