Federal

To amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to reauthorize the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program, and for other purposes.

Source: Congress.gov · 546 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill changes the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program, which gives money to help communities save energy. The bill adds new purposes to the program, including diversifying (spreading out) energy supplies and promoting alternative fuels (energy sources other than traditional fossil fuels). ##

Who It Affects

The Secretary (the head of the federal agency handling this program) who distributes grant money to recipients of the block grant program. ##

Key Provisions

- The program's purpose now includes diversifying energy supplies by promoting the use of alternative fuels (Sec. 1(a)) - Funds can be used to deploy energy distribution technologies that increase energy efficiency or expand access to alternative fuels, including distributed resources (energy produced and used locally), district heating and cooling systems, and infrastructure for delivering alternative fuels (Sec. 1(b)) - The Secretary can give competitive grants (money awarded based on competition) for projects that expand the use of alternative fuels (Sec. 1(c)) - The Secretary gets authorization to receive $3,500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 to carry out the program (Sec. 1(d)) - The Secretary can use no more than 1 percent of available amounts for administrative expenses (costs to run the program) in each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028 (Sec. 1(d)) ##

What Changes

The block grant program's stated purpose expands to include diversifying energy supplies and promoting alternative fuels. The types of projects that can receive funding expand to include energy distribution technologies and alternative fuel infrastructure. The program receives new funding authorization for five years. ##

Important Definitions

- Alternative fuels: Energy sources other than traditional fossil fuels - District heating and cooling systems: Shared systems that provide heat or cooling to multiple buildings from one central location - Distributed resources: Energy production and use that happens locally rather than from a central source ##

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1520 To amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to reauthorize the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 9, 2023 Mr. STANTON (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. VEASEY, and Mr. VAN DREW) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to reauthorize the Energy Efficiency and Conserva- tion Block 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. ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND CONSERVATION 3 BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM. 4 (a) PURPOSE.—Section 542(b)(1) of the Energy 5 Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 6 17152(b)(1)) is amended— 7 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 8 and inserting a semicolon; 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1520.IH H1520 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1520 IH (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking the semi- 1 colon and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 2 (3) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(C) diversifies energy supplies, including 4 by facilitating and promoting the use of alter- 5 native fuels;’’. 6 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—Section 544(9) of the Energy 7 Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 8 17154(9)) is amended to read as follows: 9 ‘‘(9) deployment of energy distribution tech- 10 nologies that significantly increase energy efficiency 11 or expand access to alternative fuels, including— 12 ‘‘(A) distributed resources; 13 ‘‘(B) district heating and cooling systems; 14 and 15 ‘‘(C) infrastructure for delivering alter- 16 native fuels;’’. 17 (c) COMPETITIVE GRANTS.—Section 546(c)(2) of the 18 Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 19 U.S.C. 17156(c)(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, including 20 projects to expand the use of alternative fuels’’ before the 21 period at the end. 22 (d) FUNDING.—Section 548(a) of the Energy Inde- 23 pendence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17158(a)) 24 is amended to read as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1520.IH H1520 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1520 IH ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 1 ‘‘(1) GRANTS.—There is authorized to be ap- 2 propriated to the Secretary to carry out the program 3 $3,500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 4 through 2028. 5 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The Secretary 6 may use for administrative expenses of the program 7 not more than 1 percent of the amounts made avail- 8 able under paragraph (1) in each of fiscal years 9 2024 through 2028.’’. 10 (e) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.—Section 543 of the 11 Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 12 U.S.C. 17153) is amended— 13 (1) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘subsection 14 (a)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(3)’’; and 15 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘subsection 16 (a)(3)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a)(4)’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:54 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1520.IH H1520 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

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