Manufacturing Clean Energy and Energy Efficiency Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1956 To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a manufacturing clean energy and energy efficiency grant program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 28 (legislative day, MAY 27), 2021 Mr. MANCHIN (for himself, Mr. GRAHAM, and Mr. HICKENLOOPER) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a manufac- turing clean energy and energy efficiency grant program, 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 ‘‘Manufacturing Clean 4 Energy and Energy Efficiency Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. MANUFACTURING CLEAN ENERGY AND ENERGY EF- 6 FICIENCY GRANT PROGRAM. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1956.IS S1956 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1956 IS (1) COVERED PROJECT.—The term ‘‘covered 1 project’’ means a project that— 2 (A) has been recommended in an energy 3 assessment described in paragraph (2)(A) con- 4 ducted for an eligible entity; and 5 (B) with respect to the plant site of that 6 eligible entity— 7 (i) improves— 8 (I) energy efficiency; 9 (II) material efficiency; 10 (III) cybersecurity; or 11 (IV) productivity; or 12 (ii) reduces— 13 (I) waste production; 14 (II) greenhouse gas emissions; or 15 (III) nongreenhouse gas pollu- 16 tion. 17 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 18 ty’’ means a small- or medium-sized manufacturer 19 that has had an energy assessment completed— 20 (A) by— 21 (i) an Industrial Assessment Center; 22 or 23 (ii) a third party assessor that pro- 24 vides an assessment equivalent to that of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1956.IS S1956 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1956 IS an Industrial Assessment Center, as deter- 1 mined by the Secretary; and 2 (B) in the 5-year period preceding the date 3 on which the small- or medium-sized manufac- 4 turer submits an application under subsection 5 (c). 6 (3) INDUSTRIAL ASSESSMENT CENTER.—The 7 term ‘‘Industrial Assessment Center’’ means a cen- 8 ter located at an institution of higher education 9 that— 10 (A) receives funding from the Department 11 of Energy; 12 (B) provides an in-depth assessment of 13 small- or medium-sized manufacturers to evalu- 14 ate the facilities, services, and manufacturing 15 operations of the plant sites of those manufac- 16 turers; and 17 (C) as a result of the assessment described 18 in subparagraph (B), identifies opportunities 19 for potential savings from, with respect to those 20 plant sites— 21 (i) energy efficiency improvements; 22 (ii) waste minimization; 23 (iii) pollution prevention; 24 (iv) cybersecurity improvements; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1956.IS S1956 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1956 IS (v) productivity improvement. 1 (4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 2 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 3 meaning given the term in section 101(a) of the 4 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)). 5 (5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 6 the program established under subsection (b). 7 (6) SMALL- OR MEDIUM-SIZED MANUFAC- 8 TURER.—The term ‘‘small- or medium-sized manu- 9 facturer’’ means a manufacturing firm— 10 (A) the gross annual sales of which are 11 less than $100,000,000; 12 (B) that has fewer than 500 employees at 13 the plant site of the manufacturing firm; and 14 (C) the annual energy bills of which total 15 more than $100,000 but less than $2,500,000. 16 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 17 a program within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Re- 18 newable Energy under which the Secretary shall provide 19 grants to eligible entities to implement covered projects. 20 (c) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking a grant 21 under the program shall submit to the Secretary an appli- 22 cation at such time, in such manner, and containing such 23 information as the Secretary may require, including a 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1956.IS S1956 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1956 IS demonstration of need for financial assistance to imple- 1 ment the proposed covered project. 2 (d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under the pro- 3 gram, the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities 4 that— 5 (1) have had an energy assessment completed 6 by an Industrial Assessment Center; and 7 (2) propose to carry out a covered project with 8 a greater potential for— 9 (A) energy efficiency gains; or 10 (B) greenhouse gas emissions reductions. 11 (e) GRANT AMOUNT.— 12 (1) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount of a 13 grant provided to an eligible entity under the pro- 14 gram shall not exceed $300,000. 15 (2) FEDERAL SHARE.—A grant awarded under 16 the program for a covered project shall be in an 17 amount that is not more than 50 percent of the cost 18 of the covered project. 19 (3) SUPPLEMENT.—A grant received by an eli- 20 gible entity under the program shall supplement, not 21 supplant, any private or State funds available to the 22 eligible entity to carry out the covered project. 23 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 24 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1956.IS S1956 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1956 IS out this section $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 1 through 2026, to remain available until expended. 2 SEC. 3. INDUSTRIAL ASSESSMENT CENTER TECHNICAL AS- 3 SISTANCE. 4 Section 452 of the Energy Independence and Security 5 Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17111) is amended— 6 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 7 following: 8 ‘‘(6) SMALL- OR MEDIUM-SIZED MANUFAC- 9 TURER.—The term ‘small- or medium-sized manu- 10 facturer’ means a manufacturing firm— 11 ‘‘(A) the gross annual sales of which are 12 less than $100,000,000; 13 ‘‘(B) that has fewer than 500 employees at 14 the plant site of the manufacturing firm; and 15 ‘‘(C) the annual energy bills of which total 16 more than $100,000 but less than 17 $2,500,000.’’; and 18 (2) in subsection (e)— 19 (A) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 20 the end; 21 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking the pe- 22 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 23 (C) by adding at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1956.IS S1956 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1956 IS ‘‘(6) to provide technical assistance to small- 1 and medium-sized manufacturers, for which the in- 2 dustrial research and assessment center has com- 3 pleted an energy assessment, to upgrade, retrofit, or 4 replace systems or infrastructure consistent with 5 recommendations made in the energy assessment.’’. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:59 Jun 16, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1956.IS S1956 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS