II 

Calendar No. 383 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1890 

To provide for grants for energy efficiency improvements and renewable 

energy improvements at public school facilities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 18, 2019 

Ms. CORTEZ MASTO (for herself, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. STABENOW, Ms. HARRIS, and Mr. HEINRICH) introduced the following bill; 

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

DECEMBER 18, 2019 

Reported by Ms. MURKOWSKI, without amendment 

A BILL 

To provide for grants for energy efficiency improvements 

and renewable energy improvements at public school facilities. 

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 ‘‘Renew America’s 

5 Schools Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS 

2 AND RENEWABLE ENERGY IMPROVEMENTS 

3 AT PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti6 ty’’ means a consortium of— 

7 (A) one local educational agency; and 

8 (B) one or more— 

9 (i) schools; 

10 (ii) nonprofit organizations; 

11 (iii) for-profit organizations; or 

12 (iv) community partners that have the 

13 knowledge and capacity to partner and as14 sist with energy improvements. 

15 (2) ENERGY IMPROVEMENT.—The term ‘‘en16 ergy improvement’’ means— 

17 (A) any improvement, repair, or renova18 tion, to a school that will result in a direct re19 duction in school energy costs, including im20 provements to building envelope, air condi21 tioning, ventilation, heating system, domestic 

22 hot water heating, compressed air systems, dis23 tribution systems, lighting, power systems, and 

24 controls; 

25 (B) any improvement, repair, renovation, 

26 or installation that leads to an improvement in 


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1 teacher and student health, including indoor air 

2 quality, daylighting, ventilation, electrical light3 ing, green roofs, outdoor gardens, and acous4 tics; 

5 (C) the installation of renewable energy 

6 technologies (such as wind power, photovoltaics, 

7 solar thermal systems, geothermal energy, hy8 drogen-fueled systems, biomass-based systems, 

9 biofuels, anaerobic digesters, and hydropower) 

10 involved in the improvement, repair, or renova11 tion of a school; 

12 (D) the installation of zero-emissions vehi13 cle infrastructure on school grounds for exclu14 sive use of school buses, school fleets, or stu15 dents, or for the general public; and 

16 (E) the purchase or lease of zero-emissions 

17 vehicles, including school buses, fleet vehicles, 

18 and other operational vehicles. 

19 (3) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

20 ‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 

21 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec22 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

23 (4) PARTNERING LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN24 CY.—The term ‘‘partnering local educational agen25 cy’’, when used with respect to an eligible entity, 


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1 means the local educational agency participating in 

2 the eligible entity. 

3 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of Energy. 

5 (6) ZERO-EMISSIONS VEHICLE INFRASTRUC6 TURE.—The term ‘‘zero-emissions vehicle infrastruc7 ture’’ means infrastructure used to charge or fuel— 

8 (A) a zero-emission vehicle (as defined in 

9 section 88.102–94 of title 40, Code of Federal 

10 Regulations (or successor regulation)); or 

11 (B) a vehicle that produces zero exhaust 

12 emissions of any criteria pollutant (or precursor 

13 pollutant) or greenhouse gas under any possible 

14 operational modes or conditions. 

15 (b) AUTHORITY.—From amounts made available for 

16 grants under this section, the Secretary shall award com17 petitive grants to eligible entities to make energy improve18 ments authorized by this section. 

19 (c) APPLICATIONS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a 

21 grant under this section shall submit to the Sec22 retary an application at such time, in such manner, 

23 and containing such information as the Secretary 

24 may require. 


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1 (2) CONTENTS.—The application submitted 

2 under paragraph (1) shall include each of the fol3 lowing: 

4 (A) A needs assessment of the current con5 dition of the school and facilities that are to re6 ceive the energy improvements. 

7 (B) A draft work plan of what the eligible 

8 entity hopes to achieve at the school and a de9 scription of the energy improvements to be car10 ried out. 

11 (C) A description of the capacity of the eli12 gible entity to provide services and comprehen13 sive support to make the energy improvements. 

14 (D) An assessment of the applicant’s ex15 pected needs of the eligible entity for operation 

16 and maintenance training funds, and a plan for 

17 use of those funds, if any. 

18 (E) An assessment of the expected energy 

19 efficiency and safety benefits of the energy im20 provements. 

21 (F) A cost estimate of the proposed energy 

22 improvements. 

23 (G) An identification of other resources 

24 that are available to carry out the activities for 

25 which funds are requested under this section, 


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1 including the availability of utility programs 

2 and public benefit funds. 

3 (d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sub4 section, the Secretary shall give a priority to eligible enti5 ties— 

6 (1) that have renovation, repair, and improve7 ment funding needs; and 

8 (2)(A) that serve a high percentage, as deter9 mined by the Secretary, of students who are eligible 

10 for a free or reduced price lunch under the Richard 

11 B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 1751 et seq.) (which may be calculated for students 

13 in a high school (as defined by section 8101 of the 

14 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

15 (20 U.S.C. 7801)) using data from the schools that 

16 feed into the high school); or 

17 (B) with a participating local educational agen18 cy designated with a school district locale code of 41, 

19 42, or 43, as determined by the National Center for 

20 Education Statistics in consultation with the Bureau 

21 of the Census. 

22 (e) COMPETITIVE CRITERIA.—The competitive cri23 teria used by the Secretary to award grants under this 

24 section shall include the following: 


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1 (1) The difference between the fiscal capacity of 

2 the eligible entity to carry out, and the needs of the 

3 partnering local educational agency for, energy im4 provements at school facilities, including— 

5 (A) the current and historic ability of the 

6 partnering local educational agency to raise 

7 funds for construction, renovation, moderniza8 tion, and major repair projects for schools; 

9 (B) whether the partnering local edu10 cational agency has been able to issue bonds or 

11 receive other funds to support current infra12 structure needs of the partnering local edu13 cational agency; and 

14 (C) the bond rating of the partnering local 

15 educational agency. 

16 (2) The likelihood that the partnering local edu17 cational agency or eligible entity will maintain, in 

18 good condition, any facility whose improvement is 

19 assisted. 

20 (3) The potential energy efficiency and safety 

21 benefits from the proposed energy improvements. 

22 (f) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving a 

24 grant under this section shall use the grant amounts 

25 only to make the energy improvements described in 


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1 the application, subject to the other provisions of 

2 this subsection. 

3 (2) OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE TRAIN4 ING.—An eligible entity receiving a grant under this 

5 section may use not more than 5 percent of the 

6 grant amounts for operation and maintenance train7 ing for energy efficiency and renewable energy im8 provements (such as maintenance staff and teacher 

9 training, education, and preventative maintenance 

10 training). 

11 (3) AUDIT.—An eligible entity receiving a grant 

12 under this section may use funds under the grant 

13 for a third-party investigation and analysis for en14 ergy improvements (such as energy audits and exist15 ing building commissioning). 

16 (4) CONTINUING EDUCATION.—An eligible enti17 ty receiving a grant under this section may use not 

18 more than 3 percent of the grant amounts to develop 

19 a continuing education curriculum relating to energy 

20 improvements. 

21 (g) CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

22 (1) DAVIS-BACON.—Any laborer or mechanic 

23 employed by any contractor or subcontractor in the 

24 performance of work on any energy improvements 

25 funded by a grant under this section shall be paid 


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1 wages at rates not less than those prevailing on 

2 similar construction in the locality as determined by 

3 the Secretary of Labor under subchapter IV of chap4 ter 31 of title 40, United States Code (commonly re5 ferred to as the ‘‘Davis-Bacon Act’’). 

6 (2) COMPETITION.—Each eligible entity receiv7 ing a grant under this section shall ensure that, if 

8 the eligible entity uses grant funds to carry out re9 pair or renovation through a contract, any such con10 tract process— 

11 (A) ensures the maximum number of quali12 fied bidders, including small, minority, and 

13 women-owned businesses, through full and open 

14 competition; and 

15 (B) gives priority to businesses located in, 

16 or resources common to, the State or the geo17 graphical area in which the project is carried 

18 out. 

19 (h) REPORTING.—Each eligible entity receiving a 

20 grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary, at 

21 such time as the Secretary may require, a report describ22 ing the use of such funds for energy improvements, the 

23 estimated cost savings realized by those energy improve24 ments, the results of any audit, the use of any utility pro25 grams and public benefit funds, and the use of performVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:07 Dec 19, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1890.RS S1890

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1 ance tracking for energy improvements (such as the En2 ergy Star program established under section 324A of the 

3 Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6294a) 

4 or the United States Green Building Council Leadership 

5 in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green 

6 building rating system for existing buildings). 

7 (i) BEST PRACTICES.—The Secretary shall develop 

8 and publish guidelines and best practices for activities car9 ried out under this section. 

10 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

11 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

12 $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2025. 


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Calendar No. 383 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1890 

A BILL 

To provide for grants for energy efficiency improvepublic school facilities. ments and renewable energy improvements at 

DECEMBER 18, 2019 

Reported without amendment 


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