II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1679 

To require the Secretary of Defense to carry out the Direct Air Capture 

and Blue Carbon Removal Technology Program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 23 (legislative day, MAY 22), 2019 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Mr. REED, and Mr. SULLIVAN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Armed Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Defense to carry out the Direct 

Air Capture and Blue Carbon Removal Technology Program, 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 ‘‘Securing Energy for 

5 our Armed Forces Using Engineering Leadership Act of 

6 2019’’ or the ‘‘SEA FUEL Act of 2019’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DIRECT AIR CAPTURE AND BLUE CARBON RE8 MOVAL TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM. 

9 (a) PROGRAM REQUIRED.— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•S 1679 IS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense, in 

2 coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Secu3 rity, the Secretary of Energy, and the heads of such 

4 other Federal agencies as the Secretary of Defense 

5 considers appropriate, shall carry out a program on 

6 research, development, testing, evaluation, study, 

7 and demonstration of technologies related to blue 

8 carbon capture and direct air capture. 

9 (2) PROGRAM GOALS.—The goals of the pro10 gram established under paragraph (1) are as follows: 

11 (A) To develop technologies that capture 

12 carbon dioxide from seawater and the air to 

13 turn such carbon dioxide into clean fuels to en14 hance fuel and energy security. 

15 (B) To develop and demonstrate tech16 nologies that capture carbon dioxide from sea17 water and the air to reuse such carbon dioxide 

18 to create products for military uses. 

19 (C) To develop direct air capture tech20 nologies for use— 

21 (i) at military installations or facilities 

22 of the Department of Defense; or 

23 (ii) in modes of transportation by the 

24 Navy or the Coast Guard. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•S 1679 IS

1 (3) PHASES.—The program established under 

2 paragraph (1) shall be carried out in two phases as 

3 follows: 

4 (A) The first phase shall consist of re5 search and development and shall be carried out 

6 as described in subsection (b). 

7 (B) The second phase shall consist of test8 ing and evaluation and shall be carried out as 

9 described in subsection (c), if the Secretary de10 termines that the results of the research and 

11 development phase justify implementing the 

12 testing and evaluation phase. 

13 (4) DESIGNATION.—The program established 

14 under paragraph (1) shall be known as the ‘‘Direct 

15 Air Capture and Blue Carbon Removal Technology 

16 Program’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Pro17 gram’’). 

18 (b) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PHASE.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—During the research and de20 velopment phase of the Program, the Secretary of 

21 Defense shall conduct research and development in 

22 pursuit of the goals set forth in subsection (a)(2). 

23 (2) DIRECT AIR CAPTURE.—The research and 

24 development phase of the Program may include, with 

25 respect to direct air capture, a front end engineering 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•S 1679 IS

1 and design study that includes an evaluation of di2 rect air capture designs to produce fuel for use— 

3 (A) at military installations or facilities of 

4 the Department of Defense; or 

5 (B) in modes of transportation by the 

6 Navy or the Coast Guard. 

7 (3) DURATION.—The Secretary shall carry out 

8 the research and development phase of the Program 

9 during a four-year period commencing not later than 

10 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

11 (4) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may 

12 carry out the research and development phase of the 

13 Program through the award of grants to private per14 sons and eligible laboratories. 

15 (5) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 

16 days after the date of the completion of the research 

17 and development phase of the Program, the Sec18 retary shall submit to Congress a report on the re19 search and development carried out under the Pro20 gram. 

21 (6) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

22 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

23 the research and development phase of the Pro24 gram— 

25 (A) $8,000,000 for fiscal year 2020; and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•S 1679 IS

1 (B) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

2 2021 through 2023. 

3 (c) TESTING AND EVALUATION PHASE.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—During the testing and eval5 uation phase of the Program, the Secretary shall, in 

6 pursuit of the goals set forth in subsection (a)(2), 

7 conduct tests and evaluations of the technologies re8 searched and developed during the research and de9 velopment phase of the Program. 

10 (2) DIRECT AIR CAPTURE.—The testing and 

11 evaluation phase of the Program may include dem12 onstration projects for direct air capture to produce 

13 fuel for use— 

14 (A) at military installations or facilities of 

15 the Department of Defense; or 

16 (B) in modes of transportation by the 

17 Navy or the Coast Guard. 

18 (3) DURATION.—Subject to subsection 

19 (a)(3)(B), the Secretary shall carry out the testing 

20 and evaluation phase of the Program during the 

21 three-year period commencing on the date of the 

22 completion of the research and development phase 

23 described in subsection (b), except that the testing 

24 and evaluation phase of the Program with respect to 

25 direct air capture may commence at such time after 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•S 1679 IS

1 a front end engineering and design study dem2 onstrates to the Secretary that commencement of 

3 such phase is appropriate. 

4 (4) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may 

5 carry out the testing and evaluation phase of the 

6 Program through the award of grants to private per7 sons and eligible laboratories. 

8 (5) LOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall carry out 

9 the testing and evaluation phase of the Program at 

10 military installations or facilities of the Department 

11 of Defense. 

12 (6) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than Sep13 tember 30, 2026, the Secretary shall submit to Con14 gress a report on the findings of the Secretary with 

15 respect to the effectiveness of the technologies tested 

16 and evaluated under the Program. 

17 (7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

18 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

19 the testing and evaluation phase of the Program 

20 $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 

21 2026. 

22 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) BLUE CARBON CAPTURE.—The term ‘‘blue 

24 carbon capture’’ means the removal of dissolved car25 bon dioxide from seawater through engineered or inVerDate Sep 11 2014 06:05 Jun 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1679.IS S1679

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
7 

•S 1679 IS

1 organic processes, including filters, membranes, or 

2 phase change systems. 

3 (2) DIRECT AIR CAPTURE.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘direct air 

5 capture’’, with respect to a facility, technology, 

6 or system, means that the facility, technology, 

7 or system uses carbon capture equipment to 

8 capture carbon dioxide directly from the air. 

9 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘direct air 

10 capture’’ does not include any facility, tech11 nology, or system that captures carbon diox12 ide— 

13 (i) that is deliberately released from a 

14 naturally occurring subsurface spring; or 

15 (ii) using natural photosynthesis. 

16 (3) ELIGIBLE LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘eligi17 ble laboratory’’ means— 

18 (A) a National Laboratory (as defined in 

19 section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

20 U.S.C. 15801)); or 

21 (B) a laboratory of the Department of De22 fense. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS