National Institutes of Clean Energy Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1921 To establish the National Institutes of Clean Energy. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 27, 2021 Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. SANDERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To establish the National Institutes of Clean Energy. 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 ‘‘National Institutes of 4 Clean Energy Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF CLEAN ENERGY. 6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 (1) ADVANCED ENERGY TECHNOLOGY.—The 8 term ‘‘advanced energy technology’’ means a tech- 9 nology that— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1921.IS S1921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1921 IS (A) reduces greenhouse gas emissions with 1 high conversion efficiency; 2 (B) minimizes energy, water, and material 3 resource use; 4 (C) was produced by or helps generate a 5 renewable energy source; and 6 (D) minimizes environmental harms to or 7 negative public health impacts on frontline, vul- 8 nerable, and disadvantaged communities. 9 (2) FRONTLINE, VULNERABLE, AND DISADVAN- 10 TAGED COMMUNITY.—The term ‘‘frontline, vulner- 11 able, and disadvantaged community’’ means a com- 12 munity— 13 (A) in an area described in section 301(a) 14 of the Public Works and Economic Develop- 15 ment Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3161(a)); and 16 (B) in which climate change, pollution, or 17 environmental destruction have exacerbated sys- 18 temic racial, regional, social, environmental, 19 gender, and economic injustices by dispropor- 20 tionately affecting Black, Brown, and Indige- 21 nous peoples, other communities of color, mi- 22 grant communities, deindustrialized commu- 23 nities, depopulated rural communities, the poor, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1921.IS S1921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1921 IS low-income workers, women, the elderly, the 1 unhoused, people with disabilities, or youth. 2 (3) INSTITUTES.—The term ‘‘Institutes’’ means 3 the National Institutes of Clean Energy established 4 under subsection (b). 5 (4) LAND-GRANT COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY.— 6 The term ‘‘land-grant college or university’’ means— 7 (A) an institution that is eligible to receive 8 funds under the Act of July 2, 1862 (commonly 9 known as the ‘‘First Morrill Act’’) (12 Stat. 10 503, chapter 130; 7 U.S.C. 301 et seq.) or the 11 Act of August 30, 1890 (commonly known as 12 the ‘‘Second Morrill Act’’) (26 Stat. 417, chap- 13 ter 841; 7 U.S.C. 321 et seq.), including 14 Tuskegee University; and 15 (B) a 1994 Institution (as defined in sec- 16 tion 532 of the Equity in Educational Land- 17 Grant Status Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note; 18 Public Law 103–382)). 19 (5) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.—The 20 term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ means an insti- 21 tution of higher education described in section 22 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 23 U.S.C. 1067q(a)). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1921.IS S1921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1921 IS (6) RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCE.—The term 1 ‘‘renewable energy source’’ means energy generated 2 from a renewable source, including the following re- 3 newable energy sources: 4 (A) Solar, including electricity. 5 (B) Wind. 6 (C) Ocean, including tidal, wave, current, 7 and thermal. 8 (D) Geothermal, including electricity and 9 heat pumps. 10 (E) Hydroelectric generation capacity 11 achieved from increased efficiency or additions 12 of new capacity at an existing hydroelectric 13 project that was placed in service on or after 14 January 1, 1999. 15 (F) Hydrogen derived from a renewable 16 energy source. 17 (G) Thermal energy generated by any of 18 the sources described in subparagraphs (A) 19 through (F). 20 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than January 1, 21 2025, there shall be established the National Institutes of 22 Clean Energy, which shall be an agency of the Department 23 of Energy. 24 (c) ACTIVITIES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1921.IS S1921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1921 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—The Institutes shall— 1 (A) invest in clean energy science, climate 2 science, innovation, and research and develop- 3 ment to reduce emissions and build climate re- 4 silience; and 5 (B) support— 6 (i) clean energy research areas, in- 7 cluding— 8 (I) demonstration projects for 9 clean energy and climate research and 10 development priorities, including 11 microgrids, energy storage, electric ve- 12 hicles, and advanced energy tech- 13 nologies in hard-to-decarbonize sec- 14 tors, such as the aviation and ship- 15 ping sectors; and 16 (II) clean energy research areas 17 that are underrepresented in existing 18 Federal research and development 19 funding, such as long-duration grid 20 storage; 21 (ii) research and development projects 22 focusing on the impacts of energy produc- 23 tion in frontline communities, including 24 communities of color and low-income com- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1921.IS S1921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1921 IS munities, that have been disproportionately 1 impacted by environmental injustices; and 2 (iii) research and development 3 projects focused on impacts of clean energy 4 and energy production on job loss, job cre- 5 ation, and workforce development, particu- 6 larly in heavily unionized workforce sec- 7 tors. 8 (2) PRIORITY.—In carrying out paragraph (1), 9 the Institutes shall give priority to— 10 (A) the development of technologies that 11 will— 12 (i) minimize environmental harms to 13 or negative public health impacts on front- 14 line, vulnerable, and disadvantaged com- 15 munities; 16 (ii) improve the public health of front- 17 line, vulnerable, and disadvantaged com- 18 munities; or 19 (iii) create high-quality jobs with 20 strong labor standards in frontline, vulner- 21 able, and disadvantaged communities; 22 (B) research and development of advanced 23 energy technologies; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1921.IS S1921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1921 IS (C) climate science and innovation and 1 clean energy technology; 2 (D) research and development that will be 3 conducted at— 4 (i) public universities and colleges; 5 (ii) land-grant colleges and univer- 6 sities; 7 (iii) minority-serving institutions, in- 8 cluding historically Black colleges and uni- 9 versities; and 10 (iv) consortia comprising 1 or more of 11 the entities described in clauses (i) through 12 (iii); and 13 (E) research and development in geo- 14 graphic areas that have seen the worst job 15 losses between 2016 and 2021, including rural 16 areas and areas impacted by 17 deindustrialization. 18 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 19 authorized to be appropriated $400,000,000,000 for the 20 period of fiscal years 2022 through 2031 to establish and 21 operate the Institutes. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:07 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1921.IS S1921 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS