I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7197 
To authorize the Secretary of Energy to make grants to local educational 
agencies for purposes of supporting renewable energy-based heating and 
cooling systems in schools. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 29, 2018 
Miss RICE of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Energy to make grants to 
local educational agencies for purposes of supporting re-
newable energy-based heating and cooling systems in 
schools. 
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 ‘‘Renewable HVAC En-
ergy And Technology for Schools Act’’ or the ‘‘Renewable 
HEAT for Schools Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. RENEWABLE ENERGY HEATING AND COOLING SYS-
TEMS GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Energy 
shall, from funds appropriated pursuant to subsection (g), 
make grants to local educational agencies for purposes of 
encouraging schools to use heating and cooling systems 
that use renewable energy. 
(b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 
under this section, a local educational agency shall submit 
an application to the Secretary, in a time and manner to 
be prescribed by the Secretary, that identifies proposed 
projects such grant would be used to fund. 
(c) SELECTION.—In selecting grant recipients, the 
Secretary shall give priority to applicants whose applica-
tions— 
(1) propose projects that address the needs of 
schools with heating or cooling systems in need of 
immediate replacement; and 
(2) propose an effective plan for the evaluation, 
measurement, and verification of energy savings. 
(d) USE OF FUNDS.—Funds made available by a 
grant made under this section may be used by a recipient 
only to— 
(1) install a heating or cooling system that uses 
renewable energy in an elementary school or sec-
ondary school; or 
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(2) maintain and repair such a system installed 
using funds from a grant made under this section. 
(e) COST-SHARING.—A local educational agency that 
receives a grant under this section shall provide, from non- 
Federal sources, not less than 50 percent of the funds for 
the total cost of each project funded by such grant. The 
non-Federal share may be provided in the form of in-kind 
contributions. 
(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘elemen-
tary school’’ has the meaning given such term in 
section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
(2) GEOTHERMAL
HEAT
PUMP.—The term 
‘‘geothermal heat pump’’ means a system that pro-
vides heating and cooling by exchanging heat di-
rectly or indirectly with the ground using— 
(A) a closed loop system, which transfers 
heat by way of buried or immersed pipes that 
contain a mix of water and working fluid; 
(B) an open loop system, which circulates 
ground or surface water directly into the build-
ing and returns the water to the same aquifer 
or surface water source; or 
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(C) a food grade plate heat exchanger to 
transfer heat between a municipal or private 
potable water supply system and a closed inte-
rior loop employing heat pumps, in which the 
potable water utilized could be returned to the 
municipal or private supply system after pass-
ing through the heat exchanger. 
(3) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The term 
‘‘local educational agency’’ has the meaning given 
such term in section 8101 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
(4) RENEWABLE ENERGY.—The term ‘‘renew-
able energy’’ means energy generated from— 
(A) a renewable energy resource, as de-
fined in section 403(2) of the Renewable En-
ergy Resources Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 
7372(2)); 
(B) geothermal resources, including a geo-
thermal heat pump; or 
(C) any other source the Secretary deter-
mines appropriate for purposes of this section. 
(5) SECONDARY
SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec-
ondary school’’ has the meaning given such term in 
section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
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(6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Energy. 
(g) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 
$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2023 
for purposes of carrying out this section. 
Æ 
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