I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2516

To amend the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to provide for the dissemination of source reduction and energy efficiency

technologies.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 24, 1993

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

on Science, Space, and Technology

A BILL

To amend the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act

of 1980 to provide for the dissemination of source reduction and energy efficiency technologies.

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 ‘‘Green Technology Pro5 motion Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) The national policy of the United States de9 clares that pollution should be prevented or reduced
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1 at the source whenever feasible, prior to environ2 mentally sound recycling, treatment, or landfilling.

3 (2) There are significant opportunities for in4 dustry to reduce or prevent pollution at the source

5 through cost-effective changes in production, oper6 ation, and raw materials use.

7 (3) Such changes offer industry substantial sav8 ings in reduced raw material, pollution control, and

9 liability costs, and help to protect the environment

10 and reduce risks to worker health and safety.

11 (4) Federal Government estimates indicate that

12 businesses can reduce their waste generation 33 per13 cent to 50 percent by implementing source reduction

14 techniques, and private sector studies suggest that

15 some industry sectors can reduce their waste by up

16 to 80 percent through the use of such techniques.

17 (5) In most cases, source reduction and energy

18 efficiency techniques do not require the purchase of

19 new equipment, but merely a better understanding

20 of how to use equipment currently available.

21 (6) In fact, one recent study indicated that 25

22 percent of all source reduction activities require no

23 capital investment for implementation and, of those

24 that require capital, 50 percent of the capital ex-
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1 penditures were recouped in savings in, on average,

2 less than 18 months.

3 (7) The private sector must take the lead in re4 ducing the production of waste by manufacturing

5 companies and, in fact, many large companies have

6 contracted with consultants or performed internal

7 audits to find methods for reducing pollution in their

8 own processes.

9 (8) Source reduction is fundamentally different

10 from, and more desirable than, waste management

11 and pollution control and should be promoted by

12 Federal agencies, particularly the Department of

13 Commerce in its role in assisting businesses.

14 (9) The Federal Government can assist small15 and medium-sized companies that often are unaware

16 of the techniques available for pollution prevention

17 and the possible savings from employing them, and

18 such Government assistance will help meet the dual

19 goals of modernizing manufacturing and improving

20 the environment.

21 (10) The Environmental Protection Agency and

22 the Department of Energy can provide the Manufac23 turing Technology Centers with technical expertise

24 in this area.
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1 (11) The Environmental Protection Agency has

2 conducted over 200 source reduction assessments for

3 manufacturers and the Department of Energy has

4 conducted over 4,100 energy audits which have

5 saved companies $419 million and 77 trillion Btu’s

6 of energy.

7 (12) Assisting small- and medium-sized compa8 nies to reduce the waste products created during the

9 manufacturing process will reduce the companies’

10 costs, and thus improve the competitiveness of such

11 companies, by—

12 (A) reducing their costs of disposal;

13 (B) reducing their costs of complying with

14 environmental regulations;

15 (C) reducing their raw material costs;

16 (D) reducing liability costs associated with

17 transport and disposal; and

18 (E) assisting these companies in identify19 ing areas where their production processes are

20 inefficient.

21 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to incor22 porate environmental concerns into technology programs

23 established in the National Institute of Standards and

24 Technology.
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1 SEC. 3. DISSEMINATION OF SOURCE REDUCTION AND EN2 ERGY EFFICIENCY TECHNOLOGIES.

3 The Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of

4 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.) is amended by adding at

5 the end the following new section:

6 ‘‘SEC. 23. DISSEMINATION OF SOURCE REDUCTION AND EN7 ERGY EFFICIENCY TECHNOLOGIES.

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each Regional Center for the

9 Transfer of Manufacturing Technology established in sec10 tion 25 of the National Institute of Standards and Tech11 nology Act (15 U.S.C. 278k) shall conduct or assist in

12 the conducting of energy efficiency and source reduction

13 assessments of client companies of the Regional Centers

14 and the Manufacturing Outreach Centers established

15 under subsection (c). These assessments shall assist such

16 client companies in identifying opportunities for energy ef17 ficiency conservation and source reduction through im18 provements in manufacturing processes or the purchase

19 of new equipment.

20 ‘‘(b) TRAINING AND OTHER ASSISTANCE.—In order

21 to facilitate these energy efficiency and source reduction

22 assessments—

23 ‘‘(1) at least one employee of each Regional

24 Center (who shall be designated by such Regional

25 Center) shall receive training from the Department

26 of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency
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1 concerning the conducting of energy efficiency and

2 source reduction assessments; and

3 ‘‘(2) not later than 12 months after the date of

4 enactment of this section, the National Institute of

5 Standards and Technology, in consultation with the

6 Environmental Protection Agency and the Depart7 ment of Energy, shall make available a software as8 sessment package to the Regional Centers and the

9 Manufacturing Outreach Centers for the purpose of

10 assisting client companies in identifying opportuni11 ties for improved energy efficiency and source reduc12 tion.

13 ‘‘(c) MANUFACTURING OUTREACH CENTERS.—(1)

14 Eligible government and private sector organizations that

15 are engaged in technology or manufacturing extension ac16 tivities may apply to the Secretary for designation as Man17 ufacturing Outreach Centers, in such form and manner

18 as the Secretary may prescribe. Eligible organizations in19 clude Federal, State, and local government agencies, ex20 tension programs, universities, and laboratories; small

21 business development centers; and professional societies,

22 worker organizations, industrial organizations, nonprofit

23 organizations, community development organizations,

24 community colleges, and technical schools and colleges.
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1 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall establish standards for des2 ignation of existing technology or manufacturing extension

3 programs and for qualification of start-up programs as

4 Manufacturing Outreach Centers.

5 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the

6 term ‘source reduction’ has the same meaning as in sec7 tion 6603 of the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 (42

8 U.S.C. 13102).’’.

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