Energy Efficient Public Buildings Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1993 To direct the Secretary of Energy to provide grants for energy improvements to certain public buildings, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 17, 2021 Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. JONES, Ms. NORTON, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. ESPAILLAT, and Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To direct the Secretary of Energy to provide grants for energy improvements to certain public buildings, 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 ‘‘Energy Efficient Pub- 4 lic Buildings Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENTS 6 AND RENEWABLE ENERGY IMPROVEMENTS 7 FOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1993.IH H1993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1993 IH (1) ELIGIBLE BUILDING.—The term ‘‘eligible 1 building’’ means a— 2 (A) public library; 3 (B) public hospital; 4 (C) community center; or 5 (D) State or local government building. 6 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 7 ty’’ means— 8 (A) a State; 9 (B) a local government; 10 (C) a nonprofit organization that owns or 11 operates an eligible building; 12 (D) a nongovernmental organization, in- 13 cluding a nonprofit organization, with expertise 14 related to energy improvements; or 15 (E) a consortium of entities described in 16 subparagraphs (A) through (D). 17 (3) ENERGY IMPROVEMENT.—The term ‘‘en- 18 ergy improvement’’— 19 (A) means any improvement, repair, or 20 renovation to an eligible building— 21 (i) that will directly result in a reduc- 22 tion in building energy costs of at least 20 23 percent, including improvements to build- 24 ing envelope, air conditioning, ventilation, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1993.IH H1993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1993 IH heating system, domestic hot water heat- 1 ing, compressed air systems, distribution 2 systems, lighting, power systems, and con- 3 trols; and 4 (ii) that leads to an improvement in 5 building occupant health, including im- 6 provement in indoor air quality, daylight- 7 ing, ventilation, electrical lighting, and 8 acoustics; and 9 (B) may include the installation of a re- 10 newable energy technology (such as wind power, 11 photovoltaics, solar thermal systems, geo- 12 thermal energy, hydrogen-fueled systems, bio- 13 mass-based systems, biofuels, anaerobic digest- 14 ers, energy storage, and hydropower) to an eli- 15 gible building that meets the requirements of 16 subparagraph (A). 17 (4) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITY.— 18 The term ‘‘environmental justice community’’ means 19 a community with significant representation of com- 20 munities of color, low-income communities, or Tribal 21 and indigenous communities, that experiences, or is 22 at risk of experiencing higher or more adverse 23 human health or environmental effects. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1993.IH H1993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1993 IH (5) EJSCREEN.—The term ‘‘EJSCREEN’’ 1 means the environmental justice mapping and 2 screening tool created by the Environmental Protec- 3 tion Agency. 4 (6) EJ INDEX.—The term ‘‘EJ Index’’ means 5 the Environmental Justice Indexes in EJSCREEN. 6 (7) MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY.— 7 The term ‘‘medically underserved community’’ has 8 the meaning given such term in section 799B of the 9 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p). 10 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 11 the Secretary of Energy. 12 (9) UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY.—The term 13 ‘‘underserved community’’ means— 14 (A) a community located within a ZIP 15 Code or census tract that is identified by the 16 Secretary as— 17 (i) a low-income community; 18 (ii) a community of color; 19 (iii) a Tribal community; or 20 (B) any other community that the Sec- 21 retary determines is disproportionately vulner- 22 able to, or bears, a disproportionate burden of, 23 any combination of economic, social, environ- 24 mental, or climate stressors. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1993.IH H1993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1993 IH (b) AUTHORITY.—From amounts made available to 1 carry out this section, the Secretary shall provide competi- 2 tive grants to eligible entities to make energy improve- 3 ments authorized by this section. 4 (c) PRIORITY.—In providing grants under this sec- 5 tion, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 6 that will carry out energy improvements— 7 (1) in an environmental justice community; 8 (2) in a neighborhood with poverty and unem- 9 ployment rates that exceed the average in the United 10 States; 11 (3) in a neighborhood where 30 percent or more 12 of households receive benefits under— 13 (A) the supplemental nutrition assistance 14 program under the Food and Nutrition Act of 15 2008; or 16 (B) a mandatory spending program of the 17 Federal Government for which, as determined 18 by the Secretary, eligibility for the program’s 19 benefits, or the amount of such benefits, is de- 20 termined on the basis of income or resources of 21 the individual or family seeking the benefit; 22 (4) in an underserved community or a medically 23 underserved community; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1993.IH H1993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1993 IH (5) in an EPA region where the EJ Index is 1 above the national average, as determined by 2 EJSCREEN; or 3 (6) in an environmental justice community, as 4 documented by federally recognized environmental 5 justice mapping and equity screening tools. 6 (d) COMPETITIVE CRITERIA.—The competitive cri- 7 teria used by the Secretary in providing grants under this 8 section shall include the following: 9 (1) The fiscal capacity of the eligible entity to 10 meet the needs for improvements of building facili- 11 ties without assistance under this section, including 12 the ability of the eligible entity to finance the appli- 13 cable project through the use of local bonding capac- 14 ity, energy performance contracting, if applicable, or 15 other means determined appropriate by the Sec- 16 retary. 17 (2) The likelihood that the eligible entity will 18 maintain, in good condition, any building facility 19 whose improvement is assisted with a grant under 20 this section. 21 (3) The potential energy efficiency and safety 22 benefits for building occupants from the proposed 23 energy improvements. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1993.IH H1993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1993 IH (e) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 1 under this section, an applicant shall submit to the Sec- 2 retary an application that includes each of the following: 3 (1) A needs assessment of the current condition 4 of the eligible building, or eligible buildings, that are 5 to receive the energy improvements. 6 (2) A draft work plan of what the applicant 7 hopes to achieve at eligible buildings and a descrip- 8 tion of the energy improvements to be carried out. 9 (3) A description of the applicant’s capacity to 10 provide services and comprehensive support to make 11 the energy improvements. 12 (4) An assessment of the applicant’s expected 13 needs for operation and maintenance training funds, 14 and a plan for use of those funds, if any. 15 (5) An assessment of the expected energy effi- 16 ciency and safety benefits of the energy improve- 17 ments. 18 (6) A cost estimate of the proposed energy im- 19 provements. 20 (f) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise pro- 22 vided in this subsection, an eligible entity that re- 23 ceives a grant under this section shall use the grant 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1993.IH H1993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1993 IH amounts only to make the energy improvements con- 1 templated in the application for the grant. 2 (2) OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE TRAIN- 3 ING.—An eligible entity that receives a grant under 4 this section may use up to 5 percent for operation 5 and maintenance training for energy efficiency and 6 renewable energy improvements (such as mainte- 7 nance staff and building occupant training, edu- 8 cation, and preventative maintenance training). 9 (3) AUDIT.—An eligible entity that receives a 10 grant under this section may use funds for a third- 11 party investigation and analysis for energy improve- 12 ments (such as energy audits and existing building 13 commissioning). 14 (g) CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS.— 15 (1) DAVIS-BACON.—Any laborer or mechanic 16 employed by any contractor or subcontractor in the 17 performance of work on any energy improvements 18 funded by a grant under this section shall be paid 19 wages at rates not less than those prevailing on 20 similar construction in the locality as determined by 21 the Secretary of Labor under subchapter IV of chap- 22 ter 31 of title 40, United States Code (commonly re- 23 ferred to as the Davis-Bacon Act). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1993.IH H1993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1993 IH (2) COMPETITION.—Each eligible entity that 1 receives a grant under this section shall ensure that, 2 if the eligible entity carries out repair or renovation 3 through a contract, any such contract process— 4 (A) ensures the maximum number of quali- 5 fied bidders, including small, minority, and 6 women-owned businesses, through full and open 7 competition; and 8 (B) gives priority to businesses located in 9 or resources common to, the State or the geo- 10 graphical area in which the project is carried 11 out. 12 (h) REPORTING.— 13 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Each eligible entity that 14 receives a grant under this section shall submit to 15 the Secretary, at such time as the Secretary may re- 16 quire, a report describing the— 17 (A) use of such funds for energy improve- 18 ments, including the type of eligible building in- 19 volved; 20 (B) the estimated cost savings realized by 21 such energy improvements; 22 (C) the building occupant safety benefits 23 as a result of such energy improvements; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1993.IH H1993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1993 IH (D) the results of any standard or detailed 1 energy audit of the applicable eligible building; 2 and 3 (E) the use of the Department of Energy’s 4 Energy Star Program performance tracking for 5 tracking such energy improvements. 6 (2) FOLLOW-UP REPORT.—Not later than 5 7 years after an eligible entity completes energy im- 8 provements funded by a grant received under this 9 section, such eligible entity shall submit to the Sec- 10 retary a report describing the energy use and reduc- 11 tions as a result of such energy improvements. 12 (3) DOE REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit 13 to Congress a report summarizing the information in 14 the reports submitted under paragraphs (1) and (2). 15 (4) BEST PRACTICES REPORT.—Not later than 16 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 17 the Secretary shall develop and publish, including on 18 the public website of the Department of Energy, a 19 report on the best practices for eligible entities for 20 activities carried out under this section, including 21 how to apply for a grant under this section, includ- 22 ing how to register with the Federal system of 23 award management and how to obtain and validate 24 a Federal Data Universal Number System. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1993.IH H1993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1993 IH (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 1 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to 2 be appropriated to carry out this section 3 $1,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 4 through 2026. 5 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND OUTREACH.— 6 Up to 10 percent of amounts made available pursu- 7 ant to paragraph (1) each fiscal year may be used 8 to provide technical assistance and outreach to eligi- 9 ble entities. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:47 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1993.IH H1993 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS