Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “ARPA-E Act of 2018”.
ARPA-E Act of 2018
AN ACT
To amend the America COMPETES Act to establish Department of Energy policy for Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy
Establishment— Section 5012(b) of the America COMPETES Act (42 U.S.C. 16538(b)) is amended by striking “development of energy technologies” and inserting “development of transformative science and technology solutions to address energy, environmental, economic, and national security challenges”.
by striking paragraph (1)(A) and inserting the following:
“(A) to enhance the economic and energy security of the United States through the development of energy technologies that—
“(i) reduce imports of energy from foreign sources;
“(ii) reduce energy-related emissions, including greenhouse gases;
“(iii) improve the energy efficiency of all economic sectors;
“(iv) provide transformative solutions to improve the management, clean-up, and disposal of—
“(I) low-level radioactive waste;
“(II) spent nuclear fuel; and
“(III) high-level radioactive waste;
“(v) improve efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of all forms of energy production;
“(vi) improve the resiliency, reliability, and security of the electric grid; and
“(vii) address other challenges within the mission of the Department as determined by the Secretary; and”
in paragraph (2) by striking “energy technology projects” and inserting “advanced technology projects”.
Responsibilities— Section 5012(e)(3)(A) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 16538(e)(3)(A)) is amended by striking “energy”.
Strategic vision roadmap— Section 5012(h)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 16538(h)(2)) is amended to read as follows:
“(2) Strategic vision roadmap—In the report required under paragraph (1), the Director shall include a roadmap describing the strategic vision that ARPA-E will use to guide the choices of ARPA-E for future technology investments over the following 2 fiscal years.”
Coordination and nonduplication— Section 5012(i)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 16538(i)(1)) is amended to read as follows:
“(1) In general—To the maximum extent practicable, the Director shall ensure that—
“(A) the activities of ARPA–E are coordinated with, and do not duplicate the efforts of, programs and laboratories within the Department and other relevant research agencies; and
“(B) ARPA–E does not provide funding for a project unless the prospective grantee demonstrates sufficient attempts to secure private financing or indicates that the project is not independently commercially viable.”
by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
“(1) In general—Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of the ARPA-E Act of 2018, the Secretary is authorized to enter into a contract with the National Academy of Sciences under which the National Academy shall conduct an evaluation of how well ARPA-E is achieving the goals and mission of ARPA-E.”
in paragraph (2)—
by striking “shall” and inserting “is authorized to”; and
by striking “the recommendation of the National Academy of Sciences” and inserting “a recommendation”.
by redesignating subsection (n) as subsection (o); and
by inserting after subsection (m) the following new subsection:
“(n) Protection of proprietary information
“(1) In general—The following categories of information collected by ARPA-E from recipients of awards under this section 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 firms, hedge funds, and private equity firms), including amounts and the percentage of ownership of the awardee provided in return for the investments.
“(C) Additional financial support that the awardee—
“(i) plans to invest, or has invested, into the technology developed under the award; or
“(ii) is seeking from third parties.
“(D) Revenue from the licensing or sale of new products or services resulting from research conducted under the award.
“(2) Effect of subsection—Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to affect—
“(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.”
Funding— Section 5012(o)(4) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 16538(o)(4)), as redesignated by subsection (g)(1), is amended by striking “during the 5-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act”.
Technical amendments—
Section 5012(g)(3)(A)(iii) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 16538(g)(3)(A)(iii)) is amended by striking “subpart” each place it appears and inserting “subparagraph”.
Section 5012(o)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 16538(o)(2)), as redesignated by subsection (g)(1), is amended by striking “paragraphs (4) and (5)” and inserting “paragraph (4)”.