II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2005 

To establish the IMPACT for Energy Foundation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. GRAHAM) introduced the following bill; which 

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

Resources 

A BILL 

To establish the IMPACT for Energy Foundation. 

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 ‘‘Increasing and Mobi5 lizing Partnerships to Achieve Commercialization of Tech6 nologies for Energy Act’’ or the ‘‘IMPACT for Energy 

7 Act’’. 

8 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

11 means the Department of Energy. 


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1 (2) FOUNDATION.—The term ‘‘Foundation’’ 

2 means the IMPACT for Energy Foundation estab3 lished under section 3(a). 

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

5 the Secretary of Energy. 

6 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF IMPACT FOR ENERGY FOUNDA7 TION. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than February 1, 

10 2021, the Secretary shall establish a nonprofit cor11 poration to be known as the ‘‘IMPACT for Energy 

12 Foundation’’. 

13 (2) LIMITATION.—The Foundation shall not be 

14 an agency or instrumentality of the Federal Govern15 ment. 

16 (3) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal 

17 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not 

18 apply to the Foundation. 

19 (4) NONPROFIT STATUS.—The Foundation 

20 shall be an organization described in section 501(c) 

21 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt 

22 from taxation under section 501(a) of that Code. 

23 (5) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation shall 

25 operate under a board of directors. 


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1 (B) INITIAL APPOINTMENT.—The initial 

2 appointment of the board of directors shall be 

3 facilitated by the Secretary. 

4 (C) COMPOSITION.—To the maximum ex5 tent practicable, the board of directors shall in6 clude representatives from a diverse range of 

7 communities, including— 

8 (i) the academic community; 

9 (ii) the business community; 

10 (iii) nonprofit organizations; 

11 (iv) the communities surrounding the 

12 laboratories and facilities of the Depart13 ment; and 

14 (v) the technology transfer and com15 mercialization community. 

16 (D) RESTRICTION ON MEMBERSHIP.—No 

17 employee of the Department shall be appointed 

18 as a member of the board of directors. 

19 (b) PURPOSE; ACTIVITIES.— 

20 (1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Foundation 

21 is to channel private sector investments that support 

22 efforts to create, develop, and commercialize innova23 tive technologies that address energy challenges by 

24 methods that include— 


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1 (A) fostering collaboration and partner2 ships with researchers from the Federal Gov3 ernment, State governments, institutions of 

4 higher education, federally funded research and 

5 development centers, industry, and nonprofit 

6 organizations for the research, development, or 

7 commercialization of transformative energy 

8 technologies; 

9 (B) leveraging technologies by supporting 

10 new product development that supports regional 

11 economic development; and 

12 (C) administering prize competitions to ac13 celerate private sector competition and invest14 ment. 

15 (2) ACTIVITIES.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation may 

17 solicit and accept gifts, grants, and other dona18 tions, establish accounts, and invest and expend 

19 funds in support of the activities and programs 

20 described in subparagraphs (B) through (D). 

21 (B) STUDIES, COMPETITIONS, AND

22 PROJECTS.—The Foundation may conduct and 

23 support studies, competitions, projects, and 

24 other activities that further the purpose of the 

25 Foundation described in paragraph (1). 


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1 (C) FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS.— 

2 (i) AWARD.—The Foundation may 

3 award fellowships and grants for activities 

4 relating to research, development, proto5 typing, maturing, or commercializing of en6 ergy technologies. 

7 (ii) FORM OF AWARD.—A fellowship 

8 or grant under clause (i) may consist of a 

9 stipend, health insurance benefits, funds 

10 for travel, and funds for other appropriate 

11 expenses. 

12 (iii) SELECTION.— 

13 (I) IN GENERAL.—The Founda14 tion shall award a fellowship or grant 

15 under clause (i) based on the technical 

16 and commercialization merits of the 

17 proposed project. 

18 (II) INPUT.—In selecting recipi19 ents of a fellowship or grant under 

20 clause (i), the Foundation may con21 sult with potential recipients regard22 ing the ability to carry out various 

23 projects that would further the pur24 pose of the Foundation described in 

25 paragraph (1). 


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1 (iv) FEDERAL LABORATORIES.—A 

2 Federal laboratory that applies for or ac3 cepts a grant under clause (i) shall not be 

4 considered to be engaging in a competitive 

5 procedure. 

6 (D) SUPPLEMENTARY PROGRAMS.—The 

7 Foundation may carry out supplementary pro8 grams— 

9 (i) to conduct and support forums, 

10 meetings, conferences, courses, and train11 ing workshops consistent with the purpose 

12 of the Foundation described in paragraph 

13 (1); 

14 (ii) to support and encourage the un15 derstanding and development of— 

16 (I) data reporting models that 

17 promote the translation of tech18 nologies from the research stage, 

19 through the development and matura20 tion stage, and ending in the market 

21 stage; and 

22 (II) policies that make regulation 

23 more effective and efficient by 

24 leveraging the technology translation 

25 data described in subclause (I) for the 


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1 regulation of relevant technology sec2 tors; 

3 (iii) for writing, editing, printing, pub4 lishing, and vending books and other mate5 rials relating to research carried out under 

6 the Foundation; and 

7 (iv) to conduct other activities to 

8 carry out and support the purpose of the 

9 Foundation described in paragraph (1). 

10 (E) AUTHORITY OF FOUNDATION.—The 

11 Foundation shall be the sole entity responsible 

12 for carrying out the activities described in this 

13 paragraph. 

14 (F) ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL.—No par15 ticipant in a program under this paragraph or 

16 employee of the Foundation shall exercise any 

17 administrative control over any Federal em18 ployee. 

19 (c) SUPPORT SERVICES.—The Secretary may provide 

20 facilities, utilities, and support services to the Foundation 

21 if it is determined by the Secretary to be advantageous 

22 to the research programs of the Department. 

23 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

24 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 


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1 such sums as are necessary for fiscal year 2020 and each 

2 fiscal year thereafter. 

3 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF FOR-PROFIT SUBSIDIARIES. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Foundation may estab5 lish 1 or more for-profit subsidiaries, including an impact 

6 investment fund— 

7 (1) to stimulate economic development activities 

8 relating to the purpose of the Foundation described 

9 in section 3(b)(1); and 

10 (2) to attract for-profit investment partners for 

11 technology translation and commercialization activi12 ties. 

13 (b) AUTHORITIES OF THE FOR-PROFIT SUB14 SIDIARY.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 

16 for-profit subsidiary established under subsection (a) 

17 may— 

18 (A) enter into a partnership with an eco19 nomic development corporation, including an in20 cubator, accelerator, or small business invest21 ment company; 

22 (B) pay for the cost of building and ad23 ministering a facility, including a microlab or 

24 incubator, to support the activities of the Foun25 dation described in section 3(b)(2); and 


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1 (C) provide funding to a startup. 

2 (2) COST RECOVERY REQUIREMENTS.—A for3 profit subsidiary established under subsection (a) 

4 shall— 

5 (A) ensure that the Foundation owns any 

6 intellectual property rights generated through 

7 activities funded by the for-profit subsidiary, if 

8 appropriate; and 

9 (B) own an equity stake in any startup in10 vested in by the for-profit subsidiary. 

Æ 


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