II 

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, and Ms. HARRIS) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS 

7 AND RENEWABLE ENERGY IMPROVEMENTS 

8 AT PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means a consortium of— 

3 (A) one local educational agency; and 

4 (B) one or more— 

5 (i) schools; 

6 (ii) nonprofit organizations; 

7 (iii) for-profit organizations; or 

8 (iv) community partners that have the 

9 knowledge and capacity to partner and as10 sist with energy improvements. 

11 (2) ENERGY IMPROVEMENT.—The term ‘‘en12 ergy improvement’’ means— 

13 (A) any improvement, repair, or renova14 tion, to a school that will result in a direct re15 duction in school energy costs, including im16 provements to building envelope, air condi17 tioning, ventilation, heating system, domestic 

18 hot water heating, compressed air systems, dis19 tribution systems, lighting, power systems, and 

20 controls; 

21 (B) any improvement, repair, renovation, 

22 or installation that leads to an improvement in 

23 teacher and student health, including indoor air 

24 quality, daylighting, ventilation, electrical lightVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:16 Jun 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1890.IS S1890

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1 ing, green roofs, outdoor gardens, and acous2 tics; 

3 (C) the installation of renewable energy 

4 technologies (such as wind power, photovoltaics, 

5 solar thermal systems, geothermal energy, hy6 drogen-fueled systems, biomass-based systems, 

7 biofuels, anaerobic digesters, and hydropower) 

8 involved in the improvement, repair, or renova9 tion of a school; 

10 (D) the installation of zero-emissions vehi11 cle infrastructure on school grounds for exclu12 sive use of school buses, school fleets, or stu13 dents, or for the general public; and 

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

15 vehicles, including school buses, fleet vehicles, 

16 and other operational vehicles. 

17 (3) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 

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

19 the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Sec20 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

21 (4) PARTNERING LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGEN22 CY.—The term ‘‘partnering local educational agen23 cy’’, when used with respect to an eligible entity, 

24 means the local educational agency participating in 

25 the eligible entity. 


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

2 the Secretary of Energy. 

3 (6) ZERO-EMISSIONS VEHICLE INFRASTRUC4 TURE.—The term ‘‘zero-emissions vehicle infrastruc5 ture’’ means infrastructure used to charge or fuel— 

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

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

8 Regulations (or successor regulation)); or 

9 (B) a vehicle that produces zero exhaust 

10 emissions of any criteria pollutant (or precursor 

11 pollutant) or greenhouse gas under any possible 

12 operational modes or conditions. 

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

14 grants under this section, the Secretary shall award com15 petitive grants to eligible entities to make energy improve16 ments authorized by this section. 

17 (c) APPLICATIONS.— 

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

19 grant under this section shall submit to the Sec20 retary an application at such time, in such manner, 

21 and containing such information as the Secretary 

22 may require. 

23 (2) CONTENTS.—The application submitted 

24 under paragraph (1) shall include each of the fol25 lowing: 


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1 (A) A needs assessment of the current con2 dition of the school and facilities that are to re3 ceive the energy improvements. 

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

5 entity hopes to achieve at the school and a de6 scription of the energy improvements to be car7 ried out. 

8 (C) A description of the capacity of the eli9 gible entity to provide services and comprehen10 sive support to make the energy improvements. 

11 (D) An assessment of the applicant’s ex12 pected needs of the eligible entity for operation 

13 and maintenance training funds, and a plan for 

14 use of those funds, if any. 

15 (E) An assessment of the expected energy 

16 efficiency and safety benefits of the energy im17 provements. 

18 (F) A cost estimate of the proposed energy 

19 improvements. 

20 (G) An identification of other resources 

21 that are available to carry out the activities for 

22 which funds are requested under this section, 

23 including the availability of utility programs 

24 and public benefit funds. 


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1 (d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this sub2 section, the Secretary shall give a priority to eligible enti3 ties— 

4 (1) that have renovation, repair, and improve5 ment funding needs; and 

6 (2)(A) that serve a high percentage, as deter7 mined by the Secretary, of students who are eligible 

8 for a free or reduced price lunch under the Richard 

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

10 1751 et seq.) (which may be calculated for students 

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

12 Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 

13 (20 U.S.C. 7801)) using data from the schools that 

14 feed into the high school); or 

15 (B) with a participating local educational agen16 cy designated with a school district locale code of 41, 

17 42, or 43, as determined by the National Center for 

18 Education Statistics in consultation with the Bureau 

19 of the Census. 

20 (e) COMPETITIVE CRITERIA.—The competitive cri21 teria used by the Secretary to award grants under this 

22 section shall include the following: 

23 (1) The difference between the fiscal capacity of 

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


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1 partnering local educational agency for, energy im2 provements at school facilities, including— 

3 (A) the current and historic ability of the 

4 partnering local educational agency to raise 

5 funds for construction, renovation, moderniza6 tion, and major repair projects for schools; 

7 (B) whether the partnering local edu8 cational agency has been able to issue bonds or 

9 receive other funds to support current infra10 structure needs of the partnering local edu11 cational agency; and 

12 (C) the bond rating of the partnering local 

13 educational agency. 

14 (2) The likelihood that the partnering local edu15 cational agency or eligible entity will maintain, in 

16 good condition, any facility whose improvement is 

17 assisted. 

18 (3) The potential energy efficiency and safety 

19 benefits from the proposed energy improvements. 

20 (f) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.— 

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

22 grant under this section shall use the grant amounts 

23 only to make the energy improvements described in 

24 the application, subject to the other provisions of 

25 this subsection. 


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1 (2) OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE TRAIN2 ING.—An eligible entity receiving a grant under this 

3 section may use not more than 5 percent of the 

4 grant amounts for operation and maintenance train5 ing for energy efficiency and renewable energy im6 provements (such as maintenance staff and teacher 

7 training, education, and preventative maintenance 

8 training). 

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

10 under this section may use funds under the grant 

11 for a third-party investigation and analysis for en12 ergy improvements (such as energy audits and exist13 ing building commissioning). 

14 (4) CONTINUING EDUCATION.—An eligible enti15 ty receiving a grant under this section may use not 

16 more than 3 percent of the grant amounts to develop 

17 a continuing education curriculum relating to energy 

18 improvements. 

19 (g) CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

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

21 employed by any contractor or subcontractor in the 

22 performance of work on any energy improvements 

23 funded by a grant under this section shall be paid 

24 wages at rates not less than those prevailing on 

25 similar construction in the locality as determined by 


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1 the Secretary of Labor under subchapter IV of chap2 ter 31 of title 40, United States Code (commonly re3 ferred to as the ‘‘Davis-Bacon Act’’). 

4 (2) COMPETITION.—Each eligible entity receiv5 ing a grant under this section shall ensure that, if 

6 the eligible entity uses grant funds to carry out re7 pair or renovation through a contract, any such con8 tract process— 

9 (A) ensures the maximum number of quali10 fied bidders, including small, minority, and 

11 women-owned businesses, through full and open 

12 competition; and 

13 (B) gives priority to businesses located in, 

14 or resources common to, the State or the geo15 graphical area in which the project is carried 

16 out. 

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

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

19 such time as the Secretary may require, a report describ20 ing the use of such funds for energy improvements, the 

21 estimated cost savings realized by those energy improve22 ments, the results of any audit, the use of any utility pro23 grams and public benefit funds, and the use of perform24 ance tracking for energy improvements (such as the En25 ergy Star program established under section 324A of the 


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

2 or the United States Green Building Council Leadership 

3 in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green 

4 building rating system for existing buildings). 

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

6 and publish guidelines and best practices for activities car7 ried out under this section. 

8 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

10 $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2025. 

Æ 


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