II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4138

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 27, 1996

Received

AN ACT

To authorize the hydrogen research, development, and demonstration programs of the Department of 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hydrogen Future Act

3 of 1996’’.

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

5 For purposes of titles II and III—

6 (1) the term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart7 ment of Energy; and

8 (2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

9 of Energy.

10 TITLE I—HYDROGEN

11 SEC. 101. PURPOSES AND DEFINITIONS.

12 (a) Section 102(b)(1) of Public Law 101–566 (42

13 U.S.C. 12401(b)(1)) is amended to read as follows:

14 ‘‘(1) to direct the Secretary of Energy to conduct a

15 research, development, and demonstration program lead16 ing to the production, storage, transport, and use of hy17 drogen for industrial, residential, transportation, and util18 ity applications;’’.

19 (b) Section 102(c) of Public Law 101–566 (42 U.S.C.

20 12401(c)) is amended—

21 (1) in subsection (1) by striking ‘‘; and’’ insert22 ing ‘‘;’’;

23 (2) by redesignating subsection (2) as sub24 section (3); and

25 (3) by inserting before subsection (3) (as redes26 ignated) the following new subsection:
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1 ‘‘(2) ‘Department’ means the Department of Energy;

2 and’’.

3 SEC. 102. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

4 (a) Section 103 of Public Law 101–566 (42 U.S.C.

5 12402) is amended to read as follows:

6 ‘‘§ 103. Report to Congress

7 ‘‘(a) Not later than January 1, 1999, the Secretary

8 shall transmit to Congress a detailed report on the status

9 and progress of the programs authorized under this Act.

10 ‘‘(b) A report under subsection (a) shall include, in

11 addition to any views and recommendations of the Sec12 retary—

13 ‘‘(1) an analysis of the effectiveness of the pro14 grams authorized under this chapter, to be prepared

15 and submitted to the Secretary by the Hydrogen

16 Technical Advisory Panel established under section

17 108 of this Act; and

18 ‘‘(2) recommendations of the Hydrogen Tech19 nical Advisory Panel for any improvements in the

20 program that are needed, including recommenda21 tions for additional legislation.’’.

22 (b) Section 108(d) of Public Law 101–566 (42

23 U.S.C. 12407(d)) is amended—

24 (1) by adding ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

25 (1);
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1 (2) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end of paragraph

2 (2) and inserting a period; and

3 (3) by striking paragraph (3).

4 SEC. 103. HYDROGEN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.

5 (a) Section 104 of Public Law 101–566 (42 U.S.C.

6 12403) is amended to read as follows:

7 ‘‘§ 104. Hydrogen research and development

8 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall conduct a hydrogen research

9 and development program relating to production, storage,

10 transportation, and use of hydrogen, with the goal of ena11 bling the private sector to demonstrate the technical fea12 sibility of using hydrogen for industrial, residential, trans13 portation, and utility applications.

14 ‘‘(b) In conducting the program authorized by this

15 section, the Secretary shall—

16 ‘‘(1) give particular attention to developing an

17 understanding and resolution of critical technical is18 sues preventing the introduction of hydrogen into

19 the marketplace;

20 ‘‘(2) initiate or accelerate existing research in

21 critical technical issues that will contribute to the

22 development of more economic hydrogen production

23 and use, including, but not limited to, critical tech24 nical issues with respect to production (giving prior25 ity to those production techniques that use renew-
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1 able energy resources as their primary source of en2 ergy for hydrogen production), liquefaction, trans3 mission, distribution, storage, and use (including use

4 of hydrogen in surface transportation); and

5 ‘‘(3) survey private sector hydrogen activities

6 and take steps to ensure that research and develop7 ment activities under this section do not displace or

8 compete with the privately funded hydrogen research

9 and development activities of United States industry.

10 ‘‘(c) The Secretary is authorized to evaluate any rea11 sonable new or improved technology, including basic re12 search on highly innovative energy technologies, that could

13 lead or contribute to the development of economic hydro14 gen production, storage, and utilization.

15 ‘‘(d) The Secretary is authorized to evaluate any rea16 sonable new or improved technology that could lead or

17 contribute to, or demonstrate the use of, advanced renew18 able energy systems or hybrid systems for use in isolated

19 communities that currently import diesel fuel as the pri20 mary fuel for electric power production.

21 ‘‘(e) The Secretary is authorized to arrange for tests

22 and demonstrations and to disseminate to researchers and

23 developers information, data, and other materials nec24 essary to support the research and development activities
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1 authorized under this section and other efforts authorized

2 under this chapter, consistent with section 106 of this Act.

3 ‘‘(f) The Secretary shall carry out the research and

4 development activities authorized under this section only

5 through the funding of research and development propos6 als submitted by interested persons according to such pro7 cedures as the Secretary may require and evaluate on a

8 competitive basis using peer review. Such funding shall be

9 in the form of a grant agreement, procurement contract,

10 or cooperative agreement (as those terms are used in

11 chapter 63 of title 31, United States Code).

12 ‘‘(g) The Secretary shall not consider a proposal sub13 mitted by a person from industry unless the proposal con14 tains a certification that reasonable efforts to obtain non15 Federal funding for the entire cost of the project have

16 been made, and that such non-Federal funding could not

17 be reasonably obtained. As appropriate, the Secretary

18 shall require a commitment from non-Federal sources of

19 at least 50 percent of the cost of the development portion

20 of such a proposal.

21 ‘‘(h) The Secretary shall not carry out any activities

22 under this section that unnecessarily duplicate activities

23 carried out elsewhere by the Federal Government or indus24 try.
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1 ‘‘(i) The Secretary shall establish, after consultation

2 with other Federal agencies, terms and conditions under

3 which Federal funding will be provided under this chapter

4 that are consistent with the Agreement on Subsidies and

5 Countervailing Measures referred to in section 101(d)(12)

6 of the Uruguay Round Agreement Act (19 U.S.C.

7 3511(d)(12)).’’.

8 (b)(1) Section 2026(a) of the Energy Policy Act of

9 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13436(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘, in

10 accordance with sections 3001 and 3002 of this Act,’’.

11 (2) Effective October 1, 1998, section 2026 of the

12 Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13436) is repealed.

13 SEC. 104. DEMONSTRATIONS.

14 Section 105 of Public Law 101–566 (42 U.S.C.

15 12404) is amended by adding at the end the following new

16 subsection:

17 ‘‘(c) The Secretary shall require a commitment from

18 non-Federal sources of at least 50 percent of the cost of

19 any demonstration conducted under this section.’’.

20 SEC. 105. TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER.

21 Section 106(b) of Public Law 101–566 (42 U.S.C.

22 12405(b)) is amended by adding to the end of the sub23 section the following:

24 ‘‘The Secretary shall also foster the exchange of generic,

25 nonproprietary information and technology, developed
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1 pursuant to this chapter, among industry, academia, and

2 the Federal Government, to help the United States econ3 omy attain the economic benefits of this information and

4 technology.’’.

5 SEC. 106. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

6 Section 109 of Public Law 101–566 (42 U.S.C.

7 12408) is amended—

8 (1) by striking ‘‘to other Acts’’ and inserting

9 ‘‘under other Acts’’;

10 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ from the end of para11 graph (2);

12 (3) by striking the period from the end of para13 graph (3) and inserting ‘‘;’’; and

14 (4) by adding at the end of the section the fol15 lowing:

16 ‘‘(4) $14,500,000 for fiscal year 1996;

17 ‘‘(5) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1997;

18 ‘‘(6) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 1998;

19 ‘‘(7) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1999;

20 ‘‘(8) $35,000,000 for fiscal year 2000; and

21 ‘‘(9) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2001.’’.
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1 TITLE II—FUEL CELLS

2 SEC. 201. INTEGRATION OF FUEL CELLS WITH HYDROGEN

3 PRODUCTION SYSTEMS.

4 (a) Not later than 180 days after the date of enact5 ment of this section, and subject to the availability of ap6 propriations made specifically for this section, the Sec7 retary of Energy shall solicit proposals for projects to

8 prove the feasibility of integrating fuel cells with—

9 (1) photovoltaic systems for hydrogen produc10 tion; or

11 (2) systems for hydrogen production from solid

12 waste via gasification or steam reforming.

13 (b) Each proposal submitted in response to the solici14 tation under this section shall be evaluated on a competi15 tive gas is using peer review. The Secretary is not required

16 to make an award under this section in the absence of

17 a meritorious proposals.

18 (c) The Secretary shall give preference, in making an

19 award under this section, to proposals that—

20 (1) are submitted jointly from consortia includ21 ing academic institutions, industry, State or local

22 governments, and Federal laboratories; and

23 (2) reflect proven experience and capability with

24 technologies relevant to the systems described in

25 subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2).
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1 (d) In the case of a proposal involving development

2 or demonstration, the Secretary shall require a commit3 ment from non-Federal sources of at least 50 percent of

4 the cost of the development or demonstration portion of

5 the proposal.

6 (e) The Secretary shall establish, after consultation

7 with other Federal agencies, terms and conditions under

8 which Federal funding will be provided under this title

9 that are consistent with the Agreement on Subsidies and

10 Countervailing Measures referred to in section 101(d)(12)

11 of the Uruguay Round Agreement Act (19 U.S.C.

12 3511(d)(12)).

13 SEC. 202. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

14 There are authorized to be appropriated, for activities

15 under this section, a total of $50,000,000 for fiscal years

16 1997 and 1998, to remain available until September 30,

17 1999.

18 TITLE III—DOE SCIENTIFIC AND

19 TECHNICAL PROGRAM QUALITY

20 SEC. 301. TEMPORARY APPOINTMENTS FOR SCIENTIFIC

21 AND TECHNICAL EXPERTS IN DEPARTMENT

22 OF ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

23 PROGRAMS.

24 (a) The Secretary, utilizing authority under other ap25 plicable law and the authority of this section, may appoint
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1 for a limited term, or on a temporary basis, scientists, en2 gineers, and other technical and professional personnel on

3 leave of absence from academic, industrial, or research in4 stitutions to work for the Department.

5 (b) The Department may pay, to the extent author6 ized for certain other Federal employees by section 5723

7 of title 5, United States Code, travel expenses for any indi8 vidual appointed for a limited term or on a temporary

9 basis and transportation expenses of his or her immediate

10 family and his or her household goods and personal effects

11 from that individual’s residence at the time of selection

12 or assignment to his or her duty station. The Department

13 may pay such travel expenses to the same extent for such

14 an individual’s return to the former place of residence

15 from his or her duty station, upon separation from the

16 Federal service following an agreed period of service. The

17 Department may also pay a per diem allowance at a rate

18 not to exceed the daily amounts prescribed under section

19 5702 of title 5 to such an individual, in lieu of transpor20 tation expenses of the immediate family and household

21 goods and personal effects, for the period of his or her

22 employment with the Department. Notwithstanding any

23 other provision of law, the employer’s contribution to any

24 retirement, life insurance, or health benefit plan for an

25 individual appointed for a term of one year or less, which
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1 could be extended for no more than one additional year,

2 may be made or reimbursed from appropriations available

3 to the Department.

Passed the House of Representatives September 26,

1996.

Attest: ROBIN H. CARLE,

Clerk.

By JEFF TRANDAHL,

Assistant to the Clerk.