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103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4061

To provide for a pilot power plant designed to revitalize depressed communities by providing energy intensive industry with an effective opportunity

to dispose of solid wastes and obtain inexpensive electricity and steam,

and to provide a pilot role model for the development of a comprehensive

national strategic energy intensive industry initiative.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 16, 1994

Mr. TRAFICANT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To provide for a pilot power plant designed to revitalize

depressed communities by providing energy intensive industry with an effective opportunity to dispose of solid

wastes and obtain inexpensive electricity and steam, and

to provide a pilot role model for the development of

a comprehensive national strategic energy intensive industry initiative.

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 ‘‘National Environ5 mental-Economic Recovery Act of 1994’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 The Congress finds that—

3 (1) plants such as the SEMASS plant in Roch4 ester, Massachusetts, and the Wheelabrator plant in

5 Baltimore, Maryland, provide an effective and effi6 cient means of disposing solid wastes and obtaining

7 inexpensive electrical power and steam; and

8 (2) the availability of such plants in a commu9 nity will attract energy intensive industry to that

10 community, increasing the community’s tax base and

11 strengthening its economy.

12 SEC. 3. GRANT AUTHORITY.

13 The Secretary shall make a grant of $10,000,000 to

14 the nonprofit IRCA Foundation, a subsidiary of Industrial

15 Resource Consultants of America, for the establishment

16 of a facility described in section 4.

17 SEC. 4. FACILITY.

18 The facility to be established as described in section

19 3—

20 (1) shall produce electric power, steam, or both,

21 from solid wastes;

22 (2) shall have 2 boilers and be capable of ex23 pansion;

24 (3) shall be located in a depressed community

25 in the United States;
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1 (4) shall provide electricity and steam to energy

2 intensive industry customers at no more than 40

3 percent of the market rate for electricity;

4 (5) may provide electricity to public entities or

5 light industry, but not to residential consumers; and

6 (6) shall obtain a continuing supply of feed7 stock sufficient to sustain maximum operational ca8 pability through long-term contracts with municipal

9 and other governmental sources.

10 SEC. 5. REINVESTMENT OF SAVINGS.

11 Any energy intensive industry customer obtaining

12 electricity or steam from the facility described in section

13 4 shall invest in equipment, physical plant, or increased

14 employment at least 7 percent of the savings gained by

15 obtaining such resources from that facility compared to

16 the cost of obtaining such resources from other sources.

17 SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

18 Within one year after the facility described in section

19 4 becomes fully operational, the Secretary shall transmit

20 to the Congress a report recommending whether the Fed21 eral Government should make additional grants similar to

22 the grant authorized by this Act. Such recommendation

23 shall be based on the Secretary’s analysis of whether the

24 grant made under this Act has resulted in—
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1 (1) the creation of jobs in the community in

2 which the facility is located due to the relocation of

3 energy intensive industry;

4 (2) the effective disposal of solid wastes; and

5 (3) the production of electricity and steam more

6 easily and inexpensively.

7 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

8 For the purposes of this Act—

9 (1) the term ‘‘depressed community’’ means a

10 rural or urban community that the Secretary deter11 mines is relatively depressed in terms of age of hous12 ing, extent of poverty, growth of per capita income,

13 and extent of unemployment, job lag, and surplus

14 labor;

15 (2) the term ‘‘energy intensive industry’’ means

16 an industry that consumes more than 25,000 BTUs

17 per dollar of value added, as determined by the Sec18 retary;

19 (3) the term ‘‘fully operational’’ means at least

20 90 percent operational, determined by averaging the

21 percentage of capacity solid waste intake achieved

22 and the percentage of capacity electricity output

23 achieved;

24 (4) the term ‘‘market rate’’ means the applica25 ble rate for retail bulk power sales made by the elec-
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1 tric utility within the service territory concerned;

2 and

3 (5) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

4 of Energy.

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