S. 2012 — what changed

removed “(A) In general—Not later than”

removed “(B) Measures not implemented—Each energy manager, as part of the certification system under paragraph (7) and using guidelines developed by the Secretary, shall provide an explanation regarding any life-cycle cost-effective measures described in subparagraph (A)(i) that have not been implemented.”

“(5)

“(A) the status of the energy savings performance contracts and utility energy service contracts of each agency;

“(B) the investment value of the contracts;

“(C) the guaranteed energy savings for the previous year as compared to the actual energy savings for the previous year;

“(D) the plan for entering into the contracts in the coming year; and

“(E) information explaining why any previously submitted plans for the contracts were not implemented.”

“(iii) limit the recognition of operation and maintenance savings associated with systems modernized or replaced with the implementation of energy conservation measures, water conservation measures, or any combination of energy conservation measures and water conservation measures.”

“(H) Miscellaneous authority—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a Federal agency may sell or transfer energy savings and apply the proceeds of the sale or transfer to fund a contract under this title.”

“(E) the use, sale, or transfer of energy incentives, rebates, or credits (including renewable energy credits) from Federal, State, or local governments or utilities; and

“(F) any revenue generated from a reduction in energy or water use, more efficient waste recycling, or additional energy generated from more efficient equipment.”

Section 543 of the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 8253) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(h) Federal Implementation Strategy for Energy-Efficient and Energy-Saving Information Technologies

“(1) Definitions—In this subsection:

“(A) Director—The term “Director” means the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

“(B) Information technology—The term “information technology” has the meaning given the term in section 11101 of title 40, United States Code.

“(2) Development of implementation strategy—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, each Federal agency shall collaborate with the Director to develop an implementation strategy (including best-practices and measurement and verification techniques) for the maintenance, purchase, and use by the Federal agency of energy-efficient and energy-saving information technologies.

“(3) Administration—In developing an implementation strategy, each Federal agency shall consider—

“(A) advanced metering infrastructure;

“(B) energy efficient data center strategies and methods of increasing asset and infrastructure utilization;

“(C) advanced power management tools;

“(D) building information modeling, including building energy management; and

“(E) secure telework and travel substitution tools.

“(4) Performance goals

“(A) In general—Not later than September 30, 2015, the Director, in consultation with the Secretary, shall establish performance goals for evaluating the efforts of Federal agencies in improving the maintenance, purchase, and use of energy-efficient and energy-saving information technology systems.

“(B) Best practices—The Chief Information Officers Council established under section 3603 of title 44, United States Code, shall supplement the performance goals established under this paragraph with recommendations on best practices for the attainment of the performance goals, to include a requirement for agencies to consider the use of—

“(i) energy savings performance contracting; and

“(ii) utility energy services contracting.

“(5) Reports

“(A) Agency reports—Each Federal agency subject to the requirements of this subsection shall include in the report of the agency under section 527 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17143) a description of the efforts and results of the agency under this subsection.

“(B) OMB Government efficiency reports and scorecards—Effective beginning not later than October 1, 2015, the Director shall include in the annual report and scorecard of the Director required under section 528 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17144) a description of the efforts and results of Federal agencies under this subsection.

changed “(C) Use of existing reporting structures—The Director may require Federal agencies to submit any information required to be submitted under this subsection though reporting structures in use as of the date of enactment of the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015.”2016.”

Section 453 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17112) is amended—

“(c) Stakeholder involvement

“(1) In general—The Secretary and the Administrator shall carry out subsection (b) in consultation with the information technology industry and other key stakeholders, with the goal of producing results that accurately reflect the best knowledge in the most pertinent domains.

“(2) Considerations—In carrying out consultation described in paragraph (1), the Secretary and the Administrator shall pay particular attention to organizations that—

“(A) have members with expertise in energy efficiency and in the development, operation, and functionality of data centers, information technology equipment, and software, including representatives of hardware manufacturers, data center operators, and facility managers;

“(B) obtain and address input from the National Laboratories (as that term is defined in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801)) or any institution of higher education, research institution, industry association, company, or public interest group with applicable expertise;

“(C) follow—

“(i) commonly accepted procedures for the development of specifications; and

“(ii) accredited standards development processes; or

“(D) have a mission to promote energy efficiency for data centers and information technology.

“(d) Measurements and specifications—The Secretary and the Administrator shall consider and assess the adequacy of the specifications, measurements, and benchmarks described in subsection (b) for use by the Federal Energy Management Program, the Energy Star Program, and other efficiency programs of the Department of Energy or the Environmental Protection Agency.

changed “(e) Study—The Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator, not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015, 2016, shall make available to the public an update to the report submitted to Congress pursuant to section 1 of the Act of December 20, 2006 (Public Law 109–431; 120 Stat. 2920), entitled “Report to Congress on Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency” and dated August 2, 2007, that provides—

“(1) a comparison and gap analysis of the estimates and projections contained in the original report with new data regarding the period from 2007 through 2014;

“(2) an analysis considering the impact of information technologies, including virtualization and cloud computing, in the public and private sectors;

“(3) an evaluation of the impact of the combination of cloud platforms, mobile devices, social media, and big data on data center energy usage;

“(4) an evaluation of water usage in data centers and recommendations for reductions in such water usage; and

“(5) updated projections and recommendations for best practices through fiscal year 2020.

“(f) Data center energy practitioner program

“(1) In general—The Secretary, in consultation with key stakeholders and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall maintain a data center energy practitioner program that provides for the certification of energy practitioners qualified to evaluate the energy usage and efficiency opportunities in Federal data centers.

“(2) Evaluations—Each Federal agency shall consider having the data centers of the agency evaluated once every 4 years by energy practitioners certified pursuant to the program, whenever practicable using certified practitioners employed by the agency.

“(g) Open data initiative

“(1) In general—The Secretary, in consultation with key stakeholders and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall establish an open data initiative for Federal data center energy usage data, with the purpose of making the data available and accessible in a manner that encourages further data center innovation, optimization, and consolidation.

“(2) Consideration—In establishing the initiative under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall consider using the online Data Center Maturity Model.

“(h) International specifications and metrics—The Secretary, in consultation with key stakeholders, shall actively participate in efforts to harmonize global specifications and metrics for data center energy and water efficiency.

“(i) Data center utilization metric—The Secretary, in collaboration with key stakeholders, shall facilitate in the development of an efficiency metric that measures the energy efficiency of a data center (including equipment and facilities).

“(j) Protection of proprietary information—The Secretary and the Administrator shall not disclose any proprietary information or trade secrets provided by any individual or company for the purposes of carrying out this section or the programs and initiatives established under this section.”

“(19) Major renovation—The term major renovation means a modification of building energy systems sufficiently extensive that the whole building can meet energy standards for new buildings, based on criteria to be established by the Secretary through notice and comment rulemaking.”

“(3) Revised federal building energy efficiency performance standards

“(A) Revised federal building energy efficiency performance standards

changed “(i) In general—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015, 2016, the Secretary shall establish, by rule, revised Federal building energy efficiency performance standards that require that—

“(I) new Federal buildings and alterations and additions to existing Federal buildings—

changed “(aa) meet or exceed the most recent revision of the International Energy Conservation Code (in the case of residential buildings) or ASHRAE Standard 90.1 (in the case of commercial buildings) as of the date of enactment of the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015; 2016; and

“(bb) meet or exceed the energy provisions of State and local building codes applicable to the building, if the codes are more stringent than the International Energy Conservation Code or ASHRAE Standard 90.1, as applicable;

“(II) unless demonstrated not to be life-cycle cost effective for new Federal buildings and Federal buildings with major renovations—

“(aa) the buildings be designed to achieve energy consumption levels that are at least 30 percent below the levels established in the version of the ASHRAE Standard or the International Energy Conservation Code, as appropriate, that is applied under subclause (I)(aa), including updates under subparagraph (B); and

“(bb) sustainable design principles are applied to the location, siting, design, and construction of all new Federal buildings and replacement Federal buildings;

“(III) if water is used to achieve energy efficiency, water conservation technologies shall be applied to the extent that the technologies are life-cycle cost effective; and

“(IV) if life-cycle cost effective, as compared to other reasonably available technologies, not less than 30 percent of the hot water demand for each new Federal building or Federal building undergoing a major renovation be met through the installation and use of solar hot water heaters.

“(ii) Limitation—Clause (i)(I) shall not apply to unaltered portions of existing Federal buildings and systems that have been added to or altered.

“(B) Updates—Not later than 1 year after the date of approval of each subsequent revision of the ASHRAE Standard or the International Energy Conservation Code, as appropriate, the Secretary shall determine whether the revised standards established under subparagraph (A) should be updated to reflect the revisions, based on the energy savings and life-cycle cost-effectiveness of the revisions.”

“(C) Budget request—In the budget request”

Section 305 of the Energy Conservation and Production Act (42 U.S.C. 6834) (as amended by sections 1015 and 1016(b)) is amended—

“(D) Certification for green buildings

“(i) Sustainable design principles—Sustainable design principles shall be applied to the siting, design, and construction of buildings covered by this subparagraph.

“(ii) Selection of certification systems—The Secretary, after reviewing the findings of the Federal Director under section 436(h) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17092(h)), in consultation with the Administrator of General Services, and in consultation with the Secretary of Defense relating to those facilities under the custody and control of the Department of Defense, shall determine those certification systems for green commercial and residential buildings that the Secretary determines to be the most likely to encourage a comprehensive and environmentally sound approach to certification of green buildings.

“(iii) Basis for selection—The determination of the certification systems under clause (ii) shall be based on ongoing review of the findings of the Federal Director under section 436(h) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17092(h)) and the criteria described in clause (v).

“(iv) Administration—In determining certification systems under this subparagraph, the Secretary shall—

“(I) make a separate determination for all or part of each system;

“(II) confirm that the criteria used to support the selection of building products, materials, brands, and technologies—

“(aa) are fair and neutral (meaning that the criteria are based on an objective assessment of relevant technical data);

“(bb) do not prohibit, disfavor, or discriminate against selection based on technically inadequate information to inform human or environmental risk; and

“(cc) are expressed to prefer performance measures whenever performance measures may reasonably be used in lieu of prescriptive measures; and

“(III) use environmental and health criteria that are based on risk assessment methodology that is generally accepted by the applicable scientific disciplines.

“(v) Considerations—In determining the green building certification systems under this subparagraph, the Secretary shall take into consideration—

“(I) the ability and availability of assessors and auditors to independently verify the criteria and measurement of metrics at the scale necessary to implement this subparagraph;

“(II) the ability of the applicable certification organization to collect and reflect public comment;

“(III) the ability of the standard to be developed and revised through a consensus-based process;

“(IV) an evaluation of the robustness of the criteria for a high-performance green building, which shall give credit for promoting—

“(aa) efficient and sustainable use of water, energy, and other natural resources;

“(bb) the use of renewable energy sources;

“(cc) improved indoor environmental quality through enhanced indoor air quality, thermal comfort, acoustics, day lighting, pollutant source control, and use of low-emission materials and building system controls; and

“(dd) such other criteria as the Secretary determines to be appropriate; and

“(V) national recognition within the building industry.

“(vi) Review—The Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator of General Services and the Secretary of Defense, shall conduct an ongoing review to evaluate and compare private sector green building certification systems, taking into account—

“(I) the criteria described in clause (v); and

“(II) the identification made by the Federal Director under section 436(h) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17092(h)).

“(vii) Exclusions

“(I) In general—Subject to subclause (II), if a certification system fails to meet the review requirements of clause (v), the Secretary shall—

“(aa) identify the portions of the system, whether prerequisites, credits, points, or otherwise, that meet the review criteria of clause (v);

“(bb) determine the portions of the system that are suitable for use; and

“(cc) exclude all other portions of the system from identification and use.

“(II) Entire systems—The Secretary shall exclude an entire system from use if an exclusion under subclause (I)—

“(aa) impedes the integrated use of the system;

“(bb) creates disparate review criteria or unequal point access for competing materials; or

“(cc) increases agency costs of the use.

“(viii) Internal certification processes—The Secretary may by rule allow Federal agencies to develop internal certification processes, using certified professionals, in lieu of certification by certification entities identified under clause (ii).

“(ix) Privatized military housing—With respect to privatized military housing, the Secretary of Defense, after consultation with the Secretary may, through rulemaking, develop alternative certification systems and levels than the systems and levels identified under clause (ii) that achieve an equivalent result in terms of energy savings, sustainable design, and green building performance.

“(x) Water conservation technologies—In addition to any use of water conservation technologies otherwise required by this section, water conservation technologies shall be applied to the extent that the technologies are life-cycle cost-effective.

“(xi) Effective date

“(I) Determinations made after december 31, 2015—This subparagraph shall apply to any determination made by a Federal agency after December 31, 2015.

changed “(II) Determinations made on or before december 31, 2015—This subparagraph (as in effect on the day before the date of enactment of the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015) 2016) shall apply to any use of a certification system for green commercial and residential buildings by a Federal agency on or before December 31, 2015.”

“(c) Periodic review—The Secretary shall—

“(1) once every 5 years, review the Federal building energy standards established under this section; and

“(2) on completion of a review under paragraph (1), if the Secretary determines that significant energy savings would result, upgrade the standards to include all new energy efficiency and renewable energy measures that are technologically feasible and economically justified.”

added “(E) water and wastewater treatment facilities, including systems that treat municipal, industrial, and agricultural waste; and”

“(3) Energy service provider—The term energy service provider means any business providing technology or services to improve the energy efficiency, water efficiency, power factor, or load management of a manufacturing site or other industrial process in an energy-intensive industry, or any utility operating under a utility energy service project.”

“(1) In general—The Secretary”

“(2) Coordination—To increase the value and capabilities of the industrial research and assessment centers, the centers shall—

“(A) coordinate with Manufacturing Extension Partnership Centers of the National Institute of Standards and Technology;

“(B) coordinate with the Building Technologies Program of the Department of Energy to provide building assessment services to manufacturers;

“(C) increase partnerships with the National Laboratories of the Department of Energy to leverage the expertise and technologies of the National Laboratories for national industrial and manufacturing needs;

“(D) increase partnerships with energy service providers and technology providers to leverage private sector expertise and accelerate deployment of new and existing technologies and processes for energy efficiency, power factor, and load management;

“(E) identify opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and

“(F) promote sustainable manufacturing practices for small- and medium-sized manufacturers.

“(3) Outreach—The Secretary shall provide funding for—

“(A) outreach activities by the industrial research and assessment centers to inform small- and medium-sized manufacturers of the information, technologies, and services available; and

“(B) coordination activities by each industrial research and assessment center to leverage efforts with—

“(i) Federal and State efforts;

“(ii) the efforts of utilities and energy service providers;

“(iii) the efforts of regional energy efficiency organizations; and

“(iv) the efforts of other industrial research and assessment centers.

“(4) Workforce training

“(A) In general—The Secretary shall pay the Federal share of associated internship programs under which students work with or for industries, manufacturers, and energy service providers to implement the recommendations of industrial research and assessment centers.

“(B) Federal share—The Federal share of the cost of carrying out internship programs described in subparagraph (A) shall be 50 percent.

“(5) Small business loans—The Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall, to the maximum extent practicable, expedite consideration of applications from eligible small business concerns for loans under the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 631 et seq.) to implement recommendations of industrial research and assessment centers established under paragraph (1).

changed “(6) Advanced manufacturing steering committee—The Secretary shall establish an advisory steering committee to provide recommendations to the Secretary on planning and implementation of the Advanced Manufacturing Office of the Department of Energy.”Energy.

added “(7) Expansion of technical assistance—The Secretary shall expand the institution of higher education-based industrial research and assessment centers, working across Federal agencies as necessary—

added “(A) to provide comparable assessment services to water and wastewater treatment facilities, including systems that treat municipal, industrial, and agricultural waste; and

added “(B) to equip the directors of the centers with the training and tools necessary to provide technical assistance on energy savings to the water and wastewater treatment facilities.”

“376. Sustainable manufacturing initiative

“(a) In general—As part of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Secretary, on the request of a manufacturer, shall conduct on-site technical assessments to identify opportunities for—

“(1) maximizing the energy efficiency of industrial processes and cross-cutting systems;

“(2) preventing pollution and minimizing waste;

“(3) improving efficient use of water in manufacturing processes;

“(4) conserving natural resources; and

“(5) achieving such other goals as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.

“(b) Coordination—The Secretary shall carry out the initiative in coordination with the private sector and appropriate agencies, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology, to accelerate adoption of new and existing technologies and processes that improve energy efficiency.

“(c) Research and development program for sustainable manufacturing and industrial technologies and processes—As part of the industrial efficiency programs of the Department of Energy, the Secretary shall carry out a joint industry-government partnership program to research, develop, and demonstrate new sustainable manufacturing and industrial technologies and processes that maximize the energy efficiency of industrial plants, reduce pollution, and conserve natural resources.”

changed This subtitle may be cited as the “Vehicle Innovation Act of 2015”.2016”.

removed “(8) Notice to congress

removed “(A) Prior notice—Not less than 14 days before the date on which a test is carried out under this subsection, the Secretary shall notify both Houses of Congress of the test.

removed “(B) Emergency—The prior notice requirement in subparagraph (A) shall not apply if the Secretary determines that an emergency exists which requires a test to be carried out, in which case the Secretary shall notify both Houses of Congress of the test as soon as possible.

removed “(C) Detailed description

removed “(i) In general—Not later than 180 days after the date on which a test is completed under this subsection, the Secretary shall submit to both Houses of Congress a detailed description of the test.

removed “(ii) Report—A detailed description submitted under clause (i) may be included as part of a report made to the President and Congress under section 165.”

added “(b) Obligation of funds for the acquisition, transportation, and injection of petroleum products into SPR and for other purposes

added “(1) Purposes—Amounts in the Account may be obligated by the Secretary of Energy for—

added “(A) the acquisition, transportation, and injection of petroleum products into the Reserve;

added “(B) test sales of petroleum products from the Reserve;

added “(C) the drawdown, sale, and delivery of petroleum products from the Reserve;

added “(D) the construction, maintenance, repair, and replacement of storage facilities and related facilities; and

added “(E) carrying out non-Reserve projects needed to enhance the energy security of the United States by increasing the resilience, reliability, safety, and security of energy supply, transmission, storage, or distribution infrastructure.

added “(2) Amounts—Amounts in the Account may be obligated by the Secretary of Energy for purposes of paragraph (1), in the case of any fiscal year—

added “(A) subject to section 660 of the Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7270), in such aggregate amounts as may be appropriated in advance in appropriations Acts; and

added “(B) notwithstanding section 660 of the Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7270), in an aggregate amount equal to the aggregate amount of the receipts to the United States from the sale of petroleum products in any drawdown and a distribution of the Reserve under section 161, including—

added “(i) a drawdown and distribution carried out under subsection (g) of that section; or

added “(ii) from the sale of petroleum products under section 160(f).

added “(3) Availability of funds—Funds available to the Secretary of Energy for obligation under this subsection may remain available without fiscal year limitation.”

changed Not later than 180 days after the date Section 403 of enactment the Bipartisan Budget Act of this Act, 2015 (Public Law 114–74; 129 Stat. 589) is amended by adding at the Secretary shall—end the following:

added “(d) Increase; Limitation

added “(1) Increase—The Secretary of Energy may increase the drawdown and sales under paragraphs (1) through (8) of subsection (a) as the Secretary of Energy determines to be appropriate to maximize the financial return to United States taxpayers.

added “(2) Limitation—The Secretary of Energy shall not drawdown or conduct sales of crude oil under this section after the date on which a total of $5,050,000,000 has been deposited in the general fund of the Treasury from sales authorized under this section.”

added There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out sections 2302 through 2307 $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 through 2026.

removed There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out sections 2302 through 2307 $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 through 2026.

added Title XVIII of Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109–58; 119 Stat. 1122) is amended by adding at the end the following:

added “1841. Net energy metering study

added “(a) In general—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall—

added “(1) issue guidance on criteria required to be included in studies of net metering conducted by the Department; and

added “(2) undertake a study of net energy metering.

added “(b) Requirements and contents—The model guidance issued under subsection (a) shall clarify without prejudice to other study criteria that any study of net energy metering, including the study conducted by the Department under subsection (a) shall—

added “(1) be publicly available; and

added “(2) assess benefits and costs of net energy metering, including—

added “(A) load data, including hourly profiles;

added “(B) distributed generation production data;

added “(C) best available technology, including inverter capability; and

added “(D) benefits and costs of distributed energy deployment, including—

added “(i) environmental benefits;

added “(ii) changes in electric system reliability;

added “(iii) changes in peak power requirements;

added “(iv) provision of ancillary services, including reactive power;

added “(v) changes in power quality;

added “(vi) changes in land-use effects;

added “(vii) changes in right-of-way acquisition costs;

added “(viii) changes in vulnerability to terrorism; and

added “(ix) changes in infrastructure resilience.”

“(1) Department—The term Department means the Department of Energy.

“(2) Exascale computing—The term exascale computing means computing through the use of a computing machine that performs near or above 10 to the 18th power floating point operations per second.”

“(d) Exascale computing program

“(1) In general—The Secretary shall conduct a research program (referred to in this subsection as the “Program”) to develop 2 or more exascale computing machine architectures to promote the missions of the Department.

“(2) Implementation

“(A) In general—In carrying out the Program, the Secretary shall—

“(i) establish 2 or more National Laboratory partnerships with industry partners and institutions of higher education for the research and development of 2 or more exascale computing architectures across all applicable organizations of the Department; and

“(ii) provide, as appropriate, on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis, access for researchers in industries in the United States, institutions of higher education, National Laboratories, and other Federal agencies to the exascale computing systems developed pursuant to clause (i).

“(B) Selection of partners—The Secretary shall select members for the partnerships with the computing facilities of the Department under subparagraph (A) through a competitive, peer-review process.

“(3) Codesign and application development

“(A) In general—The Secretary shall carry out the Program through an integration of applications, computer science, applied mathematics, and computer hardware architecture using the partnerships established pursuant to paragraph (2) to ensure that, to the maximum extent practicable, 2 or more exascale computing machine architectures are capable of solving Department target applications and broader scientific problems.

“(B) Report—The Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on how the integration under subparagraph (A) is furthering application science data and computational workloads across application interests, including national security, material science, physical science, cybersecurity, biological science, the Materials Genome and BRAIN Initiatives of the President, advanced manufacturing, and the national electric grid.

“(4) Project review

“(A) In general—The exascale architectures developed pursuant to partnerships established pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be reviewed through a project review process.

“(B) Report—Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on—

“(i) the results of the review conducted under subparagraph (A); and

“(ii) the coordination and management of the Program to ensure an integrated research program across the Department.

“(5) Annual reports—At the time of the budget submission of the Department for each fiscal year, the Secretary, in consultation with the members of the partnerships established pursuant to paragraph (2), shall submit to Congress a report that describes funding for the Program as a whole by functional element of the Department and critical milestones.”

“(1) $272,000,000 for fiscal year 2016;

“(2) $340,000,000 for fiscal year 2017; and

“(3) $360,000,000 for fiscal year 2018.”

“(2) Renewable energy—The term renewable energy means energy produced from solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, ocean (including tidal, wave, current, and thermal), geothermal, municipal solid waste, or hydropower.”

“(1) extend the period of a preliminary permit once for not more than 4 additional years beyond the 4 years”

“(2) after the end of an extension period granted under paragraph (1), issue an additional permit to the permittee if the Commission determines that there are extraordinary circumstances that warrant the issuance of the additional permit.”

“(e) License term on relicensing

“(1) In general—Except”

“(2) Consideration—In determining the term of a license under paragraph (1), the Commission shall consider project-related investments by the licensee over the term of the existing license (including any terms under annual licenses) that resulted in new development, construction, capacity, efficiency improvements, or environmental measures, but which did not result in the extension of the term of the license by the Commission.”

“(c) Further conditions—This section applies to any further conditions or prescriptions proposed or imposed pursuant to section 4(e), 6, or 18.”

“34. Licensing process improvements

“(a) License studies

“(1) In general—To facilitate the timely and efficient completion of the license proceedings under this part, the Commission shall—

“(A) conduct an investigation of best practices in performing licensing studies, including methodologies and the design of studies to assess the full range of environmental impacts of a project;

“(B) compile a comprehensive collection of studies and data accessible to the public that could be used to inform license proceedings under this paragraph; and

“(C) encourage license applicants and cooperating agencies to develop and use, for the purpose of fostering timely and efficient consideration of license applications, a limited number of open-source methodologies and tools applicable across a wide array of projects, including water balance models and streamflow analyses.

“(2) Use of existing studies—To the maximum extent practicable, the Commission shall use existing studies and data in individual licensing proceedings under this part in accordance with paragraph (1).

“(3) Nonduplication requirement—To the maximum extent practicable, the Commission shall ensure that studies and data required for any Federal authorization (as defined in section 35(a)) applicable to a particular project or facility are not duplicated in other licensing proceedings under this part.

“(4) Biological opinions—To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary of Commerce shall ensure that relevant offices within the National Marine Fisheries Service prepare any biological opinion under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) that forms the basis for a prescription under section 18 on a concurrent rather than sequential basis.

“(5) Water quality certification deadline

“(A) In general—For purposes of issuing a license under this part, the deadline for a certifying agency to act under section 401(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1341(a)) shall take effect only on the submission of a request for certification determined to be complete by the certifying agency.

“(B) Notice of complete request—The certifying agency shall inform the Commission when a request for certification is determined to be complete.

“35. Licensing process coordination

“(a) Definition of Federal authorization—In this section, the term Federal authorization means any authorization required under Federal law (including any license, permit, special use authorization, certification, opinion, consultation, determination, or other approval) with respect to—

“(1) a project licensed under section 4 or 15; or

“(2) a facility exempted under—

“(A) section 30; or

“(B) section 405(d) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2705(d)).

“(b) Designation as lead agency

“(1) In general—The Commission shall act as the lead agency for the purposes of coordinating all applicable Federal authorizations.

“(2) Other agencies—Each Federal and State agency considering an aspect of an application for Federal authorization shall cooperate with the Commission.

“(c) Schedule

“(1) Timing for issuance—It is the sense of Congress that all Federal authorizations required for a project or facility, including a license or exemption order of the Commission, should be issued by the date that is 3 years after the date on which an application is considered to be complete by the Commission.

“(2) Commission schedule

“(A) In general—The Commission shall establish a schedule for the issuance of all Federal authorizations.

“(B) Requirements—In establishing the schedule under subparagraph (A), the Commission shall—

“(i) consult and cooperate with the Federal and State agencies responsible for a Federal authorization;

“(ii) ensure the expeditious completion of all proceedings relating to a Federal authorization; and

“(iii) comply with applicable schedules established by Federal law with respect to a Federal authorization.

“(3) Resolution of interagency disputes—If the Federal agency fails to adhere to the schedule established by the Commission under paragraph (2), or if the final condition of the Secretary under section 4(e) or prescription under section 18 has been unreasonably delayed in derogation of the schedule established under paragraph (2), or if a proposed alternative condition or prescription has been unreasonably denied, or if a final condition or prescription would be inconsistent with the purposes of this part or other applicable law, the Commission may refer the matter to the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality—

“(A) to ensure timely participation;

“(B) to ensure a timely decision;

“(C) to mediate the dispute; or

“(D) to refer the matter to the President.

“(d) Consolidated record

“(1) In general—The Commission shall maintain official consolidated records of all license proceedings under this part.

“(2) Submission of recommendations—Any Federal or State agency that is providing recommendations with respect to a license proceeding under this part shall submit to the Commission for inclusion in the consolidated record relating to the license proceeding maintained under paragraph (1)—

“(A) the recommendations;

“(B) the rationale for the recommendations; and

“(C) any supporting materials relating to the recommendations.

“(3) Written statement—In a case in which a Federal agency is making a determination with respect to a covered measure (as defined in section 36(a)), the head of the Federal agency shall include in the consolidated record a written statement demonstrating that the Federal agency gave equal consideration to the effects of the covered measure on—

“(A) energy supply, distribution, cost, and use;

“(B) flood control;

“(C) navigation;

“(D) water supply; and

“(E) air quality and the preservation of other aspects of environmental quality.

“36. Trial-type hearings

“(a) Definition of covered measure—In this section, the term covered measure means—

“(1) a condition prescribed under section 4(e), including an alternative condition proposed under section 33(a);

“(2) fishways prescribed under section 18, including an alternative prescription proposed under section 33(b); or

“(3) any further condition pursuant to section 4(e), 6, or 18.

“(b) Authorization of trial-type hearing—The license applicant (including an applicant for a license under section 15) and any party to the proceeding shall be entitled to a determination on the record, after opportunity for a trial-type hearing of not more than 120 days, on any disputed issues of material fact with respect to an applicable covered measure.

“(c) Deadline for request—A request for a trial-type hearing under this section shall be submitted not later than 60 days after the date on which, as applicable—

“(1) the Secretary submits the condition under section 4(e) or prescription under section 18; or

“(2)

“(A) the Commission publishes notice of the intention to use the reserved authority of the Commission to order a further condition under section 6; or

“(B) the Secretary exercises reserved authority under the license to prescribe, submit, or revise any condition to a license under the first proviso of section 4(e) or fishway prescribed under section 18, as appropriate.

changed “(d) No requirement to To exhaust—By electing not to request a trial-type hearing under subsection (d), a license applicant and any other party to a license proceeding shall not be considered to have waived the right of the applicant or other party to raise any issue of fact or law in a non-trial-type proceeding, but no issue may be raised for the first time on rehearing or judicial review of the license decision of the Commission.

“(e) Administrative law judge—All disputed issues of material fact raised by a party in a request for a trial-type hearing submitted under subsection (d) shall be determined in a single trial-type hearing to be conducted by an Administrative Law Judge within the Office of Administrative Law Judges and Dispute Resolution of the Commission, in accordance with the Commission rules of practice and procedure under part 385 of title 18, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), and within the timeframe established by the Commission for each license proceeding (including a proceeding for a license under section 15) under section 35(c).

“(f) Stay—The Administrative Law Judge may impose a stay of a trial-type hearing under this section for a period of not more than 120 days to facilitate settlement negotiations relating to resolving the disputed issues of material fact with respect to the covered measure.

“(g) Decision of the Administrative Law Judge

“(1) Contents—The decision of the Administrative Law Judge shall contain—

“(A) findings of fact on all disputed issues of material fact;

“(B) conclusions of law necessary to make the findings of fact, including rulings on materiality and the admissibility of evidence; and

“(C) reasons for the findings and conclusions.

“(2) Limitation—The decision of the Administrative Law Judge shall not contain conclusions as to whether—

“(A) any condition or prescription should be adopted, modified, or rejected; or

“(B) any alternative condition or prescription should be adopted, modified, or rejected.

“(3) Finality—A decision of an Administrative Law Judge under this section with respect to a disputed issue of material fact shall not be subject to further administrative review.

“(4) Service—The Administrative Law Judge shall serve the decision on each party to the hearing and forward the complete record of the hearing to the Commission and the Secretary that proposed the original condition or prescription.

“(h) Secretarial determination

“(1) In general—Not later than 60 days after the date on which the Administrative Law Judge issues the decision under subsection (g) and in accordance with the schedule established by the Commission under section 35(c), the Secretary proposing a condition under section 4(e) or a prescription under section 18 shall file with the Commission a final determination to adopt, modify, or withdraw any condition or prescription that was the subject of a hearing under this section, based on the decision of the Administrative Law Judge.

“(2) Record of determination—The final determination of the Secretary filed with the Commission shall identify the reasons for the decision and any considerations taken into account that were not part of, or inconsistent with, the findings of the Administrative Law Judge and shall be included in the consolidated record in section 35(d).

“(i) Licensing decision of the Commission—Notwithstanding sections 4(e) and 18, if the Commission finds that the final condition or prescription of the Secretary is inconsistent with the purposes of this part or other applicable law, the Commission may refer the matter to the Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality under section 35(c).

“(j) Judicial review—The decision of the Administrative Law Judge and the record of determination of the Secretary shall be included in the record of the applicable licensing proceeding and subject to judicial review of the final licensing decision of the Commission under section 313(b).

“37. Pumped storage projects

“In carrying out section 6(a) of the Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013 (16 U.S.C. 797 note; Public Law 113–23), the Commission shall consider a closed loop pumped storage project to include a project—

“(1) in which the upper and lower reservoirs do not impound or directly withdraw water from a navigable stream; or

“(2) that is not continuously connected to a naturally flowing water feature.

“38. Annual reports

“(a) Commission annual report

“(1) In general—The Commission shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives an annual report that—

“(A) describes and quantifies, for each licensed, exempted, or proposed project under this part or section 405(d) of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2705(d)) (referred to in this subsection as the “covered project”), the quantity of energy and capacity authorized for new development and reauthorized for continued operation during the reporting year, including an assessment of the economic, climactic, air quality, and other environmental benefits achieved by the new and reauthorized energy and capacity;

“(B) describes and quantifies the loss of energy, capacity, or ancillary services as a result of any licensing action under this part or other requirement under Federal law during the reporting year;

“(C) identifies any application to license, relicense, or expand a covered project pending as of the date of the annual report, including a quantification of the new energy and capacity with the potential to be gained or lost by action relating to the covered project; and

“(D) lists all proposed covered projects that, as of the date of the annual report, are subject to a preliminary permit issued under section 4(f), including a description of the quantity of new energy and capacity that would be achieved through the development of each proposed covered project.

“(2) Availability—The Commission shall establish and maintain a publicly available website or comparable resource that tracks all information required for the annual report under paragraph (1).

“(b) Resource agency annual report

“(1) In general—Any Federal or State resource agency that is participating in any Commission proceeding under this part or that has responsibilities for any Federal authorization shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a report that—

“(A) describes each term, condition, or other requirement prepared by the resource agency during the reporting year with respect to a Commission proceeding under this part, including—

“(i) an assessment of whether implementation of the term, condition, or other requirement would result in the loss of energy, capacity, or ancillary services at the project, including a quantification of the losses;

“(ii) an analysis of economic, air quality, climactic and other environmental effects associated with implementation of the term, condition, or other requirement;

“(iii) a demonstration, based on evidence in the record of the Commission, that the resource agency prepared the term, condition, or other requirement in a manner that meets the policy established by this part while discharging the responsibilities of the resource agency under this part or any other applicable requirement under Federal law; and

“(iv) a statement of whether the head of the applicable Federal agency has rendered final approval of the term, condition, or other requirement, or whether the term, condition, or other requirement remains a preliminary recommendation of staff of the resource agency; and

“(B) identifies all pending, scheduled, and anticipated proceedings under this part that, as of the date of the annual report, the resource agency expects to participate in, or has any approval or participatory responsibilities for under Federal law, including—

“(i) an accounting of whether the resource agency met all deadlines or other milestones established by the resource agency or the Commission during the reporting year; and

“(ii) the specific plans of the resource agency for allocating sufficient resources for each project during the upcoming year.

“(2) Availability—Any resource agency preparing an annual report to Congress under paragraph (1) shall establish and maintain a publicly available website or comparable resource that tracks all information required for the annual report.”

It is the sense of Congress that, not later than 10 years after the date of enactment of this Act—

Section 4(b) of the Geothermal Steam Act of 1970 (30 U.S.C. 1003(b)) (as amended by section 3007) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(5) Adjoining land

“(A) Definitions—In this paragraph:

“(i) Fair market value per acre—The term fair market value per acre means a dollar amount per acre that—

“(I) except as provided in this clause, shall be equal to the market value per acre (taking into account the determination under subparagraph (B)(iii) regarding a valid discovery on the adjoining land), as determined by the Secretary under regulations issued under this paragraph;

“(II) shall be determined by the Secretary with respect to a lease under this paragraph, by not later than the end of the 180-day period beginning on the date the Secretary receives an application for the lease; and

“(III) shall be not less than the greater of—

“(aa) 4 times the median amount paid per acre for all land leased under this Act during the preceding year; or

“(bb) $50.

“(ii) Industry standards—The term industry standards means the standards by which a qualified geothermal professional assesses whether downhole or flowing temperature measurements with indications of permeability are sufficient to produce energy from geothermal resources, as determined through flow or injection testing or measurement of lost circulation while drilling.

“(iii) Qualified Federal land—The term qualified Federal land means land that is otherwise available for leasing under this Act.

“(iv) Qualified geothermal professional—The term qualified geothermal professional means an individual who is an engineer or geoscientist in good professional standing with at least 5 years of experience in geothermal exploration, development, or project assessment.

“(v) Qualified lessee—The term qualified lessee means a person that is eligible to hold a geothermal lease under this Act (including applicable regulations).

“(vi) Valid discovery—The term valid discovery means a discovery of a geothermal resource by a new or existing slim hole or production well, that exhibits downhole or flowing temperature measurements with indications of permeability that are sufficient to meet industry standards.

“(B) Authority—An area of qualified Federal land that adjoins other land for which a qualified lessee holds a legal right to develop geothermal resources may be available for a noncompetitive lease under this section to the qualified lessee at the fair market value per acre, if—

“(i) the area of qualified Federal land—

“(I) consists of not less than 1 acre and not more than 640 acres; and

“(II) is not already leased under this Act or nominated to be leased under subsection (a);

“(ii) the qualified lessee has not previously received a noncompetitive lease under this paragraph in connection with the valid discovery for which data has been submitted under clause (iii)(I); and

“(iii) sufficient geological and other technical data prepared by a qualified geothermal professional has been submitted by the qualified lessee to the applicable Federal land management agency that would lead individuals who are experienced in the subject matter to believe that—

“(I) there is a valid discovery of geothermal resources on the land for which the qualified lessee holds the legal right to develop geothermal resources; and

“(II) that thermal feature extends into the adjoining areas.

“(C) Determination of fair market value

“(i) In general—The Secretary shall—

“(I) publish a notice of any request to lease land under this paragraph;

“(II) determine fair market value for purposes of this paragraph in accordance with procedures for making those determinations that are established by regulations issued by the Secretary;

“(III) provide to a qualified lessee and publish, with an opportunity for public comment for a period of 30 days, any proposed determination under this subparagraph of the fair market value of an area that the qualified lessee seeks to lease under this paragraph; and

“(IV) provide to the qualified lessee and any adversely affected party the opportunity to appeal the final determination of fair market value in an administrative proceeding before the applicable Federal land management agency, in accordance with applicable law (including regulations).

“(ii) Limitation on nomination—After publication of a notice of request to lease land under this paragraph, the Secretary may not accept under subsection (a) any nomination of the land for leasing unless the request has been denied or withdrawn.

“(iii) Annual rental—For purposes of section 5(a)(3), a lease awarded under this paragraph shall be considered a lease awarded in a competitive lease sale.

changed “(D) Regulations—Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015, 2016, the Secretary shall issue regulations to carry out this paragraph.”

changed Title VI of Not later than 3 years after the Energy Independence and Security date of enactment of this Act and not less frequently than once every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary of 2007 is amended by inserting after section 616 (42 U.S.C. 17195) the following:Interior and the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describing the progress made towards achieving the goals described in section 3005.

removed “616A. Large-Scale Geothermal Energy

removed “(a) Purposes—The purposes of this section are—

removed “(1) to improve the components, processes, and systems used for geothermal heat pumps and the direct use of geothermal energy; and

removed “(2) to increase the energy efficiency, lower the cost, increase the use, and improve and demonstrate the applicability of geothermal heat pumps to, and the direct use of geothermal energy in, large buildings, commercial districts, residential communities, and large municipal, agricultural, or industrial projects.

removed “(b) Definitions—In this section:

removed “(1) Direct use of geothermal energy—The term direct use of geothermal energy means systems that use water that is at a temperature between approximately 38 degrees Celsius and 149 degrees Celsius directly or through a heat exchanger to provide—

removed “(A) heating to buildings; or

removed “(B) heat required for industrial processes, agriculture, aquaculture, and other facilities.

removed “(2) Geothermal heat pump—The term geothermal heat pump means a system that provides heating and cooling by exchanging heat from shallow ground or surface water using—

removed “(A) a closed loop system, which transfers heat by way of buried or immersed pipes that contain a mix of water and working fluid; or

removed “(B) an open loop system, which circulates ground or surface water directly into the building and returns the water to the same aquifer or surface water source.

removed “(3) Large-scale application—The term large-scale application means an application for space or process heating or cooling for large entities with a name-plate capacity, expected resource, or rating of 10 or more megawatts, such as a large building, commercial district, residential community, or a large municipal, agricultural, or industrial project.

removed “(c) Program

removed “(1) In general—The Secretary shall establish a program of research, development, and demonstration for geothermal heat pumps and the direct use of geothermal energy.

removed “(2) Areas—The program may include research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of—

removed “(A) geothermal ground loop efficiency improvements through more efficient heat transfer fluids;

removed “(B) geothermal ground loop efficiency improvements through more efficient thermal grouts for wells and trenches;

removed “(C) geothermal ground loop installation cost reduction through—

removed “(i) improved drilling methods;

removed “(ii) improvements in drilling equipment;

removed “(iii) improvements in design methodology and energy analysis procedures; and

removed “(iv) improved methods for determination of ground thermal properties and ground temperatures;

removed “(D) installing geothermal ground loops near the foundation walls of new construction to take advantage of existing structures;

removed “(E) using gray or black wastewater as a method of heat exchange;

removed “(F) improving geothermal heat pump system economics through integration of geothermal systems with other building systems, including providing hot and cold water and rejecting or circulating industrial process heat through refrigeration heat rejection and waste heat recovery;

removed “(G) advanced geothermal systems using variable pumping rates to increase efficiency;

removed “(H) geothermal heat pump efficiency improvements;

removed “(I) use of hot water found in mines and mine shafts and other surface waters as the heat exchange medium;

removed “(J) heating of districts, neighborhoods, communities, large commercial or public buildings (including office, retail, educational, government, and institutional buildings and multifamily residential buildings and campuses), and industrial and manufacturing facilities;

removed “(K) geothermal system integration with solar thermal water heating or cool roofs and solar-regenerated desiccants to balance loads and use building hot water to store geothermal energy;

removed “(L) use of hot water coproduced from oil and gas recovery;

removed “(M) use of water sources at a temperature of less than 150 degrees Celsius for direct use;

removed “(N) system integration of direct use with geothermal electricity production; and

removed “(O) coproduction of heat and power, including on-site use.

removed “(3) Environmental impacts—In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall identify and mitigate potential environmental impacts in accordance with section 614(c).

removed “(d) Grants

removed “(1) In general—The Secretary shall make grants available to State and local governments, institutions of higher education, nonprofit entities, utilities, and for-profit companies (including manufacturers of heat-pump and direct-use components and systems) to promote the development of geothermal heat pumps and the direct use of geothermal energy.

removed “(2) Priority—In making grants under this subsection, the Secretary shall give priority to proposals that apply to large buildings (including office, retail, educational, government, institutional, and multifamily residential buildings and campuses and industrial and manufacturing facilities), commercial districts, and residential communities.

removed “(3) National solicitation—Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall conduct a national solicitation for applications for grants under this section.

removed “(e) Reports

removed “(1) In general—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this section and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report on progress made and results obtained under this section to develop geothermal heat pumps and direct use of geothermal energy.

removed “(2) Areas—Each of the reports required under this subsection shall include—

removed “(A) an analysis of progress made in each of the areas described in subsection (c)(2); and

removed “(B)

removed “(i) a description of any relevant recommendations made during a review of the program; and

removed “(ii) any plans to address the recommendations under clause (i).”

changed Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act and not less frequently than once every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary shall submit There are authorized to Congress a report describing the progress made towards achieving the goals described in section 3005.be appropriated to carry out this subpart—

changed There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out In this subpart—subpart:

added To support the key role that forests in the United States can play in addressing the energy needs of the United States, the Secretary, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall, consistent with their missions, jointly—

removed “(2) Bio-power—The term bio-power means the use of woody biomass to generate electricity.

removed “(3) Board—The term Board means the Biomass Research and Development Board.”

removed “(6) Woody biomass heat—The term woody biomass heat means the use of woody biomass to generate heat.”

removed “(f) Woody biomass heat and bio-power grants

removed “(1) Establishment—The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Board, shall establish a program under which the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Energy shall provide grants to relevant projects to support innovation and market development in woody biomass heat and bio-power.

removed “(2) Applications—To be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection, the owner or operator of a relevant project shall submit to the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Energy an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Energy may require.

removed “(3) Allocation—Of the amounts appropriated to carry out this subsection, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Energy shall not provide more than—

removed “(A) $15,000,000 for projects that develop innovative techniques for preprocessing biomass for woody biomass heat and bio-power, with the goals of lowering the costs of—

removed “(i) distributed preprocessing technologies, including technologies designed to promote densification, torrefaction, and the broader commoditization of bioenergy feedstocks; and

removed “(ii) transportation; and

removed “(B) $15,000,000 for innovative woody biomass heat and bio-power demonstration projects, including—

removed “(i) district energy projects;

removed “(ii) innovation in transportation; and

removed “(iii) projects addressing the challenges of retrofitting existing coal-fired electricity generation facilities to use biomass.

removed “(4) Regional distribution—In selecting projects to receive grants under this subsection, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Energy shall ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, diverse geographical distribution among the projects.

removed “(5) Cost share—The Federal share of the cost of a project carried out using a grant under this subsection shall be 50 percent.

removed “(6) Duties of recipients—As a condition of receiving a grant under this subsection, the owner or operator of a project shall—

removed “(A) participate in the applicable working group under paragraph (7);

removed “(B) submit to the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Energy a report that includes—

removed “(i) a description of the project and any relevant findings; and

removed “(ii) such other information as the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Energy determine to be necessary to complete the report of the Secretary under paragraph (9); and

removed “(C) carry out such other activities as the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Energy determine to be necessary.

removed “(7) Working groups—The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Energy shall establish 2 working groups to share best practices and collaborate in project implementation, of which—

removed “(A) 1 shall be comprised of representatives of projects that receive grants under paragraph (3)(A); and

removed “(B) 1 shall be comprised of representatives of projects that receive grants under paragraph (3)(B).

removed “(8) Inclusion of oilseed crops—A grant may be provided under this subsection to relevant projects to support innovation and market development in oilseed crops.

removed “(9) Reports—Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Energy shall submit to Congress a report describing—

removed “(A) each project for which a grant has been provided under this subsection;

removed “(B) any findings as a result of those projects; and

removed “(C) the state of market and technology development, including market barriers and opportunities.”

“(b) Grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, interagency funds transfer agreements, and field work proposals

“(1) Assistance and coordination—In carrying out the program of methane hydrate research and development authorized by this section, the Secretary may award grants to, or enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with, institutions—

“(A) to conduct basic and applied research—

“(i) to identify, explore, assess, and develop methane hydrate as a commercially viable source of energy; and

“(ii) to identify the environmental, health, and safety impacts of methane hydrate development;

changed “(B) to identify and characterize methane hydrate resources using remote sensing and seismic data, including the characterization of hydrate concentrations in marine reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean Basin by the date that is 4 years after the date of enactment of the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015;2016;

“(C) to develop technologies required for efficient and environmentally sound development of methane hydrate resources;

“(D) to conduct basic and applied research to assess and mitigate the environmental impact of hydrate degassing (including natural degassing and degassing associated with commercial development);

“(E) to develop technologies to reduce the risks of drilling through methane hydrates;

“(F) to conduct exploratory drilling, well testing, and production testing operations on permafrost and nonpermafrost gas hydrates in support of the activities authorized by this paragraph, including—

changed “(i) drilling of a test well and performing a long-term hydrate production test on land in the United States Arctic region by the date that is 4 years after the date of enactment of the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015;2016;

changed “(ii) drilling of a test well and performing a long-term hydrate production test in a marine environment by the date that is 10 years after the date of enactment of the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015; 2016; and

“(iii) drilling a full-scale production test well at a location to be determined by the Secretary; or

“(G) to expand education and training programs in methane hydrate resource research and resource development through fellowships or other means for graduate education and training.

“(2) Environmental monitoring and research—The Secretary shall conduct a long-term environmental monitoring and research program to study the effects of production from methane hydrate reservoirs.

“(3) Competitive peer review—Funds made available under paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be made available based on a competitive process using external scientific peer review of proposed research.”

“7. Authorization of appropriations

“There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $35,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 through 2021.”

“(3) establish an analytical and forecasting capability for identifying critical mineral demand, supply, and other factors to allow informed actions to be taken to avoid supply shortages, mitigate price volatility, and prepare for demand growth and other market shifts;”

“(7) encourage Federal agencies to facilitate the availability, development, and environmentally responsible production of domestic resources to meet national material or critical mineral needs;

“(8) avoid duplication of effort, prevent unnecessary paperwork, and minimize delays in the administration of applicable laws (including regulations) and the issuance of permits and authorizations necessary to explore for, develop, and produce critical minerals and to construct critical mineral manufacturing facilities in accordance with applicable environmental and land management laws;

“(9) strengthen educational and research capabilities and workforce training;

“(10) bolster international cooperation through technology transfer, information sharing, and other means;

“(11) promote the efficient production, use, and recycling of critical minerals;

“(12) develop alternatives to critical minerals; and

“(13) establish contingencies for the production of, or access to, critical minerals for which viable sources do not exist within the United States.”

“(b) Definitions—In this Act:

changed “(1) Critical mineral—The term critical mineral means any mineral or element designated as a critical mineral pursuant to section 3303 of the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015.2016.

“(2) Materials—The term”

changed Section 961(a) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16291(a)) It is amended by adding at the end sense of the following:Senate that—

removed “(8) Improving the conversion, use, and storage of carbon dioxide produced from fossil fuels.”

added Section 961(a) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16291(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

added “(8) Improving the conversion, use, and storage of carbon dioxide produced from fossil fuels.”

removed “962. Coal technology program

removed “(a) Definitions—In this section:

removed “(1) Large-scale pilot project—The term large-scale pilot project means a pilot project that—

removed “(A) represents the scale of technology development beyond laboratory development and bench scale testing, but not yet advanced to the point of being tested under real operational conditions at commercial scale;

removed “(B) represents the scale of technology necessary to gain the operational data needed to understand the technical and performance risks of the technology before the application of that technology at commercial scale or in commercial-scale demonstration; and

removed “(C) is large enough—

removed “(i) to validate scaling factors; and

removed “(ii) to demonstrate the interaction between major components so that control philosophies for a new process can be developed and enable the technology to advance from large-scale pilot plant application to commercial scale demonstration or application.

removed “(2) Program—The term program means the program established under subsection (b).

removed “(3) Transformational technology

removed “(A) In general—The term transformational technology means a power generation technology that represents an entirely new way to convert energy that will enable a step change in performance, efficiency, and cost of electricity as compared to the technology in existence on the date of enactment of this Act.

removed “(B) Inclusions—The term transformational technology includes a broad range of technology improvements, including—

removed “(i) thermodynamic improvements in energy conversion and heat transfer, including—

removed “(I) oxygen combustion;

removed “(II) chemical looping; and

removed “(III) the replacement of steam cycles with supercritical carbon dioxide cycles;

removed “(ii) improvements in turbine technology;

removed “(iii) improvements in carbon capture systems technology; and

removed “(iv) any other technology the Secretary recognizes as transformational technology.

removed “(b) Coal technology program

removed “(1) In general—The Secretary shall establish a coal technology program to ensure the continued use of the abundant, domestic coal resources of the United States through the development of technologies that will significantly improve the efficiency, effectiveness, costs, and environmental performance of coal use.

removed “(2) Requirements—The program shall include—

removed “(A) a research and development program;

removed “(B) large-scale pilot projects; and

removed “(C) demonstration projects.

removed “(3) Program goals and objectives—In consultation with the interested entities described in paragraph (4)(C), the Secretary shall develop goals and objectives for the program to be applied to the technologies developed within the program, taking into consideration the following objectives:

removed “(A) Ensure reliable, low cost power from new and existing coal plants.

removed “(B) Achieve high conversion efficiencies.

removed “(C) Address emissions of carbon dioxide through high efficiency platforms and carbon capture from new and existing coal plants.

removed “(D) Support small-scale and modular technologies to enable incremental capacity additions and load growth and large-scale generation technologies.

removed “(E) Support flexible baseload operations for new and existing applications of coal generation.

removed “(F) Further reduce emissions of criteria pollutants and reduce the use and manage the discharge of water in power plant operations.

removed “(G) Accelerate the development of technologies that have transformational energy conversion characteristics.

removed “(H) Validate geologic storage of large volumes of anthropogenic sources of carbon dioxide and support the development of the infrastructure needed to support a carbon dioxide use and storage industry.

removed “(I) Examine methods of converting coal to other valuable products and commodities in addition to electricity.

removed “(4) Consultations required—In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall—

removed “(A) undertake international collaborations, as recommended by the National Coal Council;

removed “(B) use existing authorities to encourage international cooperation; and

removed “(C) consult with interested entities, including –

removed “(i) coal producers;

removed “(ii) industries that use coal;

removed “(iii) organizations that promote coal and advanced coal technologies;

removed “(iv) environmental organizations;

removed “(v) organizations representing workers; and

removed “(vi) organizations representing consumers.

removed “(c) Report

removed “(1) In general—Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describing the performance standards adopted under subsection (b)(3).

removed “(2) Update—Once every 2 years after the initial report is submitted under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report describing the progress made towards achieving the objectives and performance standards adopted under subsection (b)(3).

removed “(d) Funding

removed “(1) Authorization of Appropriations—There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this Act, to remain available until expended—

removed “(A) $610,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 through 2020; and

removed “(B) $560,000,000 for fiscal year 2021.

removed “(2) Allocations—The amounts made available under paragraph (1) shall be allocated as follows:

removed “(A) For activities under the research and development program component described in subsection (b)(2)(A)—

removed “(i) $275,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 through 2020; and

removed “(ii) $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2021.

removed “(B) For activities under the demonstration projects program component described in subsection (b)(2)(C)—

removed “(i) $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 through 2020; and

removed “(ii) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2021.

removed “(C) For activities under the large-scale pilot projects program component described in subsection (b)(2)(B), $285,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 through 2021.”

added “(a) In general—The Secretary shall conduct programs of civilian nuclear research, development, demonstration, and commercial application, including activities described in this subtitle, that take into consideration the following objectives:

added “(1) Providing research infrastructure—

added “(A) to promote scientific progress; and

added “(B) to enable users from academia, the National Laboratories, and the private sector to make scientific discoveries relevant for nuclear, chemical, and materials science engineering.

added “(2) Maintaining nuclear energy research and development programs at the National Laboratories and institutions of higher education, including programs of infrastructure of National Laboratories and institutions of higher education.

added “(3) Providing the technical means to reduce the likelihood of nuclear weapons proliferation.

added “(4) Ensuring public safety.

added “(5) Reducing the environmental impact of nuclear energy-related activities.

added “(6) Supporting technology transfer from the National Laboratories to the private sector.

added “(7) Enabling the private sector to partner with the National Laboratories to demonstrate novel reactor concepts for the purpose of resolving technical uncertainty associated with the objectives described in this subsection.”