II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2612 

To provide for the establishment of clean technology consortia to enhance 

the economic, environmental, and energy security of the United States 

by promoting domestic development, manufacture, and deployment of 

clean technologies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2018 

Mr. MARKEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of clean technology consortia to enhance the economic, environmental, and energy security of the United States by promoting domestic 

development, manufacture, and deployment of clean technologies, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Consortia-Led Energy 

5 and Advanced Manufacturing Networks Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) CLEAN TECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘‘clean 

2 technology’’ means a technology, production process, 

3 or methodology that— 

4 (A) produces energy from solar, wind, geo5 thermal, biomass, tidal, wave, ocean, or another 

6 renewable energy source (as defined in section 

7 609 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies 

8 Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 918c)); 

9 (B) more efficiently transmits, distributes, 

10 or stores energy; 

11 (C) enhances energy efficiency for build12 ings and industry, including combined heat and 

13 power; 

14 (D) enables the development of a Smart 

15 Grid (as described in section 1301 of the En16 ergy Independence and Security Act of 2007 

17 (42 U.S.C. 17381)), including integration of re18 newable energy sources and distributed genera19 tion, demand response, demand side manage20 ment, and systems analysis; 

21 (E) produces an advanced or sustainable 

22 material with energy or energy efficiency appli23 cations; 

24 (F) improves energy efficiency for trans25 portation, including electric vehicles; or 


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1 (G) enhances water security through im2 proved water management, conservation, dis3 tribution, or end use applications. 

4 (2) ADVANCED MANUFACTURING.—The term 

5 ‘‘advanced manufacturing’’— 

6 (A) means a manufacturing process that 

7 makes extensive use of computer, high preci8 sion, or information technologies integrated 

9 with a high performance workforce in a produc10 tion system capable of furnishing a hetero11 geneous mix of products in small or large vol12 umes with either the efficiency of mass produc13 tion or the flexibility of custom manufacturing 

14 in order to respond quickly to customer de15 mands; and 

16 (B) includes both new ways to manufac17 ture existing products and the manufacture of 

18 new products emerging from new advanced 

19 technologies. 

20 (3) CLUSTER.—The term ‘‘cluster’’ means a 

21 network of entities directly involved in the research, 

22 development, finance, and commercial application of 

23 clean technologies and advanced manufacturing 

24 whose geographic proximity facilitates the use and 

25 sharing of skilled human resources, infrastructure, 


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1 research facilities, educational and training institu2 tions, venture capital, and input suppliers. 

3 (4) CONSORTIUM.—The term ‘‘consortium’’ 

4 means a clean technology consortium established in 

5 accordance with this Act. 

6 (5) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means an 

7 activity with respect to which a consortium provides 

8 support under this Act. 

9 (6) QUALIFYING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘quali10 fying entity’’ means— 

11 (A) an institution of higher education that 

12 has entered into a partnership agreement with 

13 a private-sector entity; 

14 (B) a Federal or State entity with a focus 

15 on developing clean technologies or clusters, as 

16 determined by the Secretary; 

17 (C) a nongovernmental organization with 

18 expertise in translational research, clean tech19 nology, or cluster development; or 

20 (D) any other entity determined appro21 priate by the Secretary. 

22 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

23 the Secretary of Commerce. 

24 (8) TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH.—The term 

25 ‘‘translational research’’ means the coordination of 


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1 basic or applied research with technical applications 

2 to enable promising discoveries or inventions to 

3 achieve commercial application. 

4 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF CLEAN TECHNOLOGY CON5 SORTIA PROGRAM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish and 

7 carry out a program to establish clean technology con8 sortia to enhance the economic, environmental, and energy 

9 security of the United States by promoting domestic devel10 opment, manufacture, and deployment of clean, state-of11 the-art technologies. 

12 (b) PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall carry out the 

13 program established under subsection (a) by leveraging 

14 the expertise and resources of private research commu15 nities, institutions of higher education, industry, venture 

16 capital, National Laboratories (as defined in section 2 of 

17 the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801)), and 

18 other participants in technology innovation— 

19 (1) to support collaborative, cross-disciplinary 

20 research and development in clean technologies and 

21 advanced manufacturing; and 

22 (2) to develop and accelerate the commercial 

23 application of innovative clean technologies and ad24 vanced manufacturing practices. 


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1 (c) ROLE OF THE SECRETARY.—The Secretary 

2 shall— 

3 (1) carry out and oversee all aspects of the pro4 gram established under subsection (a); 

5 (2) select recipients of grants for the establish6 ment and operation of consortia through a competi7 tive selection process; and 

8 (3) coordinate the innovation activities of con9 sortia with activities carried out by the Secretary of 

10 Energy, the Secretary of Defense, other Federal 

11 agency heads, industry, and institutions of higher 

12 education, including by annually— 

13 (A) issuing guidance regarding national 

14 clean technology and advanced manufacturing 

15 development priorities and strategic objectives; 

16 and 

17 (B) convening a conference relating to 

18 clean technology and advanced manufacturing, 

19 which shall bring together representatives of 

20 Federal agencies, industry, institutions of high21 er education, and other entities to share re22 search and commercialization results, program 

23 plans, and opportunities for collaboration. 

24 (d) PURPOSES OF CONSORTIA.—The purposes of the 

25 consortia shall include— 


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1 (1) promoting new innovative clean technologies 

2 that have demonstrated interest and potential for 

3 commercialization; 

4 (2) expanding advanced manufacturing capabili5 ties, networks, supply chains, and assets, in the area 

6 of clean technologies, that contribute to regional and 

7 national manufacturing competitiveness and poten8 tial for growth; 

9 (3) promoting job creation and entrepreneur10 ship through the establishment of new companies, 

11 the expansion of existing companies, and commer12 cialization of clean technologies; 

13 (4) providing technical or financial assistance to 

14 companies looking to invest in clean technologies, 

15 new products or services, or enhanced processes that 

16 will grow sales and jobs; 

17 (5) determining opportunities and challenges 

18 that companies are facing and how to improve their 

19 use or production of clean technologies; 

20 (6) assisting individual small- and medium-sized 

21 enterprises with adopting and utilizing new clean 

22 technologies and related business and advanced 

23 manufacturing practices; 


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1 (7) accelerating investment in and deployment 

2 of clean technologies through public-private partner3 ships; 

4 (8) encouraging partnering between and among 

5 emerging and established clean technology and ad6 vanced manufacturing enterprises; or 

7 (9) demonstrating a comprehensive and success8 ful model for commercialization of clean technologies 

9 for promotion and emulation. 

10 SEC. 4. APPLICATIONS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under this Act, 

12 a consortium shall submit to the Secretary an application 

13 in such manner, at such time, and containing such infor14 mation as the Secretary determines to be necessary. 

15 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—A consortium shall be eligible to 

16 receive a grant under this Act if— 

17 (1) the consortium consists of— 

18 (A) one or more research universities that 

19 can demonstrate a significant annual clean 

20 technology research budget, entrepreneurial 

21 support programs, and technology licensing ex22 pertise; and 

23 (B) a total of three or more qualifying en24 tities that can demonstrate expertise in 


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1 translational research, clean technology, and 

2 cluster development; 

3 (2) the members of the consortium have estab4 lished a binding agreement that documents— 

5 (A) the structure of the partnership agree6 ment; 

7 (B) a governance and management struc8 ture that enables cost-effective implementation 

9 of the program; 

10 (C) a conflicts-of-interest policy, including 

11 procedures, consistent with those of the Depart12 ment of Commerce, to ensure that employees 

13 and designees for consortium activities who are 

14 in decisionmaking capacities disclose all mate15 rial conflicts of interest, including financial, or16 ganizational, and personal conflicts of interest; 

17 (D) an accounting structure that meets the 

18 requirements of the Secretary and that may be 

19 audited under this Act; and 

20 (E) the existence of an external advisory 

21 committee; 

22 (3) the consortium receives funding from non23 Federal sources, such as a State and participants of 

24 the consortium, that may be used to support 

25 projects; 


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1 (4) the consortium is part of an existing cluster 

2 or demonstrates high potential to develop a new 

3 cluster; and 

4 (5) the consortium operates as a nonprofit or5 ganization or as a public-private partnership under 

6 an operating agreement led by a nonprofit organiza7 tion. 

8 (c) DISQUALIFICATION.—The Secretary may dis9 qualify an application from a consortium under this Act 

10 if the Secretary determines that the conflicts-of-interest 

11 policy of the consortium is inadequate. 

12 (d) EXTERNAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

14 grant under this Act, a consortium shall establish an 

15 external advisory committee, the members of which 

16 shall have extensive and relevant scientific, technical, 

17 industry, financial, or research management exper18 tise. 

19 (2) DUTIES.—An external advisory committee 

20 shall— 

21 (A) review the proposed plans, programs, 

22 project selection criteria, and projects of the 

23 consortium; and 


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1 (B) ensure that projects selected by the 

2 consortium meet the applicable conflicts-of-in3 terest policy of the consortium. 

4 (3) MEMBERS.—An external advisory com5 mittee shall consist of— 

6 (A) representatives of the members of the 

7 consortium; and 

8 (B) such representatives of industry, in9 cluding entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, 

10 as the members of the consortium determine to 

11 be necessary. 

12 (4) SECRETARY AS MEMBER.—The Secretary 

13 shall join the external advisory committee of a con14 sortium that receives a grant under this Act. 

15 SEC. 5. GRANTS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award grants, 

17 on a competitive basis— 

18 (1) not later than 2 years after the date of en19 actment of this Act, to at least 1 consortium; and 

20 (2) not later than 10 years after such date of 

21 enactment, to not fewer than 6 consortia. 

22 (b) TERMS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The initial term of a grant 

24 awarded under this Act shall not exceed 5 years. 


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1 (2) EXTENSION.—The Secretary may extend 

2 the term of a grant awarded under this Act for a 

3 period of not more than 5 additional years. 

4 (c) AMOUNTS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant awarded to a con6 sortium under this Act shall not exceed the lesser 

7 of— 

8 (A) $30,000,000 per fiscal year; or 

9 (B) the collective contributions of non-Fed10 eral entities to the consortium, as described 

11 under section 4(b)(3). 

12 (2) FLEXIBILITY.—In determining the amount 

13 of a grant under this section, the Secretary shall 

14 consider— 

15 (A) the translational research capacity of 

16 the consortium; 

17 (B) the financial, human, and facility re18 sources of the qualifying entities; and 

19 (C) the cluster of which the consortium is 

20 a part. 

21 (3) INCREASES IN AMOUNTS.—Subject to para22 graph (1), a consortium may request an increase in 

23 the amount of a grant awarded under this Act at the 

24 time the consortium requests an extension of an ini25 tial grant. 


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1 (d) USE OF AMOUNTS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), a 

3 consortium awarded a grant under this Act shall use 

4 the amounts to support translational research, tech5 nology development, manufacturing innovation, and 

6 commercialization activities relating to clean tech7 nology. 

8 (2) PROJECT SELECTION.—As a condition of 

9 receiving a grant under this Act, a consortium 

10 shall— 

11 (A) develop and make available to the pub12 lic on the Web site of the Department of Com13 merce proposed plans, programs, project selec14 tion criteria, and terms for individual project 

15 awards; 

16 (B) establish policies— 

17 (i) to prevent resources provided to 

18 the consortium from being used to displace 

19 private sector investment otherwise likely 

20 to occur, including investment from private 

21 sector entities that are members of the 

22 consortium; 

23 (ii) to facilitate the participation of 

24 private entities that invest in clean tech25 nologies to perform due diligence on award 


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1 proposals, to participate in the award re2 view process, and to provide guidance to 

3 projects supported by the consortium; and 

4 (iii) to facilitate the participation of 

5 parties with a demonstrated history of 

6 commercial application of clean tech7 nologies in the development of consortium 

8 projects; 

9 (C) oversee project solicitations, review 

10 proposed projects, and select projects for 

11 awards; and 

12 (D) monitor project implementation. 

13 (3) LIMITATIONS.— 

14 (A) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—A con15 sortium may use not more than 10 percent of 

16 the amounts awarded to the consortium for ad17 ministrative expenses. 

18 (B) PROHIBITION ON USE.—A consortium 

19 may not use any amounts awarded to the con20 sortium under this Act to construct a new 

21 building or facility. 

22 (e) AUDITS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—A consortium that receives a 

24 grant under this Act shall carry out, in accordance 

25 with such requirements as the Secretary may preVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:17 Apr 03, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2612.IS S2612

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1 scribe, an annual audit to determine whether the 

2 grant has been used in accordance with this Act. 

3 (2) REPORT.—The consortium shall submit a 

4 copy of each audit under paragraph (1) to the Sec5 retary and the Comptroller General of the United 

6 States. 

7 (3) GAO REVIEW.—As a condition of receiving 

8 a grant under this Act, a consortium shall allow the 

9 Comptroller General of the United States, on the re10 quest of the Comptroller General, full access to the 

11 books, records, and personnel of consortium. 

12 (4) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

13 shall submit to Congress annually a report that in14 cludes— 

15 (A) a copy of each audit carried out under 

16 paragraph (1); and 

17 (B) any recommendations of the Secretary 

18 relating to the clean technology consortia pro19 gram. 

20 (f) REVOCATION OF AWARDS.—The Secretary shall 

21 have the authority— 

22 (1) to review grants awarded under this Act; 

23 and 

24 (2) to revoke a grant awarded under this Act 

25 if the Secretary determines that a consortium has 


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1 used the grant in a manner that is not consistent 

2 with this Act. 

3 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

5 out this section $100,000,000. 

Æ 


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