CLEAR Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3182 To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require the Secretary of Energy to create a plan for research, development, and commercialization projects capable of making significant reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions or carbon intensity of qualified fuel production facilities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 10, 2023 Mrs. FLETCHER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently deter- mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require the Secretary of Energy to create a plan for research, devel- opment, and commercialization projects capable of mak- ing significant reductions in the greenhouse gas emis- sions or carbon intensity of qualified fuel production facilities, 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 04:00 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3182.IH H3182 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3182 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Carbon Limiting Emis- 2 sions At Refineries Act’’ or the ‘‘CLEAR Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. CARBON EMISSIONS AND INTENSITY REDUCTION 4 TECHNOLOGIES FOR QUALIFIED FUEL PRO- 5 DUCTION FACILITIES. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle F of title IX of the En- 7 ergy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16291 et seq.) is 8 amended by adding at the end the following section: 9 ‘‘SEC. 969E. CARBON EMISSIONS AND INTENSITY REDUC- 10 TION FOR QUALIFIED FUEL PRODUCTION FA- 11 CILITIES. 12 ‘‘(a) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the 13 date of enactment of CLEAR Act, the Secretary shall sub- 14 mit to Congress a report that outlines opportunities for 15 research, development, and commercialization projects 16 that utilize technologies capable of making significant re- 17 ductions in the greenhouse gas emissions or carbon inten- 18 sity of qualified fuel production facilities, including a plan 19 for the 5-year period beginning on the date of the submis- 20 sion of the report for advancing the readiness level of such 21 technologies, including technologies for energy use reduc- 22 tions, use of advanced catalysts, electrification of heat and 23 steam generation, hydrogen firing, low grade waste heat 24 recovery, membrane separations, and other process im- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3182.IH H3182 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3182 IH provements for qualified fuel production facilities, from 1 laboratory scale to commercial use. 2 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM.—Not later than 180 days after the 3 Secretary submits the report under subsection (a), the 4 Secretary shall, based on such report, establish a program 5 of research, development, demonstration, and commercial 6 application of technologies described in subsection (a) to 7 facilitate the development of— 8 ‘‘(1) promising projects that, with appropriate 9 support, could produce such technologies that are 10 commercially-feasible; and 11 ‘‘(2) carbon capture, utilization, and sequestra- 12 tion technologies for qualified fuel production facili- 13 ties. 14 ‘‘(c) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pro- 16 gram established under subsection (b), the Secretary 17 may award funds for commercial-scale demonstra- 18 tion projects for qualified fuel production facilities 19 that test the scale of a technology described in sub- 20 section (a) necessary for commercial operation, in 21 accordance with this subsection. 22 ‘‘(2) ENGINEERING AND DESIGN STUDIES.—In 23 carrying out the program under subsection (b), the 24 Secretary may award funds for front-end engineer- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3182.IH H3182 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3182 IH ing and design studies in addition to, or in advance 1 of, issuing an award for a demonstration project 2 under this subsection. 3 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.—An entity seeking an 4 award to conduct a demonstration project under this 5 subsection shall submit to the Secretary an applica- 6 tion at such time and in such manner as the Sec- 7 retary may require. 8 ‘‘(4) LIMITATIONS.—The Secretary shall only 9 provide an award under this subsection after review- 10 ing each applicant and application for— 11 ‘‘(A) financial strength; 12 ‘‘(B) construction schedule; 13 ‘‘(C) market risk; and 14 ‘‘(D) contractor history. 15 ‘‘(5) REQUIREMENTS.—An awardee under this 16 subsection shall— 17 ‘‘(A) utilize technologies that have com- 18 pleted pilot-scale testing or the equivalent, as 19 determined by the Secretary; 20 ‘‘(B) secure and maintain agreements for 21 one or more technologies described in sub- 22 section (a), or carbon capture, utilization, and 23 sequestration technologies, at a qualified fuel 24 production facility; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3182.IH H3182 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3182 IH ‘‘(C) upon completion of a demonstration 1 project, demonstrate reductions in the green- 2 house gas emissions or carbon intensity of a 3 qualified fuel production facility. 4 ‘‘(6) COST SHARING.—The Secretary shall re- 5 quire cost sharing under this subsection in accord- 6 ance with section 988. 7 ‘‘(d) APPLICABILITY.—No technology, or level of 8 emissions reduction, shall be treated as adequately dem- 9 onstrated for purposes of section 111 of the Clean Air Act 10 (42 U.S.C. 7411), achievable for purposes of section 169 11 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 7479), or achievable in practice 12 for purposes of section 171 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 7501) 13 solely by reason of the identification of such technology 14 in the report submitted under subsection (a) or under the 15 program established under subsection (b). 16 ‘‘(e) QUALIFIED FUEL PRODUCTION FACILITY DE- 17 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘qualified fuel produc- 18 tion facility’ means— 19 ‘‘(1) a petroleum refinery or any connected fa- 20 cility; or 21 ‘‘(2) a facility that manufactures commercial 22 amounts of a drop-in fuel (as defined in section 23 2922h(c)(1) of title 10, United States Code). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3182.IH H3182 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3182 IH ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 1 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 2 $200,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 and each fiscal year 3 thereafter.’’. 4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 5 the Energy Policy Act of 2005 is amended by adding after 6 the item relating to section 969D the following: 7 ‘‘Sec. 969E. Carbon emissions and intensity reduction for qualified fuel produc- tion facilities.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:00 May 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3182.IH H3182 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS