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Union Calendar No. 254 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5143 

[Report No. 109–456] 

To authorize the Secretary of Energy to establish monetary prizes for achievements in overcoming scientific and technical barriers associated with 

hydrogen energy. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2006 

Mr. INGLIS of South Carolina (for himself, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. 

WAMP, Mr. WOLF, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. EHLERS, Mr. BARTLETT of 

Maryland, Mr. WYNN, Mr. DENT, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. 

MCCAUL of Texas, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. WILSON of South 

Carolina, and Mr. TERRY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science 

MAY 9, 2006 

Additional sponsors: Mr. ISSA, Mr. BARRETT of South Carolina, Mr. 

MCHENRY, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mrs. JOHNSON

of Connecticut, Mr. FEENEY, Mr. WICKER, Mr. DOOLITTLE, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. REICHERT, and Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois 

MAY 9, 2006 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 6, 2006] 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Energy to establish monetary 


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prizes for achievements in overcoming scientific and technical barriers associated with hydrogen energy. 

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 ‘‘H-Prize Act of 2006’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) ADMINISTERING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘admin8 istering entity’’ means the entity with which the Sec9 retary enters into an agreement under section 3(c). 

10 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

11 means the Department of Energy. 

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

13 the Secretary of Energy. 

14 SEC. 3. PRIZE AUTHORITY. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

16 program to competitively award cash prizes only in con17 formity with this Act to advance the research, development, 

18 demonstration, and commercial application of hydrogen en19 ergy technologies. 

20 (b) ADVERTISING AND SOLICITATION OF COMPETI21 TORS.— 

22 (1) ADVERTISING.—The Secretary shall widely 

23 advertise prize competitions to encourage broad par24 ticipation, including by individuals, universities (inVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:53 May 10, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5143.RH H5143

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1 cluding historically Black colleges and universities 

2 and other minority serving institutions), and large 

3 and small businesses (including businesses owned or 

4 controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged 

5 persons). 

6 (2) ANNOUNCEMENT THROUGH FEDERAL REG7 ISTER NOTICE.—The Secretary shall announce each 

8 prize competition by publishing a notice in the Fed9 eral Register. This notice shall include the subject of 

10 the competition, the duration of the competition, the 

11 eligibility requirements for participation in the com12 petition, the process for participants to register for 

13 the competition, the amount of the prize, and the cri14 teria for awarding the prize. 

15 (c) ADMINISTERING THE COMPETITIONS.—The Sec16 retary shall enter into an agreement with a private, non17 profit entity to administer the prize competitions, subject 

18 to the provisions of this Act. The duties of the administering 

19 entity under the agreement shall include— 

20 (1) advertising prize competitions and their re21 sults; 

22 (2) raising funds from private entities and indi23 viduals to pay for administrative costs and to con24 tribute to cash prizes; 


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1 (3) working with the Secretary to develop the 

2 criteria for selecting winners in prize competitions, 

3 based on goals provided by the Secretary; 

4 (4) determining, in consultation with the Sec5 retary, the appropriate amount for each prize to be 

6 awarded under section 4(b)(3); and 

7 (5) selecting judges in accordance with section 

8 4(d), using criteria developed in consultation with the 

9 Secretary. 

10 (d) FUNDING SOURCES.—Prizes under this Act may 

11 consist of Federal appropriated funds and funds provided 

12 by the administering entity (including funds raised pursu13 ant to subsection (c)(2)) for such cash prizes. The Secretary 

14 may accept funds from other Federal agencies for such cash 

15 prizes. The Secretary may not give any special consider16 ation to any private sector entity or individual in return 

17 for a donation to the administering entity. 

18 (e) ANNOUNCEMENT OF PRIZES.—The Secretary may 

19 not issue a notice required by subsection (b)(2) until all 

20 the funds needed to pay out the announced amount of the 

21 prize have been appropriated or committed in writing by 

22 the administering entity. The Secretary may increase the 

23 amount of a prize after an initial announcement is made 

24 under subsection (b)(2) if— 


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1 (1) notice of the increase is provided in the same 

2 manner as the initial notice of the prize; and 

3 (2) the funds needed to pay out the announced 

4 amount of the increase have been appropriated or 

5 committed in writing by the administering entity. 

6 (f) SUNSET.—The authority to announce prize com7 petitions under this Act shall terminate on September 30, 

8 2017. 

9 SEC. 4. PRIZE CATEGORIES. 

10 (a) CATEGORIES.—The Secretary shall establish prizes 

11 for— 

12 (1) advancements in components or systems re13 lated to— 

14 (A) hydrogen production; 

15 (B) hydrogen storage; 

16 (C) hydrogen distribution; and 

17 (D) hydrogen utilization; 

18 (2) prototypes of hydrogen-powered vehicles or 

19 other hydrogen-based products that best meet or exceed 

20 objective performance criteria, such as completion of 

21 a race over a certain distance or terrain or genera22 tion of energy at certain levels of efficiency; and 

23 (3) transformational changes in technologies for 

24 the distribution or production of hydrogen that meet 

25 or exceed far-reaching objective criteria, which shall 


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1 include minimal carbon emissions and which may in2 clude cost criteria designed to facilitate the eventual 

3 market success of a winning technology. 

4 (b) AWARDS.— 

5 (1) ADVANCEMENTS.—To the extent permitted 

6 under section 3(e), the prizes authorized under sub7 section (a)(1) shall be awarded biennially to the most 

8 significant advance made in each of the four subcat9 egories described in subparagraphs (A) through (D) of 

10 subsection (a)(1) since the submission deadline of the 

11 previous prize competition in the same category 

12 under subsection (a)(1) or the date of enactment of 

13 this Act, whichever is later. No one such prize may 

14 exceed $1,000,000. If less than $4,000,000 is available 

15 for a prize competition under subsection (a)(1), the 

16 Secretary may omit one or more subcategories, reduce 

17 the amount of the prizes, or not hold a prize competi18 tion. 

19 (2) PROTOTYPES.—To the extent permitted 

20 under section 3(e), prizes authorized under subsection 

21 (a)(2) shall be awarded biennially in alternate years 

22 from the prizes authorized under subsection (a)(1). 

23 The Secretary is authorized to award up to one prize 

24 in this category in each 2-year period. No such prize 

25 may exceed $4,000,000. If no registered participants 


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1 meet the objective performance criteria established 

2 pursuant to subsection (c) for a competition under 

3 this paragraph, the Secretary shall not award a 

4 prize. 

5 (3) TRANSFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES.—To 

6 the extent permitted under section 3(e), the Secretary 

7 shall announce at least one prize competition author8 ized under subsection (a)(3) as soon after the date of 

9 enactment of this Act as is practicable. To the extent 

10 permitted under section 3(e), the Secretary may an11 nounce additional prize competitions authorized 

12 under subsection (a)(3) as appropriate to accelerate 

13 the development and adoption of hydrogen tech14 nologies. A prize offered under this paragraph shall be 

15 not less than $10,000,000, paid to the winner in a 

16 lump sum, and an additional amount paid to the 

17 winner as a match for each dollar of private funding 

18 raised by the winner for the hydrogen technology be19 ginning on the date the winner was named. The 

20 match shall be provided for 3 years after the date the 

21 prize winner is named or until the full amount of the 

22 prize has been paid out, whichever occurs first. A 

23 prize winner may elect to have the match amount 

24 paid to another entity that is continuing the develop25 ment of the winning technology. The Secretary shall 


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1 announce the rules for receiving the match in the no2 tice required by section 3(b)(2). The Secretary shall 

3 award a prize under this paragraph only when a reg4 istered participant has met the objective criteria es5 tablished for the prize pursuant to subsection (c) and 

6 announced pursuant to section 3(b)(2). Not more than 

7 $10,000,000 in Federal funds may be used for each 

8 prize award under this paragraph. The administering 

9 entity shall seek to raise $40,000,000 toward each 

10 matching award under this paragraph. 

11 (c) CRITERIA.—In establishing the criteria required by 

12 this Act, the Secretary shall consult with— 

13 (1) the Department’s Hydrogen Technical and 

14 Fuel Cell Advisory Committee; 

15 (2) other Federal agencies, including the Na16 tional Science Foundation; and 

17 (3) private organizations, including professional 

18 societies, industry associations, and the National 

19 Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of 

20 Engineering. 

21 (d) JUDGES.—For each prize competition, the Sec22 retary shall assemble a panel of qualified judges to select 

23 the winner or winners on the basis of the criteria established 

24 under subsection (c). Judges for each prize competition shall 


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1 include individuals from outside the Department, including 

2 from the private sector. A judge may not— 

3 (1) have personal or financial interests in, or be 

4 an employee, officer, director, or agent of, any entity 

5 that is a registered participant in the prize competi6 tion for which he or she will serve as a judge; or 

7 (2) have a familial or financial relationship 

8 with an individual who is a registered participant in 

9 the prize competition for which he or she will serve 

10 as a judge. 

11 SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY. 

12 To be eligible to win a prize under this Act, an indi13 vidual or entity— 

14 (1) shall have complied with all the requirements 

15 in accordance with the Federal Register notice re16 quired under section 3(b)(2); 

17 (2) in the case of a private entity, shall be incor18 porated in and maintain a primary place of business 

19 in the United States, and in the case of an indi20 vidual, whether participating singly or in a group, 

21 shall be a citizen of, or an alien lawfully admitted for 

22 permanent residence in, the United States; and 

23 (3) shall not be a Federal entity, a Federal em24 ployee acting within the scope of his employment, or 


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1 an employee of a national laboratory acting within 

2 the scope of his employment. 

3 SEC. 6. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. 

4 The Federal Government shall not, by virtue of offering 

5 or awarding a prize under this Act, be entitled to any intel6 lectual property rights derived as a consequence of, or direct 

7 relation to, the participation by a registered participant 

8 in a competition authorized by this Act. This section shall 

9 not be construed to prevent the Federal Government from 

10 negotiating a license for the use of intellectual property de11 veloped for a prize competition under this Act. 

12 SEC. 7. LIABILITY. 

13 (a) WAIVER OF LIABILITY.—Registered participants 

14 shall be required to agree to assume any and all risks, and 

15 waive claims against the Federal Government and its re16 lated entities, except in the case of willful misconduct, for 

17 any injury, death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or 

18 profits, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, arising 

19 from their participation in a competition under this Act, 

20 whether such injury, death, damage, or loss arises through 

21 negligence or otherwise. For the purposes of this subsection, 

22 the term ‘‘related entity’’ means a contractor or subcon23 tractor at any tier, and a supplier, user, customer, cooper24 ating party, grantee, investigator, or detailee. 

25 (b) LIABILITY INSURANCE.— 


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1 (1) REQUIREMENTS.—Registered participants 

2 shall be required to obtain liability insurance or dem3 onstrate financial responsibility, in amounts deter4 mined by the Secretary, for claims by— 

5 (A) a third party for death, bodily injury, 

6 or property damage or loss resulting from an ac7 tivity carried out in connection with participa8 tion in a competition under this Act; and 

9 (B) the Federal Government for damage or 

10 loss to Government property resulting from such 

11 an activity. 

12 (2) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INSURED.—The Fed13 eral Government shall be named as an additional in14 sured under a registered participant’s insurance pol15 icy required under paragraph (1)(A), and registered 

16 participants shall be required to agree to indemnify 

17 the Federal Government against third party claims 

18 for damages arising from or related to competition 

19 activities. 

20 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

21 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

22 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for carrying 

23 out this Act $11,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2007 

24 through 2016, of which no more than $2,000,000 for any 

25 fiscal year may be used for administrative expenses. 


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1 (b) CARRYOVER OF FUNDS.—Funds appropriated for 

2 prize awards under this Act shall remain available until 

3 expended, and may be transferred, reprogrammed, or ex4 pended for other purposes only after the expiration of 10 

5 fiscal years after the fiscal year for which the funds were 

6 originally appropriated. No provision in this Act permits 

7 obligation or payment of funds in violation of section 1341 

8 of title 31 of the United States Code (commonly referred 

9 to as the Anti-Deficiency Act). 

10 SEC. 9. NONSUBSTITUTION. 

11 The programs created under this Act shall not be con12 sidered a substitute for Federal research and development 

13 programs. 


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Union Calendar No. 254 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5143 

[Report No. 109

–456] 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Energy to establish 

hydrogen energy. scientific and technical barriers associated with monetary prizes for achievements in overcoming 

MAY 9, 2006 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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