Sec. 201 Short title
This title may be cited as the “Our Nation’s Energy Future Act of 2014” or the “ONE Future Act”.
Title II — ONE Future
II ONE Future
A Crosscutting Research and Development
Sec. 211 Crosscutting research and development
Findings— Congress finds the following:
The President believes that the United States energy policy must have “an all-of-the-above strategy for the 21st century that develops every source of American-made energy”.
The Department plays a strategic role in critical energy research and development to ensure a balanced, prosperous, and secure energy future.
Addressing our Nation’s energy future issues— The Secretary shall, through the Under Secretary for Science and Energy, utilize the capabilities of the Department to address issues facing our Nation’s energy future, including identifying strategic opportunities for collaborative research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of innovative science and technologies for—
advancing the state of the energy-water-land use nexus;
improving energy transmission and distribution systems security and resiliency;
utilizing supercritical carbon dioxide in electric power generation;
subsurface engineering;
exascale computing; and
critical challenges identified through comprehensive energy studies, evaluations, and reviews.
Crosscutting approaches— To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall seek to leverage existing programs, and consolidate and coordinate activities, throughout the Department to promote collaboration and crosscutting approaches within programs.
Additional actions— The Secretary shall—
prioritize activities that promote the utilization of all affordable domestic resources;
identify opportunities for public-private partnerships, innovative financing mechanisms, and grant challenges;
develop a rigorous and realistic planning, evaluation, and technical assessment framework for setting objective, long-term strategic goals and evaluating progress that ensures the integrity and independence to insulate planning from political influence and the agility and flexibility to adapt to market dynamics;
ensure that activities shall be undertaken in a manner that does not duplicate other activities within the Department or other Federal Government activities; and
identify programs that may be more effectively left to the States, industry, nongovernmental organizations, institutions of higher education, or other stakeholders.
Sec. 212 Strategic research portfolio analysis and coordination plan
Section 994 of Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16358) is amended to read as follows:
“994. Strategic research portfolio analysis and coordination plan
“(a) In general—The Secretary shall periodically review all of the science and technology activities of the Department in a strategic framework that takes into account the frontiers of science to which the Department can contribute, the national needs relevant to the Department's statutory missions, and global energy dynamics.
“(b) Coordination analysis and plan—As part of the review under subsection (a), the Secretary shall develop a coordination plan to improve coordination and collaboration in research, development, demonstration, and commercial application activities across Department organizational boundaries.
“(c) Plan contents—The plan shall describe—
“(1) cross-cutting scientific and technical issues and research questions that span more than one program or major office of the Department;
“(2) how the applied technology programs of the Department are coordinating their activities, and addressing those questions;
“(3) ways in which the technical interchange within the Department, particularly between the Office of Science and the applied technology programs, can be enhanced, including ways in which the research agendas of the Office of Science and the applied programs can interact and assist each other;
“(4) a description of how the Secretary will ensure that the Department’s overall research agenda include, in addition to fundamental, curiosity-driven research, fundamental research related to topics of concern to the applied programs, and applications in Departmental technology programs of research results generated by fundamental, curiosity-driven research;
“(5) critical assessments of any ongoing programs that have experienced sub-par performance or cost over-runs of 10 percent or more over one or more years; and
“(6) activities that may be more effectively left to the States, industry, nongovernmental organizations, institutions of higher education, or other stakeholders.
“(d) Plan transmittal—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the ONE Future Act, and every 4 years thereafter, the Secretary shall transmit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate the results of the review under subsection (a) and the coordination plan under subsection (b).”
Sec. 213 Strategy for facilities and infrastructure
by amending the section heading to read as follows: “Strategy for facilities and infrastructure”; and
in subsection (b)(1), by striking “2008” inserting “2018”.
Table of contents amendment— The item relating to section 993 in the table of contents of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 214 Distributed energy and electric energy systems
Section 921 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16211) is amended to read as follows:
“921. Distributed energy and electric energy systems
“(a) In general—The Secretary shall carry out programs of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application on distributed energy resources and systems reliability and efficiency, to improve the reliability and efficiency of distributed energy resources and systems, integrating advanced energy technologies with grid connectivity, including activities described in this subtitle. The programs shall address advanced energy technologies and systems and advanced grid security, resiliency, and reliability technologies.
“(b) Objectives—To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall seek to—
“(1) leverage existing programs;
“(2) consolidate and coordinate activities throughout the Department to promote collaboration and crosscutting approaches;
“(3) ensure activities are undertaken in a manner that does not duplicate other activities within the Department or other Federal Government activities; and
“(4) identify programs that may be more effectively left to the States, industry, nongovernmental organizations, institutions of higher education, or other stakeholders.”
Sec. 215 Distributed energy technology coordinating consortia
by amending the section heading to read as follows: “Distributed energy technology coordinating consortia”;
by striking paragraph (2) of subsection (b); and
by redesignating paragraph (3) of subsection (b) as paragraph (2).
Table of contents amendment— The item relating to section 924 in the table of contents of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 216 Electric transmission and distribution research and development
by amending the section heading to read as follows: “Electric transmission and distribution research and development”;
in subsection (a), by inserting “innovations for” after “which shall include”;
in subsection (b)(1), by striking “this Act” and inserting “the ONE Future Act”; and
by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
“(c) Implementation
“(1) Consortium—The Secretary shall consider implementing the program under this section using a consortium of participants from industry, institutions of higher education, and National Laboratories.
“(2) Objectives—To the maximum extent practicable the Secretary shall seek to—
“(A) leverage existing programs;
“(B) consolidate and coordinate activities, throughout the Department to promote collaboration and crosscutting approaches;
“(C) ensure activities are undertaken in a manner that does not duplicate other activities within the Department or other Federal Government activities; and
“(D) identify programs that may be more effectively left to the States, industry, nongovernmental organizations, institutions of higher education, or other stakeholders.”
Table of contents amendment— The item relating to section 925 in the table of contents of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 is amended to read as follows:
B Nuclear Energy Research and Development
Sec. 221 Objectives
Section 951 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16271) is amended—
by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
“(a) In general—The Secretary shall conduct programs of civilian nuclear energy research, development, demonstration, and commercial application, including activities described in this subtitle. Such programs shall take into consideration the following objectives:
“(1) Enhancing nuclear power's viability as part of the United States energy portfolio.
“(2) Reducing used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste products generated by civilian nuclear energy.
“(3) Supporting technological advances in areas that industry by itself is not likely to undertake because of technical and financial uncertainty.
“(4) Providing the technical means to reduce the likelihood of nuclear proliferation.
“(5) Maintaining a cadre of nuclear scientists and engineers.
“(6) Maintaining National Laboratory and university nuclear programs, including their infrastructure.
“(7) Supporting both individual researchers and multidisciplinary teams of researchers to pioneer new approaches in nuclear energy, science, and technology.
“(8) Developing, planning, constructing, acquiring, and operating special equipment and facilities for the use of researchers.
“(9) Supporting technology transfer and other appropriate activities to assist the nuclear energy industry, and other users of nuclear science and engineering, including activities addressing reliability, availability, productivity, component aging, safety, and security of nuclear power plants.
“(10) Reducing the environmental impact of nuclear energy-related activities.
“(11) Researching and developing technologies and processes to meet Federal and State requirements and standards for nuclear power systems.”
by striking subsections (b) through (d); and
by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (b).
Sec. 222 Program objectives study
Section 951 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16271) is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(c) Program objectives study—In furtherance of the program objectives listed in subsection (a) of this section, the Government Accountability Office shall, within one year after the date of enactment of this subsection, transmit to the Congress a report on the results of a study on the scientific and technical merit of major Federal and State requirements and standards, including moratoria, that delay or impede the further development and commercialization of nuclear power, and how the Department can assist in overcoming such delays or impediments.”
Sec. 223 Nuclear energy research and development programs
Section 952 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16272) is amended by striking subsections (c) through (e) and inserting the following:
“(c) Reactor concepts
“(1) In general—The Secretary shall carry out a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application to advance nuclear power systems as well as technologies to sustain currently deployed systems.
“(2) Designs and technologies—In conducting the program under this subsection, the Secretary shall examine advanced reactor designs and nuclear technologies, including those that—
“(A) are economically competitive with other electric power generation plants;
“(B) have higher efficiency, lower cost, and improved safety compared to reactors in operation as of the date of enactment of the ONE Future Act;
“(C) utilize passive safety features;
“(D) minimize proliferation risks;
“(E) substantially reduce production of high-level waste per unit of output;
“(F) increase the life and sustainability of reactor systems currently deployed;
“(G) use improved instrumentation;
“(H) are capable of producing large-scale quantities of hydrogen or process heat;
“(I) minimize water usage or use alternatives to water as a cooling mechanism; or
“(J) use nuclear energy as part of an integrated energy system.
“(3) International cooperation—In carrying out the program under this subsection, the Secretary shall seek opportunities to enhance the progress of the program through international cooperation through such organizations as the Generation IV International Forum or any other international collaboration the Secretary considers appropriate.
“(4) Exceptions—No funds authorized to be appropriated to carry out the activities described in this subsection shall be used to fund the activities authorized under sections 641 through 645.”
Sec. 224 Small modular reactor program
Section 952 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16272) is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(d) Small modular reactor program
“(1) In general—The Secretary shall carry out a small modular reactor program to promote research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of small modular reactors, including through cost-shared projects for commercial application of reactor systems designs.
“(2) Consultation—The Secretary shall consult with and utilize the expertise of the Secretary of the Navy in establishing and carrying out such program.
“(3) Additional activities—Activities may also include development of advanced computer modeling and simulation tools, by Federal and non-Federal entities, which demonstrate and validate new design capabilities of innovative small modular reactor designs.
“(4) Definition—For the purposes of this subsection, the term small modular reactor means a nuclear reactor meeting generally accepted industry standards—
“(A) with a rated capacity of less than 300 electrical megawatts;
“(B) with respect to which most parts can be factory assembled and shipped as modules to a reactor plant site for assembly; and
“(C) that can be constructed and operated in combination with similar reactors at a single site.”
Sec. 225 Conventional improvements to nuclear power plants
Section 952 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16272) is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(e) Conventional improvements to nuclear power plants
“(1) In general—The Secretary may carry out a Nuclear Energy Research Initiative for research and development related to power conversion improvements to nuclear power plants to promote the research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of—
“(A) cooling systems;
“(B) turbine technologies;
“(C) heat exchangers and pump design;
“(D) special coatings to improve lifetime of components and performance of heat exchangers; and
“(E) advanced power conversion systems for advanced reactor technologies.
“(2) Administration—The Secretary may undertake initiatives under this subsection only when the goals are relevant and proper to enhance the performance of technologies developed under subsection (c). Not more than $10,000,000 of funds authorized for this section may be used for carrying out this subsection.”
Sec. 226 Fuel cycle research and development
in the section heading by striking “Advanced fuel cycle initiative” and inserting “Fuel cycle research and development”;
by striking subsection (a);
by redesignating subsections (b) through (d) as subsections (d) through (f), respectively; and
by inserting before subsection (d), as so redesignated by paragraph (3) of this subsection, the following new subsections:
“(a) In general—The Secretary shall conduct a fuel cycle research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program (referred to in this section as the “program”) on fuel cycle options that improve uranium resource utilization, maximize energy generation, minimize nuclear waste creation, improve safety, mitigate risk of proliferation, and improve waste management in support of a national strategy for spent nuclear fuel and the reactor concepts research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program under section 952(c).
“(b) Fuel cycle options—Under this section the Secretary may consider implementing the following initiatives:
“(1) Open cycle—Developing fuels, including the use of nonuranium materials and alternate claddings, for use in reactors that increase energy generation, improve safety performance and margins, and minimize the amount of nuclear waste produced in an open fuel cycle.
“(2) Recycle—Developing advanced recycling technologies, including advanced reactor concepts to improve resource utilization, reduce proliferation risks, and minimize radiotoxicity, decay heat, and mass and volume of nuclear waste to the greatest extent possible.
“(3) Advanced storage methods—Developing advanced storage technologies for both onsite and long-term storage that substantially prolong the effective life of current storage devices or that substantially improve upon existing nuclear waste storage technologies and methods, including repositories.
“(4) Alternative and deep borehole storage methods—Developing alternative storage methods for long-term storage, including deep boreholes into stable crystalline rock formations and mined repositories in a range of geologic media.
“(5) Fast test reactor—Investigating the potential research benefits of a fast test reactor to conduct experiments on fuels and materials related to fuel forms and fuel cycles that will increase fuel utilization, reduce proliferation risks, and reduce nuclear waste products.
“(6) Other technologies—Developing any other technology or initiative that the Secretary determines is likely to advance the objectives of the program.
“(c) Additional advanced recycling and crosscutting activities—In addition to and in support of the specific initiatives described in paragraphs (1) through (6) of subsection (b), the Secretary may support the following activities:
“(1) Development and testing of integrated process flow sheets for advanced nuclear fuel recycling processes.
“(2) Research to characterize the byproducts and waste streams resulting from fuel recycling processes.
“(3) Research and development on reactor concepts or transmutation technologies that improve resource utilization or reduce the radiotoxicity of waste streams.
“(4) Research and development on waste treatment processes and separations technologies, advanced waste forms, and quantification of proliferation risks.
“(5) Identification and evaluation of test and experimental facilities necessary to successfully implement the advanced fuel cycle initiative.
“(6) Advancement of fuel cycle-related modeling and simulation capabilities.
“(7) Research to understand the behavior of high-burnup fuels.”
Conforming amendment— The item relating to section 953 in the table of contents of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 227 Nuclear energy enabling technologies program
Amendment— Subtitle E of title IX of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16271 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
“958. Nuclear energy enabling technologies
“(a) In general—The Secretary shall conduct a program to support the integration of activities undertaken through the reactor concepts research, development, demonstration, and commercial application program under section 952(c) and the fuel cycle research and development program under section 953, and support crosscutting nuclear energy concepts. Activities commenced under this section shall be concentrated on broadly applicable research and development focus areas.
“(b) Activities—Activities conducted under this section may include research involving—
“(1) advanced reactor materials;
“(2) advanced radiation mitigation methods;
“(3) advanced proliferation and security risk assessment methods;
“(4) advanced sensors and instrumentation;
“(5) advanced nuclear manufacturing methods;
“(6) high performance computation modeling, including multiphysics, multidimensional modeling and simulation for nuclear energy systems; and
“(7) any crosscutting technology or transformative concept aimed at establishing substantial and revolutionary enhancements in the performance of future nuclear energy systems that the Secretary considers relevant and appropriate to the purpose of this section.
“(c) Report—The Secretary shall submit, as part of the annual budget submission of the Department, a report on the activities of the program conducted under this section, which shall include a brief evaluation of each activity’s progress.”
Conforming amendment— The table of contents of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 is amended by adding at the end of the items for subtitle E of title IX the following new item:
Sec. 228 Technical standards collaboration
In general— The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall establish a nuclear energy standards committee (in this section referred to as the “technical standards committee”) to facilitate and support, consistent with the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995, the development or revision of technical standards for new and existing nuclear power plants and advanced nuclear technologies.
Membership—
In general— The technical standards committee shall include representatives from appropriate Federal agencies and the private sector, and be open to materially affected organizations involved in the development or application of nuclear energy-related standards.
Co-chairs— The technical standards committee shall be co-chaired by a representative from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and a representative from a private sector standards organization.
Duties— The technical standards committee shall, in cooperation with appropriate Federal agencies—
perform a needs assessment to identify and evaluate the technical standards that are needed to support nuclear energy, including those needed to support new and existing nuclear power plants and advanced nuclear technologies;
formulate, coordinate, and recommend priorities for the development of new technical standards and the revision of existing technical standards to address the needs identified under paragraph (1);
facilitate and support collaboration and cooperation among standards developers to address the needs and priorities identified under paragraphs (1) and (2);
as appropriate, coordinate with other national, regional, or international efforts on nuclear energy-related technical standards in order to avoid conflict and duplication and to ensure global compatibility; and
promote the establishment and maintenance of a database of nuclear energy-related technical standards.
Authorization of appropriations— There are authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2015 to the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology for activities under this section.
Sec. 229 Evaluation of long-term operating needs
In general— The Secretary shall enter into an arrangement with the National Academies to conduct an evaluation of the scientific and technological challenges to the long-term maintenance and safe operation of currently deployed nuclear power reactors up to and beyond the specified design-life of reactor systems.
Report— Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit to the Congress, and make publically available, the results of the evaluation undertaken by the Academies pursuant to subsection (a).
Sec. 230 Available facilities database
The Secretary shall prepare a database of non-Federal user facilities receiving Federal funds that may be used for unclassified nuclear energy research. The Secretary shall make this database accessible on the Department’s website.
Sec. 231 Nuclear waste disposal
To the extent consistent with the requirements of current law, the Department shall be responsible for disposal of high-level radioactive waste or spent nuclear fuel generated by reactors under the programs authorized in this subtitle, or the amendments made by this subtitle.
C Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Research and Development
Sec. 241 Energy efficiency
Section 911 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16191) is amended to read as follows:
“911. Energy efficiency
“(a) Objectives—The Secretary shall conduct programs of energy efficiency research, development, demonstration, and commercial application, including activities described in this subtitle. Such programs shall prioritize activities that industry by itself is not likely to undertake because of technical, financial, or regulatory uncertainty, and take into consideration the following objectives:
“(1) Increasing energy efficiency.
“(2) Reducing the cost of energy and making the economy more competitive.
“(3) Improving the energy security of the United States.
“(4) Reducing the environmental impact of energy-related activities.
“(b) Programs—Programs under this subtitle shall include research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of—
“(1) innovative, affordable technologies to improve the energy efficiency and environmental performance of vehicles, including weight and drag reduction technologies, and whole-vehicle design optimization;
“(2) cost-effective technologies, for new construction and retrofit, to improve the energy efficiency and environmental performance of buildings, using a whole-buildings approach;
“(3) advanced technologies to improve the energy efficiency, environmental performance, and process efficiency of energy-intensive and waste-intensive industries; and
“(4) technologies to improve the energy efficiency of appliances and mechanical systems for buildings in extreme climates, including cogeneration, trigeneration, and polygeneration units and increased use of renewable resources, or alternative fuels.”
Sec. 242 Next Generation Lighting Initiative
Section 912 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16192) is repealed.
Sec. 243 Building standards
Section 914 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16194) is amended by striking subsection (c).
Sec. 244 Secondary electric vehicle battery use program
Section 915 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16195) is repealed.
Sec. 245 Energy Efficiency Science Initiative
Section 916(a) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16196(a)) is amended to read as follows:
“(a) Establishment—The Secretary shall establish an Energy Efficiency Science Initiative to be managed by the Under Secretary for Science and Energy, for grants to be competitively awarded and subject to peer review for research relating to energy efficiency innovations.”
Sec. 246 Advanced Energy Technology Transfer Centers
Section 917 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16197) is amended—
in subsection (a)—
by inserting “and” at the end of paragraph (2)(B);
by striking “; and” at the end of paragraph (3) and inserting a period; and
by striking paragraph (4);
in subsection (b)—
by striking paragraph (1);
by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (5) as paragraphs (1) through (4), respectively; and
by striking paragraph (6);
by amending subsection (g) to read as follows:
“(g) Prohibition—None of the funds awarded under this section may be used for the construction of facilities or the deployment of commercially available technologies.”
by striking subsection (i).
Sec. 247 Renewable energy
Section 931 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16231) is amended to read as follows:
“931. Renewable energy
“(a) In General
“(1) Objectives—The Secretary shall conduct programs of renewable energy research, development, demonstration, and commercial application, including activities described in this subtitle. Such programs shall prioritize activities that industry by itself is not likely to undertake because of technical, financial, or regulatory uncertainty, and take into consideration the following objectives:
“(A) Increasing the conversion efficiency of all forms of renewable energy through improved technologies.
“(B) Decreasing the cost of renewable energy generation and delivery.
“(C) Promoting the diversity of the energy supply.
“(D) Decreasing the dependence of the United States on foreign mineral resources.
“(E) Improving United States energy security.
“(F) Decreasing the environmental impact of renewable energy-related activities.
“(G) Increasing the export of renewable generation technologies from the United States.
“(2) Programs
“(A) Solar energy—The Secretary shall conduct a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application for solar energy, including innovations in—
“(i) photovoltaics;
“(ii) solar heating;
“(iii) concentrating solar power;
“(iv) lighting systems that integrate sunlight and electrical lighting in complement to each other;
“(v) manufacturability of low cost, high quality solar systems; and
“(vi) development of technologies that can be easily integrated into new and existing buildings.
“(B) Wind energy—The Secretary shall conduct a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application for wind energy, including innovations in—
“(i) low speed wind energy;
“(ii) testing and verification technologies;
“(iii) distributed wind energy generation; and
“(iv) transformational technologies for harnessing wind energy.
“(C) Geothermal—The Secretary shall conduct a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application for geothermal energy. The program shall focus on developing innovative and transformational technologies for reducing the costs of geothermal energy, including technologies for—
“(i) improving detection of geothermal resources;
“(ii) decreasing drilling costs;
“(iii) decreasing maintenance costs through improved materials;
“(iv) increasing the potential for other revenue sources, such as mineral production; and
“(v) increasing the understanding of reservoir life cycle and management.
“(D) Hydropower—The Secretary shall conduct a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application for cost competitive technologies that enable the development of new and incremental hydropower capacity, adding to the diversity of the energy supply of the United States, including:
“(i) Advanced technologies to enhance environmental performance and yield greater energy efficiencies.
“(ii) Ocean energy, including wave energy.
“(E) Miscellaneous projects—The Secretary shall conduct research, development, demonstration, and commercial application programs for—
“(i) the combined use of renewable energy technologies with one another and with other energy technologies, including the combined use of renewable power and fossil technologies;
“(ii) renewable energy technologies for cogeneration of hydrogen and electricity;
“(iii) kinetic hydro turbines; and
“(iv) the Pioneering Energy Research Program under section 262 of the ONE Future Act.
“(b) Rural Demonstration Projects—In carrying out this section, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall give priority to demonstrations that assist in delivering electricity to rural and remote locations including—
“(1) advanced renewable power technology, including combined use with fossil technologies;
“(2) biomass; and
“(3) geothermal energy systems.
“(c) Analysis and Evaluation
“(1) In general—The Secretary shall conduct analysis and evaluation in support of the renewable energy programs under this subtitle. These activities shall be used to guide budget and program decisions, and shall include—
“(A) economic and technical analysis of renewable energy potential, including resource assessment;
“(B) analysis of past program performance, both in terms of technical advances and in market introduction of renewable energy;
“(C) assessment of domestic and international market drivers, including the impacts of any Federal, State, or local grants, loans, loan guarantees, tax incentives, statutory or regulatory requirements, or other government initiatives; and
“(D) any other analysis or evaluation that the Secretary considers appropriate.
“(2) Funding—The Secretary may designate up to 1 percent of the funds appropriated for carrying out this subtitle for analysis and evaluation activities under this subsection.
“(3) Submittal to congress—This analysis and evaluation shall be submitted to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate at least 30 days before each annual budget request is submitted to Congress.”
Sec. 248 Bioenergy program
Section 932 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16232) is amended to read as follows:
“932. Bioenergy program
“(a) Program—The Secretary shall conduct a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application for bioenergy, including innovations in—
“(1) biopower energy systems;
“(2) biofuels;
“(3) bioproducts;
“(4) integrated biorefineries that may produce biopower, biofuels, and bioproducts; and
“(5) cross-cutting research and development in feedstocks.
“(b) Biofuels and Bioproducts—The goals of the biofuels and bioproducts programs shall be to develop, in partnership with industry and institutions of higher education—
“(1) advanced biochemical and thermochemical conversion technologies capable of making fuels from lignocellulosic feedstocks that are price-competitive with fossil-based fuels and fully compatible with either internal combustion engines or fuel cell-powered vehicles;
“(2) advanced biotechnology processes capable of making biofuels and bioproducts with emphasis on development of biorefinery technologies using enzyme-based processing systems; and
“(3) other advanced processes that will enable the development of cost-effective bioproducts, including biofuels.
“(d) Retrofit Technologies for the Development of Ethanol From Cellulosic Materials—The Secretary shall establish a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application for technologies and processes to enable biorefineries that exclusively use corn grain or corn starch as a feedstock to produce ethanol to be retrofitted to accept a range of biomass, including lignocellulosic feedstocks.
“(c) Definitions—In this section:
“(1) Biomass—The term biomass means—
“(A) any organic material grown for the purpose of being converted to energy;
“(B) any organic byproduct of agriculture (including wastes from food production and processing) that can be converted into energy; or
“(C) any waste material that can be converted to energy, is segregated from other waste materials, and is derived from—
“(i) any of the following forest-related resources: mill residues, precommercial thinnings, slash, brush, or otherwise nonmerchantable material;
“(ii) wood waste materials, including waste pallets, crates, dunnage, manufacturing and construction wood wastes (other than pressure-treated, chemically treated, or painted wood wastes), and landscape or right-of-way tree trimmings, but not including municipal solid waste, gas derived from the biodegradation of municipal solid waste, or paper that is commonly recycled; or
“(iii) solids derived from waste water treatment processes.
“(2) Lignocellulosic feedstock—The term lignocellulosic feedstock means any portion of a plant or coproduct from conversion, including crops, trees, forest residues, and agricultural residues not specifically grown for food, including from barley grain, grapeseed, rice bran, rice hulls, rice straw, soybean matter, and sugarcane bagasse.”
Sec. 249 Concentrating solar power research program
Section 934 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16234) is repealed.
Sec. 250 Renewable energy in public buildings
Section 935 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16235) and the item relating thereto in the table of contents of that Act are repealed.
D Fossil Energy Research and Development
Sec. 261 Fossil energy
Section 961 of Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16291) is amended to read as follows:
“961. Fossil energy
“(a) In general—The Secretary shall carry out research, development, demonstration, and commercial application programs in fossil energy, including activities under this subtitle, with the goal of improving the efficiency, effectiveness, and environmental performance of fossil energy production, upgrading, conversion, and consumption. Such programs shall take into consideration the following objectives:
“(1) Increasing the energy conversion efficiency of all forms of fossil energy through improved technologies.
“(2) Decreasing the cost of all fossil energy production, generation, and delivery.
“(3) Promoting diversity of energy supply.
“(4) Decreasing the dependence of the United States on foreign energy supplies.
“(5) Improving United States energy security.
“(6) Decreasing the environmental impact of energy-related activities.
“(7) Increasing the export of fossil energy-related equipment, technology, and services from the United States.
“(b) Limitations
“(1) Uses—None of the funds authorized for carrying out this section may be used for Fossil Energy Environmental Restoration.
“(2) Institutions of higher education—Not less than 20 percent of the funds appropriated for carrying out section 964 of this Act for each fiscal year shall be dedicated to research and development carried out at institutions of higher education.
“(3) Use for regulatory assessments or determinations—The results of any research, development, demonstration, or commercial application projects or activities of the Department may not be used for regulatory assessments or determinations by Federal regulatory authorities.
“(c) Assessments
“(1) Constraints against bringing resources to market—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the ONE Future Act, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress an assessment of the technical, institutional, policy, and regulatory constraints to bringing new domestic fossil resources to market.
“(2) Technology capabilities—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the ONE Future Act, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress a long-term assessment of existing and projected technological capabilities for expanded production from domestic unconventional oil, gas, and methane reserves.”
Sec. 262 Pioneering Energy Research
Establishment— The Secretary, in conjunction with the program consortium selected under subsection (d), shall establish and carry out a public-private partnership Pioneering Energy Research Program for research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of technologies to maximize domestic energy production, improve environmental stewardship, ensure domestic energy security, and maintain global energy leadership.
Covered activities— The program under this section shall include research, development, demonstration, and commercial application on—
natural gas and other petroleum resource exploration, production and consumption, including technologies and processes to improve well and pipeline integrity, improve understanding of fluid flow and storage, reduce surface footprints, and improve water management technologies in conventional and unconventional resources;
alternative liquid transportation fuel activities, including integration of biomass and natural gas for transportation fuels production, cleaner fuels, renewable liquid fuels other than ethanol, natural gas vehicles, and other innovative fossil-based fuels;
energy system risk management, optimization, resiliency, and integration;
hydraulic fracturing and shale petroleum, including the establishment and continued operation of one or more Hydraulic Fracturing Test Sites to address efficiency, safety, and environmental sustainability of hydraulic fracturing and shale petroleum technologies;
small producer technology challenges, including improving well integrity and efficiency;
subsurface energy exploration and production, including geothermal energy;
interstate and intrastate natural gas pipeline and distribution system integrity management; and
other domestic energy challenges as identified by the Secretary or the program consortium and included in the annual plan prepared under subsection (i).
Role of the secretary— The Secretary shall have ultimate responsibility for, and oversight of, all aspects of the program under this section. The Secretary may not assign any activities to the program consortium except as specifically authorized under this section.
Selection of the program consortium—
In general— Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall select the program consortium through an open, competitive process.
Requirement of section 501(c)(3) status— The Secretary shall not select a program consortium under this section unless such consortium is an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under such section 501(a) of such Code.
Role of the program consortium— Upon approval of the Secretary, the program consortium shall—
administer the program, to the extent provided under subsection (c);
issue research project solicitations;
make project awards to research performers;
disburse research funds awarded under this section to research performers in accordance with the annual plan prepared under subsection (i); and
carry out other activities assigned to the program consortium or as provided in the annual plan.
Administrative costs— To compensate the program consortium for carrying out its activities under this section, the Secretary shall provide to the program consortium up to 10 percent of the total appropriation for carrying out this section each fiscal year.
Coordination— In carrying out this section, the Secretary and the program consortium shall promote coordination and cooperation among program offices at the Department.
Complementary research— The Secretary, through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the National Energy Technology Laboratory, shall carry out research and other activities complementary to and supportive of the program authorized under this section. Up to 12.5 percent of appropriated program funds each fiscal year shall be for complementary research conducted by the National Energy Technology Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Annual plan—
Development— Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the program consortium shall develop, and transmit to the Secretary, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, a plan for activities under this section, including the distribution of Program funds, which shall be reviewed and approved within 60 days by the Secretary.
Contents— The annual plan shall describe the ongoing and prospective activities of the program under this section and shall include a list of any solicitations for awards to carry out research, development, demonstration, and commercial application activities, including specifics on the topics for such work, who would be eligible to apply, selection criteria, and the duration of awards.
Awards—
In general— Upon approval of the Secretary, the program consortium shall make awards to research performers to carry out research, development, demonstration, and commercial application activities under this section.
Oversight—
In general— The program consortium shall oversee the implementation of awards under this subsection, consistent with the annual plan developed under subsection (i), including disbursing funds and monitoring activities carried out under such awards for compliance with the terms and conditions of the awards.
Effect— Nothing in subparagraph (A) shall limit the authority or responsibility of the Secretary to oversee awards, or limit the authority of the Secretary to review or revoke awards.
Authorization of appropriations— There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, to remain available until expended, for carrying out this section—
$50,000,000, to be derived from amounts appropriated under section 291(c); and
$50,000,000, to be derived from amounts appropriated under section 291(d).
Sec. 263 Research, development, demonstration, and commercial application programs
in subsection (a)—
in paragraph (10), by striking “and” at the end;
in paragraph (11), by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(12) specific additional programs to address water use and reuse;
“(13) the testing, including the construction of testing facilities, of high temperature materials for use in advanced systems for combustion or use of coal; and
“(14) innovations to application of existing coal conversion systems designed to increase efficiency of conversion, flexibility of operation, and other modifications to address existing usage requirements.”
by redesignating subsections (b) through (d) as subsections (c) through (e), respectively;
by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
“(b) Transformational coal technology program
“(1) In general—As part of the program established under subsection (a), the Secretary may carry out a program designed to undertake research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of technologies, including the accelerated development of—
“(A) chemical looping technology;
“(B) supercritical carbon dioxide power generation cycles;
“(C) pressurized oxycombustion, including new and retrofit technologies; and
“(D) other technologies that are characterized by the use of—
“(i) alternative energy cycles;
“(ii) thermionic devices using waste heat;
“(iii) fuel cells;
“(iv) replacement of chemical processes with biotechnology;
“(v) nanotechnology;
“(vi) new materials in applications (other than extending cycles to higher temperature and pressure), such as membranes or ceramics;
“(vii) carbon utilization, such as in construction materials, using low quality energy to reconvert back to a fuel, or manufactured food;
“(viii) advanced gas separation concepts; and
“(ix) other technologies, including—
“(I) modular, manufactured components; and
“(II) innovative production or research techniques, such as using 3–D printer systems, for the production of early research and development prototypes.
“(2) Cost share—In carrying out the program described in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall enter into partnerships with private entities to share the costs of carrying out the program. The Secretary may reduce or eliminate the non-Federal cost share requirement if the Secretary determines that the reduction or elimination is necessary and appropriate considering the technological risks involved in the project.”
in subsection (c) (as so redesignated)—
by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
“(1) In general—In carrying out programs authorized by this section, the Secretary shall identify cost and performance goals for coal-based technologies that would permit the continued cost-competitive use of coal for the production of electricity, chemical feedstocks, transportation fuels, and other marketable products.”
in paragraph (2), by striking “date of enactment of this Act” each place it appears and inserting “date of enactment of the ONE Future Act”.
Advisory committee; authorization of appropriations— Section 963 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16293) is amended—
by amending paragraph (6) of subsection (c) to read as follows:
“(6) Advisory committee
“(A) In general—Subject to subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall establish an advisory committee to undertake, not less frequently than once every 3 years, a review and prepare a report on the progress being made by the Department of Energy to achieve the goals described in subsections (a) and (b) of section 962 and subsection (b) of this section.
“(B) Membership requirements—Members of the advisory committee established under subparagraph (A) shall be appointed by the Secretary.”
by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:
“(d) Study of carbon dioxide pipelines—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the ONE Future Act, the Secretary shall transmit to Congress the results of a study to assess the cost and feasibility of engineering, permitting, building, maintaining, regulating, and insuring a national system of carbon dioxide pipelines.”
Sec. 264 High efficiency gas turbines research and development
In general— The Secretary, through the Office of Fossil Energy, shall carry out a multiyear, multiphase program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application to innovate technologies to maximize the efficiency of gas turbines used in power generation systems.
Program elements— The program under this section shall—
support innovative engineering and detailed gas turbine design for megawatt-scale and utility-scale electric power generation, including—
high temperature materials, including superalloys, coatings, and ceramics;
improved heat transfer capability;
manufacturing technology required to construct complex three-dimensional geometry parts with improved aerodynamic capability;
combustion technology to produce higher firing temperature while lowering nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide emissions per unit of output;
advanced controls and systems integration;
advanced high performance compressor technology; and
validation facilities for the testing of components and subsystems;
include technology demonstration through component testing, subscale testing, and full scale testing in existing fleets;
include field demonstrations of the developed technology elements so as to demonstrate technical and economic feasibility; and
assess overall combined cycle and simple cycle system performance.
Program goals— The goals of the multiphase program established under subsection (a) shall be—
in phase I—
to develop the conceptual design of advanced high efficiency gas turbines that can achieve at least 62 percent combined cycle efficiency or 47 percent simple cycle efficiency on a lower heating value basis; and
to develop and demonstrate the technology required for advanced high efficiency gas turbines that can achieve at least 62 percent combined cycle efficiency or 47 percent simple cycle efficiency on a lower heating value basis; and
in phase II, to develop the conceptual design for advanced high efficiency gas turbines that can achieve at least 65 percent combined cycle efficiency or 50 percent simple cycle efficiency on a lower heating value basis.
Proposals— Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall solicit grant and contract proposals from industry, small businesses, universities, and other appropriate parties for conducting activities under this section. In selecting proposals, the Secretary shall emphasize—
the extent to which the proposal will stimulate the creation or increased retention of jobs in the United States; and
the extent to which the proposal will promote and enhance United States technology leadership.
Competitive Awards— The provision of funding under this section shall be on a competitive basis with an emphasis on technical merit.
Cost sharing— Section 988 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352) shall apply to an award of financial assistance made under this section.
E Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy
Sec. 281 ARPA–E amendments
Section 5012 of the America COMPETES Act (42 U.S.C. 16538) is amended—
by amending paragraph (1) of subsection (c) to read as follows:
“(1) In general—The goals of ARPA–E shall be to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States and to ensure that the United States maintains a technological lead through the development of advanced energy technologies.”
in subsection (i)(1), by inserting “ARPA–E shall not provide funding for a project unless the prospective grantee demonstrates sufficient attempts to secure private financing as to indicate that the project is not independently commercially viable.” after “relevant research agencies.”;
in subsection (l)(1), by inserting “and once every 6 years thereafter,” after “operation for 6 years,”; and
by redesignating subsection (n) as subsection (o) and inserting after subsection (m) the following new subsection:
“(n) Protection of proprietary information
“(1) In general—The following categories of information collected by the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy from recipients of financial assistance awards shall be considered privileged and confidential and not subject to disclosure pursuant to section 552 of title 5, United States Code:
“(A) Plans for commercialization of technologies developed under the award, including business plans, technology to market plans, market studies, and cost and performance models.
“(B) Investments provided to an awardee from third parties, such as venture capital, hedge fund, or private equity firms, including amounts and percentage of ownership of the awardee provided in return for such investments.
“(C) Additional financial support that the awardee plans to invest or has invested into the technology developed under the award, or that the awardee is seeking from third parties.
“(D) Revenue from the licensing or sale of new products or services resulting from the research conducted under the award.
“(2) Effect of subsection—Nothing in this subsection affects—
“(A) the authority of the Secretary to use information without publicly disclosing such information; or
“(B) the responsibility of the Secretary to transmit information to Congress as required by law.”
F Miscellaneous
Sec. 291 Authorization of appropriations
Crosscutting programs— There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for—
research, development, demonstration, and commercial application for Electrical Delivery and Energy Reliability Research and Development activities within the Office of Electricity, $105,700,000 for fiscal year 2014; and
research, development, demonstration, and commercial application for crosscutting programs within the Department $145,700,000 for fiscal year 2015, including up to $105,700,000 for Electrical Delivery and Energy Reliability Research and Development activities within the Office of Electricity.
Nuclear energy—
In general— There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for research, development, demonstration, and commercial application for nuclear energy technology activities within the Office of Nuclear Energy $488,630,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 and 2015.
Limitation— Any amounts made available pursuant to the authorization of appropriations under paragraph (1) shall not be derived from the Nuclear Waste Fund established under section 302(c) of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (42 U.S.C. 10222(c)).
Energy efficiency and renewable energy— There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for research, development, demonstration, and commercial application for energy efficiency and renewable energy technology activities within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy—
$1,683,486,000 for fiscal year 2014; and
$1,197,631,000 for fiscal year 2015.
Fossil energy— There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for research, development, demonstration, and commercial application for fossil energy technology activities within the Office of Fossil Energy $561,931,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 and 2015.
ARPA–E— There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy—
$280,000,000 for fiscal year 2014; and
$240,000,000 for fiscal year 2015.