Streamlining Energy Efficiency for Schools Act

II Calendar No. 208 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 762 [Report No. 116–108] IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 6, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 Reported by Ms. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] AN ACT To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to provide for the dissemination of information regarding available Federal programs relating to energy efficiency projects for schools, 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 ‘‘Streamlining Energy 4 Efficiency for Schools Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\H762.RS H762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 762 RS SEC. 2. COORDINATION OF ENERGY RETROFITTING ASSIST- 1 ANCE FOR SCHOOLS. 2 Section 392 of the Energy Policy and Conservation 3 Act (42 U.S.C. 6371a) is amended by adding at the end 4 the following: 5 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION OF ENERGY RETROFITTING AS- 6 SISTANCE FOR SCHOOLS.— 7 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF SCHOOL.—Notwith- 8 standing section 391(6), for the purposes of this 9 subsection, the term ‘school’ means— 10 ‘‘(A) an elementary school or secondary 11 school (as defined in section 9101 of the Ele- 12 mentary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 13 (20 U.S.C. 7801)); 14 ‘‘(B) an institution of higher education (as 15 defined in section 102(a) of the Higher Edu- 16 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(a))); 17 ‘‘(C) a school of the defense dependents’ 18 education system under the Defense Depend- 19 ents’ Education Act of 1978 (20 U.S.C. 921 et 20 seq.) or established under section 2164 of title 21 10, United States Code; 22 ‘‘(D) a school operated by the Bureau of 23 Indian Affairs; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\H762.RS H762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 762 RS ‘‘(E) a tribally controlled school (as de- 1 fined in section 5212 of the Tribally Controlled 2 Schools Act of 1988 (25 U.S.C. 2511)); and 3 ‘‘(F) a Tribal College or University (as de- 4 fined in section 316(b) of the Higher Education 5 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b))). 6 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF CLEARINGHOUSE.— 7 The Secretary, acting through the Office of Energy 8 Efficiency and Renewable Energy, shall establish a 9 clearinghouse to disseminate information regarding 10 available Federal programs and financing mecha- 11 nisms that may be used to help initiate, develop, and 12 finance energy efficiency, distributed generation, and 13 energy retrofitting projects for schools. 14 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out para- 15 graph (2), the Secretary shall— 16 ‘‘(A) consult with appropriate Federal 17 agencies to develop a list of Federal programs 18 and financing mechanisms that are, or may be, 19 used for the purposes described in paragraph 20 (2); and 21 ‘‘(B) coordinate with appropriate Federal 22 agencies to develop a collaborative education 23 and outreach effort to streamline communica- 24 tions and promote available Federal programs 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\H762.RS H762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 762 RS and financing mechanisms described in sub- 1 paragraph (A), which may include the develop- 2 ment and maintenance of a single online re- 3 source that includes contact information for rel- 4 evant technical assistance in the Office of En- 5 ergy Efficiency and Renewable Energy that 6 States, local education agencies, and schools 7 may use to effectively access and use such Fed- 8 eral programs and financing mechanisms.’’. 9 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 10 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Streamlining Energy 11 Efficiency for Schools Act’’. 12 SEC. 2. COORDINATION OF ENERGY RETROFITTING ASSIST- 13 ANCE FOR SCHOOLS. 14 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 15 (1) SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘school’’ means— 16 (A) an elementary school or secondary 17 school (as defined in section 8101 of the Elemen- 18 tary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 19 U.S.C. 7801)); 20 (B) an institution of higher education (as 21 defined in section 102(a) of the Higher Edu- 22 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002(a))); 23 (C) a school of the defense dependents’ edu- 24 cation system under the Defense Dependents’ 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H762.RS H762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 762 RS Education Act of 1978 (20 U.S.C. 921 et seq.) or 1 established under section 2164 of title 10, United 2 States Code; 3 (D) a school operated by the Bureau of In- 4 dian Education; 5 (E) a tribally controlled school (as defined 6 in section 5212 of the Tribally Controlled 7 Schools Act of 1988 (25 U.S.C. 2511)); and 8 (F) a Tribal College or University (as de- 9 fined in section 316(b) of the Higher Education 10 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b))). 11 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 12 the Secretary of Energy. 13 (b) DESIGNATION OF LEAD AGENCY.—The Secretary, 14 acting through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renew- 15 able Energy, shall act as the lead Federal agency for coordi- 16 nating and disseminating information on existing Federal 17 programs and assistance that may be used to help initiate, 18 develop, and finance energy efficiency, renewable energy, 19 and energy retrofitting projects for schools. 20 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out coordination 21 and outreach under subsection (b), the Secretary shall— 22 (1) in consultation and coordination with the 23 appropriate Federal agencies, carry out a review of 24 existing programs and financing mechanisms (includ- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H762.RS H762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 762 RS ing revolving loan funds and loan guarantees) avail- 1 able in or from the Department of Agriculture, the 2 Department of Energy, the Department of Education, 3 the Department of the Treasury, the Internal Revenue 4 Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and 5 other appropriate Federal agencies with jurisdiction 6 over energy financing and facilitation that are cur- 7 rently used or may be used to help initiate, develop, 8 and finance energy efficiency, renewable energy, and 9 energy retrofitting projects for schools, and identify 10 programs that are duplicative; 11 (2) establish a Federal cross-departmental col- 12 laborative coordination, education, and outreach ef- 13 fort to streamline communication and promote avail- 14 able Federal opportunities and assistance described in 15 paragraph (1) for energy efficiency, renewable energy, 16 and energy retrofitting projects that enables States, 17 local educational agencies, and schools— 18 (A) to use existing Federal opportunities 19 more effectively; and 20 (B) to form partnerships with Governors, 21 State energy programs, local educational, finan- 22 cial, and energy officials, State and local govern- 23 ment officials, nonprofit organizations, and other 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H762.RS H762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 762 RS appropriate entities to support the initiation of 1 the projects; 2 (3) provide technical assistance for States, local 3 educational agencies, and schools to help develop and 4 finance energy efficiency, renewable energy, and en- 5 ergy retrofitting projects— 6 (A) to increase the energy efficiency of 7 buildings or facilities; 8 (B) to install systems that individually gen- 9 erate energy from renewable energy resources; 10 (C) to establish partnerships to leverage 11 economies of scale and additional financing 12 mechanisms available to larger clean energy ini- 13 tiatives; or 14 (D) to promote— 15 (i) the maintenance of health, environ- 16 mental quality, and safety in schools, in- 17 cluding the ambient air quality, through en- 18 ergy efficiency, renewable energy, and en- 19 ergy retrofit projects; and 20 (ii) the achievement of expected energy 21 savings and renewable energy production 22 through proper operations and maintenance 23 practices; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H762.RS H762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 762 RS (4) develop and maintain a single online re- 1 source website with contact information for relevant 2 technical assistance and support staff in the Office of 3 Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy for States, 4 local educational agencies, and schools to effectively 5 access and use Federal opportunities and assistance 6 described in paragraph (1) to develop energy effi- 7 ciency, renewable energy, and energy retrofitting 8 projects; and 9 (5) establish a process for recognition of schools 10 that— 11 (A) have successfully implemented energy ef- 12 ficiency, renewable energy, and energy retro- 13 fitting projects; and 14 (B) are willing to serve as resources for 15 other local educational agencies and schools to 16 assist initiation of similar efforts. 17 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 18 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Con- 19 gress a report describing the implementation of this section. 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H762.RS H762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H762.RS H762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS Calendar No. 208 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 762 [Report No. 116–108] AN ACT To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to provide for the dissemination of information regarding available Federal programs relating to energy efficiency projects for schools, and for other purposes. SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 Reported with an amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Sep 19, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H762.RS H762 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS