I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3603

To promote the research and development of environmental technologies.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 21, 1993

Mr. BROWN of California (for himself, Mr. VALENTINE, Mr. MINETA, Mrs.

LLOYD, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. SWETT, Mr. KLEIN, Ms. ESHOO, Mr.

TRAFICANT, Mr. TANNER, Mr. BACCHUS of Florida, Mr. BARCIA of

Michigan, Mr. FINGERHUT, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr.

COPPERSMITH, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. MINGE, Mr.

DEAL, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. BECERRA, and Mr. RUSH) introduced the following bill, which was referred jointly to the Committees on Science, Space,

and Technology, the Judiciary, Education and Labor, Banking, Finance

and Urban Affairs, Public Works and Transportation, Energy and Commerce, and Government Operations

A BILL

To promote the research and development of environmental

technologies.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 TITLE I—GENERAL PROVISIONS

4 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

6 ‘‘Environmental Technologies Act of 1993’’.
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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

2 this Act is as follows:

TITLE I—GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 101. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 102. Findings.

Sec. 103. Purposes.

Sec. 104. Definitions.

TITLE II—POLICY COORDINATION AND TECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS

Subtitle A—Policy Coordination and Program Planning

Sec. 201. Coordination of environmental technology research and development.

Sec. 202. Life-cycle assessments.

Sec. 203. Environmental technologies in ongoing programs.

Subtitle B—Environmental Technology

Sec. 211. Environmental Technologies Development and Integration Program.

Sec. 212. Environmental remediation and monitoring technologies.

Sec. 213. President’s Total Environmental Quality Award and the National Environmentally Sound Technology Award.

Sec. 214. Incorporation of information on environmental technologies into existing networks.

Sec. 215. Use of Federal facilities for environmental technology demonstration.

Sec. 216. Federal acquisition and use of environmentally efficient building materials.

TITLE III—EDUCATION

Sec. 301. Environmentally advanced education.

Sec. 302. General education in environmental technologies.

TITLE IV—STANDARDS

Sec. 401. Performance standards.

Sec. 402. Verification of environmental technologies.

Sec. 403. Consumer claims on environmental technologies.

TITLE V—INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS

Sec. 501. Findings.

Sec. 502. International environmental technology demonstration.

Sec. 503. Promotion of environmental technology exports.

Sec. 504. Financial assistance for technology adaptation to promote exports.

TITLE VI—FINANCIAL AND REGULATORY INCENTIVES

Sec. 601. Use of environmental technology products by the Federal Government.

Sec. 602. Study of regulatory influences on innovation in environmental technologies.

Sec. 603. Study of the impact of tax incentives on innovation in environmental

technologies.
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TITLE VII—AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

Sec. 701. Authorization of appropriations.

1 SEC. 102. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds the following:

3 (1) Promoting a sound economy and maintain4 ing a healthy environment are among the urgent

5 public policy challenges of the United States.

6 (2) The development and deployment of envi7 ronmental technologies will enhance the economic

8 standing of the United States and global environ9 mental security.

10 (3) Although better product and process de11 signs offer new opportunities for substantially im12 proved environmental performance in growing do13 mestic and international markets, current govern14 ment regulations and market barriers do not allow

15 these opportunities to be fully exploited.

16 (4) Although the Federal Government, research

17 institutes, universities, and industries are conducting

18 substantial basic environmental research and devel19 opment, environmental concerns must become a

20 more pervasive and central dimension of technology

21 research and development.

22 (5) The coordination of Federal, State, and

23 local activities for developing and adopting environ24 mental technologies will greatly enhance the effec-
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1 tiveness of environmental policies of the United

2 States.

3 SEC. 103. PURPOSES.

4 It is the purpose of this Act—

5 (1) to improve coordination and integration of

6 environmental technology research and development

7 performed by and across Federal agencies;

8 (2) to assist and catalyze efforts of private in9 dustry, universities, nonprofit research centers, and

10 Federal laboratories in developing and deploying en11 vironmental technologies and, in the process, to pro12 mote the competitiveness of United States compa13 nies;

14 (3) to facilitate the development, diffusion, and

15 export of environmental technologies by improving

16 the availability of information;

17 (4) to promote industrial, academic, and public

18 knowledge of sustainable economic development;

19 (5) to promote the development of technical

20 standards for substitution of an environmentally

21 sound product or technology for a traditional one,

22 for environmental performance and efficacy of new

23 technologies and products, and for environmental

24 advertising and labeling of products;
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1 (6) to encourage sustainable economic develop2 ment internationally and to promote United States

3 exports of environmental technologies; and

4 (7) to direct the study of tax and regulatory

5 changes that will provide for the more efficient de6 velopment and use of environmental technologies.

7 SEC. 104. DEFINITIONS.

8 For the purposes of this Act:

9 (1) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad10 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

11 (2) The term ‘‘environmental technology’’

12 means—

13 (A) a technology that is primarily intended

14 to improve the quality of the environment

15 through pollution reduction or remediation;

16 (B) a product, manufacturing process, or

17 service that is capable of cost-effectively replac18 ing the functions of an existing product, proc19 ess, or service, and as compared with the prod20 uct, process, or service it replaces, significantly

21 reducing overall pollution or significantly im22 proving the efficiency of energy or materials

23 use; or

24 (C) a technology within the meaning of

25 subparagraphs (A) and (B).
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1 (3) The term ‘‘Federal laboratory’’ means a

2 Government-owned, Government-operated labora3 tory, or a Government-owned, contractor-operated

4 laboratory.

5 (4) The term ‘‘life-cycle assessment’’ means the

6 assessment of the complete systems involved in con7 verting resources to products, including resource ex8 traction, materials conversion, energy use, end use,

9 recycling, and disposal, and their associated costs.

10 (5) The term ‘‘sustainable economic develop11 ment’’ means the integration of environmental and

12 economic development concerns leading to long-term

13 economic development with reduced pollution and

14 the more efficient use of energy and materials.

15 (6) The term ‘‘United States company’’ means

16 a company described in section 28(d)(9)(B) of the

17 National Institute of Standards and Technology Act

18 (15 U.S.C. 278n(d)(9)(B)).
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1 TITLE II—POLICY COORDINA2 TION AND TECHNOLOGY PRO3 GRAMS

4 Subtitle A—Policy Coordination

5 and Program Planning

6 SEC. 201. COORDINATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL TECH7 NOLOGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.

8 (a) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—The Director of

9 the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall, in co10 ordination with the heads of other Federal agencies that

11 have substantial investment in the development and adop12 tion of environmental technologies, take any action nec13 essary—

14 (1) to ensure, to the maximum extent prac15 ticable, the coordinated, interagency promotion of

16 the research, development, and adoption of environ17 mental technologies; and

18 (2) to develop priorities for Federal environ19 mental technology research, development, and adop20 tion efforts.

21 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—In carrying out this section,

22 the Director of the Office of Science and Technology

23 Policy shall—

24 (1) review current Federally funded programs,

25 including Federal budget outlays for these programs,
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1 to determine their role in the development and dis2 semination of environmental technologies;

3 (2) recommend the specific responsibilities of

4 each appropriate Federal agency to achieve the goals

5 and priorities developed under this section;

6 (3) describe the recommended levels of Federal

7 funding required for each Federal agency to carry

8 out the specific responsibilities recommended in

9 paragraph (2);

10 (4) develop a means for ensuring, to the maxi11 mum extent practicable, that the principles of sus12 tainable economic development are integrated into

13 the research, development, and technology programs

14 of all Federal agencies;

15 (5) ensure that the efforts of the Federal Gov16 ernment are coordinated with the efforts of State

17 and local governments and private and nonprofit or18 ganizations promoting the research, development,

19 and demonstration of environmental technologies;

20 and

21 (6) submit to the Congress any recommenda22 tions regarding legislative or administrative action,

23 including recommendations on the roles of Federal

24 agencies, which may be required to carry out this

25 section.
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1 (c) BUDGET COORDINATION.—The Director of the

2 Office of Science and Technology Policy shall annually as3 sess, before the President submits to the Congress the

4 budget for a fiscal year, the budget estimate of each rel5 evant Federal agency for consistency with the plans, re6 views, and priorities developed under this section. The Di7 rector shall make the results of the annual assessment

8 available to the appropriate elements of the Executive Of9 fice of the President, particularly the Office of Manage10 ment and Budget, for use in the preparation of such

11 budget.

12 (d) ANNUAL REVIEW AND PLAN.—The Director of

13 the Office of Science and Technology shall annually sub14 mit to the Congress a report containing an evaluation and

15 plan that assesses the progress of Federal efforts in ad16 vancing the research, development, and adoption of envi17 ronmental technologies.

18 (e) NON-FEDERAL PARTICIPATION.—The Director of

19 the Office of Science and Technology Policy shall establish

20 mechanisms to ensure the participation of non-Federal en21 tities, including State and local governments, United

22 States industry, institutions of higher education, worker

23 organizations, professional associations, and United States

24 nonprofit organizations, in carrying out this section, in-
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1 cluding the development of the plans and reviews devel2 oped under this section.

3 SEC. 202. LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENTS.

4 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

5 (1) Life-cycle assessments have much potential

6 for identifying opportunities for achieving more envi7 ronmentally sound products, processes, and services

8 and enhanced industrial efficiency.

9 (2) Methods of life-cycle assessment are

10 underused in both the public and private sectors,

11 particularly as applied to sustainable economic devel12 opment.

13 (3) The data necessary for meaningful life-cycle

14 assessment are often difficult to acquire, and no sys15 tem exists to make such data readily available to

16 public and private groups.

17 (b) LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT COORDINATION.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of

19 Science and Technology Policy, as part of activities

20 to coordinate environmental technology research, de21 velopment, and adoption described in section 201,

22 shall coordinate Federal activities and resources that

23 are applied to life-cycle assessment in order to maxi24 mize the contribution of life-cycle assessments to

25 sustainable economic development.
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1 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—In carrying out this

2 subsection, the Director of the Office of Science and

3 Technology Policy shall—

4 (A) ensure that the life-cycle assessment

5 resources of each Federal agency are developed

6 and disseminated in a coordinated fashion, par7 titioning agency responsibilities, where appro8 priate;

9 (B) coordinate with State and local govern10 ments developing life-cycle assessment re11 sources; and

12 (C) consider the life-cycle assessment capa13 bilities of the private sector.

14 (3) OTHER ACTIVITIES.—In carrying out this

15 subsection, the Director of the Office of Science and

16 Technology Policy shall also encourage appropriate

17 Federal agencies—

18 (A) to collect, develop, and disseminate in19 formation regarding analytic methods and, as

20 required, to develop such methods, that will sig21 nificantly enhance the ability of United States

22 companies and other organizations to evaluate

23 materials extraction, transportation, conversion,

24 end use, recycling, and disposal, and their asso25 ciated costs and environmental impacts;
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1 (B) to utilize, to the fullest extent prac2 ticable, existing networks and supporting

3 databases providing ready access to

4 nonproprietary information that will facilitate

5 the use of life-cycle assessments; and

6 (C) to sponsor demonstrations for public

7 policy and business decisionmakers of the effec8 tive use of the database and methodologies de9 scribed in this section.

10 (c) ANNUAL REVIEW.—The Director of the Office of

11 Science and Technology Policy shall annually submit to

12 the Congress a report containing an evaluation of the life13 cycle assessment activities of the Federal Government.

14 SEC. 203. ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES IN ONGOING

15 PROGRAMS.

16 (a) STEVENSON-WYDLER AMENDMENTS.—The Ste17 venson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15

18 U.S.C. 3701) is amended—

19 (1) in section 2(2), by inserting ‘‘greater envi20 ronmental sustainability,’’ after ‘‘employment oppor21 tunities,’’;

22 (2) in section 3(1), by inserting ‘‘for sustainable

23 economic development’’ after ‘‘stimulate technology’’;

24 (3) in section 4, by adding at the end the fol25 lowing new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(14) ‘Sustainable economic development’

2 means the integration of environment and economic

3 development concerns leading to long-term economic

4 development with reduced pollution and the more ef5 ficient use of energy and materials;’’;

6 (4) in section 6(a), by inserting ‘‘and sustain7 able economic development in their regions’’ after

8 ‘‘enhance the competitiveness of American busi9 ness’’;

10 (5) in section 6(d), by inserting ‘‘and sustain11 able economic development of their regions’’ after

12 ‘‘enhance the competitiveness of American busi13 nesses’’;

14 (6) in section 7(a), by inserting ‘‘and sustain15 able economic development’’ after ‘‘enhance techno16 logical innovation’’;

17 (7) in section 7(c)(1), by striking ‘‘economic

18 competitiveness’’ and inserting ‘‘sustainable eco19 nomic development’’;

20 (8) in section 9(a), by inserting ‘‘and sustain21 able economic development’’ after ‘‘enhance techno22 logical innovation’’; and

23 (9) in section 11(c)(1) by inserting ‘‘and would

24 enhance sustainable economic development’’ after

25 ‘‘commercial applications’’.
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1 (b) NIST AMENDMENTS.—The National Institute of

2 Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 271) is amend3 ed—

4 (1) in section 1(b)(1), by inserting ‘‘sustainable

5 economic development,’’ after ‘‘improved product re6 liability and manufacturing processes,’’;

7 (2) in section 1, by adding after subsection (b)

8 the following new subsection:

9 ‘‘(c) For purposes of this section, the term ‘sustain10 able economic development’ means the integration of envi11 ronment and economic development concerns leading to

12 long-term economic development with reduced pollution

13 and the more efficient use of energy and materials;’’; and

14 (3) in section 2(b)(1), by inserting ‘‘to enhance

15 sustainable economic development (as that term is

16 defined in section 1(c))’’ after ‘‘to improve quality,’’.

17 (c) NASA AMENDMENTS.—The National Aero18 nautics and Space Act of 1958 (42 U.S.C. 2451 note) is

19 amended—

20 (1) in section 102(d)—

21 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (6), (7),

22 (8), and (9) as paragraphs (7), (8), (9), and

23 (10), respectively; and

24 (B) by inserting after paragraph (5) the

25 following new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(6) The making available to Federal and non2 Federal entities of the United States, technologies

3 that will enhance the sustainable economic develop4 ment of the Nation.’’; and

5 (2) in section 103—

6 (A) by striking ‘‘; and’’ in paragraph (1)

7 and inserting a semicolon;

8 (B) by striking the period at the end of

9 paragraph (2) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and

10 (C) by adding at the end the following new

11 paragraph:

12 ‘‘(3) the term ‘sustainable economic develop13 ment’ means the integration of environment and eco14 nomic development concerns leading to long-term

15 economic development with reduced pollution and

16 the more efficient use of energy and materials.’’.

17 (d) NSF AMENDMENTS.—

18 (1) FUNCTIONS.—Section 3(a) of the National

19 Science Foundation Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1861 et

20 seq.) is amended—

21 (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘; and’’

22 and inserting a semicolon;

23 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking the pe24 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
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1 (C) by adding at the end the following new

2 paragraph:

3 ‘‘(8) to foster education and research that

4 would promote sustainable economic development

5 nationally and internationally.’’.

6 (2) DEFINITION.—Subsection (g) of section 14

7 of such Act is amended to read as follows:

8 ‘‘(g) For purposes of this Act:

9 ‘‘(1) The term ‘United States’ when used in a

10 geographical sense means the States, the District of

11 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and

12 all territories and possessions of the United States.

13 ‘‘(2) The term ‘sustainable economic develop14 ment’ means the integration of environment and eco15 nomic development concerns leading to long-term

16 economic development with reduced pollution and

17 the more efficient use of energy and materials.’’.

18 (e) TITLE 10 AMENDMENTS.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2501(b) of title 10,

20 United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘eco21 nomic growth’’ in paragraphs (1) and (2) and insert22 ing ‘‘sustainable economic development’’.

23 (2) DEFINITION.—Section 2491 of such title is

24 amended by adding at the end the following new

25 paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(13) The term ‘sustainable economic develop2 ment’ means the integration of environment and eco3 nomic development concerns leading to long-term

4 economic development with reduced pollution and

5 the more efficient use of energy and materials.’’.

6 (f) TITLE 49 AMENDMENT.—Section 101(b)(4) of

7 title 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘and

8 sustainable economic development (as defined in section

9 104(5) of the Environmental Technologies Act of 1993)’’

10 after ‘‘technological advances’’.

11 Subtitle B—Environmental

12 Technology

13 SEC. 211. ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOP14 MENT AND INTEGRATION PROGRAM.

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an Envi16 ronmental Technologies Development and Integration

17 Program, to be administered by the Administrator, to pro18 mote the research, development, and integration of tech19 nologies that will contribute significantly to sustainable

20 economic development.

21 (b) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.—The Adminis22 trator shall administer the program established in sub23 section (a) in cooperation with the heads of other agencies

24 that have substantial capabilities in advanced technology

25 research and development.
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1 (c) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—To carry out the pro2 gram referred to in subsection (a), the Administrator may

3 enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with, and

4 award grants to, entities eligible for such assistance under

5 subsection (e).

6 (d) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—Projects eligible for as7 sistance under this section are projects that—

8 (1) develop advanced, precommercial environ9 mental technologies, with emphasis on technologies

10 within the meaning of section 104(2)(B), that will

11 significantly contribute to sustainable economic de12 velopment; or

13 (2) develop and demonstrate the integration of

14 multiple steps in the conversion of materials that are

15 involved in the manufacture, reuse, or recycling of a

16 product, the recycling of process wastes, or the pro17 vision of a service.

18 (e) ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE.—Entities shall be

19 eligible for financial assistance under subsection (c) only

20 if—

21 (1) the entity submits a proposal for such as22 sistance in the form, time, and manner required by

23 the Administrator;

24 (2) the entity is either a single company or a

25 partnership which may include—
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1 (A) two or more companies;

2 (B) a nonprofit research corporation estab3 lished by two or more eligible firms; and

4 (C) as determined appropriate by the Ad5 ministrator, a Federal laboratory or labora6 tories, institutions of higher education, agencies

7 of State governments, and other entities that

8 participate in the partnership by supporting the

9 activities conducted by such firms or corpora10 tions under this section; and

11 (3) the company is a United States company

12 and the Administrator finds that the company’s par13 ticipation in the Program would be in the economic

14 interest of the United States, as evidenced by—

15 (A) investments in the United States in re16 search, development, and manufacturing (in17 cluding manufacturing major components or

18 subassemblies in the United States);

19 (B) significant contributions to employ20 ment in the United States; and

21 (C) an agreement with respect to any tech22 nology arising from assistance provided under

23 this section to promote the manufacture within

24 the United States of products resulting from

25 that technology (taking into account the goals
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1 of promoting the competitiveness of United

2 States industry), and to procure parts and ma3 terials from competitive suppliers.

4 (f) SELECTION OF PROPOSALS.—

5 (1) COMPETITIVE PROCESS.—The Adminis6 trator shall select proposals for financial assistance

7 under this section solely through a competitive,

8 merit-based evaluation process established by the

9 Administrator.

10 (2) SELECTION CRITERIA.—Criteria used to

11 evaluate proposals for financial assistance under this

12 section shall include the following:

13 (A) Significant improvement in environ14 mental soundness of the overall production

15 process.

16 (B) Contribution to industrial competitive17 ness, including new markets, reduced produc18 tion costs, and enhanced export potential.

19 (C) Improvement in the work environment.

20 (D) Applicability to other industrial proc21 esses.

22 (E) Improvement in technological capabil23 ity to recycle complex combinations of mate24 rials.
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1 (F) Contribution to the environmental pri2 orities established pursuant to section 201.

3 (3) INTEGRATION OF INDUSTRY VIEWS.—The

4 Administrator shall develop mechanisms for inte5 grating the views of representatives of industry into

6 the process by which proposals for financial assist7 ance under this section are evaluated.

8 (g) AWARD CONDITIONS.—Financial assistance pro9 vided under this section shall be subject to the following

10 conditions:

11 (1) Such assistance may be made for not more

12 than three years for single firms and not more than

13 five years for partnerships.

14 (2) The Federal Government may provide not

15 more than a minority cost-share of the awards to

16 partnerships. The Administrator shall prescribe reg17 ulations to provide for consideration of in-kind con18 tributions by non-Federal Government participants

19 in a partnership for the purpose of determining the

20 share of the partnership costs that have been or are

21 being undertaken by such participant.

22 (h) OTHER ASSISTANCE AUTHORIZED.—The Admin23 istrator, in cooperation with the heads of other appro24 priate Federal agencies that have substantial capabilities

25 in advanced technology research and development, may
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1 provide entities receiving financial assistance under this

2 section with any technical and other assistance the Admin3 istrator considers necessary to carry out this section. In

4 providing such assistance, the Administrator may make

5 available to a partnership any equipment and facilities of

6 Federal laboratories (including the scientists and engi7 neers at those laboratories) that the Administrator consid8 ers appropriate for the work to be performed by the

9 partnership.

10 (i) ANNUAL REVIEW.—The Administrator shall an11 nually submit to the Congress a report that contains an

12 evaluation of the program established under subsection

13 (a). The report shall evaluate the success of innovations

14 resulting from the program based on criteria that include

15 those described in subsection (f)(2).

16 (j) PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—In administering the pro18 gram established under this section, the Adminis19 trator shall—

20 (A) monitor the manner in which tech21 nologies developed as a result of the program

22 are used, and report annually to the Congress

23 on the extent of any international transfer of

24 these technologies;
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1 (B) provide for appropriate dissemination

2 of the results of research conducted under the

3 program; and

4 (C) take any other action the Administer

5 considers necessary to carry out the program

6 and to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort

7 by Federal agencies.

8 (2) APPLICABILITY OF FOIA.—Section 552 of

9 title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to the

10 following information obtained by the Federal Gov11 ernment on a confidential basis in connection with

12 the activities of any firm or partnership receiving

13 financial assistance under this section:

14 (A) Information on the operation of any

15 firm or member of a partnership.

16 (B) Trade secrets possessed by any busi17 ness or any member of the partnership.

18 (3) DISCLOSURE OF INTELLECTUAL PROP19 ERTY.—Intellectual property owned and developed

20 by any business or partnership receiving financial

21 assistance under this section or by any member of

22 such a partnership may not be disclosed by any offi23 cer or employee of the Federal Government except in

24 accordance with a written agreement between the
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1 owner or developer of the intellectual property and

2 the Administrator.

3 (4) VESTING OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

4 RIGHTS.—

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Title to any intellectual

6 property arising from assistance provided under

7 this section shall vest in a company or compa8 nies incorporated in the United States or in an

9 institution of higher education in the United

10 States. The Federal Government may reserve a

11 nonexclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable paid12 up license, to have practiced for or on behalf of

13 the Federal Government, in connection with any

14 such intellectual property, but shall not, in the

15 exercise of such license, publicly disclose propri16 etary information related to the license. Title to

17 any such intellectual property shall not be

18 transferred or passed, except to a company in19 corporated in the United States, until the expi20 ration of the first patent obtained in connection

21 with such intellectual property.

22 (B) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this

23 paragraph, the term ‘‘intellectual property’’

24 means an invention patentable under title 35,
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1 United States Code, or any patent on such an

2 invention.

3 (C) EFFECT ON LICENSING.—Nothing in

4 this paragraph shall be construed to prohibit

5 the licensing to any company of intellectual

6 property rights arising from financial assistance

7 provided under this section.

8 (5) SUSPENSION OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—

9 The Administrator may, within 30 days after notice

10 to the Congress, suspend a company or partnership

11 from continued financial assistance under this sec12 tion if the Administrator determines that the com13 pany, the country of incorporation of the company

14 or a parent company, or the partnership has failed

15 to satisfy any of the requirements of this section,

16 and that it is in the national interest of the United

17 States to do so.

18 SEC. 212. ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION AND MONITOR19 ING TECHNOLOGIES.

20 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

21 (1) Existing permit and compliance policies and

22 practices are a key barrier to the widespread use of

23 innovative environmental monitoring and remedi24 ation technologies.
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1 (2) Past efforts to develop new containment

2 and clean-up technologies have yielded only modest

3 results and have reached the application stage only

4 after many years of substantial and consistent

5 efforts.

6 (3) More aggressive and integrated Federal pro7 grams to develop, demonstrate, and make available

8 alternate and innovative monitoring and remediation

9 technologies are needed to ensure the timely and

10 widespread application of the most suitable technical

11 solutions to costly environmental problems.

12 (b) INTERAGENCY COORDINATION IN REMEDIATION

13 TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.—Within one

14 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad15 ministrator, the Secretary of Energy, and the Secretary

16 of Defense shall jointly submit to the Congress a detailed

17 strategic plan for interagency coordination of Federal pro18 grams for the timely development, demonstration, and de19 ployment of innovative environmental control and remedi20 ation technologies.

21 SEC. 213. PRESIDENT’S TOTAL ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

22 AWARD AND THE NATIONAL ENVIRON23 MENTALLY SOUND TECHNOLOGY AWARD.

24 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) Award programs such as the Malcolm

2 Baldrige National Quality Award Program have

3 made substantial contributions to private enterprise

4 by providing a framework upon which organizations

5 can improve their operations and by focusing on is6 sues important to their competitiveness.

7 (2) A President’s Total Environmental Quality

8 Award Program modeled on the Malcolm Baldrige

9 Award Program would contribute to environmental

10 quality and sustainable economic development by—

11 (A) helping to stimulate United States

12 companies to develop and deploy environmental

13 technologies;

14 (B) recognizing the achievements of such

15 companies which successfully develop and de16 ploy environmental technologies; and

17 (C) establishing guidelines and criteria

18 that can be used by business, industrial, gov19 ernmental, and other organizations in evaluat20 ing their own development and deployment of

21 environmental technologies.

22 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section to

23 provide for the establishment and conduct of a President’s

24 Total Environmental Quality Award Program and a Na25 tional Environmentally Sound Technology Award Pro-
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1 gram under which awards are given to recognize the suc2 cessful development and deployment of environmental

3 technologies and information is disseminated about such

4 success.

5 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF AWARDS.—The Stevenson6 Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C.

7 3701 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 23 the

8 following new sections:

9 ‘‘SEC. 24. PRESIDENT’S TOTAL ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

10 AWARD.

11 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established

12 the President’s Total Environmental Quality Award (in

13 this section referred to as the ‘Award’).

14 ‘‘(b) DESIGN.—The Award shall be evidenced by a

15 medal bearing the inscription ‘President’s Total Environ16 mental Quality Award’.

17 ‘‘(c) AWARD SELECTION PROCESS.—The Secretary,

18 in cooperation with the Secretary of Energy and the Ad19 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall

20 establish a process for the acceptance and evaluation of

21 Award applicants. The Secretary shall, to the maximum

22 extent practicable, use the same procedures and facilities

23 provided for the administration of the Malcolm Baldrige

24 Award, including the definition of award categories, the
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1 delegation of responsibilities, and provisions for publicity,

2 evaluation feed-back, and information transfer.

3 ‘‘(d) PRESENTATION OF AWARD.—

4 ‘‘(1) RECOMMENDATIONS BY SECRETARY.—The

5 Secretary shall submit to the President the rec6 ommendations of the Secretary for the selection of

7 Award applicants.

8 ‘‘(2) SELECTION BY THE PRESIDENT.—On the

9 basis of recommendations received under paragraph

10 (1), the President shall periodically select for receipt

11 of the Award United States companies and other or12 ganizations which in the judgment of the President

13 have substantially benefited the environmental, eco14 nomic, and social well-being of the United States

15 through the development and deployment of environ16 mental technologies, and which as a consequence are

17 deserving of special recognition.

18 ‘‘(3) PRESENTATION CEREMONY.—The Presi19 dent or the Vice President shall present the Award

20 to recipients selected under paragraph (2) with such

21 ceremony as the President or the Vice President

22 considers to be appropriate.

23 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION.—The information gathered in eval24 uating Award applications may be used only for the eval25 uation of such applications and for publicity by winners
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1 of the Award. Such information may not be used for regu2 latory or compliance purposes.

3 ‘‘(f) EVALUATION CRITERIA.—Criteria for evaluating

4 Award applications shall include the following:

5 ‘‘(1) The effectiveness of the organization’s de6 velopment and deployment of environmental tech7 nologies, as well as the organization’s provision for

8 environmental technologies in its future plans.

9 ‘‘(2) The effectiveness of energy and materials

10 use from the perspective of the life cycle of the pro11 duction, use, recycle, and disposal of a product.

12 ‘‘(3) The effective use of an integrated ap13 proach to pollution prevention and control that con14 siders all environmental media (liquid, solid, gase15 ous).

16 ‘‘(g) FUNDING.—The Secretary may seek and accept

17 gifts from public and private sources to carry out this sec18 tion. The Secretary may provide for the imposition of a

19 fee upon the organizations applying for the Award.

20 ‘‘(h) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date

21 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit

22 to the President and the Congress a report on the progress

23 made in carrying out this section. The report shall include

24 any recommendations of the Secretary for any modifica25 tions of the Award the Secretary considers necessary.
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1 ‘‘SEC. 25. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND TECH2 NOLOGY AWARD.

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Na4 tional Environmentally Sound Technology Award for the

5 purpose of awarding individuals who have pioneered the

6 development and use of highly innovative environmental

7 technologies within the meaning of section 104(2)(B) of

8 the Environmental Technologies Act of 1993.

9 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATION.—Using the authority and

10 procedures established in section 24 and subject to the

11 conditions described in this section, the Secretary, in co12 operation with the Administrator of the Environmental

13 Protection Agency and the Secretary of Energy, shall re14 ceive and evaluate applications for the National Environ15 mentally Sound Technology Award and provide for presen16 tation of such Award.

17 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED TECHNOLOGIES.—Technologies that

18 qualify for such Award shall include the following:

19 ‘‘(1) Manufacturing technologies.

20 ‘‘(2) Industrial or consumer products.

21 ‘‘(3) Consumer services.

22 ‘‘(4) Recycling technologies.

23 ‘‘(d) QUALIFIED APPLICANTS.—Any citizen or per24 manent resident of the United States may qualify for such

25 Award. Any such individual who is employed by or other26 wise works for a business, Federal laboratory, or other or-
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1 ganization may qualify for such Award only if the individ2 ual was substantially involved in the invention or innova3 tion for which such Award is presented.

4 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION.—Not more than five such Awards

5 may be presented annually.’’.

6 SEC. 214. INCORPORATION OF INFORMATION ON ENVIRON7 MENTAL TECHNOLOGIES INTO EXISTING

8 NETWORKS.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator,

11 through the Office of Research and Development of the

12 Environmental Protection Agency and in cooperation with

13 the Under Secretary for Technology of the Department

14 of Commerce and the heads of any other appropriate Fed15 eral agencies, shall, to the maximum extent practicable,

16 use existing information network capabilities of the Fed17 eral Government to provide access to data on environ18 mental technologies developed, tested, or verified under

19 programs established by this Act, and by other appro20 priate Federal and non-Federal sources. Such data shall

21 include information on—

22 (1) activities carried out under this Act and the

23 amendments made by this Act;

24 (2) performance standards regarding environ25 mental technologies;
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1 (3) significant international developments in en2 vironmental technologies, fully coordinating with

3 other international technology information programs,

4 of the Federal Government; and

5 (4) other information determined by the Admin6 istrator to be of substantial value in promoting the

7 development and adoption of environmental tech8 nologies.

9 (b) USE OF EXISTING RESOURCES.—In carrying out

10 this section, the Administrator shall, to the maximum ex11 tent practicable—

12 (1) use existing public and private sector infor13 mation providers and carriers;

14 (2) add to existing data sources; and

15 (3) integrate data described in subsection (a)

16 into other technology databases maintained by the

17 Environmental Protection Agency, the Department

18 of Commerce, the Department of Energy, and other

19 appropriate Federal agencies.

20 (c) OUTREACH.—The Administrator shall conduct

21 appropriate outreach efforts to advertise, deliver, and dis22 seminate the information made available through the net23 works referred to in subsection (a), including information

24 on participation in Alliances referred to in subsection (d).
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1 (d) ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AL2 LIANCES.—

3 (1) TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER.—The Adminis4 trator may enter into partnership agreements (in

5 this section referred to as ‘‘Alliances’’) with an agen6 cy of a State or local government, a non-profit orga7 nization in which a State or local government is a

8 member, an institution of higher education des9 ignated by a State or local government, or a manu10 facturing extension and outreach service or regional

11 technical assistance service approved by the Federal

12 Government or a State in order to—

13 (A) facilitate access to information incor14 porated in the networks referred to in sub15 section (a); and

16 (B) transfer to entities referred to in para17 graph (2) other information that would enhance

18 the development and adoption of environmental

19 technologies.

20 (2) ENTITIES ELIGIBLE FOR ALLIANCE PAR21 TICIPATION.—Entities eligible for participation in an

22 Alliance include United States companies, United

23 States non-profit organizations, Federal laboratories,

24 United States institutions of higher education, spon-
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1 soring organizations, and other organizations that

2 the Administrator considers to be appropriate.

3 (3) ALLIANCE ACTIVITIES.—Under a partner4 ship agreement referred to in paragraph (1), an Alli5 ance—

6 (A) may disseminate information made

7 available through the networks to any other en8 tity the Alliance considers necessary to advance

9 the goals of this section;

10 (B) is encouraged to collect, and dissemi11 nate to United States companies in the region,

12 information regarding opportunities for the

13 more efficient use of materials and energy and

14 for waste minimization, materials conversion,

15 and recycling;

16 (C) is encouraged to provide technical as17 sistance to United States companies related to

18 activities under this subsection; and

19 (D) may undertake any other activities the

20 Administrator considers appropriate to carry

21 out this subsection.

22 (4) USE OF EXISTING PROGRAMS.—In selecting

23 partners for a partnership agreement referred to in

24 paragraph (1), the Administrator shall, to the maxi25 mum extent practicable, use existing programs for
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1 technical assistance and technical information dis2 semination.

3 (5) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this sub5 section, the Administrator may provide financial

6 assistance to an Alliance under terms and con7 ditions prescribed by the Administrator.

8 (B) LIMITATIONS.—The Administrator

9 may not provide financial assistance to an Alli10 ance under this subsection—

11 (i) for construction of facilities; or

12 (ii) in an amount that exceeds a mi13 nority cost share of the activities carried

14 out by the Alliance under this subsection.

15 SEC. 215. USE OF FEDERAL FACILITIES FOR ENVIRON16 MENTAL TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION.

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall es18 tablish a program to demonstrate the performance of envi19 ronmental technologies at Federal laboratories and other

20 Federal facilities.

21 (b) QUALIFYING TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION

22 PROJECTS.—Technologies that qualify for demonstration

23 under such program include—

24 (1) environmental technologies that can be ap25 plied to a major pollution control or remediation
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1 need, as determined by the Administrator, at a Fed2 eral laboratory or other Federal facility;

3 (2) environmental technologies the development

4 of which would be significantly advanced by unique

5 facilities or capabilities of a Federal laboratory or

6 other Federal facility; and

7 (3) other environmental technologies that the

8 Administration considers to have significant poten9 tial as an environmental technology that will contrib10 ute to sustainable economic growth.

11 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—As part of the program estab12 lished under this section, the Administrator—

13 (1) may enter into cooperative agreements with

14 other Federal departments and agencies for the pur15 pose of demonstrating the performance of environ16 mental technologies;

17 (2) may enter into contracts and cooperative

18 agreements for such purpose with organizations se19 lected under paragraph (7);

20 (3) except as provided in paragraph (4), may

21 not provide Federal resources under a cooperative

22 agreement referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) in

23 an amount that exceeds one-half of the total cost of

24 carrying out services and activities under the agree25 ment;
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1 (4) may make special provisions for small busi2 nesses, including the provision of Federal resources

3 under a cooperative agreement entered into with a

4 small business under paragraph (1) or (2) in an

5 amount that exceeds one-half of the total cost of car6 rying out services and activities under the agree7 ment;

8 (5) shall establish procedures to solicit and ac9 cept applications for environmental technologies for

10 demonstration under this program;

11 (6) shall, in consultation and cooperation with

12 other Federal agencies, make available information

13 through the networks described in section 214 and

14 make available through other means—

15 (A) the facilities and expertise available at

16 Federal laboratories that would be valuable to

17 the demonstration of environmental tech18 nologies; and

19 (B) sites at Federal laboratories or other

20 Federal facilities potentially available for test21 ing environmental technologies, characterized

22 by specific site characteristics, including site ge23 ology and site contaminants where appropriate;

24 (7) shall establish procedures for the merit25 based review of all applications for demonstration
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1 projects under this program through a process that

2 includes representatives of industry and United

3 States nonprofit organizations and select organiza4 tions to carry out such projects based upon such

5 procedures;

6 (8) shall document the performance and cost of

7 characteristics of the environmental technology dem8 onstrated; and

9 (9) shall list and disseminate, through the

10 networks described in section 214, nonproprietary

11 information regarding the performance and cost

12 characteristics of the environmental technologies

13 demonstrated pursuant to this section.

14 (d) QUALIFYING ORGANIZATIONS.—Entities eligible

15 to carry out a demonstration project as part of the pro16 gram established under subsection (a) are United States

17 companies (including small businesses), United States

18 nonprofit organizations, United States institutions of

19 higher education, and other organizations that the Admin20 istrator considers appropriate.

21 (e) PROGRAM EVALUATION AND REPORTING.—The

22 Administrator shall, in cooperation with other Federal

23 agencies and in consultation with the United States com24 panies and United States nonprofit organizations, annu-
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1 ally submit to the Congress a report that evaluates the

2 performance of the program, including a statement of—

3 (1) the number of environmental technologies

4 tested and the type of problems addressed;

5 (2) the number of environmental technologies

6 demonstrated in the program that have since become

7 commercially viable and their estimated impact; and

8 (3) the Federal and non-Federal financial re9 sources committed to the program.

10 SEC. 216. FEDERAL ACQUISITION AND USE OF ENVIRON11 MENTALLY EFFICIENT BUILDING MATE12 RIALS.

13 (a) DEMONSTRATION OF ACQUISITION AND USE OF

14 MATERIALS.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the

15 enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall establish

16 a 3-year pilot program to promote research on, and devel17 opment of, environmentally efficient building materials

18 through demonstration of the acquisition and use of envi19 ronmentally efficient building materials in the construc20 tion of new Federal facilities and buildings and in existing

21 Federal facilities and buildings.

22 (b) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting environ23 mentally efficient building materials, the Administrator

24 shall use the criteria of—
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1 (1) maximizing the conservation and preserva2 tion of natural resources;

3 (2) ensuring that the materials are similar in

4 quality and durability to comparable, more conven5 tional materials;

6 (3) ensuring that the materials are cost com7 petitive with comparable, more conventional mate8 rials on a life-cycle cost basis;

9 (4) ensuring that the materials meet appro10 priate environmental, public health, and safety

11 standards; and

12 (5) ensuring that the materials meet appro13 priate standards for energy efficiency.

14 (c) PREFERENCES AMONG ENVIRONMENTALLY EF15 FICIENT BUILDING MATERIALS.—When making choices

16 between comparable environmentally efficient building ma17 terials that meet all the criteria under subsection (b), the

18 Administrator shall give preference to those materials that

19 best satisfy such criteria.

20 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after comple21 tion of the pilot program established under this section,

22 the Administrator shall submit to the Congress a report

23 on the implementation of the pilot program. The report

24 shall include—
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1 (1) a listing of the type and quantities of envi2 ronmentally efficient building materials used;

3 (2) a statement of the cost and performance of

4 such materials compared to comparable, more con5 ventional materials;

6 (3) an assessment of the extent to which the ac7 quisition and use of such materials can be expanded

8 beyond the scope of the pilot program;

9 (4) an assessment of how well the materials

10 meet the criteria under subsection (b)(1); and

11 (5) an assessment of the extent to which re12 search on, and development of, such materials oc13 curred as a result of the pilot program and the ex14 tent to which further support is needed to stimulate

15 such research and development.

16 (e) INTEGRATION OF OTHER VIEWS.—In carrying

17 out this section, the Administrator shall develop mecha18 nisms for integrating the views of the Administrator of

19 General Services, the Army Corps of Engineers, and rep20 resentatives of the environmental community, the con21 struction industry (including small business), manufactur22 ing companies (including small businesses) that produce

23 environmentally efficient materials, and the scientific and

24 technical community.
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1 (f) GUIDELINES TO FEDERAL AGENCIES.—The Ad2 ministrator shall, after consultation with the Adminis3 trator of General Services, promulgate regulations con4 taining guidelines to Federal agencies on minimizing the

5 creation of solid waste and on maximizing the use of envi6 ronmentally efficient building materials in the construc7 tion of Federal buildings. Such regulations shall include—

8 (1) a requirement that any bid or proposal for

9 Federal contracts for the construction of Federal

10 buildings include a plan for minimizing the genera11 tion of solid waste and for maximizing the use of en12 vironmentally efficient building materials in such

13 construction; and

14 (2) standards for an acceptable plan that satis15 fies the requirement under paragraph (1).

16 (g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:

17 (1) The term ‘‘agency’’ means an Executive

18 agency as defined under section 105 of title 5, Unit19 ed States Code, and any agency of the judicial

20 branch of Government.

21 (2) The term ‘‘environmentally efficient mate22 rials’’ means any recycled, recovered, reclaimed, or

23 reused material whose production, manufacture,

24 fabrication, and use conserves and preserves natural

25 resources when compared to the production, manu-
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1 facture, fabrication, and use of comparable, more

2 conventional materials.

3 (3) The term ‘‘environmentally efficient build4 ing materials’’ means any environmentally efficient

5 material which may be used in the construction of

6 a building or facility.

7 (4) The term ‘‘solid waste’’ means any garbage,

8 refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water

9 supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facil10 ity and other discarded material, including solid, liq11 uid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material result12 ing from industrial, commercial, mining, and agri13 cultural operations, and from community activities,

14 but does not include solid or dissolved material in

15 domestic sewage, or solid or dissolved materials in

16 irrigation return flows or industrial discharges which

17 are point sources subject to permits under section

18 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33

19 U.S.C. 1342) or source, special nuclear, or byprod20 uct material as defined by the Atomic Energy Act of

21 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.).

22 (5) The term ‘‘construction’’ with respect to

23 any project of construction under this section,

24 means—
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1 (A) the erection or building of new struc2 tures and acquisition of lands or interests

3 therein, or the acquisition, replacement, expan4 sion, remodeling, alteration, modernization, or

5 extension of existing structures;

6 (B) the acquisition and installation of ini7 tial equipment of, or required in connection

8 with, new or newly acquired structures or the

9 expanded, remodeled, altered, modernized or ex10 tended part of existing structures (including

11 trucks and other motor vehicles, and tractors,

12 cranes, and other machinery) necessary for the

13 proper utilization and operation of the facility

14 after completion of the project, including pre15 liminary planning to determine the economic

16 and engineering feasibility and the public health

17 and safety aspects of the project, the engineer18 ing, architectural, legal, fiscal, and economic in19 vestigations and studies, and any surveys, de20 signs, plans, working drawings, specifications,

21 and other action necessary for the carrying out

22 of the project; and

23 (C) the inspection and supervision of the

24 process of carrying out the project to comple25 tion.
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1 TITLE III—EDUCATION

2 SEC. 301. ENVIRONMENTALLY ADVANCED EDUCATION.

3 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

4 (1) With the exception of environmental engi5 neering curricula, environmental considerations are

6 typically not integrated into the required design

7 course work for the various engineering disciplines.

8 (2) The integration of environmental consider9 ations into all engineering, industrial, design, and

10 other technology-oriented curricula in a timely fash11 ion is essential to better achieving sustainable eco12 nomic development.

13 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this title is to encour14 age the National Science Foundation to provide assistance

15 to colleges and universities for comprehensive research

16 and education activities that will integrate environmental

17 considerations into the design, manufacturing, and pro18 duction processes.

19 (c) NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION ENGINEERING

20 ENVIRONMENTALLY ADVANCED EDUCATION PRO21 GRAMS.—The Director of the National Science Founda22 tion shall support undergraduate and graduate activities

23 in the development of coursework materials and curricula

24 in all scientific, engineering and technical disciplines to in25 corporate environmental soundness and total cost account-
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1 ing principles into the corresponding curricula. In carrying

2 out this section, the Director of the National Science

3 Foundation shall cooperate with the Environmental Pro4 tection Agency and other appropriate Federal agencies

5 and consult with appropriate private sector organizations,

6 including the Accreditation Board for Engineering and

7 Technology.

8 (d) SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED

9 INDIVIDUALS.—

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this section,

11 the Director of the National Science Foundation

12 shall encourage the participation of socially dis13 advantaged individuals and economically disadvan14 taged individuals.

15 (2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sub16 section:

17 (A) The term ‘‘economically disadvantaged

18 individuals’’ has the meaning given such term

19 in section 8(a)(6)(A) of the Small Business Act,

20 15 U.S.C. 637(a)(6)(A), and includes women.

21 (B) The term ‘‘socially disadvantaged indi22 viduals’’ has the meaning given such term in

23 section 8(a)(5) of the Small Business Act, 15

24 U.S.C. 637(a)(5), and includes women.
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1 (e) SPECIAL NEEDS.—In carrying out the provisions

2 of this section, the Director of the National Science Foun3 dation shall take into account any special needs of 2-year

4 colleges, as applicable.

5 SEC. 302. GENERAL EDUCATION IN ENVIRONMENTAL TECH6 NOLOGIES.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of Re8 search and Development of the Environmental Protection

9 Agency, in consultation and coordination with other Fed10 eral agencies (including the National Science Foundation)

11 and agencies of State and local governments, shall develop

12 and support programs and related efforts to improve un13 derstanding of the relationships between technology and

14 the environment, including—

15 (1) information on—

16 (A) relations between economic activity

17 and the environment and opportunities for im18 provement in such relations; and

19 (B) systems which encompass resource ex20 traction or introduction, transformation, con21 sumption, recycle and disposal, and the energy

22 and resources consumed and the value-yielding

23 results; and

24 (2) any other information the Director of the

25 Office of Research and Development of the Environ-
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1 mental Protection Agency, in consultation with other

2 Federal agencies (including the National Science

3 Foundation) and agencies of State and local govern4 ments, considers appropriate.

5 (b) PROGRAM FUNCTIONS AND ACTIVITIES.—The

6 programs and efforts referred to in subsection (a) shall

7 include, at a minimum—

8 (1) the development and widest dissemination

9 practicable of model curricula, educational materials,

10 and training programs for technical college, second11 ary, and elementary students and other interested

12 groups;

13 (2) the provision of information to local edu14 cation agencies, State education and natural re15 source agencies, and others; and

16 (3) the training of education professionals in

17 the development and delivery of the environmental

18 education materials developed under this Act.

19 TITLE IV—STANDARDS

20 SEC. 401. PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.

21 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of Commerce,

22 in cooperation with the Administrator, the Secretary of

23 Energy, and the heads of other appropriate Federal agen24 cies, and in consultation with non-Federal standards orga25 nizations, shall establish a program to support the clari-
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1 fication of standards of performance for environmental

2 technologies to clarify quality, performance, and substitut3 ability for conventional products.

4 (b) EXISTING PROGRAMS.—In developing the pro5 gram established in subsection (a), the Secretary of Com6 merce shall, to the maximum extent practicable, coordi7 nate efforts under such program with existing non-Federal

8 standards activities that affect environmental tech9 nologies.

10 (c) NON-FEDERAL PROGRAM CERTIFICATION.—The

11 Secretary of Commerce, in cooperation with the Adminis12 trator and the Secretary of Energy, shall establish a mech13 anism for recognizing non-Federal organizations engaged

14 in environmental standards setting and associated product

15 performance verification activities for the purpose of en16 suring quality and enhancing consumer confidence and

17 international recognition.

18 (d) INTERNATIONAL HARMONIZATION.—The Sec19 retary of Commerce shall work with domestic and inter20 national standards organizations to insure harmonization

21 of domestic standards with international standards.

22 SEC. 402. VERIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL TECH23 NOLOGIES.

24 (a) ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION

25 CENTERS.—The Administrator may enter into joint agree-
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1 ments with State and local governments and private sector

2 representatives to support Environmental Technology Ver3 ification Centers (in this section referred to as ‘‘Verifica4 tion Centers’’) that verify, evaluate, and disseminate infor5 mation on the performance and cost of environmental

6 technologies.

7 (b) FUNCTIONS.—Verification Centers may, under

8 subsection (a)—

9 (1) evaluate cost and performance data for en10 vironmental technologies;

11 (2) provide information that describes whether

12 the environmental technology evaluated and veri13 fied—

14 (A) meets the performance criteria of ap15 plicable law (including regulations issued by the

16 Administrator) under tested conditions;

17 (B) meets the performance criteria of ap18 plicable law (including regulations issued by the

19 Administrator) at comparable or lower costs;

20 and

21 (C) constitutes a significant advance with

22 broad applicability.

23 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Administrator shall—

24 (1) establish procedures for soliciting applica25 tions for and selecting, pursuant to criteria referred
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1 to in subsection (d), Verification Centers to perform

2 functions under this section;

3 (2) establish criteria for eligibility to act as a

4 Verification Center;

5 (3) certify appropriate protocols developed by

6 Verification Centers to verify the quality and credi7 bility of cost and performance data submitted by

8 Verification Centers;

9 (4) ensure that information regarding environ10 mental technologies verified and evaluated under this

11 program is disseminated through the networks re12 ferred to in section 214;

13 (5) ensure that fees charged by Verification

14 Centers are reasonable and include—

15 (A) lower fees for small businesses, non16 profit organizations, and institutions of higher

17 education; and

18 (B) lower fees for verifying environmental

19 technologies that provide source reduction; and

20 (6) consult with other Federal agencies to make

21 available the sources and expertise of Federal lab22 oratories through cooperative agreements with the

23 Verification Centers.

24 (d) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Administrator, in

25 consultation with other Federal agencies, State and local
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1 governments, and private sector organizations, shall select

2 Verification Centers based on the following criteria:

3 (1) The capabilities of the applicant to provide

4 a thorough and credible technical and financial eval5 uation of environmental technologies.

6 (2) The clarity and efficiency of the proposed

7 procedures for the receipt and review of applications

8 for technology verification.

9 (3) The likelihood of the continued viability of

10 the Verification Center.

11 (4) The existence of a plan for disseminating

12 nonproprietary information regarding technologies

13 verified by the Verification Center.

14 (5) Other criteria that the Administrator con15 siders appropriate.

16 (e) MERIT-BASED SELECTION PROCESS.—Verifica17 tion Centers supported under this section shall be selected

18 only through a merit-based selection process, established

19 by the Administrator, pursuant to the criteria described

20 in subsection (d).

21 (f) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator

22 may provide financial assistance to a Verification Center

23 under this section. Such financial assistance shall—

24 (1) be for not more than 5 years; and
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1 (2) provide not more than 30 percent of the

2 cost of operating the Verification Center.

3 (g) DIRECT PARTNERSHIPS.—If the Administrator

4 determines that Verification Centers cannot adequately

5 verify the performance of environmental technologies be6 cause of scale or complexity, the Administrator may en7 gage directly with private sector organizations through di8 rect verification partnerships to verify the performance of

9 such technologies. The Administrator may engage in a

10 direct verification partnership under this subsection only

11 if—

12 (1) the Administrator documents that the ver13 ification cannot be conducted at a Verification Cen14 ter, or comparable commercial service, established

15 under this section for reasonable cost;

16 (2) the Federal Government provides not more

17 than 30 percent of the cost-share of the project; and

18 (3) the Administrator determines that the ver19 ification will make a significant contribution to sus20 tainable economic development.

21 (h) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—

22 (1) DECISION TO LIST OR NOT LIST.—The ver23 ification or evaluation of a technology under this sec24 tion shall not—
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1 (A) constitute a final action by the Admin2 istrator; and

3 (B) be subject to judicial review.

4 (2) FAILURE TO COMPLY.—If a technology veri5 fied, evaluated and listed pursuant to this section

6 fails to comply with any applicable law (including

7 regulations issued by the Administrator), the ver8 ification, evaluation, or listing shall not constitute a

9 defense in an enforcement action or suit and shall

10 not create a cause of action against the Environ11 mental Protection Agency.

12 SEC. 403. CONSUMER CLAIMS ON ENVIRONMENTAL TECH13 NOLOGIES.

14 The Federal Trade Commission shall—

15 (1) conduct a study of scientific and techno16 logical information needed for the fair evaluation of

17 commercial performance claims regarding environ18 mental technologies; and

19 (2) develop a plan for close collaboration with

20 Federal agencies, including the Environmental Pro21 tection Agency, the Department of Energy, and the

22 Department of Commerce, that have expertise in en23 vironmental technologies to ensure the use of the

24 best available scientific and technological informa-
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1 tion by the Federal Trade Commission in evaluating

2 such claims.

3 TITLE V—INTERNATIONAL

4 PROGRAMS

5 SEC. 501. FINDINGS.

6 The Congress finds the following:

7 (1) The global market for environmental tech8 nologies, goods, and services is currently

9 $270,000,000,000 and is estimated to grow to

10 $500,000,000,000 by the year 2000.

11 (2) Such market represents a major oppor12 tunity to increase high-quality jobs in the United

13 States and to assist nations in implementing sus14 tainable economic development programs.

15 (3) Although the United States has historically

16 been an international leader in the development of

17 environmental technologies, United States companies

18 have not gained a corresponding share of the inter19 national market, in part because other nations have

20 more extensive programs to assist in promoting the

21 export of environmental technologies.

22 SEC. 502. INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY

23 DEMONSTRATION.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in cooperation

25 with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy,
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1 and the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies and

2 utilizing, to the maximum extent practicable, existing Fed3 eral programs, is encouraged to support programs in other

4 nations for the purpose of enhancing United States ex5 ports of environmental technologies and promoting the

6 contribution of United States environmental technologies

7 to international sustainable economic development.

8 (b) ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES.—Activities and serv9 ices under subsection (a) shall include—

10 (1) providing scientific and technical data and

11 other information to the host government or organi12 zations designated by the host government that

13 would illustrate the value of United States environ14 mental technologies in achieving environment policy

15 goals of that nation;

16 (2) identifying United States sources of exper17 tise or technology that could assist the host nation

18 in achieving its environmental goals;

19 (3) providing assistance in conducting scientific

20 and technological environmental policy assessments

21 conducted by the host government to illustrate the

22 benefits of different options and the contributions to

23 be made through science and technology; and

24 (4) providing other services authorized by the

25 Administrator that would carry out this section.
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1 (c) COOPERATIVE ASSESSMENTS.—The Adminis2 trator may enter into cooperative agreements with the host

3 government or organizations designated by the host gov4 ernment to carry out the activities and services described

5 in subsection (b).

6 (d) USER FEES.—The Administrator may impose

7 fees to defray the costs of activities and services under

8 this section.

9 (e) GRANT RECEIPT.—To carry out this section, the

10 Administrator may receive unconditional grants of finan11 cial support from the host government or nonprofit philan12 thropic Foundations. Such grants may be accepted only

13 if they are unconditional and in no way influence the direc14 tion of activities and services under this section.

15 (f) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—Within 2 years after

16 the establishment of the program under this section, and

17 annually thereafter, the Administrator shall submit to the

18 Congress a report that contains an evaluation of the pro19 gram and the effectiveness of the activities and services

20 carried out under the program with respect to each host

21 nation. The evaluation shall provide recommendations for

22 continuation, improvement, or termination of such activi23 ties and services.
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1 SEC. 503. PROMOTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY

2 EXPORTS.

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Commerce,

4 in consultation with the Administrator and the heads of

5 other appropriate agencies and utilizing, to the maximum

6 extent practicable, existing programs of the Federal and

7 State governments, shall support activities to promote the

8 export of United States environmental technologies.

9 (b) SERVICES.—Services and activities under this

10 section may include the provision of—

11 (1) information on international market oppor12 tunities, including trade fairs, international environ13 mental regulations, and applicable technical and fi14 nancial assistance programs;

15 (2) education and training that will assist in

16 adapting and developing environmental technologies

17 and services with substantial potential for export to

18 major international markets; and

19 (3) training, in cooperation with the Adminis20 trator of the Agency for International Development,

21 to individuals from nations other than the United

22 States concerning the operation, maintenance, and

23 full value of United States environmental tech24 nologies and services.

25 (c) OTHER ASSISTANCE AUTHORIZED.—The Sec26 retary of Commerce may provide technical and other as-
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1 sistance to carry out this section. Such assistance may in2 clude equipment and facilities of Federal laboratories (in3 cluding the scientists and engineers at those laboratories).

4 The Secretary shall coordinate with the heads of other

5 Federal agencies to make the capabilities of the Federal

6 laboratories available under this section.

7 (d) COORDINATION WITH OTHER PROGRAMS.—The

8 Secretary of Commerce shall coordinate the activities and

9 services under this section with other programs of the

10 Federal Government, including programs carried out by

11 the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of

12 Energy, the Agency for International Development, and

13 the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, to avoid re14 dundancy and ensure maximum use of the Federal

15 investment.

16 (e) ANNUAL REVIEW.—The Secretary of Commerce

17 shall annually submit to the Congress a report containing

18 a review of activities and services carried out under this

19 section.

20 SEC. 504. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR TECHNOLOGY ADAP21 TATION TO PROMOTE EXPORTS.

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a revolv23 ing fund to be known as the Environmental Technology

24 Export Revolving Fund for the purpose of providing finan25 cial assistance for the adaptation and demonstration of
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1 United States environmental technologies to enhance ex2 ports to major international markets.

3 (b) FORMS OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—To carry

4 out this section, the Secretary of Commerce may, to the

5 extent provided in appropriations Acts, use the Fund for

6 the purpose of making loans, loan guarantees, or other

7 forms of financial assistance to United States companies,

8 independent research centers, institutions of higher edu9 cation, and other organizations the Secretary considers

10 appropriate.

11 (c) PRIORITIES.—In providing financial assistance

12 under this section, the Secretary of Commerce shall give

13 priority to environmental technologies—

14 (1) that require modifications through further

15 research and development to enable commercializa16 tion in international markets;

17 (2) that have substantial potential for use in ex18 port markets; and

19 (3) for which substantial manufacture will re20 main in the United States.

21 (d) OPERATING PLAN.—Not later than January 1,

22 1995, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit to the Con23 gress an operating plan to carry out this section. The plan

24 shall contain a description of coordination efforts with

25 other sources of export finance assistance, including the
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1 Agency for International Development and the Overseas

2 Private Investment Corporation, and an evaluation of al3 ternative approaches to carrying out this section (includ4 ing priorities referred to in subsection (c)). The Secretary

5 shall develop recommendations, as appropriate, to carry

6 out this section in the most effective and efficient manner

7 achievable. The recommendations shall include a descrip8 tion of the system of evaluation used under this sub9 section.

10 (e) TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR FINANCIAL ASSIST11 ANCE.—

12 (1) LIMITATION ON PROJECT AMOUNT.—Loans,

13 loan guarantees, and other forms of financial assist14 ance made under this section shall be in such form

15 and under such terms and conditions as the Sec16 retary of Commerce may prescribe by regulation.

17 The amount of assistance provided under this sec18 tion for a project may not exceed 50 percent of the

19 total eligible project costs. The term ‘‘total eligible

20 project costs’’ shall be defined by the Secretary of

21 Commerce by regulation.

22 (2) LIMITATION ON TOTAL COST.—Financial

23 assistance under this section shall be made under

24 such terms and conditions as are necessary to en25 sure that the cost of carrying out this section shall
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1 not exceed 15 percent of the corresponding credit

2 authority to carry out this section. For purposes of

3 this paragraph—

4 (A) the term ‘‘cost’’ has the meaning given

5 such term in section 502(5) of the Federal

6 Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661a);

7 and

8 (B) the term ‘‘credit authority’’ has the

9 meaning given such term in section 3(10) of the

10 Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C.

11 622(10)).

12 (f) REPAYMENT.—Repayment on loans made under

13 this section and the proceeds from any other agreement

14 entered into by the Secretary of Commerce under this sec15 tion shall be credited to the Fund. A loan or loan guaran16 tee agreement under this section may, at the discretion

17 of the Secretary of Commerce, include a requirement—

18 (1) that a portion of any royalties received in

19 connection with a technology developed with finan20 cial assistance under this section be paid to the

21 United States; and

22 (2) in any case in which the technology is used

23 by the recipient of such financial assistance for the

24 production and sale of goods, that a payment equal

25 to the amount paid under paragraph (1) in connec-
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1 tion with the technology be paid to the United

2 States.

3 (g) INTEREST.—Interest on a loan, or portion of a

4 loan, awarded or guaranteed by the Federal Government

5 under this section shall be at a rate determined by the

6 Secretary of the Treasury, at the time such loan is made,

7 to equal the then current average market yield on out8 standing debt obligations of the United States with re9 maining periods to maturity comparable to the maturity

10 of such loan, plus an additional charge of up to 1 percent

11 applied by the Secretary of Commerce to cover expected

12 defaults and reasonable administrative costs of carrying

13 out this section. For purposes of this section, the term

14 ‘‘default’’ shall be defined by the Secretary of Commerce

15 by regulation.

16 (h) MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND.—The Secretary of

17 Commerce shall manage the Fund and shall annually sub18 mit to the Congress a report on the financial condition

19 and the results of operation of the Fund during the pre20 ceding fiscal year.

21 (i) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of Com22 merce shall, upon request, provide technical assistance and

23 services, as appropriate and needed, to awardees under

24 this section and shall ensure that awardees have ready ac25 cess to such assistance. The Secretary may charge fees
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1 for technical assistance and services. The Secretary may

2 waive such fees on a case-by-case basis. Fees paid to the

3 United States under this section shall be deposited in the

4 revolving fund.

5 (j) COORDINATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL ACTIVI6 TIES.—The Secretary of Commerce shall, to the maximum

7 extent practicable, coordinate the activities under this sec8 tion with similar Federal activities to avoid unnecessary

9 duplication of effort.

10 (k) OUTREACH TO ECONOMICALLY DEPRESSED

11 AREAS.—The Secretary of Commerce shall seek to ensure

12 that qualified business concerns located in areas deter13 mined by the Secretary to have a depressed economy, or

14 a significant concentration of defense-related industries,

15 or chronically high unemployment, are notified of the

16 availability of financial assistance under this section and,

17 to the extent practicable, to encourage and facilitate the

18 participation of such qualified business concerns in activi19 ties for which financial assistance is provided under this

20 section.
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1 TITLE VI—FINANCIAL AND

2 REGULATORY INCENTIVES

3 SEC. 601. USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY PROD4 UCTS BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall establish

6 a program for evaluating and approving the purchase by

7 the Federal Government of environmental technology

8 products. The President shall—

9 (1) work with the performance standards pro10 grams established under section 401 to ensure sub11 stitutability of environmental technologies for con12 ventional technologies for the purposes of the Fed13 eral Government;

14 (2) establish a priority list of technologies for

15 inclusion under the program; and

16 (3) implement a plan for the procurement of

17 environmental technologies.

18 (b) REPORT.—Within one year after the date of the

19 enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Presi20 dent shall submit to the Congress a report describing the

21 progress made in carrying out this section and plans for

22 carrying out this section for the three years immediately

23 following the year in which the report is submitted.
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1 SEC. 602. STUDY OF REGULATORY INFLUENCES ON INNO2 VATION IN ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES.

3 (a) REVIEW.—The Administrator, working with

4 State regulatory agencies, shall conduct a study of current

5 environmental regulations and their effect upon innovation

6 in environmental technologies and the introduction of new

7 environmental products.

8 (b) REPORT.—The Administrator shall, within one

9 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, submit

10 to the Congress a report on the results of the study de11 scribed in subsection (a). The report shall contain any

12 suggestions of the Administrator for actions that could be

13 taken to increase the regulatory incentives for industrial

14 use of new environmental technologies.

15 SEC. 603. STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF TAX INCENTIVES ON

16 INNOVATION IN ENVIRONMENTAL TECH17 NOLOGIES.

18 The President shall study the potential for efficiently

19 encouraging the development and use of environmental

20 technologies through tax incentives. The study shall—

21 (1) review existing environmental and tech22 nology development tax incentives and estimate their

23 impact on the development and use of environmental

24 technologies;

25 (2) assess the potential of alternative tax incen26 tives that are considered promising for accelerating
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1 the development and use of environmental tech2 nologies; and

3 (3) in coordination with the study of regulatory

4 effects on innovation in environmental technologies

5 established in section 602, assess the relationship

6 between existing regulations and proposed regulatory

7 reforms on the influence of existing and potential

8 tax incentives.

9 TITLE VII—AUTHORIZATION OF

10 APPROPRIATIONS

11 SEC. 701. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection

13 (b), there is hereby authorized to be appropriated for fiscal

14 years 1995 and 1996 such sums as may be necessary to

15 carry out this Act and the amendments made by this Act.

16 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOP17 MENT AND INTEGRATION PROGRAM.—There is hereby au18 thorized to be appropriated to carry out the Environ19 mental Technologies Development and Integration Pro20 gram established in section 211—

21 (1) $80,000,000 for fiscal year 1995; and

22 (2) $120,000,000 for fiscal year 1996.

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