I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3575 

To establish the IMPACT for Energy Foundation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Mr. LUJA ́N (for himself, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. 

REED, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. 

FLEISCHMANN, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. 

SENSENBRENNER, Mr. CASTEN of Illinois, Mr. TONKO, and Mr. 

FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the 

Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish the IMPACT for Energy Foundation. 

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 ‘‘Increasing and Mobi5 lizing Partnerships to Achieve Commercialization of Tech6 nologies for Energy Act’’ or the ‘‘IMPACT for Energy 

7 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

4 means the Department of Energy. 

5 (2) FOUNDATION.—The term ‘‘Foundation’’ 

6 means the IMPACT for Energy Foundation estab7 lished under section 3(a). 

8 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of Energy. 

10 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF IMPACT FOR ENERGY FOUNDA11 TION. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than February 1, 

14 2021, the Secretary shall establish a nonprofit cor15 poration to be known as the ‘‘IMPACT for Energy 

16 Foundation’’. 

17 (2) LIMITATION.—The Foundation shall not be 

18 an agency or instrumentality of the Federal Govern19 ment. 

20 (3) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal 

21 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not 

22 apply to the Foundation. 

23 (4) NONPROFIT STATUS.—The Foundation 

24 shall be an organization described in section 501(c) 

25 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt 

26 from taxation under section 501(a) of that Code. 


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1 (5) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation shall 

3 operate under a board of directors. 

4 (B) INITIAL APPOINTMENT.—The initial 

5 appointment of the board of directors shall be 

6 facilitated by the Secretary. 

7 (C) COMPOSITION.—To the maximum ex8 tent practicable, the board of directors shall in9 clude representatives from a diverse range of 

10 communities, including— 

11 (i) the academic community; 

12 (ii) the business community; 

13 (iii) nonprofit organizations; 

14 (iv) the communities surrounding the 

15 laboratories and facilities of the Depart16 ment; and 

17 (v) the technology transfer and com18 mercialization community. 

19 (D) RESTRICTION ON MEMBERSHIP.—No 

20 employee of the Department shall be appointed 

21 as a member of the board of directors. 

22 (b) PURPOSE; ACTIVITIES.— 

23 (1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Foundation 

24 is to channel private sector investments that support 

25 efforts to create, develop, and commercialize innovaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3575.IH H3575

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1 tive technologies that address energy challenges by 

2 methods that include— 

3 (A) fostering collaboration and partner4 ships with researchers from the Federal Gov5 ernment, State governments, institutions of 

6 higher education, federally funded research and 

7 development centers, industry, and nonprofit 

8 organizations for the research, development, or 

9 commercialization of transformative energy 

10 technologies; 

11 (B) leveraging technologies by supporting 

12 new product development that supports regional 

13 economic development; and 

14 (C) administering prize competitions to ac15 celerate private sector competition and invest16 ment. 

17 (2) ACTIVITIES.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation may 

19 solicit and accept gifts, grants, and other dona20 tions, establish accounts, and invest and expend 

21 funds in support of the activities and programs 

22 described in subparagraphs (B) through (D). 

23 (B) STUDIES, COMPETITIONS, AND

24 PROJECTS.—The Foundation may conduct and 

25 support studies, competitions, projects, and 


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1 other activities that further the purpose of the 

2 Foundation described in paragraph (1). 

3 (C) FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS.— 

4 (i) AWARD.—The Foundation may 

5 award fellowships and grants for activities 

6 relating to research, development, proto7 typing, maturing, or commercializing of en8 ergy technologies. 

9 (ii) FORM OF AWARD.—A fellowship 

10 or grant under clause (i) may consist of a 

11 stipend, health insurance benefits, funds 

12 for travel, and funds for other appropriate 

13 expenses. 

14 (iii) SELECTION.— 

15 (I) IN GENERAL.—The Founda16 tion shall award a fellowship or grant 

17 under clause (i) based on the technical 

18 and commercialization merits of the 

19 proposed project. 

20 (II) INPUT.—In selecting recipi21 ents of a fellowship or grant under 

22 clause (i), the Foundation may con23 sult with potential recipients regard24 ing the ability to carry out various 

25 projects that would further the purVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3575.IH H3575

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1 pose of the Foundation described in 

2 paragraph (1). 

3 (iv) FEDERAL LABORATORIES.—A 

4 Federal laboratory that applies for or ac5 cepts a grant under clause (i) shall not be 

6 considered to be engaging in a competitive 

7 procedure. 

8 (D) SUPPLEMENTARY PROGRAMS.—The 

9 Foundation may carry out supplementary pro10 grams— 

11 (i) to conduct and support forums, 

12 meetings, conferences, courses, and train13 ing workshops consistent with the purpose 

14 of the Foundation described in paragraph 

15 (1); 

16 (ii) to support and encourage the un17 derstanding and development of— 

18 (I) data reporting models that 

19 promote the translation of tech20 nologies from the research stage, 

21 through the development and matura22 tion stage, and ending in the market 

23 stage; and 

24 (II) policies that make regulation 

25 more effective and efficient by 


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1 leveraging the technology translation 

2 data described in subclause (I) for the 

3 regulation of relevant technology sec4 tors; 

5 (iii) for writing, editing, printing, pub6 lishing, and vending books and other mate7 rials relating to research carried out under 

8 the Foundation; and 

9 (iv) to conduct other activities to 

10 carry out and support the purpose of the 

11 Foundation described in paragraph (1). 

12 (E) AUTHORITY OF FOUNDATION.—The 

13 Foundation shall be the sole entity responsible 

14 for carrying out the activities described in this 

15 paragraph. 

16 (F) ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL.—No par17 ticipant in a program under this paragraph or 

18 employee of the Foundation shall exercise any 

19 administrative control over any Federal em20 ployee. 

21 (c) SUPPORT SERVICES.—The Secretary may provide 

22 facilities, utilities, and support services to the Foundation 

23 if it is determined by the Secretary to be advantageous 

24 to the research programs of the Department. 


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1 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 such sums as are necessary for fiscal year 2020 and each 

4 fiscal year thereafter. 

5 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF FOR-PROFIT SUBSIDIARIES. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Foundation may estab7 lish 1 or more for-profit subsidiaries, including an impact 

8 investment fund— 

9 (1) to stimulate economic development activities 

10 relating to the purpose of the Foundation described 

11 in section 3(b)(1); and 

12 (2) to attract for-profit investment partners for 

13 technology translation and commercialization activi14 ties. 

15 (b) AUTHORITIES OF THE FOR-PROFIT SUB16 SIDIARY.— 

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

18 for-profit subsidiary established under subsection (a) 

19 may— 

20 (A) enter into a partnership with an eco21 nomic development corporation, including an in22 cubator, accelerator, or small business invest23 ment company; 

24 (B) pay for the cost of building and ad25 ministering a facility, including a microlab or 


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1 incubator, to support the activities of the Foun2 dation described in section 3(b)(2); and 

3 (C) provide funding to a startup. 

4 (2) COST RECOVERY REQUIREMENTS.—A for5 profit subsidiary established under subsection (a) 

6 shall— 

7 (A) ensure that the Foundation owns any 

8 intellectual property rights generated through 

9 activities funded by the for-profit subsidiary, if 

10 appropriate; and 

11 (B) own an equity stake in any startup in12 vested in by the for-profit subsidiary. 

Æ 


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