I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3523 

To direct the Secretary of Energy to provide for the establishment of accreditation standards relating to biofuel engineering, to provide support for 

undergraduate and graduate degree programs that create the engineering 

skills necessary to support biofuel production, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2009 

Mr. TEAGUE (for himself and Mr. BILBRAY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Energy to provide for the establishment of accreditation standards relating to biofuel 

engineering, to provide support for undergraduate and 

graduate degree programs that create the engineering 

skills necessary to support biofuel production, 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 ‘‘Biofuel Engineering 

5 Training Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITION. 

2 In this Act— 

3 (1) the term ‘‘biofuel engineering’’ means the 

4 discipline concerned with utilization of harvested liv5 ing plant material to produce fuels; and 

6 (2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

7 of Energy. 

8 SEC. 3. STUDY AND DEVELOPMENT OF STANDARDS. 

9 The Secretary shall make a grant to an appropriate 

10 standard-setting or other entity to conduct a study of, and 

11 develop appropriate standards for, accreditation of under12 graduate and graduate biofuel engineering programs at in13 stitutions of higher education, and to study and the needs 

14 of the biofuel industry for engineering support. Such study 

15 shall include— 

16 (1) a determination of subspecialty require17 ments for engineers who will concentrate on creating 

18 other products in addition to fuel, including animal 

19 feed and other consumer products; 

20 (2) consideration of the interaction of biological 

21 feedstock with the structural material in the produc22 tion and distribution systems, the carbon footprint 

23 of the production and distribution of biofuels, and 

24 related genetic challenges; and 


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1 (3) supplemental courses of study that could be 

2 used by experienced engineers for transition into the 

3 new biofuel engineering discipline. 

4 SEC. 4. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE FOR BIOFUELS RE5 SEARCH AND TRAINING. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish, 

7 through the Office of Science, Centers of Excellence for 

8 Biofuels Research and Training at institutions of higher 

9 education or consortia of such institutions across the 

10 country. 

11 (b) SELECTION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

13 grants for the establishment of Centers of Excellence 

14 to eligible institutions through a competitive applica15 tion process. 

16 (2) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall establish 

17 selection criteria for awarding grants under para18 graph (1). These criteria shall require participating 

19 institutions to— 

20 (A) effectively integrate biofuels research, 

21 training, and instruction; 

22 (B) bring together the study and practice 

23 of a broad range of disciplines with relevance to 

24 biofuel engineering; 


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1 (C) work with companies that are in the 

2 process of commercializing biofuels technology; 

3 and 

4 (D) work with local communities to assist 

5 with economic development and job creation in 

6 the biofuels sector. 

7 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for car9 rying out this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 

10 2010 through 2014. 

11 SEC. 5. BIOFUEL ENGINEERING GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP 

12 PROGRAM. 

13 (a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE STUDENT.—In this 

14 section, the term ‘‘eligible student’’ means a student who 

15 attends an institution of higher education that offers a 

16 doctoral or masters degree in the biofuel engineering field. 

17 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

18 a graduate fellowship program for eligible students pur19 suing a doctoral degree in the biofuel engineering field. 

20 (c) SELECTION.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

22 fellowships to eligible students under this section 

23 through a competitive merit review process, involving 

24 written and oral interviews. 


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1 (2) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall establish 

2 selection criteria for awarding fellowships under this 

3 section that require an eligible student— 

4 (A) to pursue a field of science or engi5 neering of importance to a mission area of the 

6 Department; 

7 (B) to demonstrate to the Secretary— 

8 (i) the capacity of the eligible student 

9 to understand technical topics relating to 

10 the fellowship that can be derived from the 

11 first principles of the technical topics; 

12 (ii) imagination and creativity; 

13 (iii) leadership skills in organizations 

14 or intellectual endeavors, demonstrated 

15 through awards and past experience; 

16 (iv) excellent verbal and communica17 tion skills to explain, defend, and dem18 onstrate an understanding of technical 

19 subjects relating to the fellowship; and 

20 (v) an understanding of how the many 

21 disciplines relevant to biofuel engineering 

22 interact in the biofuel engineering field; 

23 and 

24 (C) to be a citizen or legal permanent resi25 dent of the United States. 


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1 (d) AWARDS.— 

2 (1) AMOUNT.—A fellowship awarded under this 

3 section shall— 

4 (A) provide an annual living stipend; and 

5 (B) cover— 

6 (i) graduate tuition at an institution 

7 of higher education described in subsection 

8 (a); and 

9 (ii) incidental expenses associated 

10 with curricula and research at the institu11 tion of higher education (including books, 

12 computers, and software). 

13 (2) DURATION.—A fellowship awarded under 

14 this section shall be for up to 3 years of study within 

15 a 5-year period. 

16 (3) PORTABILITY.—A fellowship awarded under 

17 this section shall be portable with the eligible stu18 dent. 

19 (e) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary— 

20 (1) shall administer the program established 

21 under this section through the Office of Science; and 

22 (2) may enter into a contract with a nonprofit 

23 entity to administer the program, including the se24 lection and award of fellowships. 


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1 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

3 out this section $3,500,000 for each fiscal year. 

4 SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF FEDERAL FACILITIES. 

5 Agencies of the Federal Government, including na6 tional laboratories, shall make research facilities available 

7 to accredited biofuel engineering programs for faculty and 

8 students to enhance education and training opportunities. 

Æ 


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