II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1286 

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, and 

Ms. HARRIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Energy Technology 

5 Maturation Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ENERGY TECHNOLOGY MATURATION PROGRAM. 

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

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

4 at the end the following: 

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

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

7 ‘‘(1) DEPARTMENT FACILITY.—The term ‘De8 partment facility’ includes— 

9 ‘‘(A) a National Laboratory; 

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

11 (such as the Kansas City National Security 

12 Campus, the Nevada National Security Site, the 

13 Pantex Plant, and the Y–12 National Security 

14 Complex); and 

15 ‘‘(C) any partnership of entities described 

16 in subparagraphs (A) and (B). 

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

18 the Energy Technology Maturation Program estab19 lished under subsection (b). 

20 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab21 lish a program, to be known as the ‘Energy Technology 

22 Maturation Program’, under which the Secretary shall 

23 provide funding to Department facilities to facilitate the 

24 commercialization of energy and related technologies 

25 that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) exhibit promising commercial potential; 

2 and 

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

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

5 use funding provided under the program— 

6 ‘‘(1) to carry out additional development activi7 ties on any technology developed at the Department 

8 facility to advance the state of the technology to the 

9 degree that a private sector partner would be inter10 ested in supporting commercialization of the tech11 nology; or 

12 ‘‘(2) in any case in which a private sector part13 ner has been identified and the identified private 

14 sector partner has executed or will execute a tech15 nology partnership agreement, to support coopera16 tive development of a technology developed at the 

17 Department facility for a specific commercial appli18 cation of the technology. 

19 ‘‘(d) APPLICATIONS.— 

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

21 funding under the program, a Department facility 

22 shall submit to the Secretary an application at such 

23 time, in such manner, and containing such informa24 tion as the Secretary may require. 


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

2 subsection shall— 

3 ‘‘(A) include a description of— 

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

5 the applicable technology is successfully 

6 commercialized; 

7 ‘‘(ii) the intended accomplishments of 

8 the project proposed to be carried out 

9 using the funding with respect to advanc10 ing the maturity and commercial potential 

11 of the applicable technology; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) a project plan, including a de13 scription of each activity required to be 

14 carried out to accomplish the specific ob15 jectives of the project; and 

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

17 Secretary that each Department facility and 

18 private sector partner involved in the proposed 

19 project, and any other resource required to 

20 carry out the project, is qualified and capable 

21 of successfully completing, and is available to 

22 complete, the project, including a description of 

23 the roles and responsibilities proposed to be 

24 carried out. 


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1 ‘‘(3) MULTIPLE PROJECTS.—A Department fa2 cility may submit to the Secretary an application for 

3 1 or more technology maturation projects under the 

4 program. 

5 ‘‘(4) APPROVAL BY SECRETARY.— 

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

7 develop criteria for evaluating applications 

8 under this subsection, which may include— 

9 ‘‘(i) the potential that a proposed 

10 technology will result in a commercially 

11 successful product within a reasonable 

12 timeframe; 

13 ‘‘(ii) the relative maturity of a pro14 posed technology for commercial applica15 tion; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) the proposed technical approach 

17 and capability of the Department facilities 

18 and private sector partners to successfully 

19 implement a project. 

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

21 receive funding under the program, the Sec22 retary shall give priority to an application sub23 mitted by a partnership between— 

24 ‘‘(i) a Department facility; and 

25 ‘‘(ii) a small business concern. 


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

2 to a recipient for a technology maturation project funded 

3 under the program shall be not more than— 

4 ‘‘(1) $150,000 for an activity described in sub5 section (c)(1); and 

6 ‘‘(2) $750,000 for an activity described in sub7 section (c)(2). 

8 ‘‘(f) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENTS.—The cost9 sharing requirements of the program, including require10 ments relating to in-kind contributions, shall be deter11 mined by the Secretary in accordance with section 988. 

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

13 the program— 

14 ‘‘(1) amounts in the Energy Technology Com15 mercialization Fund established under section 

16 1001(e); or 

17 ‘‘(2) any other amounts made available to sup18 port technology transfer within the Department. 

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

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

21 description of the results of the technology maturation 

22 projects carried out under the program.’’. 

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

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


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

2 relating to title X the following: 

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

Æ 


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