I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1689 
To accelerate the development and early deployment of systems for the cap-
ture and storage of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel electric 
generation facilities, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 24, 2009 
Mr. BOUCHER (for himself, Mr. UPTON, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. BARTON of Texas, 
Mr. RAHALL, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. 
HOLDEN, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. HILL, 
Mr. BUTTERFIELD, and Mr. WILSON of Ohio) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and 
in addition to the Committee on Science and Technology, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To accelerate the development and early deployment of sys-
tems for the capture and storage of carbon dioxide emis-
sions from fossil fuel electric generation facilities, and 
for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Carbon Capture and 
Storage Early Deployment Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
(1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Energy. 
(2) DISTRIBUTION
UTILITY.—The term ‘‘dis-
tribution utility’’ means an entity that distributes 
electricity directly to retail consumers under a legal, 
regulatory, or contractual obligation to do so. 
(3) ELECTRIC
UTILITY.—The term ‘‘electric 
utility’’ has the meaning provided by section 3(22) 
of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796(22)). 
(4) FOSSIL
FUEL-BASED
ELECTRICITY.—The 
term ‘‘fossil fuel-based electricity’’ means electricity 
that is produced from the combustion of fossil fuels. 
(5) FOSSIL
FUEL.—The term ‘‘fossil fuel’’ 
means coal, petroleum, natural gas or any derivative 
of coal, petroleum, or natural gas. 
(6) CORPORATION.—The term ‘‘Corporation’’ 
means the Carbon Storage Research Corporation es-
tablished in accordance with this Act. 
(7) QUALIFIED INDUSTRY ORGANIZATION.—The 
term ‘‘qualified industry organization’’ means the 
Edison Electric Institute, the American Public 
Power Association, the National Rural Electric Co-
operative Association, a successor organization of 
such organizations or a group of owners or operators 
of distribution utilities delivering fossil fuel-based 
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electricity who collectively represent at least 20 per-
cent of the volume of fossil fuel-based electricity de-
livered by distribution utilities to consumers in the 
United States. 
(8) RETAIL CONSUMER.—The term ‘‘retail con-
sumer’’ means an end-user of electricity. 
SEC. 3. CARBON STORAGE RESEARCH CORPORATION. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) REFERENDUM.—Qualified industry organi-
zations may conduct, at their own expense, a ref-
erendum among the owners or operators of distribu-
tion utilities delivering fossil fuel-based electricity for 
the creation of a Carbon Storage Research Corpora-
tion. Such referendum shall be conducted by an 
independent auditing firm agreed to by the qualified 
industry organizations. Voting rights in such ref-
erendum shall be based on the quantity of fossil 
fuel-based electricity delivered to consumers in the 
previous calendar year or other representative period 
as determined by the Secretary pursuant to section 
6. Upon approval of those persons representing two- 
thirds of the total quantity of fossil fuel-based elec-
tricity delivered to retail consumers, the Corporation 
shall be established unless opposed by the State reg-
ulatory authorities pursuant to paragraph (2). All 
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distribution utilities voting in the referendum shall 
certify to the independent auditing firm the quantity 
of fossil fuel-based electricity represented by their 
vote. 
(2) STATE REGULATORY AUTHORITIES.—Upon 
its own motion or the petition of a qualified industry 
organization, each State regulatory authority shall 
consider its support or opposition to the creation of 
the Corporation under paragraph (1). State regu-
latory authorities may notify the independent audit-
ing firm referred to in paragraph (1) of their views 
on the creation of the Corporation within 180 days 
after the enactment of this Act. If 40 percent or 
more of the State regulatory authorities submit to 
the independent auditing firm written notices of op-
position, the Corporation shall not be established 
notwithstanding the approval of the qualified indus-
try organizations as provided in paragraph (1). 
(b) TERMINATION.—The Corporation shall be au-
thorized to collect assessments and conduct operations 
pursuant to this Act for a 10-year period from the date 
6 months after the date of enactment of this Act. After 
such 10-year period, the Corporation is no longer author-
ized to collect assessments and shall be dissolved on the 
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date 15 years after such date of enactment, unless the 
period is extended by an Act of Congress. 
(c) GOVERNANCE.—The Corporation shall operate as 
a division or affiliate of the Electric Power Research Insti-
tute (EPRI) and be managed by a Board of not more than 
15 voting members responsible for its operations, includ-
ing compliance with this Act. EPRI, in consultation with 
the Edison Electric Institute, the American Public Power 
Association and the National Rural Electric Cooperative 
Association shall appoint the Board members under sub-
paragraphs (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (1) from 
among candidates recommended by those organizations. 
At least a majority of the Board members appointed by 
EPRI shall be representatives of distribution utilities sub-
ject to assessments under section 5. 
(1) MEMBERS.—The Board shall include at 
least one representative of each of the following: 
(A) Investor-owned utilities. 
(B) Utilities owned by a State agency or a 
municipality. 
(C) Rural electric cooperatives. 
(D) Fossil fuel producers. 
(E) Non-profit environmental organiza-
tions. 
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(F) Independent generators or wholesale 
power providers. 
(G) Consumer groups. 
(2) NONVOTING MEMBERS.—The Board shall 
also include as additional non-voting Members the 
Secretary of Energy or his designee and 2 represent-
atives of State regulatory authorities as defined in 
section 3(17) of the Public Utility Regulatory Poli-
cies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2602, 3(17)), each des-
ignated by the National Association of State Regu-
latory Utility Commissioners from States that are 
not within the same transmission interconnection. 
(d) COMPENSATION.—Corporation Board members 
shall receive no compensation for their services, nor shall 
Corporation Board members be reimbursed for expenses 
relating to their service. 
(e) TERMS.—Corporation Board members shall serve 
terms of 4 years and may serve not more than 2 full con-
secutive terms. Members filling unexpired terms may serve 
not more than a total of 8 consecutive years. Former 
members of the Corporation Board may be reappointed 
to the Corporation Board if they have not been members 
for a period of 2 years. Initial appointments to the Cor-
poration Board shall be for terms of 1, 2, 3, and 4 years, 
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staggered to provide for the selection of 3 members each 
year. 
(f) STATUS
OF CORPORATION.—The Corporation 
shall not be considered to be an agency, department, or 
instrumentality of the United States, and no officer or di-
rector or employee of the Corporation shall be considered 
to be an officer or employee of the United States Govern-
ment, for purposes of title 5 or title 31 of the United 
States Code, or for any other purpose, and no funds of 
the Corporation shall be treated as public money for pur-
poses of chapter 33 of title 31, United States Code, or 
for any other purpose. 
SEC. 4. FUNCTIONS AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE COR-
PORATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall establish 
and administer a program to accelerate the commercial 
availability of carbon dioxide capture and storage tech-
nologies and methods, including technologies which cap-
ture and store, or capture and convert, carbon dioxide. 
Under such program competitively awarded grants, con-
tracts, and financial assistance shall be provided and en-
tered into with eligible entities. Except as provided in sub-
section (g), the Corporation shall use all funds derived 
from assessments under section 5 to issue grants and con-
tracts to eligible entities. 
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