I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9238 

To accelerate the commercialization of marine energy technologies, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 2, 2024 

Ms. BARRAGA ́N (for herself, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. CASE, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. 

MULLIN, Ms. HOYLE of Oregon, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. 

CARBAJAL, and Ms. KUSTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Natural Resources, 

and Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To accelerate the commercialization of marine energy 

technologies, 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 ‘‘Marine Energy Tech5 nologies Acceleration Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MARINE ENERGY ACCELERATION. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Ma2 rine Energy Acceleration Fund established under 

3 subsection (b). 

4 (2) MARINE ENERGY.—The term ‘‘marine en5 ergy’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

6 632 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 

7 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17211). 

8 (3) NATIONAL MARINE ENERGY CENTERS.— 

9 The term ‘‘National Marine Energy Centers’’ means 

10 the National Marine Energy Centers referred to in, 

11 or established under, section 636 of the Energy 

12 Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 

13 17215). 

14 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of Energy. 

16 (b) MARINE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES ACCELERA17 TION FUND.— 

18 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall es19 tablish a fund, to be known as the ‘‘Marine Energy 

20 Technologies Acceleration Fund’’. 

21 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

22 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Fund 

23 $1,000,000,000, to remain available until expended. 

24 (c) MARINE ENERGY DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct 

2 competitive solicitations for not fewer than twenty 

3 marine energy technology demonstration projects 

4 that export power to microgrids, community grids, 

5 or utility-scale grids. 

6 (2) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this sub7 section, the Secretary may coordinate with the Na8 tional Marine Energy Centers, non-profits that pro9 mote the growth and development of the blue econ10 omy, universities with relevant facilities and access 

11 to marine energy resources, and other entities with 

12 proven technical expertise to support marine energy 

13 demonstration projects. 

14 (3) PRIORITY.—In carrying out this subsection, 

15 the Secretary shall prioritize— 

16 (A) projects that integrate marine energy 

17 technologies with existing onshore and offshore 

18 transmission infrastructure, nearshore marine 

19 structures, or projects with all necessary local, 

20 State, and Federal licenses or permits in place; 

21 (B) open water prototype testing for more 

22 mature and advanced microgrid, community 

23 grid, or utility-scale grid marine energy tech24 nologies nearing market adoption; 


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1 (C) projects that support energy resilience 

2 and economic sustainability for rural and re3 mote disadvantaged communities, Tribal com4 munities, and communities of color; and 

5 (D) projects that power ocean-based sci6 entific research and education, and support 

7 workforce development, national security, and 

8 commercial activities limited by the availability 

9 of existing energy resources. 

10 (4) FUNDS.—Of the amounts in the Fund, 

11 $600,000,000 shall be available to the Secretary to 

12 carry out this subsection. 

13 (d) ADVANCEMENT OF MARINE ENERGY TECH14 NOLOGIES.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct 

16 competitive solicitations for— 

17 (A) research and development projects to 

18 advance marine energy technologies; and 

19 (B) upgrades to research and development 

20 facilities that advance marine energy tech21 nologies. 

22 (2) COORDINATION.—In carrying out this sub23 section, the Secretary may coordinate with the Na24 tional Marine Energy Centers, non-profits that pro25 mote the growth and development of the blue econVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:20 Aug 31, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9238.IH H9238

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1 omy, universities with relevant facilities and access 

2 to marine energy resources, entities with all nec3 essary local, State, and Federal licenses or permits 

4 in place, National Laboratories, Federal agencies in5 volved in the development of marine energy tech6 nology, other existing marine energy research and 

7 development programs, and other entities with prov8 en technical expertise to support marine energy re9 search, development, and commercialization. 

10 (3) PRIORITY.—In carrying out this subsection, 

11 the Secretary shall prioritize research and develop12 ment projects that— 

13 (A) rapidly design, fabricate, and test ma14 rine energy systems, subsystems, components, 

15 controls, domestic manufacturing, and materials 

16 in order to advance efficiency, reduce costs, re17 duce environmental impacts, increase power 

18 production, and improve reliability at a variety 

19 of technology readiness levels; 

20 (B) can be used to educate the public, pol21 icymakers, investors, educators, and other 

22 stakeholders about the potential for deployment 

23 of marine energy technologies, and identify the 

24 needs and concerns of local communities where 

25 projects may be placed; and 


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1 (C) support the development of tech2 nologies to monitor and mitigate impacts to ma3 rine and coastal ecosystems and communities. 

4 (4) FUNDS.—Of the amounts in the Fund— 

5 (A) $230,000,000 shall be available to the 

6 Secretary for technology research and develop7 ment activities under this subsection; and 

8 (B) $20,000,000 shall be available to the 

9 Secretary for providing marine energy and edu10 cation activities under this subsection through 

11 the National Marine Energy Centers. 

12 (e) ASSESSMENT OF TECHNICAL RESOURCE POTEN13 TIAL.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordina15 tion with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad16 ministration, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Manage17 ment, and other agencies, as appropriate, shall as18 sess the technical resource potential of marine en19 ergy at not fewer than 50 sites that previous agency 

20 assessments and modeling have determined to have 

21 significant marine energy potential. 

22 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out this sub23 section, the Secretary shall— 


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1 (A) develop in-depth marine energy re2 source and conditions characterizations for each 

3 site; 

4 (B) deploy environmental monitoring tech5 nologies, tools, and data collection to under6 stand and mitigate potential environmental 

7 risks, characterize potential conflicts with other 

8 users of the local marine resources, optimize 

9 marine energy devices and arrays, and reduce 

10 costs; 

11 (C) ensure, to the maximum extent prac12 ticable, that the sites are geographically distrib13 uted to assess marine energy resources and 

14 technologies in different regions of the United 

15 States; 

16 (D) where applicable, carry out technical 

17 resource assessments in coordination with Re18 gional Ocean Partnerships of the National Oce19 anic and Atmospheric Administration Office for 

20 Coastal Management; and 

21 (E) use such technical resource assess22 ments to inform the location of the marine en23 ergy technology demonstration projects under 

24 subsection (c). 


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1 (3) DATA SHARING.—Data collected under this 

2 subsection shall be shared with public data reposi3 tories for use among regional ocean data portals and 

4 partnerships. 

5 (4) FUNDS.—Of the amounts in the Fund, 

6 $50,000,000 shall be available to the Secretary to 

7 carry out this subsection. 

8 (f) IMPROVEMENT OF PERMITTING.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordina10 tion with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commis11 sion, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the 

12 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

13 the Corps of Engineers, and other agencies as need14 ed, shall convene a task force with the appropriate 

15 Federal and State agencies to prepare a report 

16 that— 

17 (A) describes any barriers under the juris18 diction of such agencies to the development of 

19 marine energy technology projects; and 

20 (B) provides recommendations on reducing 

21 such barriers, including identification and de22 termination of opportunities to improve the reg23 ulatory process associated with the authorities 

24 required to deploy and license marine energy 


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1 technology projects, consistent with the Na2 tional Environmental Policy Act. 

3 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The task force convened 

4 under paragraph (1) shall— 

5 (A) develop recommendations for efficient 

6 permitting processes that reduce the time, cost, 

7 and uncertainty for marine energy projects, 

8 consistent with the National Environmental 

9 Policy Act; 

10 (B) determine whether additional staff are 

11 required to be hired and trained at the appro12 priate Federal agencies to process permits and 

13 conduct environmental reviews in a timely and 

14 efficient manner; 

15 (C) conduct outreach to stakeholders; 

16 (D) facilitate Federal coordination with 

17 State permitting processes for marine energy 

18 projects, including by providing staff training 

19 for State and territory permitting agencies; and 

20 (E) not later than 1 year after the date of 

21 enactment of this Act, submit to Congress the 

22 report prepared under paragraph (1). 

23 (3) FUNDS.—Of the amounts in the Fund, to 

24 carry out this subsection— 


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1 (A) $5,000,000 shall be available to the 

2 Department of Energy; 

3 (B) $5,000,000 shall be available to the 

4 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; and 

5 (C) $5,000,000 shall be available to the 

6 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. 

7 (g) WORKFORCE.— 

8 (1) ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 2 years after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

10 shall conduct a national assessment of— 

11 (A) the prospective marine energy work12 force and hiring needs; and 

13 (B) the educational pathways and pro14 grams that would address those needs. 

15 (2) DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.—The Secretary 

16 shall launch workforce development programs based 

17 on the assessment conducted under paragraph (1), 

18 in partnership with the National Marine Energy 

19 Centers, the marine energy industry, institutions of 

20 higher education, labor unions, non-profits, and ca21 reer and technical education programs. 

22 (3) PRIORITY.—In carrying out this subsection, 

23 the Secretary shall prioritize workforce development 

24 programs in communities near the location of the 


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1 marine energy technology demonstration projects 

2 under subsection (c). 

3 (4) FUNDS.—Of the amounts in the Fund, 

4 $85,000,000 shall be available to the Secretary to 

5 carry out this subsection. 

Æ 


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