I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7685 

To strengthen and enhance the competitiveness of American industry through 

the research and development of advanced technologies to improve the 

efficiency of cement, concrete, and asphalt production, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 15, 2024 

Mr. MILLER of Ohio (for himself and Mrs. FOUSHEE) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To strengthen and enhance the competitiveness of American 

industry through the research and development of advanced technologies to improve the efficiency of cement, 

concrete, and asphalt production, 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 ‘‘Innovative Mitigation 

5 Partnerships for Asphalt and Concrete Technologies Act’’ 

6 or the ‘‘IMPACT Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADVANCED CEMENT, CONCRETE, AND ASPHALT 

2 PRODUCTION RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

3 (a) PROGRAM.—Part I of subtitle C of title V of the 

4 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117– 

5 58) is amended by inserting after section 40522 the fol6 lowing new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 40525. ADVANCED CEMENT, CONCRETE, AND AS8 PHALT PRODUCTION RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) ADVANCED PRODUCTION.—The term ‘ad11 vanced production’ means production of cement, 

12 concrete, or asphalt with one or more of the fol13 lowing improvements with respect to the production 

14 of commercially available cement, concrete, or as15 phalt: 

16 ‘‘(A) Improved cost-effectiveness. 

17 ‘‘(B) Improved quality, durability, engi18 neering performance, and resilience. 

19 ‘‘(C) Improved efficiency of resource con20 sumption and material demand. 

21 ‘‘(2) ALTERNATIVE FUELS.—The term ‘alter22 native fuels’ means any solid, liquid, or gaseous ma23 terials, or a combination thereof, used to replace or 

24 supplement any portion of fuels used in combustion 

25 or pyrolysis for low-emissions cement, concrete, or 

26 asphalt. 


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1 ‘‘(3) COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE.—The term 

2 ‘commercially available’, with respect to cement, con3 crete, and asphalt, means that the cement, concrete, 

4 or asphalt is— 

5 ‘‘(A) readily and widely available for pur6 chase in the United States; and 

7 ‘‘(B) produced using a production method 

8 of cement, concrete, or asphalt products, as ap9 plicable, that is widely in use. 

10 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en11 tity’ means any of the following: 

12 ‘‘(A) An institution of higher education. 

13 ‘‘(B) An appropriate State or Federal enti14 ty, including a federally funded research and 

15 development center of the Department. 

16 ‘‘(C) A nonprofit research institution. 

17 ‘‘(D) A private entity. 

18 ‘‘(E) Any other relevant entity the Sec19 retary determines appropriate. 

20 ‘‘(F) A partnership or consortium of two 

21 or more entities described in subparagraphs (A) 

22 through (E). 

23 ‘‘(5) ENGINEERING PERFORMANCE-BASED

24 STANDARD.—The term ‘engineering performance25 based standard’ means an existing engineering 


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1 standard with respect to which the requirements ap2 plicable to such standard are stated in terms of re3 quired results, with criteria for verifying compliance 

4 rather than specific composition, design, or proce5 dure. 

6 ‘‘(6) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

7 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

8 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High9 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

10 ‘‘(7) LOW-EMISSIONS CEMENT, CONCRETE, AND

11 ASPHALT.—The term ‘low-emissions cement, con12 crete, and asphalt’ means cement, concrete, asphalt 

13 binder, or asphalt mixture that reduces, to the max14 imum extent practicable, greenhouse gas and di15 rectly-related copollutant emissions to levels below 

16 commercially available cement, concrete, or asphalt. 

17 ‘‘(8) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘rural area’ has 

18 the meaning given such term in section 343(a) of 

19 the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act 

20 (7 U.S.C. 1991(a)). 

21 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

22 after the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec23 retary shall establish a program of research, development, 

24 demonstration, and commercial application of advanced 

25 tools, technologies, and methods for advanced production 


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1 and use of low-emissions cement, concrete, and asphalt in 

2 order to— 

3 ‘‘(1) increase the technological and economic 

4 competitiveness of industry and production in the 

5 United States; 

6 ‘‘(2) expand and increase the stability of supply 

7 chains through enhanced domestic production, 

8 nearshoring, and cooperation with allies; 

9 ‘‘(3) achieve measurable greenhouse gas and di10 rectly related copollutant emissions reductions in the 

11 production processes for cement, concrete, and as12 phalt products; and 

13 ‘‘(4) create quality domestic jobs. 

14 ‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the program 

15 under subsection (b), the Secretary shall— 

16 ‘‘(1) coordinate with the programs and activi17 ties authorized under title VI of division Z of the 

18 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (relating to 

19 industrial and manufacturing technologies) and the 

20 amendments made by such title; 

21 ‘‘(2) coordinate across all relevant program of22 fices of the Department, including the Office of 

23 Science, the Advanced Research Projects Agency24 Energy, the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, 

25 the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable EnVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Mar 28, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7685.IH H7685

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1 ergy, the Office of Fossil Energy, the Office of In2 dustrial Efficiency and Decarbonization, the Office 

3 of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains, and 

4 the Office of Nuclear Energy; 

5 ‘‘(3) leverage, to the extent practicable, the re6 search infrastructure of the Department, including 

7 scientific computing user facilities, x-ray light 

8 sources, neutron scattering facilities, and nanoscale 

9 science research centers; and 

10 ‘‘(4) conduct research, development, demonstra11 tion, and commercial application of the advanced 

12 production of low-emissions cement, concrete, and 

13 asphalt that have the potential to increase domestic 

14 production and employment in both advanced and 

15 commercially available processes. 

16 ‘‘(d) STRATEGIC PLAN.— 

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

18 after the establishment of the program under sub19 section (b), the Secretary shall develop a 5-year stra20 tegic plan identifying research, development, dem21 onstration, and commercial application goals for 

22 such program. The Secretary shall submit such plan 

23 to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

24 of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

25 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The strategic plan under 

2 paragraph (1) shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) identify programs at the Department 

4 related to the advanced production of low-emis5 sions cement, concrete, and asphalt that sup6 port the research, development, demonstration, 

7 and commercial application activities described 

8 in this section, and the demonstration projects 

9 under subsection (f); 

10 ‘‘(B) establish technological and pro11 grammatic goals to achieve the requirements 

12 specified in subsection (c); and 

13 ‘‘(C) include timelines for the accomplish14 ment of such goals developed under the plan. 

15 ‘‘(3) UPDATES TO PLAN.—Not less than once 

16 every two years, the Secretary shall submit to the 

17 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

18 House of Representatives and the Committee on En19 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate an up20 dated version of the strategic plan under paragraph 

21 (1). 

22 ‘‘(e) FOCUS AREAS.—In carrying out the program es23 tablished in subsection (c), the Secretary shall focus on 

24 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(1) Carbon capture technologies for low-emis2 sions cement, concrete, and asphalt production proc3 esses, which may include the following: 

4 ‘‘(A) Oxycombustion and chemical looping 

5 technologies. 

6 ‘‘(B) Precombustion technologies. 

7 ‘‘(C) Post combustion technologies. 

8 ‘‘(D) Direct carbon dioxide separation 

9 technologies. 

10 ‘‘(2) Materials, technologies, inputs, and proc11 esses that— 

12 ‘‘(A) produce fewer greenhouse gas and di13 rectly related copollutant emissions during pro14 duction, use, and end use of cement, concrete, 

15 and asphalt; or 

16 ‘‘(B) provide quality, durability, resilience, 

17 engineering, or other performance metrics equal 

18 to or greater than commercially available prod19 ucts. 

20 ‘‘(3) Medium- and high-temperature heat-gen21 eration technologies used for the advanced produc22 tion of low-emissions cement, concrete, and asphalt 

23 which may include the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) Alternative fuels. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Renewable heat-generation and stor2 age technology. 

3 ‘‘(C) Electrification of heating processes. 

4 ‘‘(D) Other clean heat-generation tech5 nologies and sources. 

6 ‘‘(4) Technologies and practices that increase 

7 the efficiency of energy use, natural resource con8 sumption, or material demand, which may include 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘(A) Designing products that encourage 

11 reuse, refurbishment, remanufacturing, and re12 cycling. 

13 ‘‘(B) Minimizing waste, including waste 

14 heat, from low-emissions cement, concrete, and 

15 asphalt production processes, including through 

16 the reuse of waste as a resource in other indus17 trial processes for mutual benefit. 

18 ‘‘(C) Increasing the overall energy effi19 ciency of low-emissions cement, concrete, and 

20 asphalt production processes, including through 

21 life cycle assessments. 

22 ‘‘(5) Technologies and approaches to reduce 

23 greenhouse gas and directly related copollutant emis24 sions from the advanced production of cement, con25 crete, and asphalt. 


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1 ‘‘(6) High-performance computing to develop 

2 advanced materials and production processes that 

3 may contribute to the focus areas described in para4 graphs (1) through (5), including the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) Modeling, simulation, and optimiza6 tion of the design of cost-effective and energy7 efficient products and processes. 

8 ‘‘(B) The use of digital prototyping and 

9 additive production to enhance product design. 

10 ‘‘(7) Advanced sensor technologies and methods 

11 to monitor and quantify the performance of low12 emissions cement, concrete, and asphalt materials at 

13 scale and under a variety of conditions. 

14 ‘‘(8) Technologies that can be retrofitted at ce15 ment, concrete, and asphalt plants that represent 

16 the most common facility types in the United States 

17 and in other countries, with consideration for field 

18 validation of such retrofits. 

19 ‘‘(9) Best practices for data standardization 

20 and data sharing tools and technologies, in coordina21 tion with relevant Federal agencies. 

22 ‘‘(10) Fundamental research in chemistry and 

23 materials science to identify the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) Novel materials and alternative do25 mestic feedstocks and processing operations for 


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1 the advanced production of low-emissions ce2 ment, concrete, and asphalt. 

3 ‘‘(B) Improved understanding by eligible 

4 entities of the mechanisms that determine the 

5 performance and durability of low-emissions ce6 ment, concrete, and asphalt over time. 

7 ‘‘(f) DEMONSTRATIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 

9 days after the date of the enactment of this section, 

10 the Secretary, in carrying out the program estab11 lished in subsection (b), and in collaboration with 

12 the Secretary of Transportation, the Administrator 

13 of General Services, industry partners, institutions 

14 of higher education, and National Laboratories, shall 

15 support demonstrations of advanced production of 

16 low-emissions cement, concrete, and asphalt that 

17 uses either— 

18 ‘‘(A) a single technology or practice; or 

19 ‘‘(B) a combination of multiple tech20 nologies or practices. 

21 ‘‘(2) SELECTION REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying 

22 out the demonstrations under paragraph (1), the 

23 Secretary shall select eligible entities to carry out 

24 demonstration projects and to the maximum extent 

25 practicable— 


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1 ‘‘(A) encourage regional diversity among 

2 eligible entities, including participation by enti3 ties located in rural areas; 

4 ‘‘(B) encourage technological diversity 

5 among eligible entities; and 

6 ‘‘(C) ensure that specific projects se7 lected— 

8 ‘‘(i) expand on the existing technology 

9 demonstration programs of the Depart10 ment; 

11 ‘‘(ii) are based on the extent of green12 house gas emissions reductions achieved; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(iii) prioritize leveraging matching 

15 funds from non-Federal sources. 

16 ‘‘(3) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall submit to 

17 the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of 

18 the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

19 Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate— 

20 ‘‘(A) not less frequently than once every 

21 two years for the duration of the demonstra22 tions under paragraph (1), a report describing 

23 the performance of such demonstration; and 

24 ‘‘(B) if any such demonstration is termi25 nated, an assessment of the success of, and 


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1 education provided by, the measures carried out 

2 by such demonstration. 

3 ‘‘(4) TERMINATION.—The Secretary may termi4 nate the demonstratives under paragraph (1) if the 

5 Secretary determines that sufficient low-emissions 

6 cement, concrete, and asphalt produced through ad7 vanced production are commercially available domes8 tically at a price comparable to the price of cement, 

9 concrete, and asphalt produced through traditional 

10 methods of production. 

11 ‘‘(g) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta13 tion with the Secretary of Transportation, the Sec14 retary of Commerce (acting through the Director of 

15 the National Institute of Standards and Tech16 nology), the Administrator of General Services, and 

17 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

18 Agency, shall provide technical assistance to eligible 

19 entities to carry out an activity described in para20 graph (2) to promote the commercial application of 

21 technologies for the production and use of low-emis22 sions cement, concrete, and asphalt. 

23 ‘‘(2) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—An activity re24 ferred to in paragraph (1) is any of the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) Efforts related to collecting data that 

2 could be used in the updating of local codes, 

3 specifications, and standards to engineering 

4 performance-based standards. 

5 ‘‘(B) A lifecycle assessment of the final 

6 product. 

7 ‘‘(C) An environmental impact comparison 

8 between different cements, concretes, and as9 phalts. 

10 ‘‘(D) A techno-economic assessment. 

11 ‘‘(E) An environmental permitting or other 

12 regulatory process. 

13 ‘‘(F) An evaluation or testing activity. 

14 ‘‘(G) Any other activity that promotes the 

15 commercial application of technologies devel16 oped through the program under subsection (b). 

17 ‘‘(3) APPLICATIONS.—The Secretary shall seek 

18 applications for technical assistance under this sub19 section— 

20 ‘‘(A) on a competitive basis; and 

21 ‘‘(B) on a periodic basis, but not less fre22 quently than once every 12 months. 

23 ‘‘(4) REGIONAL CENTERS.—The Secretary may 

24 designate or establish one or more regional centers 


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1 to provide technical assistance to eligible entities to 

2 carry out the activity described in paragraph (2)(A). 

3 ‘‘(h) ADDITIONAL COORDINATION.— 

4 ‘‘(1) MANUFACTURING USA.—In carrying out 

5 this section the Secretary shall consider— 

6 ‘‘(A) leveraging the resources of relevant 

7 existing Manufacturing USA Institutes de8 scribed in section 34(d) of the National Insti9 tute of Standards and Technology Act (15 

10 U.S.C. 278s(d)); 

11 ‘‘(B) integrating program activities into a 

12 relevant existing Manufacturing USA Institute; 

13 or 

14 ‘‘(C) awarding financial assistance, con15 sistent with section 34(e) of the National Insti16 tute of Standards and Technology Act (15 

17 U.S.C. 278s(e)), to a person or group of per18 sons to assist the person or group of persons in 

19 planning, establishing, or supporting a Manu20 facturing U.S.A. institute focused on advanced 

21 production of low-emissions cement, concrete, 

22 and asphalt. 

23 ‘‘(2) OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.—In carrying 

24 out this section, the Secretary shall coordinate with 

25 other Federal agencies, including the Department of 


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1 Defense, the Department of Transportation, and the 

2 National Institute of Standards and Technology, 

3 that are carrying out research and development ini4 tiatives to increase industrial competitiveness and 

5 achieve measurable greenhouse gas and directly re6 lated copollutant emissions reductions through the 

7 advanced production of cement, concrete, and as8 phalt. 

9 ‘‘(i) SUNSET.—This section shall terminate seven 

10 years after the date of the enactment of this section. 

11 ‘‘(j) RESEARCH SECURITY.—The activities author12 ized under this section shall be applied in a manner con13 sistent with subtitle D of title VI of the Research and De14 velopment, Competition, and Innovation Act (enacted as 

15 division B of Public Law 117–167 (42 U.S.C. 19231 et 

16 seq.)). 

17 ‘‘(k) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec18 tion may be construed to amend, alter, or affect the au19 thorities of the Secretary to define, establish, or enforce 

20 new environmental industry standards for, or related to, 

21 cement, concrete, or asphalt.’’. 

22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

23 in section 1(b) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs 

24 Act is amended by inserting after the item relating to sec25 tion 40522 the following new item: 


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‘‘Sec. 40523. Advanced cement, concrete, and asphalt production research program.’’. 

Æ 


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