Improving State and Local Government Access to Performance Contracting Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2267 To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to provide Federal finan- cial assistance to States to implement expanded energy savings perform- ance contracting programs, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 26, 2021 Mr. WELCH (for himself, Mr. MCKINLEY, and Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to provide Federal financial assistance to States to implement ex- panded energy savings performance contracting pro- grams, 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 ‘‘Improving State and 4 Local Government Access to Performance Contracting 5 Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2267.IH H2267 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2267 IH SEC. 2. STATE ENERGY SAVINGS PERFORMANCE CON- 1 TRACTING PROGRAM EXPANSION. 2 (a) PROGRAM EXPANSION.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Part D of title III of the 4 Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 5 6321 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 6 following: 7 ‘‘SEC. 367. STATE ENERGY SAVINGS PERFORMANCE CON- 8 TRACTING PROGRAM EXPANSION. 9 ‘‘(a) ASSISTANCE.—Upon request of the Governor of 10 any State, the Secretary shall provide, subject to the avail- 11 ability of funds, Federal financial assistance to such State 12 to assist such State in the implementation, improvement, 13 or expansion of a State energy savings performance con- 14 tracting program. 15 ‘‘(b) FUNDING.— 16 ‘‘(1) SUPPLEMENT.—Federal financial assist- 17 ance provided to a State pursuant to this section 18 shall be used to supplement, not supplant, any Fed- 19 eral, State, or other funds otherwise made available 20 to such State under— 21 ‘‘(A) this part; or 22 ‘‘(B) the weatherization assistance pro- 23 gram developed and conducted under part A of 24 title IV of the Energy Conservation and Pro- 25 duction Act. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2267.IH H2267 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2267 IH ‘‘(2) AVAILABILITY.—A State may only receive 1 Federal financial assistance under this section if the 2 Governor of such State submits a request for such 3 financial assistance not later than 1 year after the 4 date of enactment of this section. 5 ‘‘(3) FINANCING.—To the extent practicable, a 6 State shall implement a State energy savings per- 7 formance contracting program primarily utilizing 8 private financing, public financing, or any other 9 sources of funds. 10 ‘‘(4) ALLOCATION.—In providing Federal finan- 11 cial assistance to States under this section, the Sec- 12 retary shall— 13 ‘‘(A) to the extent practicable allocate 14 funds made available for such purpose— 15 ‘‘(i) in accordance with the formula 16 for allocating funds described in section 17 420.11 of title 10, Code of Federal Regula- 18 tions, as in effect on January 1, 2021; and 19 ‘‘(ii) for a fiscal year during such fis- 20 cal year; and 21 ‘‘(B) require any State that is provided fi- 22 nancial assistance and that has not expended 23 such funds within 5 years of receipt to return 24 such funds for reallocation, to the extent prac- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2267.IH H2267 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2267 IH ticable, in accordance with the formula de- 1 scribed in subparagraph (A). 2 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 ‘‘(1) ENERGY SAVINGS PERFORMANCE CON- 4 TRACT.—The term ‘energy savings performance con- 5 tract’ means a contract that provides for the per- 6 formance of services for the design, acquisition, in- 7 stallation, testing, and, where appropriate, operation, 8 maintenance, and repair, of an energy conservation 9 measure, water conservation measure, resiliency-re- 10 lated measure, utility cost savings measure, or series 11 of measures, at 1 or more locations. 12 ‘‘(2) STATE ENERGY SAVINGS PERFORMANCE 13 CONTRACTING PROGRAM.—The term ‘State energy 14 savings performance contracting program’— 15 ‘‘(A) means a State program to support 16 the design and implementation of energy sav- 17 ings performance contracts, including (to the 18 extent authorized by law) energy savings per- 19 formance contracts entered into by local govern- 20 ments, public educational institutions, and 21 other public, governmental, and quasi-govern- 22 mental entities; and 23 ‘‘(B) may include— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2267.IH H2267 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2267 IH ‘‘(i) the development and provision of 1 model, template, or standardized contracts, 2 guidelines, procedures, manuals, and other 3 related documents; 4 ‘‘(ii) a State program for prequalifica- 5 tion and certification of energy savings 6 performance contractors; 7 ‘‘(iii) provision of technical and ad- 8 ministrative assistance; and 9 ‘‘(iv) monitoring, tracking, and report- 10 ing of energy savings performance con- 11 tracts, including identifying the number 12 and value of contracts, energy savings, 13 water savings, and financial performance. 14 ‘‘(3) WATER CONSERVATION MEASURE.—The 15 term ‘water conservation measure’ means a measure 16 that improves the efficiency of water use, is life-cycle 17 cost-effective, and involves water conservation, water 18 recycling or reuse, more efficient treatment of waste- 19 water or stormwater, improvements in operation or 20 maintenance efficiencies, retrofit activities, or other 21 related activities, not at a Federal hydroelectric fa- 22 cility.’’. 23 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2267.IH H2267 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2267 IH (A) STATE ENERGY CONSERVATION PLAN 1 INCLUSION.—Section 362(d)(5)(A) of the En- 2 ergy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 3 6322(d)(5)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(in- 4 cluding State energy savings performance con- 5 tracting programs, as provided in section 367)’’ 6 after ‘‘performance contracting programs’’. 7 (B) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.— 8 The table of contents for the Energy Policy and 9 Conservation Act is amended by adding after 10 the item relating to section 366 the following: 11 ‘‘Sec. 367. State energy savings performance contracting program expansion.’’. (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 12 365(f) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 13 U.S.C. 6325(f)) is amended— 14 (1) by striking ‘‘For the purpose of carrying 15 out this part’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) For the purpose of 16 carrying out this part’’; 17 (2) by striking ‘‘$125,000,000 for each of fiscal 18 years 2007 through 2012’’ and inserting 19 ‘‘$100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 20 2026’’; and 21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(2) In addition to the authorization of appro- 23 priations under paragraph (1), for the purposes of 24 carrying out section 367, there are authorized to be 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2267.IH H2267 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2267 IH appropriated $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1 2022 through 2026.’’. 2 SEC. 3. OTHER ASSISTANCE. 3 (a) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Upon request by a 4 State energy agency, the Secretary shall provide informa- 5 tion and technical assistance in the development and im- 6 plementation of a State energy savings performance con- 7 tracting program. 8 (b) PROJECT FACILITATOR CERTIFICATION PRO- 9 GRAM.— 10 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, in con- 11 sultation with States and the private sector, shall es- 12 tablish a national project facilitator certification pro- 13 gram to expand the availability of individuals, in- 14 cluding State and local government employees and 15 independent private sector professionals, who are 16 trained and certified to work on behalf of the State 17 and local government as project facilitators who 18 will— 19 (A) ensure that a project carried out under 20 an energy savings performance contract under a 21 State energy savings performance contracting 22 program achieves the energy cost savings and 23 performance requirements set forth in the con- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2267.IH H2267 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2267 IH tracts developed under such State energy sav- 1 ings performance contracting program; and 2 (B) otherwise assist with the oversight of 3 projects described in subparagraph (A). 4 (2) CONTENTS.—In carrying out the program 5 established pursuant to paragraph (1), the Secretary 6 may— 7 (A) train and certify individuals as project 8 facilitators described in paragraph (1); 9 (B) develop model criteria for the certifi- 10 cation and training of individuals to become 11 project facilitators described in paragraph (1); 12 and 13 (C) transition, over a four-year period, the 14 training and certification activities of the Sec- 15 retary with respect to a State to a non-profit 16 entity managed by the applicable State energy 17 agency, and funded with fees generated through 18 the certification process. 19 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 20 (1) ENERGY SAVINGS PERFORMANCE CONTRACT 21 AND STATE ENERGY SAVINGS PERFORMANCE CON- 22 TRACTING PROGRAM.—The terms ‘‘energy savings 23 performance contract’’ and ‘‘State energy savings 24 performance contracting program’’ have the meaning 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2267.IH H2267 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2267 IH given such terms in section 367(c) of the Energy 1 Policy and Conservation Act (as added by section 2 2 of this Act)). 3 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 4 the Secretary of Energy. 5 (3) STATE ENERGY AGENCY.—The term ‘‘State 6 energy agency’’ has the meaning given such term in 7 section 391(10) of the Energy Policy and Conserva- 8 tion Act (42 U.S.C. 6371(10)). 9 (d) FUNDING.—The Secretary may use amounts 10 made available to carry out the programs and activities 11 of the Office of Strategic Programs within the Office of 12 Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy of the Depart- 13 ment of Energy to carry out this section. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2267.IH H2267 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS