IB 

Union Calendar No. 335 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4785 

[Report No. 111–585, Part I] 

To amend the miscellaneous rural development provisions of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to authorize the Secretary of 

Agriculture to make loans to certain entities that will use the funds 

to make loans to consumers to implement energy efficiency measures 

involving structural improvements and investments in cost-effective, commercial off-the-shelf technologies to reduce home energy use. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2010 

Mr. CLYBURN (for himself, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. PERRIELLO, and Mr. 

SPRATT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 

in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 

Reported from the Committee on Agriculture with amendments 

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

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 

Additional sponsors: Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. WILSON of South 

Carolina, Mr. INGLIS, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. PASTOR of Arizona, Ms. MARKEY of Colorado, 

Mr. BRIGHT, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN, Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. FILNER, Mr. ELLSWORTH, 

Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. WALZ, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. GIFFORDS, Mr. 

BOSWELL, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. 

ROGERS of Kentucky, Mr. HILL, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. KISSELL, Mr. 

BOOZMAN, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. WILSON of Ohio, Mr. BOUCHER, 

Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. SPACE, Mr. HARE, Mr. 

PLATTS, Mr. ROSS, Mr. BOCCIERI, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. PRICE of North 

Carolina, Mr. KRATOVIL, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. 


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BLUMENAUER, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. HASTINGS of 

Florida, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. SCHOCK, Mr. 

WELCH, and Ms. SUTTON

SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 

Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged; committed to the Committee 

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

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 9, 2010] 

A BILL 

To amend the miscellaneous rural development provisions 

of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 

to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make loans 

to certain entities that will use the funds to make loans 

to consumers to implement energy efficiency measures 

involving structural improvements and investments in 

cost-effective, commercial off-the-shelf technologies to reduce home energy use. 


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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 ‘‘Rural Energy Savings 

5 Program Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RURAL ENERGY SAVINGS PROGRAM. 

7 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to create 

8 and save jobs by providing loans to qualified consumers who 

9 will use the loan proceeds to implement energy efficiency 

10 measures to achieve significant reductions in energy costs, 

11 energy consumption, or carbon emissions. 

12 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti14 ty’’ means— 

15 (A) any public or cooperative electric utility 

16 that is eligible to borrow from the Rural Utilities 

17 Service electrification program authorized under 

18 the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (7 U.S.C. 

19 901 et seq.) that serves a rural area defined by 

20 that Act; 

21 (B) any current borrower of the Rural Util22 ities Service electrification program authorized 

23 under that Act; or 


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1 (C) any entity primarily owned or con2 trolled by an entity described in subparagraph 

3 (A) or (B). 

4 (2) ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURE.—The term 

5 ‘‘energy efficiency measure’’, with respect to property 

6 served by an eligible entity, means a structural im7 provement and investment in a cost-effective, commer8 cial off-the-shelf technology to reduce energy use. 

9 (3) QUALIFIED CONSUMER.—The term ‘‘qualified 

10 consumer’’ means a consumer served by an eligible 

11 entity that has the ability to repay a loan made 

12 under subsection (d), as determined by an eligible en13 tity. 

14 (4) QUALIFIED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘qualified en15 tity’’ means any organization that the Secretary de16 termines has significant experience in providing eligi17 ble entities with— 

18 (A) advice on energy, environmental, energy 

19 efficiency, and information research and tech20 nology; 

21 (B) training, education, and consulting; 

22 (C) guidance in energy and operational 

23 issues and rural community and economic devel24 opment; and 


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1 (D) other relevant assistance, as determined 

2 by the Secretary. 

3 (5) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ means 

4 any area other than— 

5 (A) a city or town that has a population of 

6 greater than 50,000 inhabitants; and 

7 (B) any urbanized area contiguous and ad8 jacent to a city or town described in subpara9 graph (A). 

10 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

11 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Rural 

12 Utilities Service. 

13 (c) LOANS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 

14 (1) LOANS AUTHORIZED.—Subject to paragraph 

15 (2), the Secretary shall make loans to an eligible enti16 ty that agrees that the loan funds will be used to 

17 make loans to qualified consumers as described in 

18 subsection (d) for the purpose of implementing an en19 ergy efficiency measure. 

20 (2) LIST, PLAN, AND MEASUREMENT AND

21 VERIFICATION REQUIRED.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—As a condition to receiv23 ing a loan under paragraph (1), an eligible enti24 ty shall— 


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1 (i) establish a list of energy efficiency 

2 measures expected to decrease energy use or 

3 costs of a qualified consumer; 

4 (ii) prepare an implementation plan 

5 for use of the loan funds to ensure that a 

6 loan to a qualified consumer is at least 

7 commensurate with the expected energy sav8 ings the qualified consumer shall expect to 

9 receive from the activities funded by the 

10 loan; and 

11 (iii) provide for appropriate measure12 ment and verification to ensure the effective13 ness of the energy efficiency loans made by 

14 the eligible entity. 

15 (B) REVISION OF LIST OF ENERGY EFFI16 CIENCY MEASURES.—An eligible entity may up17 date the list required under subparagraph (A)(i) 

18 to account for newly available efficiency tech19 nologies, subject to the approval of the Secretary. 

20 (C) EXISTING ENERGY EFFICIENCY PRO21 GRAMS.—An eligible entity that, on or before the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act or within 60 

23 days after such date, has already established an 

24 energy efficiency program for qualified con25 sumers may use an existing list of energy effiVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:54 Sep 14, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4785.RH H4785

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1 ciency measures, implementation plans, or meas2 urement and verification systems to satisfy the 

3 requirements of subparagraph (A) if the Sec4 retary determines the list, plans, or systems are 

5 consistent with the purposes of sub section (a). 

6 (3) LOAN TERMS FOR LOANS TO ELIGIBLE ENTI7 TIES.— 

8 (A) NO INTEREST.—A loan made to an eli9 gible entity under paragraph (1) shall bear no 

10 interest. 

11 (B) REPAYMENT.—With respect to a loan 

12 under paragraph (1)— 

13 (i) the term shall not exceed 20 years 

14 from the date the loan is closed; and 

15 (ii) except as provided in subpara16 graph (D), the repayment of each advance 

17 shall be amortized for a period not to exceed 

18 10 years. 

19 (C) AMOUNT OF ADVANCES.—Any advance 

20 of loan funds to an eligible entity in any single 

21 year shall not exceed 30 percent of the approved 

22 loan amount. 

23 (D) SPECIAL ADVANCE FOR START-UP AC24 TIVITIES.— 


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1 (i) IN GENERAL.—In order to assist an 

2 eligible entity in defraying initial start-up 

3 costs, the Secretary shall allow an eligible 

4 entity to request a special advance. 

5 (ii) AMOUNT OF SPECIAL ADVANCE.— 

6 No eligible entity may receive a special ad7 vance under this subparagraph for an 

8 amount that is greater than 4 percent of the 

9 loan amount received by the eligible entity 

10 under paragraph (1). 

11 (iii) REPAYMENT.—The repayment of 

12 the special advance shall be required within 

13 10 years after the special advance is made 

14 and, at the election of the eligible entity, 

15 may be deferred to the end of the 10-year 

16 period. 

17 (E) LIMITATION ON ADVANCES.—All ad18 vances shall be made under a loan described in 

19 paragraph (1) within the first 10 years of the 

20 term of the loan. 

21 (d) LOANS TO QUALIFIED CONSUMERS.— 

22 (1) TERMS OF LOANS.—Loans made by an eligi23 ble entity to qualified consumers using loan funds 

24 provided by the Secretary under subsection (c)— 


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1 (A) may bear interest, not to exceed three 

2 percent, to be used by the eligible entity for pur3 poses such as establishing a loan loss reserve and 

4 to offset personnel and program costs of the eligi5 ble entity to provide the loans; 

6 (B) shall finance energy efficiency measures 

7 for the purpose of decreasing energy usage or 

8 costs of a qualified consumer by an amount such 

9 that a loan term of not more than 10 years will 

10 not pose an undue financial burden on the quali11 fied consumer, as determined by the eligible enti12 ty; 

13 (C) shall not be used to fund purchases of, 

14 or modifications to, personal property unless the 

15 personal property— 

16 (i) is or becomes attached to real prop17 erty as a fixture; or 

18 (ii) is a manufactured home; 

19 (D) shall be repaid through charges added 

20 to the electric bill for the property for, or at 

21 which energy efficiency measures are or will be 

22 implemented, except that this requirement shall 

23 not be construed to prohibit— 

24 (i) the voluntary prepayment of a loan 

25 by the owner of the property; or 


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1 (ii) the use of any additional repay2 ment mechanisms that are— 

3 (I) demonstrated to have appro4 priate risk mitigation features, as de5 termined by the eligible entity; or 

6 (II) required if the qualified con7 sumer is no longer a customer of the el8 igible entity; and 

9 (E) shall require an energy audit to deter10 mine the impact of proposed energy efficiency 

11 measures on the energy costs and consumption of 

12 the qualified consumer. 

13 (2) CONTRACTORS.—In addition to any other 

14 qualified general contractor, eligible entities may 

15 serve as general contractors. 

16 (3) USE OF OTHER ENERGY EFFICIENCY INCEN17 TIVES.—Energy efficiency incentives made available 

18 under any other Act, including rebates, grants, or any 

19 other payments, may be used to reduce the amount of 

20 a loan made under this subsection to qualified con21 sumers in order to meet the requirement of paragraph 

22 (1)(B). 

23 (e) MEASUREMENT, VERIFICATION, TRAINING, AND

24 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 


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1 (1) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.—Not later than 

2 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

3 Secretary shall— 

4 (A) develop a protocol for eligible entities 

5 and qualified entities to use in measuring energy 

6 consumption and verifying the effectiveness of 

7 energy efficiency measures; 

8 (B) establish a measurement and 

9 verification advisory committee consisting of 

10 representatives of eligible entities and qualified 

11 entities; 

12 (C) enter into one or more cooperative 

13 agreements with qualified entities to provide 

14 technical assistance and training to the employ15 ees of eligible entities to carry out this section; 

16 and 

17 (D) establish a process to compile and 

18 maintain a directory of energy efficiency audi19 tors that are used by eligible entities to carry out 

20 this section. 

21 (2) EXCEPTION.— 

22 (A) The Secretary shall not utilize the au23 thority provided under this subsection or sub24 section (k) to— 


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1 (i) develop, adopt, or implement a pub2 lic labeling system that rates and compares 

3 the energy performance among qualified 

4 consumers; or 

5 (ii) require the public disclosure of an 

6 energy performance evaluation or rating de7 veloped for any qualified consumer. 

8 (B) Nothing in this paragraph shall pre9 clude— 

10 (i) the computation, collection, or use, 

11 by the Secretary, eligible entity, or qualified 

12 entity for the purposes aggregating informa13 tion on the rating and comparison of the 

14 energy performance among qualified con15 sumers with and without energy efficiency 

16 features or on energy performance evalua17 tion or rating; 

18 (ii) the use and publication of aggre19 gate data (without identifying individual 

20 qualified consumers) based on information 

21 referred to in clause (i) to determine or 

22 demonstrate the performance of this pro23 gram; or 


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1 (iii) the provision of information re2 ferred to in clause (i) with respect to a 

3 qualified consumer: 

4 (I) to the State, eligible consumer, 

5 eligible entity, or qualified entity, as 

6 necessary to enable carrying out this 

7 Act; or 

8 (II) for purposes of prosecuting 

9 fraud and abuse. 

10 (f) FAST START DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.— 

11 (1) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS REQUIRED.—The 

12 Secretary shall enter into agreements with eligible en13 tities (or groups of eligible entities) that have estab14 lished an energy efficiency program described in sub15 section (c)(2)(C) to establish an energy efficiency loan 

16 demonstration projects consistent with the purposes of 

17 this section that— 

18 (A) implement approaches to energy audits 

19 and investments in energy efficiency measures 

20 that yield measurable and predictable savings; 

21 (B) use measurement and verification proc22 esses to determine the effectiveness of energy effi23 ciency loans made by eligible entities; 

24 (C) include training for employees of eligi25 ble entities, including any contractors of such enVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:54 Sep 14, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4785.RH H4785

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1 tities, to implement or oversee the activities de2 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B); 

3 (D) provide for the participation of a ma4 jority of eligible entities in a State; 

5 (E) reduce the need for generating capacity; 

6 (F) provide efficiency loans to— 

7 (i) not fewer than 20,000 consumers, 

8 in the case of a single eligible entity; or 

9 (ii) not fewer than 80,000 consumers, 

10 in the case of a group of eligible entities; 

11 and 

12 (G) serve areas where a large percentage of 

13 consumers reside— 

14 (i) in manufactured homes; or 

15 (ii) in housing units that are more 

16 than 50 years old. 

17 (2) DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION.—The 

18 agreements required by paragraph (1) shall be entered 

19 into not later than 90 days after the date of enact20 ment of this Act. 

21 (3) EFFECT ON AVAILABILITY OF LOANS NATION22 ALLY.—Nothing in this subsection shall delay the 

23 availability of loans to eligible entities on a national 

24 basis beginning not later than 180 days after the date 

25 of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 (4) ADDITIONAL DEMONSTRATION PROJECT AU2 THORITY.—The Secretary may conduct demonstration 

3 projects in addition to the project required by para4 graph (1). An additional demonstration project may 

5 be carried out without regard to subparagraphs (D), 

6 (F), or (G) of paragraph (1). 

7 (g) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY.—The authority provided 

8 in this section is in addition to any authority of the Sec9 retary to offer loans under any other law. 

10 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

11 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary $993,000,000 

12 to carry out this section, which shall remain available until 

13 expended. 

14 (i) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—Subject to subsection (h)(1) 

15 and except as otherwise provided in this section, the loans 

16 and other expenditures required to be made under this sec17 tion are authorized to be made during each of fiscal years 

18 2010 through 2014. 

19 (j) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than one 

20 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec21 retary shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutri22 tion, and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Ag23 riculture of the House of Representatives a report describing 

24 the implementation of this section. 

25 (k) REGULATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided 

2 in this subsection, not later than 180 days after the 

3 date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 

4 promulgate such regulations as are necessary to im5 plement this section. 

6 (2) PROCEDURE.—The promulgation of the regu7 lations and administration of this section shall be 

8 made without regard to— 

9 (A) chapter 35 of title 44, United States 

10 Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Paperwork Re11 duction Act’’); and 

12 (B) the Statement of Policy of the Secretary 

13 of Agriculture effective July 24, 1971 (36 Fed. 

14 Reg. 13804), relating to notices of proposed rule15 making and public participation in rulemaking. 

16 (3) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF AGENCY RULE17 MAKING.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary 

18 shall use the authority provided under section 808 of 

19 title 5, United States Code. 

20 (4) INTERIM REGULATIONS.—Notwithstanding 

21 paragraphs (1) and (2), to the extent regulations are 

22 necessary to carry out any provision of this section, 

23 the Secretary shall implement such regulations 

24 through the promulgation of an interim rule. 


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1 (l) AUDIT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall conduct 

2 an audit of the program authorized by this section to ensure 

3 that the funds provided to eligible entities under this section 

4 are used in accordance with the purpose of this section. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to authorize 

the Secretary of Agriculture to make loans to certain entities that agree that the funds will be used to make 

loans to consumers to implement energy efficiency measures involving structural improvements and investments 

in cost-effective, commercial off-the-shelf technologies to 

reduce energy use, and for other purposes.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 335 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4785 

[Report No. 111–585, Part I] 

A BILL 

To amend the miscellaneous rural development proreduce home energy use. effective, commercial off-the-shelf technologies to structural improvements and investments in cost- implement energy efficiency measures involving will use the funds to make loans to consumers to Agriculture to make loans to certain entities that ment Act of 2002 to authorize the Secretary of visions of the Farm Security and Rural InvestSEPTEMBER 14, 2010 

Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged; comState of the Union and ordered to be printed mitted to the Committee of the Whole House on the 


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