Rural Energy Savings Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1821 To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to modify provisions relating to the rural energy savings program. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 6, 2023 Mr. WELCH (for himself and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu- trition, and Forestry A BILL To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to modify provisions relating to the rural energy savings program. 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 ‘‘Rural Energy Savings 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. RURAL ENERGY SAVINGS PROGRAM MODIFICA- 6 TIONS. 7 Section 6407 of the Farm Security and Rural Invest- 8 ment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8107a) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1821.IS S1821 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1821 IS (1) in subsection (b)— 1 (A) in paragraph (1)— 2 (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 3 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 4 (ii) by redesignating subparagraph 5 (C) as subparagraph (E); and 6 (iii) by inserting after subparagraph 7 (B) the following: 8 ‘‘(C) any Indian Tribe (as defined in sec- 9 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and 10 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)); 11 ‘‘(D) any public, quasipublic, or nonprofit 12 entity that uses innovative financing techniques 13 and market development tools to accelerate the 14 deployment of clean energy technology (com- 15 monly known as a ‘green bank’); and’’; and 16 (B) by striking paragraph (2) and insert- 17 ing the following: 18 ‘‘(2) ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURE.—The 19 term ‘energy efficiency measure’, with respect to any 20 property served by an eligible entity, means— 21 ‘‘(A) a structural improvement or invest- 22 ment in a cost-effective, commercial technology 23 to increase energy efficiency (including cost-ef- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1821.IS S1821 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1821 IS fective on- or off-grid renewable energy or en- 1 ergy storage systems); and 2 ‘‘(B) the replacement of a manufactured 3 housing unit or large appliance with a substan- 4 tially similar manufactured housing unit or ap- 5 pliance, respectively, if that replacement is a 6 cost-effective option with respect to energy sav- 7 ings.’’; 8 (2) in subsection (c)— 9 (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting 10 ‘‘AND GRANTS’’ after ‘‘LOANS’’; 11 (B) by striking paragraph (1) and insert- 12 ing the following: 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the require- 14 ments of this subsection, the Secretary shall pro- 15 vide— 16 ‘‘(A) loans to eligible entities that agree to 17 use the loan funds to make loans under sub- 18 section (d) to qualified consumers for the pur- 19 pose of implementing energy efficiency meas- 20 ures; and 21 ‘‘(B) at the election of any eligible entity 22 that receives a loan under subparagraph (A), a 23 grant in accordance with paragraph (10).’’; 24 (C) in paragraph (2)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1821.IS S1821 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1821 IS (i) in the paragraph heading, by in- 1 serting ‘‘FOR LOANS’’ after ‘‘REQUIRE- 2 MENTS’’; and 3 (ii) in subparagraph (A)(i), by strik- 4 ing ‘‘that is’’; 5 (D) in paragraph (5)— 6 (i) by redesignating subparagraphs 7 (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respec- 8 tively, and indenting the clauses appro- 9 priately; 10 (ii) in the matter preceding clause (i) 11 (as so redesignated), by striking ‘‘With re- 12 spect to a loan under paragraph (1)’’ and 13 inserting the following: 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 15 graph (B), with respect to a loan under para- 16 graph (1)(A)’’; and 17 (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 18 lowing: 19 ‘‘(B) EXTENSIONS.—The Secretary may 20 extend the term of a loan under subparagraph 21 (A)(i), or the deadline for the repayment of an 22 advance under subparagraph (A)(ii), as the Sec- 23 retary determines to be appropriate.’’; 24 (E) in paragraph (7)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1821.IS S1821 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1821 IS (i) in subparagraph (B), by striking 1 ‘‘paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 2 (1)(A)’’; and 3 (ii) in subparagraph (C), in the mat- 4 ter preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘Re- 5 payment of the special advance’’ and in- 6 serting ‘‘Subject to an applicable extension 7 under paragraph (5)(B), repayment of a 8 special advance under this paragraph’’; 9 (F) in paragraph (8), by striking ‘‘para- 10 graph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1)(A)’’; 11 and 12 (G) by adding at the end the following: 13 ‘‘(10) GRANTS.— 14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—At the election of an 15 eligible entity that receives a loan under this 16 subsection, the Secretary shall provide to the el- 17 igible entity a grant to pay for a portion of the 18 costs incurred in— 19 ‘‘(i) applying for the loan; 20 ‘‘(ii) making a loan to a qualified con- 21 sumer under subsection (d); 22 ‘‘(iii) making repairs to the property 23 of a qualified consumer that facilitate the 24 energy efficiency measures for the property 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1821.IS S1821 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1821 IS financed through a loan provided to the 1 qualified consumer under subsection (d); 2 ‘‘(iv) entering into a contract under 3 subsection (e); or 4 ‘‘(v) carrying out any other duties of 5 the eligible entity under this section. 6 ‘‘(B) AMOUNT.— 7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro- 8 vided in clause (ii), the amount of a grant 9 provided to an eligible entity under this 10 paragraph shall be equal to not more than 11 5 percent of the amount of the loan pro- 12 vided to the eligible entity under this sub- 13 section. 14 ‘‘(ii) PERSISTENT POVERTY COUN- 15 TIES.—The amount of a grant provided 16 under this paragraph to an eligible entity 17 that will use the grant to make loans 18 under subsection (d) to qualified con- 19 sumers located in a persistent poverty 20 county (as determined by the Secretary) 21 shall be equal to 10 percent of the amount 22 of the loan provided to the eligible entity 23 under this subsection.’’; 24 (3) in subsection (d)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1821.IS S1821 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1821 IS (A) in paragraph (1)— 1 (i) in the matter preceding subpara- 2 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘or grant’’ before 3 ‘‘funds’’; 4 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 5 (I) by striking ‘‘(B) shall fi- 6 nance’’ and inserting the following: 7 ‘‘(B)(i) may have a term and amortization 8 schedule the length of which is the useful life 9 of the energy efficiency measures implemented 10 using the loan, provided that the loan to the 11 qualified consumer does not exceed 20 years; 12 and 13 ‘‘(ii) shall finance’’; and 14 (II) in clause (ii) (as so des- 15 ignated), by striking ‘‘a loan term of 16 not more than 10 years’’ and insert- 17 ing ‘‘the applicable loan term de- 18 scribed in clause (i)’’; and 19 (iii) in subparagraph (C), by striking 20 ‘‘unless the personal property is or be- 21 comes attached to real property (including 22 a manufactured home) as a fixture;’’ and 23 inserting ‘‘unless the personal property— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1821.IS S1821 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1821 IS ‘‘(i) is a manufactured housing unit or 1 large appliance described in subsection 2 (b)(2)(B); or 3 ‘‘(ii) is or becomes attached to real 4 property as a fixture;’’; and 5 (B) by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(3) CLARIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—Not- 7 withstanding any other provision of law (including 8 regulations), an eligible entity may make a loan 9 under this subsection to any qualified consumer lo- 10 cated within the service territory of the eligible enti- 11 ty, regardless of whether the qualified consumer is 12 located in a rural area.’’; 13 (4) in subsection (e)— 14 (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting 15 ‘‘OUTREACH,’’ after ‘‘TRAINING,’’; 16 (B) in paragraph (1)— 17 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 18 ‘‘and technical assistance of the program’’ 19 and inserting ‘‘outreach, and technical as- 20 sistance relating to the program under this 21 section’’; and 22 (ii) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by insert- 23 ing ‘‘, outreach,’’ after ‘‘technical assist- 24 ance’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1821.IS S1821 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1821 IS (C) by adding at the end the following: 1 ‘‘(3) FUNDING.—Of the amounts made avail- 2 able under subsection (i), the Secretary may use 3 such sums as are necessary to provide outreach, 4 training, and technical assistance under this sub- 5 section.’’; and 6 (5) in subsection (i), by striking ‘‘2023’’ and in- 7 serting ‘‘2033’’. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1821.IS S1821 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB