(b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of the grants, con-
tracts, and assistance under this section shall be to sup-
port commercial-scale demonstrations of carbon capture or 
storage technology projects capable of advancing the tech-
nologies to commercial readiness. Such projects should en-
compass a range of different coal and other fossil fuel vari-
eties, be geographically diverse, involve diverse storage 
media, and employ capture or storage, or capture and con-
version, technologies potentially suitable either for new or 
for retrofit applications. 
(c) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Entities eligible for grants, 
contracts or assistance under this section may include dis-
tribution utilities, electric utilities and other private enti-
ties, academic institutions, national laboratories, Federal 
research agencies, State research agencies, non-profit or-
ganizations, or consortiums of 2 or more entities. Pilot- 
scale and similar small-scale projects are not eligible for 
support by the Corporation. 
(d) ADMINISTRATION.—The members of the Board 
of Directors of the Corporation shall elect a Chairman and 
other officers as necessary, may establish committees and 
subcommittees of the Corporation, and shall adopt rules 
and bylaws for the conduct of business and the implemen-
tation of this Act. The Board shall appoint an Executive 
Director and professional support staff who may be em-
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ployees of the Electric Power Research Institute. After 
consultation with the Technical Advisory Committee es-
tablished under section 10, the Secretary, and the Director 
of the National Energy Technology Laboratory to obtain 
advice and recommendations on plans, programs, and 
project selection criteria, the Board shall establish prior-
ities for grants, contracts, and assistance; publish requests 
for proposals for grants, contracts and assistance; award 
grants, contracts and assistance competitively, on the 
basis of merit, after the establishment of procedures that 
provide for scientific peer review by the Technical Advisory 
Committee. The Board shall give preference to applica-
tions that reflect the best overall value and prospect for 
achieving the purposes of the Act, such as those which 
demonstrate an integrated approach for capture and stor-
age or capture and conversion technologies. The Board 
members shall not participate in making grants or awards 
to entities with whom they are affiliated. 
(e) USES
OF GRANTS, CONTRACTS, AND ASSIST-
ANCE.—A grant, contract, or other assistance provided 
under this section may be used to purchase carbon dioxide 
when needed to conduct tests of carbon dioxide storage 
sites, in the case of established projects that are storing 
carbon dioxide emissions, or for other purposes consistent 
with the purposes of this Act. The Corporation shall make 
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publicly available at no cost information learned as a re-
sult of projects which it supports financially. 
(f) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.—The Board shall es-
tablish policies regarding the ownership of intellectual 
property developed as a result of Corporation grants and 
other forms of technology support. Such policies shall en-
courage individual ingenuity and invention. 
(g) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Up to 5 percent 
of the funds collected in any fiscal year under section 5 
may be used for the administrative expenses of operating 
the Corporation (not including costs incurred in the deter-
mination and collection of the assessments pursuant to 
section 5). 
(h) PROGRAMS AND BUDGET.—Before August 1 each 
year, the Corporation, after consulting with the Technical 
Advisory Committee and the Secretary and the Director 
of the Department’s National Energy Technology Labora-
tory and other interested parties to obtain advice and rec-
ommendations, shall publish for public review and com-
ment its proposed plans, programs, project selection cri-
teria, and projects to be funded by the Corporation for 
the next calendar year. The Corporation shall also publish 
for public review and comment a budget plan for the next 
calendar year, including the probable costs of all pro-
grams, projects, and contracts and a recommended rate 
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of assessment sufficient to cover such costs. The Secretary 
may recommend program and activities the Secretary con-
siders appropriate. 
(i) RECORDS; AUDITS.—The Corporation shall keep 
minutes, books, and records that clearly reflect all of the 
acts and transactions of the Corporation and make public 
such information. The books of the Corporation shall be 
audited by a certified public accountant at least once each 
fiscal year and at such other times as the Corporation may 
designate. Copies of each audit shall be provided to the 
Congress, all Corporation board members, all qualified in-
dustry organizations, each State regulatory authority and, 
upon request, to other members of the industry. If the 
audit determines that the Corporation’s practices fail to 
meet generally accepted accounting principles the assess-
ment collection authority of the Corporation under section 
5 shall be suspended until a certified public accountant 
renders a subsequent opinion that the failure has been cor-
rected. 
(j) PUBLIC ACCESS.—(1) The Corporation Board’s 
meetings shall be open to the public and shall occur after 
at least 30 days advance public notice. Meetings of the 
Board of Directors may be closed to the public where the 
agenda of such meetings includes only confidential matters 
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pertaining to project selection, the award of grants or con-
tracts, personnel matter, or the receipt of legal advice. 
(2) The minutes of all meetings of the Corporation 
shall be made available to and readily accessible by the 
public. 
(k) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each year the Corporation 
shall prepare and make publicly available a report which 
includes an identification and description of all programs 
and projects undertaken by the Corporation during the 
previous year. The report shall also detail the allocation 
or planned allocation of Corporation resources for each 
such program and project. The Corporation shall provide 
its annual report to the Congress, the Secretary, each 
State regulatory authority, and upon request to the public. 
SEC. 5. ASSESSMENTS. 
(a) AMOUNT.—(1) In all calendar years following its 
establishment, the Corporation shall collect an assessment 
on distribution utilities for all fossil fuel-based electricity 
delivered directly to retail consumers (as determined under 
section 6). The assessments shall reflect the relative car-
bon dioxide emission rates of different fossil fuel-based 
electricity, and initially shall be not less than the following 
amounts for coal, natural gas, and oil: 
Fuel type 
Rate of assessment 
per kilowatt hour 
Coal ...................................................................
$0.00043 
Natural Gas ......................................................
$0.00022 
Oil .....................................................................
$0.00032. 
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(2) The Corporation is authorized to adjust the as-
sessments on fossil fuel-based electricity to reflect changes 
in the expected quantities of such electricity from different 
fuel types, such that the assessments generate not less 
than $1.0 billion and not more than $1.1 billion annually. 
The Corporation is authorized to supplement assessments 
through additional financial commitments. 
(b) INVESTMENT OF FUNDS.—Pending disbursement 
pursuant to a program, plan, or project, the Corporation 
may invest funds collected through assessments under this 
section, and any other funds received by the Corporation, 
only in obligations of the United States or any agency 
thereof, in general obligations of any State or any political 
subdivision thereof, in any interest-bearing account or cer-
tificate of deposit of a bank that is a member of the Fed-
eral Reserve System, or in obligations fully guaranteed as 
to principal and interest by the United States. 
(c) REVERSION OF UNUSED FUNDS.—If the Cor-
poration does not disburse, dedicate or assign 75 percent 
or more of the available proceeds of the assessed fees in 
any calendar year 7 or more years following its establish-
ment, due to an absence of qualified projects or similar 
circumstances, 
it 
shall 
reimburse 
the 
remaining 
undedicated or unassigned balance of such fees, less ad-
ministrative and other expenses authorized by this Act, to 
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the distribution utilities upon which such fees were as-
sessed, in proportion to their collected assessments. 
SEC. 6. ERCOT. 
(a) ASSESSMENT, COLLECTION, AND REMITANCE.— 
(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, with-
in ERCOT, the assessment provided for in section 5 shall 
be— 
(A) levied directly on qualified scheduling 
entities, or their successor entities; 
(B) charged consistent with other charges 
imposed on qualified scheduling entities as a fee 
on energy used by the load serving entities; and 
(C) collected and remitted by ERCOT to 
the Corporation in the amounts and in the 
same manner as set forth in section 5. 
(2) The assessment amounts referred to in paragraph 
(1) shall be— 
(A) determined by the amount and types of fos-
sil fuel-based electricity delivered directly to all retail 
customers in the prior calendar year beginning with 
the year ending immediately prior to the period de-
scribed in section 3(b); and 
(B) take into account the number of renewable 
energy credits retired by the load serving entities 
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represented by a qualified scheduling entity within 
the prior calendar year. 
(b) ADMINISTRATION EXPENSES.—Up to 1 percent 
of the funds collected in any fiscal year by ERCOT under 
the provisions of this section may be used for the adminis-
trative expenses incurred in the determination, collection 
and remittance of the assessments to the Corporation. 
(c) AUDIT.—ERCOT shall provide a copy of its an-
nual audit pertaining to the administration of the provi-
sions of this section to the Corporation. 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘ERCOT’’ means the Electric Re-
liability Council of Texas. 
(2) The term ‘‘load serving entities’’ has the 
meaning adopted by ERCOT Protocols and in effect 
on the date of enactment of this Act. 
(3) The term ‘‘qualified scheduling entities’’ has 
the meaning adopted by ERCOT Protocols and in 
effect on the date of enactment of this Act. 
(4) The term ‘‘renewable energy credit’’ has the 
meaning as promulgated and adopted by the Public 
Utility Commission of Texas pursuant to section 
39.904(b) of the Public Utility Regulatory Act of 
1999, and in effect on the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
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SEC. 7. DETERMINATION OF FOSSIL FUEL-BASED ELEC-
TRICITY DELIVERIES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that: 
(1) The assessments under section 5 are to be 
collected based on the amount of fossil fuel gen-
erated electricity delivered by each distribution util-
ity. 
(2) Since many distribution utilities purchase 
all or part of their retail consumer’s electricity needs 
from other entities, it may not be practical to deter-
mine the precise fuel mix for the power sold by each 
individual distribution utility. 
(3) It may be necessary to use average data, 
often on a regional basis with reference to Regional 
Transmission organization or NERC regions, to 
make the determinations necessary for making as-
sessments. 
(b) DOE PROPOSED RULE.—The Secretary, acting 
in close consultation with the Energy Information Admin-
istration, shall issue for notice and comment a proposed 
rule to determine the level of fossil fuel electricity delivered 
to retail customers by each distribution utility in the 
United States during the most recent calendar year or 
other period determined to be most appropriate. Such pro-
posed rule shall balance the need to be efficient, reason-
ably precise and timely, taking into account the nature 
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and cost of data currently available and the nature of mar-
kets and regulation in effect in various regions of the 
country. Different methodologies may be applied in dif-
ferent regions if appropriate to obtain the best balance of 
such factors. 
(c) FINAL RULE.—Within 6 months after the enact-
ment of this Act, and after opportunity for comment, the 
Secretary shall issue a final rule under this section for 
determining the level and type of fossil fuel electricity de-
livered to retail customers by each distribution utility in 
the United States during the appropriate period. In 
issuing such rule, the Secretary may consider opportuni-
ties and costs to develop new data sources in the future 
and issue recommendations for the Energy Information 
Administration or other entities to collect such data. After 
notice and opportunity for comment the Secretary may, 
by rule, subsequently update and modify the methodology 
for making such determinations. 
(d) ANNUAL DETERMINATIONS.—Pursuant to the 
final rule issued under subsection (c), the Secretary shall 
make annual determinations of the amounts and types for 
each such utility and publish such determinations in the 
Federal Register. Such determinations shall be used to 
conduct the referendum under section 3 and by the Cor-
poration in applying any assessment under this title. 
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(e) REHEARING AND JUDICIAL REVIEW.—The owner 
or operator of any distribution utility that believes that 
the Secretary has misapplied the methodology in the final 
rule in determining the amount and types of fossil fuel 
electricity delivered by such distribution utility may seek 
rehearing of such determination within 30 days of publica-
tion of the determination in the Federal Register. The 
Secretary shall decide such rehearing petitions within 30 
days. The Secretary’s determinations following rehearing 
shall be final and subject to judicial review in the United 
States court of appeals for the District of Columbia. 
SEC. 8. COMPLIANCE WITH CORPORATION ASSESSMENTS. 
The Corporation may bring an action in the appro-
priate court of the United States to compel compliance 
with an assessment levied by the Corporation under this 
Act. A successful action for compliance under this section 
may also require payment by the defendant of the costs 
incurred by the Corporation in bringing such action. 
SEC. 9. MIDCOURSE REVIEW. 
Not later than 5 years following establishment of the 
Corporation, the Comptroller General of the United States 
shall prepare an analysis, and report to Congress, assess-
ing the Corporation’s activities, including project selection 
and methods of disbursement of assessed fees, impacts on 
the prospects for commercialization of carbon capture and 
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storage technologies, and adequacy of funding. The report 
shall also make such recommendations as may be appro-
priate in each of these areas. The Corporation shall reim-
burse the Government Accountability Office for the costs 
associated with performing this midcourse review. 
SEC. 10. RECOVERY OF COSTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—A distribution utility whose trans-
mission, delivery, or sales of electric energy are subject 
to any form of rate regulation shall not be denied the op-
portunity to recover the full amount of the prudently in-
curred costs associated with complying with this Act, con-
sistent with applicable State or Federal law. 
(b) RATEPAYER REBATES.—Regulatory authorities 
that approve cost recovery pursuant to subsection (a) may 
order rebates to ratepayers to the extent that distribution 
utilities are reimbursed undedicated or unassigned bal-
ances pursuant to section 5(c). 
SEC. 11. TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an advi-
sory committee, to be known as the ‘‘Technical Advisory 
Committee’’. 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Technical Advisory Com-
mittee shall be comprised of not less than 7 members ap-
pointed by the Board from among academic institutions, 
national laboratories, independent research institutions, 
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and other qualified institutions. No member of the Com-
mittee shall be affiliated with EPRI or with any organiza-
tion having members serving on the Board. At least one 
member of the Committee shall be appointed from among 
officers or employees of the Department of Energy rec-
ommended to the Board by the Secretary of Energy. 
(c) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The 
Board shall designate one member of the Technical Advi-
sory Committee to serve as Chairperson of the Committee 
and one to serve as Vice Chairperson of the Committee. 
(d) COMPENSATION.—The Board shall provide com-
pensation to members of the Technical Advisory Com-
mittee for travel and other incidental expenses and such 
other compensation as the Board determines to be nec-
essary. 
(e) PURPOSE.—The Technical Advisory shall provide 
independent assessments and technical evaluations, as well 
as make non-binding recommendations to the Board, con-
cerning Corporation activities, including but not limited 
to the following: 
(1) Reviewing and evaluating the Corporation’s 
plans and budgets described in section 4 (h), as well 
as any other appropriate areas, which could include 
approaches to prioritizing technologies, appropriate-
ness of engineering techniques, monitoring and 
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verification technologies for storage, geological site 
selection, cost control measures. 
(2) Making annual non-binding recommenda-
tions to the Board concerning any of the matters re-
ferred to in paragraph (1), as well as what types of 
investments, scientific research, or engineering prac-
tices would best further to the goals of the Corpora-
tion. 
(f) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—All reports, evaluations, 
and other materials of the Technical Advisory Committee 
shall be made available to the public by the Board, without 
charge, at time of receipt by the Board. 
SEC. 12. LOBBYING RESTRICTIONS. 
No funds collected by the Corporation shall be used 
in any manner for influencing legislation or elections, ex-
cept that the Corporation may recommend to the Sec-
retary and the Congress changes in this Act or other stat-
utes that would further the purposes of this Act. 
SEC. 13. DAVIS-BACON COMPLIANCE. 
The Corporation shall ensure that entities receiving 
grants, contracts, or other financial support from the Cor-
poration for the project activities authorized by this Act 
are in compliance with the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. 
276a–276a–5). 
Æ 
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