Technology Transitions Act of 2019

II Calendar No. 359 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2688 To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to establish an Office of Technology Transitions, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 23, 2019 Mr. CASSIDY (for himself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. MANCHIN, and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources DECEMBER 17, 2019 Reported by Ms. MURKOWSKI, with amendments [Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to establish an Office of Technology Transitions, 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 ‘‘Technology Transi- 4 tions Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2688.RS S2688 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2688 RS SEC. 2. OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSITIONS. 1 Section 1001 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 2 U.S.C. 16391) is amended— 3 (1) by striking subsection (a) and all that fol- 4 lows through ‘‘The Coordinator’’ in subsection (b) 5 and inserting the following: 6 ‘‘(a) OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSITIONS.— 7 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 8 within the Department an Office of Technology 9 Transitions (referred to in this section as the ‘Of- 10 fice’). 11 ‘‘(2) MISSION.—The mission of the Office shall 12 be— 13 ‘‘(A) to expand the commercial impact of 14 the research investments of the Department; 15 and 16 ‘‘(B) to focus on commercializing tech- 17 nologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions 18 and technologies that support other missions of 19 the Department. 20 ‘‘(3) GOALS.— 21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 22 mission and activities of the Office, the Chief 23 Commercialization Officer appointed under 24 paragraph (4) shall, with respect to commer- 25 cialization activities, meet not less than two of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2688.RS S2688 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2688 RS the goals described in subparagraph (B) and, to 1 the maximum extent practicable, meet all of the 2 goals described in that subparagraph. 3 ‘‘(B) GOALS DESCRIBED.—The goals re- 4 ferred to in subparagraph (A) are the following: 5 ‘‘(i) Reduction of greenhouse gas 6 emissions. 7 ‘‘(ii) Ensuring economic competitive- 8 ness. 9 ‘‘(iii) Enhancement of domestic en- 10 ergy security and national security. 11 ‘‘(iv) Enhancement of domestic jobs. 12 ‘‘(v) Any other missions of the Depart- 13 ment, as determined by the Secretary. 14 ‘‘(4) CHIEF COMMERCIALIZATION OFFICER.— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Office shall be 16 headed by an officer, who shall be known as the 17 ‘Chief Commercialization Officer’, and who 18 shall report directly to, and be appointed by, 19 the Secretary. 20 ‘‘(B) PRINCIPAL ADVISOR.—The Chief 21 Commercialization Officer shall be the principal 22 advisor to the Secretary on all matters relating 23 to technology transfer and commercialization. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2688.RS S2688 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2688 RS ‘‘(C) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Chief Com- 1 mercialization Officer’’; 2 (2) in subsection (c)— 3 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sub- 4 section (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (b)’’; 5 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 6 through (4) as clauses (i) through (iv), respec- 7 tively, and indenting appropriately; and 8 (C) by striking the subsection designation 9 and heading and all that follows through ‘‘The 10 Coordinator’’ in the matter preceding clause (i) 11 (as so redesignated) and inserting the following: 12 ‘‘(D) DUTIES.—The Chief Commercializa- 13 tion Officer’’; 14 (3) by adding at the end of subsection (a) (as 15 amended by paragraph (2)(C)) the following: 16 ‘‘(5) COORDINATION.—In carrying out the mis- 17 sion and activities of the Office, the Chief Commer- 18 cialization Officer shall coordinate with the senior 19 leadership of the Department, other relevant pro- 20 gram offices of the Department, National Labora- 21 tories, the Technology Transfer Working Group es- 22 tablished under subsection (b), the Technology 23 Transfer Policy Board, and other stakeholders (in- 24 cluding private industry).’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2688.RS S2688 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2688 RS (4) by redesignating subsections (d) through (h) 1 as subsections (b) through (f), respectively; and 2 (5) in subsection (f) (as so redesignated), by 3 striking ‘‘subsection (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 4 (c)’’. 5 SEC. 3. REVIEW OF EMISSION REDUCTION TECHNOLOGY 6 PROGRAMS. 7 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 8 of this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall conduct a review 9 of all emission reduction research and development pro- 10 grams under the Department of Energy— 11 (1) to identify each program the mission of 12 which is to develop technologies that reduce emis- 13 sions; 14 (2) to examine the extent to which the pro- 15 grams identified under paragraph (1) overlap or are 16 duplicative; 17 (3) to identify the technologies available to re- 18 duce emissions that are not covered by any of the 19 programs identified under paragraph (1); and 20 (4) to develop recommendations as to how over- 21 lapping or duplicative programs under paragraph (2) 22 may be combined or restructured to be more effi- 23 cient. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2688.RS S2688 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2688 RS SEC. 3. REVIEW OF APPLIED ENERGY PROGRAMS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date 2 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy (referred 3 to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall conduct a review 4 of all applied energy research and development programs 5 under the Department of Energy (referred to in this section 6 as the ‘‘Department’’) that focus on researching and devel- 7 oping technologies that reduce emissions. 8 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In conducting the review under 9 subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 10 (1) identify each program described in that sub- 11 section the mission of which is to research and de- 12 velop technologies that reduce emissions; 13 (2) determine the type of services provided by 14 each program identified under paragraph (1), such as 15 grants and technical assistance; 16 (3) determine whether there are written program 17 goals for each program identified under paragraph 18 (1); 19 (4) examine the extent to which the programs 20 identified under paragraph (1) overlap or are dupli- 21 cative; and 22 (5) develop recommendations— 23 (A) as to how any overlapping or duplica- 24 tive programs identified under paragraph (4) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2688.RS S2688 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2688 RS should be restructured or consolidated, including 1 by any necessary legislation; 2 (B) as to how to identify technologies de- 3 scribed in paragraph (1) that— 4 (i) are not served by a single program 5 office at the Department; or 6 (ii) the research and development of 7 which may require collaboration with other 8 Federal agencies; and 9 (C) for methods to improve the programs 10 identified under paragraph (1), including by es- 11 tablishing program goals, assessing workforce 12 considerations and technical skills, or increasing 13 collaboration with other Federal agencies and 14 stakeholders (including private industry). 15 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 60 days after the Sec- 16 retary completes the review under subsection (a), the Sec- 17 retary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Nat- 18 ural Resources of the Senate and the Committees on 19 Science, Space, and Technology and Energy and Commerce 20 of the House of Representatives a report describing the re- 21 sults of and the recommendations developed under the re- 22 view. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2688.RS S2688 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS Calendar No. 359 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2688 A BILL To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to estab- lish an Office of Technology Transitions, and for other purposes. DECEMBER 17, 2019 Reported with amendments VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Dec 18, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S2688.RS S2688 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS