II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1637 

To establish a geothermal heat pump technology acceleration program relating 

to General Services Administration facilities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 15, 2007 

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

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To establish a geothermal heat pump technology acceleration 

program relating to General Services Administration facilities. 

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

3 SECTION 1. GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMP TECHNOLOGY AC4 CELERATION PROGRAM. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis7 trator’’ means the Administrator of General Serv8 ices. 

9 (2) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION FA10 CILITY.— 

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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘General 

2 Services Administration facility’’ means any 

3 building, structure, or facility, in whole or in 

4 part (including the associated support systems 

5 of the building, structure, or facility), that— 

6 (i) is constructed (including facilities 

7 constructed for lease), renovated, or pur8 chased, in whole or in part, by the Admin9 istrator for use by the Federal Govern10 ment; or 

11 (ii) is leased, in whole or in part, by 

12 the Administrator for use by the Federal 

13 Government— 

14 (I) except as provided in sub15 clause (II), for a term of not less than 

16 5 years; or 

17 (II) for a term of less than 5 

18 years, if the Administrator determines 

19 that use of cost-effective technologies 

20 and practices would result in the pay21 back of expenses. 

22 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘General Serv23 ices Administration facility’’ includes any group 

24 of buildings, structures, or facilities described in 

25 subparagraph (A) (including the associated enmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 ergy-consuming support systems of the build2 ings, structures, and facilities). 

3 (C) EXEMPTION.—The Administrator may 

4 exempt from the definition of ‘‘General Services 

5 Administration facility’’ under this paragraph a 

6 building, structure, or facility that meets the re7 quirements of section 543(c) of Public Law 95– 

8 619 (42 U.S.C. 8253(c)). 

9 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es11 tablish a program to accelerate the use of geo12 thermal heat pumps at General Services Administra13 tion facilities. 

14 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The program established 

15 under this subsection shall— 

16 (A) ensure centralized responsibility for 

17 the coordination of geothermal heat pump rec18 ommendations, practices, and activities of all 

19 relevant Federal agencies; 

20 (B) provide technical assistance and oper21 ational guidance to applicable tenants to 

22 achieve the goal identified in subsection 

23 (c)(2)(B)(ii); and 

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1 (C) establish methods to track the success 

2 of Federal departments and agencies with re3 spect to that goal. 

4 (c) ACCELERATED USE OF GEOTHERMAL HEAT

5 PUMP TECHNOLOGIES.— 

6 (1) REVIEW.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—As part of the program 

8 under this section, not later than 90 days after 

9 the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis10 trator shall conduct a review of— 

11 (i) current use of geothermal heat 

12 pump technologies in General Services Ad13 ministration facilities; and 

14 (ii) the availability to managers of 

15 General Services Administration facilities 

16 of geothermal heat pumps. 

17 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—The review under 

18 subparagraph (A) shall— 

19 (i) examine the use of geothermal heat 

20 pumps by Federal agencies in General 

21 Services Administration facilities; and 

22 (ii) as prepared in consultation with 

23 the Administrator of the Environmental 

24 Protection Agency, identify geothermal 

25 heat pump technology standards that could 

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1 be used for all types of General Services 

2 Administration facilities. 

3 (2) REPLACEMENT.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—As part of the program 

5 under this section, not later than 180 days 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad7 ministrator shall establish, using available ap8 propriations, a geothermal heat pump tech9 nology acceleration program to achieve max10 imum feasible replacement of existing heating 

11 and cooling technologies with geothermal heat 

12 pump technologies in each General Services Ad13 ministration facility. 

14 (B) ACCELERATION PLAN TIMETABLE.— 

15 (i) IN GENERAL.—To implement the 

16 program established under subparagraph 

17 (A), not later than 1 year after the date of 

18 enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

19 shall establish a timetable, including mile20 stones for specific activities needed to re21 place existing heating and cooling tech22 nologies with geothermal heat pump tech23 nologies, to the maximum extent feasible 

24 (including at the maximum rate feasible), 

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1 at each General Services Administration 

2 facility. 

3 (ii) GOAL.—The goal of the timetable 

4 under clause (i) shall be to complete, using 

5 available appropriations, maximum feasible 

6 replacement of existing heating and cooling 

7 technologies with geothermal heat pump 

8 technologies by not later than the date that 

9 is 5 years after the date of enactment of 

10 this Act. 

11 (d) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION FACILITY

12 GEOTHERMAL HEAT PUMP TECHNOLOGIES AND PRAC13 TICES.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enact14 ment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Adminis15 trator shall— 

16 (1) ensure that a manager responsible for accel17 erating the use of geothermal heat pump tech18 nologies is designated for each General Services Ad19 ministration facility geothermal heat pump tech20 nologies and practices facility; and 

21 (2) submit to Congress a plan, to be imple22 mented to the maximum extent feasible (including at 

23 the maximum rate feasible) using available appro24 priations, by not later than the date that is 5 years 

25 after the date of enactment of this Act, that— 

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1 (A) includes an estimate of the funds nec2 essary to carry out this section; 

3 (B) describes the status of the implementa4 tion of geothermal heat pump technologies and 

5 practices at General Services Administration fa6 cilities, including— 

7 (i) the extent to which programs, in8 cluding the program established under sub9 section (b), are being carried out in ac10 cordance with this Act; and 

11 (ii) the status of funding requests and 

12 appropriations for those programs; 

13 (C) identifies within the planning, budg14 eting, and construction processes, all types of 

15 General Services Administration facility-related 

16 procedures that inhibit new and existing Gen17 eral Services Administration facilities from im18 plementing geothermal heat pump technologies; 

19 (D) recommends language for uniform 

20 standards for use by Federal agencies in imple21 menting geothermal heat pump technologies 

22 and practices; 

23 (E) in coordination with the Office of Man24 agement and Budget, reviews the budget procmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 ess for capital programs with respect to alter2 natives for— 

3 (i) permitting Federal agencies to re4 tain all identified savings accrued as a re5 sult of the use of geothermal heat pump 

6 technologies; and 

7 (ii) identifying short- and long-term 

8 cost savings that accrue from the use of 

9 geothermal heat pump technologies and 

10 practices; 

11 (F) achieves substantial operational cost 

12 savings through the application of geothermal 

13 heat pump technologies; and 

14 (G) includes recommendations to address 

15 each of the matters, and a plan for implementa16 tion of each recommendation, described in sub17 paragraphs (A) through (F). 

18 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec20 essary to carry out this section, to remain available until 

21 expended. 

Æ 

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