Partnerships for Energy Security and Innovation Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1359 To establish the Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 22, 2021 Mr. COONS (for himself, Mr. GRAHAM, and Mr. LUJA´N) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on En- ergy and Natural Resources A BILL To establish the Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation, 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 ‘‘Partnerships for En- 4 ergy Security and Innovation Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 8 Board of Directors described in section 3(b)(1). 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1359.IS S1359 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1359 IS (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 1 means the Department of Energy. 2 (3) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Execu- 3 tive Director’’ means the Executive Director de- 4 scribed in section 3(e)(1). 5 (4) FOUNDATION.—The term ‘‘Foundation’’ 6 means the Foundation for Energy Security and In- 7 novation established under section (3)(a). 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) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 13 the Secretary of Energy. 14 SEC. 3. FOUNDATION FOR ENERGY SECURITY AND INNOVA- 15 TION. 16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 18 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 19 retary shall establish a nonprofit corporation to be 20 known as the ‘‘Foundation for Energy Security and 21 Innovation’’. 22 (2) MISSION.—The mission of the Foundation 23 shall be— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1359.IS S1359 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1359 IS (A) to support the mission of the Depart- 1 ment; and 2 (B) to advance collaboration with energy 3 researchers, institutions of higher education, in- 4 dustry, and nonprofit and philanthropic organi- 5 zations to accelerate the commercialization of 6 energy technologies. 7 (3) LIMITATION.—The Foundation shall not be 8 an agency or instrumentality of the Federal Govern- 9 ment. 10 (4) TAX-EXEMPT STATUS.—The Board shall 11 take all necessary and appropriate steps to ensure 12 that the Foundation is an organization that is de- 13 scribed in section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue 14 Code of 1986 and exempt from taxation under sec- 15 tion 501(a) of that Code. 16 (5) COLLABORATION WITH EXISTING ORGANI- 17 ZATIONS.—The Secretary may collaborate with 1 or 18 more organizations to establish the Foundation and 19 carry out the activities of the Foundation. 20 (b) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 21 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Foundation shall 22 be governed by a Board of Directors. 23 (2) COMPOSITION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1359.IS S1359 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1359 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall be 1 composed of the ex officio nonvoting members 2 described in subparagraph (B) and the ap- 3 pointed voting members described in subpara- 4 graph (C). 5 (B) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—The ex officio 6 members of the Board shall be the following in- 7 dividuals or designees of those individuals: 8 (i) The Secretary. 9 (ii) The Under Secretary for Science 10 and Energy. 11 (iii) The Under Secretary for Nuclear 12 Security. 13 (iv) The Chief Commercialization Of- 14 ficer. 15 (C) APPOINTED MEMBERS.— 16 (i) INITIAL MEMBERS.—The Secretary 17 and the other ex officio members of the 18 Board shall— 19 (I) seek to enter into an agree- 20 ment with the National Academies of 21 Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 22 to develop a list of individuals to serve 23 as members of the Board who are 24 well-qualified and will meet the re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1359.IS S1359 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1359 IS quirements of clauses (ii) and (iii); 1 and 2 (II) appoint the initial members 3 of the Board from that list, if applica- 4 ble, in consultation with the National 5 Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 6 and Medicine. 7 (ii) REPRESENTATION.—The ap- 8 pointed members of the Board shall reflect 9 a broad cross-section of stakeholders from 10 academia, industry, nonprofit organiza- 11 tions, State or local governments, the in- 12 vestment community, the philanthropic 13 community, and management and oper- 14 ating contractors of the National Labora- 15 tories. 16 (iii) EXPERIENCE.—The Secretary 17 shall ensure that a majority of the ap- 18 pointed members of the Board— 19 (I)(aa) has experience in the en- 20 ergy sector; 21 (bb) has research experience in 22 the energy field; or 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1359.IS S1359 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1359 IS (cc) has experience in technology 1 commercialization or foundation oper- 2 ations; and 3 (II) to the extent practicable, 4 represents diverse regions, sectors, 5 and communities. 6 (3) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Board shall des- 8 ignate from among the members of the 9 Board— 10 (i) an individual to serve as Chair of 11 the Board; and 12 (ii) an individual to serve as Vice 13 Chair of the Board. 14 (B) TERMS.—The term of service of the 15 Chair and Vice Chair of the Board shall end on 16 the earlier of— 17 (i) the date that is 3 years after the 18 date on which the Chair or Vice Chair of 19 the Board, as applicable, is designated for 20 the position; and 21 (ii) the last day of the term of service 22 of the member, as determined under para- 23 graph (4)(A), who is designated to be 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1359.IS S1359 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1359 IS Chair or Vice Chair of the Board, as appli- 1 cable. 2 (C) REPRESENTATION.—The Chair and 3 Vice Chair of the Board— 4 (i) shall not be representatives of the 5 same area of subject matter expertise, or 6 entity, as applicable, under paragraph 7 (2)(C)(ii); and 8 (ii) shall not be representatives of any 9 area of subject matter expertise, or entity, 10 as applicable, represented by the imme- 11 diately preceding Chair and Vice Chair of 12 the Board. 13 (4) TERMS AND VACANCIES.— 14 (A) TERMS.— 15 (i) IN GENERAL.—The term of service 16 of each appointed member of the Board 17 shall be not more than 5 years. 18 (ii) INITIAL APPOINTED MEMBERS.— 19 Of the initial members of the Board ap- 20 pointed under paragraph (2)(C)(i), half of 21 the members shall serve for 4 years and 22 half of the members shall serve for 5 years, 23 as determined by the Chair of the Board. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1359.IS S1359 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1359 IS (B) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the 1 membership of the appointed members of the 2 Board— 3 (i) shall be filled in accordance with 4 the bylaws of the Foundation by an indi- 5 vidual capable of representing the same 6 area or entity, as applicable, as rep- 7 resented by the vacating board member 8 under paragraph (2)(C)(ii); 9 (ii) shall not affect the power of the 10 remaining appointed members to execute 11 the duties of the Board; and 12 (iii) shall be filled by an individual se- 13 lected by the Board. 14 (5) MEETINGS; QUORUM.— 15 (A) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 60 16 days after the Board is established, the Sec- 17 retary shall convene a meeting of the ex officio 18 and appointed members of the Board to incor- 19 porate the Foundation. 20 (B) QUORUM.—A majority of the ap- 21 pointed members of the Board shall constitute 22 a quorum for purposes of conducting the busi- 23 ness of the Board. 24 (6) DUTIES.—The Board shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1359.IS S1359 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1359 IS (A) establish bylaws for the Foundation in 1 accordance with paragraph (7); 2 (B) provide overall direction for the activi- 3 ties of the Foundation and establish priority ac- 4 tivities; 5 (C) carry out any other necessary activities 6 of the Foundation; 7 (D) evaluate the performance of the Exec- 8 utive Director; and 9 (E) actively solicit and accept funds, gifts, 10 grants, devises, or bequests of real or personal 11 property to the Foundation, including from pri- 12 vate entities. 13 (7) BYLAWS.— 14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The bylaws established 15 under paragraph (6)(A) may include— 16 (i) policies for the selection of Board 17 members, officers, employees, agents, and 18 contractors of the Foundation; 19 (ii) policies, including ethical stand- 20 ards, for— 21 (I) the acceptance, solicitation, 22 and disposition of donations and 23 grants to the Foundation, including 24 appropriate limits on the ability of do- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1359.IS S1359 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1359 IS nors to designate, by stipulation or re- 1 striction, the use or recipient of do- 2 nated funds; and 3 (II) the disposition of assets of 4 the Foundation; 5 (iii) policies that subject all employ- 6 ees, fellows, trainees, and other agents of 7 the Foundation (including ex officio and 8 appointed members of the Board) to con- 9 flict of interest standards; and 10 (iv) the specific duties of the Execu- 11 tive Director. 12 (B) REQUIREMENTS.—The Board shall en- 13 sure that the bylaws of the Foundation and the 14 activities carried out under those bylaws shall 15 not— 16 (i) reflect unfavorably on the ability of 17 the Foundation to carry out activities in a 18 fair and objective manner; or 19 (ii) compromise, or appear to com- 20 promise, the integrity of any governmental 21 agency or program, or any officer or em- 22 ployee employed by, or involved in, a gov- 23 ernmental agency or program. 24 (8) COMPENSATION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1359.IS S1359 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1359 IS (A) IN GENERAL.—No member of the 1 Board shall receive compensation for serving on 2 the Board. 3 (B) CERTAIN EXPENSES.—In accordance 4 with the bylaws of the Foundation, members of 5 the Board may be reimbursed for travel ex- 6 penses, including per diem in lieu of subsist- 7 ence, and other necessary expenses incurred in 8 carrying out the duties of the Board. 9 (c) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Foundation 10 are— 11 (1) to support the Department in carrying out 12 the mission of the Department to ensure the security 13 and prosperity of the United States by addressing 14 energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges 15 through transformative science and technology solu- 16 tions; and 17 (2) to increase private and philanthropic sector 18 investments that support efforts to create, charac- 19 terize, develop, test, validate, and deploy or commer- 20 cialize innovative technologies that address cross- 21 cutting national energy challenges by methods that 22 include— 23 (A) fostering collaboration and partner- 24 ships with researchers from the Federal Gov- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1359.IS S1359 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1359 IS ernment, State governments, institutions of 1 higher education, federally funded research and 2 development centers, industry, and nonprofit 3 organizations for the research, development, or 4 commercialization of transformative energy and 5 associated technologies; 6 (B) strengthening and sharing best prac- 7 tices relating to regional economic development 8 through scientific and energy innovation, in- 9 cluding in partnership with an Individual Lab- 10 oratory-Associated Foundation (as defined in 11 subsection (d)(7)(A)); 12 (C) promoting new product development 13 that supports job creation; 14 (D) administering prize competitions to ac- 15 celerate private sector competition and invest- 16 ment; 17 (E) supporting programs that advance 18 technology maturation, especially where there 19 may be gaps in Federal or private funding in 20 advancing a technology to deployment or com- 21 mercialization from the prototype stage to a 22 commercial stage; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1359.IS S1359 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1359 IS (F) facilitating access to Department fa- 1 cilities, equipment, and human expertise to as- 2 sist in tackling national challenges. 3 (d) ACTIVITIES.— 4 (1) STUDIES, COMPETITIONS, AND PROJECTS.— 5 The Foundation may conduct and support studies, 6 competitions, projects, and other activities that fur- 7 ther the purposes of the Foundation described in 8 subsection (c). 9 (2) FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation may 11 award fellowships and grants for activities re- 12 lating to research, development, demonstration, 13 maturation, or commercialization of energy and 14 other Department-supported technologies. 15 (B) FORM OF AWARD.—A fellowship or 16 grant under subparagraph (A) may consist of a 17 stipend, health insurance benefits, funds for 18 travel, and funds for other appropriate ex- 19 penses. 20 (C) SELECTION.—In selecting a recipient 21 for a fellowship or grant under subparagraph 22 (A), the Foundation— 23 (i) shall make the selection based on 24 the technical and commercialization merits 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 May 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1359.IS S1359 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 14 •S 1359 IS of the proposed project of the potential re- 1 cipient; and 2 (ii) may consult with a potential re- 3 cipient regarding the ability of the poten- 4 tial recipient to carry out various projects 5 that would further the purposes of the 6 Foundation described in subsection (c). 7 (D) NATIONAL LABORATORIES.—A Na- 8 tional Laboratory that applies for or accepts a 9 grant under subparagraph (A) shall not be con- 10 sidered to be engaging in a competitive process. 11 (3) ACCESSING FACILITIES AND EXPERTISE.— 12 The Foundation may work with the Department— 13 (A) to leverage the capabilities and facili- 14 ties of National Laboratories to c [Text truncated for display. 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