I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4435 
To provide for the establishment of the Advanced Research Projects Agency- 
Energy. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 6, 2005 
Mr. GORDON (for himself, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. HONDA, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. INS-
LEE, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. 
MENENDEZ, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. PRICE of North 
Carolina, Mr. MILLER of North Carolina, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. COSTA, Mr. 
CARNAHAN, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. SMITH of Washington, and Mr. UDALL of 
Colorado) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Science 
A BILL 
To provide for the establishment of the Advanced Research 
Projects Agency-Energy. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) The United States faces a range of energy 
challenges that affect our economy, security, and en-
vironment. Fundamentally, these challenges involve 
science and technology.
(2) The Department of Energy already has 
some of the mechanisms necessary to promote long- 
term research, but it lacks the mechanisms for 
quickly transforming the results into technology that 
meets national needs. 
(3) A recent report of the Secretary of Energy’s 
Advisory Board’s Task Force on the Future of 
Science Programs at the Department of Energy con-
cluded that ‘‘America can meet its energy needs only 
if we make a strong and sustained investment in re-
search in physical science, engineering, and applica-
ble life sciences and if we translate advancing sci-
entific knowledge into practice’’. 
(4) The Department of Defense, since 1958, 
has used its Defense Advanced Projects Research 
Agency (DARPA) for aggressively addressing real- 
time defense problems through targeted programs of 
research and technology development that have im-
proved our national defense through transformation 
technologies. 
(5) The National Academy of Sciences’ report 
entitled ‘‘Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Ener-
gizing and Employing America for a Brighter Eco-
nomic Future’’ recommends creating a new agency 
within the Department of Energy to sponsor ‘‘cre-
ative, out-of-the-box, transformational, generic en-
ergy research in those areas where industry by itself 
cannot or will not undertake such sponsorship, 
where risks and pay-offs are high’’. Such an organi-
zation would be able to accelerate the process by 
which research is transformed to address energy-re-
lated economic, environmental, and security issues to 
decrease dependence on foreign energy through tar-
geted research and technology development. 
SEC. 2. ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY-ENERGY. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Ad-
vanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (in this Act re-
ferred to as ‘‘ARPA–E’’) within the Department of En-
ergy. 
(b) GOAL.—The goal of ARPA–E is to reduce the 
amount of energy the United States imports from foreign 
sources by 20 percent over the next 10 years by— 
(1) promoting revolutionary changes in the crit-
ical technologies that would promote energy inde-
pendence; 
(2) turning cutting-edge science and engineer-
ing into technologies for energy and environmental 
application; and 
(3) accelerating innovation in energy and the 
environment for both traditional and alternative en-
ergy sources and in energy efficiency mechanisms to 
decrease the Nation’s reliance on foreign energy 
sources. 
(c) DIRECTOR.—ARPA–E shall be headed by a Di-
rector who shall be appointed by the Secretary of Energy. 
The Director shall report to the Secretary. 
(d) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Director shall admin-
ister the Fund established under section 3 to award com-
petitive grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts to in-
stitutions of higher education, companies, or consortia of 
such entities which may include federally funded research 
and development centers, to achieve the goals stated in 
subsection (b) through targeted acceleration of— 
(1) energy-related research; 
(2) development of resultant techniques, proc-
esses, and technologies, and related testing and eval-
uation; and 
(3) demonstration and commercial application 
of the most promising technologies and research ap-
plications. 
(e) PERSONNEL.— 
(1) PROGRAM MANAGERS.—The Director shall 
designate employees to serve as program managers 
for each of the programs established pursuant to the 
responsibilities established for ARPA–E under sub-
section (d). Program managers shall be responsible 
for— 
(A) establishing research and development 
goals for the program, including through the 
convening of workshops and conferring with 
outside experts, as well as publicizing its goals 
to the public and private sectors; 
(B) soliciting applications for specific areas 
of particular promise, especially those which the 
private sector cannot or will not provide fund-
ing; 
(C) selecting research projects for support 
under the program from among application sub-
mitted to ARPA–E, following consideration 
of— 
(i) the novelty and scientific and tech-
nical merit of the proposed projects; 
(ii) the demonstrated capabilities of 
the applicants to successfully carry out the 
proposed research project; and 
(iii) such other criteria as are estab-
lished by the Director; and 
(D) monitoring the progress of projects 
supported under the program.
(2) HIRING AND MANAGEMENT.—In hiring per-
sonnel for ARPA–E, the Secretary shall have the 
hiring and management authorities described in sec-
tion 1101 of the Strom Thurmond National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (5 U.S.C. 
3104 note). For purposes of subsection (c)(1) of 
that section, the term of appointments for employees 
may not exceed 5 years before the granting of any 
extension. 
(f) COORDINATION.—The Director shall ensure that 
the activities of ARPA–E are coordinated with those of 
other relevant research agencies, and may carry out 
projects jointly with other agencies. 
SEC. 3. FUND. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 
Treasury the Energy Independence Acceleration Fund (in 
this Act referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’), which shall be admin-
istered by the Director of ARPA–E for the purposes of 
carrying out this Act. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Director of 
ARPA–E for deposit in the Fund $300,000,000 for fiscal 
year 
2007, 
$375,000,000 
for 
fiscal 
year 
2008, 
$468,000,000 for fiscal year 2009, $585,000,000 for fis-
cal year 2010, $732,000,000 for fiscal year 2011, and
$915,000,000 for fiscal year 2012, to remain available 
until expended. 
SEC. 4. RECOUPMENT. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall es-
tablish procedures and criteria for the recoupment of the 
Federal share of each project supported under this Act. 
Such recoupment shall occur within a reasonable period 
of time following the date of the completion of such 
project, but not later than 20 years following such date, 
taking into account the effect of recoupment on— 
(1) the commercial competitiveness of the entity 
carrying out the project; 
(2) the profitability of the project; and 
(3) the commercial viability of the technology 
utilized. 
(b) WAIVER.—The Secretary may at any time waive 
or defer all or some portion of the recoupment requirement 
as necessary for the commercial viability of the project. 
(c) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Revenue received by 
the Federal Government pursuant to this section shall be 
deposited into the Fund and shall be available with further 
appropriation to fund future grants, contracts, and coop-
erative agreement as authorized by the Director.
(d) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this sec-
tion— 
(1) the term ‘‘for-profit entity’’ means a li-
censee or successor in interest to a venture member, 
or any other for-profit person or entity, or combina-
tion of such persons or entities, that earns or ac-
crues amounts subject to this section; 
(2) the term ‘‘product or invention supported 
by or produced as a result of funding under this 
Act’’ includes any product or invention of a venture 
member based on or using any technology or inven-
tion arising out of a venture funded under this Act; 
and 
(3) the term ‘‘revenue generated by or resulting 
from a product or invention’’ includes revenue de-
rived from the sale or licensing of patents or other 
rights with respect to the product or invention. 
SEC. 5. ADVICE. 
(a) ADVISORY COMMITTEES.—The Director may seek 
advice on any aspect of ARPA–E from— 
(1) existing Department of Energy advisory 
committees; and 
(2) new advisory committees organized to sup-
port the programs of ARPA–E and to provide advice 
and assistance on—
(A) specific program tasks; or 
(B) overall direction of ARPA–E. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.—Section 14 of the Federal Advi-
sory Committee Act shall not apply to advisory committees 
organized under subsection (a)(2). 
(c) ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF ADVICE.—The Direc-
tor may seek advice and review from the National Acad-
emy of Sciences, the National Academy for Engineering, 
and any other professional or scientific organization with 
expertise in specific processes or technologies under devel-
opment by ARPA–E. 
SEC. 6. ARPA-E EVALUATION. 
After ARPA–E has been in operation for 54 months, 
the President’s Committee on Science and Technology 
shall begin an evaluation (to be completed within 12 
months) of how well ARPA–E is achieving its goals and 
mission. The evaluation shall include the recommendation 
of such Committee on whether ARPA–E should be contin-
ued or terminated, as well as lessons-learned from its oper-
ation. The evaluation shall be made available to Congress 
and to the public upon completion. 
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