Environmental Management Liability Reduction and Technology Development Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1065 To increase collaboration between offices within the Department of Energy to develop and deploy technology to assist the mission of the Office of Environmental Management. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 25, 2021 Mrs. MURRAY (for herself and Mr. MANCHIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat- ural Resources A BILL To increase collaboration between offices within the Depart- ment of Energy to develop and deploy technology to assist the mission of the Office of Environmental Man- agement. 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 ‘‘Environmental Man- 4 agement Liability Reduction and Technology Development 5 Act of 2021’’. 6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 7 The purpose of this Act is to establish programs— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1065.IS S1065 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1065 IS (1) to develop and deploy technologies in a 1 timely manner to better fulfill the mission of the Of- 2 fice of Environmental Management of the Depart- 3 ment of Energy; 4 (2) to coordinate available technologies with re- 5 mediation projects to enable the start, and cost-effi- 6 cient and economical completion, of remediation 7 projects; 8 (3) to establish a consistent process for tech- 9 nology development to achieve long-term solutions 10 rather than developing technologies to address 1 11 phase of a project at a time, which potentially in- 12 creases the long-term cleanup costs; 13 (4) to reduce aggregate cost, better protect 14 workers, and complete the mission more effectively 15 and safely; and 16 (5) to develop new technology and to train a 17 skilled workforce to enable the Secretary of Energy 18 to address the significant challenges the Department 19 faces. 20 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 21 In this Act: 22 (1) COMPLEX.—The term ‘‘complex’’ means all 23 sites managed in whole or in part by the Office. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1065.IS S1065 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1065 IS (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 1 means the Department of Energy. 2 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 3 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 4 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 5 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 6 (4) MISSION.—The term ‘‘mission’’ means the 7 mission of the Office. 8 (5) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na- 9 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given the term 10 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 11 U.S.C. 15801). 12 (6) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of- 13 fice of Environmental Management of the Depart- 14 ment. 15 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 16 the Secretary of Energy, acting through the Assist- 17 ant Secretary for Environmental Management. 18 (8) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 19 ‘‘small business concern’’ has the meaning given the 20 term in section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 21 U.S.C. 632). 22 SEC. 4. INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT. 23 (a) INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1065.IS S1065 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1065 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall obtain 1 from the Corps of Engineers an independent assess- 2 ment of the lifecycle costs and schedules of the 3 cleanup programs of the Office. 4 (2) FOCUS OF ASSESSMENT.—The assessment 5 under paragraph (1) shall be focused on identifying 6 key remaining technical risks and uncertainties of 7 the cleanup programs. 8 (3) USE OF ASSESSMENT.—The Office shall use 9 the assessment under paragraph (1)— 10 (A) to reevaluate the major cleanup chal- 11 lenges faced by the Office, including the 12 timeline and costs associated with addressing 13 those challenges with existing science and tech- 14 nology investments; 15 (B) to make any adjustments to the 16 science and technology development program of 17 the Office that are necessary to address those 18 major cleanup challenges; 19 (C) to evaluate potential savings from the 20 development of new technologies over the life of 21 the cleanup programs of the Office; and 22 (D) to provide recommendations to Con- 23 gress with respect to the annual funding levels 24 for the Incremental Technology Development 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1065.IS S1065 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1065 IS Program established under section 5(a), the 1 High-Impact Technology Development Program 2 established under section 6(a), and the Funda- 3 mental Research Program established under 4 section 7(a) that will ensure maximum cost-sav- 5 ings over the life of the cleanup programs of 6 the Office. 7 (4) NO EFFECT ON PROGRAM IMPLEMENTA- 8 TION.—Nothing in this subsection affects the estab- 9 lishment, implementation, or carrying out of any 10 project or program under any other provision of law, 11 including this Act, during the time period in which 12 the assessment under paragraph (1) is carried out. 13 (b) MANAGEMENT PROCESS.—The Secretary shall 14 design and implement a science and technology manage- 15 ment process for identifying, prioritizing, selecting, devel- 16 oping, and deploying the new knowledge and technologies 17 needed to address the cleanup challenges faced by the Of- 18 fice, including the technical risks and uncertainties identi- 19 fied by the assessment under subsection (a). 20 (c) PEER REVIEW.—The Secretary shall use inde- 21 pendent peer review to evaluate— 22 (1) the science and technology management 23 process designed under subsection (b) before that 24 process is implemented; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1065.IS S1065 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1065 IS (2) any science and technology projects before 1 those projects are funded; and 2 (3) the overall effectiveness and impact of the 3 science and technology efforts of the Office. 4 SEC. 5. INCREMENTAL TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PRO- 5 GRAM. 6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 7 a program, to be known as the ‘‘Incremental Technology 8 Development Program’’ (referred to in this section as the 9 ‘‘program’’), to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of 10 the cleanup processes of the Office. 11 (b) FOCUS.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The program shall focus on 13 the continuous improvement of new or available 14 technologies for— 15 (A) decontamination chemicals and tech- 16 niques; 17 (B) remote sensing and wireless commu- 18 nication to reduce manpower and laboratory ef- 19 forts; 20 (C) detection, assay, and certification in- 21 strumentation; 22 (D) packaging materials, methods, and 23 shipping systems; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1065.IS S1065 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1065 IS (E) improving the overall efficiency and ef- 1 fectiveness of the Office. 2 (2) OTHER AREAS.—The program may include 3 mission-relevant development, demonstration, and 4 deployment activities unrelated to the focus areas 5 described in paragraph (1). 6 (c) USE OF NEW AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program, 8 the Secretary shall ensure that site offices of the Of- 9 fice conduct technology development and demonstra- 10 tion of new and emerging technologies to establish a 11 sound technical basis for the selection of tech- 12 nologies for cleanup or infrastructure operations. 13 (2) COLLABORATION REQUIRED.—The Sec- 14 retary shall collaborate with the heads of other Fed- 15 eral agencies, the National Laboratories, other Fed- 16 eral laboratories, appropriate State regulators and 17 agencies, and the Department of Labor in the devel- 18 opment, demonstration, and deployment of new tech- 19 nologies under the program. 20 (d) GRANT PROGRAM.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program, 22 the Secretary may provide to eligible entities grants 23 for technology development, demonstration, and de- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1065.IS S1065 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1065 IS ployment projects to improve technologies in accord- 1 ance with subsection (b). 2 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—Entities eligible to 3 receive a grant under the program include— 4 (A) the National Laboratories; 5 (B) other Federal laboratories; 6 (C) institutions of higher education; 7 (D) contractors; and 8 (E) small business concerns. 9 (3) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall select eli- 10 gible entities for grants under the program through 11 a rigorous process that involves— 12 (A) transparent and open competition; and 13 (B) an independent peer review process de- 14 scribed in paragraph (4). 15 (4) PEER REVIEW PROCESS.— 16 (A) IN GENERAL.—Each technology devel- 17 opment, demonstration, and deployment project 18 of an eligible entity under consideration for a 19 grant under the program shall undergo an inde- 20 pendent peer review process by a panel of not 21 fewer than 3 peer reviewers selected in accord- 22 ance with subparagraph (C), who shall evaluate 23 the project in accordance with the criteria de- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1065.IS S1065 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1065 IS scribed in subparagraph (B), with the goal of 1 maximizing— 2 (i) returns on the research and devel- 3 opment expenditures of the Office; and 4 (ii) the return on investment of grant 5 funds awarded under the program. 6 (B) CRITERIA.—The general criteria for 7 peer review under subparagraph (A) shall in- 8 clude, with respect to each project, including 9 any technology to be developed, demonstrated, 10 or deployed by the project, an evaluation of— 11 (i) mission relevancy; 12 (ii) scientific and technical validity; 13 (iii) ability to meet an existing mis- 14 sion void; 15 (iv) superiority to alternatives; 16 (v) cost effectiveness; 17 (vi) ability to reduce risk; 18 (vii) regulatory acceptance; 19 (viii) public acceptance; and 20 (ix) likelihood of implementation. 21 (C) PEER REVIEWERS.— 22 (i) IN GENERAL.—A peer reviewer for 23 a project under subparagraph (A) shall be 24 selected— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1065.IS S1065 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1065 IS (I) through a systematic ap- 1 proach to accessing peer reviewer in- 2 formation that ensures the appro- 3 priate range of expertise for the peer 4 review panel; and 5 (II) from among— 6 (aa) contractors; 7 (bb) the National Labora- 8 tories; 9 (cc) other Federal Labora- 10 tories; 11 (dd) institutions of higher 12 education; and 13 (ee) members of relevant 14 professional societies. 15 (ii) MINIMIZATION OF DOE PARTICIPA- 16 TION.—To the maximum extent prac- 17 ticable, the peer reviewer selection process 18 under clause (i) shall minimize the partici- 19 pation of staff of the Department as peer 20 reviewers. 21 (iii) MINIMIZATION OF CONFLICTS OF 22 INTEREST.—A peer reviewer selected under 23 clause (i) to review the project may not be 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1065.IS S1065 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1065 IS affiliated with the eligible entity or the 1 project being reviewed. 2 (D) REVIEW PROCESS.—Each panel of 3 peer reviewers shall review the project— 4 (i) using a process of regular review 5 and staged decision making that is com- 6 parable to other peer review programs; and 7 (ii) with rigorous attention to— 8 (I) the collection of activity; and 9 (II) the achievement of perform- 10 ance metrics. 11 (5) COST-SHARING.—The Federal share of the 12 costs of the development, demonstration, and deploy- 13 ment of new technologies carried out using a grant 14 under this subsection shall be not more than 70 per- 15 cent. 16 (e) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro- 17 priated to carry out the program— 18 (1) $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 19 through 2024; and 20 (2) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2025 and each 21 fiscal year thereafter. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1065.IS S1065 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1065 IS SEC. 6. HIGH-IMPACT TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PRO- 1 GRAM. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 3 a program, to be known as the ‘‘High-Impact Technology 4 Development Program’’ (referred to in this section as the 5 ‘‘program’’), under which the Secretary shall make grants 6 to eligible entities for projects that pursue technologies 7 that, with respect to the mission— 8 (1) holistically address difficult challenges; 9 (2) hold the promise of breakthrough improve- 10 ments; or 11 (3) align existing or in-use technologies with 12 difficult challenges. 13 (b) WORKSHOP.—The Secretary shall commence the 14 program with a workshop to identify, with respect to the 15 technologies developed pursuant to the program— 16 (1) the challenges that need to be addressed; 17 and 18 (2) how— 19 (A) to maximize the impact of existing re- 20 sources of the Office; and 21 (B) to ensure that the technology develop- 22 ment targets challenges across the complex. 23 (c) AREAS OF FOCUS.—Areas of focus of a project 24 receiving a grant under this section may include— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:58 Apr 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1065.IS S1065 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1065 IS (1) developing and demonstrating improved 1 methods for source and plume characterization and 2 monitoring, with an emphasis on— 3 (A) real-time field acquisition; and 4 (B) the use of indicator species analyses 5 with advanced contaminant transport models to 6 enable better understanding of contaminant mi- 7 gration; 8 (2) developing and determining the limits of 9 performance for remediation technologies and inte- 10 grated remedial systems that prevent migration of 11 contaminants, including by producing associated 12 guidance and design manuals for technologies that 13 could be widely used across the complex; 14 (3) demonstrating advanced monitoring ap- 15 proaches that use multiple lines of evidence for mon- 16 itoring long-term performance of— 17 (A) remediation systems; and 18 (B) noninvasive [Text truncated for display. 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