---
kind: "section"
citation: "15 U.S.C. § 3803"
title: "15"
title_heading: "Commerce and Trade"
number: "3803"
heading: "Duties of Secretary of Energy"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/15/3803"
units:
  - "Chapter 64 — Methane Transportation Research, Development, and Demonstration"
---

# §3803. Duties of Secretary of Energy

- (a) **Designation of management entity for program—** The [Secretary](/usc/15/3802.md?p=b) shall designate prior to February 1, 1981, an appropriate organizational entity within the Department of Energy to manage the [methane](/usc/15/3802.md?p=a) [vehicle](/usc/15/3802.md?p=e) research, development, and demonstration program.
- (b) **Monitoring and management of program; agreements with other Federal departments and agencies—** The [Secretary](/usc/15/3802.md?p=b) shall have the responsibility for monitoring and assuring proper management of the program. The [Secretary](/usc/15/3802.md?p=b) may enter into [agreements](/usc/15/7a.md?p=2) or arrangements with the National Aeronautics and Space [Administration](/usc/15/636e.md?p=1), the Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, or any other Federal department or agency, pursuant to which such department or agency shall conduct specified parts or aspects of the program as the [Secretary](/usc/15/3802.md?p=b) deems necessary or appropriate and within the particular competence of such agency, to the extent that such agency has capabilities which would enable it to contribute to the success of the program and attainment of the purposes of this chapter.
- (c) **Assurances respecting scope of program activities—** In assuring the effective management of this program, the [Secretary](/usc/15/3802.md?p=b) shall have specific responsibility to ascertain that the program includes activities to—
  - (1) promote basic and applied research on [methane](/usc/15/3802.md?p=a)-fueled [vehicle](/usc/15/3802.md?p=e) construction, modification, and safety;
  - (2) conduct research and development on optimum overall specifications for [methane](/usc/15/3802.md?p=a)-fueled [vehicles](/usc/15/3802.md?p=e);
  - (3) determine appropriate means and facilities for safely and economically storing, transporting, and dispensing [methane](/usc/15/3802.md?p=a) for use as a vehicular fuel;
  - (4) conduct demonstration projects with respect to the feasibility of [methane](/usc/15/3802.md?p=a)-fueled [vehicles](/usc/15/3802.md?p=e) and [methane transmission, storage and dispensing facilities](/usc/15/3802.md?p=f) (A) by providing necessary financial or technical assistance for the construction, modification, or operation of motor [vehicles](/usc/15/3802.md?p=e) to be [methane](/usc/15/3802.md?p=a)-fueled for practical use or of [methane transmission, storage and dispensing facilities](/usc/15/3802.md?p=f), and (B) by entering into [agreements](/usc/15/7a.md?p=2) or arrangements with other entities, governmental and nongovernmental, for the demonstration of such [vehicles](/usc/15/3802.md?p=e) and facilities;
  - (5) gather performance data, including but not limited to emissions data, on [methane](/usc/15/3802.md?p=a)-fueled [vehicles](/usc/15/3802.md?p=e) and related transmission and storage facilities;
  - (6) determine that the participants in each demonstration assisted under this chapter have made satisfactory arrangements to obtain an adequate supply of [methane](/usc/15/3802.md?p=a) for vehicular use in the project;
  - (7) ascertain the need for modifications in available [methane](/usc/15/3802.md?p=a)-fueled [vehicles](/usc/15/3802.md?p=e) to improve their efficiency and performance and to facilitate their widespread use by fleet owners; and
  - (8) ascertain any changes in fuel supply patterns, tax policies, and standards governing the manufacture of [vehicles](/usc/15/3802.md?p=e) which are needed to facilitate the manufacture and use of [methane](/usc/15/3802.md?p=a)-fueled [vehicles](/usc/15/3802.md?p=e).
- (d) **Implementation of program; administrative procedures, etc., applicable—**
  - (1) The [Secretary](/usc/15/3802.md?p=b) of Energy shall insure that the conduct of the research and development program of this chapter—
    - (A) supplements the automotive propulsion system research and development efforts of industry;
    - (B) is not formulated in a manner that will supplant private industry research and development or displace or lessen industry’s research and development; and
    - (C) avoids duplication of private research and development.
  - (2) To that end, the [Secretary](/usc/15/3802.md?p=b) of Energy shall issue administrative regulations, within 60 days after December 12, 1980, which shall specify procedures, standards, and criteria for the timely review for compliance of each new contract, grant, Department of Energy project, or other agency project funded or to be funded under the authority of this chapter. Such regulations shall require that the [Secretary](/usc/15/3802.md?p=b) of Energy or his designee shall certify that each such contract, grant, or project satisfies the requirement of this subsection, and shall include in such certification a discussion of the relationship of any related or comparable industry research and development, in terms of this subsection, to the proposed research and development under the authority of this chapter. The discussion shall also address related issues, such as cost sharing and patent rights.
  - (3) Such certifications shall be available 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 provisions of [chapter 5](/usc/5/chptI/ch5.md) of title 5 shall not apply to such certifications and no court shall have any jurisdiction to review the preparation or adequacy of such certifications; but [section 553 of title 5](/usc/5/553.md) and [section 5916 of title 42](/usc/42/5916.md) shall apply to public disclosure of such certifications.
  - (4) The [Secretary](/usc/15/3802.md?p=b) of Energy also shall include in the report required by [section 3808](/usc/15/3808.md)[^1] of this title a detailed discussion of how each research and development contract, grant, or project funded under the authority of this chapter satisfies the requirement of this subsection.
  - (5) Further, the [Secretary](/usc/15/3802.md?p=b) of Energy in each annual budget submission to the Congress, or amendment thereto, for the programs authorized by this chapter shall describe how each identified research and development effort in such submission satisfies the requirements of this subsection.
  - (6) The provisions and requirements of this subsection shall not apply with respect to any contract, grant, or project which was entered into, made, or formally approved and initiated prior to the enactment of this chapter, or with respect to any renewal or extension thereof.

## Footnotes

[^1]: See References in Text note below.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 96–512, § 4, Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 2828; Pub. L. 97–375, title I, § 106(c), Dec. 21, 1982, 96 Stat. 1820; Pub. L. 103–437, § 5(b)(5), Nov. 2, 1994, 108 Stat. 4582.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### References in Text

Section 3808 of this title, referred to in subsec. (d)(4), was repealed by Pub. L. 104–66, title I, § 1051(p), Dec. 21, 1995, 109 Stat. 717.

### Amendments

1994—Subsec. (d)(3). Pub. L. 103–437 substituted “Committee on Science, Space, and Technology” for “Committee on Science and Technology”.

1982—Subsec. (c)(8). Pub. L. 97–375 struck out “and report to the Congress on” after “ascertain”.