49–006 

109TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 109–456 

H-PRIZE ACT OF 2006 

MAY 9, 2006.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the 

Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. BOEHLERT, from the Committee on Science, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 5143] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Science, to whom was referred the bill (H.R. 

5143) to authorize the Secretary of Energy to establish monetary 

prizes for achievements in overcoming scientific and technical barriers associated with hydrogen energy, having considered the same, 

report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that 

the bill as amended do pass. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

I. Amendment ................................................................................................. 2 

II. Purpose of the Bill ...................................................................................... 4 

III. Background and Need for the Legislation ................................................ 4 

IV. Summary of Hearings ................................................................................. 6 

V. Committee Actions ...................................................................................... 8 

VI. Summary of Major Provisions of the Bill, as Reported ............................ 8 

VII. Section-by-Section Analysis (by Title and Section) of the Bill, as Reported ........................................................................................................ 9 

VIII. Committee Views ........................................................................................ 11 

IX. Cost Estimate .............................................................................................. 14 

X. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate ............................................. 15 

XI. Compliance With Public Law 104–4 (Unfunded Mandates) .................... 16 

XII. Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations ........................... 16 

XIII. Statement on General Performance Goals and Objectives ...................... 16 

XIV. Constitutional Authority Statement .......................................................... 16 

XV. Federal Advisory Committee Statement ................................................... 16 

XVI. Congressional Accountability Act .............................................................. 16 

XVII. Statement on Preemption of State, Local, or Tribal Law ........................ 16 

XVIII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, As Reported ....................... 17 

XIX. Committee Recommendations .................................................................... 17 

XX. Proceedings of Full Committee Markup .................................................... 19 


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I. AMENDMENT

The amendment is as follows: 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: 

SECTION. 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘H-Prize Act of 2006’’. 

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

In this Act: 

(1) ADMINISTERING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘administering entity’’ means the entity with which the Secretary enters into an agreement under section 3(c). 

(2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ means the Department of Energy. 

(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Energy. 

SEC. 3. PRIZE AUTHORITY. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a program to competitively award 

cash prizes only in conformity with this Act to advance the research, development, 

demonstration, and commercial application of hydrogen energy technologies. 

(b) ADVERTISING AND SOLICITATION OF COMPETITORS.—

(1) ADVERTISING.—The Secretary shall widely advertise prize competitions to 

encourage broad participation, including by individuals, universities (including 

historically Black colleges and universities and other minority serving institutions), and large and small businesses (including businesses owned or controlled 

by socially and economically disadvantaged persons). 

(2) ANNOUNCEMENT THROUGH FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE.—The Secretary 

shall announce each prize competition by publishing a notice in the Federal 

Register. This notice shall include the subject of the competition, the duration 

of the competition, the eligibility requirements for participation in the competition, the process for participants to register for the competition, the amount of 

the prize, and the criteria for awarding the prize. 

(c) ADMINISTERING THE COMPETITIONS.—The Secretary shall enter into an agreement with a private, nonprofit entity to administer the prize competitions, subject 

to the provisions of this Act. The duties of the administering entity under the agreement shall include—

(1) advertising prize competitions and their results; 

(2) raising funds from private entities and individuals to pay for administrative costs and to contribute to cash prizes; 

(3) working with the Secretary to develop the criteria for selecting winners 

in prize competitions, based on goals provided by the Secretary; 

(4) determining, in consultation with the Secretary, the appropriate amount 

for each prize to be awarded under section 4(b)(3); and 

(5) selecting judges in accordance with section 4(d), using criteria developed 

in consultation with the Secretary. 

(d) FUNDING SOURCES.—Prizes under this Act may consist of Federal appropriated 

funds and funds provided by the administering entity (including funds raised pursuant to subsection (c)(2)) for such cash prizes. The Secretary may accept funds from 

other Federal agencies for such cash prizes. The Secretary may not give any special 

consideration to any private sector entity or individual in return for a donation to 

the administering entity. 

(e) ANNOUNCEMENT OF PRIZES.—The Secretary may not issue a notice required by 

subsection (b)(2) until all the funds needed to pay out the announced amount of the 

prize have been appropriated or committed in writing by the administering entity. 

The Secretary may increase the amount of a prize after an initial announcement 

is made under subsection (b)(2) if—

(1) notice of the increase is provided in the same manner as the initial notice 

of the prize; and 

(2) the funds needed to pay out the announced amount of the increase have 

been appropriated or committed in writing by the administering entity. 

(f) SUNSET.—The authority to announce prize competitions under this Act shall 

terminate on September 30, 2017. 

SEC. 4. PRIZE CATEGORIES. 

(a) CATEGORIES.—The Secretary shall establish prizes for—

(1) advancements in components or systems related to—

(A) hydrogen production; 

(B) hydrogen storage; 

(C) hydrogen distribution; and 

(D) hydrogen utilization; 


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(2) prototypes of hydrogen-powered vehicles or other hydrogen-based products 

that best meet or exceed objective performance criteria, such as completion of 

a race over a certain distance or terrain or generation of energy at certain levels 

of efficiency; and 

(3) transformational changes in technologies for the distribution or production 

of hydrogen that meet or exceed far-reaching objective criteria, which shall include minimal carbon emissions and which may include cost criteria designed 

to facilitate the eventual market success of a winning technology. 

(b) AWARDS.—

(1) ADVANCEMENTS.—To the extent permitted under section 3(e), the prizes 

authorized under subsection (a)(1) shall be awarded biennially to the most significant advance made in each of the four subcategories described in subparagraphs (A) through (D) of subsection (a)(1) since the submission deadline of the 

previous prize competition in the same category under subsection (a)(1) or the 

date of enactment of this Act, whichever is later. No one such prize may exceed 

$1,000,000. If less than $4,000,000 is available for a prize competition under 

subsection (a)(1), the Secretary may omit one or more subcategories, reduce the 

amount of the prizes, or not hold a prize competition. 

(2) PROTOTYPES.—To the extent permitted under section 3(e), prizes authorized under subsection (a)(2) shall be awarded biennially in alternate years from 

the prizes authorized under subsection (a)(1). The Secretary is authorized to 

award up to one prize in this category in each 2-year period. No such prize may 

exceed $4,000,000. If no registered participants meet the objective performance 

criteria established pursuant to subsection (c) for a competition under this paragraph, the Secretary shall not award a prize. 

(3) TRANSFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES.—To the extent permitted under section 3(e), the Secretary shall announce at least one prize competition authorized 

under subsection (a)(3) as soon after the date of enactment of this Act as is 

practicable. To the extent permitted under section 3(e), the Secretary may announce additional prize competitions authorized under subsection (a)(3) as appropriate to accelerate the development and adoption of hydrogen technologies. 

A prize offered under this paragraph shall be not less than $10,000,000, paid 

to the winner in a lump sum, and an additional amount paid to the winner as 

a match for each dollar of private funding raised by the winner for the hydrogen 

technology beginning on the date the winner was named. The match shall be 

provided for 3 years after the date the prize winner is named or until the full 

amount of the prize has been paid out, whichever occurs first. A prize winner 

may elect to have the match amount paid to another entity that is continuing 

the development of the winning technology. The Secretary shall announce the 

rules for receiving the match in the notice required by section 3(b)(2). The Secretary shall award a prize under this paragraph only when a registered participant has met the objective criteria established for the prize pursuant to subsection (c) and announced pursuant to section 3(b)(2). Not more than 

$10,000,000 in Federal funds may be used for each prize award under this paragraph. The administering entity shall seek to raise $40,000,000 toward each 

matching award under this paragraph. 

(c) CRITERIA.—In establishing the criteria required by this Act, the Secretary shall 

consult with—

(1) the Department’s Hydrogen Technical and Fuel Cell Advisory Committee; 

(2) other Federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation; and 

(3) private organizations, including professional societies, industry associations, and the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. 

(d) JUDGES.—For each prize competition, the Secretary shall assemble a panel of 

qualified judges to select the winner or winners on the basis of the criteria established under subsection (c). Judges for each prize competition shall include individuals from outside the Department, including from the private sector. A judge may 

not—

(1) have personal or financial interests in, or be an employee, officer, director, 

or agent of, any entity that is a registered participant in the prize competition 

for which he or she will serve as a judge; or 

(2) have a familial or financial relationship with an individual who is a registered participant in the prize competition for which he or she will serve as 

a judge. 

SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY. 

To be eligible to win a prize under this Act, an individual or entity—

(1) shall have complied with all the requirements in accordance with the Federal Register notice required under section 3(b)(2); 


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(2) in the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated in and maintain a 

primary place of business in the United States, and in the case of an individual, 

whether participating singly or in a group, shall be a citizen of, or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in, the United States; and 

(3) shall not be a Federal entity, a Federal employee acting within the scope 

of his employment, or an employee of a national laboratory acting within the 

scope of his employment. 

SEC. 6. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. 

The Federal Government shall not, by virtue of offering or awarding a prize under 

this Act, be entitled to any intellectual property rights derived as a consequence of, 

or direct relation to, the participation by a registered participant in a competition 

authorized by this Act. This section shall not be construed to prevent the Federal 

Government from negotiating a license for the use of intellectual property developed 

for a prize competition under this Act. 

SEC. 7. LIABILITY. 

(a) WAIVER OF LIABILITY.—Registered participants shall be required to agree to 

assume any and all risks, and waive claims against the Federal Government and 

its related entities, except in the case of willful misconduct, for any injury, death, 

damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, arising from their participation in a competition under this Act, whether 

such injury, death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or otherwise. For the 

purposes of this subsection, the term ‘‘related entity’’ means a contractor or subcontractor at any tier, and a supplier, user, customer, cooperating party, grantee, investigator, or detailee. 

(b) LIABILITY INSURANCE.—

(1) REQUIREMENTS.—Registered participants shall be required to obtain liability insurance or demonstrate financial responsibility, in amounts determined by 

the Secretary, for claims by—

(A) a third party for death, bodily injury, or property damage or loss resulting from an activity carried out in connection with participation in a 

competition under this Act; and 

(B) the Federal Government for damage or loss to Government property 

resulting from such an activity. 

(2) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INSURED.—The Federal Government shall be 

named as an additional insured under a registered participant’s insurance policy required under paragraph (1)(A), and registered participants shall be required to agree to indemnify the Federal Government against third party claims 

for damages arising from or related to competition activities. 

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized to be appropriated 

to the Secretary for carrying out this Act $11,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

2007 through 2016, of which no more than $2,000,000 for any fiscal year may be 

used for administrative expenses. 

(b) CARRYOVER OF FUNDS.—Funds appropriated for prize awards under this Act 

shall remain available until expended, and may be transferred, reprogrammed, or 

expended for other purposes only after the expiration of 10 fiscal years after the fiscal year for which the funds were originally appropriated. No provision in this Act 

permits obligation or payment of funds in violation of section 1341 of title 31 of the 

United States Code (commonly referred to as the Anti-Deficiency Act). 

SEC. 9. NONSUBSTITUTION. 

The programs created under this Act shall not be considered a substitute for Federal research and development programs. 

II. PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of the bill is to authorize the Secretary of Energy 

to establish monetary prizes for achievements in overcoming scientific and technical barriers associated with hydrogen energy. 

III. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION

Hydrogen gas is considered by many experts to be a promising 

fuel, particularly in the transportation sector. When used as a fuel, 

its only combustion byproduct is water vapor. The widespread 


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1The Hydrogen Initiative, APS Panel on Public Affairs, Washington, DC: The American Physical Society (March 2004). 2 Concerning Federally Sponsored Inducement Prizes in Engineering and Science, Steering 

Committee for the Workshop to Assess the Potential for Promoting Technological Advance 

Through Government-Sponsored Inducement Prizes in Engineering and Science, Washington, 

DC: National Academy of Engineering (1999). 

adoption of hydrogen as a transportation fuel has the potential to 

reduce or eliminate air pollution generated by cars and trucks. 

However, unlike coal or oil, the hydrogen gas used as a fuel is 

not a naturally occurring energy resource. Hydrogen must be produced from hydrogen-bearing compounds, like water or natural gas, 

and that requires energy—and, unlike gasoline or biofuels, more 

energy is always required to produce it than is recovered when hydrogen is burned in a fuel cell. Hydrogen has the potential to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil, but the degree to which 

hydrogen will displace foreign energy supplies depends on what energy source is used to generate hydrogen gas in the first place. 

If hydrogen can be produced economically from energy sources 

that do not release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere—from renewable sources such as wind power or solar power, from nuclear 

power, or possibly from coal with carbon sequestration, then the 

widespread use of hydrogen as a fuel could make a major contribution to reducing the emission of greenhouse gases. 

While the promise of hydrogen is great, so are the technical challenges. Experts suggest that major advances will be required across 

a wide range of technologies for hydrogen to be affordable, safe, 

cleanly produced, and readily distributed. The production, storage, 

and use of hydrogen all present significant technical challenges. 

While Department of Energy (DOE) research programs have produced promising advances, much work must still be done to meet 

the goal of developing economically viable hydrogen technologies. 

Indeed, the American Physical Society in a 2004 report 1 stated 

that ‘‘no material exists today that can be used to construct a hydrogen fuel tank that can meet the consumer benchmarks’’ for 

affordably storing enough fuel on-board a car or truck to meet consumer expectations of time between refueling stops. 

Prizes are one tool the Federal government can employ to stimulate efforts to overcome such technical hurdles. 

A 1999 National Academy of Engineering (NAE) panel examining 

the use of prizes by federal agencies 2 suggested the following design principles for prize programs: 

1. Treatment of intellectual property resulting from prize 

contests should be properly aligned with the objectives and incentive structure of the prize contest. 

2. Contest rules should be seen as transparent, simple, fair, 

and unbiased. 

3. Prizes should be commensurate with the effort required 

and goals sought. 

The Act establishes three types of prizes that are in keeping with 

the principles laid out by the NAE: 

1. Biennial prizes for advancements in each of hydrogen storage, hydrogen production, hydrogen use and hydrogen distribution; 

2. A goal-oriented, biennial contest for prototypes that meet 

objective contest criteria established in advance; and 


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3. A prize of at least $10 million for a goal-oriented contest 

for the best invention that leads to transformational changes 

in the distribution or production of hydrogen. Winners of this 

prize could also receive matching funds for every dollar of private funding raised by the winner for commercialization of 

their winning technology. 

IV. SUMMARY OF HEARINGS

On February 7, 2002, the House Committee on Science held a 

hearing titled The Future of DOE’s Automotive Research Programs. The hearing addressed the Administration’s newly announced FreedomCAR program, and examined how it compared 

with the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) program. The Committee heard testimony from the Hon. David K. 

Garman, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy, DOE; Dr. Vernon P. Roan, Vice Chair, National Research 

Council Panel on the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles 

and Professor and Director, Fuel Cell Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Department, University of Florida at Gainesville; Dr. Daniel Sperling, Director, Institute of Transportation Studies and Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of California at Davis; and Mr. Ross Witschonke, Vice President of Electrics and Power Electronics, Ballard Power. 

On June 24, 2002, the Energy Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science held a hearing titled Fuel Cells: The Key to Energy Independence? The hearing focused on developments in hydrogen fuel cell R&D and in the fuel cell business, and provided a 

broad overview of fuel cells for all applications, not just transportation. The Subcommittee heard testimony from Dr. Hermann 

Grunder, Director, Argonne National Laboratory; Mr. Robert Culver, Executive Director, United States Council for Automotive Research; Mr. Stan Borys, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Gas Technology Institute; Mr. Jeff Serfass, President, 

National Hydrogen Association; Mr. James Uihlein, Fuels Project 

Manager, BP; and Mr. Elias (Lee) Camara, Vice President, 

H2Fuels. 

On June 26, 2002, the Energy Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science held a hearing titled FreedomCAR: Getting New 

Technology into the Marketplace, which primarily solicited views 

on the best ways to proceed with automotive research and development (R&D) and how to integrate advanced technologies into production vehicles that can gain customer acceptance. One of the recurring questions was the ‘‘chicken and egg’’ problem with hydrogen fuel cells, i.e., how can you establish an effective hydrogen infrastructure before there are great numbers of fuel cell vehicles? 

The Subcommittee heard testimony from Mr. Amory B. Lovins, 

Chief Executive Officer, Rocky Mountain Institute; Dr. Byron 

McCormick, Executive Director, Fuel Cell Activities, General Motors Corporation; Mr. Doug Rothwell, President and Chief Executive Officer, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation; Mr. 

Roger Saillant, President, Plug Power, Inc.; Mr. Robert Templin, 

Member of the Board of Directors, PAICE Corporation. 

On March 5, 2003, the House Committee on Science held a hearing titled The Path to a Hydrogen Economy on the President’s Hydrogen Initiative, which is intended to enable the transition to an 


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economy powered by hydrogen. Witnesses testified that, if the 

widespread use of hydrogen is to become a reality, significant advances must be made, not only in vehicle technology, but also in 

hydrogen production and the infrastructure necessary to deliver it. 

The hearing focused on the barriers to a hydrogen economy, and 

how the President’s initiative might address those barriers. The 

Committee heard testimony from the Hon. David K. Garman, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 

DOE; Dr. Alan C. Lloyd, 2003 Chairman, California Fuel Cell Partnership; Dr. Joan Ogden, Research Scientist, Princeton Environmental Institute; Dr. Larry Burns, Vice President, Research, Development and Planning, General Motors Corporation; and Mr. Don 

Huberts, Chief Executive Officer, Shell Hydrogen. 

On March 3, 2004, the House Committee on Science held a hearing titled Reviewing the Hydrogen Fuels and FreedomCar Initiatives. Specifically, the hearing focused on two recent reports from 

the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the American Physical Society (APS) on DOE’s hydrogen initiatives, and the Administration’s response to the reports’ recommendations for changes to 

the Administration’s programs. The Committee heard testimony 

from the Hon. David K. Garman, Assistant Secretary for Energy 

Efficiency and Renewable Energy, DOE; Dr. Michael Ramage, 

Chair of the NAS Committee on Alternatives and Strategies for Future Hydrogen Production and Use; and Dr. Peter Eisenberger, 

Chair of the APS Panel on Public Affairs Energy Subcommittee. 

On July 20, 2005, the Energy and Research Subcommittees of 

the House Committee on Science held a joint hearing titled Funding the Future: On the Road to a Hydrogen Economy to examine 

the progress that had been made in hydrogen research since the 

launch of the President’s Hydrogen Initiative and the next steps 

the Federal government should take to best advance a hydrogen 

economy. The Subcommittees heard testimony from Mr. Douglas 

Faulkner, Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, DOE; Dr. David Bodde, Director of Innovation and 

Public Policy, Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research; Mr. Mark Chernoby, Vice President for Advanced 

Vehicle Engineering, DaimlerChrysler Corporation; Dr. George 

Crabtree, Director, Materials Science Division, Argonne National 

Laboratory; and Dr. John Heywood, Director, Sloan Automotive 

Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

On April 27, 2006, the House Committee on Science held a hearing titled H.R. 5143, the H-Prize Act of 2006. The Committee heard 

testimony from Mr. Phillip Baxley, President, Shell Hydrogen; Dr. 

David Bodde, Director of Innovation and Public Policy, Clemson 

University International Center for Automotive Research; Dr. Peter 

Diamandis, Chairman, X Prize Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering innovation through the use of competitions; and Dr. David L. Greene, Corporate Fellow, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. All four witnesses expressed support for the creation of a hydrogen prize. Dr. Diamandis emphasized the ability of 

prizes to attract many times the value of the purse in private investment by generating excitement and publicity. He noted that it 

is important to formulate the goals and the size of each prize carefully, and that a prize needs to be properly sized to both attract attention and to efficiently employ the resources available. Dr. Bodde 


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testified that the H-Prize program should operate with several 

principles in mind: the prizes must be offered reliably and for a period long enough to bring in new participants; funds must supplement rather than compete with the core hydrogen research funding; and administration of the prize program must carefully document its experience, learn from that experience, and adapt accordingly. Dr. Greene testified that creating the H-Prize cannot substitute for adequately funding research, development and demonstration. Mr. Baxley testified that prizes could bring additional 

participants into efforts to use hydrogen more widely and that finding the most efficient and marketable way to develop a prize is 

something the government is in the position to promote. Both Dr. 

Diamandis and Dr. Greene suggested that amendments to the bill 

could help clarify the division of duties between the Secretary and 

the private entity that would administer the prize. Several witnesses, in response to questions, also indicated that the prize program could be successful with a prize of less than $100 million. 

V. COMMITTEE ACTIONS

On April 6, 2006, Research Subcommittee Chairman Bob Inglis, 

Rep. Daniel Lipinski, Science Committee Chairman Sherwood 

Boehlert, Environment, Technology and Standards Subcommittee 

Chairman Vernon Ehlers, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, Rep. Michael 

McCaul and nine other co-sponsors introduced H.R. 5143, The HPrize Act of 2006. 

The Full Committee on Science met on Thursday, May 3, 2006, 

to consider the bill. An amendment in the nature of a substitute 

was offered by Chairman Inglis. The amendment reduced the size 

of the largest prize, capped at $10,000,000 the federal contribution 

to that prize and set a private fundraising goal of $40,000,000 for 

that prize; and delineated some of the duties of the administering 

entity. The amendment was agreed to by a voice vote. 

The motion to adopt the bill, as amended, was agreed to by a 

voice vote. Mr. Lipinski moved that the Full Committee favorably 

report the bill, H.R. 5143, as amended, to the House with the recommendation that the bill, as amended, do pass, and that the staff 

be instructed to prepare the legislative report and make necessary 

technical and conforming changes, and that the Chairman take all 

necessary steps to bring the bill before the House for consideration. 

The motion was agreed to by a voice vote. 

VI. SUMMARY OF MAJOR PROVISIONS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

• Creates a prize program at DOE for advances in hydrogen 

technologies to be administered through a private, non-profit entity 

(‘‘the administering entity’’). DOE is to award three types of prizes 

(described below). 

• Establishes prizes of not more than $1 million to be awarded 

every other year to the best technology advancements in components or systems related to each of hydrogen production, hydrogen 

storage, hydrogen distribution, and hydrogen utilization. 

• Establishes a prize of not more than $4 million to be awarded 

for prototypes of hydrogen-powered vehicles or hydrogen-based 

products that best meet or exceed objective performance criteria. 


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Awards for the prototype prize are to be given in alternate years 

from the technology advancement prizes. 

• Establishes a prize of at least $10 million to be awarded for 

transformational changes in technologies for the production and 

distribution of hydrogen that meet or exceed far-reaching objective 

criteria. Limits the federal contribution to $10,000,000, and sets a 

private fundraising goal of $40,000,000. Prize money over 

$10,000,000 may be provided as matching funds for every dollar of 

private funding raised by the winner for the continued development 

and commercialization of their winning technology. 

• Enumerates duties of the ‘‘administering entity.’’ These include 

broad advertising of the prizes and their results, fundraising for 

administrative costs and cash prizes, working with the Secretary to 

develop prize criteria based on goals provided by the Secretary; 

working with the Secretary to determine the appropriate prize 

amounts to be awarded under the transformational changes prize 

category; and selecting judges using criteria developed in consultation with the Secretary. 

• Authorizes $11,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 

2016, of which not more than $2,000,000 each year may be spent 

on administrative costs. • Sunsets the ability to announce new prize contests in 2017. 

VII. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS (BY TITLE AND SECTION) OF THE

BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title 

The H-Prize Act of 2006. 

Sec. 2. Definitions 

Defines ‘‘Administering Entity’’, ‘‘Department’’ and ‘‘Secretary’’. 

Sec. 3. Prize authority 

Requires the Secretary of Energy to create a prize to advance the 

research, development, demonstration and commercial application 

of hydrogen energy technologies. 

Requires the Secretary to advertise the prize competitions widely 

to encourage broad participation, including outreach to historically 

Black colleges and universities, other minority serving institutions, 

as well as large and small businesses, including minority and disadvantaged businesses. Includes a specific direction to announce 

the prize competitions through publication of a Federal Register 

notice. 

Requires the Secretary to enter into an agreement with a private, non-profit entity to administer the prize competitions. Enumerates the duties of the administering entity to include advertising the prizes and their results, fundraising for administrative 

costs and cash prizes, working with the Secretary to develop prize 

criteria based upon goals provided by the Secretary, working with 

the Secretary to determine the appropriate amounts for prizes 

awarded under the transformational changes prize category described in section 4, and selecting judges using criteria developed 

in consultation with the Secretary. 

Authorizes the Secretary to use appropriated funds and private 

funds raised by the administering entity to fund the prize program. 


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Prohibits the announcement of any prize competition until sufficient funds are available. Sunsets the authority to announce prize 

competitions in 2017. 

Sec. 4. Prize categories 

Defines prize categories for: 

(i) Components or Systems Advancements. Establishes up to four prizes of not more than $1 million awarded every other year to the 

best technology advancements in components or systems related to 

hydrogen production, hydrogen storage, hydrogen distribution, and 

hydrogen utilization. Provides the Secretary the discretion to reduce the amount or number of prizes based upon the availability 

of funds. 

(ii) Prototypes. Establishes a prize of not more than $4 million 

for prototypes of hydrogen-powered vehicles or hydrogen-based 

products that best meet or exceed objective performance criteria. 

Awards prototype prizes in years that alternate with the technology advancement prizes. Prohibits the Secretary from awarding 

the prize if no entrant meets the objectively defined performance 

criteria. 

(iii) Transformational Changes. Establishes a minimum $10,000,000 lump sum prize award for transformational changes in 

technologies for the production and distribution of hydrogen that 

meet or exceed far-reaching objective criteria. Limits the federal 

contribution to $10,000,000, and sets a private fundraising goal of 

$40,000,000. Prize money over $10,000,000 may be provided as 

matching funds for every dollar of private funding raised by the 

winner for the continued development and commercialization of 

their winning technology. 

Requires the Secretary to establish contest criteria through consultation with the Hydrogen Technical Advisory Committee, other 

federal agencies including the National Science Foundation, and 

private organizations including the National Academy of Sciences. 

Requires the Secretary to appoint contest judges from outside 

DOE, including from the private sector. Prevents individuals who 

have a personal or financial relationship with any contest participant from serving as judges. 

Sec. 5. Eligibility 

Requires participants to register through the process published 

in the Federal Register. To be eligible, private entities must be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the U.S. 

and individuals must be a U.S. citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence in the U.S. Excludes from participation any Federal entities or Federal or national laboratory employees acting within the scope of their employment. 

Sec. 6. Intellectual property 

Prevents the Federal Government from receiving intellectual 

property rights through the operation of the prize contests. 

Sec. 7. Liability 

Requires registered participants to waive certain claims against 

the Federal Government and related entities resulting from participation in prize competition activities. Requires registered particiVerDate Aug 31 2005 19:29 May 13, 2006 Jkt 049006 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR456.XXX HR456

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pants to have liability insurance against damages resulting from 

participation in any prize competition activity and to name the 

Federal Government as an additional insured entity. 

Sec. 8. Authorization of appropriations 

Authorizes $11 million for each of fiscal years 2007 through 

2016, and prevents funds from being used for any other purpose for 

at least 10 fiscal years after the fiscal year in which they were appropriated. Limits the use of appropriated funds for administrative 

expenses to no more than $2 million in any fiscal year. 

Sec. 9. Nonsubstitution 

Expresses the sense of Congress that the prize competitions shall 

not act as a substitute for any research and development programs. 

VIII. COMMITTEE VIEWS

Appropriateness of prizes 

The Committee believes that prizes can be a useful tool to help 

stimulate technological advancement. The language of this Act is 

based on the prize program created in the NASA Authorization Act 

of 2005 (P.L. 109–155). 

Prizes can help accelerate the pace of technological advancement. 

For example, in 2004 and 2005, the Defense Advanced Research 

Projects Agency (DARPA) ran a prize competition in which teams 

designed and built an autonomous ground vehicle that had to navigate a 131-mile course through the Mojave Desert. In 2005, three 

of 23 entrants finished the course. Just one year prior, none of 15 

entrants completed that year’s course. 

Prizes can also draw more private funds into solving key techno- logical challenges. For example, the $10 million Ansari X Prize was 

awarded in 2004 after SpaceShipOne, a privately built three-person 

craft, made a required second flight 62 miles (100 km) above the 

surface of the Earth within a two-week period. The X Prize Foundation reports that the 26 teams from around the world that entered the competition collectively spent more than $100 million to 

win the $10 million prize. 

Prizes can also help bring public attention to new technologies. 

The best example of this is probably the Orteig Prize, which was 

awarded to Charles Lindbergh in 1927 for the first non-stop transAtlantic airplane flight. Mobbed by crowds when he landed outside 

Paris, Lindbergh’s flight changed the way the public thought about 

aviation. According to a witness at the Committee’s April 27, 2006 

hearing, the number of passengers increased 30-fold, the number 

of planes quadrupled, and the number of pilots tripled in the 

United States within 18 months of Lindbergh’s historic flight. 

Prize competitions can also help experts evaluate the state of 

technology development, enabling funding to be devoted to the 

most pressing questions. For example, the DARPA Grand Challenge Race, mentioned above, pointed out where the greatest weaknesses were in the design of autonomous vehicles. 

Prize competitions also allow for many different technical solutions to be tried out as the prizes are awarded for achieving a specific goal, not for developing a particular, preordained technology. 

Prize competitions may also draw interest from a wide variety of 


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participants, including those who were initially working in other 

fields and those who do not have the desire or the means to participate in grant programs. 

Design of prizes in H.R. 5143 

The Act requires that the Secretary and the administering entity 

work together, in consultation with outside groups (including those 

named in section 4(c)), to develop the criteria for the prizes. The 

criteria are to be based on technical goals set by the Secretary to 

advance the development of hydrogen technologies. In setting those 

goals, the Committee expects the Secretary to take into account 

progress being made under DOE’s research and development grant 

programs. Goals could be set, for example, to leap ahead of 

progress in the grant programs, to integrate advances achieved 

through the grant programs, or to determine what problems the 

grant programs should focus on. The Committee also expects the 

goals to include minimizing overall carbon emissions from hydrogen production, hydrogen storage, hydrogen distribution, or hydrogen utilization. 

The prizes created by section 4(a)(1) are designed to ensure 

steady progress and ongoing interest in hydrogen technologies. The 

advancement prizes in this Act are best-entry contests that should 

recognize substantive performance improvements. The Secretary 

and the administering entity are to set criteria that are as objective 

as possible to determine the winners and should not award a prize 

in a contest if no registered participant in a category has significantly advanced the state of technology. Advancement prizes 

should do more than reward the barely better, the slightly faster, 

or the marginally cheaper. 

Appropriately designed, the Committee believes that these advancement prizes have the potential to attract developers and manufacturers of hydrogen components or systems who may not otherwise see their products as applicable to the transportation sector. 

Best-entry contests of this type also have the potential to provide 

useful information to the ongoing DOE research program about the 

depth, breadth and technical strength of technologists beyond those 

who would normally participate in DOE research programs. 

The Committee intends the advancement prizes for hydrogen utilization to include not only energy conversion technologies, such as 

fuel cells, but also ‘‘enabling technologies.’’ These ‘‘enabling technologies’’ include, but are not limited to, power train systems, control system technologies, and batteries or technologies that allow 

integration of hydrogen-fueled components into plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. 

The prizes created in section 4(a)(2) are designed to promote the 

integration of hydrogen technologies in prototypes. The Act requires that the prizes be awarded to prototypes that meet an objective contest goal established in advance, such as a race for a hydrogen-powered vehicle to go the farthest, go the fastest or operate in 

the coldest environment. The DARPA contest for autonomous vehicles is one model for this prize. Aside from the excitement of a race, 

a particular strength of prototype contests is their ability to reveal 

unexpected sources of failure when independently developed components are forced to operate together, facing unexpected conditions in the real world. 


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The prizes created in section 4(a)(3) are designed to promote 

transformational advances related to the distribution or production 

of hydrogen. With adequate publicity announcing such a prize and 

the societal benefits that its success would yield, the transformational changes prize may induce innovators to approach a 

new goal in radically different and wholly unexpected ways. The 

Committee expects this prize to be used to stimulate work on the 

most difficult hurdles blocking the path to a hydrogen economy 

such as finding an affordable way to store an adequate amount of 

hydrogen on-board a vehicle. 

Announcing and advertising prizes 

The Act makes clear that no prize competition can be announced 

until the full amount of the announced prize is in hand, whether 

from Federal appropriations or the administering entity, or both. 

DOE may subsequently increase the announced size of the prize, 

but again only if the additional amount is in hand. The Secretary 

must make sure that there is no quid pro quo, real or apparent, 

with regard to private contributions to the administering entity, 

i.e., that the contribution will not raise conflict of interest issues 

either in the prize program or any other DOE program. 

The Committee expects that both DOE and the administering entity will fund and engage in efforts to publicize the competitions 

and the winners. DOE administrative funds authorized by the Act 

may be used for that purpose. 

Administering entity 

The Committee expects that DOE will carry out an open competition to select the private, non-profit entity to administer the prize 

competitions through standard procurement procedures. 

While much of the day-to-day operation of the prize program will 

fall to the administering entity, the Secretary is ultimately responsible for the program, which is awarding a Federal prize. The Committee expects the Secretary to ensure that Federal funds are being 

used efficiently and effectively by the administering entity. The 

Secretary should encourage the administering entity to cover its 

administrative costs with privately raised funds. 

The Act divides duties between the Secretary and administering 

entity to maximize the success of the program. For example, the 

Secretary and the administering entity are to work together to set 

the criteria for selecting judges to ensure that the public interest 

will be well served in the selection. But the actual selection is left 

to the administering entity to ensure independence from DOE so 

that the contest is not biased toward technologies in which DOE 

has an interest. 

The Secretary may assign duties to the administering entity beyond those enumerated in the Act, but remains ultimately responsible for the prize competition and for adherence to the Act. 

The Secretary must ensure that nothing about a contest—the 

way the technology or activity is described, the way winners will 

be judged, the way judges are selected—introduces a bias. 

Funding sources 

The administering entity may contribute funds to any of the 

prizes created by the Act, and any prize awarded under the Act 


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may commingle public and private funds. The administering entity 

and the Secretary should work together to determine the appropriate size for each award based on the nature of the challenge, the 

number of potential participants and the availability of funds. 

However, no prize may exceed the maximum amounts allowed by 

the Act or be less than the minimum amount required by the Act, 

regardless of the source of funds. 

Eligibility 

The Act, in keeping with past Committee practice, requires that 

companies participating be based in the U.S. That requirement allows the participation of U.S.-based subsidiaries of foreign companies if they are incorporated in and maintain a primary place of 

business in the U.S. 

Under the Act, federal and National laboratory employees may 

participate in prize competitions in the same fashion as any other 

eligible party as long as they are not acting within the scope of 

their employment, and are abiding by all applicable regulations regarding outside activities. 

Intellectual property 

The Committee expects the administering entity to prevent the 

unauthorized use or disclosure of a registered participant’s trade 

secrets, intellectual property, or other confidential information. 

Authorization of appropriations 

The Committee intends for the federal contribution to the 

$10,000,000 transformational changes prize to be provided over the 

first two years after enactment. 

The Act makes clear that funds appropriated for the prize competition are ‘‘no year’’ funds. Such funds are absolutely unavailable 

for any other purpose, and may not be reprogrammed until at least 

10 years have elapsed from the initial appropriation. Any funds reprogrammed after 10 years would continue to be ‘‘no year’’ funds. 

The Committee expects the Department to make available to the 

Congress, on request, any information relating to the prize program. 

Relationship to existing energy prizes 

The Act requires that any prize program DOE operates relating 

to hydrogen be carried out in accordance with the Act. DOE may 

develop inducement prize programs in areas other than hydrogen 

under the authority provided in section 1008 of the Energy Policy 

Act of 2005 (P.L. 109–58) or other authorities. If DOE chooses to 

create additional new inducement prize programs, the Committee 

expects the Secretary to review the H-Prize program to determine 

the extent to which other prizes should be similarly administered. 

IX. COST ESTIMATE

A cost estimate and comparison prepared by the Director of the 

Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional 

Budget Act of 1974 has been timely submitted to the Committee on 

Science prior to the filing of this report and is included in Section 

X of this report pursuant to House Rule XIII, clause 3(c)(3). H.R. 

5143 does not contain new budget authority, credit authority, or 


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changes in revenues or tax expenditures. Assuming that the sums 

authorized under the bill are appropriated, H.R. 5143 does authorize additional discretionary spending, as described in the Congressional Budget Office report on the bill, which is contained in Section X of this report. 

X. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

MAY 5, 2006. 

Hon. SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT, 

Chairman, Committee on Science, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed estimate for H.R. 5143, the H-Prize Act of 2006. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Lisa Cash Driskill. 

Sincerely, 

DONALD B. MARRON, Acting Director. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 5143—H-Prize Act of 2006 

Summary: H.R. 5143 would authorize the appropriation of $11 

million a year over the 2007–2016 period for a new program at the 

Department of Energy (DOE) to award prize money for achievements in the development of hydrogen energy technologies could include advances in the production and storage of hydrogen, advancements in hydrogen-powered vehicles, or innovations that transform 

hydrogen distribution and production technologies for energy purposes. The bill would require DOE to enter into an agreement with 

a private, nonprofit entity to administer the prize competition. 

Such an entity may contribute its own funds toward the prices authorized in the bill. 

Assuming the availability of appropriated funds, and based on information from DOE, CBO estimates that implementing the prize 

program would cost $2 million in 2007 and $39 million over the 

2007–2011 period (with additional spending of the authorized 

amounts after 2011). We estimate that enacting the bill would have 

no effect on direct spending or revenues. H.R. 5143 contains no 

intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA); any costs to state, local, or 

tribal governments would be incurred voluntarily. 

Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated budgetary impact of H.R. 5143 is shown in the following table. The bill 

would authorize the appropriation of $11 million a year over the 

2007–2016 period to administer and award prizes for advancements in technologies using hydrogen. The costs of this legislation 

fall within budget function 250 (general science, space, and technology). 

By fiscal year, in millions of dollars— 

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 

CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION 

Authorization Level ........................................................................................ 11 11 11 11 11 


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By fiscal year, in millions of dollars—

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 

Estimated Outlays ......................................................................................... 2 7 10 10 10 

Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 5143 contains 

no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defind in 

UMRA. Funding authorized in the bill may benefit institutions of 

higher education that compete for funds in connection with hydrogen research. Any costs they might incur to comply with the requirements of the competition would be incurred voluntarily. 

Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Lisa Cash Driskill; Impact 

on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Lisa Ramirez-Branum; 

Impact on the Private Sector: Craig Cammarata. 

Estimate approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

XI. COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4 (UNFUNDED MANDATES) 

H.R. 5143 contains no unfunded mandates. 

XII. COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The Committee on Science’s oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in the body of this report. 

XIII. STATEMENT ON GENERAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND

OBJECTIVES

Pursuant to clause (3)(c) of House rule XIII, the goals of H.R. 

5143 are to establish a Program of inducement prizes to reward advancements in the development of components or systems, prototypes and transformational changes related to the production, distribution, storage and utilization of hydrogen as a transportation 

fuel; and, to authorize appropriations for DOE to carry out the Program. 

XIV. CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United States 

grants Congress the authority to enact H.R. 5143. 

XV. FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

H.R. 5143 does not create any advisory committees. 

XVI. CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

The Committee finds that H.R. 5143 does not relate to the terms 

and conditions of employment or access to public services or accommodations within the meaning of section 102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act (Public Law 104–1). 

XVII. STATEMENT ON PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL, OR TRIBAL

LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any state, local, or tribal law. 


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XVIII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

This legislation does not amend any existing Federal statute. 

XIX. COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS

On May 3, 2006, the Committee on Science favorably reported 

H.R. 5143, The H-Prize Act of 2006, by a voice vote, and recommended its enactment. 


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XX. PROCEEDINGS OF THE FULL COMMITTEE 

MARKUP ON H.R. 5143, THE H-PRIZE ACT OF 

2006 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2006 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, 

Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 3:34 p.m. in Room 2318, 

Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Sherwood L. Boehlert [Chairman of the Committee] Presiding. 

Chairman BOEHLERT. Good afternoon. The Science Committee 

will come to order. Pursuant to notice the Committee on Science 

meets to consider the following measure: H.R. 5143, the H-Prize Act 

of 2006. 

I ask unanimous consent for the authority to recess the Committee at any point during consideration of these matters. And 

without objection, it is so ordered. 

We will now proceed with the markup beginning with the opening statements, and I will begin. 

I want to welcome everyone to what I assume will be a very brief 

markup. I know how busy everyone is, and I appreciate the cooperation of all. This is on a bill to push a set of technologies that 

could turn out to be a key to the U.S. energy future. 

Let me begin by thanking Chairman Inglis for bringing this idea 

forward and for Mr. Lipinski for introducing the bill with him, 

Chairman Biggert for her tireless efforts to improve the bill and for 

making sure we stay on course on our efforts to promote a comprehensive research and development agenda, Ms. Jackson Lee for 

her helpful amendment recognizing the role that could be played 

by minority education institutions and businesses, and all the 

Members of this committee who have co-sponsored this bill. 

The bill before us today is one sensible element of a comprehensive strategy to give the American people more energy options than 

they have today. If—and admittedly it is a big if—if we can figure 

out ways to make hydrogen affordable using nuclear or renewable 

fuels, and if we can figure out how to—ways to make affordable, 

practical hydrogen storage tanks and fuel cells, then we will be 

able to tap a non-polluting fuel. The potential benefits are worth 

the effort. 

And precisely before the technology is long-range, prizes are a 

logical way to get as many people working on hydrogen in as many 

ways as possible. This is a useful supplement to our ongoing Department of Energy research and development programs, all of 


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which must continue. So this is a simple, logical bill that builds on 

our past interests in prize programs. Guess what? When there is 

a prize, a lot of people want to get it, and we want to have it 

awarded. 

The amendment that Mr. Inglis will offer improves the bill in response to last week’s testimony and concerns expressed by Members, including me. The substitute will clarify the responsibilities 

of whatever private entity DOE contracts with to run the program. 

And the substitute reduces the financial exposure of the Federal 

Government by an order of magnitude. 

So I think we are ready to move forward on this bill, which I expect to be on the House Floor this month, and I urge its adoption. 

[The prepared statement of Chairman Boehlert follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN SHERWOOD L. BOEHLERT

I want to welcome everyone to what I assume will be a very brief markup on a 

bill to push a set of technologies that could turn out to be a key to the U.S. energy 

future. 

Let me begin by thanking Chairman Inglis for bringing this idea forward and Mr. 

Lipinski for introducing the bill with him; Chairman Biggert for her tireless efforts 

to improve the bill and for making sure we stay on course in our efforts to promote 

a comprehensive R&D agenda; Ms. Jackson-Lee for her helpful amendment recognizing the role that could be played by minority education institutions and businesses; and all the Members of this committee who have co-sponsored this bill. 

The bill before us today is one sensible element of a comprehensive strategy to 

give the American people more energy options than they have today. If—and admittedly it’s a big if—if we can figure out ways to make hydrogen affordably using nuclear or renewable fuels, and if we can figure out ways to make affordable, practical 

hydrogen storage tanks and fuel cells, then we will be able to tap a non-polluting 

fuel. The potential benefits are worth the effort. 

And precisely because the technology is long-range, prizes are a logical way to get 

as many people working on hydrogen in as many ways as possible. This is a useful 

supplement to our ongoing Department of Energy (DOE) research and development 

(R&D) programs, which must and will continue. 

So this is a simple, logical bill that builds on our past interest in prize programs. 

The amendment that Mr. Inglis will offer improves the bill in response to last 

week’s testimony and concerns expressed by Members, including me. The substitute 

will clarify the responsibilities of whatever private entity DOE contracts with to run 

the program. And the substitute reduces the financial exposure of the Federal Government by an order of magnitude. 

So I think we’re ready to move forward on this bill, which I expect will be on the 

House Floor this month. 

I urge its adoption. 

Chairman BOEHLERT. And I am glad to yield to my distinguished 

colleague Mr. Lipinski. 

Mr. LIPINSKI. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

What may be the brevity of this markup really belies the importance of this bill. And I would like to thank the Chairman for working so closely with us to make changes and make sure we can get 

this bill through the Committee and hopefully to the Floor very 

quickly. 

I am pleased to be here today for the markup of H.R. 5143, The 

H-Prize Act of 2006. I would like to thank Mr. Inglis for taking 

leadership on this important issue, and I am proud to have joined 

with the gentleman from South Carolina in introducing this creative legislation. 

It is obvious to all of us here the damage being caused by our 

current energy situation. Gas prices have skyrocketed over the last 

few weeks, inflicting pain on our constituents and on our economy. 


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But the costs not only affect our pocketbooks, they affect our health 

and our safety. 

We cannot continue the pollution of our environment, and we 

cannot continue to rely on energy sources from unstable parts of 

the world. We must find a new solution to our energy needs. 

Hydrogen has a great potential to be a solution, but the technical 

and economic barriers are significant. By focusing specifically on 

hydrogen, the H-Prize will help us confront and solve these challenges. This will be done by rewarding innovation for specific advances in storage, production, utilization and distribution; and also 

rewarding one grand prize for special breakthrough in hydrogen 

energy. 

The environmental promise of hydrogen is great because it produces no emissions besides water when it is used as an energy 

source. Zero polluting emissions. But right now hydrogen is most 

efficiently created by using fossil fuels, which is not the most environmentally friendly or secure method. That is why the H-Prize rewards the development of more efficient ways to use renewable energy sources to create hydrogen so we can lessen or greenhouse gas 

emissions and improve our air quality. 

America has been at the forefront of new technologies for more 

than a century because our society encourages creativity and 

imagination while protecting property rights and promoting entrepreneurship. As we heard from our four distinguished witnesses 

last week, prizes can have the potential to spur innovation and ingenuity. 

It is important to emphasize that the H-Prize will not replace the 

scientific research that the Federal Government funds, but the HPrize will tap into America’s creativity and imagination to solve 

one of the greatest problems facing us today. 

Breakthroughs in hydrogen R&D, which I believe this bill will induce, will unfortunately not lower energy prices this year or next, 

but it will help our country address our long-term energy needs in 

a unique way. 

I would like to thank the Chairman again for the work on this 

bill. I look forward to working on more important energy legislation, working together on that in the future, and I urge my colleagues to vote for the H-Prize bill. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Lipinski follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE DANIEL LIPINSKI

Thank you, Mr. Chairman; I am pleased to be here today for the markup on H.R. 

5143, The H-Prize Act of 2006. I would like to thank Mr. Inglis for taking leadership 

on this important issue and I am proud to have introduced this creative legislation 

with the gentleman from South Carolina. 

It is obvious to all of us here the damage being caused by our current energy situation. Gas prices have skyrocketed over the last few weeks, inflicting pain on our 

constituents and on our economy. But the costs not only affect our pocketbooks, they 

affect our health and safety. We cannot continue the pollution of our environment 

and we cannot continue to rely on energy sources from unstable parts of the world. 

We must find a new solution to our energy needs. 

Hydrogen has great potential to be a solution. But the technical and economic barriers are significant. By focusing specifically on hydrogen, the H-Prize will help us 

confront and solve these challenges. This will be done by rewarding innovation for 

specific advances in storage, production, utilization, and distribution, and also 

awarding one grand prize for a special breakthrough in hydrogen energy. 


dsatterwhite on PROD1PC76 with REPORTS
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The environmental promise of hydrogen is also great. Hydrogen produces no emission besides water as an energy source. Zero polluting emissions. But right now, hydrogen is most efficiently created by using fossil fuels, which is not the most environmentally-friendly or secure method. That is why the H-Prize rewards the development of more efficient ways to use renewable energy sources to create hydrogen, 

so we can lessen our greenhouse gas emissions and improve our air quality. 

America has been at the forefront of new technologies for more than a century 

because our society encourages creativity and imagination, while protecting property 

rights and promoting entrepreneurship. As we heard from our four distinguished 

witnesses last week, prizes can have the potential to spur innovation and ingenuity. 

It is important to emphasize that the H-Prize will not replace the scientific research 

that the Federal Government funds. But the H-Prize will tap into American’s cre- ativity and imagination to solve one of the greatest problems facing us today. 

Breakthroughs in hydrogen R&D, which I believe this bill will induce, unfortunately will not lower energy prices this year or next. But it will help our country 

address our long-term energy needs in a unique way. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I encourage all of my colleagues to vote for the 

H-Prize bill. I yield back the balance of my time. 

Chairman BOEHLERT. Thank you very much, Mr. Lipinski. And 

I want to thank you personally for your leadership in this issue. 

It is nice to have an engineer’s perspective as we deal with some 

of these subjects. 

Without objection, Members may place statements in the record 

at this point. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Johnson follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member. 

A collective spirit of innovation has been one of America’s greatest assets. 

With gas prices soaring higher than ever before, the American public looks to its 

elected officials to devise a national plan to attain independence from foreign oil. 

My home state of Texas is an ‘‘energy-producing state.’’ For many years, Texas has 

been in the business of drilling oil, refining petroleum, and producing energy. 

Texas is also an enterprising state with the foresight and resources to invest in 

the future. From nanotechnology to agricultural research and development, my state 

has led the way. 

Just this week, a Texas sugar grower came to my office and stated that they have 

made the sugar agricultural and refining process so efficient that the company actually produces energy from incinerating its cane solid waste. The incineration actually produces electricity, which they sell to the local grid and is enough power to 

fuel a town of two thousand people. Now that’s innovation! 

H.R. 5143, introduced by my colleague Representative Inglis, is a step in the right 

direction with regard to our hydrogen economy. I feel it is important to fund initiatives that spur innovation and encourages bright minds to address pressing problems facing our society. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Jackson Lee follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE SHEILA JACKSON LEE

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. I appreciate all of the 

Members who agreed with me in considering my recommended provisions to be important and for incorporating my provisions into the bill. 

The need for hydrogen energy research is vital in a time when our dependence 

on foreign oil is playing a heavy burden on our economy. I welcome such a program 

which will lead to advancements related to hydrogen production, storage, distribution, and utilization. Research in alternative energy sources is crucial for our nation 

to prosper. Fostering and providing incentives for such programs is a positive step 

in the right direction. 

Many experts consider hydrogen gas to be a promising fuel, particularly in the 

transportation sector. Used as transportation fuel, Hydrogen has the potential in 

helping overcoming, reducing or eliminating air pollution generated by cars and 

trucks. The Hydrogen Prize Act will help promote potentially innovative results that 

will reduce technical and other barriers to the advancement of hydrogen technologies. 


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I was particularly concerned that the Hydrogen Prize program be widely advertised to historically black colleges and universities and other minority serving institutions. I am interested also in that the Hydrogen Prize program is advertised to 

women and disadvantaged small businesses. Minorities, women and disadvantaged 

enterprises can contribute significantly in these programs. That is why it is essential that these groups be informed about such projects. 

Therefore, I am very pleased that the bill incorporates the requirement to advertise widely so minority, women and disadvantaged businesses learn about the opportunity. 

With that, I can support the bill. 

Thank you again, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. 

Chairman BOEHLERT. We will now consider H.R. 5143, The HPrize Act of 2006. I ask unanimous consent that the bill is considered as read and open to amendment at any point, and that Members proceed with the amendments in the order of the roster. 

Without objection, so ordered. 

The first amendment on the roster is an amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by the gentleman from South Carolina 

Mr. Inglis. I ask unanimous consent that the amendment in the 

nature of a substitute be treated as the original text for purposes 

of amendment under the five-minute rule. 

Without objection, so ordered. 

Mr. Inglis, are you ready to proceed. 

Mr. INGLIS. I am, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman BOEHLERT. The Clerk will report the amendment. 

The CLERK. Amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by 

Mr. Inglis of South Carolina. 

Chairman BOEHLERT. I ask unanimous consent to dispense with 

the reading. 

Without objection, so ordered. 

And the gentleman is recognized for five minutes to explain the 

substitute amendment. 

Mr. INGLIS. First of all, Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you for 

moving this bill so quickly, and thank Mr. Lipinski for his work in 

being one of our prime co-sponsors, and very much appreciate the 

bipartisan way in which this is advancing. 

We have here an amendment in the nature of a substitute that 

fixes some things that were revealed in the course of our hearing 

last week, really one of the most helpful hearings that I have been 

to in my time in Congress because we had excellent witnesses that 

made some helpful suggestions. 

The substitute works to define ‘‘administering entity’’ and provides further clarity in the role of the Secretary of Energy and the 

duties that the Secretary will have in administrating or setting up 

the administrating entity. It will also—the substitute also addresses some advertising, fund-raising, criteria development and transformational prize amount, and judge selection issues. 

In fact, I was just speaking with one of our colleagues about 

what we hope to improve even further by report language, and that 

is further direction to the Secretary to come up with the clearest 

metrics possible that we know when someone has clearly won the 

prize. As you recall from Peter Diamandis’ testimony, that was an 

essential element of the X-Prize. 

The substitute creates different prize amounts than the bill as 

original introduced. Originally we had $100 million grand prize offered within 10 years. Now that will be a $10 million grand prize, 


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but with the goal of $40 million being raised from private funds. 

It is important to note that that $40 million flows out in a dollarfor-dollar match to the venture capital that the winner has 

amassed. 

So it is a test to make certain that the winner not just has a 

technology that can technically work, but rather one that the market is ready to embrace, which, of course, is the government’s objective in this, which is to get all the way to the marketplace rather 

than simply have a technology that we can put on the shelf. So the substitute sets up a $10 million prize—grand prize with the goal of raising $40 million in private funds that would be the 

matching portion of that grand prize. It is important to note that 

the federal contribution to the grand prize will be limited to $10 

million in deference to a number of colleagues who expressed concern that $10 million was sufficient. So it is possible, I would point 

out, that the private fund-raising could outstrip that $40 million 

amount, which would be all the better, in my opinion. 

The substitute also makes changes in the authorizing—authorized amounts. The substitute would authorize $11 million per year, 

which includes not more than $2 million for administration expenses—$2 million annually. 

Another change in the substitute is that the funds would expire 

in 10 fiscal years after the fiscal year in which they were first appropriated, rather than remaining available until expended. The 

reason for that is to push toward a granting of a prize within 10 

years. 

Finally, the substitute incorporates helpful language suggested 

by Ms. Jackson Lee that ensures that the prize advertising efforts 

reach out to minority colleges, universities and institutions, and 

minority and disadvantaged businesses, and we were happy to receive her suggestion there. 

And, Mr. Chairman, as a baseball fan that you are, I note that 

you see this as an opportunity for a triple play. It really is an opportunity for a great triple play for us. We can clean up the air if 

we can get to hydrogen, we can create a lot of new jobs and expand 

our economy, and we can also make a more secure country by ending our addiction to oil. So it really is an opportunity for a triple 

play, and I thank you for moving the bill so rapidly. 

Chairman BOEHLERT. Mr. Inglis, if can you keep coming up with 

triple plays, I can guarantee you a spot in the Baseball Hall of 

Fame. 

Mr. Miller. 

Mr. MILLER. Thank you. Strike the last word, Mr. Chairman. 

Chairman BOEHLERT. The gentleman is recognized for five minutes. 

Mr. MILLER. Thank you. I will support this bill, but I hope we 

are back here sometime soon to create an E-Prize and perhaps a 

C-Prize. I think we should be proceeding on several fronts at one 

time, not putting all of our emphasis on hydrogen as a solution to 

our energy needs. 

I agree with Mr. Inglis of what we need to accomplish. I think 

we need to find a source of energy that is sustainable, that does 

not make us dependent for 60 percent of our fuel on the most unstable parts of the world, and that we have an energy source that 


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does not produce greenhouse gases that may and probably is 

changing our climate, perhaps with cataclysmic results. 

So I want all the same runners out that Mr. Inglis wants out, 

but I am not sure that we need to put all of our emphasis on hydrogen as the way to do it. Many who are expert in this area are skeptical that hydrogen is the best solution to our needs. And I would 

strongly recommend, Mr. Chairman, that we develop similar legislation to create an energy prize, an E-Prize, a conservation prize, 

a C-Prize. 

One of the witnesses last week is trying to develop a prize for 

an automobile that will get 100 miles to the gallon and an automobile that is commercially feasible. One hundred miles a gallon; 

now we are talking. That would really, really make a difference in 

our economy, in our environment, and in our role in the world in 

not having to be as dependent as we are upon very frightening governments around the world. 

So I will produce—I will support this legislation. But again, I 

hope that we will come back and continue to focus on all the potential solutions to our energy problem. 

Chairman BOEHLERT. Thank you very much. And just let me say, 

I agree with the gentleman’s observations. We don’t need prizes for 

everything, but we need some good, sound policies for a lot of 

things that we don’t have sound policies for. So I look forward to 

continuing to work productively and cooperatively with the gentleman. 

Is there anyone else who seeks recognition? 

Mr. Rohrabacher. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Strike the last word. 

Chairman BOEHLERT. The gentleman is recognized. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Chairman, I oppose H.R. 5143, The HPrize Act of 2006. Energy policy, of course, is critically important 

to the United States of America for a number of reasons, as have 

already been stated. And I would like to congratulate Chairman 

Inglis and yourself and others who are trying to reach out and do 

something to further the cause of energy independence, et cetera. 

And I understand the leadership that you two are certainly demonstrating, and I appreciate that. 

But this bill has several flaws which I would—which cause me 

to oppose it, and if they can be corrected, or if we can work out 

some of the details before it gets to the Floor, maybe there might 

be an amendment on the Floor that would permit me to support 

the legislation. But by its nature, we have just heard one criticism 

from someone who is going to support it. Mr. Miller mentioned we 

should have an E-Prize, an energy prize, rather than just a hydrogen prize, and I agree with that sentiment. That is, we should not 

just be singling out hydrogen from biomass, nuclear energy, solar 

energy, hydrocarbon extraction, or other types of ideas as a means 

of achieving our energy goals. 

So this does just focus on hydrogen. However, this is a step forward. I mean, if we have some success in hydrogen, we recognize 

that is a step forward. That in and of itself would not warrant me 

opposing the legislation. But I do agree with the general concept. 

We should have an energy prize or a conservation prize, and maybe 

we should all just take this opportunity to commit ourselves to 


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coming up with that type of an approach. However, with that said, 

there are some specifics that I think need to be corrected in the 

bill. 

We heard in testimony from Dr. Peter Diamandis, who established the prize which led to Space Ship 1 and is one of the most 

successful prizes in the history, as well as we know about the other 

prizes which led to Lindbergh’s solo flight across the Atlantic; the 

DARPA Grand Challenge, which has helped tremendously in the 

creation of vehicle technology. 

Well, these things had one thing in common. All of these prizes had very defined goals. The four biennial $1 million H-prizes in 

this bill will not—they do not have this specifically designed goal. 

Instead, they will be awarded every two years to the winners determined on points by a panel of judges. 

Mr. Chairman, the prizes that succeeded are the ones for feats 

that are analogous for who is the first one to climb Mount Everest 

or the first one to go across this specific line. But this group of 

prizes are not the equivalent of winning a 100-yard dash or achieving something specifically. It is more like winning the hearts of 

judges at an ice skating competition. So, yes, the $4 million and 

$10 million prizes in the bill do seem to involve objective and specific criteria, but the others do not. 

I think this needs to be dealt with. I will be happy to work with 

Chairman Inglis and others to try to see if we can find language 

that will correct that flaw. And if we can, I will be very happy to 

support it on the Floor and work—and look forward to working 

with everyone here, including you, Mr. Chairman, and Chairman 

Inglis, on these idea of other prizes that we can further the cause 

of energy independence and conservation of energy. 

Chairman BOEHLERT. Thank you very much, Mr. Rohrabacher. 

And I always appreciate the spirit of cooperation that you evidence 

in your comments, and we look forward, Chairman Inglis and I, 

working with you. Maybe—maybe you should amend that from a 

triple play to a triple Axel. That would be appropriate. 

Is there any—Mr. Gutknecht. 

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Chairman, first of all, I think Mr. Inglis 

wanted to respond, and I would yield to him such time as he may 

need. 

Mr. INGLIS. Thank the gentleman. 

Two points. One is I agree, Mr. Rohrabacher, that we really do 

want to make these very defined goals. In other words, the metrics 

for the granting of the prize are left to the discretion of the Secretary of Energy as drafted here out of necessity. That is that we 

are not—I am not certainly an expert that would come up with the 

metrics that would work exactly right for this prize. And what we 

heard from Peter Diamandis is that you need to set the metrics 

very clearly and have a lot of thought from a lot of very helpful 

people that know the subject matter to set up the prize just right. 

So the goal is to have very clear metrics, and that is part of the 

essence of having the prize. So if there are ways that we can improve our language between here and the Floor, I am happy to do 

that. 

The other thing that I think is helpful from both Mr. Rohrabacher and Mr. Miller is there is some breakthroughs that are 


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needed in hydrogen. The difference between, I think, some of the 

technologies that Mr. Rohrabacher mentioned, like ethanol and biomass and things like that, is that they are pretty much here and 

now. There is a question of commercialization in some cases, but 

they are here and now. The challenge with hydrogen is there is 

some breakthroughs that are out there a little bit. And the beauty 

of a prize is you incentivize people, as we heard from the panel last 

week, incentivize people to go out and reach for those things without the oversight of the government, without the appropriations 

from the government, on their own dime breaking through. 

And as the former Chairman of this committee reminded me earlier this week, he told me—Bob Walker told me to tell everybody: 

Remember, if nobody wins the prize, no money flows. So you have 

to win the prize in order for the money to flow. 

So I yield back. I thank the gentleman for yielding. 

Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Chairman, reclaiming my time. 

I just want to say, based on the objections we have heard so far 

today, I don’t really think there is a reason to not move this bill 

out of this committee today. And I hope that the author and Congressman Rohrabacher will work together and with others who 

have concerns. But I think Mr. Inglis made the point exactly right 

in his last statement, and that is that nothing is going to happen 

unless somebody does something on this. 

And in many respects I remain relatively skeptical about hydrogen, even though I also believe it is sort of the holy grail. I mean, 

if we ultimately figure out how to use hydrogen, it is so abundant, 

it is so cheap, that it really will present us with an unlimited energy future. So if nobody can break through, then we won’t have 

to pay any money. And I really—if you wait until all the lights are 

on green, we will never leave the house. 

And so I think we should move this bill out of Committee today. 

Between here and the Floor, and between here and the Senate, and 

between here and Conference Committee, obviously we can make 

some adjustments. But I don’t think we should delay moving this 

bill forward today simply because we haven’t answered every single 

question about the future of hydrogen, because those questions are 

going to be answered probably beyond our term here in this body. 

Chairman BOEHLERT. Thank you very much. 

Before moving on to a vote on the substitute, I would like to take 

a few minutes to engage in a colloquy with the gentleman from Illinois Mr. Lipinski concerning the issue of intellectual property 

rights with regard to the prizes. 

Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Chairman, would the gentleman yield? 

Chairman BOEHLERT. I am glad to yield to the gentleman. 

Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Chairman, we do not have specific text of the 

amendment at this point, but I would like to raise two concerns 

with the current text of H.R. 5143 that have been raised by Democratic Members. 

First, H.R. 5143 asks participants in the competition set up 

under this bill to entrust the private nonprofit entity chosen to administer the prize competitions with such trade secrets, intellectual 

property and other confidential information as are necessary to 

choose competition winners. In the case of individuals and small 

businesses, these assets may very well be their most important 


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ones. However, the intellectual property and liability sections of the 

bill are written in terms of responsibilities and waiver of claims 

against the Federal Government and related entities. 

If we are to expect broad participation in these competitions, we 

need to be explicitly clear that after submission, the ideas remain 

those of the participant who submitted them, and that the nonprofit administrator has an affirmed duty to protect this property 

from public disclosure. 

Secondly, it is my reading of the statute that American subsidiaries of foreign companies are eligible to participate in the competition. Is that your understanding of the Committee’s intent? 

Chairman BOEHLERT. I thank the gentleman for his comments. 

We all want to make sure that a wide group of applicants are 

eligible for and actually apply under these prize competitions. You 

raise some serious concerns regarding the intellectual property and 

confidential information of the applicants, and I agree—I agree 

that we will need to address these issues in a bipartisan manner 

before the bill goes to the Floor. 

Also, the gentleman is correct that American subsidiaries of foreign companies have the same eligibility to participate as other 

U.S.-based companies. This is the standard language we use to ensure that companies involved in federal programs are operating in 

the United States. So I think we are all set. 

Are there any other amendments to the amendment in the nature of a substitute? If not, the vote occurs on the amendment in 

the nature of a substitute. 

All those in favor, signify by saying aye. 

Opposed, no. 

In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it. And the amendment is agreed to. 

Are there any other amendments? 

Hearing none, the vote is on the bill, H.R. 5143, The H-Prize Act 

of 2006, as amended. 

All those in favor, signify by saying aye. 

Opposed, no. 

In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it. 

I recognize Mr. Lipinski to offer a motion. 

Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Committee favorably report H.R. 5143, as amended, to the House with the recommendation that the bill, as amended, do pass. Furthermore, I 

move that staff be instructed to prepare the legislative report and 

make necessary technical and conforming changes, and that the 

Chairman take all necessary steps to bring the bill before the 

House for consideration. 

Chairman BOEHLERT. The question is the motion to report the 

bill as amended favorably. Those in favor of the motion will signify 

by saying aye. 

Opposed, no. 

The ayes have it, the and bill is favorably reported. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. 

I move that Members have two subsequent calendar days in 

which to submit supplemental minority or additional views on the 

measure. I further move pursuant to clause 1 of rule 22 of the 

House of Representatives that the Committee authorizes the ChairVerDate Aug 31 2005 19:29 May 13, 2006 Jkt 049006 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6601 E:\HR\OC\HR456.XXX HR456

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man to offer such motions as may be necessary in the House to 

adopt and pass H.R. 5143, The H-Prize Act of 2006, as amended. 

Without objection, so ordered. 

I want to thank Members for their attention. And it lived up to 

its advance billing. We did not take too long. 

Thank you. This markup is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 4:00 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 


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Appendix 

H.R. 5143, SUMMARY OF H.R. 5143, SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS, 

AMENDMENT ROSTER, SUMMARY OF MANAGER’S AMENDMENT TO

H.R. 5143, SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF AMENDMENT, DESCRIPTION OF MAJOR CHANGES IN THE AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE COMPARED WITH H.R. 5143 AS INTRODUCED


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SUMMARY OF H.R. 5143 

This bill is intended to create a new incentive to achieve scientific and technical breakthroughs required to accelerate the drive 

to a hydrogen economy. The following three prize programs are intended to draw new, entrepreneurial players to join the race to 

break down technical and other barriers to the advancement of hydrogen technologies. 

First, four $1 million prizes are to be awarded every other year 

to the best technology advancements in components or systems related to hydrogen production, hydrogen storage, hydrogen distribution, and hydrogen utilization. 

Next, one $4 million prize is to be awarded for prototypes of hydrogen-powered vehicles or hydrogen-based products that best meet 

or exceed objective performance criteria. Awards for prototype 

prizes alternate years with the technology advancements prize. 

Finally, one $10 million prize is to be awarded for transformational changes in technologies for the production and distribution of hydrogen that meet or exceed far-reaching objective criteria. The Secretary of Energy is authorized to provide up to $90 

million more in matching funds for every dollar of private funding 

raised by the winner for the continued development of their winning technology. 

The bill also includes provisions to: 

• Sunset the prize program in 2017; 

• Require the Secretary to enter into an agreement with a private, non-profit entity to administer the prize competitions; 

• Define contestant eligibility, waive intellectual property 

rights, waive federal liability, and require purchase of liability insurance by contestants; 

• Authorize annual appropriations of $55,000,000 for fiscal 

years 2007 through 2016 for the Department of Energy. 


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SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF

H.R. 5143, THE H-PRIZE ACT OF 2006 

Section 1. Short Title. 

The H-Prize Act of 2006. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Defines Department and Secretary. 

Sec. 3. Prize Authority. 

Requires the Secretary of Energy to create a prize to advance the 

research, development, demonstration and commercial application 

of hydrogen energy technologies. 

Requires the Secretary to advertise the prize competitions widely 

to encourage broad participation, including a specific direction to 

announce the prize competitions through publication of a Federal 

Register notice. Requires the Secretary to enter into an agreement 

with a private, non-profit entity to administer the prize competitions. Authorizes the Secretary to use funding directly appropriated 

for such purposes to the Department of Energy (DOE) or other 

agencies and to accept funds provided by private entities or individuals. Prohibits the announcement of any prize competition until 

sufficient funds are available. Sunsets the authority to award 

prizes in 2017. 

Sec. 4. Prize Categories. 

Defines prize categories for: 

(i) Components or Systems. Establishes up to four $1 million prizes awarded every other year to the best technology advancements in components or systems related 

to hydrogen production, hydrogen storage, hydrogen distribution, and hydrogen utilization. Provides the Secretary the discretion to reduce the amount or number of 

prizes based upon the availability of funds. 

(ii) Prototypes. Establishes one $4 million prize for prototypes of hydrogen-powered vehicles or hydrogen-based 

products that best meet or exceed objective performance 

criteria. Awards prototype prizes in years alternate with 

the technology advancements prize. Prohibits the Secretary from awarding the prize if no entrant meets the 

objectively defined performance criteria. 

(iii) Transformational Changes. Establishes a $10 million 

prize for transformational changes in technologies for the 

production and distribution of hydrogen that meet or exceed far-reaching objective criteria. Authorizes the Secretary to provide up to $90 million more in matching 

funds for every dollar of private funding raised by the winner for the continued development of their winning technology. Authorizes prize winners to accept these additional 

funds as cash or as a government contract equivalent to 

the prize amount. Limits the total award to $100 million. 

Requires the Secretary to establish contest criteria through consultation with the Hydrogen Technical Advisory Committee, other 

federal agencies including the National Science Foundation, and 

private organizations including the National Academy of Sciences. 


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Requires the Secretary to appoint contest judges from the private 

sector and agencies outside DOE. Excludes judges who may have 

a personal or financial relationship with any contest participant. 

Sec. 5. Eligibility. 

Requires contestants to register through the process published in 

the Federal Register. Requires contestants be incorporated and 

maintain a primary place of business in the U.S. if a private entity, 

or must be a U.S. citizen if an individual. Excludes from participation any federal entities or federal or national laboratory employees 

while on duty. 

Sec. 6. Intellectual Property. 

Waives claims by the Federal Government to any intellectual 

property rights derived from participation in the prize competitions. 

Sec. 7. Liability. 

Requires contestants to waive claims against the Federal Government resulting from participation in prize competition activities. 

Requires contestants to have liability insurance against damages 

resulting from participation in any prize competition activity and 

to name the Federal Government as an additional insured entity. 

Sec. 8. Authorization of Appropriations. 

Authorizes $55 million for each of fiscal years 2007 through 

2016. Limits the use of appropriated funds for administrative expenses to no more than $1 million in any fiscal year. 

Sec. 9. Non-substitution. 

Expresses a sense of the Congress that the prize competitions 

shall not act as a substitute for any research and development programs. 


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SUMMARY OF THE MANAGER’S AMENDMENT TO H.R. 5143 

This Manager’s Amendment is offered as an Amendment in the 

Nature of a Substitute. The changes introduced to the bill by the 

Amendment are in response to Member and witness comments expressed during the April 27, 2006 hearing. The main changes are 

to set a private sector fund raising goal of $40,000,000 for the 

transformational technologies prize; reduce and cap the federal contribution to the transformational technologies prize of $10,000,000; 

and clearly delineate the duties of the administering entity. 

Definitions: Defines the ‘‘administering entity.’’

Prize Authority: Adds language ensuring that prize advertising efforts reach out 

to historically black colleges and universities, other minority serving institutions, as 

well as large and small businesses, including minority and disadvantaged businesses. 

Enumerates the duties of the ‘‘administering entity.’’ These include advertising the prizes and their results, fundraising for administrative costs and cash prizes, working with the Secretary to 

develop prize criteria based upon goals provided by the Secretary, 

working with the Secretary to determine the appropriate amounts 

prizes awarded under the transformational changes category described in section 4, and selecting judges using criteria developed 

in consultation with the Secretary. 

Prize Categories: For transformational technologies, creates a minimum 

$10,000,000 lump sum prize award, limits the federal contribution to $10,000,000, 

and sets a private fundraising goal of $40,000,000 for the matching funds portion 

of the transformational prize. 

Authorization of Appropriations: Reduces the annual authorization of appropriations from $55,000,000 to $11,000,000. Increases the limitation on administrative 

expenses within the total authorization from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000. 

Inserts a limitation on the carryover of funds. Funds expire 10 

fiscal years after the fiscal year in which they were appropriated 

rather than remaining available until expended. 


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SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE

AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE TO

H.R. 5143, THE H-PRIZE ACT OF 2006 

Section 1. Short Title. 

The H-Prize Act of 2006. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Defines Administering Entity, Department and Secretary. 

Sec. 3. Prize Authority. 

Requires the Secretary of Energy to create a prize to advance the 

research, development, demonstration and commercial application 

of hydrogen energy technologies. 

Requires the Secretary to advertise the prize competitions widely 

to encourage broad participation, including outreach to historically 

black colleges and universities, other minority serving institutions, 

as well as large and small businesses, including minority and disadvantaged businesses. Includes a specific direction to announce 

the prize competitions through publication of a Federal Register notice. 

Requires the Secretary to enter into an agreement with a private, non-profit entity to administer the prize competitions. Enumerates the duties of the administering entity to include advertising the prizes and their results, fundraising for administrative 

costs and cash prizes, working with the Secretary to develop prize 

criteria based upon goals provided by the Secretary, working with 

the Secretary to determine the appropriate amounts for prizes 

awarded under the transformational changes category described in 

section 4, and selecting judges using criteria developed in consultation with the Secretary. 

Authorizes the Secretary to use funding directly appropriated for 

such purposes to the Department of Energy (DOE) or other agencies and to accept funds provided by private entities or individuals. 

Prohibits the announcement of any prize competition until sufficient funds are available. Sunsets the authority to award prizes in 

2017. 

Sec. 4. Prize Categories. 

Defines prize categories for: 

(i) Components or Systems. Establishes up to four $1 million prizes awarded every other year to the best technology advancements in components or systems related 

to hydrogen production, hydrogen storage, hydrogen distribution, and hydrogen utilization. Provides the Secretary the discretion to reduce the amount or number of 

prizes based upon the availability of funds. 

(ii) Prototypes. Establishes one $4 million prize for prototypes of hydrogen-powered vehicles or hydrogen-based 

products that best meet or exceed objective performance 

criteria. Awards prototype prizes in years alternate with 

the technology advancements prize. Prohibits the Secretary from awarding the prize if no entrant meets the 

objectively defined performance criteria. 


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(iii) Transformational Changes. Establishes a minimum 

$10,000,000 lump sum prize award for transformational 

changes in technologies for the production and distribution 

of hydrogen that meet or exceed far-reaching objective criteria. Limits the federal contribution to $10,000,000, and 

sets a private fundraising goal of $40,000,000 for prize 

money provided as matching funds for every dollar of private funding raised by the winner for the continued development of their winning technology. 

Requires the Secretary to establish contest criteria through consultation with the Hydrogen Technical Advisory Committee, other 

federal agencies including the National Science Foundation, and 

private organizations including the National Academy of Sciences. 

Requires the Secretary to appoint contest judges from the private 

sector and agencies outside DOE. Excludes judges who may have 

a personal or financial relationship with any contest participant. 

Sec. 5. Eligibility. 

Requires contestants to register through the process published in 

the Federal Register. Requires contestants be incorporated and 

maintain a primary place of business in the U.S. if a private entity, 

or must be a U.S. citizen if an individual. Excludes from participation any federal entities or federal or national laboratory employees 

while on duty. 

Sec. 6. Intellectual Property. 

Waives claims by the Federal Government to any intellectual 

property rights derived from participation in the prize competitions. 

Sec. 7. Liability. 

Requires contestants to waive claims against the Federal Government resulting from participation in prize competition activities. 

Requires contestants to have liability insurance against damages 

resulting from participation in any prize competition activity and 

to name the Federal Government as an additional insured entity. 

Sec. 8. Authorization of Appropriations. 

Authorizes $11 million for each of fiscal years 2007 through 

2016, with funds expiring 10 fiscal years after the fiscal year in 

which they were appropriated. Limits the use of appropriated funds 

for administrative expenses to no more than $2 million in any fiscal year. 

Sec. 9. Non-substitution. 

Expresses a sense of the Congress that the prize competitions 

shall not act as a substitute for any research and development programs. 


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