I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4785 
To amend the miscellaneous rural development provisions of the Farm Secu-
rity and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to authorize the Secretary of 
Agriculture to make loans to certain entities that will use the funds 
to make loans to consumers to implement energy efficiency measures 
involving structural improvements and investments in cost-effective, com-
mercial off-the-shelf technologies to reduce home energy use. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 9, 2010 
Mr. CLYBURN (for himself, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. PERRIELLO, and Mr. 
SPRATT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the miscellaneous rural development provisions 
of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 
to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make loans 
to certain entities that will use the funds to make loans 
to consumers to implement energy efficiency measures 
involving structural improvements and investments in 
cost-effective, commercial off-the-shelf technologies to re-
duce home energy use. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Energy Savings 
Program Act’’. 
SEC. 2. RURAL ENERGY SAVINGS PROGRAM. 
Title VI of the Farm Security and Rural Investment 
Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 7901 note et seq.) is amended by 
adding the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 6407. RURAL ENERGY SAVINGS PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to cre-
ate and save jobs by providing loans to qualified con-
sumers that will use the loan proceeds to implement en-
ergy efficiency measures to achieve significant reductions 
in energy costs, energy consumption, or carbon emissions. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en-
tity’ means— 
‘‘(A) any public power district, public util-
ity district, or similar entity, or any electric co-
operative described in sections 501(c)(12) or 
1381(a)(2)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986, that borrowed and repaid, prepaid, or is 
paying an electric loan made or guaranteed by 
the Rural Utilities Service (or any predecessor 
agency); or 
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‘‘(B) any entity primarily owned or con-
trolled by an entity or entities described in sub-
paragraph (A). 
‘‘(2) ENERGY
EFFICIENCY
MEASURES.—The 
term ‘energy efficiency measures’ means, for or at 
property served by an eligible entity, structural im-
provements and investments in cost-effective, com-
mercial off-the-shelf technologies to reduce home en-
ergy use. 
‘‘(3) QUALIFIED CONSUMER.—The term ‘quali-
fied consumer’ means a consumer served by an eligi-
ble entity that has the ability to repay a loan made 
under subsection (d), as determined by an eligible 
entity. 
‘‘(4) QUALIFIED ENTITY.—The term ‘qualified 
entity’ means a non-governmental, not-for-profit or-
ganization that the Secretary determines has signifi-
cant experience, on a national basis, in providing eli-
gible entities with— 
‘‘(A) energy, environmental, energy effi-
ciency, and information research and tech-
nology; 
‘‘(B) training, education, and consulting; 
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‘‘(C) guidance in energy and operational 
issues and rural community and economic de-
velopment; 
‘‘(D) advice in legal and regulatory mat-
ters affecting electric service and the environ-
ment; and 
‘‘(E) other relevant assistance. 
‘‘(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 
the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 
Rural Utilities Service. 
‘‘(c) LOANS AND GRANTS TO ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 
‘‘(1) LOANS
AUTHORIZED.—Subject to para-
graph (2), the Secretary shall make loans to eligible 
entities that agree to use the loan funds to make 
loans to qualified consumers as described in sub-
section (d) for the purpose of implementing energy 
efficiency measures. 
‘‘(2) LIST, PLAN, AND
MEASUREMENT
AND 
VERIFICATION REQUIRED.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—As a condition to re-
ceiving a loan or grant under this subsection, 
an eligible entity shall— 
‘‘(i) establish a list of energy effi-
ciency measures that is expected to de-
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crease energy use or costs of qualified con-
sumers; 
‘‘(ii) prepare an implementation plan 
for use of the loan funds; and 
‘‘(iii) provide for appropriate measure-
ment and verification to ensure the effec-
tiveness of the energy efficiency loans 
made by the eligible entity and that there 
is no conflict of interest in the carrying out 
of this section. 
‘‘(B) REVISION OF LIST OF ENERGY EFFI-
CIENCY MEASURES.—An eligible entity may up-
date the list required under subparagraph 
(A)(i) to account for newly available efficiency 
technologies, subject to the approval of the Sec-
retary. 
‘‘(C) EXISTING ENERGY EFFICIENCY PRO-
GRAMS.—An eligible entity that, on or before 
the date of the enactment of this section or 
within 60 days after such date, has already es-
tablished an energy efficiency program for 
qualified consumers may use an existing list of 
energy efficiency measures, implementation 
plan, or measurement and verification system of 
that program to satisfy the requirements of 
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subparagraph (A) if the Secretary determines 
the list, plans, or systems are consistent with 
the purposes of this section. 
‘‘(3) NO INTEREST.—A loan under this sub-
section shall bear no interest. 
‘‘(4) REPAYMENT.—A loan under this sub-
section shall be repaid not more than 10 years from 
the date on which an advance on the loan is first 
made to the eligible entity. 
‘‘(5) LOAN
FUND
ADVANCES.—The Secretary 
shall provide eligible entities with a schedule of not 
more than ten years for advances of loan funds, ex-
cept that any advance of loan funds to an eligible 
entity in any single year shall not exceed 50 percent 
of the approved loan amount. 
‘‘(6) JUMP-START
GRANTS.—The Secretary 
shall make grants available to eligible entities se-
lected to receive a loan under this subsection in 
order to assist an eligible entity to defray costs, in-
cluding costs of contractors for equipment and labor, 
except that no eligible entity may receive a grant 
amount that is greater than four percent of the loan 
amount. 
‘‘(d) LOANS TO QUALIFIED CONSUMERS.— 
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‘‘(1) TERMS OF LOANS.—Loans made by an eli-
gible entity to qualified consumers using loan funds 
provided by the Secretary under subsection (c)— 
‘‘(A) may bear interest, not to exceed three 
percent, to be used for purposes that include es-
tablishing a loan loss reserve and to offset per-
sonnel and program costs of eligible entities to 
provide the loans; 
‘‘(B) shall finance energy efficiency meas-
ures for the purpose of decreasing energy usage 
or costs of the qualified consumer by an 
amount such that a loan term of not more than 
ten years will not pose an undue financial bur-
den on the qualified consumer, as determined 
by the eligible entity; 
‘‘(C) shall not be used to fund energy effi-
ciency measures made to personal property un-
less the personal property— 
‘‘(i) is or becomes attached to real 
property as a fixture; or 
‘‘(ii) is a manufactured home; 
‘‘(D) shall be repaid through charges 
added to the electric bill of the qualified con-
sumer; and 
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‘‘(E) shall require an energy audit by an 
eligible entity to determine the impact of pro-
posed energy efficiency measures on the energy 
costs and consumption of the qualified con-
sumer. 
‘‘(2) CONTRACTORS.—In addition to any other 
qualified general contractor, eligible entities may 
serve as general contractors. 
‘‘(e) 
CONTRACT
FOR
MEASUREMENT
AND 
VERIFICATION, TRAINING, 
AND
TECHNICAL
ASSIST-
ANCE.— 
‘‘(1) CONTRACT REQUIRED.—Not later than 60 
days after the date of enactment of this section, the 
Secretary shall enter into one or more contracts with 
a qualified entity for the purposes of— 
‘‘(A) 
providing 
measurement 
and 
verification activities, including— 
‘‘(i) developing and completing a rec-
ommended protocol for measurement and 
verification for the Rural Utilities Service; 
‘‘(ii) establishing a national measure-
ment and verification committee consisting 
of representatives of eligible entities to as-
sist the contractor in carrying out this sec-
tion; 
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‘‘(iii) providing measurement and 
verification consulting services to eligible 
entities that receive loans under this sec-
tion; and 
‘‘(iv) providing training in measure-
ment and verification; and 
‘‘(B) developing a program to provide tech-
nical assistance and training to the employees 
of eligible entities to carry out this section. 
‘‘(2) USE
OF
SUBCONTRACTORS
AUTHOR-
IZED.—A qualified entity that enters into a contract 
under paragraph (1) may use subcontractors to as-
sist the qualified entity in performing the contract. 
‘‘(f) FAST START DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.— 
‘‘(1) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS REQUIRED.— 
The Secretary shall enter into agreements with eligi-
ble entities (or groups of eligible entities) that have 
energy efficiency programs described in subsection 
(c)(2)(C) to establish an energy efficiency loan dem-
onstration projects consistent with the purposes of 
this section that— 
‘‘(A) implement approaches to energy au-
dits and investments in energy efficiency meas-
ures that yield measurable and predictable sav-
ings; 
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‘‘(B) use measurement and verification 
processes to determine the effectiveness of en-
ergy efficiency loans made by eligible entities; 
‘‘(C) include training for employees of eli-
gible entities, including any contractors of such 
entities, to implement or oversee the activities 
described in subparagraphs (A) and (B); 
‘‘(D) provide for the participation of a ma-
jority of eligible entities in a State; 
‘‘(E) reduce the need for generating capac-
ity; 
‘‘(F) provide efficiency loans to— 
‘‘(i) not fewer than 20,000 consumers, 
in the case of a single eligible entity; or 
‘‘(ii) not fewer than 80,000 con-
sumers, in the case of a group of eligible 
entities; and 
‘‘(G) serve areas where a large percentage 
of consumers reside— 
‘‘(i) in manufactured homes; or 
‘‘(ii) in housing units that are more 
than 50 years old. 
‘‘(2) DEADLINE
FOR
IMPLEMENTATION.—The 
agreements required by paragraph (1) shall be en-
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tered into not later than 90 days after the date of 
enactment of this section. 
‘‘(3) EFFECT ON AVAILABILITY OF LOANS NA-
TIONALLY.—Nothing in this subsection shall delay 
the availability of loans to eligible entities on a na-
tional basis beginning not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this section. 
‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL
DEMONSTRATION
PROJECT 
AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may conduct dem-
onstration projects in addition to the project re-
quired by paragraph (1). The additional demonstra-
tion projects may be carried out without regard to 
subparagraphs (D), (F), or (G) of paragraph (1). 
‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY.—The authority pro-
vided in this section is in addition to any authority of the 
Secretary to offer loans or grants under any other law. 
‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary in fiscal year 2010 
$993,000,000 to carry out this section. Notwith-
standing paragraph (2), amounts appropriated pur-
suant to this authorization of appropriations shall 
remain available until expended. 
‘‘(2) AMOUNTS
FOR
LOANS, GRANTS, STAFF-
ING.—Of the amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
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authorization of appropriations in paragraph (1), the 
Secretary shall make available— 
‘‘(A) $755,000,000 for the purpose of cov-
ering the cost of direct loans to eligible entities 
under subsection (c) to subsidize gross obliga-
tions in the principal amount of not to exceed 
$4,900,000,000; 
‘‘(B) $25,000,000 for measurement and 
verification 
activities 
under 
subsection 
(e)(1)(A); 
‘‘(C) $2,000,000 for the contract for train-
ing and technical assistance authorized by sub-
section (e)(1)(B); 
‘‘(D) $200,000,000 for jump-start grants 
authorized by subsection (c)(6); and 
‘‘(E) $1,100,000 for each of fiscal years 
2010 through 2019 for ten additional employ-
ees of the Rural Utilities Service to carry out 
this section. 
‘‘(i) EFFECTIVE PERIOD.—Subject to subsection 
(h)(1) and except as otherwise provided in this section, 
the loans, grants, and other expenditures required to be 
made under this section are authorized to be made during 
each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014. 
‘‘(j) REGULATIONS.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro-
vided in this subsection, not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec-
retary shall promulgate such regulations as are nec-
essary to implement this section. 
‘‘(2) PROCEDURE.—The promulgation of the 
regulations and administration of this section shall 
be made without regard to— 
‘‘(A) chapter 35 of title 44, United States 
Code (commonly known as the ‘Paperwork Re-
duction Act’); and 
‘‘(B) the Statement of Policy of the Sec-
retary of Agriculture effective July 24, 1971 
(36 Fed. Reg. 13804), relating to notices of 
proposed rulemaking and public participation in 
rulemaking. 
‘‘(3) CONGRESSIONAL
REVIEW
OF
AGENCY 
RULEMAKING.—In carrying out this section, the Sec-
retary shall use the authority provided under section 
808 of title 5, United States Code. 
‘‘(4) INTERIM REGULATIONS.—Notwithstanding 
paragraphs (1) and (2), to the extent regulations are 
necessary to carry out any provision of this section, 
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the Secretary shall implement such regulations 
through the promulgation of an interim rule.’’. 
Æ 
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