823 
State expenditures as defined in section 
409(a)(7) of the Social Security Act for eligi-
bility for the Energy Refund Program and, if 
eligible, shall enroll such applicant household in 
the Energy Refund Program; 
(D) shall complete certification of and pro-
vide a refund to any eligible household not later 
than thirty days following its filing of an appli-
cation; 
(E) shall use appropriate bilingual per-
sonnel and materials in the administration of 
the program in those portions of the State in 
which a substantial number of members of low- 
income households speak a language other than 
English; and 
(F) shall utilize State agency personnel 
who are employed in accordance with the cur-
rent standards for a Merit System of Personnel 
Administration or any standards later pre-
scribed by the Office of Personnel Management 
pursuant to section 208 of the Intergovern-
mental Personnel Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. 4728) 
modifying or superseding such standards relat-
ing to the establishment and maintenance of 
personnel standards on a merit basis to make 
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all tentative and final determinations of eligi-
bility and ineligibility. 
(3) REGULATIONS.— 
(A) Except as provided in subparagraph 
(B) the Administrator shall issue such regula-
tions consistent with this section as the Admin-
istrator deems necessary or appropriate for the 
effective and efficient administration of the En-
ergy Refund Program and shall promulgate all 
such regulations in accordance with the proce-
dures set forth in section 553 of title 5, United 
States Code. 
(B) Without regard to section 553 of title 
5 of such Code, the Administrator may, during 
the period beginning with the effective date of 
this section and ending two years after such 
date, by rule promulgate as final any proce-
dures that are substantially the same as the 
procedures governing the Supplemental Nutri-
tion Assistance Program at 7 CFR 273.2, 
273.12.273.15. 
(g) TREATMENT.—The value of the refund provided 
under this Act shall not be considered income or resources 
for any purpose under any Federal, State, or local laws, 
including, but not limited to, laws relating to an income 
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tax, or public assistance programs (including, but not lim-
ited to, health care, cash aid, child care, nutrition pro-
grams, and housing assistance) and no participating State 
or political subdivision thereof shall decrease any assist-
ance otherwise provided an individual or individuals be-
cause of the receipt of a refund under this Act. 
(h) PROGRAM INTEGRITY.—For purposes of ensuring 
program integrity and complying with the requirements of 
the Improper Payment Information Act of 2002, the Ad-
ministrator shall— 
(1) to the maximum extent possible rely on and 
coordinate with the quality control sample and re-
view procedures of section 16(c)(2), (3), (4), and (5) 
of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; 
and 
(2) develop procedures to monitor the compli-
ance with and accuracy of State agencies in pro-
viding forms to household members and the Internal 
Revenue Service under subsection (f). 
(i) DEFINITIONS.— 
(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-
trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency or the head of another 
agency designated by the Administrator. 
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(2) ELECTRONIC
BENEFIT
TRANSFER
SYS-
TEM.—The term ‘‘electronic benefit transfer system’’ 
means a system by which household benefits or re-
funds defined under subsection (d) are issued from 
and stored in a central databank via electronic ben-
efit transfer cards. 
(3) GROSS INCOME.—The term ‘‘gross income’’ 
means the gross income of a household that is deter-
mined in accordance with standards and procedures 
established under section 5 of the Food and Nutri-
tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2014) and its imple-
menting regulations. 
(4) 
HOUSEHOLD.—The 
term 
‘‘household’’ 
means— 
(A)(i) except as provided in subparagraph 
(C), an individual or a group of individuals who 
are a household under section 3(n) of the Food 
and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(n)); 
and 
(ii) a single individual or married couple 
that receive benefits under section 1860D–14 of 
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w– 
114). 
(B) The Administrator shall establish rules 
for providing the energy refund in an equitable 
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and administratively simple manner to house-
holds where the group of individuals who live 
together includes a combination of members de-
scribed in clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph 
(A), or includes additional members not de-
scribed in clause (i) or clause (ii) of subpara-
graph (A). 
(C) The Administrator shall establish rules 
regarding the eligibility and delivery of the en-
ergy refund to groups of individuals described 
in section 3(n)(4) or (5) of the Food and Nutri-
tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2012(n)). 
(5) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘‘poverty line’’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 673(2) of 
the Community Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 
9902(2)), including any revision required by that 
section. 
(6) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 50 
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 
of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the United States 
Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands. 
(7) STATE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘State agency’’ 
means an agency of State government, including the 
local offices thereof, that has responsibility for ad-
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ministration of the 1 or more federally aided public 
assistance programs within the State, and in those 
States where such assistance programs are operated 
on a decentralized basis, the term shall include the 
counterpart local agencies administering such pro-
grams. 
(8) OTHER TERMS.—Other terms not defined in 
this Act shall have the same meaning applied in the 
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program unless 
the Administrator finds for good cause that applica-
tion of a particular definition would be detrimental 
to the purposes of the Energy Refund Program. 
(j) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—Such 
sums as are necessary are hereby appropriated for the En-
ergy Refund Program under this section. 
Subtitle D—Exporting Clean 
Technology 
SEC. 441. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Protecting Americans from the impacts of 
climate change requires global reductions in green-
house gas emissions. 
(2) Although developing countries are histori-
cally least responsible for the cumulative greenhouse 
gas emissions that are causing climate change and 
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continue to have very low per capita greenhouse gas 
emissions, their overall greenhouse gas emissions are 
increasing as they seek to grow their economies and 
reduce energy poverty for their populations. 
(3) Many developing countries lack the financial 
and technical resources to adopt clean energy tech-
nologies and absent assistance their greenhouse gas 
emissions will continue to increase. 
(4) Investments in clean energy technology co-
operation can substantially reduce global greenhouse 
gas emissions while providing developing countries 
with incentives to adopt policies that will address 
competitiveness concerns related to regulation of 
United States greenhouse gas emissions. 
(5) Investments in clean technology in devel-
oping countries will increase demand for clean en-
ergy products, open up new markets for United 
States companies, spur innovation, and lower costs. 
(6) Under Article 4 of the United Nations 
Framework Convention on Climate Change, devel-
oped country parties, including the United States, 
committed to ‘‘take all practicable steps to promote, 
facilitate, and finance, as appropriate, the transfer 
of, or access to, environmentally sound technologies 
and know-how to other parties, particularly devel-
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oping country parties, to enable them to implement 
the provisions of the Convention’’. 
(7) Under the Bali Action Plan, developed 
country parties to the United Nations Framework 
Convention on Climate Change, including the United 
States, committed to ‘‘enhanced action on the provi-
sion of financial resources and investment to support 
action on mitigation and adaptation and technology 
cooperation,’’ including, inter alia, consideration of 
‘‘improved access to adequate, predictable, and sus-
tainable financial resources and financial and tech-
nical support, and the provision of new and addi-
tional resources, including official and concessional 
funding for developing country parties’’. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this subtitle are— 
(1) to provide United States assistance and le-
verage private resources to encourage widespread 
implementation, in developing countries, of activities 
that reduce, sequester, or avoid greenhouse gas 
emissions; and 
(2) to provide such assistance in a manner 
that— 
(A) encourages such countries to adopt 
policies and measures, including sector-based 
and cross-sector policies and measures, that 
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substantially reduce, sequester, or avoid green-
house gas emissions; and 
(B) promotes the successful negotiation of 
a global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas 
emissions under the United Nations Framework 
Convention on Climate Change. 
SEC. 442. DEFINITIONS. 
In this subtitle: 
(1) 
ALLOWANCE.—The 
term 
‘‘allowance’’ 
means an emission allowance established under sec-
tion 721 of the Clean Air Act. 
(2) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committees on Energy and Com-
merce, Foreign Affairs, and Financial Services 
of the House of Representatives; and 
(B) the Committees on Environment and 
Public Works, Energy and Natural Resources, 
and Foreign Relations of the Senate. 
(3) CONVENTION.—The term ‘‘Convention’’ 
means the United Nations Framework Convention 
on Climate Change, done at New York on May 9, 
1992, and entered into force on March 21, 1994. 
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(4) DEVELOPING COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘devel-
oping country’’ means a country eligible to receive 
official development assistance according to the in-
come guidelines of the Development Assistance Com-
mittee of the Organization for Economic Coopera-
tion and Development. 
(5) ELIGIBLE
COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘eligible 
country’’ means a developing country that is deter-
mined by the interagency group under section 444 
to be eligible to receive assistance from the Inter-
national Clean Technology Account. 
(6) INTERAGENCY
GROUP.—The term ‘‘inter-
agency group’’ means the group established by the 
President under section 443 to administer distribu-
tions from the International Clean Technology Ac-
count. 
(7) INTERNATIONAL CLEAN TECHNOLOGY AC-
COUNT.—The term ‘‘International Clean Technology 
Account’’ means the account to which the Adminis-
trator allocates allowances under section 782(o) of 
the Clean Air Act. 
(8) LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRY.—The term 
‘‘least developed country’’ means a foreign country 
the United Nations has identified as among the least 
developed of developing countries. 
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833 
(9) QUALIFYING ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘quali-
fying activity’’ means an activity that meets the cri-
teria in section 445. 
(10) QUALIFYING ENTITY.—The term ‘‘quali-
fying entity’’ means a national, regional, or local 
government in, or a nongovernmental organization 
or private entity located or operating in, an eligible 
country. 
SEC. 443. GOVERNANCE. 
(a) OVERSIGHT.—The Secretary of State, or such 
other Federal agency head as the President may des-
ignate, in consultation with the interagency group estab-
lished under subsection (b), shall oversee distributions of 
allowances from the International Clean Technology Ac-
count. 
(b) INTERAGENCY GROUP.—The President shall es-
tablish an interagency group to administer the Inter-
national Clean Technology Account. The Members of the 
interagency group shall include— 
(1) the Secretary of State; 
(2) the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency; 
(3) the Secretary of Energy; 
(4) the Secretary of the Treasury; 
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(5) the Administrator of the United States 
Agency for International Development; and 
(6) any other head of a Federal agency or exec-
utive branch appointee that the President may des-
ignate. 
(c) CHAIRPERSON.—The Secretary of State shall 
serve as the chairperson of the interagency group. 
(d) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Allowances dis-
tributed from the International Clean Technology Account 
shall be used to supplement, and not to supplant, any 
other Federal, State, or local resources available to carry 
out activities that are qualifying activities under this sub-
title. 
SEC. 444. DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The interagency group shall de-
termine a country to be an eligible country for the pur-
poses of this subtitle if a country meets the following cri-
teria: 
(1) The country is a developing country that— 
(A) has entered into an international 
agreement to which the United States is a 
party, under which such country agrees to take 
actions to produce measurable, reportable, and 
verifiable greenhouse gas emissions mitigation; 
or 
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(B) is determined by the interagency group 
to have in force national policies and measures 
that are capable of producing measurable, re-
portable, and verifiable greenhouse gas emis-
sions mitigation. 
(2) The country has developed a nationally ap-
propriate mitigation strategy that seeks to achieve 
substantial reductions, sequestration, or avoidance of 
greenhouse gas emissions, relative to business-as- 
usual levels. 
(3) Subject to subsection (b)(1), such other cri-
teria as the President determines will serve the pur-
poses of this subtitle or other United States national 
security, foreign policy, environmental, or economic 
objectives. 
(b) EXCEPTIONS.— 
(1) Subsection (a)(3) applies only to bilateral 
assistance under section 446(c). 
(2) The eligibility criteria in this section do not 
apply in the case of least developed countries receiv-
ing assistance under section 445(7) for the purpose 
of building capacity to meet such eligibility criteria. 
SEC. 445. QUALIFYING ACTIVITIES. 
Assistance under this subtitle may be provided only 
to qualifying entities for clean technology activities (in-
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cluding building relevant technical and institutional capac-
ity) that contribute to substantial, measurable, reportable, 
and verifiable reductions, sequestration, or avoidance of 
greenhouse gas emissions including— 
(1) deployment of technologies to capture and 
sequester carbon dioxide emissions from electric gen-
erating units or large industrial sources (except that 
assistance under this subtitle for such deployment 
shall be limited to the cost of retrofitting existing fa-
cilities with such technologies or the incremental 
cost of purchasing and installing such technologies 
at new facilities); 
(2) deployment of renewable electricity genera-
tion from wind, solar, sustainably produced biomass, 
geothermal, marine, or hydrokinetic sources; 
(3) substantial increases in the efficiency of 
electricity transmission, distribution, and consump-
tion; 
(4) deployment of low- or zero emissions tech-
nologies that are facing financial or other barriers to 
their widespread deployment which could be ad-
dressed through support under this subtitle in order 
to reduce, sequester, or avoid emission; 
(5) reduction in transportation sector emissions 
through increased transportation system and vehicle 
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efficiency or use of transportation fuels that have 
lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions that are substan-
tially lower than those attributable to fossil fuel- 
based alternatives; 
(6) reduction in black carbon emissions; or 
(7) capacity building activities, including— 
(A) developing and implementing meth-
odologies and programs for measuring and 
quantifying greenhouse gas emissions and 
verifying emissions mitigation; 
(B) assessing, developing, and imple-
menting technology and policy options for 
greenhouse gas emissions mitigation and avoid-
ance of future emissions, including sector and 
cross-sector mitigation strategies; and 
(C) providing other forms of technical as-
sistance to facilitate the qualification for, and 
receipt of, assistance under this Act. 
SEC. 446. ASSISTANCE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, or such 
other Federal agency head as the President may des-
ignate, is authorized to provide assistance, through the 
distribution of allowances, from the International Clean 
Technology Account for qualifying activities that take 
place in eligible countries. 
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(b) DISTRIBUTION OF ALLOWANCES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, or 
such other Federal agency head as the President 
may designate, after consultation with the inter-
agency group, shall distribute allowances from the 
International Clean Technology Account— 
(A) in the form of bilateral assistance in 
accordance with paragraph (4); 
(B) to multilateral funds or institutions 
pursuant to the Convention or an agreement 
negotiated under the Convention; or 
(C) through some combination of the 
mechanisms identified in subparagraphs (A) 
and (B). 
(2) GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY.—For any 
allowances provided to the Global Environment Fa-
cility pursuant to paragraph (1)(B), the President 
shall designate the Secretary of the Treasury to dis-
tribute those allowances to the Global Environment 
Facility. 
(3) DISTRIBUTION
THROUGH
INTERNATIONAL 
FUND OR INSTITUTION.—If allowances are distrib-
uted to a multilateral fund or institution, as author-
ized in paragraph (1), the Secretary of State, or 
such other Federal agency head as the President 
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(G) using techniques, including health im-
pact assessments, to assess various climate 
change public health preparedness and response 
strategies on international, national, State, re-
gional, tribal, and local levels, and make rec-
ommendations as to those strategies that best 
protect the public health; 
(H)(i) assisting in the development, imple-
mentation, and support of State, regional, trib-
al, and local preparedness, communication, and 
response plans (including with respect to the 
health departments of such entities) to antici-
pate and reduce the health threats of climate 
change; and 
(ii) pursuing collaborative efforts to de-
velop, integrate, and implement such plans; 
(I) creating a program to advance research 
as it relates to the effects of climate change on 
public health across Federal agencies, including 
research to— 
(i) identify and assess climate change 
health effects preparedness and response 
strategies; 
(ii) prioritize critical public health in-
frastructure projects related to potential 
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