I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3385
To strengthen provisions in the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and
Development Act of 1974 with respect to potential Climate Change.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 16, 1999
Mr. BARTON of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Science
A BILL
To strengthen provisions in the Federal Nonnuclear Energy
Research and Development Act of 1974 with respect
to potential Climate Change.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION. 1. PURPOSE
The purpose of this Act is to strengthen provisions
of the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Develop-
ment Act of 1974 to authorize and undertake a long-term
research, development, and demonstration program to—
(1) develop new and enhance existing tech-
nologies that reduce or avoid anthropogenic emis-
sions of greenhouse gases;
(2) develop new technologies that could remove
and sequester greenhouse gases from emissions
streams; and
(3) develop new technologies and practices to
remove and sequester greenhouse gases from the at-
mosphere.
SEC. 2. CLIMATE TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT
AND DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.
Subtitle B of title XXI of the Energy Policy Act of
1992 (42 U.S.C. 13471) is amended by adding the fol-
lowing new subsection:
‘‘SEC. 2120. CLIMATE TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH, DEVELOP-
MENT AND DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to di-
rect the Secretary to further the goals of development and
commercialization of technologies, through widespread ap-
plication and utilization of which will assist in stabilizing
global concentrations of greenhouse gases, by the conduct
of a long-term research, development, and demonstration
program undertaken with selected industry participants or
consortia.
‘‘(b) PROGRAM.—The Secretary, in consultation with
the Advisory Board established under section 2302, shall
establish a long-term Climate Technology Research, De-
velopment, and Demonstration Program, in accordance
with sections 3001 and 3002.
‘‘(c) PROGRAM OBJECTIVES.—The program shall
foster—
‘‘(1) development of new technologies and the
enhancement of existing technologies that reduce or
avoid anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases
and improve energy efficiency;
‘‘(2) development of new technologies that are
able to remove and sequester greenhouse gases from
emissions streams; and
‘‘(3) development of new technologies and prac-
tices to remove and sequester greenhouse gases from
the atmosphere.
‘‘(d) PROGRAM PLAN.—
‘‘(1) INITIAL PLAN.—Not later than 180 days
after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec-
retary, in consultation with appropriate representa-
tives of industry, institutions of higher education,
Department of Energy national laboratories, and
professional and technical societies, shall prepare
and submit to the Congress a 10-year program plan
to guide activities under this section.
‘‘(2) BIENNIAL UPDATE.—The Secretary shall
biennially update and resubmit the program plan to
the Congress.
‘‘(e) PROPOSALS.—
‘‘(1) SOLICITATION.—Not later than one year
after the date of submittal of the 10-year program
plan, and consistent with sections 3001 and 3002,
the Secretary shall solicit proposals for conducting
activities consistent with the 10-year program plan
and select one or more proposals not later than 180
days after such solicitations.
‘‘(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—In order for a proposal
to be considered by the Secretary, an applicant shall
provide 
evidence 
that 
the 
applicant 
has 
in
existence—
‘‘(A) the technical capability to enable it to
make use of existing research support and fa-
cilities in carrying out its research objectives;
‘‘(B) a multi-disciplinary research staff ex-
perienced in—
‘‘(i) energy generation, transmission,
distribution and end-use technologies; or
‘‘(ii) technologies or practices able to
sequester, avoid, or capture greenhouse gas
emissions; or
‘‘(iii) other directly related tech-
nologies or practices;
‘‘(C) access to facilities and equipment to
enable the conduct of laboratory-scale testing or
demonstration of technologies or related proc-
esses undertaken through the program.
‘‘(3) 
PROPOSAL
CRITERIA.—Each 
proposal
shall—
‘‘(A) demonstrate the support of the rel-
evant industry by describing—
‘‘(i) how the relevant industry has
participated in deciding what research ac-
tivities will be undertaken;
‘‘(ii) how the relevant industry will
participate in the evaluation of the appli-
cant’s progress in research and develop-
ment activities; and
‘‘(iii) the extent to which industry
funds are committed to the applicant’s
submission;
‘‘(B) have a commitment for matching
funds from non-Federal sources, which shall
consist of—
‘‘(i) cash; or
‘‘(ii) as determined by the Secretary,
the fair market value of equipment, serv-
ices, materials, appropriate technology
transfer activities, and other assets directly
related to the proposal’s cost;
‘‘(C) include a single-year and multi-year
management plan that outline how the research
and development activities will be administered
and carried out;
‘‘(D) state the annual cost of the proposal
and a breakdown of those costs; and
‘‘(E) describe the technology transfer
mechanisms that the applicant will use to make
available research results to industry and to
other researchers.
‘‘(4) CONTENTS
OF
PROPOSAL.—A proposal
under this subsection shall include—
‘‘(A) an explanation of how the proposal
will expedite the research, development, dem-
onstration, and commercialization of tech-
nologies capable of—
‘‘(i) reducing or avoiding anthropo-
genic emissions of greenhouse gases;
‘‘(ii) removing and sequestering green-
house gases from emissions streams; or
‘‘(1) will best result in carrying out needed re-
search, development, and demonstration related to
technologies able to assist in the stabilization of
global greenhouse gas concentrations through one or
more of the following approaches—
‘‘(A) improvement in the performance of
fossil-fueled energy technologies;
‘‘(B) development of greenhouse gas cap-
ture and sequestration technologies and proc-
esses;
‘‘(C) cost reduction and acceleration of de-
ployment of renewable resource and distributed
generation technologies;
‘‘(D) development of an advanced nuclear
generation design; and
‘‘(E) improvement in the efficiency of elec-
trical generation, transmission, distribution,
and end use;’’
‘‘(F) design and use of—
‘‘(i) closed-loop multi-stage industrial
processes that minimize raw material con-
sumption and waste streams;
‘‘(ii) advanced co-production systems
(such as coal-based chemical processing
and biomass fuel processing); and
‘‘(iii) recycling and industrial-ecology
programs integrating energy efficiency.
‘‘(2) represent research and development in spe-
cific areas identified in the program plan developed
biennially by the Secretary and submitted to Con-
gress under subsection (c);
‘‘(3) demonstrate strong industry support;
‘‘(4) ensure the timely transfer of technology to
industry; and
‘‘(5) otherwise best carry out this section.
‘‘(g) ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTS.—The Director of
the Office of Science and Technology, in consultation with
the Director of the Office of Management and Budget,
shall prepare and submit an annual report to Congress
that—
‘‘(1) certifies that the program objectives are
adequately focused, peer-reviewed and merit-re-
viewed, and not unnecessarily duplicative with the
science and technology research being conducted by
other Federal agencies and agents, and
‘‘(2) states whether the program as conducted
in the prior year addresses an adequate breadth and
range of technologies and solutions to address an-
thropogenic climate change, including—
‘‘(A) capture and sequestration of green-
house gas emissions;
‘‘(B) development of photovoltaic, high-ef-
ficiency coal, advanced nuclear, and fuel cell
generation technologies;
‘‘(C) cost reduction and acceleration of de-
ployment of renewable resource and distributed
generation technologies; and
‘‘(D) improvement in the efficiency of elec-
trical generation, transmission, distribution,
and end use;
‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
$200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 through 2010,
to remain available until expended. This authorization is
supplemental to existing authorities and shall not be con-
strued as a cap on the Department of Energy’s Research,
Development and Demonstration programs.’’.
SEC. 3. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND IMPLEMENTING PRO-
GRAM FOR ENERGY RESEARCH, DEVELOP-
MENT, AND DEMONSTRATION.
Section 6 of the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Re-
search and Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5905)
is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at
the end;
(B) in paragraph (3) by striking the period
at the end and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(4) solutions to the effective management of
greenhouse gas emissions in the long term by the de-
velopment of technologies and practices designed
to—
‘‘(A) reduce or avoid anthropogenic emis-
sions of greenhouse gases;
‘‘(B) remove and sequester greenhouse
gases from emissions streams; and
‘‘(C) remove and sequester greenhouse
gases from the atmosphere.’’; and
(2) in subsection (b)—
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘sub-
section (a)(1) through (3)’’ and inserting
‘‘paragraphs (1) through (4) of subsection (a);
and
(B) in paragraph (3)—
(i) in subparagraph (R), by striking
‘‘and’’ at the end;
(ii) in subparagraph (S), by striking
the period at the end and inserting ‘‘;
and’’; and
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(T) to pursue a long-term climate tech-
nology strategy designed to demonstrate a vari-
ety of technologies by which stabilization of
greenhouse gases might be best achieved,
including—
‘‘(i) the accelerated commercial dem-
onstration of low-cost and high efficiency
photovoltaic power systems;
‘‘(ii) advanced clean coal technology;
‘‘(iii) advanced nuclear power plant
design;
‘‘(iv) fuel cell technology development
for cost-effective application in residential,
industrial and transportation applications;
‘‘(v) low cost carbon sequestration
practices and technologies including bio-
technology, tree physiology, soil produc-
tivity and remote sensing;
‘‘(vi) hydro and other renewables;
‘‘(vii) electrical generation, trans-
mission and distribution technologies and
end use technologies; and
‘‘(viii) bio-energy technology.’’
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
For the purpose of this Act and the provisions of the
Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Development
Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5901, et seq.) amended by this
Act, the following terms are defined as follows:
‘‘(1) CLIMATE
CHANGE.—The term ‘climate
change’ means a change of climate which is attrib-
uted directly or indirectly to human activity which is
in addition to natural climate variability observed
over comparable time periods.
‘‘(2) GREENHOUSE GASES.—The term ‘green-
house gases’ means those gaseous constituents of the
atmosphere, both natural and anthropogenic, that
absorb and re-emit infrared radiation.
‘‘(3) GREENHOUSE GAS SEQUESTRATION.—The
term ‘greenhouse gas sequestration’ means extract-
ing one or more greenhouse gases from the atmos-
phere or an emissions stream through a techno-
logical process designed to extract and isolate those
gases from the atmosphere or an emissions stream;
or the natural process of photosynthesis that ex-
tracts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and
stores it as carbon in trees, roots, stems, soils, foli-
age, and durable wood products.’’.
Æ