I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2961 

To provide for advanced biological and environmental research and development capabilities and infrastructure at the Department of Energy, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 4, 2021 

Mr. BAIRD (for himself and Mr. LUCAS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To provide for advanced biological and environmental research and development capabilities and infrastructure 

at the Department of Energy, 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 ‘‘Department of Energy 

5 Biological Innovation Opportunities Act’’ or the ‘‘Depart6 ment of Energy BIO Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRON2 MENTAL RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 977(f) of the Energy Pol4 icy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16317) is amended to read 

5 as follows: 

6 ‘‘(f) BIOENERGY RESEARCH CENTERS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out activities 

8 under subsection (a), the Director shall select and 

9 establish up to four bioenergy research centers to 

10 conduct basic and fundamental research in plant 

11 and microbial systems biology, bio imaging and anal12 ysis, and genomics to inform the production of fuels, 

13 chemicals from sustainable biomass resources, and 

14 to facilitate the translation of basic research results 

15 to industry. 

16 ‘‘(2) SELECTION.—The Director shall select 

17 centers under paragraph (1) on a competitive, merit18 reviewed basis. The Director shall consider applica19 tions from National Laboratories, multi-institutional 

20 collaborations, and other appropriate entities. 

21 ‘‘(3) DURATION.—A center established under 

22 this subsection shall receive support for a period of 

23 not more than 5 years, subject to the availability of 

24 appropriations. 

25 ‘‘(4) EXISTING CENTERS.—The Director may 

26 select a center for participation under this subVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2961.IH H2961

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1 section that is in existence, or undergoing a renewal 

2 process, on the date of enactment of the Department 

3 of Energy BIO Act. Such center shall be eligible to 

4 receive support for the duration the 5-year period 

5 beginning on the date of establishment of such cen6 ter. 

7 ‘‘(5) RENEWAL.—Upon the expiration of any 

8 period of support of a center under this subsection, 

9 the Director may renew support for the center, on 

10 a merit-reviewed basis, for a period of not more than 

11 5 years. 

12 ‘‘(6) TERMINATION.—Consistent with the exist13 ing authorities of the Department, the Director may 

14 terminate an underperforming center for cause dur15 ing the performance period.’’. 

16 (b) USER FACILITIES.—Section 306 of the Depart17 ment of Energy Research and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 

18 18644) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(e) BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH

20 USER FACILITIES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall carry 

22 out a program for the development, construction, op23 eration, and maintenance of user facilities to en24 hance the collection and analysis of observational 


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1 data related to complex biological, earth, and envi2 ronmental systems. 

3 ‘‘(2) FACILITY REQUIREMENTS.—To the max4 imum extent practicable, the user facilities devel5 oped, constructed, operated, or maintained under 

6 paragraph (1) shall include— 

7 ‘‘(A) distributed field research and obser8 vation platforms for understanding earth sys9 tem processes; 

10 ‘‘(B) instruments and modeling resources 

11 for understanding the physical, chemical, and 

12 cellular processes of biological and environ13 mental systems; 

14 ‘‘(C) integrated high-throughput sequenc15 ing, DNA design and synthesis, metabolomics 

16 and computational analysis; and 

17 ‘‘(D) such other facilities as the Director 

18 considers appropriate, consistent with section 

19 209 of the Department of Energy Organization 

20 Act (42 U.S.C. 7139). 

21 ‘‘(3) EXISTING FACILITIES.—In carrying out 

22 the program established in paragraph (1), the Direc23 tor is encouraged to evaluate the capabilities of ex24 isting user facilities and, to the maximum extent 


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1 practicable, invest in modernization of those capa2 bilities to address emerging research priorities.’’. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS