II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1036 

To promote research, development, and demonstration of marine and 

hydrokinetic renewable energy technologies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 3, 2017 

Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. KING, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. SCHATZ, and Ms. 

HIRONO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To promote research, development, and demonstration of marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy technologies, and 

for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marine Energy Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF MARINE AND HYDROKINETIC RE6 NEWABLE ENERGY. 

7 Section 632 of the Energy Independence and Security 

8 Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17211) is amended in the matter 

9 preceding paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘electrical’’. 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1036 IS

1 SEC. 3. MARINE AND HYDROKINETIC RENEWABLE ENERGY 

2 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

3 Section 633 of the Energy Independence and Security 

4 Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17212) is amended to read as 

5 follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 633. MARINE AND HYDROKINETIC RENEWABLE EN7 ERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

8 ‘‘The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 

9 the Interior, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Federal 

10 Energy Regulatory Commission, shall carry out a program 

11 of research, development, demonstration, and commercial 

12 application to accelerate the introduction of marine and 

13 hydrokinetic renewable energy production into the United 

14 States energy supply, giving priority to fostering acceler15 ated research, development, and commercialization of 

16 technology, including programs— 

17 ‘‘(1) to assist technology development to im18 prove the components, processes, and systems used 

19 for power generation from marine and hydrokinetic 

20 renewable energy resources; 

21 ‘‘(2) to establish critical testing infrastructure 

22 necessary— 

23 ‘‘(A) to cost effectively and efficiently test 

24 and prove marine and hydrokinetic renewable 

25 energy devices; and 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1036 IS

1 ‘‘(B) to accelerate the technological readi2 ness and commercialization of those devices; 

3 ‘‘(3) to support efforts to increase the efficiency 

4 of energy conversion, lower the cost, increase the 

5 use, improve the reliability, and demonstrate the ap6 plicability of marine and hydrokinetic renewable en7 ergy technologies by participating in demonstration 

8 projects; 

9 ‘‘(4) to investigate variability issues and the ef10 ficient and reliable integration of marine and 

11 hydrokinetic renewable energy with the utility grid; 

12 ‘‘(5) to identify and study critical short- and 

13 long-term needs to create a sustainable marine and 

14 hydrokinetic renewable energy supply chain based in 

15 the United States; 

16 ‘‘(6) to increase the reliability and survivability 

17 of marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy tech18 nologies; 

19 ‘‘(7) to verify the performance, reliability, main20 tainability, and cost of new marine and hydrokinetic 

21 renewable energy device designs and system compo22 nents in an operating environment, and consider the 

23 protection of critical infrastructure, such as ade24 quate separation between marine and hydrokinetic 

25 devices and projects and submarine telecommuniVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 May 09, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1036.IS S1036

SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1036 IS

1 cations cables, including consideration of established 

2 industry standards; 

3 ‘‘(8) to coordinate and avoid duplication of ac4 tivities across programs of the Department and 

5 other applicable Federal agencies, including National 

6 Laboratories and to coordinate public-private col7 laboration in all programs under this section; 

8 ‘‘(9) to identify opportunities for joint research 

9 and development programs and development of 

10 economies of scale between— 

11 ‘‘(A) marine and hydrokinetic renewable 

12 energy technologies; and 

13 ‘‘(B) other renewable energy and fossil en14 ergy programs, offshore oil and gas production 

15 activities, and activities of the Department of 

16 Defense; 

17 ‘‘(10) to support in-water technology develop18 ment with international partners using existing co19 operative procedures (including memoranda of un20 derstanding)— 

21 ‘‘(A) to allow cooperative funding and 

22 other support of value to be exchanged and le23 veraged; and 

24 ‘‘(B) to encourage the participation of 

25 international research centers and companies 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1036 IS

1 within the United States and the participation 

2 of United States research centers and compa3 nies in international projects; 

4 ‘‘(11) to identify, in conjunction with the Sec5 retary of Commerce and other relevant Federal 

6 agencies, the potential environmental impacts, in7 cluding potential impacts on fisheries and other ma8 rine resources, of marine and hydrokinetic renewable 

9 energy technologies, measures to prevent adverse im10 pacts, and technologies and other means available 

11 for monitoring and determining environmental im12 pacts; and 

13 ‘‘(12) to identify, in conjunction with the Com14 mandant of the United States Coast Guard and 

15 other relevant Federal agencies, the potential navi16 gational impacts of marine and hydrokinetic renew17 able energy technologies and measures to prevent 

18 adverse impacts on navigation.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MARINE RENEWABLE ENERGY RE20 SEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, AND DEMONSTRA21 TION CENTERS. 

22 Section 634 of the Energy Independence and Security 

23 Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17213) is amended by striking 

24 subsection (b) and inserting the following: 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1036 IS

1 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The Centers (including each Cen2 ter that has been established as of the date of enactment 

3 of the Marine Energy Act), in coordination with the De4 partment and the National Laboratories, shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) advance research, development, demonstra6 tion, and commercial application of marine and 

7 hydrokinetic renewable energy technologies; 

8 ‘‘(2) support in-water testing and demonstra9 tion of marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy 

10 technologies, including facilities capable of testing— 

11 ‘‘(A) marine and hydrokinetic renewable 

12 energy systems of various technology readiness 

13 levels and scales; 

14 ‘‘(B) a variety of technologies in multiple 

15 test berths at a single location; and 

16 ‘‘(C) arrays of technology devices; and 

17 ‘‘(3) serve as information clearinghouses for the 

18 marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy industry 

19 by collecting and disseminating information on best 

20 practices in all areas relating to developing and 

21 managing marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy 

22 resources and energy systems.’’. 

23 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

24 Section 636 of the Energy Independence and Security 

25 Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17215) is amended by striking 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1036 IS

1 ‘‘$50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 

2 2012’’ and inserting ‘‘$60,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

3 2018 through 2022’’. 

Æ 


SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS