I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1375 

To amend the Department of Energy Organization Act to establish an Office 

of Energy Equity, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 25, 2021 

Mr. RUSH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To amend the Department of Energy Organization Act to 

establish an Office of Energy Equity, 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 ‘‘Energy Equity Act 

5 of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF ENERGY EQUITY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title II of the Department of En8 ergy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7131 et seq.) is amend9 ed by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 218. OFFICE OF ENERGY EQUITY. 

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

3 the Department an Office of Energy Equity (referred to 

4 in this section as the ‘Office’). The Office shall be headed 

5 by a Director, who shall be appointed by the Secretary 

6 and compensated at a rate equal to that of level IV of 

7 the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 5, 

8 United States Code. 

9 ‘‘(b) DUTIES OF THE DIRECTOR.—The Director, in 

10 accordance with Executive Order 12898 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

11 note) and the purposes of this Act, shall provide, direct, 

12 foster, coordinate, and implement energy planning, edu13 cation, management, conservation, and delivery programs 

14 of the Department that— 

15 ‘‘(1) promote an agency-wide environmental 

16 justice strategy and interagency collaboration; 

17 ‘‘(2) reduce or stabilize energy costs within un18 derserved or disadvantaged communities; and 

19 ‘‘(3) increase the availability of energy con20 servation measures within underserved or disadvan21 taged communities. 

22 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 ‘‘(1) ENERGY CONSERVATION MEASURES.—The 

24 term ‘energy conservation measures’ means meas25 ures that improve energy efficiency, energy conservaVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:52 Mar 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1375.IH H1375

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1 tion, or access to renewable energy sources, includ2 ing retrofit activities. 

3 ‘‘(2) UNDERSERVED OR DISADVANTAGES COM4 MUNITY.—The term ‘underserved or disadvantaged 

5 community’ means— 

6 ‘‘(A) a community located in a ZIP Code 

7 that includes a census tract that is identified 

8 as— 

9 ‘‘(i) a low-income community; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) a community of color; or 

11 ‘‘(B) any other community that the Sec12 retary determines is disproportionately vulner13 able to, or bears a disproportionate burden of, 

14 any combination of economic, social, and envi15 ronmental stressors. 

16 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

18 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.’’. 

19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con20 tents of the Department of Energy Organization Act is 

21 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

22 217 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 218. Office of Energy Equity.’’. 

Æ 


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