I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1870 

To authorize Energy Innovation Hubs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 16, 2015 

Mr. GRAYSON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To authorize Energy Innovation Hubs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. ENERGY INNOVATION HUBS. 

4 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAM.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy 

6 shall carry out a program to enhance the Nation’s 

7 economic, environmental, and energy security by 

8 making awards to consortia for establishing and op9 erating Energy Innovation Hubs to conduct and 

10 support, whenever practicable at one centralized lo11 cation, multidisciplinary, collaborative research, deVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:33 Apr 24, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1870.IH H1870

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1 velopment, demonstration, and commercial applica2 tion of advanced energy technologies. 

3 (2) TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT FOCUS.—The 

4 Secretary shall designate for each Hub a unique ad5 vanced energy technology focus. 

6 (3) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall en7 sure the coordination of, and avoid unnecessary du8 plication of, the activities of Hubs with those of 

9 other Department of Energy research entities, in10 cluding the National Laboratories, the Advanced Re11 search Projects Agency—Energy, Energy Frontier 

12 Research Centers, and within industry. 

13 (b) CONSORTIA.— 

14 (1) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive an 

15 award under this section for the establishment and 

16 operation of a Hub, a consortium shall— 

17 (A) be composed of no fewer than 2 quali18 fying entities; and 

19 (B) operate subject to an agreement en20 tered into by its members that documents— 

21 (i) the proposed partnership agree22 ment, including the governance and man23 agement structure of the Hub; 


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1 (ii) measures to enable cost-effective 

2 implementation of the program under this 

3 section; 

4 (iii) a proposed budget, including fi5 nancial contributions from non-Federal 

6 sources; 

7 (iv) a plan for managing intellectual 

8 property rights; and 

9 (v) an accounting structure that en10 ables the Secretary to ensure that the con11 sortium has complied with the require12 ments of this section. 

13 (2) APPLICATION.—A consortium seeking to es14 tablish and operate a Hub under this section, acting 

15 through a prime applicant, shall transmit to the Sec16 retary an application at such time, in such form, 

17 and accompanied by such information as the Sec18 retary shall require, including a detailed description 

19 of the elements of the consortium agreement re20 quired under paragraph (1)(B). If the consortium 

21 members will not be located at one centralized loca22 tion, such application shall include a communica23 tions plan that ensures close coordination and inte24 gration of the Hub’s activities. 


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1 (c) SELECTION AND SCHEDULE.—The Secretary 

2 shall select consortia for awards for the establishment and 

3 operation of Hubs through competitive selection processes. 

4 In selecting consortia, the Secretary shall consider the in5 formation a consortium must disclose according to sub6 section (b), as well as any existing facilities a consortium 

7 will provide for Hub activities. Awards made to a Hub 

8 shall be for a period not to exceed 5 years, after which 

9 the award may be renewed, subject to a rigorous merit 

10 review. A Hub already in existence on the date of enact11 ment of this Act may continue to receive support for a 

12 period of 5 years beginning on the date of establishment 

13 of that Hub. 

14 (d) HUB OPERATIONS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each Hub shall conduct or 

16 provide for multidisciplinary, collaborative research, 

17 development, demonstration, and, where appropriate, 

18 commercial application of advanced energy tech19 nologies within the technology development focus 

20 designated under subsection (a)(2). Each Hub 

21 shall— 

22 (A) encourage collaboration and commu23 nication among the member qualifying entities 

24 of the consortium and awardees by conducting 


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1 activities whenever practicable at one central2 ized location; 

3 (B) develop and publish on the Depart4 ment of Energy’s website proposed plans and 

5 programs; 

6 (C) submit an annual report to the Sec7 retary summarizing the Hub’s activities, includ8 ing detailing organizational expenditures, and 

9 describing each project undertaken by the Hub; 

10 and 

11 (D) monitor project implementation and 

12 coordination. 

13 (2) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.— 

14 (A) PROCEDURES.—Hubs shall maintain 

15 conflict of interest procedures, consistent with 

16 those of the Department of Energy, to ensure 

17 that employees and consortia designees for Hub 

18 activities who are in decisionmaking capacities 

19 disclose all material conflicts of interest and 

20 avoid such conflicts. 

21 (B) DISQUALIFICATION AND REVOCA22 TION.—The Secretary may disqualify an appli23 cation or revoke funds distributed to a Hub if 

24 the Secretary discovers a failure to comply with 


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1 conflict of interest procedures established under 

2 subparagraph (A). 

3 (3) PROHIBITION ON CONSTRUCTION.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—No funds provided pur5 suant to this section may be used for construc6 tion of new buildings or facilities for Hubs. 

7 Construction of new buildings or facilities shall 

8 not be considered as part of the non-Federal 

9 share of a Hub cost-sharing agreement. 

10 (B) TEST BED AND RENOVATION EXCEP11 TION.—Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit 

12 the use of funds provided pursuant to this sec13 tion, or non-Federal cost share funds, for re14 search or for the construction of a test bed or 

15 renovations to existing buildings or facilities for 

16 the purposes of research if the Secretary deter17 mines that the test bed or renovations are lim18 ited to a scope and scale necessary for the re19 search to be conducted. 

20 (e) TERMINATION.—Consistent with the existing au21 thorities of the Department, the Secretary may terminate 

22 an underperforming Hub for cause during the perform23 ance period. 

24 (f) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 


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1 (1) ADVANCED ENERGY TECHNOLOGY.—The 

2 term ‘‘advanced energy technology’’ means— 

3 (A) an innovative technology— 

4 (i) that produces energy from solar, 

5 wind, geothermal, biomass, tidal, wave, 

6 ocean, or other renewable energy resources; 

7 (ii) that produces nuclear energy; 

8 (iii) for carbon capture and sequestra9 tion; 

10 (iv) that enables advanced vehicles, 

11 vehicle components, and related tech12 nologies that result in significant energy 

13 savings; 

14 (v) that generates, transmits, distrib15 utes, utilizes, or stores energy more effi16 ciently than conventional technologies, in17 cluding through Smart Grid technologies; 

18 or 

19 (vi) that enhances the energy inde20 pendence and security of the United States 

21 by enabling improved or expanded supply 

22 and production of domestic energy re23 sources, including coal, oil, and natural 

24 gas; 


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1 (B) research, development, demonstration, 

2 and commercial application activities necessary 

3 to ensure the long-term, secure, and sustainable 

4 supply of energy critical elements; or 

5 (C) another innovative energy technology 

6 area identified by the Secretary. 

7 (2) ENERGY CRITICAL ELEMENT.—The term 

8 ‘‘energy critical element’’ means any of a class of 

9 chemical elements that have a high risk of a supply 

10 disruption and are critical to one or more new, en11 ergy-related technologies such that a shortage of 

12 such element would significantly inhibit large-scale 

13 deployment of technologies that produce, transmit, 

14 store, or conserve energy. 

15 (3) HUB.—The term ‘‘Hub’’ means an Energy 

16 Innovation Hub established or operating in accord17 ance with this section, including any Energy Innova18 tion Hub existing as of the date of enactment of this 

19 Act. 

20 (4) QUALIFYING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘quali21 fying entity’’ means— 

22 (A) an institution of higher education; 

23 (B) an appropriate State or Federal entity, 

24 including the Department of Energy Federally 

25 Funded Research and Development Centers; 


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1 (C) a nongovernmental organization with 

2 expertise in advanced energy technology re3 search, development, demonstration, or com4 mercial application; or 

5 (D) any other relevant entity the Secretary 

6 considers appropriate. 

Æ 


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