IMPACT for Energy Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2005 To establish the IMPACT for Energy Foundation. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 27, 2019 Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. GRAHAM) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To establish the IMPACT for Energy Foundation. 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 ‘‘Increasing and Mobi- 4 lizing Partnerships to Achieve Commercialization of Tech- 5 nologies for Energy Act’’ or the ‘‘IMPACT for Energy 6 Act’’. 7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 8 In this Act: 9 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 10 means the Department of Energy. 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2005.IS S2005 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2005 IS (2) FOUNDATION.—The term ‘‘Foundation’’ 1 means the IMPACT for Energy Foundation estab- 2 lished under section 3(a). 3 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 4 the Secretary of Energy. 5 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF IMPACT FOR ENERGY FOUNDA- 6 TION. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than February 1, 9 2021, the Secretary shall establish a nonprofit cor- 10 poration to be known as the ‘‘IMPACT for Energy 11 Foundation’’. 12 (2) LIMITATION.—The Foundation shall not be 13 an agency or instrumentality of the Federal Govern- 14 ment. 15 (3) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Federal 16 Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not 17 apply to the Foundation. 18 (4) NONPROFIT STATUS.—The Foundation 19 shall be an organization described in section 501(c) 20 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt 21 from taxation under section 501(a) of that Code. 22 (5) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation shall 24 operate under a board of directors. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2005.IS S2005 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2005 IS (B) INITIAL APPOINTMENT.—The initial 1 appointment of the board of directors shall be 2 facilitated by the Secretary. 3 (C) COMPOSITION.—To the maximum ex- 4 tent practicable, the board of directors shall in- 5 clude representatives from a diverse range of 6 communities, including— 7 (i) the academic community; 8 (ii) the business community; 9 (iii) nonprofit organizations; 10 (iv) the communities surrounding the 11 laboratories and facilities of the Depart- 12 ment; and 13 (v) the technology transfer and com- 14 mercialization community. 15 (D) RESTRICTION ON MEMBERSHIP.—No 16 employee of the Department shall be appointed 17 as a member of the board of directors. 18 (b) PURPOSE; ACTIVITIES.— 19 (1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Foundation 20 is to channel private sector investments that support 21 efforts to create, develop, and commercialize innova- 22 tive technologies that address energy challenges by 23 methods that include— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2005.IS S2005 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2005 IS (A) fostering collaboration and partner- 1 ships with researchers from the Federal Gov- 2 ernment, State governments, institutions of 3 higher education, federally funded research and 4 development centers, industry, and nonprofit 5 organizations for the research, development, or 6 commercialization of transformative energy 7 technologies; 8 (B) leveraging technologies by supporting 9 new product development that supports regional 10 economic development; and 11 (C) administering prize competitions to ac- 12 celerate private sector competition and invest- 13 ment. 14 (2) ACTIVITIES.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation may 16 solicit and accept gifts, grants, and other dona- 17 tions, establish accounts, and invest and expend 18 funds in support of the activities and programs 19 described in subparagraphs (B) through (D). 20 (B) STUDIES, COMPETITIONS, AND 21 PROJECTS.—The Foundation may conduct and 22 support studies, competitions, projects, and 23 other activities that further the purpose of the 24 Foundation described in paragraph (1). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2005.IS S2005 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2005 IS (C) FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS.— 1 (i) AWARD.—The Foundation may 2 award fellowships and grants for activities 3 relating to research, development, proto- 4 typing, maturing, or commercializing of en- 5 ergy technologies. 6 (ii) FORM OF AWARD.—A fellowship 7 or grant under clause (i) may consist of a 8 stipend, health insurance benefits, funds 9 for travel, and funds for other appropriate 10 expenses. 11 (iii) SELECTION.— 12 (I) IN GENERAL.—The Founda- 13 tion shall award a fellowship or grant 14 under clause (i) based on the technical 15 and commercialization merits of the 16 proposed project. 17 (II) INPUT.—In selecting recipi- 18 ents of a fellowship or grant under 19 clause (i), the Foundation may con- 20 sult with potential recipients regard- 21 ing the ability to carry out various 22 projects that would further the pur- 23 pose of the Foundation described in 24 paragraph (1). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2005.IS S2005 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2005 IS (iv) FEDERAL LABORATORIES.—A 1 Federal laboratory that applies for or ac- 2 cepts a grant under clause (i) shall not be 3 considered to be engaging in a competitive 4 procedure. 5 (D) SUPPLEMENTARY PROGRAMS.—The 6 Foundation may carry out supplementary pro- 7 grams— 8 (i) to conduct and support forums, 9 meetings, conferences, courses, and train- 10 ing workshops consistent with the purpose 11 of the Foundation described in paragraph 12 (1); 13 (ii) to support and encourage the un- 14 derstanding and development of— 15 (I) data reporting models that 16 promote the translation of tech- 17 nologies from the research stage, 18 through the development and matura- 19 tion stage, and ending in the market 20 stage; and 21 (II) policies that make regulation 22 more effective and efficient by 23 leveraging the technology translation 24 data described in subclause (I) for the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2005.IS S2005 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2005 IS regulation of relevant technology sec- 1 tors; 2 (iii) for writing, editing, printing, pub- 3 lishing, and vending books and other mate- 4 rials relating to research carried out under 5 the Foundation; and 6 (iv) to conduct other activities to 7 carry out and support the purpose of the 8 Foundation described in paragraph (1). 9 (E) AUTHORITY OF FOUNDATION.—The 10 Foundation shall be the sole entity responsible 11 for carrying out the activities described in this 12 paragraph. 13 (F) ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL.—No par- 14 ticipant in a program under this paragraph or 15 employee of the Foundation shall exercise any 16 administrative control over any Federal em- 17 ployee. 18 (c) SUPPORT SERVICES.—The Secretary may provide 19 facilities, utilities, and support services to the Foundation 20 if it is determined by the Secretary to be advantageous 21 to the research programs of the Department. 22 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 23 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2005.IS S2005 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2005 IS such sums as are necessary for fiscal year 2020 and each 1 fiscal year thereafter. 2 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF FOR-PROFIT SUBSIDIARIES. 3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Foundation may estab- 4 lish 1 or more for-profit subsidiaries, including an impact 5 investment fund— 6 (1) to stimulate economic development activities 7 relating to the purpose of the Foundation described 8 in section 3(b)(1); and 9 (2) to attract for-profit investment partners for 10 technology translation and commercialization activi- 11 ties. 12 (b) AUTHORITIES OF THE FOR-PROFIT SUB- 13 SIDIARY.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 15 for-profit subsidiary established under subsection (a) 16 may— 17 (A) enter into a partnership with an eco- 18 nomic development corporation, including an in- 19 cubator, accelerator, or small business invest- 20 ment company; 21 (B) pay for the cost of building and ad- 22 ministering a facility, including a microlab or 23 incubator, to support the activities of the Foun- 24 dation described in section 3(b)(2); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2005.IS S2005 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2005 IS (C) provide funding to a startup. 1 (2) COST RECOVERY REQUIREMENTS.—A for- 2 profit subsidiary established under subsection (a) 3 shall— 4 (A) ensure that the Foundation owns any 5 intellectual property rights generated through 6 activities funded by the for-profit subsidiary, if 7 appropriate; and 8 (B) own an equity stake in any startup in- 9 vested in by the for-profit subsidiary. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jul 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2005.IS S2005 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS