II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4038 

To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a grant program for tree 

planting to reduce residential energy consumption. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 23, 2020 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a grant program for tree planting to reduce residential energy consumption. 

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 ‘‘Tackling Residential 

5 Energy burdens Efficiently Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘TREE 

6 Act of 2020’’. 

7 SEC. 2. TREE PLANTING GRANT PROGRAM. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ELIGIBLE COST.—The term ‘‘eligible cost’’ 

2 means, with respect to a project— 

3 (A) the cost of implementing the project, 

4 including— 

5 (i) planning and designing the plant6 ing activity; 

7 (ii) purchasing trees; and 

8 (iii) preparing the site and conducting 

9 planting, including the labor and cost asso10 ciated with the use of machinery; 

11 (B) the cost of maintaining and monitoring 

12 planted trees for a period of up to 3 years to 

13 ensure successful establishment of the trees; 

14 (C) the cost of training activities associ15 ated with the project; and 

16 (D) any other relevant cost, as determined 

17 by the Secretary. 

18 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti19 ty’’ means— 

20 (A) a State agency; 

21 (B) a local governmental entity; 

22 (C) an Indian Tribe; 

23 (D) a nonprofit organization; and 

24 (E) a retail power provider. 


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1 (3) ENERGY BURDEN.—The term ‘‘energy bur2 den’’ means the percentage of household income 

3 spent on home energy bills. 

4 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

5 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 

6 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu7 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

8 (5) LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY.—The term 

9 ‘‘local governmental entity’’ means any municipal 

10 government or county government with jurisdiction 

11 over local land use decisions. 

12 (6) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 

13 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization 

14 that— 

15 (A) is described in section 170(h)(3) of the 

16 Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and 

17 (B) operates in accordance with 1 or more 

18 of the purposes described in section 

19 170(h)(4)(A) of that Code. 

20 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

21 the grant program established under subsection 

22 (b)(1). 

23 (8) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means a 

24 tree planting project carried out by an eligible entity 

25 using grant funds awarded under the Program. 


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1 (9) RETAIL POWER PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘re2 tail power provider’’ means any entity authorized 

3 under applicable State or Federal law to generate, 

4 distribute, or provide retail electricity, natural gas, 

5 or fuel oil service. 

6 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

7 means the Secretary of Energy. 

8 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordina10 tion with the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 

11 through the Chief of the Forest Service, shall estab12 lish a program under which the Secretary shall 

13 award grants to eligible entities to conduct tree 

14 planting projects in accordance with this section. 

15 (2) TREE PLANTING.—Subject to the avail16 ability of appropriations, in carrying out the Pro17 gram, the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent 

18 practicable, award sufficient grants each year to 

19 plant not less than 300,000 trees each year. 

20 (c) APPLICATIONS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that seeks 

22 to receive a grant under the Program shall submit 

23 an application to the Secretary at such time, in such 

24 form, and containing such information as the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:13 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4038.IS S4038

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1 retary may require, including the information de2 scribed in paragraph (2). 

3 (2) CONTENTS.—An application submitted 

4 under paragraph (1) shall include— 

5 (A) a description of how the project will re6 duce residential energy consumption; 

7 (B) an estimate of the expected reduction 

8 in residential energy consumption; 

9 (C) a description of the total eligible costs 

10 of the project and sources of funding for the 

11 project; 

12 (D) a description of the anticipated com13 munity and stakeholder engagement in the 

14 project; 

15 (E) a description of the tree species to be 

16 planted and how that species is suitable for the 

17 local environmental conditions and climate; and 

18 (F) any other relevant information re19 quired by the Secretary. 

20 (d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under the Pro21 gram, the Secretary shall give priority to projects that— 

22 (1) provide the largest potential reduction in 

23 residential energy consumption for households with a 

24 high energy burden; 


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1 (2) are located in a neighborhood with lower 

2 tree canopy cover and higher maximum daytime 

3 summer temperatures; 

4 (3) are located in a neighborhood with high 

5 amounts of senior citizens or children; 

6 (4) will collaboratively engage neighbors and 

7 community members that will be closely affected by 

8 the tree planting; and 

9 (5) will employ a substantial percentage of the 

10 workforce locally, with a focus on engaging unem11 ployed and underemployed persons. 

12 (e) COSTS.— 

13 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Secretary shall 

14 award a grant to an eligible entity under the Pro15 gram in an amount equal to not more than 75 per16 cent of the eligible costs of the project, as deter17 mined by the Secretary. 

18 (2) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—As a condition 

19 of receiving a grant under the Program, an eligible 

20 entity shall provide, in cash or through in-kind con21 tributions from non-Federal sources, matching funds 

22 in an amount equal to not less than 25 percent of 

23 the eligible costs of the project, as determined by the 

24 Secretary. 


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1 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the Pro3 gram $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 

4 2025. 

Æ 


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