[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 364 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 364
To provide for the establishment of the Advanced Research Projects
Agency-Energy.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 10, 2007
Mr. Gordon of Tennessee introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Science and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the establishment of the Advanced Research Projects
Agency-Energy.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States faces a range of energy challenges
that affect our economy, security, and environment.
Fundamentally, these challenges involve science and technology.
(2) The Department of Energy already has some of the
mechanisms necessary to promote long-term research, but it
lacks the mechanisms for quickly transforming the results into
technology that meets national needs.
(3) A recent report of the Secretary of Energy's Advisory
Board's Task Force on the Future of Science Programs at the
Department of Energy concluded that ``America can meet its
energy needs only if we make a strong and sustained investment
in research in physical science, engineering, and applicable
life sciences and if we translate advancing scientific
knowledge into practice''.
(4) The Department of Defense, since 1958, has used its
Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency (DARPA) for
aggressively addressing real-time defense problems through
targeted programs of research and technology development that
have improved our national defense through transformation
technologies.
(5) The National Academy of Sciences' report entitled
``Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing
America for a Brighter Economic Future'' recommends creating a
new agency within the Department of Energy to sponsor
``creative, out-of-the-box, transformational, generic energy
research in those areas where industry by itself cannot or will
not undertake such sponsorship, where risks and pay-offs are
high''. Such an organization would be able to accelerate the
process by which research is transformed to address energy-
related economic, environmental, and security issues to
decrease dependence on foreign energy through targeted research
and technology development.
SEC. 2. ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY-ENERGY.
(a) Establishment.--There is established the Advanced Research
Projects Agency-Energy (in this Act referred to as ``ARPA-E'') within
the Department of Energy.
(b) Goal.--The goal of ARPA-E is to reduce the amount of energy the
United States imports from foreign sources by 20 percent over the next
10 years by--
(1) promoting revolutionary changes in the critical
technologies that would promote energy independence;
(2) turning cutting-edge science and engineering into
technologies for energy and environmental application; and
(3) accelerating innovation in energy and the environment
for both traditional and alternative energy sources and in
energy efficiency mechanisms to decrease the Nation's reliance
on foreign energy sources.
(c) Director.--ARPA-E shall be headed by a Director who shall be
appointed by the Secretary of Energy. The Director shall report to the
Secretary.
(d) Responsibilities.--The Director shall administer the Fund
established under section 3 to award competitive grants, cooperative
agreements, or contracts to institutions of higher education,
companies, or consortia of such entities which may include federally
funded research and development centers, to achieve the goals stated in
subsection (b) through targeted acceleration of--
(1) energy-related research;
(2) development of resultant techniques, processes, and
technologies, and related testing and evaluation; and
(3) demonstration and commercial application of the most
promising technologies and research applications.
(e) Personnel.--
(1) Program managers.--The Director shall designate
employees to serve as program managers for each of the programs
established pursuant to the responsibilities established for
ARPA-E under subsection (d). Program managers shall be
responsible for--
(A) establishing research and development goals for
the program, including through the convening of
workshops and conferring with outside experts, as well
as publicizing its goals to the public and private
sectors;
(B) soliciting applications for specific areas of
particular promise, especially those which the private
sector cannot or will not provide funding;
(C) selecting research projects for support under
the program from among application submitted to ARPA-E,
following consideration of--
(i) the novelty and scientific and
technical merit of the proposed projects;
(ii) the demonstrated capabilities of the
applicants to successfully carry out the
proposed research project; and
(iii) such other criteria as are
established by the Director; and
(D) monitoring the progress of projects supported
under the program.
(2) Hiring and management.--In hiring personnel for ARPA-E,
the Secretary shall have the hiring and management authorities
described in section 1101 of the Strom Thurmond National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (5 U.S.C. 3104
note). For purposes of subsection (c)(1) of that section, the
term of appointments for employees may not exceed 5 years
before the granting of any extension.
(f) Coordination.--The Director shall ensure that the activities of
ARPA-E are coordinated with those of other relevant research agencies,
and may carry out projects jointly with other agencies.
SEC. 3. FUND.
(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Treasury the Energy
Independence Acceleration Fund (in this Act referred to as the
``Fund''), which shall be administered by the Director of ARPA-E for
the purposes of carrying out this Act.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Director of ARPA-E for deposit in the Fund
$300,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, $375,000,000 for fiscal year 2009,
$468,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, $585,000,000 for fiscal year 2011,
$732,000,000 for fiscal year 2012, and $915,000,000 for fiscal year
2013, to remain available until expended.
SEC. 4. RECOUPMENT.
(a) Requirement.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish procedures and
criteria for the recoupment of the Federal share of each project
supported under this Act. Such recoupment shall occur within a
reasonable period of time following the date of the completion of such
project, but not later than 20 years following such date, taking into
account the effect of recoupment on--
(1) the commercial competitiveness of the entity carrying
out the project;
(2) the profitability of the project; and
(3) the commercial viability of the technology utilized.
(b) Waiver.--The Secretary may at any time waive or defer all or
some portion of the recoupment requirement as necessary for the
commercial viability of the project.
(c) Availability of Funds.--Revenue received by the Federal
Government pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the Fund
and shall be available with further appropriation to fund future
grants, contracts, and cooperative agreement as authorized by the
Director.
(d) Definitions.--For the purposes of this section--
(1) the term ``for-profit entity'' means a licensee or
successor in interest to a venture member, or any other for-
profit person or entity, or combination of such persons or
entities, that earns or accrues amounts subject to this
section;
(2) the term ``product or invention supported by or
produced as a result of funding under this Act'' includes any
product or invention of a venture member based on or using any
technology or invention arising out of a venture funded under
this Act; and
(3) the term ``revenue generated by or resulting from a
product or invention'' includes revenue derived from the sale
or licensing of patents or other rights with respect to the
product or invention.
SEC. 5. ADVICE.
(a) Advisory Committees.--The Director may seek advice on any
aspect of ARPA-E from--
(1) existing Department of Energy advisory committees; and
(2) new advisory committees organized to support the
programs of ARPA-E and to provide advice and assistance on--
(A) specific program tasks; or
(B) overall direction of ARPA-E.
(b) Applicability.--Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee
Act shall not apply to advisory committees organized under subsection
(a)(2).
(c) Additional Sources of Advice.--The Director may seek advice and
review from the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy for
Engineering, and any other professional or scientific organization with
expertise in specific processes or technologies under development by
ARPA-E.
SEC. 6. ARPA-E EVALUATION.
After ARPA-E has been in operation for 54 months, the President's
Committee on Science and Technology shall begin an evaluation (to be
completed within 12 months) of how well ARPA-E is achieving its goals
and mission. The evaluation shall include the recommendation of such
Committee on whether ARPA-E should be continued or terminated, as well
as lessons-learned from its operation. The evaluation shall be made
available to Congress and to the public upon completion.
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