TREE Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4038 To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a grant program for tree planting to reduce residential energy consumption. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 23, 2020 Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Nat- ural Resources A BILL To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a grant pro- gram for tree planting to reduce residential energy con- sumption. 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 ‘‘Tackling Residential 4 Energy burdens Efficiently Act of 2020’’ or the ‘‘TREE 5 Act of 2020’’. 6 SEC. 2. TREE PLANTING GRANT PROGRAM. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:13 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4038.IS S4038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4038 IS (1) ELIGIBLE COST.—The term ‘‘eligible cost’’ 1 means, with respect to a project— 2 (A) the cost of implementing the project, 3 including— 4 (i) planning and designing the plant- 5 ing activity; 6 (ii) purchasing trees; and 7 (iii) preparing the site and conducting 8 planting, including the labor and cost asso- 9 ciated with the use of machinery; 10 (B) the cost of maintaining and monitoring 11 planted trees for a period of up to 3 years to 12 ensure successful establishment of the trees; 13 (C) the cost of training activities associ- 14 ated with the project; and 15 (D) any other relevant cost, as determined 16 by the Secretary. 17 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 18 ty’’ means— 19 (A) a State agency; 20 (B) a local governmental entity; 21 (C) an Indian Tribe; 22 (D) a nonprofit organization; and 23 (E) a retail power provider. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:13 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4038.IS S4038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4038 IS (3) ENERGY BURDEN.—The term ‘‘energy bur- 1 den’’ means the percentage of household income 2 spent on home energy bills. 3 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 4 has the meaning given the term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ in 5 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu- 6 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 7 (5) LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY.—The term 8 ‘‘local governmental entity’’ means any municipal 9 government or county government with jurisdiction 10 over local land use decisions. 11 (6) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—The term 12 ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an organization 13 that— 14 (A) is described in section 170(h)(3) of the 15 Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and 16 (B) operates in accordance with 1 or more 17 of the purposes described in section 18 170(h)(4)(A) of that Code. 19 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 20 the grant program established under subsection 21 (b)(1). 22 (8) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means a 23 tree planting project carried out by an eligible entity 24 using grant funds awarded under the Program. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:13 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4038.IS S4038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4038 IS (9) RETAIL POWER PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘re- 1 tail power provider’’ means any entity authorized 2 under applicable State or Federal law to generate, 3 distribute, or provide retail electricity, natural gas, 4 or fuel oil service. 5 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 6 means the Secretary of Energy. 7 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordina- 9 tion with the Secretary of Agriculture, acting 10 through the Chief of the Forest Service, shall estab- 11 lish a program under which the Secretary shall 12 award grants to eligible entities to conduct tree 13 planting projects in accordance with this section. 14 (2) TREE PLANTING.—Subject to the avail- 15 ability of appropriations, in carrying out the Pro- 16 gram, the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent 17 practicable, award sufficient grants each year to 18 plant not less than 300,000 trees each year. 19 (c) APPLICATIONS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity that seeks 21 to receive a grant under the Program shall submit 22 an application to the Secretary at such time, in such 23 form, and containing such information as the Sec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:13 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4038.IS S4038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4038 IS retary may require, including the information de- 1 scribed in paragraph (2). 2 (2) CONTENTS.—An application submitted 3 under paragraph (1) shall include— 4 (A) a description of how the project will re- 5 duce residential energy consumption; 6 (B) an estimate of the expected reduction 7 in residential energy consumption; 8 (C) a description of the total eligible costs 9 of the project and sources of funding for the 10 project; 11 (D) a description of the anticipated com- 12 munity and stakeholder engagement in the 13 project; 14 (E) a description of the tree species to be 15 planted and how that species is suitable for the 16 local environmental conditions and climate; and 17 (F) any other relevant information re- 18 quired by the Secretary. 19 (d) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under the Pro- 20 gram, the Secretary shall give priority to projects that— 21 (1) provide the largest potential reduction in 22 residential energy consumption for households with a 23 high energy burden; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:13 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4038.IS S4038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4038 IS (2) are located in a neighborhood with lower 1 tree canopy cover and higher maximum daytime 2 summer temperatures; 3 (3) are located in a neighborhood with high 4 amounts of senior citizens or children; 5 (4) will collaboratively engage neighbors and 6 community members that will be closely affected by 7 the tree planting; and 8 (5) will employ a substantial percentage of the 9 workforce locally, with a focus on engaging unem- 10 ployed and underemployed persons. 11 (e) COSTS.— 12 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Secretary shall 13 award a grant to an eligible entity under the Pro- 14 gram in an amount equal to not more than 75 per- 15 cent of the eligible costs of the project, as deter- 16 mined by the Secretary. 17 (2) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—As a condition 18 of receiving a grant under the Program, an eligible 19 entity shall provide, in cash or through in-kind con- 20 tributions from non-Federal sources, matching funds 21 in an amount equal to not less than 25 percent of 22 the eligible costs of the project, as determined by the 23 Secretary. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:13 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4038.IS S4038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4038 IS (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the Pro- 2 gram $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 3 2025. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:13 Jul 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4038.IS S4038 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS