II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4053 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to modernize the EPSCoR program 

of the Department of Energy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2020 

Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. MORAN, Mr. JONES, and Mrs. 

HYDE-SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to modernize 

the EPSCoR program of the Department of Energy, 

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 ‘‘DOE EPSCoR Mod5 ernization Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETI2 TIVE RESEARCH. 

3 Section 2203(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 

4 (42 U.S.C. 13503(b)) is amended by striking paragraph 

5 (3) and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(3) ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE

7 COMPETITIVE RESEARCH.— 

8 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBLE JURISDICTION.—The 

10 term ‘eligible jurisdiction’ means a State 

11 that is determined to be eligible for a grant 

12 under this paragraph in accordance with 

13 subparagraph (D). 

14 ‘‘(ii) EPSCOR.—The term ‘EPSCoR’ 

15 means the Established Program to Stimu16 late Competitive Research operated under 

17 subparagraph (B). 

18 ‘‘(iii) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The 

19 term ‘National Laboratory’ has the mean20 ing given the term in section 2 of the En21 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

22 15801). 

23 ‘‘(iv) STATE.—The term ‘State’ 

24 means— 

25 ‘‘(I) a State; 

26 ‘‘(II) the District of Columbia; 


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1 ‘‘(III) the Commonwealth of 

2 Puerto Rico; 

3 ‘‘(IV) Guam; and 

4 ‘‘(V) the United States Virgin Is5 lands. 

6 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM OPERATION.—The Sec7 retary shall operate an Established Program to 

8 Stimulate Competitive Research. 

9 ‘‘(C) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives of 

10 EPSCoR shall be— 

11 ‘‘(i) to increase the number of re12 searchers in eligible jurisdictions, especially 

13 at institutions of higher education, capable 

14 of performing nationally competitive 

15 science and engineering research in sup16 port of the mission of the Department of 

17 Energy in the areas of applied energy re18 search, environmental management, and 

19 basic science; 

20 ‘‘(ii) to improve science and engineer21 ing research and education programs at in22 stitutions of higher education in eligible ju23 risdictions and enhance the capabilities of 

24 eligible jurisdictions to develop, plan, and 

25 execute research that is competitive, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4053.IS S4053

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1 cluding through investing in research 

2 equipment and instrumentation; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) to increase the probability of 

4 long-term growth of competitive funding to 

5 eligible jurisdictions. 

6 ‘‘(D) ELIGIBLE JURISDICTIONS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

8 may establish criteria for determining 

9 whether a State is eligible for a grant 

10 under this paragraph. 

11 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENT.—Except as pro12 vided in clause (iii), in establishing criteria 

13 under clause (i), the Secretary shall ensure 

14 that a State is eligible for a grant under 

15 this paragraph if the State, as determined 

16 by the Secretary, is a State that— 

17 ‘‘(I) historically has received rel18 atively little Federal research and de19 velopment funding; and 

20 ‘‘(II) has demonstrated a com21 mitment— 

22 ‘‘(aa) to develop the re23 search bases in the State; and 

24 ‘‘(bb) to improve science and 

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1 cation programs at institutions of 

2 higher education in the State. 

3 ‘‘(iii) ELIGIBILITY UNDER NSF

4 EPSCOR.—At the election of the Secretary, 

5 or if the Secretary determines not to estab6 lish criteria under clause (i), a State is eli7 gible for a grant under this paragraph if 

8 the State is eligible to receive funding 

9 under the Established Program to Stimu10 late Competitive Research of the National 

11 Science Foundation. 

12 ‘‘(E) GRANTS IN AREAS OF APPLIED EN13 ERGY RESEARCH, ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGE14 MENT, AND BASIC SCIENCE.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—EPSCoR shall 

16 make grants to eligible jurisdictions to 

17 carry out and support applied energy re18 search and research in all areas of environ19 mental management and basic science 

20 sponsored by the Department of Energy, 

21 including— 

22 ‘‘(I) energy efficiency, fossil en23 ergy, renewable energy, and other ap24 plied energy research; 

25 ‘‘(II) electricity delivery research; 


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1 ‘‘(III) cybersecurity, energy secu2 rity, and emergency response; 

3 ‘‘(IV) environmental manage4 ment; and 

5 ‘‘(V) basic science research. 

6 ‘‘(ii) ACTIVITIES.—EPSCoR shall 

7 make grants under this subparagraph for 

8 activities consistent with the objectives de9 scribed in subparagraph (C) in the areas of 

10 applied energy research, environmental 

11 management, and basic science described 

12 in clause (i), including— 

13 ‘‘(I) to support research that is 

14 carried out in partnership with the 

15 National Laboratories; 

16 ‘‘(II) to provide for graduate 

17 traineeships; 

18 ‘‘(III) to support research by 

19 early career faculty; and 

20 ‘‘(IV) to improve research capa21 bilities through biennial research im22 plementation grants. 

23 ‘‘(iii) NO COST SHARING.—EPSCoR 

24 shall not impose any cost-sharing require25 ment with respect to a grant made under 


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1 this subparagraph, but may require letters 

2 of commitment from National Labora3 tories. 

4 ‘‘(F) OTHER ACTIVITIES.—EPSCoR may 

5 carry out such activities as may be necessary to 

6 meet the objectives described in subparagraph 

7 (C) in the areas of applied energy research, en8 vironmental management, and basic science de9 scribed in subparagraph (E)(i). 

10 ‘‘(G) PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 

12 270 days after the date of enactment of 

13 the DOE EPSCoR Modernization Act, the 

14 Secretary shall submit to the Committees 

15 on Energy and Natural Resources and Ap16 propriations of the Senate and the Com17 mittees on Energy and Commerce and Ap18 propriations of the House of Representa19 tives a plan describing how the Secretary 

20 shall implement EPSCoR. 

21 ‘‘(ii) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—The plan 

22 described in clause (i) shall include a de23 scription of— 

24 ‘‘(I) the management structure of 

25 EPSCoR, which shall ensure that all 


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1 research areas and activities described 

2 in this paragraph are incorporated 

3 into EPSCoR; 

4 ‘‘(II) efforts to conduct outreach 

5 to inform eligible jurisdictions and 

6 faculty of changes to, and opportuni7 ties under, EPSCoR; 

8 ‘‘(III) how EPSCoR plans to in9 crease engagement with eligible juris10 dictions, faculty, and State commit11 tees, including by holding regular 

12 workshops, to increase participation in 

13 EPSCoR; and 

14 ‘‘(IV) any other issues relating to 

15 EPSCoR that the Secretary deter16 mines appropriate. 

17 ‘‘(H) PROGRAM EVALUATION.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 

19 years after the date of enactment of the 

20 DOE EPSCoR Modernization Act, the 

21 Secretary shall contract with a federally 

22 funded research and development center, 

23 the National Academy of Sciences, or a 

24 similar organization to carry out an assessVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4053.IS S4053

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1 ment of the effectiveness of EPSCoR, in2 cluding an assessment of— 

3 ‘‘(I) the tangible progress made 

4 towards achieving the objectives de5 scribed in subparagraph (C); 

6 ‘‘(II) the impact of research sup7 ported by EPSCoR on the mission of 

8 the Department of Energy; and 

9 ‘‘(III) any other issues relating to 

10 EPSCoR that the Secretary deter11 mines appropriate. 

12 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—The organization 

13 with which the Secretary contracts under 

14 clause (i) shall not be a National Labora15 tory. 

16 ‘‘(iii) REPORT.—Not later than 6 

17 years after the date of enactment of the 

18 DOE EPSCoR Modernization Act, the 

19 Secretary shall submit to the Committees 

20 on Energy and Natural Resources and Ap21 propriations of the Senate and the Com22 mittees on Energy and Commerce and Ap23 propriations of the House of Representa24 tives a report describing the results of the 

25 assessment carried out under clause (i), inVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4053.IS S4053

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1 cluding recommendations for improvements 

2 that would enable the Secretary to achieve 

3 the objectives described in subparagraph 

4 (C).’’. 

Æ 


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