II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1406 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide for the issuance of 

Green Bonds and to establish the United States Green Bank, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 22, 2017 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide for the 

issuance of Green Bonds and to establish the United 

States Green Bank, 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. CAPITALIZATION, METHOD OF CAPITAL STOCK 

4 PAYMENTS, ISSUANCE OF GREEN BONDS. 

5 Chapter 31 of title 31, United States Code, is amend6 ed by adding after section 3102 the following new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 3102A. Green Bonds 

8 ‘‘(a) INITIAL CAPITALIZATION.—The Secretary of the 

9 Treasury shall issue bonds (in this section referred to as 


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1 ‘Green Bonds’) in the amount of $10,000,000,000 on the 

2 credit of the United States to acquire capital stock of the 

3 United States Green Bank (established under section 

4 9801 of this title). Stock certificates evidencing ownership 

5 in the United States Green Bank shall be issued by the 

6 Green Bank to the Secretary of the Treasury, to the ex7 tent of payments made for the capital stock of the Green 

8 Bank. 

9 ‘‘(b) FUTURE CAPITALIZATION.—Upon the request 

10 of the United States Green Bank, the Secretary of the 

11 Treasury shall issue additional Green Bonds on the credit 

12 of the United States to acquire additional capital stock 

13 of the United States Green Bank in an aggregate amount 

14 not to exceed $50,000,000,000 outstanding at any one 

15 time. 

16 ‘‘(c) DENOMINATIONS AND MATURITY.—Green 

17 Bonds shall be in such forms and denominations, and shall 

18 mature within such periods, as determined by the Sec19 retary of the Treasury. 

20 ‘‘(d) INTEREST.—Green Bonds shall bear interest at 

21 a rate not less than the current average yield on out22 standing market obligations of the United States of com23 parable maturity during the month preceding the issuance 

24 of the obligation as determined by the Secretary of the 

25 Treasury. 


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1 ‘‘(e) GUARANTEED.—Green Bonds shall be fully and 

2 unconditionally guaranteed both as to interest and prin3 cipal by the United States, and such guaranty shall be 

4 expressed on the face of each bond. 

5 ‘‘(f) LAWFUL INVESTMENTS.—Green Bonds shall be 

6 lawful investments, and may be accepted as security for 

7 all fiduciary, trust, and public funds, the investment or 

8 deposit of which shall be under the authority or control 

9 of the United States or any officer or officers thereof.’’. 

10 SEC. 2. GREEN BANK. 

11 Title 31, United States Code, is amended by adding 

12 the following new chapter at the end thereof: 

13 ‘‘CHAPTER 98—GREEN BANK 

14 ‘‘§ 9801. United States Green Bank 

15 ‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

16 ‘United States Green Bank Act of 2017’. 

17 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are as 

18 follows: 

19 ‘‘(1) To significantly increase the pace and 

20 amount of investment in clean energy and energy ef21 ficiency projects at the State and local level. 

22 ‘‘(2) To improve the standard of living for 

23 Americans by delivering clean electricity more effi24 ciently and at lower cost and by funding projects 

25 that will create high-paying, long-term jobs. 


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1 ‘‘(3) To address the main impediment to invest2 ment at the State and local level—limited capital 

3 and tight balance sheets—by establishing a national 

4 Green Bank to capitalize legitimate Regional, State, 

5 and Municipal Green Banks. 

6 ‘‘(4) To facilitate— 

7 ‘‘(A) efficient tax equity markets for quali8 fied clean energy projects; and 

9 ‘‘(B) the financing of long-term clean en10 ergy purchasing by governmental and non11 governmental not-for-profit entities. 

12 ‘‘(5) To foster— 

13 ‘‘(A) the development and consistent appli14 cation of transparent underwriting standards, 

15 standard contractual terms, and measurement 

16 and verification protocols for qualified clean en17 ergy projects and qualified energy efficiency 

18 projects; 

19 ‘‘(B) the creation of performance data that 

20 enables effective underwriting, risk manage21 ment, and pro forma modeling of financial per22 formance of qualified clean energy projects and 

23 qualified energy efficiency projects to support 

24 primary financing markets and stimulate devel25 opment of secondary investment markets for 


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1 clean energy projects and energy efficiency 

2 projects; and 

3 ‘‘(C) the level of financing support for 

4 qualified clean energy projects and qualified en5 ergy efficiency projects necessary to advance 

6 vital national objectives, including— 

7 ‘‘(i) achieving energy independence 

8 from foreign energy sources; 

9 ‘‘(ii) abating climate change by in10 creasing zero or low carbon electricity gen11 eration and transportation capabilities; 

12 ‘‘(iii) realizing energy efficiency poten13 tial in existing infrastructure; 

14 ‘‘(iv) easing the economic effects of 

15 transitioning from a carbon-based economy 

16 to a clean energy economy; 

17 ‘‘(v) achieving job creation through 

18 the construction and operation of qualified 

19 clean energy projects and qualified energy 

20 efficiency projects; 

21 ‘‘(vi) fostering long-term domestic 

22 manufacturing capacity in the clean energy 

23 and energy efficiency industries; and 

24 ‘‘(vii) complementing and supplement25 ing other clean energy and energy effiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:07 Jul 04, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1406.IS S1406

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1 ciency legislation at the regional, State, 

2 municipal, and county level. 

3 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) BANK.—The term ‘Bank’ means the 

5 United States Green Bank established under sub6 section (d). 

7 ‘‘(2) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ means the 

8 Board of Directors of the Bank. 

9 ‘‘(3) CLEAN ENERGY PROJECT.—The term 

10 ‘clean energy project’ means any electricity genera11 tion, transmission, storage, heating, cooling, trans12 portation, distribution, industrial process, or manu13 facturing project whose primary purpose is the de14 ployment, development, or production of an energy 

15 system or technology that avoids, reduces, or seques16 ters air pollutants or anthropogenic greenhouse 

17 gases, including the following: 

18 ‘‘(A) Solar. 

19 ‘‘(B) Wind. 

20 ‘‘(C) Geothermal. 

21 ‘‘(D) Biomass. 

22 ‘‘(E) Hydropower. 

23 ‘‘(F) Ocean and hydrokinetic. 

24 ‘‘(G) Fuel cell. 

25 ‘‘(H) Advanced battery. 


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1 ‘‘(I) Carbon capture and sequestration. 

2 ‘‘(J) Next generation biofuels from 

3 nonfood feedstocks. 

4 ‘‘(K) Alternative vehicle fuel infrastruc5 ture. 

6 ‘‘(L) Alternative fuel vehicles. 

7 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE CLEAN ENERGY FINANCING IN8 STITUTION.—The term ‘Eligible Clean Energy Fi9 nancing Institution’ means a not-for-profit, inde10 pendent entity, quasi-independent entity, or a gov11 ernmental entity within an agency or financing au12 thority, established or designated by a State, group 

13 of States, the District of Columbia, or an Eligible 

14 State Political Subdivision to— 

15 ‘‘(A) provide low-cost or long-term financ16 ing support or credit enhancements, including 

17 loan guarantees and loan loss reserves, for 

18 Qualified Clean Energy Projects or Qualified 

19 Energy Efficiency Projects; and 

20 ‘‘(B) create liquid markets for these 

21 projects including warehousing and securitiza22 tion, or take other steps to reduce financial bar23 riers to the deployment of existing and innova24 tive clean energy and energy efficiency projects. 

25 Eligible Clean Energy Financing Institutions 


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1 may enter into partnerships with private enti2 ties. 

3 ‘‘(5) ELIGIBLE STATE POLITICAL SUBDIVI4 SION.—The term ‘Eligible State Political Subdivi5 sion’ shall mean any municipality, county or other 

6 political subdivision within a State that, based on 

7 the population data from the most recent U.S. Cen8 sus Bureau, meets the following criteria— 

9 ‘‘(A) a municipality with a population of 

10 no less than 200,000 people; 

11 ‘‘(B) a county, parish or borough with a 

12 population of no less than 800,000 people; or 

13 ‘‘(C) a municipality, county, parish, or bor14 ough with a population— 

15 ‘‘(i) of no less than 84,000 people; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(ii) that constitutes no less than 5 

18 percent of that State’s total population. 

19 ‘‘(6) ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROJECT.—The term 

20 ‘energy efficiency project’ means any project, tech21 nology, function, or measure that results in the re22 duction of energy use required to achieve the same 

23 level of service or output prior to the application of 

24 such project, technology, function, or measure, or 

25 substantially reduces greenhouse gas emissions relVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:07 Jul 04, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1406.IS S1406

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1 ative to emissions that would have occurred prior to 

2 the application of such project, technology, function, 

3 or measure. 

4 ‘‘(7) GREEN BOND.—The term ‘Green Bond’ 

5 means a bond issued pursuant to section 3102A of 

6 this title. 

7 ‘‘(8) QUALIFIED CLEAN ENERGY PROJECT.— 

8 The term ‘qualified clean energy project’ means a 

9 clean energy project that— 

10 ‘‘(A) is a Clean Energy Project carried out 

11 domestically within the territorial borders of the 

12 United States; 

13 ‘‘(B) stays current on interest and debt 

14 payment obligations; 

15 ‘‘(C) to the extent otherwise required by 

16 law, pays wages in accordance with subchapter 

17 IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code 

18 (commonly referred to as the Davis-Bacon Act); 

19 ‘‘(D) if for nuclear power, is funded by the 

20 Bank only after all other existing Federal fi21 nancial support has been expended; 

22 ‘‘(E) if for Alternative fuel vehicles, is for 

23 the purchase or lease of eligible vehicles and not 

24 the design or manufacture thereof; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) satisfies any other conditions estab2 lished by the Bank and published in the Fed3 eral Register. 

4 ‘‘(9) QUALIFIED ENERGY EFFICIENCY

5 PROJECT.—The term ‘qualified energy efficiency 

6 project’ means an energy efficiency project, includ7 ing smart grid technologies and functions character8 ized in section 1301 of the Energy Independence 

9 and Security Act of 2007 and end-use technologies 

10 for efficiency gains in new construction and across 

11 existing infrastructure that— 

12 ‘‘(A) is an Energy Efficiency Project car13 ried out domestically within the territorial bor14 ders of the United States; 

15 ‘‘(B) stays current on interest and debt 

16 payment obligations; 

17 ‘‘(C) to the extent otherwise required by 

18 law, pays wages in accordance with subchapter 

19 IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code 

20 (commonly referred to as the Davis-Bacon Act); 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(D) satisfies any other conditions estab23 lished by the Bank and published in the Fed24 eral Register. 

25 ‘‘(d) GREEN BANK.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT OF CORPORATION.— 

2 There is established a corporation to be known as 

3 the United States Green Bank that shall be wholly 

4 owned by the United States. 

5 ‘‘(2) OVERSIGHT.—The Bank shall be subject 

6 to the general supervision and direction of the Sec7 retary of the Treasury. The Bank shall be an instru8 mentality of the United States Government and shall 

9 maintain such offices as may be necessary or appro10 priate in the conduct of its business. 

11 ‘‘(3) CHARTER.—The Bank shall be chartered 

12 for 20 years from the date of enactment of this sec13 tion. 

14 ‘‘(4) GOVERNANCE.— 

15 ‘‘(A) BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE

16 BANK.— 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Bank shall be 

18 under the direction of a Board of Directors 

19 consisting of 7 members and be subject to 

20 the general supervision and direction of the 

21 Secretary of the Treasury as Chairman of 

22 the Board. 

23 ‘‘(ii) MEMBERSHIP.—The Board shall 

24 consist of 7 members, as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(I) The Secretary of the Treas2 ury or the Secretary’s designee as 

3 Chairman of the Board. 

4 ‘‘(II) The Secretary of Energy or 

5 the Secretary’s designee. 

6 ‘‘(III) The Secretary of Trans7 portation or the Secretary’s designee. 

8 ‘‘(IV) Four members appointed 

9 by the President of the United States 

10 including a Chief Executive Officer, 1 

11 member with expertise regarding re12 newable energy and/or energy effi13 ciency, 1 member with expertise re14 garding finance, 1 member with ex15 pertise regarding electric utilities, and 

16 1 member with expertise regarding 

17 sustainable transportation. 

18 ‘‘(iii) QUORUM.—Four members of 

19 the Board shall constitute a quorum. 

20 ‘‘(iv) BYLAWS.—The Board shall 

21 adopt, and may amend, such bylaws as are 

22 necessary for the proper management and 

23 functioning of the Bank, and shall, in such 

24 bylaws, designate the vice presidents and 


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1 other officers of the Bank and prescribe 

2 their duties. 

3 ‘‘(v) TERMS.—The initial terms of the 

4 members of the Board shall be 4 years. 

5 For terms beginning after the first 4 years 

6 following the date of the enactment of this 

7 section, the Board shall create staggered 

8 terms of 2, 3, and 4 years for members of 

9 the Board. 

10 ‘‘(vi) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy on 

11 the Board shall be filled in the same man12 ner in which the original appointment was 

13 made. 

14 ‘‘(vii) INTERIM APPOINTMENTS.—Any 

15 member appointed to fill a vacancy occur16 ring before the expiration of the term for 

17 which such member’s predecessor was ap18 pointed shall be appointed only for the re19 mainder of such term. 

20 ‘‘(viii) REAPPOINTMENT.—Members 

21 of the Board may be reappointed for addi22 tional terms of service as members of the 

23 Board. 

24 ‘‘(ix) CONTINUATION OF SERVICE.— 

25 Any member of the Board whose term has 


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1 expired may continue to serve on the 

2 Board until the earlier of— 

3 ‘‘(I) the date on which such 

4 member’s successor is appointed; or 

5 ‘‘(II) the end of the 6-month pe6 riod beginning on the date such mem7 ber’s term expires. 

8 ‘‘(x) CHAIRMAN.—The Board shall se9 lect a Chairman from among its members. 

10 ‘‘(B) EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT.—The 

11 Chief Executive Officer shall appoint an Execu12 tive Vice President who— 

13 ‘‘(i) shall serve as Chief Executive Of14 ficer of the Bank during the absence or 

15 disability of, or in the event of a vacancy 

16 in the office, of Chief Executive Officer; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) shall at other times perform such 

19 functions as the Chief Executive Officer 

20 may prescribe. 

21 ‘‘(C) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—At the 

22 request of any 2 members of the Board, the 

23 Chairman shall place an item pertaining to the 

24 policies or procedures of the Bank on the agen25 da for discussion by the Board. Not later than 


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1 30 days after the date such a request is made, 

2 the Chairman shall hold a meeting of the Board 

3 at which such item shall be discussed. 

4 ‘‘(D) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—No direc5 tor, officer, attorney, agent, or employee of the 

6 Bank shall in any manner, directly or indi7 rectly, participate in the deliberation upon, or 

8 the determination of, any question affecting 

9 such individual’s personal interests, or the in10 terests of any corporation, partnership, or asso11 ciation in which such individual is directly or 

12 indirectly personally interested. 

13 ‘‘(5) HIRING AND CONTRACTING AUTHORITY.— 

14 ‘‘(A) CONTRACTING.—The Bank may em15 ploy or otherwise contract with banks, credit 

16 agencies, attorneys, and other third parties at 

17 customary commercial rates. 

18 ‘‘(B) HIRING.—Notwithstanding any oth19 erwise applicable Federal rules and regulations, 

20 the Bank may employ and otherwise contract 

21 with employees and provide compensation to 

22 such employees at prevailing rates for com23 pensation for similar positions in private indus24 try. 

25 ‘‘(6) SUNSET.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) EXPIRATION OF CHARTER.—The 

2 Bank shall continue to exercise its functions 

3 until all obligations and commitments of the 

4 Bank are discharged, even after its charter has 

5 expired. 

6 ‘‘(B) PRIOR OBLIGATIONS.—No provisions 

7 of this subsection shall be construed as pre8 venting the Bank from— 

9 ‘‘(i) acquiring obligations prior to the 

10 date of the expiration of its charter which 

11 mature subsequent to such date; 

12 ‘‘(ii) assuming, prior to the date of 

13 the expiration of its charter, liability as 

14 guarantor, endorser, or acceptor of obliga15 tions which mature subsequent to such 

16 date; 

17 ‘‘(iii) issuing, prior or subsequent to 

18 the date of the expiration of its charter, 

19 for purchase by the Secretary of the Treas20 ury or any other purchasers, its notes, de21 bentures, bonds, or other obligations which 

22 mature subsequent to such date; or 

23 ‘‘(iv) continuing as a corporation and 

24 exercising any of its functions subsequent 

25 to the date of the expiration of its charter 


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1 for purposes of orderly liquidation, includ2 ing the administration of its assets and the 

3 collection of any obligations held by the 

4 Bank. 

5 ‘‘(e) GREEN BANK ESTABLISHMENT FUND.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

7 the Treasury of the United States a revolving fund, 

8 to be known as the ‘Green Bank Establishment 

9 Fund’ (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Fund’), con10 sisting of— 

11 ‘‘(A) such amounts as are deposited in the 

12 Fund under this subtitle, including but not lim13 ited to proceeds from the Green Bonds issued 

14 under section 3102A; and 

15 ‘‘(B) such sums as may be appropriated to 

16 supplement the Fund. 

17 ‘‘(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

18 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Fund 

19 such sums as are necessary to carry out this sub20 title. 

21 ‘‘(3) EXPENDITURES FROM THE FUND.— 

22 Amounts in the Fund shall be available to the Chief 

23 Executive for obligation without fiscal year limita24 tion, to remain available until expended. 

25 ‘‘(f) LENDING, FINANCING, EXPENDITURES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Bank shall establish a 

2 program to provide, on a competitive basis loans, 

3 loan guarantees or credit buy downs from the Fund, 

4 as the Bank determines appropriate, solely to pro5 vide capitalization to an Eligible Clean Energy Fi6 nancing Institution for the establishment or con7 tinuing operation of that entity. 

8 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The Bank may only 

9 provide loans, loan guarantees or credit buy downs 

10 under paragraph (1) if: 

11 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION.—The applicant sub12 mits an application for loans, loan guarantees 

13 or credit buy downs in accordance with applica14 tion criteria established by the Bank. 

15 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE CLEAN ENERGY FINANCING

16 INSTITUTIONS.—An entity is eligible to receive 

17 loans, loan guarantees or credit buy downs 

18 under this section only if it— 

19 ‘‘(i) meets the definition of Eligible 

20 Clean Energy Financing Institution; 

21 ‘‘(ii) uses the funding from the Bank 

22 solely for the purposes described in this 

23 section; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) satisfies the capitalization and 

2 funding requirements as described in this 

3 section. 

4 ‘‘(C) PROJECT FINANCE.—The Bank shall 

5 not directly lend or otherwise provide financial 

6 products to any individual projects, nor shall it 

7 be required to examine individual projects for 

8 the purposes of lending under paragraph (1) 

9 other than as necessary to determine whether 

10 an applicant meets the criteria for Eligible 

11 Clean Energy Financing Institutions. 

12 ‘‘(D) CAPITALIZATION AND CO-FUND13 ING.—The Eligible Clean Energy Financing In14 stitution— 

15 ‘‘(i) must provide, at the time of re16 ceipt of any initial funding for capitaliza17 tion by the Bank, an amount from funding 

18 sources other than the Bank equivalent to 

19 no less than $1,000,000 and no less than 

20 20 percent of the total initial funding pro21 vided by the Bank; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) may not receive any subsequent 

23 funding for capitalization by the Bank, in 

24 addition to any initial funding for capital25 ization provided by the Bank in accordance 


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1 with (i) above in, of amounts greater than 

2 two times the amount of capital committed 

3 for use by the Eligible Clean Energy Fi4 nancing Institution for Qualified Clean En5 ergy Projects and Qualified Energy Effi6 ciency Projects at the time of application. 

7 ‘‘(3) REGULATIONS.—The Bank shall establish 

8 regulations to carry out the activities and operations 

9 set out in this chapter. 

10 ‘‘(g) LENDING ACTIVITIES.— 

11 ‘‘(1) FEES.—The Bank shall assess reasonable 

12 fees on its activities so as to cover its reasonable 

13 costs and expenses, consistent with the Federal 

14 Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.), 

15 provided the Bank operates as a not-for-profit enti16 ty. 

17 ‘‘(2) APPROPRIATIONS AND RETENTION OF RE18 CEIPTS.—For purposes of the Federal Credit Re19 form Act, funds made available to the Green Bank 

20 pursuant to section 3102A for carrying out this sec21 tion are appropriated to the Green Bank for the 

22 purposes described in the section. Receipts collected 

23 by the Green Bank, consistent with the Federal 

24 Credit Reform Act, shall be considered to have been 

25 provided in advance in an appropriations Act, and 


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1 shall remain available to the Green Bank until ex2 pended. 

3 ‘‘(3) IMMUNITY FROM IMPAIRMENT, LIMITA4 TION, OR RESTRICTION.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—All rights and rem6 edies of the Bank shall be immune from impair7 ment, limitation, or restrictions by or under— 

8 ‘‘(i) any law (other than a law enacted 

9 by Congress expressly in limitation of this 

10 paragraph) that becomes effective after the 

11 acquisition by the Bank of the subject or 

12 property on, under, or with respect to 

13 which the right or remedy arises or exists 

14 or would so arise or exist in the absence of 

15 the law; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) any administrative or other ac17 tion that becomes effective after the acqui18 sition. 

19 ‘‘(B) STATE LAW.—The Bank may con20 duct its business without regard to any quali21 fication or law of any State relating to incorpo22 ration. 

23 ‘‘(4) TAXATION.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara25 graph (B), the Bank (including its activities, 


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1 capital, reserves, surplus and income) shall be 

2 exempt from all taxation imposed by any State 

3 or local political subdivision of a State. 

4 ‘‘(B) REAL PROPERTY.—Any real property 

5 of the Bank shall be subject to taxation by a 

6 State or political subdivision of a State to the 

7 same extent according to the value of the real 

8 property as other real property is taxed. 

9 ‘‘(5) POWER TO REMOVE; JURISDICTION.—Not10 withstanding any other provision of law, any civil ac11 tion, suit, or proceeding to which the Bank is a 

12 party shall be deemed to arise under the laws of the 

13 United States, and the United States district courts 

14 shall have original jurisdiction. The Bank may, with15 out bond or security, remove any such action, suit, 

16 or proceeding from a State court to a United States 

17 district court or to the United States District Court 

18 for the District of Columbia. 

19 ‘‘(6) SPENDING SAFEGUARDS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Executive 

21 Officer of the Bank— 

22 ‘‘(i) shall require any Eligible Clean 

23 Energy Financing Institution receiving fi24 nancial support pursuant to this section to 

25 report quarterly, in a format specified by 


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1 the Chief Executive Officer, on such enti2 ty’s use of such support and its progress 

3 fulfilling the objectives for which such sup4 port was granted, and the Chief Executive 

5 Officer shall make these reports available 

6 to the public; 

7 ‘‘(ii) may establish additional report8 ing and information requirements for any 

9 recipient of financing support made avail10 able pursuant to this section; 

11 ‘‘(iii) shall establish appropriate mech12 anisms to ensure appropriate use and com13 pliance with all terms of any financing 

14 support made available pursuant to this 

15 section; 

16 ‘‘(iv) may, in addition to and con17 sistent with any other authority under ap18 plicable law, deobligate financing support 

19 made available pursuant to this section to 

20 entities that demonstrate an insufficient 

21 level of performance, or wasteful or fraud22 ulent spending, as defined in advance by 

23 the Chief Executive Officer, and award 

24 these funds competitively to new or exist25 ing applicants consistent with this section; 


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1 ‘‘(v) shall create and maintain a fully 

2 searchable database, accessible on the 

3 Internet (or successor protocol) at no cost 

4 to the public, that contains at least— 

5 ‘‘(I) a list of each entity that has 

6 applied for loans, loan guarantees or 

7 credit buy downs under this section; 

8 ‘‘(II) a description of each appli9 cation; 

10 ‘‘(III) the status of each such ap11 plication; 

12 ‘‘(IV) the name of each entity re13 ceiving funds made available pursuant 

14 to this section; 

15 ‘‘(V) the purpose for which such 

16 entity is receiving such funds; 

17 ‘‘(VI) each quarterly report sub18 mitted by the entity pursuant to this 

19 section; and 

20 ‘‘(VII) information related to 

21 Qualifying Clean Energy Projects and 

22 Qualifying Energy Efficiency Projects 

23 funded by Eligible Clean Energy Fi24 nancing Institutions using funding re25 ceived from the Bank; 


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1 ‘‘(vi) to the extent practicable, data 

2 maintained under clause (v) shall be used 

3 to inform private capital markets, includ4 ing the development of underwriting stand5 ards for the financing of clean energy 

6 projects and energy efficiency projects; 

7 ‘‘(vii) shall make all financing trans8 actions available for public inspection, in9 cluding formal annual reviews by both a 

10 private auditor and the Comptroller Gen11 eral; and 

12 ‘‘(viii) shall at all times be available to 

13 receive public comment in writing on the 

14 activities of the Bank. 

15 ‘‘(B) PROTECTION OF CONFIDENTIAL

16 BUSINESS INFORMATION.—To the extent nec17 essary and appropriate, the Chief Executive Of18 ficer may redact any information regarding ap19 plicants and borrowers to protect confidential 

20 business information. 

21 ‘‘(7) GUARANTEE.—Except as provided in sec22 tion 3102A(e) with respect to Green Bonds, finan23 cial support provided by the Bank shall not be fully 

24 and unconditionally guaranteed by the United 

25 States.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

2 (a) TAX EXEMPT STATUS.—Section 501(l) of the In3 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: 

5 ‘‘(4) The Green Bank established under section 

6 9801 of title 31, United States Code.’’. 

7 (b) WHOLLY OWNED GOVERNMENT CORPORA8 TION.—Section 9101(3) of title 31, United States Code, 

9 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(S) the Green Bank.’’. 

11 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

12 (1) The table of sections for chapter 31 of title 

13 31, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

14 after the item relating to section 3102 the following 

15 new item: 

‘‘3102A. Green Bonds.’’. 

16 (2) The table of chapters for subtitle VI of title 

17 31, United States Code, is amended by adding at 

18 the end the following new item: 

‘‘98. Green Bank ................................................................................ 9801’’. 

Æ 


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