Title: Challenges & Prizes for Climate Act of 2018
Policy area: Environmental Protection

Summary:
Challenges & Prizes for Climate Act of 2018
This bill requires the Department of Energy to establish a Climate Solutions Challenges program for carrying out competitions that award cash and other incentives for climate and energy solutions, such as:

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5031 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5031

  To direct the Secretary of Energy to provide for prize competitions 
        relating to climate and energy, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 15, 2018

Mr. Lipinski (for himself, Mr. Faso, Mr. Crist, Mr. Curbelo of Florida, 
Mrs. Murphy of Florida, and Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) introduced the following 
   bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and 
                               Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Secretary of Energy to provide for prize competitions 
        relating to climate and energy, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Challenges & Prizes for Climate Act 
of 2018''.

SEC. 2. CLIMATE SOLUTIONS CHALLENGES.

    (a) Authority.--Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall establish a program to be 
known as ``Climate Solutions Challenges'' for carrying out prize 
competitions described under subsection (d) pursuant to section 24 of 
the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3719) 
relating to the climate and energy.
    (b) Prize Committees.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall assemble a prize 
        committee with respect to each prize competition that shall 
        define the scope and detail of, and provide the requirements 
        for, the prize competitions under this section. Such committee 
        shall be composed of--
                    (A) members from the Federal agency, department, or 
                office that most appropriately corresponds with the 
                topic of the prize competition, including--
                            (i) with respect to a prize competition 
                        under subsection (c)(4), the Administrator of 
                        the National Aeronautics and Space 
                        Administration and the Director of the National 
                        Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and
                            (ii) with respect to a prize competition 
                        under subsection (c)(5), the Director of the 
                        National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
                        and the Director of the National Technical 
                        Information Service; and
                    (B) representatives of any other entities, as 
                determined appropriate by the Secretary, including 
                State and local governments and the private sector.
            (2) Defining topic areas.--The prize committee may modify 
        and define the scope of the prize areas described under 
        subsection (c), so long as such modification is in accordance 
        with descriptions in such subsection.
            (3) Incentive for prize competition.--The prize committee 
        for each prize competition shall determine the incentive for 
        the prize competition. In determining the incentive, the 
        committee shall consider--
                    (A) a cash prize;
                    (B) access to Government facilities, such as 
                through a lab-embedded entrepreneurship program of the 
                Department of Energy, a cooperative research and 
                development agreement, or other method;
                    (C) advance market commitments for technologies of 
                use or promise to the Federal Government; and
                    (D) any other incentive provided for by law.
            (4) Judging criteria.--The prize committee for each prize 
        competition shall establish judging criteria for the 
        competition that shall include, at a minimum--
                    (A) potential for the solution to become a 
                commercial product or service or advance knowledge to 
                further the public good;
                    (B) consideration of how likely the solution is to 
                lead to subsequent research, development, or 
                manufacturing in the United States;
                    (C) the degree to which the solution will lower the 
                climate footprint of the United States; and
                    (D) the degree to which the solution will lower the 
                global climate footprint.
            (5) Consideration.--In carrying out this section, the 
        committee shall take into consideration the best practices 
        provided for in the challenges and prizes toolkit made publicly 
        available on December 15, 2016, by the General Services 
        Administration.
            (6) Definition of advance market commitment.--In this 
        subsection, the term ``advance market commitment'' means a 
        commitment by the Federal Government to purchase a set number 
        of units of a product from a private sector entity at an 
        agreed-upon price, assuming pre-specified criteria are met.
    (c) Prize Competitions.--In carrying out the program, the Secretary 
shall provide for prize competitions, including at least one prize 
competition on each of the following:
            (1) Carbon capture and beneficial use.--Solutions to 
        capture carbon directly from the atmosphere or from sources 
        that would otherwise be emitted to the atmosphere, and convert 
        it to a beneficial use that does not result in near-term re-
        release into the atmosphere, unless such re-release offsets the 
        emission of additional carbon into the atmosphere, such that 
        the net effect of the solution is to reduce the overall amount 
        of carbon being emitted to the atmosphere.
            (2) Energy efficiency.--Solutions to achieve transformative 
        increases in energy efficiency, defined as an increase in 
        energy efficiency of 2 times or more over commonly-available 
        technology without a proportional increase in cost.
            (3) Energy storage.--Solutions to achieve implementation or 
        grid integration of advanced energy storage technology.
            (4) Climate resiliency.--Solutions to provide new or 
        improved approaches to mitigating or adapting to the effects of 
        climate change (such as floods, drought, excessive heat and 
        cold, and severe weather) in rural or urban areas.
            (5) Data analytics.--Solutions to--
                    (A) provide new or improved tools that use data to 
                better model Earth's climate at a global, regional, or 
                local scale;
                    (B) forecast climate-related phenomena (such as 
                weather, seasonal trends, oceanic and atmospheric 
                circulation); or
                    (C) provide actionable information on the climate 
                and related phenomena to government, industry, and 
                members of the public.
    (d) Acceptance of Funds.--In addition to such sums as may be 
appropriated or otherwise made available to the Secretary to award 
prizes under this section, the Secretary may accept funds from other 
Federal agencies, private sector entities, and State and local 
governments to award prizes under this section. The Secretary may not 
give any special consideration relating to the selection of awards 
under the prize competition to any private sector entity or individual 
in return for a donation to the Secretary or prize committee.
    (e) Eligibility.--Notwithstanding section 24(g)(3) of the 
Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (15 U.S.C. 
3719(g)(3)), for a group to be eligible for an award under this 
section, at least one member of such group shall be a citizen or 
permanent resident of the United States.
    (f) Completion of Prize Competitions.--The prize competitions 
carried out under this section shall be completed not later than the 
date that is 5 years after the program is established under subsection 
(a).
    (g) GAO Report.--Not later than the date of completion under 
subsection (f), the Comptroller General of the United States shall 
submit to Congress a report on the impact and the effectiveness of the 
program carried out under this section.
    (h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated $10,000,000 to carry out this Act, to remain available 
until expended.
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