II 

Calendar No. 178 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1286 

[Report No. 116–76] 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to facilitate the commercialization 

of energy and related technologies developed at Department of Energy 

facilities with promising commercial potential. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 2, 2019 

Mr. HEINRICH (for himself, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. MANCHIN, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. 

HARRIS, and Mr. BENNET) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

AUGUST 16, 2019 

Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of August 1, 2019, by 

Ms. MURKOWSKI, without amendment 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to facilitate the 

commercialization of energy and related technologies developed at Department of Energy facilities with promising commercial potential. 

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 ‘‘Energy Technology 

3 Maturation Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ENERGY TECHNOLOGY MATURATION PROGRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title X of the Energy Policy Act 

6 of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16391 et seq.) is amended by adding 

7 at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1012. ENERGY TECHNOLOGY MATURATION PROGRAM. 

9 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) DEPARTMENT FACILITY.—The term ‘De11 partment facility’ includes— 

12 ‘‘(A) a National Laboratory; 

13 ‘‘(B) any plant or site of the Department 

14 (such as the Kansas City National Security 

15 Campus, the Nevada National Security Site, the 

16 Pantex Plant, and the Y–12 National Security 

17 Complex); and 

18 ‘‘(C) any partnership of entities described 

19 in subparagraphs (A) and (B). 

20 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 

21 the Energy Technology Maturation Program estab22 lished under subsection (b). 

23 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab24 lish a program, to be known as the ‘Energy Technology 

25 Maturation Program’, under which the Secretary shall 

26 provide funding to Department facilities to facilitate the 


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1 commercialization of energy and related technologies 

2 that— 

3 ‘‘(1) exhibit promising commercial potential; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(2) are developed at Department facilities. 

6 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A Department facility shall 

7 use funding provided under the program— 

8 ‘‘(1) to carry out additional development activi9 ties on any technology developed at the Department 

10 facility to advance the state of the technology to the 

11 degree that a private sector partner would be inter12 ested in supporting commercialization of the tech13 nology; or 

14 ‘‘(2) in any case in which a private sector part15 ner has been identified and the identified private 

16 sector partner has executed or will execute a tech17 nology partnership agreement, to support coopera18 tive development of a technology developed at the 

19 Department facility for a specific commercial appli20 cation of the technology. 

21 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive 

23 funding under the program, a Department facility 

24 shall submit to the Secretary an application at such 


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1 time, in such manner, and containing such informa2 tion as the Secretary may require. 

3 ‘‘(2) INCLUSIONS.—An application under this 

4 subsection shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) include a description of— 

6 ‘‘(i) the potential impact on markets if 

7 the applicable technology is successfully 

8 commercialized; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the intended accomplishments of 

10 the project proposed to be carried out 

11 using the funding with respect to advanc12 ing the maturity and commercial potential 

13 of the applicable technology; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) a project plan, including a de15 scription of each activity required to be 

16 carried out to accomplish the specific ob17 jectives of the project; and 

18 ‘‘(B) demonstrate to the satisfaction of the 

19 Secretary that each Department facility and 

20 private sector partner involved in the proposed 

21 project, and any other resource required to 

22 carry out the project, is qualified and capable 

23 of successfully completing, and is available to 

24 complete, the project, including a description of 


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1 the roles and responsibilities proposed to be 

2 carried out. 

3 ‘‘(3) MULTIPLE PROJECTS.—A Department fa4 cility may submit to the Secretary an application for 

5 1 or more technology maturation projects under the 

6 program. 

7 ‘‘(4) APPROVAL BY SECRETARY.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

9 develop criteria for evaluating applications 

10 under this subsection, which may include— 

11 ‘‘(i) the potential that a proposed 

12 technology will result in a commercially 

13 successful product within a reasonable 

14 timeframe; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the relative maturity of a pro16 posed technology for commercial applica17 tion; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) the proposed technical approach 

19 and capability of the Department facilities 

20 and private sector partners to successfully 

21 implement a project. 

22 ‘‘(B) PRIORITY.—In selecting applicants to 

23 receive funding under the program, the Sec24 retary shall give priority to an application sub25 mitted by a partnership between— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a Department facility; and 

2 ‘‘(ii) a small business concern. 

3 ‘‘(e) AMOUNT OF FUNDING.—The amount provided 

4 to a recipient for a technology maturation project funded 

5 under the program shall be not more than— 

6 ‘‘(1) $150,000 for an activity described in sub7 section (c)(1); and 

8 ‘‘(2) $750,000 for an activity described in sub9 section (c)(2). 

10 ‘‘(f) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENTS.—The cost11 sharing requirements of the program, including require12 ments relating to in-kind contributions, shall be deter13 mined by the Secretary in accordance with section 988. 

14 ‘‘(g) FUNDING.—The Secretary may use to carry out 

15 the program— 

16 ‘‘(1) amounts in the Energy Technology Com17 mercialization Fund established under section 

18 1001(e); or 

19 ‘‘(2) any other amounts made available to sup20 port technology transfer within the Department. 

21 ‘‘(h) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary shall include 

22 in the annual report required under section 1001(h)(2) a 

23 description of the results of the technology maturation 

24 projects carried out under the program.’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

2 the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 119 

3 Stat. 594) is amended by adding at the end of the items 

4 relating to title X the following: 

‘‘Sec. 1012. Energy Technology Maturation Program.’’. 


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Calendar No. 178 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1286 

[Report No. 116–76] 

A BILL 

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to facilifacilities with promising commercial potential. technologies developed at Department of Energy tate the commercialization of energy and related 

AUGUST 16, 2019 

Reported without amendment 


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