reduce emissions. In carrying out the program, the Sec-
retary shall— 
‘‘(1) develop cooperative agreements with State 
or local governments or private entities to provide 
technical assistance to— 
‘‘(A) prevent or respond to methane leaks, 
including detection, mitigation, and identifica-
tion of leaks throughout the natural gas infra-
structure (which includes natural gas storage, 
pipelines, and natural gas production sites); and 
‘‘(B) protect public health in the event of 
a major methane leak; 
‘‘(2) promote demonstration and adoption of ef-
fective methane emissions-reduction technologies in 
the private sector; 
‘‘(3) in coordination with representatives from 
private industry, State and local governments, and 
institutions of higher education, create a publicly ac-
cessible resource for best practices in the design, 
construction, maintenance, performance, monitoring, 
and incident response for— 
‘‘(A) pipeline systems; 
‘‘(B) wells; 
‘‘(C) compressor stations; 
‘‘(D) storage facilities; and 
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‘‘(E) other vulnerable infrastructure; 
‘‘(4) identify high-risk characteristics of pipe-
lines, wells, and materials, geologic risk factors, or 
other key factors that increase the likelihood of 
methane leaks; and 
‘‘(5) in collaboration with private entities and 
institutions of higher education, quantify and map 
significant methane leaks across the United States. 
‘‘(b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out the pro-
gram under this section, the Secretary shall consider the 
following: 
‘‘(1) Historical data of methane leaks. 
‘‘(2) Public health consequences. 
‘‘(3) Public safety. 
‘‘(4) Novel materials and designs for pipelines, 
compressor stations, components, and well casings. 
‘‘(5) Regional geologic traits. 
‘‘(6) Induced and natural seismicity. 
‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For ac-
tivities under this section, there are authorized to be ap-
propriated to the Secretary— 
‘‘(1) $20,000,000 for fiscal years 2019; 
‘‘(2) $21,000,000 for fiscal years 2020; 
‘‘(3) $22,050,000 for fiscal years 2021; 
‘‘(4) $23,153,000 for fiscal years 2022; and 
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‘‘(5) $24,310,000 for fiscal years 2023.’’. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in coordination 
with the Secretary of Transportation, shall submit to the 
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat-
ural Resources and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation of the Senate a report on mitigating 
natural gas storage leaks. The report shall include the fol-
lowing: 
(1) A quantitative study to evaluate the key un-
certainties related to the costs and benefits of 
downhole safety valves for the natural gas storage 
industry in the United States, including— 
(A) malfunction and failure rates of mod-
ern downhole safety valve designs; 
(B) the frequency of well failures; and 
(C) alternative emergency valve designs. 
(2) A systematic assessment of casing wall 
thickness assessment tools, which shall— 
(A) consider multiple tool types and ref-
erence wells; and 
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(B) rigorously test and compare the ability 
of these tools and techniques to identify, locate, 
and characterize corroded well casings. 
SEC. 14. NATIONAL ENERGY TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY 
REFORMS. 
(a) SPECIAL HIRING AUTHORITY FOR SCIENTIFIC, 
ENGINEERING, 
AND
PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
PER-
SONNEL.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the National 
Energy Technology Laboratory shall have the au-
thority to— 
(A) make appointments to positions in the 
Laboratory to assist in meeting a specific 
project or research need, without regard to civil 
service laws, of individuals who— 
(i) have an advanced scientific or en-
gineering background; or 
(ii) have a business background and 
can assist in specific technology-to-market 
needs; 
(B) fix the basic pay of any employee ap-
pointed under this section at a rate not to ex-
ceed level II of the Executive Schedule; and 
(C) pay any employee appointed under this 
section payments in addition to basic pay, ex-
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cept that the total amount of additional pay-
ments paid to an employee under this sub-
section for any 12-month period shall not ex-
ceed the least of— 
(i) $25,000; 
(ii) the amount equal to 25 percent of 
the annual rate of basic pay of that em-
ployee; and 
(iii) the amount of the limitation that 
is applicable for a calendar year under sec-
tion 5307(a)(1) of title 5, United States 
Code. 
(2) LIMITATIONS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The term of any em-
ployee appointed under this section shall not ex-
ceed 3 years. 
(B) FULL-TIME
EMPLOYEES.—Not more 
than 10 full-time employees appointed under 
this subsection may be employed at the Na-
tional Energy Technology Laboratory at any 
given time. 
(b) DISCRETIONARY
RESEARCH
AND
DEVELOP-
MENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 
mechanisms under which the Director of the Na-
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tional Energy Technology Laboratory may use an 
amount of funds equal to an amount that is not less 
than 2 percent and not more than 4 percent of all 
funds available to the Laboratory for the following 
purposes: 
(A) To fund innovative research that is 
conducted at the Laboratory and supports the 
mission of the Department. 
(B) To fund technology development pro-
grams that support the transition of tech-
nologies developed by the Laboratory into the 
commercial market. 
(C) To fund workforce development activi-
ties to strengthen external engineering and 
manufacturing partnerships to ensure safe, effi-
cient, productive, and useful fossil energy tech-
nology production. 
(D) To fund the revitalization, recapitaliza-
tion, or minor construction of the Laboratory 
infrastructure. 
(2) 
PRIORITIZATION.—The 
Director 
shall 
prioritize innovative experiments and proposals pro-
posed by scientists and researchers at the National 
Energy Technology Laboratory. 
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