American Energy Opportunity Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5335 To require the Secretary of Energy to establish or designate the Distributed Energy Opportunity Board to carry out a program to facilitate a vol- untary streamlined processes for local permitting of distributed renewable energy, energy storage, and electric vehicle charging systems, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 6, 2019 Mr. TONKO (for himself, Mr. FORTENBERRY, and Mrs. LEE of Nevada) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To require the Secretary of Energy to establish or designate the Distributed Energy Opportunity Board to carry out a program to facilitate a voluntary streamlined processes for local permitting of distributed renewable energy, en- ergy storage, and electric vehicle charging systems, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5335.IH H5335 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 5335 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘American Energy Op- 2 portunity Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 In this Act: 5 (1) AUTHORITY HAVING JURISDICTION.—The 6 term ‘‘authority having jurisdiction’’ means any 7 State, county, local, or Tribal office or official with 8 jurisdiction— 9 (A) to issue permits; 10 (B) to conduct inspections to enforce the 11 requirements of a relevant code or standard; or 12 (C) to approve the installation of, or the 13 equipment and materials used in the installa- 14 tion of, qualifying distributed energy systems. 15 (2) BOARD.—The term ‘‘Board’’ means the 16 Distributed Energy Opportunity Board established 17 or designated under section 3(a). 18 (3) DISTRIBUTED ENERGY SYSTEM IN- 19 STALLER.—The term ‘‘distributed energy system in- 20 staller’’ means an entity or individual— 21 (A) with knowledge and skills relating to— 22 (i) the construction and operation of 23 the equipment used in qualifying distrib- 24 uted energy systems; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5335.IH H5335 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 5335 IH (ii) the installation of qualifying dis- 1 tributed energy systems; and 2 (B) that has employed safety training to 3 recognize and avoid the hazards involved in con- 4 structing, operating, and installing qualifying 5 distributed energy systems. 6 (4) QUALIFYING DISTRIBUTED ENERGY SYS- 7 TEM.—The term ‘‘qualifying distributed energy sys- 8 tem’’ means any equipment or materials installed in, 9 on, or near a residential, commercial, or industrial 10 building to support onsite or local energy use, in- 11 cluding— 12 (A) to generate electricity from distributed 13 renewable energy sources, including from— 14 (i) solar photovoltaic modules or simi- 15 lar solar energy technologies; 16 (ii) wind power systems; and 17 (iii) hydrogen electrolysis and fuel cell 18 systems; 19 (B) to store and discharge electricity from 20 batteries with a capacity of at least 2 kilowatt 21 hours; 22 (C) to charge a plug-in electric drive vehi- 23 cle at a power rate of at least 2 kilowatts; 24 (D) to refuel a fuel cell electric vehicle; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5335.IH H5335 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 5335 IH (E) to store and discharge electricity from 1 fuel cell systems with a capacity of at least 2 2 kilowatt hours. 3 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 4 the Secretary of Energy. 5 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OR DESIGNATION OF THE DIS- 6 TRIBUTED ENERGY OPPORTUNITY BOARD. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 8 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consulta- 9 tion with trade associations and other entities representing 10 distributed energy system installers and organizations rep- 11 resenting State, local, and Tribal governments engaged in 12 permitting, shall establish or designate a nonprofit cor- 13 poration, to be known as the ‘‘Distributed Energy Oppor- 14 tunity Board’’, to carry out a program to streamline the 15 process for local permitting and inspection of qualifying 16 distributed energy systems. 17 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Board shall include rep- 18 resentatives from— 19 (1) relevant Federal agencies, or organizations 20 that represent those agencies; 21 (2) State, local, and Tribal governments, or or- 22 ganizations that represent those governments; 23 (3) distributed energy generation companies; 24 (4) battery storage companies; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5335.IH H5335 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 5335 IH (5) associations that represent the distributed 1 energy generation and battery storage industry; 2 (6) building code agencies and organizations, 3 including a model energy code-setting organization; 4 (7) other codes and standards organizations; 5 and 6 (8) fuel cell system companies. 7 (c) PURPOSE AND ACTIVITIES OF THE BOARD.— 8 (1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Board is to 9 establish a voluntary program for facilitating— 10 (A) streamlined permitting processes of 11 qualifying distributed energy systems; and 12 (B) certification of distributed energy sys- 13 tem installers. 14 (2) ACTIVITIES.—The Board shall— 15 (A) develop and maintain a streamlined 16 permitting process, such as a national online 17 permitting system and technology platform for 18 expediting, standardizing, and streamlining per- 19 mitting, that authorities having jurisdiction 20 may use, at the discretion of those authorities, 21 to receive, review, and approve permit applica- 22 tions relating to qualifying distributed energy 23 systems; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5335.IH H5335 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 5335 IH (B) establish a model expedited permit-to- 1 build protocol for qualifying distributed energy 2 systems; 3 (C) provide technical assistance to authori- 4 ties having jurisdiction on using and adopting— 5 (i) the streamlined permitting process 6 described in subparagraph (A); and 7 (ii) the model expedited permit-to- 8 build protocol described in subparagraph 9 (B); 10 (D)(i) investigate the development of vol- 11 untary national certifications for distributed en- 12 ergy system installers and qualifying distributed 13 energy systems; and 14 (ii) if the Board determines that the na- 15 tional certifications would expedite and stream- 16 line the permitting and inspection process, de- 17 velop the voluntary national certifications; 18 (E) develop and maintain a voluntary na- 19 tional inspection protocol integrated with the 20 national online permitting system described in 21 subparagraphs (A) and (B) and related tools to 22 expedite, standardize, and streamline the in- 23 spection of qualifying distributed energy sys- 24 tems, including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5335.IH H5335 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 5335 IH (i) by investigating the potential for 1 using remote inspections; and 2 (ii) by investigating the potential for 3 sample-based inspection for distributed en- 4 ergy system installers with a demonstrated 5 track record of high-quality work; and 6 (F) take any other action to expedite, 7 standardize, streamline, or improve the process 8 for permitting, inspecting, or interconnecting 9 qualifying distributed energy systems. 10 (d) FEE AUTHORITY.—The Board may assess fees 11 for the provision of services by the Board in amounts de- 12 termined reasonable and appropriate by the Board, includ- 13 ing fees from participating distributed energy system in- 14 stallers relating to the activities of the Board described 15 in subsection (c)(2). 16 (e) NONPROFIT STATUS.—The Board shall be consid- 17 ered to be an organization described in section 501(c)(3) 18 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and exempt from 19 taxation under section 501(a) of that Code. 20 (f) SUPPORT SERVICES.—The Secretary shall— 21 (1) provide technical assistance to the Board in 22 carrying out the activities described in subsection 23 (c)(2); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5335.IH H5335 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 5335 IH (2) provide such financial assistance to the 1 Board as the Secretary determines to be appropriate 2 from any funds appropriated to carry out this Act. 3 SEC. 4. DISTRIBUTED ENERGY OPPORTUNITY COMMU- 4 NITIES. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall recognize and 6 certify certain communities as ‘‘Distributed Energy Op- 7 portunity Communities’’. 8 (b) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Secretary may certify a 9 State, local community, or Tribe as a ‘‘Distributed Energy 10 Opportunity Community’’ if that State, local community, 11 or Tribe has adopted and implemented the model expe- 12 dited permit-to-build protocol established by the Board. 13 (c) PROCESS.—The Secretary may confer a certifi- 14 cation under subsection (a) through existing programs of 15 the Department of Energy. 16 (d) GRANTS.—The Secretary may award competitive 17 grants, using funds appropriated to the Secretary to carry 18 out this Act, to encourage communities to adopt the model 19 expedited permit-to-build protocol and standardized in- 20 spection processes established by the Board. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5335.IH H5335 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 5335 IH SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec- 2 retary to carry out this Act $20,000,000 for each of fiscal 3 years 2020 through 2025. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:09 Dec 12, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5335.IH H5335 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS