109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2730

AN ACT

To authorize funding for eligible joint ventures beEnergy Advisory Board, and for other purposes. academic persons, to establish the International tween United States and Israeli businesses and 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 2730

AN ACT

To authorize funding for eligible joint ventures between 

United States and Israeli businesses and academic persons, to establish the International Energy Advisory 

Board, 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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘United States-Israel 

3 Energy Cooperation Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds that—

6 (1) it is in the highest national security inter7 ests of the United States to ensure secure access to 

8 reliable energy sources; 

9 (2) the United States relies heavily on the for10 eign supply of crude oil to meet the energy needs of 

11 the United States, currently importing 58 percent of 

12 the total oil requirements of the United States, of 

13 which 45 percent comes from member states of the 

14 Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries 

15 (OPEC); 

16 (3) revenues from the sale of oil by some of 

17 these countries directly or indirectly provide funding 

18 for terrorism and propaganda hostile to the values 

19 of the United States and the West; 

20 (4) in the past, these countries have manipu21 lated the dependence of the United States on the oil 

22 supplies of these countries to exert undue influence 

23 on United States policy, as during the embargo of 

24 OPEC during 1973 on the sale of oil to the United 

25 States, which became a major factor in the ensuing 

26 recession; 
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1 (5) research by the Energy Information Admin2 istration of the Department of Energy has shown 

3 that the dependence of the United States on foreign 

4 oil will increase by 33 percent over the next 20 

5 years; 

6 (6) a rise in the price of imported oil sufficient 

7 to increase gasoline prices by 10 cents per gallon at 

8 the pump would result in an additional outflow of 

9 $18,000,000,000 from the United States to oil-ex10 porting nations; 

11 (7) for economic and national security reasons, 

12 the United States should reduce, as soon as prac13 ticable, the dependence of the United States on na14 tions that do not share the interests and values of 

15 the United States; 

16 (8) the State of Israel has been a steadfast ally 

17 and a close friend of the United States since the cre18 ation of Israel in 1948; 

19 (9) like the United States, Israel is a democracy 

20 that holds civil rights and liberties in the highest re21 gard and is a proponent of the democratic values of 

22 peace, freedom, and justice; 

23 (10) cooperation between the United States and 

24 Israel on such projects as the development of the 
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1 Arrow Missile has resulted in mutual benefits to 

2 United States and Israeli security; 

3 (11) the special relationship between Israel and 

4 the United States has been and continues to be 

5 manifested in a variety of jointly-funded cooperative 

6 programs in the field of scientific research and de7 velopment, such as—

8 (A) the United States-Israel Binational 

9 Science Foundation (BSF); 

10 (B) the Israel-United States Binational 

11 Agricultural Research and Development Fund 

12 (BARD); and 

13 (C) the Israel-United States Binational In14 dustrial Research and Development (BIRD) 

15 Foundation; 

16 (12) these programs, supported by the match17 ing contributions from the Government of Israel and 

18 the Government of the United States and directed 

19 by key scientists and academics from both countries, 

20 have made possible many scientific breakthroughs in 

21 the fields of life sciences, medicine, bioengineering, 

22 agriculture, biotechnology, communications, and oth23 ers; 

24 (13) on February 1, 1996, United States Sec25 retary of Energy Hazel R. O’Leary and Israeli Min-
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1 ister of Energy and Infrastructure Gonen Segev 

2 signed the Agreement Between the Department of 

3 Energy of the United States of America and the 

4 Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure of Israel Con5 cerning Energy Cooperation, to establish a frame6 work for collaboration between the United States 

7 and Israel in energy research and development ac8 tivities; 

9 (14) Israeli scientists and researchers have long 

10 been at the forefront of research and development in 

11 the field of alternative renewable energy sources; 

12 (15) many of the top corporations of the world 

13 have recognized the technological and scientific ex14 pertise of Israel by locating important research and 

15 development facilities in Israel; 

16 (16) among the technological breakthroughs 

17 made by Israeli scientists and researchers in the 

18 field of alternative, renewable energy sources are—

19 (A) the development of a cathode that uses 

20 hexavalent iron salts that accept 3 electrons per 

21 ion and enable rechargeable batteries to provide 

22 3 times as much electricity as existing recharge23 able batteries; 

24 (B) the development of a technique that 

25 vastly increases the efficiency of using solar en-
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1 ergy to generate hydrogen for use in energy 

2 cells; and 

3 (C) the development of a novel membrane 

4 used in new and powerful direct-oxidant fuel 

5 cells that is capable of competing favorably with 

6 hydrogen fuel cells and traditional internal com7 bustion engines; and 

8 (17) cooperation between the United States and 

9 Israel in the field of research and development of al10 ternative renewable energy sources would be in the 

11 interests of both countries, and both countries stand 

12 to gain much from such cooperation. 

13 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM. 

14 (a) AUTHORITY.—Pursuant to the responsibilities de15 scribed in section 102(10), (14), and (17) of the Depart16 ment of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7112(10), 

17 (14), and (17)) and section 103(9) of the Energy Reorga18 nization Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5813(9)), the Secretary, 

19 in consultation with the BIRD or BSF, shall award grants 

20 to eligible entities. 

21 (b) APPLICATION.—

22 (1) SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS.—To receive 

23 a grant under this section, an eligible entity shall 

24 submit an application to the Secretary containing 
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1 such information and assurances as the Secretary, in 

2 consultation with the BIRD or BSF, may require. 

3 (2) SELECTION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The 

4 Secretary, in consultation with the Directors of the 

5 BIRD and BSF, may review any application sub6 mitted by any eligible entity and select any eligible 

7 entity meeting criteria established by the Secretary, 

8 in consultation with the Advisory Board, for a grant 

9 under this section. 

10 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The amount of each grant 

11 awarded for a fiscal year under this section shall be deter12 mined by the Secretary, in consultation with the BIRD 

13 or BSF. 

14 (d) RECOUPMENT.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

16 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec17 retary shall establish procedures and criteria for 

18 recoupment in connection with any eligible project 

19 carried out by an eligible entity that receives a grant 

20 under this section, which has led to the development 

21 of a product or process which is marketed or used. 

22 (2) AMOUNT REQUIRED.—

23 (A) Except as provided in subparagraph 

24 (B), such recoupment shall be required as a 

25 condition for award and be proportional to the 
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1 Federal share of the costs of such project, and 

2 shall be derived from the proceeds of royalties 

3 or licensing fees received in connection with 

4 such product or process. 

5 (B) In the case where a product or process 

6 is used by the recipient of a grant under this 

7 section for the production and sale of its own 

8 products or processes, the recoupment shall 

9 consist of a payment equivalent to the payment 

10 which would be made under subparagraph (A). 

11 (3) WAIVER.—The Secretary may at any time 

12 waive or defer all or some of the recoupment re13 quirements of this subsection as necessary, depend14 ing on—

15 (A) the commercial competitiveness of the 

16 entity or entities developing or using the prod17 uct or process; 

18 (B) the profitability of the project; and 

19 (C) the commercial viability of the product 

20 or process utilized. 

21 (e) PRIVATE FUNDS.—The Secretary may accept 

22 contributions of funds from private sources to carry out 

23 this Act. 

24 (f) OFFICE OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RENEW25 ABLE ENERGY.—The Secretary shall carry out this sec-
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1 tion through the existing programs at the Office of Energy 

2 Efficiency and Renewable Energy. 

3 (g) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after receiv4 ing a grant under this section, each recipient shall submit 

5 a report to the Secretary—

6 (1) documenting how the recipient used the 

7 grant funds; and 

8 (2) evaluating the level of success of each 

9 project funded by the grant. 

10 SEC. 4. INTERNATIONAL ENERGY ADVISORY BOARD. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

12 Department of Energy an International Energy Advisory 

13 Board. 

14 (b) DUTIES.—The Advisory Board shall advise the 

15 Secretary on—

16 (1) criteria for the recipients of grants awarded 

17 under section 3(a); 

18 (2) the total amount of grant money to be 

19 awarded to all grantees selected by the Secretary, in 

20 consultation with the BIRD; and 

21 (3) the total amount of grant money to be 

22 awarded to all grantees selected by the Secretary, in 

23 consultation with the BSF, for each fiscal year. 

24 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—
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1 (1) COMPOSITION.—The Advisory Board shall 

2 be composed of—

3 (A) 1 member appointed by the Secretary 

4 of Commerce; 

5 (B) 1 member appointed by the Secretary 

6 of Energy; and 

7 (C) 2 members who shall be Israeli citi8 zens, appointed by the Secretary of Energy 

9 after consultation with appropriate officials in 

10 the Israeli Government. 

11 (2) DEADLINE FOR APPOINTMENTS.—The ini12 tial appointments under paragraph (1) shall be 

13 made not later than 60 days after the date of enact14 ment of this Act. 

15 (3) TERM.—Each member of the Advisory 

16 Board shall be appointed for a term of 4 years. 

17 (4) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Advisory 

18 Board shall be filled in the manner in which the 

19 original appointment was made. 

20 (5) BASIC PAY.—

21 (A) COMPENSATION.—A member of the 

22 Advisory Board shall serve without pay. 

23 (B) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of 

24 the Advisory Board shall receive travel ex25 penses, including per diem in lieu of subsist-
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1 ence, in accordance with applicable provisions of 

2 subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United 

3 States Code. 

4 (6) QUORUM.—Three members of the Advisory 

5 Board shall constitute a quorum. 

6 (7) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the 

7 Advisory Board shall be designated by the Secretary 

8 of Energy at the time of the appointment. 

9 (8) MEETINGS.—The Advisory Board shall 

10 meet at least once annually at the call of the Chair11 person. 

12 (d) TERMINATION.—Section 14(a)(2)(B) of the Fed13 eral Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not 

14 apply to the Advisory Board. 

15 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) ADVISORY BOARD.—The term ‘‘Advisory 

18 Board’’ means the International Energy Advisory 

19 Board established by section 4(a). 

20 (2) BIRD.—The term ‘‘BIRD’’ means the 

21 Israel-United States Binational Industrial Research 

22 and Development Foundation. 

23 (3) BSF.—The term ‘‘BSF’’ means the United 

24 States-Israel Binational Science Foundation. 
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1 (4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means a joint venture comprised of both Israeli 

3 and United States private business entities or a joint 

4 venture comprised of both Israeli academic persons 

5 (who reside and work in Israel) and United States 

6 academic persons, that—

7 (A) carries out an eligible project; and 

8 (B) is selected by the Secretary, in con9 sultation with the BIRD or BSF, using the cri10 teria established by the Secretary, in consulta11 tion with the Advisory Board. 

12 (5) ELIGIBLE PROJECT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

13 project’’ means a project to encourage cooperation 

14 between the United States and Israel on research, 

15 development, or commercialization of alternative en16 ergy, improved energy efficiency, or renewable en17 ergy sources. 

18 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of Energy, acting through the Assist20 ant Secretary of Energy for Energy Efficiency and 

21 Renewable Energy. 

22 SEC. 6. TERMINATION. 

23 The grant program authorized under section 3 and 

24 the Advisory Board shall terminate upon the expiration 
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1 of the 7-year period which begins on the date of the enact2 ment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 The Secretary is authorized to expend not more than 

5 $20,000,000 to carry out this Act for each of fiscal years 

6 2006 through 2012 from funds previously authorized to 

7 the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. 

8 SEC. 8. CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY. 

9 The Constitutional authority on which this Act rests 

10 is the power of Congress to regulate commerce with for11 eign nations as enumerated in Article I, Section 8 of the 

12 United States Constitution.

Passed the House of Representatives July 26, 2006. 

Attest:

Clerk.