Wildfire Grid Resiliency Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3615 To direct the Secretary of Energy to carry out a demonstration program for projects that improve electric grid resilience with respect to wildfires, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 23, 2023 Mrs. TORRES of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To direct the Secretary of Energy to carry out a demonstra- tion program for projects that improve electric grid resil- ience with respect to wildfires, 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 ‘‘Wildfire Grid Resil- 4 iency Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. RESILIENCE ACCELERATOR DEMONSTRATION PRO- 6 GRAM. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy, acting 8 through the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Cyberse- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3615.IH H3615 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3615 IH curity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response of the 1 Department of Energy, shall carry out a demonstration 2 program, to be known as the ‘‘Resilience Accelerator Dem- 3 onstration Program’’ (in this section referred to as the 4 ‘‘Program’’), to make awards to National Laboratories for 5 projects that demonstrate innovative technologies to im- 6 prove electric grid resilience with respect to wildfires. 7 (b) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—The Secretary of Energy 8 may make an award under the Program to facilitate a 9 project that demonstrates an innovative technology to im- 10 prove electric grid resilience with respect to wildfires, in- 11 cluding— 12 (1) a project that demonstrates an innovative 13 technology for monitoring vegetation management; 14 and 15 (2) a project that demonstrates an innovative 16 technology to enhance the safety of first responders 17 who respond to electric grid emergencies. 18 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 19 (1) NATIONAL LABORATORY.—The term ‘‘Na- 20 tional Laboratory’’ has the meaning given such term 21 in section 2 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 22 U.S.C. 15801). 23 (2) RESILIENCE.—The term ‘‘resilience’’ has 24 the meaning given such term in section 1304A of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3615.IH H3615 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3615 IH the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 1 (42 U.S.C. 17384a). 2 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 3 authorized to be appropriated to carry out the Program 4 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2027. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:17 Jun 14, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3615.IH H3615 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB