I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5643 

To authorize the commercial application and transfer of technologies developed 

by the Department of Energy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 20, 2006 

Mrs. BIGGERT (for herself, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. HALL, and Mr. GILCHREST) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science 

A BILL 

To authorize the commercial application and transfer of technologies developed by the Department of Energy, 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 Technology 

5 Transfer Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 For purposes of this Act: 

8 (1) COOPERATIVE EXTENSION.—The term ‘‘Co9 operative Extension’’ means the extension services 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
2 

•HR 5643 IH

1 established at the land-grant colleges and univer2 sities under the Smith-Lever Act of May 8, 1914. 

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

4 means the Department of Energy. 

5 (3) ENERGY SUPPLY RESEARCH AND DEVELOP6 MENT PROGRAMS.—The term ‘‘energy supply re7 search and development programs’’ means the re8 search, development, demonstration, and commercial 

9 application programs in the Office of Energy Effi10 ciency and Renewable Energy, the Office of Elec11 tricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, and the Of12 fice of Fossil Energy. 

13 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

14 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

15 meaning given that term in section 101(a) of the 

16 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

17 (5) LAND-GRANT COLLEGES AND UNIVER18 SITIES.—The term ‘‘land-grant colleges and univer19 sities’’ means— 

20 (A) 1862 Institutions (as defined in sec21 tion 2 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, 

22 and Education Reform Act of 1998 (7 U.S.C. 

23 7601)); 

24 (B) 1890 Institutions (as defined in sec25 tion 2 of that Act); and 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
3 

•HR 5643 IH

1 (C) 1994 Institutions (as defined in section 

2 2 of that Act). 

3 (6) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na4 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given the term 

5 ‘‘nonmilitary energy laboratory’’ in section 903(3) of 

6 the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

7 16182(3)). 

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

9 the Secretary of Energy. 

10 SEC. 3. PROGRAM. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

12 (1) GRANTS.—The Secretary, through the en13 ergy supply research and development programs of 

14 the Department, shall carry out a program to award 

15 competitive, merit-reviewed grants to Cooperative 

16 Extension services or offices, States, local govern17 ments, institutions of higher education, and non18 profit institutions with expertise in energy research 

19 or extension, or consortia thereof, to conduct activi20 ties to transfer knowledge and information about ad21 vanced energy technologies that increase efficiency of 

22 energy use, especially those developed at the Na23 tional Laboratories and by the Department, to indi24 viduals, businesses, nonprofit entities, and public enVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:53 Jun 21, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5643.IH H5643

jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
4 

•HR 5643 IH

1 tities, including local governments and school dis2 tricts. 

3 (2) REQUIREMENT.—To receive funding under 

4 this Act, a grant applicant must already operate an 

5 outreach program capable of transferring knowledge 

6 and information about advanced energy technologies 

7 that increase efficiency of energy use, or must part8 ner with an entity that has such an outreach pro9 gram. 

10 (b) USES OF FUNDS.—Funds awarded under this Act 

11 may be used for the following activities: 

12 (1) Developing and distributing informational 

13 materials on technologies that could use energy more 

14 efficiently. 

15 (2) Carrying out small-scale projects to dem16 onstrate technologies that could use energy more ef17 ficiently. 

18 (3) Developing and conducting seminars, work19 shops, long-distance learning sessions, and other ac20 tivities to aid in the dissemination of knowledge and 

21 information on technologies that could use energy 

22 more efficiently. 

23 (4) Providing or coordinating onsite energy 

24 evaluations for a wide range of energy end-users. 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
5 

•HR 5643 IH

1 (5) Examining the energy efficiency needs of 

2 energy end-users to develop recommended research 

3 projects for the Department. 

4 (6) Hiring experts in energy efficient tech5 nologies to carry out activities described in para6 graphs (1) through (5). 

7 (7) Carrying out any other activities the Sec8 retary believes will accomplish the purposes de9 scribed in subsection (a)(1). 

10 (c) SELECTION PROCESS APPLICATION.—An appli11 cant seeking funding under this Act shall submit an appli12 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

13 containing such information as the Secretary may require. 

14 The application shall include, at a minimum— 

15 (1) a description of the applicant’s current out16 reach program and of why it would be capable of 

17 transferring knowledge and information about ad18 vanced energy technologies that increase efficiency of 

19 energy use; 

20 (2) a description of the activities the applicant 

21 would carry out, of the technologies that would be 

22 transferred, and of who would be carrying out those 

23 activities; 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
6 

•HR 5643 IH

1 (3) a description of how the proposed activities 

2 would be appropriate to the specific energy needs of 

3 the area to be served; 

4 (4) an estimate of the number and types of en5 ergy end-users expected to be reached through such 

6 activities; and 

7 (5) a description of how the applicant will as8 sess the success of the program. 

9 (d) REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS.—In evaluating the 

10 applications submitted under this Act, the Secretary shall 

11 consider, at a minimum— 

12 (1) the ability of the applicant to effectively 

13 carry out the proposed program; 

14 (2) the appropriateness of the applicant’s out15 reach program for carrying out the program de16 scribed in this Act; and 

17 (3) the likelihood that proposed activities could 

18 be expanded or used as a model for other areas. 

19 (e) AWARDS.— 

20 (1) DISTRIBUTION.—In making awards under 

21 this Act, the Secretary shall ensure that, to the ex22 tent practicable, the program enables the transfer of 

23 knowledge and information about a variety of tech24 nologies and enables the transfer of knowledge and 

25 information in a variety of geographic areas. 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
7 

•HR 5643 IH

1 (2) FOCUS.—In making awards under this Act, 

2 the Secretary shall give priority to applicants that 

3 would significantly expand on or fill a gap in exist4 ing programs in a geographical region. 

5 (f) COST SHARING.—The Secretary shall require 

6 cost-sharing in accordance with the requirements of sec7 tion 988 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 

8 16352) for commercial application activities. 

9 (g) DURATION.— 

10 (1) INITIAL GRANT PERIOD.—A grant awarded 

11 under this Act shall be for a period of 5 years. 

12 (2) INITIAL EVALUATION.—Each grantee under 

13 this Act shall be evaluated during its third year of 

14 operation under procedures established by the Sec15 retary to determine if the grantee is accomplishing 

16 the purposes of this Act described in subsection 

17 (a)(1). The Secretary shall terminate any grant that 

18 does not receive a positive evaluation. If an evalua19 tion is positive, the Secretary may extend the grant 

20 for 3 additional years beyond the original term of 

21 the grant. 

22 (3) ADDITIONAL EXTENSION.—If a grantee re23 ceives an extension under paragraph (2), the grantee 

24 shall be evaluated again during the second year of 

25 the extension. The Secretary shall terminate any 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS
8 

•HR 5643 IH

1 grant that does not receive a positive evaluation. If 

2 an evaluation is positive, the Secretary may extend 

3 the grant for a final additional period of 3 additional 

4 years beyond the original extension. 

5 (4) LIMITATION.—No grantee may receive more 

6 than 11 years of support under this Act without re7 applying for support and competing against all other 

8 applicants seeking a grant at that time. 

9 (h) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary and 

10 the National Laboratories may provide technical assist11 ance on advanced energy technologies and methods to 

12 grantees. 

13 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

14 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for car15 rying out this section— 

16 (1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

17 (2) $27,375,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

18 (3) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

19 (4) $32,900,000 for fiscal year 2011; and 

20 (5) $36,000,000 for fiscal year 2012. 

Æ 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with BILLS