I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5548 

To provide for the establishment of clean technology consortia to enhance 

the economic, environmental, and energy security of the United States 

by promoting domestic development, manufacture, and deployment of 

clean technologies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 

Mr. CARTWRIGHT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee 

on Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for the establishment of clean technology consortia to enhance the economic, environmental, and energy security of the United States by promoting domestic 

development, manufacture, and deployment of clean technologies, 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 ‘‘Consortia-Led Energy 

5 and Advanced Manufacturing Networks Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) CLEAN TECHNOLOGY.—The term ‘‘clean 

4 technology’’ means a technology, production process, 

5 or methodology that— 

6 (A) produces energy from solar, wind, geo7 thermal, biomass, tidal, wave, ocean, or another 

8 renewable energy source (as defined in section 

9 609 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies 

10 Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 918c)); 

11 (B) more efficiently transmits, distributes, 

12 or stores energy; 

13 (C) enhances energy efficiency for build14 ings and industry, including combined heat and 

15 power; 

16 (D) enables the development of a Smart 

17 Grid (as described in section 1301 of the En18 ergy Independence and Security Act of 2007 

19 (42 U.S.C. 17381)), including integration of re20 newable energy sources and distributed genera21 tion, demand response, demand side manage22 ment, and systems analysis; 

23 (E) produces an advanced or sustainable 

24 material with energy or energy efficiency appli25 cations; 


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1 (F) improves energy efficiency for trans2 portation, including electric vehicles; 

3 (G) enhances water security through im4 proved water management, conservation, dis5 tribution, or end use applications; or 

6 (H) addresses challenges in advanced man7 ufacturing and supply chain integration related 

8 to a technology, production process, or method9 ology described in subparagraphs (A) through 

10 (G). 

11 (2) ADVANCED MANUFACTURING.—The term 

12 ‘‘advanced manufacturing’’— 

13 (A) means a family of activities that— 

14 (i) depend on the use and coordina15 tion of information, automation, computa16 tion, software, sensing, and networking; or 

17 (ii) make use of cutting edge mate18 rials and emerging capabilities enabled by 

19 the physical or biological sciences, includ20 ing nanotechnology, chemistry, and biol21 ogy; and 

22 (B) includes both new ways to manufac23 ture existing products and the manufacture of 

24 new products emerging from new advanced 

25 technologies. 


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1 (3) CLUSTER.—The term ‘‘cluster’’ means a 

2 network of entities directly involved in the research, 

3 development, finance, and commercial application of 

4 clean technologies and advanced manufacturing 

5 whose geographic proximity facilitates the use and 

6 sharing of skilled human resources, infrastructure, 

7 research facilities, educational and training institu8 tions, venture capital, and input suppliers. 

9 (4) CONSORTIUM.—The term ‘‘consortium’’ 

10 means a clean technology consortium established in 

11 accordance with this Act. 

12 (5) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means an 

13 activity with respect to which a consortium provides 

14 support under this Act. 

15 (6) QUALIFYING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘quali16 fying entity’’ means— 

17 (A) a research university; 

18 (B) a Federal or State institution with a 

19 focus on developing clean technologies or clus20 ters; or 

21 (C) a nongovernmental organization with 

22 expertise in translational research, clean tech23 nology, or cluster development. 

24 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of Commerce. 


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1 (8) TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH.—The term 

2 ‘‘translational research’’ means the coordination of 

3 basic or applied research with technical applications 

4 to enable promising discoveries or inventions to 

5 achieve commercial application. 

6 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF CLEAN TECHNOLOGY CON7 SORTIA PROGRAM. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish and 

9 carry out a program to establish clean technology con10 sortia to enhance the economic, environmental, and energy 

11 security of the United States by promoting domestic devel12 opment, manufacture, and deployment of clean, state-of13 the-art technologies. 

14 (b) PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall carry out the 

15 program established under subsection (a) by leveraging 

16 the expertise and resources of private research commu17 nities, institutions of higher education, industry, venture 

18 capital, National Laboratories (as defined in section 2 of 

19 the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801)), and 

20 other participants in technology innovation— 

21 (1) to support collaborative, cross-disciplinary 

22 research and development in clean technologies and 

23 advanced manufacturing; and 

24 (2) to develop and accelerate the commercial 

25 application of innovative clean technologies. 


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1 (c) ROLE OF THE SECRETARY.—The Secretary 

2 shall— 

3 (1) carry out and oversee all aspects of the pro4 gram established under subsection (a); 

5 (2) select recipients of grants for the establish6 ment and operation of consortia through a competi7 tive selection process; and 

8 (3) coordinate the innovation activities of con9 sortia with activities carried out by the Secretary of 

10 Energy, the Secretary of Defense, other Federal 

11 agency heads, industry, and institutions of higher 

12 education, including by annually— 

13 (A) issuing guidance regarding national 

14 clean technology development priorities and 

15 strategic objectives; and 

16 (B) convening a conference relating to 

17 clean technology, which shall bring together 

18 representatives of Federal agencies, industry, 

19 institutions of higher education, and other enti20 ties to share research and commercialization re21 sults, program plans, and opportunities for col22 laboration. 

23 (d) ROLE OF CONSORTIA.—The consortia shall— 


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1 (1) promote new innovative clean technologies 

2 that have demonstrated interest and potential for 

3 commercialization; 

4 (2) expand advanced manufacturing capabili5 ties, networks, supply chains, and assets, in the area 

6 of clean technologies, that contribute to regional and 

7 national manufacturing competitiveness and poten8 tial for growth; 

9 (3) promote job creation and entrepreneurship 

10 through the establishment of new companies, the ex11 pansion of existing companies, and commercializa12 tion of clean technologies; 

13 (4) provide technical or financial assistance to 

14 companies looking to invest in clean technologies, 

15 new products or services, or enhanced processes that 

16 will grow sales and jobs; 

17 (5) determine opportunities and challenges that 

18 companies are facing and how to improve their use 

19 or production of clean technologies; 

20 (6) equip individual small- and medium-sized 

21 enterprises with the capacity and agility to change 

22 through the adoption and utilization of new clean 

23 technologies and related business practices; 


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1 (7) accelerate investment in and deployment of 

2 clean technologies through public-private partner3 ships; 

4 (8) encourage partnering between and among 

5 emerging and established clean technology and ad6 vanced manufacturing enterprises; and 

7 (9) demonstrate a comprehensive and successful 

8 model for commercialization of clean technologies for 

9 promotion and emulation. 

10 SEC. 4. APPLICATIONS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under this Act, 

12 a consortium shall submit to the Secretary an application 

13 in such manner, at such time, and containing such infor14 mation as the Secretary determines to be necessary. 

15 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—A consortium shall be eligible to 

16 receive a grant under this Act if— 

17 (1) the consortium consists of— 

18 (A) 1 or more research universities that 

19 can demonstrate a significant annual clean 

20 technology research budget, entrepreneurial 

21 support programs, and technology licensing ex22 pertise; and 

23 (B) a total of 5 or more qualifying entities 

24 that can demonstrate expertise in translational 


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1 research, clean technology, and cluster develop2 ment; 

3 (2) the members of the consortium have estab4 lished a binding agreement that documents— 

5 (A) the structure of the partnership agree6 ment; 

7 (B) a governance and management struc8 ture that enables cost-effective implementation 

9 of the program; 

10 (C) a conflicts-of-interest policy, including 

11 procedures, consistent with those of the Depart12 ment of Commerce, to ensure that employees 

13 and designees for consortium activities who are 

14 in decisionmaking capacities disclose all mate15 rial conflicts of interest, including financial, or16 ganizational, and personal conflicts of interest; 

17 (D) an accounting structure that meets the 

18 requirements of the Secretary and that may be 

19 audited under this Act; and 

20 (E) the existence of an external advisory 

21 committee; 

22 (3) the consortium receives funding from non23 Federal sources, such as a State and participants of 

24 the consortium, that may be used to support 

25 projects; 


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1 (4) the consortium is part of an existing cluster 

2 or demonstrates high potential to develop a new 

3 cluster; and 

4 (5) the consortium operates as a nonprofit or5 ganization or as a public-private partnership under 

6 an operating agreement led by a nonprofit organiza7 tion. 

8 (c) DISQUALIFICATION.—The Secretary may dis9 qualify an application from a consortium under this Act 

10 if the Secretary determines that the conflicts-of-interest 

11 policy of the consortium is inadequate. 

12 (d) EXTERNAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

14 grant under this Act, a consortium shall establish an 

15 external advisory committee, the members of which 

16 shall have extensive and relevant scientific, technical, 

17 industry, financial, or research management exper18 tise. 

19 (2) DUTIES.—An external advisory committee 

20 shall— 

21 (A) review the proposed plans, programs, 

22 project selection criteria, and projects of the 

23 consortium; and 


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1 (B) ensure that projects selected by the 

2 consortium meet the applicable conflicts-of-in3 terest policy of the consortium. 

4 (3) MEMBERS.—An external advisory com5 mittee shall consist of— 

6 (A) representatives of the members of the 

7 consortium; and 

8 (B) such representatives of industry, in9 cluding entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, 

10 as the members of the consortium determine to 

11 be necessary. 

12 (4) SECRETARY AS MEMBER.—The Secretary 

13 shall join the external advisory committee of a con14 sortium that receives a grant under this Act. 

15 SEC. 5. GRANTS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award grants, 

17 on a competitive basis, to 6 or more consortia. 

18 (b) TERMS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The initial term of a grant 

20 awarded under this Act shall not exceed 5 years. 

21 (2) EXTENSION.—The Secretary may extend 

22 the term of a grant awarded under this Act for a 

23 period of not more than 5 additional years. 

24 (c) AMOUNTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant awarded to a con2 sortium under this Act shall not exceed the lesser 

3 of— 

4 (A) $30,000,000 per fiscal year; or 

5 (B) the collective contributions of non-Fed6 eral entities to the consortium, as described 

7 under section 4(b)(3). 

8 (2) FLEXIBILITY.—In determining the amount 

9 of a grant under this section, the Secretary shall 

10 consider— 

11 (A) the translational research capacity of 

12 the consortium; 

13 (B) the financial, human, and facility re14 sources of the qualifying entities; and 

15 (C) the cluster of which the consortium is 

16 a part. 

17 (3) INCREASES IN AMOUNTS.—Subject to para18 graph (1), a consortium may request an increase in 

19 the amount of a grant awarded under this Act at the 

20 time the consortium requests an extension of an ini21 tial grant. 

22 (d) USE OF AMOUNTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (3), a 

24 consortium awarded a grant under this Act shall use 

25 the amounts to support translational research, techVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Sep 26, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5548.IH H5548

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1 nology development, manufacturing innovation, and 

2 commercialization activities relating to clean tech3 nology. 

4 (2) PROJECT SELECTION.—As a condition of 

5 receiving a grant under this Act, a consortium 

6 shall— 

7 (A) develop and make available to the pub8 lic on the Web site of the Department of Com9 merce proposed plans, programs, project selec10 tion criteria, and terms for individual project 

11 awards; 

12 (B) establish policies— 

13 (i) to prevent resources provided to 

14 the consortium from being used to displace 

15 private sector investment otherwise likely 

16 to occur, including investment from private 

17 sector entities that are members of the 

18 consortium; 

19 (ii) to facilitate the participation of 

20 private entities that invest in clean tech21 nologies to perform due diligence on award 

22 proposals, to participate in the award re23 view process, and to provide guidance to 

24 projects supported by the consortium; and 


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1 (iii) to facilitate the participation of 

2 parties with a demonstrated history of 

3 commercial application of clean tech4 nologies in the development of consortium 

5 projects; 

6 (C) oversee project solicitations, review 

7 proposed projects, and select projects for 

8 awards; and 

9 (D) monitor project implementation. 

10 (3) LIMITATIONS.— 

11 (A) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—A con12 sortium may use not more than 10 percent of 

13 the amounts awarded to the consortium for ad14 ministrative expenses. 

15 (B) PROHIBITION ON USE.—A consortium 

16 may not use any amounts awarded to the con17 sortium under this Act to construct a new 

18 building or facility. 

19 (e) AUDITS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—A consortium that receives a 

21 grant under this Act shall carry out, in accordance 

22 with such requirements as the Secretary may pre23 scribe, an annual audit to determine whether the 

24 grant has been used in accordance with this Act. 


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1 (2) REPORT.—The consortium shall submit a 

2 copy of each audit under paragraph (1) to the Sec3 retary and the Comptroller General of the United 

4 States. 

5 (3) GAO REVIEW.—As a condition of receiving 

6 a grant under this Act, a consortium shall allow the 

7 Comptroller General of the United States, on the re8 quest of the Comptroller General, full access to the 

9 books, records, and personnel of consortium. 

10 (4) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

11 shall submit to Congress annually a report that in12 cludes— 

13 (A) a copy of each audit carried out under 

14 paragraph (1); and 

15 (B) any recommendations of the Secretary 

16 relating to the clean technology consortia pro17 gram. 

18 (f) REVOCATION OF AWARDS.—The Secretary shall 

19 have the authority— 

20 (1) to review grants awarded under this Act; 

21 and 

22 (2) to revoke a grant awarded under this Act 

23 if the Secretary determines that a consortium has 

24 used the grant in a manner that is not consistent 

25 with this Act. 


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1 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

2 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

3 out this section $100,000,000. 

Æ 


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