II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1096 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish an EnergyGrant Competitive 

Education Program to competitively award grants to consortia of institutions of higher education in regions to conduct research, extension, and 

education programs relating to the energy needs of the regions. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 20, 2009 

Mr. WYDEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Energy to establish an 

EnergyGrant Competitive Education Program to competitively award grants to consortia of institutions of 

higher education in regions to conduct research, extension, and education programs relating to the energy 

needs of the regions. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. ENERGYGRANT COMPETITIVE EDUCATION 

4 PROGRAM. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

2 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

3 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 

4 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 

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

6 the Secretary of Energy, acting through the Director 

7 appointed under subsection (c). 

8 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 

9 (A) a State; 

10 (B) the District of Columbia; 

11 (C) the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; 

12 and 

13 (D) any other territory or possession of the 

14 United States. 

15 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

16 and carry out a program to awards grants, on a competi17 tive basis, to each consortium of institutions of higher edu18 cation operating in each of the regions established under 

19 subsection (d) to conduct research, extension, and edu20 cation programs relating to the energy needs of the re21 gions. 

22 (c) DIRECTOR.—The Secretary shall appoint a Direc23 tor to carry out the program established under this sec24 tion. 

25 (d) GRANTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use 

2 amounts made available under this section to award 

3 grants, on a competitive basis, to each consortium of 

4 institutions of higher education located in each of at 

5 least 6 regions established by the Secretary that, col6 lectively, cover all States. 

7 (2) MANNER OF DISTRIBUTION.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

9 subparagraph (B), in making grants for a fiscal 

10 year under this section, the Secretary shall 

11 award grants to each consortium of institutions 

12 of higher education in equal amounts for each 

13 region of not less than $50,000,000 for each re14 gion. 

15 (B) TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS.—The 

16 Secretary may adjust the amount of grants 

17 awarded to a consortium of institutions of high18 er education in a region under this section if 

19 the region contains territories or possessions of 

20 the United States. 

21 (3) PLANS.—As a condition of an initial grant 

22 under this section, a consortium of institutions of 

23 higher education in a region shall submit to the Sec24 retary for approval a plan that— 


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1 (A) addresses the energy needs for the re2 gion; and 

3 (B) describes the manner in which the pro4 posed activities of the consortium will address 

5 those needs. 

6 (4) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH REQUIRE7 MENTS.—If the Secretary finds on the basis of a re8 view of the annual report required under subsection 

9 (g) or on the basis of an audit of a consortium of 

10 institutions of higher education conducted by the 

11 Secretary that the consortium has not complied with 

12 the requirements of this section, the consortium 

13 shall be ineligible to receive further grants under 

14 this section for such period of time as may be pre15 scribed by the Secretary. 

16 (e) USE OF FUNDS.— 

17 (1) COMPETITIVE GRANTS.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—A consortium of insti19 tutions of higher education in a region that is 

20 awarded a grant under this section shall use the 

21 grant to conduct research, extension, and edu22 cation programs relating to the energy needs of 

23 the region, including— 


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1 (i) the promotion of low-carbon clean 

2 and green energy and related jobs that are 

3 applicable to the region; 

4 (ii) the development of low-carbon 

5 green fuels to reduce dependency on oil; 

6 (iii) the development of energy storage 

7 and energy management innovations for 

8 intermittent renewable technologies; and 

9 (iv) the accelerated deployment of effi10 cient-energy technologies in new and exist11 ing buildings and in manufacturing facili12 ties. 

13 (B) ADMINISTRATION.— 

14 (i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clauses 

15 (ii) through (vi), the Secretary shall make 

16 grants under this paragraph in accordance 

17 with section 989 of the Energy Policy Act 

18 of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16353). 

19 (ii) PRIORITY.—A consortium of insti20 tutions of higher education in a region 

21 shall give a higher priority to programs 

22 that are consistent with the plan approved 

23 by the Secretary for the region under sub24 section (d)(3). 


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1 (iii) TERM.—A grant awarded to a 

2 consortium of institutions of higher edu3 cation under this section shall have a term 

4 that does not exceed 5 years. 

5 (iv) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 

6 As a condition of receiving a grant under 

7 this paragraph, the Secretary shall require 

8 the recipient of the grant to share costs re9 lating to the program that is the subject of 

10 the grant in accordance with section 988 

11 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 

12 U.S.C. 16352). 

13 (v) BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES.— 

14 Funds made available for grants under 

15 this section shall not be used for the con16 struction of a new building or facility or 

17 the acquisition, expansion, remodeling, or 

18 alteration of an existing building or facility 

19 (including site grading and improvement 

20 and architect fees). 

21 (vi) LIMITATION ON INDIRECT

22 COSTS.—A consortium of institutions of 

23 higher education may not recover the indi24 rect costs of using grants under subparaVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:37 May 22, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1096.IS S1096

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1 graph (A) in excess of the limits estab2 lished under paragraph (2). 

3 (C) FEDERALLY FUNDED RESEARCH AND

4 DEVELOPMENT CENTERS.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—A federally funded 

6 research and development center may be a 

7 member of a consortium of institutions of 

8 higher education that receives a grant 

9 under this section. 

10 (ii) SCOPE.—The Secretary shall en11 sure that the scope of work performed by 

12 a single federally funded research and de13 velopment center in the consortium is not 

14 more significant than the scope of work 

15 performed by any of the other academic in16 stitutions of higher education in the con17 sortium. 

18 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—A consor19 tium of institutions of higher education may use up 

20 to 15 percent of the funds described in subsection 

21 (d) to pay administrative and indirect expenses in22 curred in carrying out paragraph (1), unless other23 wise approved by the Secretary. 

24 (f) GRANT INFORMATION ANALYSIS CENTER.—A 

25 consortium of institutions of higher education in a region 


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1 shall maintain an Energy Analysis Center at 1 or more 

2 of the institutions of higher education to provide the insti3 tutions of higher education in the region with analysis and 

4 data management support. 

5 (g) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than 90 days after 

6 the end of each fiscal year, a consortium of institutions 

7 of higher education receiving a grant under this section 

8 shall submit to the Secretary a report that describes the 

9 policies, priorities, and operations of the program carried 

10 out by the consortium of institutions of higher education 

11 under this section during the fiscal year. 

12 (h) ADMINISTRATION.—Not later than 180 days after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es14 tablish such criteria and procedures as are necessary to 

15 carry out this section. 

16 (i) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall coordinate 

17 with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of 

18 Commerce each activity carried out under the program 

19 under this section— 

20 (1) to avoid duplication of efforts; and 

21 (2) to ensure that the program supplements 

22 and does not supplant— 

23 (A) the Sun Grant program established 

24 under section 7526 of the Food, Conservation, 

25 and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8114); and 


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1 (B) the national Sea Grant college pro2 gram carried out by the Administrator of the 

3 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra4 tion. 

5 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out— 

7 (1) this section $300,000,000 for each of fiscal 

8 years 2010 through 2014; and 

9 (2) the activities of the Department of Energy 

10 (including biomass and bioenergy feedstock assess11 ment research) under the Sun Grant program estab12 lished under section 7526 of the Food, Conservation, 

13 and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8114) 

14 $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2010 through 

15 2014. 

Æ 


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