I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2961 
To provide for advanced biological and environmental research and develop-
ment 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 re-
search and development capabilities and infrastructure 
at the Department of Energy, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of Energy 
Biological Innovation Opportunities Act’’ or the ‘‘Depart-
ment of Energy BIO Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRON-
MENTAL RESEARCH PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 977(f) of the Energy Pol-
icy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16317) is amended to read 
as follows: 
‘‘(f) BIOENERGY RESEARCH CENTERS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out activities 
under subsection (a), the Director shall select and 
establish up to four bioenergy research centers to 
conduct basic and fundamental research in plant 
and microbial systems biology, bio imaging and anal-
ysis, and genomics to inform the production of fuels, 
chemicals from sustainable biomass resources, and 
to facilitate the translation of basic research results 
to industry. 
‘‘(2) SELECTION.—The Director shall select 
centers under paragraph (1) on a competitive, merit- 
reviewed basis. The Director shall consider applica-
tions from National Laboratories, multi-institutional 
collaborations, and other appropriate entities. 
‘‘(3) DURATION.—A center established under 
this subsection shall receive support for a period of 
not more than 5 years, subject to the availability of 
appropriations. 
‘‘(4) EXISTING CENTERS.—The Director may 
select a center for participation under this sub-
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section that is in existence, or undergoing a renewal 
process, on the date of enactment of the Department 
of Energy BIO Act. Such center shall be eligible to 
receive support for the duration the 5-year period 
beginning on the date of establishment of such cen-
ter. 
‘‘(5) RENEWAL.—Upon the expiration of any 
period of support of a center under this subsection, 
the Director may renew support for the center, on 
a merit-reviewed basis, for a period of not more than 
5 years. 
‘‘(6) TERMINATION.—Consistent with the exist-
ing authorities of the Department, the Director may 
terminate an underperforming center for cause dur-
ing the performance period.’’. 
(b) USER FACILITIES.—Section 306 of the Depart-
ment of Energy Research and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 
18644) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 
USER FACILITIES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall carry 
out a program for the development, construction, op-
eration, and maintenance of user facilities to en-
hance the collection and analysis of observational 
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data related to complex biological, earth, and envi-
ronmental systems. 
‘‘(2) FACILITY REQUIREMENTS.—To the max-
imum extent practicable, the user facilities devel-
oped, constructed, operated, or maintained under 
paragraph (1) shall include— 
‘‘(A) distributed field research and obser-
vation platforms for understanding earth sys-
tem processes; 
‘‘(B) instruments and modeling resources 
for understanding the physical, chemical, and 
cellular processes of biological and environ-
mental systems; 
‘‘(C) integrated high-throughput sequenc-
ing, DNA design and synthesis, metabolomics 
and computational analysis; and 
‘‘(D) such other facilities as the Director 
considers appropriate, consistent with section 
209 of the Department of Energy Organization 
Act (42 U.S.C. 7139). 
‘‘(3) EXISTING
FACILITIES.—In carrying out 
the program established in paragraph (1), the Direc-
tor is encouraged to evaluate the capabilities of ex-
isting user facilities and, to the maximum extent 
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practicable, invest in modernization of those capa-
bilities to address emerging research priorities.’’. 
Æ 
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