I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4138

To authorize the hydrogen research, development, and demonstration

programs of the Department of Energy, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 24, 1996

Mr. WALKER (for himself and Mr. BROWN of California) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science

A BILL

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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

5 of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 For purposes of titles II and III—

8 (1) the term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart9 ment of Energy; and
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1 (2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

2 of Energy.

3 TITLE I—HYDROGEN

4 SEC. 101. PURPOSES AND DEFINITIONS.

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

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

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

8 research, development, and demonstration program lead9 ing to the production, storage, transport, and use of hy10 drogen for industrial, residential, transportation, and util11 ity applications;’’.

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

13 12401(c)) is amended—

14 (1) in subsection (1) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and in15 serting ‘‘;’’;

16 (2) by redesignating subsection (2) as sub17 section (3); and

18 (3) by inserting before subsection (3) (as redes19 ignated) the following new subsection:

20 ‘‘(2) ‘Department’ means the Department of Energy;

21 and’’.

22 SEC. 102. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.

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

24 12402) is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘§ 103. Report to Congress

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

3 shall transmit to Congress a detailed report on the status

4 and progress of the programs authorized under this Act.

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

6 addition to any views and recommendations of the Sec7 retary—

8 ‘‘(1) an analysis of the effectiveness of the pro9 grams authorized under this chapter, to be prepared

10 and submitted to the Secretary by the Hydrogen

11 Technical Advisory Panel established under section

12 108 of this Act; and

13 ‘‘(2) recommendations of the Hydrogen Tech14 nical Advisory Panel for any improvements in the

15 program that are needed, including recommenda16 tions for additional legislation.’’.

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

18 U.S.C. 12407(d)) is amended—

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

20 (1);

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

22 (2) and inserting a period; and

23 (3) by striking paragraph (3).

24 SEC. 103. HYDROGEN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.

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

26 12403) is amended to read as follows:
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1 ‘‘§ 104. Hydrogen research and development

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

3 and development program relating to production, storage,

4 transportation, and use of hydrogen, with the goal of ena5 bling the private sector to demonstrate the technical fea6 sibility of using hydrogen for industrial, residential, trans7 portation, and utility applications.

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

9 section, the Secretary shall—

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

11 understanding and resolution of critical technical is12 sues preventing the introduction of hydrogen into

13 the marketplace;

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

15 critical technical issues that will contribute to the

16 development of more economic hydrogen production

17 and use, including, but not limited to, critical tech18 nical issues with respect to production (giving prior19 ity to those production techniques that use renew20 able energy resources as their primary source of en21 ergy for hydrogen production), liquefaction, trans22 mission, distribution, storage, and use (including use

23 of hydrogen in surface transportation); and

24 ‘‘(3) survey private sector hydrogen activities

25 and take steps to ensure that research and develop26 ment activities under this section do not displace or
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1 compete with the privately funded hydrogen research

2 and development activities of United States industry.

3 ‘‘(c) The Secretary is authorized to evaluate any rea4 sonable new or improved technology, including basic re5 search on highly innovative energy technologies, that could

6 lead or contribute to the development of economic hydro7 gen production, storage, and utilization.

8 ‘‘(d) The Secretary is authorized to evaluate any rea9 sonable new or improved technology that could lead or

10 contribute to, or demonstrate the use of, advanced renew11 able energy systems or hybrid systems for use in isolated

12 communities that currently import diesel fuel as the pri13 mary fuel for electric power production.

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

15 and demonstrations and to disseminate to researchers and

16 developers information, data, and other materials nec17 essary to support the research and development activities

18 authorized under this section and other efforts authorized

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

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

21 development activities authorized under this section only

22 through the funding of research and development propos23 als submitted by interested persons according to such pro24 cedures as the Secretary may require and evaluated on

25 a competitive basis using peer review. Such fundfing shall
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1 be in the form of a grant agreement, procurement con2 tract, or cooperative agreement (as those terms are used

3 in chapter 63 of title 31, United States Code).

4 ‘‘(g) The Secretary shall not consider a proposal sub5 mitted by a person from industry unless the proposal con6 tains a certification that reasonable efforts to obtain non7 Federal funding for the entire cost of the project have

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

9 be reasonably obtained. As appropriate, the Secretary

10 shall require a commitment from non-Federal sources of

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

12 of such proposal.

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

14 under this section that unnecessarily duplicate activities

15 carried out elsewhere by the Federal Government or indus16 try.

17 ‘‘(i) The Secretary shall establish, after consultation

18 with other Federal agencies, terms and conditions under

19 the Federal funding will be provided under this chapter

20 that are consistent with the Agreement on Subsidies and

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

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

23 3511(d)(12)).’’.
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1 (b)(1) Section 2026(a) of the Energy Policy Act of

2 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13436(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘, in

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

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

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

6 SEC. 104. DEMONSTRATIONS.

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

8 12404) is amended by adding at the end the following new

9 subsection:

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

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

12 any demonstration conducted under this section.’’.

13 SEC. 105. TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER.

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

15 12405(b)) is amended by adding at the end of the sub16 section the following:

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

18 nonproprietary information and technology, developed

19 pursuant to this chapter, among industry, academia, and

20 the Federal Government, to help the United States econ21 omy attain the economic benefits of this information and

22 technology.’’.

23 SEC. 106. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

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

25 12408) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘to other Acts’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘under other Acts’’;

3 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ from the end of para4 graph (2);

5 (3) by striking the period from the end of para6 graph (3) and inserting ‘‘;’’; and

7 (4) by adding at the end of the section the fol8 lowing:

9 ‘‘(4) $14,500,000 for fiscal year 1996;

10 ‘‘(5) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1997;

11 ‘‘(6) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 1998;

12 ‘‘(7) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1999;

13 ‘‘(8) $35,000,000 for fiscal year 2000; and

14 ‘‘(9) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2001.’’.

15 TITLE II—FUEL CELLS

16 SEC. 201. INTEGRATION OF FUEL CELLS WITH HYDROGEN

17 PRODUCTION SYSTEMS.

18 (a) Not later than 180 days after the date of enact19 ment of this section, and subject to the availability of ap20 propriations made specifically for this section, the Sec21 retary of Energy shall solicit proposals for projects to

22 prove the feasibility of integrating fuel cells with—

23 (1) photovoltaic systems for hydrogen produc24 tion; or
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1 (2) systems for hydrogen production from solid

2 waste via gasification or steam reforming.

3 (b) Each proposal submitted in response to the solici4 tation under this section shall be evaluated on a competi5 tive basis using peer review. The Secretary is not required

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

7 a meritorious proposal.

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

9 award under this section, to proposals that—

10 (1) are submitted jointly from consortia includ11 ing academic institutions, industry, State or local

12 governments, and Federal laboratories; and

13 (2) reflect proven experience and capability with

14 technologies relevant to the systems described in

15 subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2).

16 (d) In the case of a proposal involving development

17 or demonstration, the Secretary shall require a commit18 ment from non-Federal sources of at least 50 percent of

19 the cost of the development or demonstration portion of

20 the proposal.

21 (e) The Secretary shall establish, after consultation

22 with other Federal agencies, terms and conditions under

23 which Federal funding will be provided under this title

24 that are consistent with the Agreement on Subsidies and

25 Countervailing Measures referred to in section 101(d)(12)
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1 of the Uruguay Round Agreement Act (19 U.S.C.

2 3511(d)(12)).

3 SEC. 202. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 There is authorized to be appropriated, for activities

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

6 1997 and 1998, to remain available until September 30,

7 1999.

8 TITLE III—DOE SCIENTIFIC AND

9 TECHNICAL PROGRAM QUALITY

10 SEC. 301. TEMPORARY APPOINTMENTS FOR SCIENTIFIC

11 AND TECHNICAL EXPERTS IN DEPARTMENT

12 OF ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

13 PROGRAMS.

14 (a) The Secretary, utilizing authority under other ap15 plicable law and the authority of this section, may appoint

16 for a limited term, or on a temporary basis, scientists, en17 gineers, and other technical and professional personnel on

18 leave of absence from academic, industrial, or research in19 stitutions to work for the Department.

20 (b) The Department may pay, to the extent author21 ized for certain other Federal employees by section 5723

22 of title 5, United States Code, travel expenses for any indi23 vidual appointed for a limited term or on a temporary

24 basis and transportation expenses of his or her immediate

25 family and his or her household goods and personal effects
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1 from that individual’s residence at the time of selection

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

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

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

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

6 Federal service followed an agreed period of service. The

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

8 not to exceed the daily amounts prescribed under section

9 5702 of title 5 to such an individual, in lieu of transpor10 tation expenses of the immediate family and household

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

12 employment with the Department. Notwithstanding any

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

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

15 individual appointed for a term of one year or less, which

16 could be extended for no more than one additional year,

17 may be made or reimbursed from appropriations available

18 to the Department.

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