II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 935

To amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy

Act of 1977 to authorize research to promote the conversion of biomass

into biobased industrial products, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 30, 1999

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

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

A BILL

To amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension,

and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to authorize research

to promote the conversion of biomass into biobased industrial products, 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 ‘‘National Sustainable

5 Fuels and Chemicals Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) conversion of biomass into biobased indus2 trial products offers outstanding potential for benefit

3 to the national interest through improved strategic

4 security and balance of payments, healthier rural

5 economies, improved environmental quality, near6 zero net greenhouse gas emissions, technology ex7 port, and sustainable resource supply;

8 (2)(A) biomass is widely available at prices that

9 are competitive with low cost petroleum; and

10 (B) the key technical challenge to be overcome

11 in order for biobased industrial products to be cost

12 competitive is reducing the cost of technology for

13 converting biomass into desired biobased industrial

14 products;

15 (3) biobased fuels, such as ethanol, have the

16 clear potential to be sustainable, low cost, and high

17 performance fuels that are compatible with both cur18 rent and future transportation systems and provide

19 near zero net greenhouse gas emissions;

20 (4) biobased chemicals—

21 (A) can provide functional replacements

22 for essentially all organic chemicals that are

23 currently derived from petroleum; and

24 (B) have the clear potential for environ25 mentally benign product life cycles;
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1 (5) many biomass feedstocks suitable for indus2 trial processing show the clear potential for sustain3 able production, in some cases resulting in improved

4 soil fertility and carbon sequestration;

5 (6)(A) grain processing mills are biorefineries

6 that produce a diversity of useful food, chemical,

7 feed, and fuel products; and

8 (B) technologies that result in further diver9 sification of the range of value-added biobased in10 dustrial products can meet a key need for the grain

11 processing industry;

12 (7)(A) cellulosic feedstocks are attractive be13 cause of their low cost and widespread availability;

14 and

15 (B) research resulting in cost-effective tech16 nology to overcome the recalcitrance of cellulosic bio17 mass would allow biorefineries to produce fuels and

18 bulk chemicals on a very large scale, with a commen19 surately large realization of the benefit described in

20 paragraph (1);

21 (8) research into the fundamentals to under22 stand important mechanisms of biomass conversion

23 processes can be expected to accelerate the applica24 tion and advancement of biomass processing tech25 nology by—
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1 (A) increasing the confidence and speed

2 with which new technologies can be scaled up;

3 and

4 (B) giving rise to processing innovations

5 based on new knowledge;

6 (9) the utility of biotechnology allows the design

7 of feedstocks that will meet future needs more effec8 tively;

9 (10)(A) because of the relatively short-term

10 time horizon characteristic of private sector invest11 ments, and because many benefits of biomass proc12 essing are in the national interest, it is appropriate

13 for the Federal Government to provide

14 precommercial investment in fundamental and re15 search-driven innovation in the biomass processing

16 area; and

17 (B) such an investment would provide a valu18 able complement to ongoing and past governmental

19 support in the biomass processing area; and

20 (11) several prominent studies, including stud21 ies by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science

22 and Technology and the National Research Council,

23 support the potential for large research-driven ad24 vances in technologies for production of biobased in25 dustrial products as well as associated benefits.
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1 SEC. 3. CONVERSION OF BIOMASS INTO BIOBASED INDUS2 TRIAL PRODUCTS.

3 Title XIV of the National Agricultural Research, Ex4 tension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3101

5 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘Subtitle N—Conversion of Bio7 mass Into Biobased Industrial

8 Products

9 ‘‘SEC. 1490. DEFINITIONS.

10 ‘‘In this subtitle:

11 ‘‘(1) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The term ‘Advi12 sory Committee’ means the Sustainable Fuels and

13 Chemicals Technical Advisory Committee established

14 by section 1490C.

15 ‘‘(2) BIOBASED INDUSTRIAL PRODUCT.—The

16 term ‘biobased industrial product’ means any power,

17 fuel, feed, chemical product, or other consumer good

18 derived from biomass.

19 ‘‘(3) BIOMASS.—The term ‘biomass’ means any

20 organic matter that is available on a renewable or

21 recurring basis, including plants, trees, grasses, agri22 cultural crops and residues, wood and wood residues,

23 municipal waste, animal waste and residues, and

24 aquatic plants.
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1 ‘‘(4) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ means the

2 Sustainable Fuels and Chemicals Board established

3 by section 1490B.

4 ‘‘(5) INITIATIVE.—The term ‘Initiative’ means

5 the Sustainable Fuels and Chemicals Research Ini6 tiative established under section 1490D.

7 ‘‘(6) POINT OF CONTACT.—The term ‘point of

8 contact’ means a point of contact designated under

9 section 1490A(d).

10 ‘‘SEC. 1490A. COOPERATION AND COORDINATION IN SUS11 TAINABLE FUELS AND CHEMICALS RE12 SEARCH.

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture

14 and the Secretary of Energy shall cooperate with respect

15 to, and coordinate, policies and procedures that promote

16 research and development leading to the production of

17 biobased industrial products.

18 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the cooperation and

19 coordination shall be to promote research and development

20 related to—

21 ‘‘(1) understanding the key mechanisms under22 lying the recalcitrance of biomass for conversion into

23 biobased industrial products, including the use of ag24 ricultural crops for conversion into biobased indus25 trial products; and
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1 ‘‘(2) advanced technologies that will result in

2 large-scale commercial production of low cost

3 biobased industrial products.

4 ‘‘(c) AREAS.—In carrying out this subtitle, the Sec5 retary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Energy shall

6 promote research and development to—

7 ‘‘(1) advance the availability and widespread

8 use of energy efficient, economically competitive, and

9 environmentally sound biobased industrial products

10 in a manner that is consistent with the goals of the

11 United States relating to sustainable and secure

12 supplies of food, chemicals, and fuel;

13 ‘‘(2) ensure full consideration of Federal land

14 and land management programs as potential feed15 stock resources for biobased industrial products; and

16 ‘‘(3) assess the environmental, economic, and

17 social impact of production of biobased industrial

18 products from biomass on a large scale.

19 ‘‘(d) POINTS OF CONTACT.—

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To coordinate research and

21 development programs and activities relating to

22 biobased industrial products that are carried out by

23 their respective Departments—

24 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of Agriculture shall

25 designate, as the point of contact for the De-
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1 partment of Agriculture, an officer of the De2 partment of Agriculture appointed by the Presi3 dent to a position in the Department before the

4 date of the designation, by and with the advice

5 and consent of the Senate; and

6 ‘‘(B) the Secretary of Energy shall des7 ignate, as the point of contact for the Depart8 ment of Energy, an officer of the Department

9 of Energy appointed by the President to a posi10 tion in the Department before the date of the

11 designation, by and with the advice and consent

12 of the Senate.

13 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The points of contact shall

14 jointly—

15 ‘‘(A) assist in arranging interlaboratory

16 and site-specific supplemental agreements for

17 research, development, and demonstration

18 projects relating to biobased industrial prod19 ucts;

20 ‘‘(B) serve as cochairpersons of the Board;

21 ‘‘(C) administer the Initiative; and

22 ‘‘(D) respond in writing to each rec23 ommendation of the Advisory Committee made

24 under section 1490C(c)(2).
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1 ‘‘SEC. 1490B. SUSTAINABLE FUELS AND CHEMICALS BOARD.

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the

3 Sustainable Fuels and Chemicals Board to coordinate pro4 grams within and among departments and agencies of the

5 Federal Government for the purpose of promoting the use

6 of biobased industrial products by—

7 ‘‘(1) maximizing the benefits deriving from

8 Federal grants and assistance; and

9 ‘‘(2) bringing coherence to Federal planning.

10 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Board shall consist of:

11 ‘‘(1) The point of contact of the Department of

12 Agriculture designated under section

13 1490A(d)(1)(A), who shall serve as cochairperson of

14 the Board.

15 ‘‘(2) The point of contact of the Department of

16 Energy designated under section 1490A(d)(1)(B),

17 who shall serve as cochairperson of the Board.

18 ‘‘(3) A senior officer of each of the following

19 agencies who is appointed by the head of the agency

20 and who has a rank that is equivalent to the points

21 of contact:

22 ‘‘(A) The Department of the Interior.

23 ‘‘(B) The Environmental Protection Agen24 cy.

25 ‘‘(C) The National Science Foundation.
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1 ‘‘(D) The Office of Science and Technology

2 Policy.

3 ‘‘(4) At the option of the Secretary of Agri4 culture and the Secretary of Energy, other members

5 appointed by the Secretaries (after consultation with

6 members described in paragraphs (1) through (3)).

7 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The Board shall—

8 ‘‘(1) coordinate research, development, and

9 demonstration activities relating to biobased indus10 trial products—

11 ‘‘(A) between the Department of Agri12 culture and the Department of Energy; and

13 ‘‘(B) with other departments and agencies

14 of the Federal Government; and

15 ‘‘(2) provide recommendations to the points of

16 contact concerning administration of this subtitle.

17 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.—Each agency represented on the

18 Board is encouraged to provide funds for any purpose

19 under this subtitle.

20 ‘‘(e) MEETINGS.—The Board shall meet at least

21 quarterly to enable the Board to carry out the duties of

22 the Board under subsection (c).
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1 ‘‘SEC. 1490C. SUSTAINABLE FUELS AND CHEMICALS TECH2 NICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the

4 Sustainable Fuels and Chemicals Technical Advisory

5 Committee to—

6 ‘‘(1) advise the Secretary of Agriculture and the

7 Secretary of Energy concerning—

8 ‘‘(A) the technical focus and direction of

9 requests for proposals issued under the Initia10 tive; and

11 ‘‘(B) procedures for reviewing the pro12 posals;

13 ‘‘(2) facilitate consultations and partnerships

14 among Federal agencies, agricultural producers, in15 dustry, consumers, the research community, and

16 other interested groups to carry out program activi17 ties relating to the Initiative; and

18 ‘‘(3) evaluate and perform strategic planning on

19 program activities relating to the Initiative.

20 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall consist of

21 the following members appointed by the points of contact:

22 ‘‘(1) An individual affiliated with the biobased

23 industrial products industry.

24 ‘‘(2) An individual affiliated with a college or

25 university who has expertise in biobased industrial

26 products.
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1 ‘‘(3) 2 prominent engineers or scientists who

2 have expertise in biobased industrial products.

3 ‘‘(4) An individual affiliated with a commodity

4 trade association.

5 ‘‘(5) An individual affiliated with an environ6 mental or conservation organization.

7 ‘‘(6) At the option of the points of contact,

8 other members.

9 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The Advisory Committee shall—

10 ‘‘(1) advise the points of contact with respect to

11 the Initiative; and

12 ‘‘(2) evaluate whether, and make recommenda13 tions in writing to the Board to ensure that—

14 ‘‘(A) funds authorized for the Initiative are

15 distributed and used in a manner that is con16 sistent with the goals of the Initiative;

17 ‘‘(B) the points of contact are funding pro18 posals under this subtitle that are selected on

19 the basis of merit, as determined by an inde20 pendent panel of scientific and technical peers;

21 and

22 ‘‘(C) activities under this subtitle are car23 ried out in accordance with this subtitle.

24 ‘‘(d) MEETINGS.—The Advisory Committee shall

25 meet at least quarterly to enable the Advisory Committee
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1 to carry out the duties of the Advisory Committee under

2 subsection (c).

3 ‘‘SEC. 1490D. SUSTAINABLE FUELS AND CHEMICALS RE4 SEARCH INITIATIVE.

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture

6 and the Secretary of Energy, acting through their respec7 tive points of contact and in consultation with the Board,

8 shall establish and carry out a Sustainable Fuels and

9 Chemicals Research Initiative under which competitively10 awarded grants, contracts, and financial assistance are

11 provided to, or entered into with, eligible entities to carry

12 out research on biobased industrial products.

13 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of grants, contracts,

14 and assistance under this section shall be to—

15 ‘‘(1) stimulate collaborative activities by a di16 verse range of experts in all aspects of biomass proc17 essing for the purpose of conducting fundamental

18 and innovation-targeted research and technology de19 velopment;

20 ‘‘(2) enhance creative and imaginative ap21 proaches toward biomass processing that will serve

22 to develop the next generation of advanced tech23 nologies making possible low cost biobased industrial

24 products;
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1 ‘‘(3) strengthen the intellectual resources of the

2 United States through the training and education of

3 future scientists, engineers, managers, and business

4 leaders in the field of biomass processing; and

5 ‘‘(4) promote integrated research partnerships

6 among colleges, universities, national laboratories,

7 Federal research agencies, and the private sector as

8 the best means of overcoming technical challenges

9 that span multiple academic disciplines and

10 leveraging scarce Federal research funds.

11 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible for a grant,

13 contract, or assistance under this section, an appli14 cant shall be—

15 ‘‘(A) a college or university;

16 ‘‘(B) a national laboratory;

17 ‘‘(C) a Federal research agency;

18 ‘‘(D) a State research agency;

19 ‘‘(E) a private sector entity; or

20 ‘‘(F) a consortium of 2 or more entities de21 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (E).

22 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION.—After consultation

23 with the Board, the points of contact shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) publish annually a joint request for

2 proposals for grants, contracts, and assistance

3 under this section;

4 ‘‘(B) provide a preference in grants, con5 tracts, and assistance under this section to con6 sortia involving experts from multiple institu7 tions and multiple academic disciplines working

8 on cross-cutting or integrative research, devel9 opment, and demonstration challenges; and

10 ‘‘(C) require that grants, contracts, and

11 assistance under this section be awarded com12 petitively after the establishment of procedures

13 that provide for scientific peer review by an

14 independent panel of scientific and technical

15 peers.

16 ‘‘(d) USES OF GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND ASSIST17 ANCE.—A grant, contract, or assistance under this section

18 shall be used to conduct—

19 ‘‘(1) research on process technology for over20 coming the recalcitrance of biomass, including re21 search on key mechanisms, advanced technologies,

22 and demonstration test beds for—

23 ‘‘(A) feedstock pretreatment and hydrolysis

24 of cellulose and hemicellulose, including new

25 technologies for—
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1 ‘‘(i) enhanced sugar yields;

2 ‘‘(ii) lower overall chemical use;

3 ‘‘(iii) less costly materials; and

4 ‘‘(iv) cost reduction;

5 ‘‘(B) novel organism development and cel6 lulose production, including consolidated bio7 processing techniques; and

8 ‘‘(C) approaches other than enzymatic hy9 drolysis for overcoming the recalcitrance of cel10 lulosic biomass;

11 ‘‘(2) research on technologies for diversifying

12 the range of products than can be efficiently and

13 cost-competitively produced from biomass, including

14 research on—

15 ‘‘(A) metabolic engineering of biological

16 systems (including genetically modified crops)

17 to produce novel products, especially commodity

18 products, or to increase product selectivity and

19 tolerance, with a research priority on the devel20 opment of biobased products that can compete

21 in performance and cost with fossil-based prod22 ucts;

23 ‘‘(B) catalytic processing to convert inter24 mediates of biomass processing into products of

25 interest;
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1 ‘‘(C) separation technologies for cost-effec2 tive product recovery and purification;

3 ‘‘(D) approaches other than metabolic en4 gineering and catalytic conversion of intermedi5 ates of biomass processing; and

6 ‘‘(E) advanced technologies for biomass

7 gasification and related research in turbine and

8 stationary fuel cell technology for production of

9 electricity from biomass and related research in

10 advanced turbine and stationary fuel cell tech11 nology; and

12 ‘‘(3) research aimed at evaluating the sustain13 ability and economic viability of biobased industrial

14 products and their raw material input of biomass,

15 including research on—

16 ‘‘(A) the evaluation of, and strategies to

17 enhance, the sustainability of biomass-based

18 production of fuels and commodity chemicals,

19 including research on—

20 ‘‘(i) accurate measurement and anal21 ysis of carbon sequestration and carbon cy22 cling in relation to biobased industrial

23 products and feedstocks;

24 ‘‘(ii) crops that provide a sustainable

25 resource for conversion to industrial prod-
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1 ucts while also serving as a source for

2 other needs such as food or animal feed;

3 ‘‘(iii) development and analysis of best

4 land management practices that enhance

5 the environmental sustainability of the pro6 duction and harvesting of biomass;

7 ‘‘(iv) development of biomass cropping

8 systems that improve the conservation and

9 use of marginal land; and

10 ‘‘(v) biomass gasification and combus11 tion to produce electricity; and

12 ‘‘(B) the evaluation of, and strategies to

13 enhance, the economic viability of fuels and

14 commodity chemicals produced from biomass,

15 including research on—

16 ‘‘(i) the evaluation of the energy bal17 ances for biorefineries;

18 ‘‘(ii) the cost of the required process

19 technology; and

20 ‘‘(iii) the impact of coproduction on

21 product price and large-scale economic via22 bility.

23 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to any other

25 amounts that are authorized to be appropriated,
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1 there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out

2 this section $49,000,000 for each of fiscal years

3 2000 through 2005.

4 ‘‘(2) RESEARCH ON CELLULOSIC BIOMASS.—

5 For each fiscal year, of the amounts that are made

6 available under paragraph (1), not less than 30 per7 cent shall be used to conduct research described in

8 subsection (d)(1).

9 ‘‘SEC. 1490E. ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT AND FUNDS.

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To the extent administrative

11 support and funds are not provided by other agencies

12 under subsection (b), the Secretary of Energy shall pro13 vide such administrative support and funds of the Depart14 ment of Energy to the Board and the Advisory Committee

15 as are necessary to enable the Board and the Advisory

16 Committee to carry out this subtitle.

17 ‘‘(b) OTHER AGENCIES.—The Secretary of Agri18 culture and the heads of the agencies referred to in section

19 1490B(a)(3) may, and are encouraged to, provide admin20 istrative support and funds of their respective agencies to

21 the Board and the Advisory Committee.

22 ‘‘SEC. 1490F. REPORTS.

23 ‘‘For each fiscal year that funds are made available

24 to carry out this subtitle, the Secretary of Agriculture and
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1 the Secretary of Energy shall jointly transmit to Congress

2 a detailed report on—

3 ‘‘(1) the status and progress of the Initiative,

4 including a certification from the Board that funds

5 authorized for the Initiative are distributed and used

6 in a manner that is consistent with the goals of the

7 Initiative; and

8 ‘‘(2) the general status of cooperation and re9 search efforts carried out by each Secretary with re10 spect to sustainable fuels, chemicals, and electricity

11 derived from biomass, including a certification from

12 the Board that the points of contact are funding

13 proposals that are selected on the basis of merit, as

14 determined by an independent panel of scientific and

15 technical peers.’’.

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