109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5143
AN ACT 
To authorize the Secretary of Energy to establish monetary 
prizes for achievements in overcoming scientific and tech-
nical barriers associated with hydrogen energy.
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 ‘‘H-Prize Act of 2006’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ADMINISTERING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘ad-
ministering entity’’ means the entity with which the 
Secretary enters into an agreement under section 
3(c). 
(2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 
means the Department of Energy. 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Energy. 
SEC. 3. PRIZE AUTHORITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 
program to competitively award cash prizes only in con-
formity with this Act to advance the research, develop-
ment, demonstration, and commercial application of hy-
drogen energy technologies. 
(b) ADVERTISING AND SOLICITATION OF COMPETI-
TORS.—
(1) ADVERTISING.—The Secretary shall widely 
advertise prize competitions to encourage broad par-
ticipation, including by individuals, universities (in-
cluding historically Black colleges and universities 
and other minority serving institutions), and large 
and small businesses (including businesses owned or
controlled by socially and economically disadvan-
taged persons). 
(2) ANNOUNCEMENT THROUGH FEDERAL REG-
ISTER NOTICE.—The Secretary shall announce each 
prize competition by publishing a notice in the Fed-
eral Register. This notice shall include the subject of 
the competition, the duration of the competition, the 
eligibility requirements for participation in the com-
petition, the process for participants to register for 
the competition, the amount of the prize, and the 
criteria for awarding the prize. 
(c) ADMINISTERING THE COMPETITIONS.—The Sec-
retary shall enter into an agreement with a private, non-
profit entity to administer the prize competitions, subject 
to the provisions of this Act. The duties of the admin-
istering entity under the agreement shall include—
(1) advertising prize competitions and their re-
sults; 
(2) raising funds from private entities and indi-
viduals to pay for administrative costs and to con-
tribute to cash prizes; 
(3) working with the Secretary to develop the 
criteria for selecting winners in prize competitions, 
based on goals provided by the Secretary;
(4) determining, in consultation with the Sec-
retary, the appropriate amount for each prize to be 
awarded; 
(5) selecting judges in accordance with section 
4(d), using criteria developed in consultation with 
the Secretary; and 
(6) preventing the unauthorized use or disclo-
sure of a registered participant’s intellectual prop-
erty, trade secrets, and confidential business infor-
mation. 
(d) FUNDING SOURCES.—Prizes under this Act shall 
consist of Federal appropriated funds and any funds pro-
vided by the administering entity (including funds raised 
pursuant to subsection (c)(2)) for such cash prizes. The 
Secretary may accept funds from other Federal agencies 
for such cash prizes. The Secretary may not give any spe-
cial consideration to any private sector entity or individual 
in return for a donation to the administering entity. 
(e) ANNOUNCEMENT
OF PRIZES.—The Secretary 
may not issue a notice required by subsection (b)(2) until 
all the funds needed to pay out the announced amount 
of the prize have been appropriated or committed in writ-
ing by the administering entity. The Secretary may in-
crease the amount of a prize after an initial announcement 
is made under subsection (b)(2) if—
(1) notice of the increase is provided in the 
same manner as the initial notice of the prize; and 
(2) the funds needed to pay out the announced 
amount of the increase have been appropriated or 
committed in writing by the administering entity. 
(f) SUNSET.—The authority to announce prize com-
petitions under this Act shall terminate on September 30, 
2017. 
SEC. 4. PRIZE CATEGORIES. 
(a) CATEGORIES.—The Secretary shall establish 
prizes for—
(1) advancements in components or systems re-
lated to—
(A) hydrogen production; 
(B) hydrogen storage; 
(C) hydrogen distribution; and 
(D) hydrogen utilization; 
(2) prototypes of hydrogen-powered vehicles or 
other hydrogen-based products that best meet or ex-
ceed objective performance criteria, such as comple-
tion of a race over a certain distance or terrain or 
generation of energy at certain levels of efficiency; 
and 
(3) transformational changes in technologies for 
the distribution or production of hydrogen that meet
or exceed far-reaching objective criteria, which shall 
include minimal carbon emissions and which may in-
clude cost criteria designed to facilitate the eventual 
market success of a winning technology. 
(b) AWARDS.—
(1) ADVANCEMENTS.—To the extent permitted 
under section 3(e), the prizes authorized under sub-
section (a)(1) shall be awarded biennially to the 
most significant advance made in each of the four 
subcategories 
described 
in 
subparagraphs 
(A) 
through (D) of subsection (a)(1) since the submis-
sion deadline of the previous prize competition in the 
same category under subsection (a)(1) or the date of 
enactment of this Act, whichever is later, unless no 
such advance is significant enough to merit an 
award. No one such prize may exceed $1,000,000. If 
less than $4,000,000 is available for a prize competi-
tion under subsection (a)(1), the Secretary may omit 
one or more subcategories, reduce the amount of the 
prizes, or not hold a prize competition. 
(2) PROTOTYPES.—To the extent permitted 
under section 3(e), prizes authorized under sub-
section (a)(2) shall be awarded biennially in alter-
nate years from the prizes authorized under sub-
section (a)(1). The Secretary is authorized to award
up to one prize in this category in each 2-year pe-
riod. No such prize may exceed $4,000,000. If no 
registered participants meet the objective perform-
ance criteria established pursuant to subsection (c) 
for a competition under this paragraph, the Sec-
retary shall not award a prize. 
(3) TRANSFORMATIONAL
TECHNOLOGIES.—To 
the extent permitted under section 3(e), the Sec-
retary shall announce one prize competition author-
ized under subsection (a)(3) as soon after the date 
of enactment of this Act as is practicable. A prize 
offered under this paragraph shall be not less than 
$10,000,000, paid to the winner in a lump sum, and 
an additional amount paid to the winner as a match 
for each dollar of private funding raised by the win-
ner for the hydrogen technology beginning on the 
date the winner was named. The match shall be pro-
vided for 3 years after the date the prize winner is 
named or until the full amount of the prize has been 
paid out, whichever occurs first. A prize winner may 
elect to have the match amount paid to another enti-
ty that is continuing the development of the winning 
technology. The Secretary shall announce the rules 
for receiving the match in the notice required by sec-
tion 3(b)(2). The Secretary shall award a prize
under this paragraph only when a registered partici-
pant has met the objective criteria established for 
the prize pursuant to subsection (c) and announced 
pursuant to section 3(b)(2). Not more than 
$10,000,000 in Federal funds may be used for the 
prize award under this paragraph. The admin-
istering entity shall seek to raise $40,000,000 to-
ward the matching award under this paragraph. 
(c) CRITERIA.—In establishing the criteria required 
by this Act, the Secretary shall consult with—
(1) the Department’s Hydrogen Technical and 
Fuel Cell Advisory Committee; 
(2) other Federal agencies, including the Na-
tional Science Foundation; and 
(3) private organizations, including professional 
societies, industry associations, and the National 
Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of 
Engineering. 
(d) JUDGES.—For each prize competition, the Sec-
retary shall assemble a panel of qualified judges to select 
the winner or winners on the basis of the criteria estab-
lished under subsection (c). Judges for each prize competi-
tion shall include individuals from outside the Depart-
ment, including from the private sector. A judge may 
not—
(1) have personal or financial interests in, or be 
an employee, officer, director, or agent of, any entity 
that is a registered participant in the prize competi-
tion for which he or she will serve as a judge; or 
(2) have a familial or financial relationship with 
an individual who is a registered participant in the 
prize competition for which he or she will serve as 
a judge. 
SEC. 5. ELIGIBILITY. 
To be eligible to win a prize under this Act, an indi-
vidual or entity—
(1) shall have complied with all the require-
ments in accordance with the Federal Register no-
tice required under section 3(b)(2); 
(2) in the case of a private entity, shall be in-
corporated in and maintain a primary place of busi-
ness in the United States, and in the case of an in-
dividual, whether participating singly or in a group, 
shall be a citizen of, or an alien lawfully admitted 
for permanent residence in, the United States; and 
(3) shall not be a Federal entity, a Federal em-
ployee acting within the scope of his employment, or 
an employee of a national laboratory acting within 
the scope of his employment.
SEC. 6. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. 
The Federal Government shall not, by virtue of offer-
ing or awarding a prize under this Act, be entitled to any 
intellectual property rights derived as a consequence of, 
or direct relation to, the participation by a registered par-
ticipant in a competition authorized by this Act. This sec-
tion shall not be construed to prevent the Federal Govern-
ment from negotiating a license for the use of intellectual 
property developed for a prize competition under this Act. 
SEC. 7. LIABILITY. 
(a) WAIVER OF LIABILITY.—The Secretary may re-
quire registered participants to waive claims against the 
Federal Government and the administering entity (except 
claims for willful misconduct) for any injury, death, dam-
age, or loss of property, revenue, or profits arising from 
the registered participants’ participation in a competition 
under this Act. The Secretary shall give notice of any 
waiver required under this subsection in the notice re-
quired by section 3(b)(2). The Secretary may not require 
a registered participant to waive claims against the admin-
istering entity arising out of the unauthorized use or dis-
closure by the administering entity of the registered par-
ticipant’s intellectual property, trade secrets, or confiden-
tial business information. 
(b) LIABILITY INSURANCE.—
(1) REQUIREMENTS.—Registered participants 
shall be required to obtain liability insurance or 
demonstrate financial responsibility, in amounts de-
termined by the Secretary, for claims by—
(A) a third party for death, bodily injury, 
or property damage or loss resulting from an 
activity carried out in connection with participa-
tion in a competition under this Act; and 
(B) the Federal Government for damage or 
loss to Government property resulting from 
such an activity. 
(2) FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT
INSURED.—The 
Federal Government shall be named as an additional 
insured under a registered participant’s insurance 
policy required under paragraph (1)(A), and reg-
istered participants shall be required to agree to in-
demnify the Federal Government against third party 
claims for damages arising from or related to com-
petition activities. 
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
(1) AWARDS.—There are authorized to be ap-
propriated to the Secretary for the period encom-
passing fiscal years 2007 through 2016 for carrying 
out this Act—
(A) $20,000,000 for awards described in 
section (4)(a)(1); 
(B) $20,000,000 for awards described in 
section 4(a)(2); and 
(C) $10,000,000 for the award described 
in section 4(a)(3). 
(2) ADMINISTRATION.—In addition to the 
amounts authorized in paragraph (1), there are au-
thorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for each 
of fiscal years 2007 through 2016 $2,000,000 for 
the administrative costs of carrying out this Act. 
(b) CARRYOVER OF FUNDS.—Funds appropriated for 
prize awards under this Act shall remain available until 
expended, and may be transferred, reprogrammed, or ex-
pended for other purposes only after the expiration of 10 
fiscal years after the fiscal year for which the funds were 
originally appropriated. No provision in this Act permits 
obligation or payment of funds in violation of section 1341 
of title 31 of the United States Code (commonly referred 
to as the Anti-Deficiency Act).
SEC. 9. NONSUBSTITUTION. 
The programs created under this Act shall not be 
considered a substitute for Federal research and develop-
ment programs.
Passed the House of Representatives May 10, 2006. 
Attest:
Clerk.
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5143
AN ACT 
To authorize the Secretary of Energy to establish 
monetary prizes for achievements in overcoming 
scientific and technical barriers associated with 
hydrogen energy.