II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 696 

To establish an Advanced Research Projects Administration-Energy to initiate 

high risk, innovative energy research to improve the energy security 

of the United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2007 

Mr. BAUCUS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish an Advanced Research Projects AdministrationEnergy to initiate high risk, innovative energy research 

to improve the energy security of the United States, 

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 Research Act 

5 of 2007’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS ADMINISTRA2 TION-ENERGY. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Ad4 vanced Research Projects Administration-Energy (re5 ferred to in this section as ‘‘ARPA–E’’). 

6 (b) GOALS.—The goals of ARPA–E are to reduce the 

7 quantity of energy the United States imports from foreign 

8 sources and to improve the competitiveness of the United 

9 States economy by— 

10 (1) promoting revolutionary changes in the crit11 ical technologies that would promote energy competi12 tiveness; 

13 (2) turning cutting-edge science and engineer14 ing into technologies for energy and environmental 

15 application; and 

16 (3) accelerating innovation in energy and the 

17 environment for both traditional and alternative en18 ergy sources and in energy efficiency mechanisms 

19 to— 

20 (A) reduce energy use; 

21 (B) decrease the reliance of the United 

22 States on foreign energy sources; and 

23 (C) improve energy competitiveness. 

24 (c) DIRECTOR.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—ARPA–E shall be headed by 

2 a Director (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Direc3 tor’’) appointed by the President. 

4 (2) POSITIONS AT LEVEL V.—Section 5316 of 

5 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding 

6 at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘Director, Advanced Research Projects Admin8 istration-Energy.’’. 

9 (d) DUTIES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this section, 

11 the Director shall award competitive grants, cooper12 ative agreements, or contracts to institutions of 

13 higher education, companies, or consortia of such 

14 entities (which may include federally funded re15 search and development centers) to achieve the goal 

16 described in subsection (b) through acceleration of— 

17 (A) energy-related research; 

18 (B) development of resultant techniques, 

19 processes, and technologies, and related testing 

20 and evaluation; and 

21 (C) demonstration and commercial applica22 tion of the most promising technologies and re23 search applications. 

24 (2) SMALL-BUSINESS CONCERNS.—The Direc25 tor shall carry out programs established under this 


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1 section, to the maximum extent practicable, in a 

2 manner that is similar to the Small Business Inno3 vation Research Program established under section 

4 9 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 638) to en5 sure that small-business concerns are fully able to 

6 participate in the programs. 

7 (e) PERSONNEL.— 

8 (1) PROGRAM MANAGERS.— 

9 (A) APPOINTMENT.—The Director shall 

10 appoint employees to serve as program man11 agers for each of the programs that are estab12 lished to carry out the duties of ARPA–E under 

13 this section. 

14 (B) DUTIES.—Program managers shall be 

15 responsible for— 

16 (i) establishing research and develop17 ment goals for the program, as well as 

18 publicizing goals of the program to the 

19 public and private sectors; 

20 (ii) soliciting applications for specific 

21 areas of particular promise, especially 

22 areas for which the private sector cannot 

23 or will not provide funding; 

24 (iii) selecting research projects for 

25 support under the program from among 


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1 applications submitted to ARPA–E, based 

2 on— 

3 (I) the scientific and technical 

4 merit of the proposed projects; 

5 (II) the demonstrated capabilities 

6 of the applicants to successfully carry 

7 out the proposed research project; and 

8 (III) such other criteria as are 

9 established by the Director; and 

10 (iv) monitoring the progress of 

11 projects supported under the program. 

12 (2) OTHER PERSONNEL.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara14 graph (B), the Director shall appoint such em15 ployees as are necessary to carry out the duties 

16 of ARPA–E under this section. 

17 (B) LIMITATIONS.—The Director shall ap18 point not more than 250 employees to carry out 

19 the duties of ARPA–E under this section, in20 cluding not less than 180 technical staff, of 

21 which— 

22 (i) not less than 20 staff shall be sen23 ior technical managers (including program 

24 managers designated under paragraph 

25 (1)); and 


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1 (ii) not less than 80 staff shall be 

2 technical program managers. 

3 (3) EXPERIMENTAL PERSONNEL AUTHORITY.— 

4 In appointing personnel for ARPA–E, the Director 

5 shall have the hiring and management authorities 

6 described in section 1101 of the Strom Thurmond 

7 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

8 1999 (Public Law 105–261; 5 U.S.C. 3104 note). 

9 (4) MAXIMUM DURATION OF EMPLOYMENT.— 

10 (A) PROGRAM MANAGERS AND SENIOR

11 TECHNICAL MANAGERS.— 

12 (i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

13 (ii), a program manager and a senior tech14 nical manager appointed under this sub15 section shall serve for a term not to exceed 

16 4 years after the date of appointment. 

17 (ii) EXTENSIONS.—The Director may 

18 extend the term of employment of a pro19 gram manager or a senior technical man20 ager appointed under this subsection for 

21 not more than 4 years through 1 or more 

22 2-year terms. 

23 (B) TECHNICAL PROGRAM MANAGERS.—A 

24 technical program manager appointed under 


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1 this subsection shall serve for a term not to ex2 ceed 6 years after the date of appointment. 

3 (5) LOCATION.—The office of an officer or em4 ployee of ARPA–E shall not be located in the head5 quarters of the Department of Energy. 

6 (f) TRANSACTIONS OTHER THAN CONTRACTS AND

7 GRANTS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out projects 

9 through ARPA–E, the Director may enter into 

10 transactions (other than contracts, cooperative 

11 agreements, and grants) to carry out advanced re12 search projects under this section under similar 

13 terms and conditions as the authority is exercised 

14 under section 646(g) of the Department of Energy 

15 Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7256(g)). 

16 (2) PEER REVIEW.—Peer review shall not be 

17 required for 75 percent of the research projects car18 ried out by the Director under this section. 

19 (g) PRIZES FOR ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY ACHIEVE20 MENTS.—The Director may carry out a program to award 

21 cash prizes in recognition of outstanding achievements in 

22 basic, advanced, and applied research, technology develop23 ment, and prototype development that have the potential 

24 for application to the performance of the mission of 

25 ARPA–E under similar terms and conditions as the auVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:39 Feb 28, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S696.IS S696

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1 thority is exercised under section 1008 of the Energy Pol2 icy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16396). 

3 (h) COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES.—The Director— 

4 (1) shall ensure that the activities of ARPA–E 

5 are coordinated with activities of Department of En6 ergy offices and outside agencies; and 

7 (2) may carry out projects jointly with other 

8 agencies. 

9 (i) REPORT.—Not later than September 30, 2008, 

10 the Director shall submit to Congress a report on the ac11 tivities of ARPA–E under this section, including a rec12 ommendation on whether ARPA–E needs an energy re13 search laboratory. 

14 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this sec16 tion— 

17 (1) $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; 

18 (2) $600,000,000 for fiscal year 2009; 

19 (3) $1,100,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; 

20 (4) $1,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2011; and 

21 (5) $2,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2012. 

Æ 


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