I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5906 

To amend the America COMPETES Act to establish Department of Energy 

policy for Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 22, 2018 

Mr. LUCAS (for himself, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. SMITH

of Texas, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. KNIGHT, Mr. DUNN, Mr. NORMAN, 

Mr. BABIN, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, and Mrs. LESKO) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, 

and Technology 

A BILL 

To amend the America COMPETES Act to establish Department of Energy policy for Advanced Research Projects 

Agency–Energy, 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 ‘‘ARPA–E Act of 

5 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY–EN2 ERGY. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 5012(b) of the Amer4 ica COMPETES Act (42 U.S.C. 16538(b)) is amended 

5 by striking ‘‘development of energy technologies’’ and in6 serting ‘‘development of transformative science and tech7 nology solutions to address energy, environmental, eco8 nomic, and national security challenges’’. 

9 (b) GOALS.—Section 5012(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 16538(c)) is amended— 

11 (1) by striking paragraph (1)(A) and inserting 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(A) to enhance the economic and energy 

14 security of the United States through the devel15 opment of energy technologies that— 

16 ‘‘(i) reduce imports of energy from 

17 foreign sources; 

18 ‘‘(ii) reduce energy-related emissions, 

19 including greenhouse gases; 

20 ‘‘(iii) improve the energy efficiency of 

21 all economic sectors; 

22 ‘‘(iv) provide transformative solutions 

23 to improve the management, clean-up, and 

24 disposal of— 

25 ‘‘(I) low-level radioactive waste; 

26 ‘‘(II) spent nuclear fuel; and 


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1 ‘‘(III) high-level radioactive 

2 waste; 

3 ‘‘(v) improve efficiency and reduce the 

4 environmental impact of all forms of en5 ergy production; 

6 ‘‘(vi) improve the resiliency, reliability, 

7 and security of the electric grid; and 

8 ‘‘(vii) address other challenges within 

9 the mission of the Department as deter10 mined by the Secretary; and’’; and 

11 (2) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘energy tech12 nology projects’’ and inserting ‘‘advanced technology 

13 projects’’. 

14 (c) RESPONSIBILITIES.—Section 5012(e)(3)(A) of 

15 such Act (42 U.S.C. 16538(e)(3)(A)) is amended by strik16 ing ‘‘energy’’. 

17 (d) STRATEGIC VISION ROADMAP.—Section 

18 5012(h)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 16538(h)(2)) is 

19 amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(2) STRATEGIC VISION ROADMAP.—In the re21 port required under paragraph (1), the Director 

22 shall include a roadmap describing the strategic vi23 sion that ARPA–E will use to guide the choices of 

24 ARPA–E for future technology investments over the 

25 following 2 fiscal years.’’. 


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1 (e) COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION.—Section 

2 5012(i)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 16538(i)(1)) is amend3 ed to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To the maximum extent 

5 practicable, the Director shall ensure that— 

6 ‘‘(A) the activities of ARPA–E are coordi7 nated with, and do not duplicate the efforts of, 

8 programs and laboratories within the Depart9 ment and other relevant research agencies; and 

10 ‘‘(B) ARPA–E does not provide funding 

11 for a project unless the prospective grantee 

12 demonstrates— 

13 ‘‘(i) sufficient attempts to secure pri14 vate financing; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) that the project is not independ16 ently commercially viable.’’. 

17 (f) EVALUATION.—Section 5012(l) of such Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 16538(l)) is amended— 

19 (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years 

22 after the date of enactment of the ARPA–E Act of 

23 2018, the Secretary may offer to enter into a con24 tract with the National Academy of Sciences under 

25 which the National Academy shall conduct an evalVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:21 Jun 01, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5906.IH H5906

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1 uation of how well ARPA–E is achieving the goals 

2 and mission of ARPA–E.’’; and 

3 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘shall’’ and inserting 

5 ‘‘may’’; and 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘the recommendation of 

7 the National Academy of Sciences’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘a recommendation’’. 

9 (g) PROTECTION OF PROPRIETARY INFORMATION.— 

10 Section 5012 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 16538) is amended— 

11 (1) by redesignating subsection (n) as sub12 section (o); and 

13 (2) by inserting after subsection (m) the fol14 lowing new subsection: 

15 ‘‘(n) PROTECTION OF PROPRIETARY INFORMA16 TION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The following categories of 

18 information collected by ARPA–E from recipients of 

19 awards under this section shall be considered privi20 leged and confidential and not subject to disclosure 

21 pursuant to section 552 of title 5, United States 

22 Code: 

23 ‘‘(A) Plans for commercialization of tech24 nologies developed under the award, including 

25 business plans, technology-to-market plans, 


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1 market studies, and cost and performance mod2 els. 

3 ‘‘(B) Investments provided to an awardee 

4 from third parties (such as venture capital 

5 firms, hedge funds, and private equity firms), 

6 including amounts and the percentage of owner7 ship of the awardee provided in return for the 

8 investments. 

9 ‘‘(C) Additional financial support that the 

10 awardee— 

11 ‘‘(i) plans to invest, or has invested, 

12 into the technology developed under the 

13 award; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) is seeking from third parties. 

15 ‘‘(D) Revenue from the licensing or sale of 

16 new products or services resulting from re17 search conducted under the award. 

18 ‘‘(2) EFFECT OF SUBSECTION.—Nothing in this 

19 subsection shall be construed to affect— 

20 ‘‘(A) the authority of the Secretary to use 

21 information without publicly disclosing such in22 formation; or 

23 ‘‘(B) the responsibility of the Secretary to 

24 transmit information to Congress as required 

25 by law.’’. 


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1 (h) FUNDING.—Section 5012(o)(4) of such Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 16538(o)(4)), as redesignated by subsection (f)(1), 

3 is amended by striking ‘‘during the 5-year period begin4 ning on the date of enactment of this Act’’. 

5 (i) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

6 (1) Section 5012(g)(3)(A)(iii) of such Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 16538(g)(3)(A)(iii)) is amended by striking 

8 ‘‘subpart’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘sub9 paragraph’’. 

10 (2) Section 5012(o)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 16538(o)(2)), as redesignated by subsection (f)(1), 

12 is amended by striking ‘‘paragraphs (4) and (5)’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘paragraph (4)’’. 

Æ 


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