I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3032 

To amend the Small Business Act to establish the Office of Environment, 

Energy, and Climate Change and to establish the Climate Change Center 

and Clearinghouse to provide support and information on climate change 

to small business concerns. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2009 

Mr. WELCH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Small Business 

A BILL 

To amend the Small Business Act to establish the Office 

of Environment, Energy, and Climate Change and to 

establish the Climate Change Center and Clearinghouse 

to provide support and information on climate change 

to small business concerns. 

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 ‘‘Climate Change Center 

5 and Clearinghouse Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) There are 26.8 million small business con2 cerns in the United States, and they are the back3 bone of the American economy. However, small busi4 ness concerns face overwhelming obstacles in ad5 dressing climate change issues, such as reducing 

6 their carbon footprint while balancing business needs 

7 to remain economically competitive. 

8 (2) The United States Government is the larg9 est purchaser of goods and services in the world and 

10 plays a large role in influencing the overall business 

11 marketplace. In 2006, the United States Govern12 ment spent over $417 billion on goods and services 

13 in 8.3 million separate contract actions. Small busi14 ness concerns won approximately $80 billion in con15 tracts which is about 21.5 percent of the remaining 

16 prime contracts. 

17 (3) The Small Business Act of 1953 specified 

18 that small business concerns should be given every 

19 opportunity to compete fairly for the award of Fed20 eral contracts. Congress has long recognized the 

21 value of small business concerns because they are 

22 important sources of job creation and economic 

23 growth; however, small business concerns are typi24 cally disadvantaged in competing against large 

25 firms. 


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1 (4) The United States Environmental Protec2 tion Agency has created a directory to help small 

3 business concerns access financial services by State 

4 or service type (i.e. loans, consulting, credit, etc.) to 

5 help small business concerns achieve energy effi6 ciency through their Energy Star Small Business— 

7 Financial Resources Directory. 

8 (5) The fusion of a powerful purchasing mecha9 nism with green business practices provides a small 

10 business concern with significant incentives and op11 portunities for market penetration of environ12 mentally preferable products, for the development of 

13 green services, and for the adoption of green prac14 tices in their own facilities. 

15 (6) Many small businesses have taken the first 

16 step in incorporating sustainable practices into their 

17 own business, however small business concerns face 

18 obstacles in comparing the cost, performance, and 

19 life cycle environmental impacts of alternatives. Most 

20 small business concerns do not have the scientific 

21 and technical capability to fully assess the issues 

22 and choices to address the impact of climate change. 

23 In addition, small business concerns offering green 

24 products and services often face barriers to market 

25 acceptance of environmentally preferable products 


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1 and services when competing with products or serv2 ice practices that have long-standing market pene3 tration. 

4 (7) It is vital for the competitiveness of the 

5 United States that small business concerns, includ6 ing small, minority-owned, women-owned, historically 

7 underutilized businesses (HUBZones), and veteran8 owned small business concerns be provided greater 

9 opportunity to become a procurement source for 

10 goods and services to Federal agencies. It is also 

11 critical that small business concerns be encouraged 

12 to develop and supply environmentally sound prod13 ucts and services. 

14 (8) By utilizing new energy efficient tech15 nologies and whole building design practices, small 

16 business concerns can save in long-term operating 

17 costs, become more competitive, improve the produc18 tivity and health of employees, and reduce their car19 bon footprint. 

20 (9) In the National Small Business Associa21 tion’s 2006 energy survey, the majority of owners of 

22 small business concerns said they have been affected 

23 by rising energy prices and that reducing energy 

24 costs would increase profitability. At the same time, 

25 over half of these entrepreneurs have not invested in 


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1 energy efficient programs for their small business 

2 concerns. 

3 (10) There are many ways to increase energy 

4 efficiency. For example, an owner of a small busi5 ness concern who replaces twenty 100-watt incandes6 cent bulbs with 27-watt compact fluorescent bulbs 

7 would pay $400 up-front, but save $980 over one 

8 year. 

9 (11) Today, buildings account for more than a 

10 third of the carbon emissions in the United States. 

11 Whole building design practices, also known as green 

12 buildings, have a positive effect on the reduction of 

13 green house gases and the health of the environ14 ment, increase production of workers, and improve 

15 the water supply for communities. Studies have 

16 shown— 

17 (A) a 2 to 16 percent increase in produc18 tivity in buildings that incorporate whole build19 ing design practices; and 

20 (B) that an up-front investment of 2 per21 cent in whole building design practices, on aver22 age, results in life cycle savings of 20 percent 

23 of the total construction costs. 

24 (12) Some of the tools that a small business 

25 concern could use to design are— 


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1 (A) green roofs, vegetated roof systems 

2 that passively perform no less than eight highly 

3 beneficial and cost-saving functions; 

4 (B) daylighting, because people respond, 

5 concentrate, and think better with diffuse, full6 spectrum light provided by the sun; 

7 (C) on-site renewable energy, produced 

8 from fuels that have a stable, predictable supply 

9 such as solar, wind, biomass, and ground 

10 sources; 

11 (D) natural ventilation, which can replace 

12 all or part of mechanical ventilation systems, 

13 improving indoor air quality and occupant com14 fort; and 

15 (E) integrated design, the method by 

16 which the design team identifies systems early 

17 in the process to provide a coordinated imple18 mentation of efficiency and building methods, 

19 realizing an exponential gain in savings and 

20 comfort. 

21 SEC. 3. OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY, AND CLIMATE 

22 CHANGE. 

23 The Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) is 

24 amended by redesignating section 44 as section 45, and 

25 by inserting after section 43 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 44. OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY, AND CLI2 MATE CHANGE. 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

4 the Small Business Administration an office to be known 

5 as the Office of Environment, Energy, and Climate 

6 Change headed by an Assistant Administrator for Envi7 ronment, Energy, and Climate Change, who shall be ap8 pointed by, and report to, the Administrator of the Small 

9 Business Administration. 

10 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Office of Environment, Energy, 

11 and Climate Change shall— 

12 ‘‘(1) oversee and administer the Climate 

13 Change Center and Clearinghouse established under 

14 subsection (c); 

15 ‘‘(2) promote energy efficiency efforts for small 

16 business concerns; 

17 ‘‘(3) promote efforts to reduce energy costs of 

18 small business concerns; and 

19 ‘‘(4) oversee efforts by small business concerns 

20 to develop renewable energy technologies. 

21 ‘‘(c) CLIMATE CHANGE CENTER AND CLEARING22 HOUSE.— 

23 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 

24 within the Office of Environment, Energy, and Cli25 mate Change an office to be known as the Climate 


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1 Change Center and Clearinghouse (hereinafter in 

2 this section referred to as the ‘Center’). 

3 ‘‘(2) DUTIES OF THE CENTER.—The Center 

4 shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) provide scientific, economic, and tech6 nical information to small business concerns 

7 on— 

8 ‘‘(i) assessing and managing the tech9 nical, economic, and business impacts of 

10 climate change; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) cost savings and revenue gains 

12 made possible through carbon credit trad13 ing opportunities and Federal and State 

14 renewable energy and energy efficiency tax 

15 relief programs, purchase incentives, and 

16 rebate programs; 

17 ‘‘(B) ensure that the information described 

18 in subparagraph (A) is available to small busi19 ness concerns by— 

20 ‘‘(i) placing the information on a 

21 website accessible by small business con22 cerns; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) developing and carrying out na24 tionwide workshops for small business con25 cerns, with such workshops recorded and 


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1 made available to small business concerns 

2 on a website and, if practicable, broadcast 

3 live on the internet; 

4 ‘‘(C) coordinate any efforts which are un5 dertaken by the Department of Energy’s Om6 budsman, the Environmental Protection Agen7 cy’s Small Business Ombudsman, the National 

8 Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manu9 facturing Extension Partnership, the Small 

10 Business and Agriculture Regulatory Enforce11 ment Ombudsman, the Office of Small and Dis12 advantaged Business Utilization within each 

13 Federal agency having procurement powers, 

14 and other appropriate Federal departments and 

15 agencies to provide technical, scientific, and en16 gineering support to small business concerns for 

17 the purpose of maintaining competitiveness 

18 while— 

19 ‘‘(i) developing green products or serv20 ices; 

21 ‘‘(ii) implementing green business 

22 practices; or 

23 ‘‘(iii) reducing the amount of pollution 

24 produced by the small business concern; 

25 ‘‘(D) develop a baseline study— 


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1 ‘‘(i) that provides a broad analysis 

2 that aggregates small business energy con3 sumption and emissions; 

4 ‘‘(ii) that includes, but is not limited 

5 to, an analysis of the energy consumption 

6 and greenhouse gas emissions from proc7 esses, practices, and product developments 

8 of small business concerns; 

9 ‘‘(iii) the development of which the 

10 Center shall coordinate with similar efforts 

11 undertaken by other Federal agencies; and 

12 ‘‘(iv) which upon completion is made 

13 available to the public on a website. 

14 ‘‘(E) raise awareness among small business 

15 concerns of the information, technical support, 

16 and network opportunities made available 

17 through the Energy Star Program to reduce en18 ergy waste and energy costs; 

19 ‘‘(F) develop a carbon footprint website 

20 that contains— 

21 ‘‘(i) educational and technical infor22 mation on how small business concerns can 

23 reduce their carbon footprint; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) links to tools and information re2 lating to carbon footprints available on 

3 other websites; and 

4 ‘‘(iii) a carbon footprint calculator 

5 which can calculate a rough estimate of a 

6 small business concern’s carbon emissions 

7 based on, but not limited to, the concern’s 

8 electricity usage, heating fuel usage, and 

9 fleet mileage; and 

10 ‘‘(G) develop a marketing plan and coordi11 nate with the Office of Small Business Develop12 ment Centers to raise awareness among small 

13 business concerns of the Center’s duties and 

14 available resources. 

15 ‘‘(3) DUTIES OF THE HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS

16 AND AGENCIES.—The head of each Federal depart17 ment or agency shall provide information to the Cen18 ter, upon request, unless otherwise prohibited by 

19 law. 

20 ‘‘(d) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall estab22 lish an interagency working group, which shall be 

23 co-chaired by the Assistant Administrator for Envi24 ronment, Energy, and Climate Change and the AdVerDate Nov 24 2008 21:26 Jul 01, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3032.IH H3032

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1 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

2 and shall include representatives from— 

3 ‘‘(A) the National Institute of Standards 

4 and Technology; 

5 ‘‘(B) the Department of Energy; 

6 ‘‘(C) the Department of Transportation; 

7 ‘‘(D) the Office of Small Business Develop8 ment Centers; 

9 ‘‘(E) small business concerns; and 

10 ‘‘(F) any additional agency that the Presi11 dent may designate. 

12 ‘‘(2) ADVISORS.—The co-chairs of the inter13 agency working group may appoint representatives 

14 from environmental groups and groups concerned 

15 with climate change to advise the working group. 

16 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The interagency working group 

17 shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) establish goals and priorities for the 

19 Center; and 

20 ‘‘(B) provide for interagency coordination, 

21 including budget coordination, of activities un22 dertaken by the Center. 

23 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) GREEN PRODUCTS OR SERVICES AND

25 GREEN BUSINESS PRACTICES.—The Administrator 


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1 of the Small Business Administration shall, in con2 sultation with the Environmental Protection Agency, 

3 the General Services Administration, and other ap4 propriate Federal departments and agencies, specify 

5 a detailed definition for the terms ‘green products or 

6 services’ and ‘green business practices’ for purposes 

7 of this section. 

8 ‘‘(2) GREENHOUSE GAS.—For purposes of this 

9 section, the term ‘greenhouse gas’ means— 

10 ‘‘(A) carbon dioxide; 

11 ‘‘(B) methane; 

12 ‘‘(C) nitrous oxide; 

13 ‘‘(D) hydrofluorocarbons; 

14 ‘‘(E) perfluorocarbons; or 

15 ‘‘(F) sulfur hexafluoride. 

16 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

18 necessary to carry out this section.’’. 

Æ 


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