II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 630 

To promote marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy research and 

development, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 17, 2011 

Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself and Mr. BEGICH) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To promote marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy 

research and development, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Marine and Hydrokinetic Renewable Energy Promotion 

6 Act of 2011’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy research and development 

program. 

Sec. 3. Test facilities. 


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Sec. 4. National Marine and Hydrokinetic Renewable Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Centers. 

Sec. 5. Marine-based energy device verification program. 

Sec. 6. Adaptive management and environmental grant program. 

Sec. 7. Administration. 

Sec. 8. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 9. National Renewable Energy Deployment Program. 

1 SEC. 2. MARINE AND HYDROKINETIC RENEWABLE ENERGY 

2 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. 

3 Section 633(a) of the Energy Independence and Se4 curity Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17212(a)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

6 inserting a semicolon; 

7 (2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 

8 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(15)(A) apply advanced systems engineering 

11 and system integration methods to identify critical 

12 interfaces and develop open standards for marine 

13 and hydrokinetic renewable energy; 

14 ‘‘(B) transfer the resulting environmental data 

15 to industry stakeholders as public information 

16 through published interface definitions, standards, 

17 and demonstration projects; and 

18 ‘‘(C) develop incentives for industry to comply 

19 with the standards.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. TEST FACILITIES. 

2 Section 633 of the Energy Independence and Security 

3 Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17212) is amended by adding at 

4 the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(c) TEST FACILITIES.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this sec7 tion, not later than 180 days after the date of enact8 ment of this subsection, the Secretary shall award 

9 competitive grants to support 3 or more geographi10 cally dispersed marine and hydrokinetic renewable 

11 energy technology research, development, and dem12 onstration test facilities for the demonstration of 

13 multiple technologies in actual operating environ14 ments. 

15 ‘‘(2) FACILITIES.—Grants under this subsection 

16 may support— 

17 ‘‘(A) modification of an existing facility 

18 (including a Center established under section 

19 634); or 

20 ‘‘(B) construction of a new test facility. 

21 ‘‘(3) PROGRAM OBJECTIVES.—In awarding 

22 grants under this subsection, the Secretary shall 

23 provide for the demonstration of— 

24 ‘‘(A) a variety of technologies at each test 

25 facility; 


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1 ‘‘(B) a variety of technologies among all of 

2 the test facilities established; and 

3 ‘‘(C) technologies on a variety of scales. 

4 ‘‘(4) ACTIVITIES.—Each test facility established 

5 under this subsection shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) provide infrastructure and resources 

7 for the evaluation and technical viability testing 

8 of marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy 

9 technologies; and 

10 ‘‘(B) conduct and support research, devel11 opment, and demonstration activities with re12 spect to marine and hydrokinetic renewable en13 ergy technologies. 

14 ‘‘(5) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant 

15 under this subsection, an applicant for a grant 

16 shall— 

17 ‘‘(A) be— 

18 ‘‘(i) a nonprofit institution; 

19 ‘‘(ii) a State or local government; 

20 ‘‘(iii) an institution of higher edu21 cation; 

22 ‘‘(iv) a National Laboratory; or 

23 ‘‘(v) a Center established under sec24 tion 634; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) demonstrate to the satisfaction of the 

2 Secretary the ability and intention to— 

3 ‘‘(i) combine expertise from relevant 

4 academic fields, including fields relating 

5 to— 

6 ‘‘(I) the environment; 

7 ‘‘(II) marine sciences; 

8 ‘‘(III) energy; and 

9 ‘‘(IV) electrical, mechanical, and 

10 civil engineering; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) partner with other entities that 

12 have expertise in advancing marine and 

13 hydrokinetic renewable energy tech14 nologies.’’. 

15 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MARINE AND HYDROKINETIC RENEW16 ABLE ENERGY RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, 

17 AND DEMONSTRATION CENTERS. 

18 Section 634 of the Energy Independence and Security 

19 Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17213) is amended— 

20 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘AND

21 HYDROKINETIC’’ after ‘‘MARINE’’; 

22 (2) in the first sentence of subsection (a), by in23 serting ‘‘and Hydrokinetic’’ after ‘‘Marine’’; and 

24 (3) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The Centers— 

2 ‘‘(1) shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) advance research, development, dem4 onstration, and commercial application of ma5 rine and hydrokinetic renewable energy tech6 nologies; and 

7 ‘‘(B) serve as information clearinghouses 

8 for the marine and hydrokinetic renewable en9 ergy industry by collecting and disseminating 

10 information on best practices in all areas relat11 ing to developing and managing marine and 

12 hydrokinetic renewable energy technologies; and 

13 ‘‘(2) may serve as technology test facilities es14 tablished under section 633(c).’’. 

15 SEC. 5. MARINE-BASED ENERGY DEVICE VERIFICATION 

16 PROGRAM. 

17 The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 

18 (42 U.S.C. 17211 et seq.) is amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating sections 635 and 636 (42 

20 U.S.C. 17214, 17215) as sections 638 and 639, re21 spectively; and 

22 (2) by inserting after section 634 (42 U.S.C. 

23 17213) the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 635. MARINE-BASED ENERGY DEVICE VERIFICATION 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab4 lish a marine-based energy device verification program to 

5 provide a bridge from the marine and hydrokinetic renew6 able energy capture device design and development efforts 

7 underway across the industry to commercial deployment 

8 of marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy devices. 

9 ‘‘(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program are 

10 to fund, facilitate the development and installation of, and 

11 evaluate marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy 

12 projects, in partnership with Federally Funded Research 

13 and Development Centers, and in conjunction with univer14 sities and other institutions of higher education, private 

15 business entities, and other appropriate organizations, in 

16 order— 

17 ‘‘(1) to increase marine and hydrokinetic renew18 able energy experience; and 

19 ‘‘(2) to build and operate enough candidate de20 vices to obtain statistically significant operating and 

21 maintenance data. 

22 ‘‘(c) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives of the program 

23 shall include— 

24 ‘‘(1) verifying the performance, reliability, 

25 maintainability, and cost of new marine and 


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1 hydrokinetic renewable energy device designs and 

2 system components in an operating environment; 

3 ‘‘(2) providing States, regulators, utilities, and 

4 other stakeholders with a valid opportunity to test 

5 and evaluate marine and hydrokinetic renewable en6 ergy technology in new areas; 

7 ‘‘(3) documenting and communicating the expe8 rience from those projects for the benefit of utilities, 

9 independent power producers, other nonutility gen10 erators, device suppliers, and others in the marine 

11 and hydrokinetic renewable energy development com12 munity; and 

13 ‘‘(4) resolving environmental issues through ro14 bust characterization, reliable impact prediction, ef15 fective monitoring, development, and use of adaptive 

16 management, and informing engineering design to 

17 improve environmental performance.’’. 

18 SEC. 6. ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL 

19 GRANT PROGRAM. 

20 The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 

21 (42 U.S.C. 17211 et seq.) (as amended by section 5) is 

22 amended by inserting after section 635 the following: 

23 ‘‘SEC. 636. ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL 

24 GRANT PROGRAM. 

25 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the use of marine and hydrokinetic renew2 able energy technologies can reduce contributions to 

3 global warming; 

4 ‘‘(2) marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy 

5 technologies can be produced domestically; 

6 ‘‘(3) marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy 

7 is a nascent industry; and 

8 ‘‘(4) the United States must work to promote 

9 new renewable energy technologies that reduce con10 tributions to global warming gases and improve do11 mestic energy production. 

12 ‘‘(b) GRANT PROGRAM.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable 

14 after the date of enactment of this subsection, the 

15 Secretary shall establish a program under which the 

16 Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities— 

17 ‘‘(A) to advance the development of marine 

18 and hydrokinetic renewable energy; 

19 ‘‘(B) to help fund the costs of environ20 mental analysis affecting the deployment of ma21 rine hydrokinetic devices; 

22 ‘‘(C) to help enable the eligible entities— 

23 ‘‘(i) to gather and collect the types of 

24 environmental data that are required when 

25 working in a public resource (including the 


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1 waterways and oceans of the United 

2 States); and 

3 ‘‘(ii) to monitor the impacts of dem4 onstration projects and make the resulting 

5 information available for widespread dis6 semination to aid future projects; and 

7 ‘‘(D) to help fund the cost of advancing re8 newable marine and hydrokinetic technologies 

9 in ocean and riverine environments from dem10 onstration projects to development and deploy11 ment. 

12 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

13 grant under this paragraph, an entity shall submit 

14 to the Secretary an application at such time, in such 

15 manner, and containing such information as the Sec16 retary may require.’’. 

17 SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATION. 

18 The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 

19 (42 U.S.C. 17211 et seq.) (as amended by section 6) is 

20 amended by inserting after section 636 the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 637. ADMINISTRATION. 

22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this subtitle, the 

23 Secretary shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) coordinate and avoid duplication of activi25 ties across programs of the Department and other 


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1 applicable Federal agencies, including the National 

2 Laboratories; 

3 ‘‘(2) collaborate with (as applicable)— 

4 ‘‘(A) industry; 

5 ‘‘(B) stakeholders; 

6 ‘‘(C) other Federal agencies, including the 

7 National Laboratories; 

8 ‘‘(D) academic institutions; and 

9 ‘‘(E) international bodies with relevant sci10 entific expertise; and 

11 ‘‘(3) obtain from the recipient of assistance and 

12 make available to the public, through Web sites, re13 ports, and databases of the Department, any re14 search, development, demonstration, and commercial 

15 application information produced with respect to 

16 supported technology, including information obtained 

17 after the completion of supported activities, except 

18 to the extent that the information is protected from 

19 disclosure under section 552(b) of title 5, United 

20 States Code. 

21 ‘‘(b) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

22 of enactment of this section and at least once every 2 years 

23 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 

24 on findings and activities conducted under this subtitle.’’. 


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1 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 Section 639 of the Energy Independence and Security 

3 Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17215) (as redesignated by section 

4 5(1)) is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 639. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro7 priated to carry out this subtitle $75,000,000 for each of 

8 fiscal years 2012 through 2014, to remain available until 

9 expended. 

10 ‘‘(b) OFFSETS.—Of the amount authorized to be ap11 propriated for each fiscal year under subsection (a), 

12 $75,000,000 shall be derived for each fiscal year from the 

13 amount authorized for energy-intensive industries effi14 ciency programs under section 452(f) of the Energy Inde15 pendence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17111(f)) 

16 for each of fiscal years 2012 through 2015. 

17 ‘‘(c) RENEWABLE ENERGY FUNDS.—No funds shall 

18 be appropriated under this section for activities that are 

19 receiving funds under section 931(a)(2)(E)(i) of the En20 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16231(a)(2)(E)(i)).’’. 

21 SEC. 9. NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY DEPLOYMENT 

22 PROGRAM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 803 of the Energy Inde24 pendence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17282) is 

25 amended by striking the section heading and inserting 


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1 ‘‘NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY DEPLOYMENT

2 PROGRAM’’. 

3 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 803(a) of the Energy 

4 Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 

5 17282(a)) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking paragraph (1); 

7 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through 

8 (4) as paragraphs (1) through (3), respectively; and 

9 (3) in paragraph (3)(B)(iv) (as so redesig10 nated), by striking ‘‘Alaska small’’. 

11 (c) RENEWABLE ENERGY CONSTRUCTION

12 GRANTS.—Section 803(b) of the Energy Independence 

13 and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17282(b)) is amend14 ed— 

15 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘establish a 

16 national renewable energy construction grants pro17 gram under which the Secretary shall’’ after ‘‘shall’’; 

18 and 

19 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(5) PRIORITY.—In making grants to eligible 

21 applicants to carry out renewable energy projects 

22 under this section, the Secretary shall give priority 

23 to applicants that— 

24 ‘‘(A) have power costs that are 125 per25 cent or more of average national retail costs; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) will use the grant to construct renew2 able electricity projects to replace fossil fuel 

3 projects.’’. 

Æ 


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