I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1479

To focus basic energy research where the potential for revolutionary

technological advancement is the greatest.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 25, 1993

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

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

A BILL

To focus basic energy research where the potential for

revolutionary technological advancement is the greatest.

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 ‘‘Hydrogen Future Act

5 of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS, PURPOSE, DEFINITIONS.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

8 (1) fossil fuels, the main energy source of the

9 present, have provided this country with tremendous
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1 supply, but are limited and polluting, and their pro2 duction and utilization technologies are mature;

3 (2) the basic scientific fundamentals are needed

4 for private sector investment in and commercializa5 tion of new and better energy sources and enabling

6 technologies;

7 (3) hydrogen holds tremendous promise as a

8 new and better energy source as it secures an infi9 nite supply from water and combusts purely to

10 water;

11 (4) under current technological capability, the

12 energy required to produce hydrogen is greater than

13 the potential energy of the hydrogen produced;

14 (5) the hydrogen production efficiency dilemma

15 is the major technical barrier to society collectively

16 benefiting from one of the great energy sources of

17 the future;

18 (6) an aggressive, results-oriented multiyear re19 search initiative on efficient hydrogen fuel produc20 tion and use is in order;

21 (7) the current $4,500,000 per year Federal ef22 fort is wholly inadequate to the technically daunting

23 task at hand;
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1 (8) an annual $100,000,000 multiyear author2 ization offset by a reallocation of resources from

3 more mature fossil technologies is justified; and

4 (9) the national interest demands the accelera5 tion of research, development, and demonstration ef6 forts that will make possible the near-term commer7 cial introduction of hydrogen into the current energy

8 consumption system in order to increase supply to

9 support economic growth, decrease airborne emis10 sions from mobile and stationary sources, improve

11 fuel efficiency, and invigorate industries that can de12 velop hydrogen enabling technologies that will lead

13 to new markets and jobs, and that will provide stim14 ulus for the transfer of information and relevant

15 technology from the space and aerospace industries

16 to the broader energy and transportation market.

17 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Act is to provide

18 the fundamental scientific basis to support the develop19 ment of commercial, economically feasible technologies for

20 the production and use of hydrogen as a zero- or low-emis21 sion power source on a national scale by the year 1998.

22 (c) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this Act—

23 (1) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

24 of Energy;
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1 (2) the term ‘‘United States’’ means the several

2 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth

3 of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands,

4 Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the

5 Northern Mariana Islands, and any other territory

6 or possession of the United States; and

7 (3) the term ‘‘United States company’’ means

8 a business entity that is incorporated in the United

9 States and that conducts business operations in the

10 United States.

11 SEC. 3. CONSULTATION.

12 The Secretary shall consult with the Department of

13 Energy’s Hydrogen Technical Advisory Panel established

14 under section 108 of Public Law 101–566 as necessary

15 in implementing this Act.

16 SEC. 4. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES.

17 (a) PRODUCTION.—The Secretary shall support in18 dustrial hydrogen energy production research and develop19 ment in the following areas:

20 (1) Photoconversion:

21 (A) Photochemical.

22 (B) Photoelectrochemical.

23 (C) Photobiological.

24 (2) Coal gasification and hydrogen purification.

25 (3) Bioconversion:
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1 (A) Biomass growth, harvesting, and con2 version.

3 (B) Municipal solid waste and sewage

4 sludge disposal.

5 (4) ‘‘Water-cracking’’ using the excess capacity

6 at hydropower and nuclear electricity production fa7 cilities during off-peak hours.

8 (5) Fuel cell power plants suitable for vehicle

9 propulsion.

10 (6) Fuel cell systems for stationary applica11 tions.

12 (b) USE.—The Secretary shall support industrial hy13 drogen energy use research and development in the follow14 ing areas, including funding for at least one technical dem15 onstration in each such area:

16 (1) Economically feasible, low-emission motor

17 vehicles using hydrogen as a combustible power sup18 ply, either in pure form or mixed with other fuels

19 (such as methane).

20 (2) Economically feasible, zero-emission auto21 motive and locomotive engines using hydrogen as a

22 constituent for the release of chemical energy.

23 (3) Electricity generation using hydrogen as a

24 fuel source for utility applications.
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1 (4) Heating and cooling using hydrogen as a

2 fuel source for building and appliance applications.

3 (5) Stationary power generation using hydrogen

4 as a fuel source for industrial applications.

5 (c) SCHEDULE.—Within 90 days after the date of en6 actment of this Act, the Secretary shall solicit proposals

7 for carrying out the research, development, and dem8 onstration activities authorized under subsections (a) and

9 (b). Awards of financial assistance for such activities shall

10 be made within 1 year after such date of enactment.

11 (d) RESTRICTIONS ON RECIPIENTS.—Financial as12 sistance may be awarded under this section only to United

13 States companies or consortia of United States companies,

14 alone or in conjunction with universities and independent

15 nonprofit research organizations. Awards under subsection

16 (a) may be made separately for each area described in

17 paragraphs (1) through (6) of that subsection or collec18 tively for more than 1 or all such areas. Awards for tech19 nical demonstrations under subsection (b) shall be made

20 separately for each area described in paragraphs (1)

21 through (5) of that subsection.

22 (e) PROCEDURES.—(1) Except as otherwise provided

23 in this Act, research, development, and demonstration ac24 tivities under this Act may be carried out using the proce25 dures of the Federal Nonnuclear Research and Develop-
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1 ment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5901–5920), the Atomic En2 ergy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), or any other

3 Act under which the Secretary is authorized to carry out

4 such activities.

5 (2) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, in carry6 ing out research, development, and demonstration pro7 grams and activities under this Act, the Secretary may

8 use, to the extent authorized under applicable provisions

9 of law, contracts, cooperative agreements, cooperative re10 search and development agreements under the Stevenson11 Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980, grants, joint

12 ventures, and any other form of agreement available to

13 the Secretary.

14 (3) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘‘joint

15 venture’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘joint research

16 and development venture’’ under section 2(a)(6) and (b)

17 of the National Cooperative Research Act of 1984 (15

18 U.S.C. 4301(a)(6) and (b)).

19 (f) ANTITRUST.—The National Cooperative Research

20 Act of 1984 (15 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.) shall apply to con21 sortia supported under this Act.

22 (g) COST SHARING.—(1) The Secretary shall require

23 at least 50 percent of the costs directly and specifically

24 related to any research, development, or demonstration
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1 project under this Act to be provided from non-Federal

2 sources.

3 (2) The Secretary shall also require that at least 50

4 percent of the non-Federal share of the costs related to

5 any research, development, or demonstration project

6 under this Act be provided by United States companies.

7 SEC. 5. HIGHLY INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES.

8 Of the amounts made available for carrying out sec9 tion 4 of this Act, up to 5 percent may be used to support

10 research on highly innovative energy technologies, includ11 ing those based on yet unproven scientific theory.

12 Amounts so transferred under this section shall not be

13 subject to the requirements stated in section 4.

14 SEC. 6. TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER.

15 The Secretary shall foster the exchange of generic,

16 nonproprietary information and technology developed pur17 suant to section 4 or other similar Federal programs (in18 cluding activities under the Automotive Propulsion Re19 search and Development Act of 1978, the National Aero20 Space Plane program, and programs carried out under

21 section 2025 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992) among

22 industry, academia, and the Federal Government with re23 gard to the production and use of hydrogen.
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1 SEC. 7. PROTECTION OF INFORMATION AND PATENTS.

2 For purposes of this Act, the provisions of chapter

3 18 of title 35, United States Code (popularly referred to

4 as the Bayh-Dole Act) shall apply to United States compa5 nies as if they were small business firms under the provi6 sions of such chapter 18.

7 SEC. 8. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

8 (a) REQUIREMENT.—Within 18 months after the

9 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter,

10 the Secretary shall present Congress with a detailed report

11 on the status and progress of the programs created under

12 this Act. As part of this report, the Secretary shall include

13 an analysis of the effectiveness of the Department’s hydro14 gen research and development programs, an enumeration

15 of improvements that could be made to such programs,

16 and recommendations for any legislation necessary to ac17 complish those improvements.

18 (b) COORDINATION WITH DEFENSE PROGRAMS.—As

19 part of the report required under subsection (a), Depart20 ment of Defense research and development programs that

21 involve issues of hydrogen-based power, especially within

22 the Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research

23 Projects Agency, shall be analyzed by the Secretary for

24 coordination and cooperation with the programs created

25 under this Act.
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1 (c) COORDINATION WITH NASA PROGRAMS.—As

2 part of the report required under subsection (a), National

3 Aeronautics and Space Administration research and devel4 opment programs that involve issues of hydrogen-based

5 power shall be analyzed by the Secretary for coordination

6 and cooperation with the programs created under this Act.

7 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

8 (a) GENERAL AUTHORIZATION.—There are author9 ized to be appropriated for each of the fiscal years 1994

10 through 1998, to carry out the purposes of this Act (in

11 addition to any amounts made available for such purposes

12 under other Acts) $100,000,000, of which 60 percent is

13 authorized only for activities under section 4(a) and 40

14 percent is authorized for activities under section 4(b).

15 (b) RELATED AUTHORIZATIONS.—For fiscal year

16 1994, the amount authorized to be appropriated to carry

17 out subtitle A of title XIII of the Energy Policy Act of

18 1992 (Public Law 102–486) shall be 175 percent of the

19 amount authorized for such fiscal year under subsection

20 (a) of this section. For fiscal year 1995, the amount au21 thorized to be appropriated to carry out subtitle A of title

22 XIII of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–

23 486) shall be 175 percent of the amount appropriated for

24 fiscal year 1994 under subsection (a) of this section. For

25 fiscal year 1996, the amount authorized to be appro-
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1 priated to carry out subtitle A of title XIII of the Energy

2 Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–486) shall be 150

3 percent of the amount appropriated for fiscal year 1995

4 under subsection (a) of this section. For fiscal year 1997,

5 the amount authorized to be appropriated to carry out

6 subtitle A of title XIII of the Energy Policy Act of 1992

7 (Public Law 102–486) shall be 125 percent of the amount

8 appropriated for fiscal year 1996 under subsection (a) of

9 this section. For fiscal year 1998, the amount authorized

10 to be appropriated to carry out subtitle A of title XIII

11 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (Public Law 102–486)

12 shall be 100 percent of the amount appropriated for fiscal

13 year 1997 under subsection (a) of this section.

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