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[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5635 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>

118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5635

 To amend the Energy Policy Act of 1992 with respect to the Department 
    of Energy Tribal loan guarantee program, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            December 19 (legislative day, December 16), 2024

  Mr. Schatz 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 with respect to the Department 
    of Energy Tribal loan guarantee program, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Tribal Energy Fairness Act of 
2024''.

SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY TRIBAL ENERGY PROGRAMS.

    (a) Department of Energy Tribal Loan Guarantee Program.--
            (1) In general.--Section 2602(c) of the Energy Policy Act 
        of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3502(c)) is amended by adding at the end the 
        following:
            ``(8)(A) At the request of an applicant, and subject to 
        subparagraph (B), the Secretary of Energy may use funds 
        appropriated to the Secretary of Energy to carry out financial 
        and technical assessments, and related activities, in 
        connection with applications for loans and loan guarantees 
        under this subsection to support eligible projects, including 
        renewable energy and transmission projects on or near Indian 
        land and eligible projects carried out outside Indian land.
            ``(B) The Secretary of Energy may use not more than 
        $500,000 to carry out financial and technical assessments under 
        subparagraph (A) for any 1 application for a loan or loan 
        guarantee under this subsection.''.
            (2) Denial of double benefit restriction.--
                    (A) In general.--Section 50145(a) of Public Law 
                117-169 (136 Stat. 2045) is amended by striking ``, 
                subject to the limitations that apply to loan 
                guarantees under section 50141(d)''.
                    (B) Additional doe tribal programs.--Section 
                50141(d)(3) of Public Law 117-169 (136 Stat. 2043) is 
                amended--
                            (i) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``or'' 
                        at the end;
                            (ii) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 
                        period at the end and inserting ``; or''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) projects carried out by an Indian Tribe on or 
                near Indian land or outside Indian land.''.
    (b) Preventing Outages and Enhancing the Resilience of the Electric 
Grid.--Section 40101 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (42 
U.S.C. 18711) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) by striking subparagraph (A) and 
                        inserting the following:
                    ``(A) In general.--For each fiscal year, to be 
                eligible to receive a grant under this subsection--
                            ``(i) a State shall submit to the Secretary 
                        an application that includes a plan described 
                        in subparagraph (B); and
                            ``(ii) an Indian Tribe shall submit to the 
                        Secretary an application, which shall include--
                                    ``(I) a plan that describes how the 
                                Indian Tribe will use the proposed 
                                funding for projects if the Indian 
                                Tribe will be executing the projects; 
                                or
                                    ``(II) a plan described in 
                                subparagraph (B), if the Indian Tribe 
                                intends to award grants to eligible 
                                entities with amounts made available to 
                                the Indian Tribe under this 
                                subsection.''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B)--
                                    (I) in the subparagraph heading, by 
                                striking ``required'' and inserting 
                                ``described'';
                                    (II) in the matter preceding clause 
                                (i), by inserting ``, as applicable,'' 
                                after ``Indian Tribe''; and
                                    (III) in clause (iii), by inserting 
                                ``, as applicable'' after ``Indian 
                                Tribe'';
                    (B) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the 
                following:
            ``(4) Oversight.--The Secretary shall ensure that each 
        grant provided to a State or an Indian Tribe, if the Indian 
        Tribe intends to award grants to eligible entities with those 
        grants funds, under the program is allocated pursuant to the 
        applicable plan of the State or Indian Tribe, as applicable.'';
                    (C) in paragraph (5), by inserting ``, as 
                applicable,'' after ``made available to the applicable 
                State or Indian Tribe'';
                    (D) in paragraph (6), by inserting ``, as 
                applicable,'' after ``made available to the State or 
                Indian Tribe'';
                    (E) in paragraph (7), in the matter preceding 
                subparagraph (A), by striking ``or Indian Tribe'' each 
                place it appears;
                    (F) in paragraph (8)--
                            (i) by striking ``and Indian Tribe''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``or Indian Tribe''; and
                    (G) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(9) Savings provision.--Nothing in this subsection 
        requires an Indian Tribe to award grants to eligible entities 
        described in any of subparagraphs (A) through (F) of subsection 
        (a)(2) with amounts made available to the Indian Tribe under 
        this subsection.'';
            (2) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
                        (A), by inserting ``Indian Tribe or'' before 
                        ``eligible entity''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (H)--
                                    (I) in clause (i), by striking 
                                ``and'' at the end;
                                    (II) in clause (ii), by adding 
                                ``and'' at the end; and
                                    (III) by adding at the end the 
                                following:
                            ``(iii) distributed generation;''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A)--
                                    (I) in the matter preceding clause 
                                (i), by inserting ``Indian Tribe or'' 
                                before ``eligible entity''; and
                                    (II) in clause (i)(I), by inserting 
                                ``transmission system-connected'' 
                                before ``electric generating''; and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B)--
                                    (I) in clause (i), by inserting 
                                ``Indian Tribe or'' before ``eligible 
                                entity''; and
                                    (II) in clause (ii), by inserting 
                                ``Indian Tribe or'' before ``eligible 
                                entity''; and
            (3) in subsection (h)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``paragraph (2)'' 
                and inserting ``paragraphs (2) and (3)''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Indian tribes.--An Indian Tribe that receives or 
        awards a grant under subsection (d) or an eligible entity 
        described in subsection (a)(2) that is owned by an Indian Tribe 
        and receives a grant under subsection (c) shall not be required 
        to match any amount of the applicable grant.''.
    (c) Cost-Sharing Exemption Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.--
Section 988(f) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352(f)) is 
amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ``or'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; or''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) a grant awarded to an Indian Tribe under section 
        40101(d) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (42 
        U.S.C. 18711(d)).''.
                                 <all>
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