II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1491 

To amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to improve 

United States-Israel energy cooperation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013 

Ms. LANDRIEU (for herself, Mr. WYDEN, and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 

2007 to improve United States-Israel energy cooperation, 

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. UNITED STATES-ISRAEL ENERGY COOPERA4 TION. 

5 (a) FINDINGS.—Section 917(a) of the Energy Inde6 pendence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17337(a)) 

7 is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘renewable’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘covered’’; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (4)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘possible many’’ and in3 serting ‘‘possible— 

4 ‘‘(A) many’’; 

5 (B) by inserting ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon 

6 at the end; and 

7 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(B) significant contributions to the devel9 opment of renewable energy and energy effi10 ciency through the established programs of the 

11 United States-Israel Binational Industrial Re12 search and Development Foundation and the 

13 United States-Israel Binational Science Foun14 dation;’’; 

15 (3) in paragraph (6)— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘renewable’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘covered’’; and 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon 

19 at the end; 

20 (4) in paragraph (7)— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘renewable’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘covered’’; and 

23 (B) by striking the period at the end and 

24 inserting a semicolon; and 

25 (5) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(8) United States-Israel energy cooperation, 

2 and the development of natural resources by Israel, 

3 are strategic interests of the United States; 

4 ‘‘(9) Israel is a strategic partner of the United 

5 States in water technology; 

6 ‘‘(10) the United States can play a role in as7 sisting Israel with regional safety and security 

8 issues; 

9 ‘‘(11) the National Science Foundation of the 

10 United States should collaborate with the Israel 

11 Science Foundation; 

12 ‘‘(12) the United States and Israel should strive 

13 to develop more robust academic cooperation in en14 ergy innovation technology and engineering, water 

15 science, technology transfer, and analysis of geo16 political implications of new natural resource devel17 opment and associated areas; 

18 ‘‘(13) the United States supports the goals of 

19 the Alternative Fuels Administration of Israel; 

20 ‘‘(14) the United States strongly urges open 

21 dialogue and continued mechanisms for regular en22 gagement and encourages further cooperation be23 tween applicable departments, agencies, ministries, 

24 institutions of higher education, and the private secVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:30 Sep 11, 2013 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1491.IS S1491

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1 tor of the United States and Israel on energy secu2 rity issues, including— 

3 ‘‘(A) identifying policy priorities associated 

4 with the development of natural resources of 

5 Israel; 

6 ‘‘(B) discussing best practices to secure 

7 cyber energy infrastructure; 

8 ‘‘(C) best practice sharing; 

9 ‘‘(D) leveraging natural gas to positively 

10 impact regional stability; 

11 ‘‘(E) improving energy efficiency and the 

12 overall performance of water technologies 

13 through research and development in water de14 salination, wastewater treatment and reclama15 tion, and other water treatment refiners; 

16 ‘‘(F) technical and environmental manage17 ment of deep-water exploration and production; 

18 ‘‘(G) coastal protection and restoration; 

19 ‘‘(H) academic outreach and engagement; 

20 ‘‘(I) private sector and business develop21 ment engagement; 

22 ‘‘(J) regulatory consultations; 

23 ‘‘(K) leveraging alternative transportation 

24 fuels and technologies; and 


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1 ‘‘(L) any other areas determined appro2 priate by United States and Israel; and 

3 ‘‘(15) the United States acknowledges the 

4 achievements and importance of the Binational In5 dustrial Research and Development Foundation 

6 (BIRD) and the United States-Israel Binational 

7 Science Foundation (BSF) and supports continued 

8 multiyear funding to ensure the continuity of the 

9 programs of the Foundations.’’. 

10 (b) TYPES OF ENERGY.—Section 917(b)(2) of the 

11 Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 

12 U.S.C. 17337(b)(2)) is amended— 

13 (1) in subparagraph (F), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

14 after the semicolon at the end; 

15 (2) in subparagraph (G), by striking the period 

16 at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

17 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(H) natural gas energy, including natural 

19 gas projects conducted by or in conjunction 

20 with the United States-Israel Binational 

21 Science Foundation; 

22 ‘‘(I) improvement of energy efficiency and 

23 the overall performance of water technologies 

24 through research and development in water deVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:30 Sep 11, 2013 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1491.IS S1491

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1 salination, wastewater treatment and reclama2 tion, and other water treatment refiners; and 

3 ‘‘(J) conventional and unconventional oil 

4 and gas technologies.’’. 

5 (c) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—Section 917(b)(3) of 

6 the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 

7 U.S.C. 17337(b)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘energy effi8 ciency or renewable’’ and inserting ‘‘covered’’. 

9 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; INTER10 NATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS.—Section 917 of the Energy 

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

12 17337) is amended— 

13 (1) by striking subsection (d); 

14 (2) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub15 section (e); and 

16 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(c) INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may, subject 

20 to appropriations, enter into cooperative agreements 

21 supporting and enhancing dialogue and planning in22 volving international partnerships between the De23 partment, including National Laboratories of the 

24 Department, and the Government of Israel and its 

25 ministries, offices, and institutions. 


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1 ‘‘(2) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Secretary may not 

2 pay more than 50 percent of Federal share of the 

3 costs described in paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(3) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Secretary may 

5 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 

6 an annual report that describes— 

7 ‘‘(A) actions taken to carry out this sub8 section; and 

9 ‘‘(B) any projects under this subsection for 

10 which the Secretary requests funding. 

11 ‘‘(d) UNITED STATES-ISRAEL CENTER.—The Sec12 retary may establish a joint United States-Israel Center 

13 based in an area of the United States with the experience, 

14 knowledge, and expertise in offshore energy development 

15 to further dialogue and collaboration to develop more ro16 bust academic cooperation in energy innovation technology 

17 and engineering, water science, technology transfer, and 

18 analysis of geopolitical implications of new natural re19 source development and associated areas.’’. 

20 (e) TERMINATION.—Subsection (e) of section 917 of 

21 the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 

22 U.S.C. 17337) (as redesignated by subsection (d)(2)) is 

23 amended by striking ‘‘the date that is 7 years after the 


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1 date of enactment of this Act’’ and inserting ‘‘September 

2 30, 2024’’. 

Æ 


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