Department of Energy BIO Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2961 To provide for advanced biological and environmental research and develop- ment capabilities and infrastructure at the Department of Energy, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 4, 2021 Mr. BAIRD (for himself and Mr. LUCAS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To provide for advanced biological and environmental re- search and development capabilities and infrastructure at the Department of Energy, 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 ‘‘Department of Energy 4 Biological Innovation Opportunities Act’’ or the ‘‘Depart- 5 ment of Energy BIO Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2961.IH H2961 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2961 IH SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRON- 1 MENTAL RESEARCH PROGRAM. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 977(f) of the Energy Pol- 3 icy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16317) is amended to read 4 as follows: 5 ‘‘(f) BIOENERGY RESEARCH CENTERS.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out activities 7 under subsection (a), the Director shall select and 8 establish up to four bioenergy research centers to 9 conduct basic and fundamental research in plant 10 and microbial systems biology, bio imaging and anal- 11 ysis, and genomics to inform the production of fuels, 12 chemicals from sustainable biomass resources, and 13 to facilitate the translation of basic research results 14 to industry. 15 ‘‘(2) SELECTION.—The Director shall select 16 centers under paragraph (1) on a competitive, merit- 17 reviewed basis. The Director shall consider applica- 18 tions from National Laboratories, multi-institutional 19 collaborations, and other appropriate entities. 20 ‘‘(3) DURATION.—A center established under 21 this subsection shall receive support for a period of 22 not more than 5 years, subject to the availability of 23 appropriations. 24 ‘‘(4) EXISTING CENTERS.—The Director may 25 select a center for participation under this sub- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2961.IH H2961 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2961 IH section that is in existence, or undergoing a renewal 1 process, on the date of enactment of the Department 2 of Energy BIO Act. Such center shall be eligible to 3 receive support for the duration the 5-year period 4 beginning on the date of establishment of such cen- 5 ter. 6 ‘‘(5) RENEWAL.—Upon the expiration of any 7 period of support of a center under this subsection, 8 the Director may renew support for the center, on 9 a merit-reviewed basis, for a period of not more than 10 5 years. 11 ‘‘(6) TERMINATION.—Consistent with the exist- 12 ing authorities of the Department, the Director may 13 terminate an underperforming center for cause dur- 14 ing the performance period.’’. 15 (b) USER FACILITIES.—Section 306 of the Depart- 16 ment of Energy Research and Innovation Act (42 U.S.C. 17 18644) is amended by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(e) BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 19 USER FACILITIES.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall carry 21 out a program for the development, construction, op- 22 eration, and maintenance of user facilities to en- 23 hance the collection and analysis of observational 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2961.IH H2961 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2961 IH data related to complex biological, earth, and envi- 1 ronmental systems. 2 ‘‘(2) FACILITY REQUIREMENTS.—To the max- 3 imum extent practicable, the user facilities devel- 4 oped, constructed, operated, or maintained under 5 paragraph (1) shall include— 6 ‘‘(A) distributed field research and obser- 7 vation platforms for understanding earth sys- 8 tem processes; 9 ‘‘(B) instruments and modeling resources 10 for understanding the physical, chemical, and 11 cellular processes of biological and environ- 12 mental systems; 13 ‘‘(C) integrated high-throughput sequenc- 14 ing, DNA design and synthesis, metabolomics 15 and computational analysis; and 16 ‘‘(D) such other facilities as the Director 17 considers appropriate, consistent with section 18 209 of the Department of Energy Organization 19 Act (42 U.S.C. 7139). 20 ‘‘(3) EXISTING FACILITIES.—In carrying out 21 the program established in paragraph (1), the Direc- 22 tor is encouraged to evaluate the capabilities of ex- 23 isting user facilities and, to the maximum extent 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2961.IH H2961 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2961 IH practicable, invest in modernization of those capa- 1 bilities to address emerging research priorities.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:36 Jun 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2961.IH H2961 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS