Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 806 To establish a Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 4, 2021 Mrs. DINGELL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish a Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clean Energy and Sus- 4 tainability Accelerator Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 6 The table of contents for this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. Sec. 3. Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator. VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Feb 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H806.IH H806 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 806 IH ‘‘Subtitle C—Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator ‘‘Sec. 1621. Definitions. ‘‘Sec. 1622. Establishment. ‘‘Sec. 1623. Mandate. ‘‘Sec. 1624. Finance and investment division. ‘‘Sec. 1625. Start-up Division. ‘‘Sec. 1626. Zero-emissions fleet and related infrastructure financing pro- gram. ‘‘Sec. 1627. Project prioritization and requirements. ‘‘Sec. 1628. Exploration of accelerated clean energy transition program. ‘‘Sec. 1629. Board of Directors. ‘‘Sec. 1630. Administration. ‘‘Sec. 1631. Establishment of risk management committee and audit com- mittee. ‘‘Sec. 1632. Oversight. SEC. 3. CLEAN ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY ACCEL- 1 ERATOR. 2 Title XVI of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public 3 Law 109–58, as amended) is amended by adding at the 4 end the following new subtitle: 5 ‘‘Subtitle C—Clean Energy and 6 Sustainability Accelerator 7 ‘‘SEC. 1621. DEFINITIONS. 8 ‘‘In this subtitle: 9 ‘‘(1) ACCELERATOR.—The term ‘Accelerator’ 10 means the Clean Energy and Sustainability Accel- 11 erator established under section 1622. 12 ‘‘(2) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ means the 13 Board of Directors of the Accelerator. 14 ‘‘(3) CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER.—The term 15 ‘chief executive officer’ means the chief executive of- 16 ficer of the Accelerator. 17 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Feb 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H806.IH H806 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 806 IH ‘‘(4) CLIMATE-IMPACTED COMMUNITIES.—The 1 term ‘climate-impacted communities’ includes— 2 ‘‘(A) communities of color, which include 3 any geographically distinct area the population 4 of color of which is higher than the average 5 population of color of the State in which the 6 community is located; 7 ‘‘(B) communities that are already or are 8 likely to be the first communities to feel the di- 9 rect negative effects of climate change; 10 ‘‘(C) distressed neighborhoods, dem- 11 onstrated by indicators of need, including pov- 12 erty, childhood obesity rates, academic failure, 13 and rates of juvenile delinquency, adjudication, 14 or incarceration; 15 ‘‘(D) low-income communities, defined as 16 any census block group in which 30 percent or 17 more of the population are individuals with low 18 income; 19 ‘‘(E) low-income households, defined as a 20 household with annual income equal to, or less 21 than, the greater of— 22 ‘‘(i) an amount equal to 80 percent of 23 the median income of the area in which the 24 household is located, as reported by the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Feb 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H806.IH H806 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 806 IH Department of Housing and Urban Devel- 1 opment; and 2 ‘‘(ii) 200 percent of the Federal pov- 3 erty line; 4 ‘‘(F) Tribal communities; 5 ‘‘(G) persistent poverty counties, defined 6 as any county that has had a poverty rate of 20 7 percent or more for the past 30 years as meas- 8 ured by the 2000, 2010, and 2020 decennial 9 censuses; 10 ‘‘(H) communities disproportionately af- 11 fected by environmental pollution and other 12 hazards that can lead to negative public health 13 effects; and 14 ‘‘(I) communities that are economically re- 15 liant on fossil fuel-based industries. 16 ‘‘(5) CLIMATE RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE.— 17 The term ‘climate resilient infrastructure’ means 18 any project that builds or enhances infrastructure so 19 that such infrastructure— 20 ‘‘(A) is planned, designed, and operated in 21 a way that anticipates, prepares for, and adapts 22 to changing climate conditions; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Feb 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H806.IH H806 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 806 IH ‘‘(B) can withstand, respond to, and re- 1 cover rapidly from disruptions caused by these 2 climate conditions. 3 ‘‘(6) ELECTRIFICATION.—The term ‘electrifica- 4 tion’ means the installation, construction, or use of 5 end-use electric technology that replaces existing fos- 6 sil-fuel-based technology. 7 ‘‘(7) ENERGY EFFICIENCY.—The term ‘energy 8 efficiency’ means any project, technology, function, 9 or measure that results in the reduction of energy 10 use required to achieve the same level of service or 11 output prior to the application of such project, tech- 12 nology, function, or measure, or substantially re- 13 duces greenhouse gas emissions relative to emissions 14 that would have occurred prior to the application of 15 such project, technology, function, or measure. 16 ‘‘(8) FUEL SWITCHING.—The term ‘fuel switch- 17 ing’ means any project that replaces a fossil-fuel- 18 based heating system with an electric-powered sys- 19 tem or one powered by biomass-generated heat. 20 ‘‘(9) GREEN BANK.—The term ‘green bank’ 21 means a dedicated public or nonprofit specialized fi- 22 nance entity that— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Feb 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H806.IH H806 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 806 IH ‘‘(A) is designed to drive private capital 1 into market gaps for low- and zero-emission 2 goods and services; 3 ‘‘(B) uses finance tools to mitigate climate 4 change; 5 ‘‘(C) does not take deposits; 6 ‘‘(D) is funded by government, public, pri- 7 vate, or charitable contributions; and 8 ‘‘(E) invests or finances projects— 9 ‘‘(i) alone; or 10 ‘‘(ii) in conjunction with other inves- 11 tors. 12 ‘‘(10) QUALIFIED PROJECTS.—The terms 13 ‘qualified projects’ means the following kinds of 14 technologies and activities that are eligible for fi- 15 nancing and investment from the Clean Energy and 16 Sustainability Accelerator, either directly or through 17 State, Territorial, and local green banks funded by 18 the Clean Energy and Sustainability Accelerator: 19 ‘‘(A) Renewable energy generation, includ- 20 ing the following: 21 ‘‘(i) Solar. 22 ‘‘(ii) Wind. 23 ‘‘(iii) Geothermal. 24 ‘‘(iv) Hydropower. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Feb 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H806.IH H806 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 806 IH ‘‘(v) Ocean and hydrokinetic. 1 ‘‘(vi) Fuel cell. 2 ‘‘(B) Building energy efficiency, fuel 3 switching, and electrification. 4 ‘‘(C) Industrial decarbonization. 5 ‘‘(D) Grid technology such as trans- 6 mission, distribution, and storage to support 7 clean energy distribution, including smart-grid 8 applications. 9 ‘‘(E) Agriculture and forestry projects that 10 reduce net greenhouse gas emissions. 11 ‘‘(F) Clean transportation, including the 12 following: 13 ‘‘(i) Battery electric vehicles. 14 ‘‘(ii) Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. 15 ‘‘(iii) Hydrogen vehicles. 16 ‘‘(iv) Other zero-emissions fueled vehi- 17 cles. 18 ‘‘(v) Related vehicle charging and 19 fueling infrastructure. 20 ‘‘(G) Climate resilient infrastructure. 21 ‘‘(H) Any other key areas identified by the 22 Board as consistent with the mandate of the 23 Accelerator as described in section 1623. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Feb 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H806.IH H806 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 806 IH ‘‘(11) RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION.— 1 The term ‘renewable energy generation’ means elec- 2 tricity created by sources that are continually replen- 3 ished by nature, such as the sun, wind, and water. 4 ‘‘SEC. 1622. ESTABLISHMENT. 5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 6 date of enactment of this subtitle, there shall be estab- 7 lished a nonprofit corporation to be known as the Clean 8 Energy and Sustainability Accelerator. 9 ‘‘(b) LIMITATION.—The Accelerator shall not be an 10 agency or instrumentality of the Federal Government. 11 ‘‘(c) FULL FAITH AND CREDIT.—The full faith and 12 credit of the United States shall not extend to the Accel- 13 erator. 14 ‘‘(d) NONPROFIT STATUS.—The Accelerator shall 15 maintain its status as an organization exempt from tax- 16 ation under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 17 1 et seq.). 18 ‘‘SEC. 1623. MANDATE. 19 ‘‘The Accelerator shall make the United States a 20 world leader in combating the causes and effects of climate 21 change through the rapid deployment of mature tech- 22 nologies and scaling of new technologies by maximizing 23 the reduction of emissions in the United States for every 24 dollar deployed by the Accelerator, including by— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Feb 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H806.IH H806 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 806 IH ‘‘(1) providing financing support for invest- 1 ments in the United States in low- and zero-emis- 2 sions technologies and processes in order to rapidly 3 accelerate market penetration; 4 ‘‘(2) catalyzing and mobilizing private capital 5 through Federal investment and supporting a more 6 robust marketplace for clean technologies, while 7 avoiding competition with private investment; 8 ‘‘(3) enabling climate-impacted communities to 9 benefit from and afford projects and investments 10 that reduce emissions; 11 ‘‘(4) providing support for workers and commu- 12 nities impacted by the transition to a low-carbon 13 economy; 14 ‘‘(5) supporting the creation of green banks 15 within the United States where green banks do not 16 exist; and 17 ‘‘(6) causing the rapid transition to a clean en- 18 ergy economy without raising energy costs to end 19 users and seeking to lower costs where possible. 20 ‘‘SEC. 1624. FINANCE AND INVESTMENT DIVISION. 21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be within the Accel- 22 erator a finance and investment division, which shall be 23 responsible for— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Feb 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H806.IH H806 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 806 IH ‘‘(1) the Accelerator’s greenhouse gas emissions 1 mitigation efforts by directly financing qualifying 2 projects or doing so indirectly by providing capital to 3 State, Territorial, and local green banks; 4 ‘‘(2) originating, evaluating, underwriting, and 5 closing the Accelerator’s financing and investment 6 transactions in qualified projects; 7 ‘‘(3) partnering with private capital providers 8 and capital markets to attract coinvestment from 9 private banks, investors, and others in order to drive 10 new investment into underpenetrated markets, to in- 11 crease the efficiency of private capital markets with 12 respect to investing in greenhouse gas reduction 13 projects, and to increase total investment caused by 14 the Accelerator; 15 ‘‘(4) managing the Accelerator’s portfolio of as- 16 sets to ensure performance and monitor risk; 17 ‘‘(5) ensuring appropriate debt and risk mitiga- 18 tion products are offered; and 19 ‘‘(6) overseeing prudent, noncontrolling equity 20 investments. 21 ‘‘(b) PRODUCTS AND INVESTMENT TYPES.—The fi- 22 nance and investment division of the Accelerator may pro- 23 vide capital to qualified projects in the form of— 24 ‘‘(1) senior, mezzanine, and subordinated debt; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Feb 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H806.IH H806 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 806 IH ‘‘(2) credit enhancements including loan loss re- 1 serves and loan guarantees; 2 ‘‘(3) aggregation and warehousing; 3 ‘‘(4) equity capital; and 4 ‘‘(5) any other financial product approved by 5 the Board. 6 ‘‘(c) STATE, TERRITORIAL, AND LOCAL GREEN 7 BANK CAPITALIZATION.—The finance and investment di- 8 vision of the Accelerator shall make capital available to 9 State, Territorial, and local green banks to enable such 10 banks to finance qualifying projects in their markets that 11 are better served by a locally based entity, rather than 12 through direct investment by the Accelerator. 13 ‘‘(d) INVESTMENT COMMITTEE.—The debt, risk miti- 14 gation, and equity investments made by the Accelerator 15 shall be— 16 ‘‘(1) approved by the investment committee of 17 the Board; and 18 ‘‘(2) consistent with an investment policy that 19 has been established by the investment committee of 20 the Board in consultation with the risk management 21 committee of the Board. 22 ‘‘SEC. 1625. START-UP DIVISION. 23 ‘‘There shall be within the Accelerator a Start-up Di- 24 vision, which shall be responsible for providing technical 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:35 Feb 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H806.IH H806 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 806 IH assistance and start-up funding to States and other polit- 1 ical subdivisions that do not have green banks to establish 2 green banks in those States and political subdivisions, in- 3 cluding by working with relevant stakeholders in those 4 States and political subdivisions. 5 ‘‘SEC. 1626. ZERO-EMISSIONS FLEET AND RELATED INFRA- 6 STRUCTURE FINANCING PROGRAM. 7 ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date of establishment 8 of the Accelerator, the Accelerator shall explore the estab- 9 lishment of a program to provide low- and zero-interest 10 loans, up to 30 years in length, to any school, metropolitan 11 planning organization, or nonprofit organization seeking 12 financing for the acquisition of zero-emissions vehicle 13 fleets or associated infrastructure to support zero-emis- 14 sions vehicle fleets. 15 ‘‘SEC. 1627. PROJECT PRIORITIZATION AND REQUIRE- 16 MENTS. 17 ‘‘(a) EMISSIONS REDUCTION MANDATE.—In invest- 18 ing in projects that mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, the 19 Accelerator shall maximize the reduction of emissions in 20 the United States for every dollar deployed by the Accel- 21 er [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]