may bring an action at law or equity for de novo re-
view in the appropriate district court of the United 
States, which shall have jurisdiction over such an ac-
tion without regard to the amount in controversy.’’. 
TITLE VII—VEHICLES AND 
FUELS 
SEC. 701. USE OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS BY DUAL-FUELED 
VEHICLES. 
Section 400AA(a)(3)(E) of the Energy Policy and 
Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6374(a)(3)(E)) is amended 
to read as follows: 
‘‘(E)(i) Dual fueled vehicles acquired pursuant to this 
section shall be operated on alternative fuels unless the 
Secretary determines that an agency qualifies for a waiver 
of such requirement for vehicles operated by the agency 
in a particular geographic area in which—
‘‘(I) the alternative fuel otherwise required to 
be used in the vehicle is not reasonably available to 
retail purchasers of the fuel, as certified to the Sec-
retary by the head of the agency; or 
‘‘(II) the cost of the alternative fuel otherwise 
required to be used in the vehicle is unreasonably 
more expensive compared to gasoline, as certified to 
the Secretary by the head of the agency.
‘‘(ii) The Secretary shall monitor compliance with 
this subparagraph by all such fleets and shall report annu-
ally to Congress on the extent to which the requirements 
of this subparagraph are being achieved. The report shall 
include information on annual reductions achieved from 
the use of petroleum-based fuels and the problems, if any, 
encountered in acquiring alternative fuels.’’. 
SEC. 704. INCREMENTAL COST ALLOCATION. 
Section 303(c) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (42 
U.S.C. 13212(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘may’’ and in-
serting ‘‘shall’’. 
SEC. 707. REPORT CONCERNING COMPLIANCE WITH AL-
TERNATIVE FUELED VEHICLE PURCHASING 
REQUIREMENTS. 
Section 310(b)(1) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 
(42 U.S.C. 13218(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘1 year 
after the date of enactment of this subsection’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘February 15, 2006’’. 
TITLE X—DEPARTMENT OF 
ENERGY MANAGEMENT 
SEC. 1001. ADDITIONAL ASSISTANT SECRETARY POSITION. 
(a) ADDITIONAL ASSISTANT SECRETARY POSITION 
TO ENABLE IMPROVED MANAGEMENT OF NUCLEAR EN-
ERGY ISSUES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 203(a) of the De-
partment of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 
7133(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘six Assistant Sec-
retaries’’ and inserting ‘‘7 Assistant Secretaries’’. 
(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 
Congress that the leadership for departmental mis-
sions in nuclear energy should be at the Assistant 
Secretary level. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) TITLE 5.—Section 5315 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘Assistant Sec-
retaries of Energy (6)’’ and inserting ‘‘Assistant 
Secretaries of Energy (7)’’. 
(2) DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ORGANIZATION 
ACT.—The table of contents for the Department of 
Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101 note) is 
amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘Section 209’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘Sec. 209’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘213.’’ and inserting ‘‘Sec. 
213.’’; 
(C) by striking ‘‘214.’’ and inserting ‘‘Sec. 
214.’’; 
(D) by striking ‘‘215.’’ and inserting ‘‘Sec. 
215.’’; and
(E) by striking ‘‘216.’’ and inserting ‘‘Sec. 
216.’’. 
SEC. 1002. OTHER TRANSACTIONS AUTHORITY. 
Section 646 of the Department of Energy Organiza-
tion Act (42 U.S.C. 7256) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘(g)(1) In addition to other authorities granted to the 
Secretary under law, the Secretary may enter into other 
transactions on such terms as the Secretary may deem 
appropriate in furtherance of research, development, or 
demonstration functions vested in the Secretary. Such 
other transactions shall not be subject to the provisions 
of section 9 of the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research 
and Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5908) or section 
152 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2182). 
‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall ensure that—
‘‘(i) to the maximum extent the Secretary de-
termines practicable, no transaction entered into 
under paragraph (1) provides for research, develop-
ment, or demonstration that duplicates research, de-
velopment, or demonstration being conducted under 
existing projects carried out by the Department; 
‘‘(ii) to the extent the Secretary determines 
practicable, the funds provided by the Government 
under a transaction authorized by paragraph (1) do
not exceed the total amount provided by other par-
ties to the transaction; and 
‘‘(iii) to the extent the Secretary determines 
practicable, competitive, merit-based selection proce-
dures shall be used when entering into transactions 
under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(B) A transaction authorized by paragraph (1) may 
be used for a research, development, or demonstration 
project only if the Secretary makes a written determina-
tion that the use of a standard contract, grant, or coopera-
tive agreement for the project is not feasible or appro-
priate. 
‘‘(3)(A) The Secretary shall protect from disclosure, 
including disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United 
States Code, for up to 5 years after the date the informa-
tion is received by the Secretary—
‘‘(i) a proposal, proposal abstract, and sup-
porting documents submitted to the Department in 
a competitive or noncompetitive process having the 
potential for resulting in an award under paragraph 
(1) to the party submitting the information; and 
‘‘(ii) a business plan and technical information 
relating to a transaction authorized by paragraph 
(1) submitted to the Department as confidential 
business information.
‘‘(B) The Secretary may protect from disclosure, for 
up to 5 years after the information was developed, any 
information developed pursuant to a transaction under 
paragraph (1) which developed information is of a char-
acter that it would be protected from disclosure under sec-
tion 552(b)(4) of title 5, United States Code, if obtained 
from a person other than a Federal agency. 
‘‘(4) Not later than 90 days after the date of enact-
ment of this subsection, the Secretary shall prescribe 
guidelines for using other transactions authorized by para-
graph (1). Such guidelines shall be published in the Fed-
eral Register for public comment under rulemaking proce-
dures of the Department. 
‘‘(5) The authority of the Secretary under this sub-
section may be delegated only to an officer of the Depart-
ment who is appointed by the President by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate and may not be delegated 
to any other person. 
‘‘(6)(A) Not later than September 31, 2006, the 
Comptroller General of the United States shall report to 
Congress on the Department’s use of the authorities 
granted under this section, including the ability to attract 
nontraditional government contractors and whether addi-
tional safeguards are needed with respect to the use of 
such authorities.
‘‘(B) In this section, the term ‘nontraditional Govern-
ment contractor’ has the same meaning as the term ‘non-
traditional defense contractor’ as defined in section 845(e) 
of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 
1994 (Public Law 103–160; 10 U.S.C. 2371 note).’’. 
TITLE XVI—STUDIES 
SEC. 1606. TELECOMMUTING STUDY. 
(a) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Secretary, in consulta-
tion with the Commission, the Director of the Office of 
Personnel Management, the Administrator of General 
Services, and the Administrator of NTIA, shall conduct 
a study of the energy conservation implications of the 
widespread adoption of telecommuting by Federal employ-
ees in the United States. 
(b) REQUIRED SUBJECTS OF STUDY.—The study re-
quired by subsection (a) shall analyze the following sub-
jects in relation to the energy saving potential of telecom-
muting by Federal employees: 
(1) Reductions of energy use and energy costs 
in commuting and regular office heating, cooling, 
and other operations. 
(2) Other energy reductions accomplished by 
telecommuting.
(3) Existing regulatory barriers that hamper 
telecommuting, including barriers to broadband tele-
communications services deployment. 
(4) Collateral benefits to the environment, fam-
ily life, and other values. 
(c) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall submit 
to the President and Congress a report on the study re-
quired by this section not later than 6 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act. Such report shall include 
a description of the results of the analysis of each of the 
subject described in subsection (b). 
(d) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section: 
(1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Energy. 
(2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 
means the Federal Communications Commission. 
(3) NTIA.—The term ‘‘NTIA’’ means the Na-
tional Telecommunications and Information Admin-
istration of the Department of Commerce. 
(4) TELECOMMUTING.—The term ‘‘telecom-
muting’’ means the performance of work functions 
using communications technologies, thereby elimi-
nating or substantially reducing the need to com-
mute to and from traditional worksites.
(5) FEDERAL EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘Federal 
employee’’ has the meaning provided the term ‘‘em-
ployee’’ by section 2105 of title 5, United States 
Code.
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