I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2154 

To enhance and improve the energy security of the United States, expand 

economic development, increase agricultural income, and improve environmental quality by reauthorizing and improving the renewable energy 

systems and energy efficiency improvements program of the Department 

of Agriculture through fiscal year 2012, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 3, 2007 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN (for herself, Mr. FORTENBERRY, and Ms. KAPTUR) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To enhance and improve the energy security of the United 

States, expand economic development, increase agricultural income, and improve environmental quality by reauthorizing and improving the renewable energy systems 

and energy efficiency improvements program of the Department of Agriculture through fiscal year 2012, and 

for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Energy for 

3 America Act of 2007’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds that— 

6 (1) rising energy costs and uncertain long-term 

7 energy supplies threaten to undermine the growth of 

8 the United States economy; 

9 (2) since 2003, fuel and fertilizer costs have 

10 nearly doubled for agricultural producers; 

11 (3) there are continuing and increasing risks to 

12 the energy security of the United States; 

13 (4) having an affordable, reliable, and plentiful 

14 energy supply will strengthen the United States 

15 economy and improve domestic energy security; 

16 (5) the agricultural sector can provide a signifi17 cant source of clean, sustainable energy for the 

18 United States that can reduce the dependence of the 

19 United States on imported energy and lower energy 

20 costs for all people of the United States; 

21 (6) agriculture-based energy— 

22 (A) boosts rural economic development; 

23 (B) increases farm-based income; 

24 (C) creates manufacturing, construction, 

25 and service jobs; 


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1 (D) expands economic opportunity for all 

2 people; and 

3 (E) improves environmental quality; 

4 (7) it is a goal of this Act to help the agricul5 tural sector to provide at least 25 percent of the en6 ergy consumed in the United States by calendar 

7 year 2025; 

8 (8) expanding agriculture-based renewable en9 ergy resources (including wind, solar, and geo10 thermal energy, biomass, ethanol, and biodiesel) and 

11 improving energy efficiency will help to achieve that 

12 goal; 

13 (9) section 9006 of the Farm Security and 

14 Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8106) es15 tablished the renewable energy systems and energy 

16 efficiency improvements program, which is the first 

17 agricultural program to catalyze broad renewable en18 ergy and energy efficiency measures for the agricul19 tural and rural business sectors; 

20 (10) since establishment, the program has been 

21 a strong success, providing during the first 4 years 

22 of the program $111,000,000 in grants and loan 

23 guarantees for approximately 800 renewable energy 

24 and energy efficiency projects in 43 States, which leVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:20 May 05, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2154.IH H2154

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1 veraged more than $1,000,000,000 in additional in2 vestments in farms and rural communities; 

3 (11) projects assisted by the grants and loan 

4 guarantees issued in the program’s first three years 

5 will— 

6 (A) produce or save more than 

7 17,000,000,000,000 British thermal units of 

8 energy each year in the form of fuel, electricity, 

9 thermal energy, and energy efficiency; 

10 (B) produce 170,000,000 gallons of eth11 anol and biodiesel fuel annually; 

12 (C) reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 

13 more than 1,100,000 tons annually; and 

14 (D) result in more than 330 megawatts of 

15 installed wind power electrical generating ca16 pacity; and 

17 (12) applications for assistance under the pro18 gram— 

19 (A) in 2003, nearly matched the available 

20 funding for the program; 

21 (B) in 2004, were nearly twice the avail22 able funding for the program; and 

23 (C) in 2005 and 2006, were nearly triple 

24 the available funding for the program. 


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1 SEC. 3. RURAL ENERGY FOR AMERICA PROGRAM. 

2 Section 9006 of the Farm Security and Rural Invest3 ment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8106) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking the section heading and insert5 ing the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 9006. RURAL ENERGY FOR AMERICA PROGRAM.’’. 

7 (2) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) by inserting ‘‘, and issue rebates,’’ 

9 after ‘‘grants’’; 

10 (B) by inserting ‘‘rural school districts,’’ 

11 after ‘‘ranchers,’’; 

12 (C) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para13 graph (1); 

14 (D) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; 

15 and’’; and 

16 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(3) produce and sell electricity generated by 

18 new renewable energy systems.’’; 

19 (3) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the 

20 following: ‘‘Farmers, ranchers and other agricultural 

21 producers in rural and non-rural areas are eligible to 

22 receive loans, loan guarantees, and grants under this 

23 section.’’; 

24 (4) in subsection (c)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by redesignating 

2 subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C) and in3 serting after subparagraph (A) the following: 

4 ‘‘(B) LOAN GUARANTEES.—Subject to sub5 paragraph (C)— 

6 ‘‘(i) the maximum amount of a loan 

7 guaranteed to any eligible entity under this 

8 section shall be $25,000,000, except that 

9 the maximum amount of a loan guaranteed 

10 to an eligible entity for a facility that pro11 duces renewable fuels derived from cel12 lulosic biomass shall be $100,000,000; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) a loan guaranteed under this sec14 tion shall not exceed 70 percent of the 

15 total loan value.’’; and 

16 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

17 (i) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of 

18 subparagraph (F); and 

19 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph 

20 (G) as subparagraph (H) and inserting 

21 after subparagraph (F) the following: 

22 ‘‘(G) in the case of a grant, the extent to 

23 which the amount requested by the applicant is 

24 less than 25 percent of the cost of the activity 

25 to be funded under subsection (a); and’’. 


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1 (5) by striking subsection (f); 

2 (6) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub3 section (g); 

4 (7) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(e) FEASIBILITY STUDIES.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may provide 

8 assistance to eligible applicants to conduct feasibility 

9 studies of projects for which assistance may be pro10 vided under this section. 

11 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall use not 

12 more than 10 percent of the funds made available to 

13 carry out this section to provide assistance described 

14 in paragraph (1). 

15 ‘‘(3) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall, by regu16 lation, establish criteria for the receipt of assistance 

17 under this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(4) AVOIDANCE OF DUPLICATIVE ASSIST19 ANCE.—An applicant that receives assistance to 

20 carry out a feasibility study for a project under this 

21 subsection shall not be eligible for assistance to 

22 carry out a feasibility study for the project under 

23 any other provision of Federal law. 

24 ‘‘(5) MATCHING FUNDS.—A recipient of funds 

25 under this subsection shall contribute an amount of 


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1 non-Federal funds that is at least equal to 75 per2 cent of the amount of Federal funds received. 

3 ‘‘(f) REBATE PROGRAM.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make 

5 competitive grants to eligible entities to provide re6 bates for farmers, ranchers, rural school districts, 

7 and rural small businesses to purchase renewable en8 ergy systems and make energy efficiency improve9 ments. 

10 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to re11 ceive a grant under paragraph (1), an entity shall 

12 be— 

13 ‘‘(A) a State energy or agriculture office; 

14 ‘‘(B) a nonprofit State-based energy effi15 ciency or renewable energy organization that 

16 uses public funds provided directly or under 

17 contract with a State agency; 

18 ‘‘(C) any other nonprofit organization with 

19 a demonstrated ability to administer a State20 wide energy efficiency or renewable energy re21 bate program; or 

22 ‘‘(D) a consortium of entities described in 

23 subparagraphs (A) through (C). 

24 ‘‘(3) MERIT REVIEW.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

2 establish a merit review process to review appli3 cations for grants under paragraph (1) that 

4 uses the expertise of the Department of Agri5 culture, other Federal and State agencies, and 

6 non-governmental organizations. 

7 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—In reviewing the 

8 application of an eligible entity to receive a 

9 grant under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall 

10 consider— 

11 ‘‘(i) the experience and expertise of 

12 the entity in establishing and admin13 istering a statewide clean energy rebate 

14 program; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the annual projected energy sav16 ings or production increases resulting from 

17 the proposed program; 

18 ‘‘(iii) the environmental benefits re19 sulting from the proposed program; and 

20 ‘‘(iv) other appropriate factors, as de21 termined by the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(4) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—An entity 

23 that receives a grant under paragraph (1) shall pro24 vide assurances to the Secretary that funds provided 

25 to the entity under this subsection will be used to 


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1 supplement, not to supplant, the amount of Federal, 

2 State, and local funds otherwise expended for rebate 

3 programs. 

4 ‘‘(5) REBATE AMOUNT.—The amount of a re5 bate provided from a grant under this subsection 

6 shall not exceed the lesser of— 

7 ‘‘(A) $10,000; or 

8 ‘‘(B) 50 percent of the cost incurred to 

9 purchase a renewable energy system or an en10 ergy efficiency improvement.’’; and 

11 (8) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(h) FUNDING.— 

13 ‘‘(1) Of the funds of the Commodity Credit 

14 Corporation, the Secretary shall make available to 

15 carry out this section— 

16 ‘‘(A) $71,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

17 ‘‘(B) $90,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

18 ‘‘(C) $130,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

19 ‘‘(D) $180,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(E) $250,000,000 for fiscal year 2012, 

22 to remain available until expended. 

23 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall use not less than 50 

24 percent of the funds made available to carry out this 


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1 section to make grants and to implement the rebate 

2 program described in subsection (f).’’. 

3 SEC. 4. SENSE OF THE HOUSE ON A DIRECT LOAN PRO4 GRAM IN SECTION 9006. 

5 It is the sense of the House that— 

6 (1) as authorized by section 9006 of the Farm 

7 Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 

8 U.S.C. 8106), the Secretary of Agriculture should 

9 implement a direct loan program to complement the 

10 grants provided under that section; and 

11 (2) as appropriate, the Secretary should model 

12 the direct loan program on the loan program estab13 lished under section 503 of the Small Business In14 vestment Act of 1958 (15 U.S.C. 697). 

Æ 


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