DOE EPSCoR Modernization Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4053 To amend the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to modernize the EPSCoR program of the Department of Energy, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 24, 2020 Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. MORAN, Mr. JONES, and Mrs. HYDE-SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To amend the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to modernize the EPSCoR program of the Department of Energy, 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 ‘‘DOE EPSCoR Mod- 4 ernization Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4053.IS S4053 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4053 IS SEC. 2. ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE COMPETI- 1 TIVE RESEARCH. 2 Section 2203(b) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 3 (42 U.S.C. 13503(b)) is amended by striking paragraph 4 (3) and inserting the following: 5 ‘‘(3) ESTABLISHED PROGRAM TO STIMULATE 6 COMPETITIVE RESEARCH.— 7 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 8 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBLE JURISDICTION.—The 9 term ‘eligible jurisdiction’ means a State 10 that is determined to be eligible for a grant 11 under this paragraph in accordance with 12 subparagraph (D). 13 ‘‘(ii) EPSCOR.—The term ‘EPSCoR’ 14 means the Established Program to Stimu- 15 late Competitive Research operated under 16 subparagraph (B). 17 ‘‘(iii) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The 18 term ‘National Laboratory’ has the mean- 19 ing given the term in section 2 of the En- 20 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 21 15801). 22 ‘‘(iv) STATE.—The term ‘State’ 23 means— 24 ‘‘(I) a State; 25 ‘‘(II) the District of Columbia; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4053.IS S4053 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4053 IS ‘‘(III) the Commonwealth of 1 Puerto Rico; 2 ‘‘(IV) Guam; and 3 ‘‘(V) the United States Virgin Is- 4 lands. 5 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM OPERATION.—The Sec- 6 retary shall operate an Established Program to 7 Stimulate Competitive Research. 8 ‘‘(C) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives of 9 EPSCoR shall be— 10 ‘‘(i) to increase the number of re- 11 searchers in eligible jurisdictions, especially 12 at institutions of higher education, capable 13 of performing nationally competitive 14 science and engineering research in sup- 15 port of the mission of the Department of 16 Energy in the areas of applied energy re- 17 search, environmental management, and 18 basic science; 19 ‘‘(ii) to improve science and engineer- 20 ing research and education programs at in- 21 stitutions of higher education in eligible ju- 22 risdictions and enhance the capabilities of 23 eligible jurisdictions to develop, plan, and 24 execute research that is competitive, in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4053.IS S4053 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4053 IS cluding through investing in research 1 equipment and instrumentation; and 2 ‘‘(iii) to increase the probability of 3 long-term growth of competitive funding to 4 eligible jurisdictions. 5 ‘‘(D) ELIGIBLE JURISDICTIONS.— 6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 7 may establish criteria for determining 8 whether a State is eligible for a grant 9 under this paragraph. 10 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENT.—Except as pro- 11 vided in clause (iii), in establishing criteria 12 under clause (i), the Secretary shall ensure 13 that a State is eligible for a grant under 14 this paragraph if the State, as determined 15 by the Secretary, is a State that— 16 ‘‘(I) historically has received rel- 17 atively little Federal research and de- 18 velopment funding; and 19 ‘‘(II) has demonstrated a com- 20 mitment— 21 ‘‘(aa) to develop the re- 22 search bases in the State; and 23 ‘‘(bb) to improve science and 24 engineering research and edu- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4053.IS S4053 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4053 IS cation programs at institutions of 1 higher education in the State. 2 ‘‘(iii) ELIGIBILITY UNDER NSF 3 EPSCOR.—At the election of the Secretary, 4 or if the Secretary determines not to estab- 5 lish criteria under clause (i), a State is eli- 6 gible for a grant under this paragraph if 7 the State is eligible to receive funding 8 under the Established Program to Stimu- 9 late Competitive Research of the National 10 Science Foundation. 11 ‘‘(E) GRANTS IN AREAS OF APPLIED EN- 12 ERGY RESEARCH, ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGE- 13 MENT, AND BASIC SCIENCE.— 14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—EPSCoR shall 15 make grants to eligible jurisdictions to 16 carry out and support applied energy re- 17 search and research in all areas of environ- 18 mental management and basic science 19 sponsored by the Department of Energy, 20 including— 21 ‘‘(I) energy efficiency, fossil en- 22 ergy, renewable energy, and other ap- 23 plied energy research; 24 ‘‘(II) electricity delivery research; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4053.IS S4053 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 4053 IS ‘‘(III) cybersecurity, energy secu- 1 rity, and emergency response; 2 ‘‘(IV) environmental manage- 3 ment; and 4 ‘‘(V) basic science research. 5 ‘‘(ii) ACTIVITIES.—EPSCoR shall 6 make grants under this subparagraph for 7 activities consistent with the objectives de- 8 scribed in subparagraph (C) in the areas of 9 applied energy research, environmental 10 management, and basic science described 11 in clause (i), including— 12 ‘‘(I) to support research that is 13 carried out in partnership with the 14 National Laboratories; 15 ‘‘(II) to provide for graduate 16 traineeships; 17 ‘‘(III) to support research by 18 early career faculty; and 19 ‘‘(IV) to improve research capa- 20 bilities through biennial research im- 21 plementation grants. 22 ‘‘(iii) NO COST SHARING.—EPSCoR 23 shall not impose any cost-sharing require- 24 ment with respect to a grant made under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4053.IS S4053 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 4053 IS this subparagraph, but may require letters 1 of commitment from National Labora- 2 tories. 3 ‘‘(F) OTHER ACTIVITIES.—EPSCoR may 4 carry out such activities as may be necessary to 5 meet the objectives described in subparagraph 6 (C) in the areas of applied energy research, en- 7 vironmental management, and basic science de- 8 scribed in subparagraph (E)(i). 9 ‘‘(G) PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION.— 10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 11 270 days after the date of enactment of 12 the DOE EPSCoR Modernization Act, the 13 Secretary shall submit to the Committees 14 on Energy and Natural Resources and Ap- 15 propriations of the Senate and the Com- 16 mittees on Energy and Commerce and Ap- 17 propriations of the House of Representa- 18 tives a plan describing how the Secretary 19 shall implement EPSCoR. 20 ‘‘(ii) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—The plan 21 described in clause (i) shall include a de- 22 scription of— 23 ‘‘(I) the management structure of 24 EPSCoR, which shall ensure that all 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4053.IS S4053 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 4053 IS research areas and activities described 1 in this paragraph are incorporated 2 into EPSCoR; 3 ‘‘(II) efforts to conduct outreach 4 to inform eligible jurisdictions and 5 faculty of changes to, and opportuni- 6 ties under, EPSCoR; 7 ‘‘(III) how EPSCoR plans to in- 8 crease engagement with eligible juris- 9 dictions, faculty, and State commit- 10 tees, including by holding regular 11 workshops, to increase participation in 12 EPSCoR; and 13 ‘‘(IV) any other issues relating to 14 EPSCoR that the Secretary deter- 15 mines appropriate. 16 ‘‘(H) PROGRAM EVALUATION.— 17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 18 years after the date of enactment of the 19 DOE EPSCoR Modernization Act, the 20 Secretary shall contract with a federally 21 funded research and development center, 22 the National Academy of Sciences, or a 23 similar organization to carry out an assess- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4053.IS S4053 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 4053 IS ment of the effectiveness of EPSCoR, in- 1 cluding an assessment of— 2 ‘‘(I) the tangible progress made 3 towards achieving the objectives de- 4 scribed in subparagraph (C); 5 ‘‘(II) the impact of research sup- 6 ported by EPSCoR on the mission of 7 the Department of Energy; and 8 ‘‘(III) any other issues relating to 9 EPSCoR that the Secretary deter- 10 mines appropriate. 11 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—The organization 12 with which the Secretary contracts under 13 clause (i) shall not be a National Labora- 14 tory. 15 ‘‘(iii) REPORT.—Not later than 6 16 years after the date of enactment of the 17 DOE EPSCoR Modernization Act, the 18 Secretary shall submit to the Committees 19 on Energy and Natural Resources and Ap- 20 propriations of the Senate and the Com- 21 mittees on Energy and Commerce and Ap- 22 propriations of the House of Representa- 23 tives a report describing the results of the 24 assessment carried out under clause (i), in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4053.IS S4053 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 4053 IS cluding recommendations for improvements 1 that would enable the Secretary to achieve 2 the objectives described in subparagraph 3 (C).’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4053.IS S4053 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS