42 U.S.C. § 13316 — Innovative renewable energy technology

Page 8548 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 13316 ergy resources in foreign countries to reduce the generation of greenhouse gases. (Pub. L. 102–486, title XII, § 1209, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 2964.) § 13316. Innovative renewable energy technology transfer program (a) Establishment of program The Secretary, through the Agency for Inter- national Development, and in consultation with the other members of the interagency working group established under section 6276(d) of this title (in this section referred to as the ‘‘inter- agency working group’’), shall establish a re- newable energy technology transfer program to carry out the purposes described in subsection (b). Within 150 days after October 24, 1992, the Secretary and the Administrator of the Agency for International Development shall enter into a written agreement to carry out this section. The agreement shall establish a procedure for resolv- ing any disputes between the Secretary and the Administrator regarding the implementation of specific projects. With respect to countries not assisted by the Agency for International Devel- opment, the Secretary may enter into agree- ments with other appropriate Federal agencies. If the Secretary and the Administrator, or the Secretary and an agency described in the pre- vious sentence, are unable to reach an agree- ment, each shall send a memorandum to the President outlining an appropriate agreement. Within 90 days after receipt of either memo- randum, the President shall determine which version of the agreement shall be in effect. Any agreement entered into under this subsection shall be provided to the appropriate committees of the Congress and made available to the pub- lic. (b) Purposes of program The purposes of the technology transfer pro- gram under this section are to— (1) reduce the United States balance of trade deficit through the export of United States re- newable energy technologies and technological expertise; (2) retain and create manufacturing and re- lated service jobs in the United States; (3) encourage the export of United States re- newable energy technologies, including serv- ices related thereto, to those countries that have a need for developmentally sound facili- ties to provide energy derived from renewable resources; (4) develop markets for United States renew- able energy technologies to be utilized in meeting the energy and environmental re- quirements of foreign countries; (5) better ensure that United States partici- pation in energy-related projects in foreign countries includes participation by United States firms as well as utilization of United States technologies that have been developed or demonstrated in the United States through publicly or privately funded demonstration programs; (6) ensure the introduction of United States firms and expertise in foreign countries; (7) provide financial assistance by the Fed- eral Government to foster greater participa- tion by United States firms in the financing, ownership, design, construction, or operation of renewable energy technology projects in foreign countries; (8) assist foreign countries in meeting their energy needs through the use of renewable en- ergy in an environmentally acceptable man- ner, consistent with sustainable development policies; and (9) assist United States firms, especially firms that are in competition with firms in foreign countries, to obtain opportunities to transfer technologies to, or undertake projects in, foreign countries. (c) Identification Pursuant to the agreements required by sub- section (a), the Secretary, through the Agency for International Development, and after con- sultation with the interagency working group, United States firms, and representatives from foreign countries, shall develop mechanisms to identify potential energy projects in host coun- tries, and shall identify a list of such projects within 240 days after October 24, 1992, and peri- odically thereafter. (d) Financial mechanisms (1) Pursuant to the agreements under sub- section (a), the Secretary, through the Agency for International Development, shall— (A) establish appropriate financial mecha- nisms to increase the participation of United States firms in energy projects utilizing United States renewable energy technologies, and services related thereto, in developing countries; (B) utilize available financial assistance au- thorized by this section to counterbalance as- sistance provided by foreign governments to non-United States firms; and (C) provide financial assistance to support projects. (2) The financial assistance authorized by this section may be— (A) provided in combination with other forms of financial assistance, including non- United States funding that is available to the project; and (B) utilized to assist United States firms in the development of innovative financing pack- ages for renewable energy technology projects that utilize other financial assistance pro- grams available through the Federal Govern- ment. (3) United States obligations under the Ar- rangement on Guidelines for Officially Sup- ported Export Credits established through the Organization for Economic Cooperation and De- velopment shall be applicable to this section. (e) Solicitations for project proposals (1) Pursuant to the agreements under sub- section (a), the Secretary, through the Agency for International Development, within one year after October 24, 1992, and subsequently as ap- propriate thereafter, shall solicit proposals from United States firms for the design, construction, testing, and operation of the project or projects identified under subsection (c) which propose to utilize a United States renewable energy tech- Page 8549 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 13316 1 So in original. Probably should be section ‘‘13316(b)’’. nology. Each solicitation under this section shall establish a closing date for receipt of pro- posals. (2) The solicitation under this subsection shall, to the extent appropriate, be modeled after the RFP No. DE–PS01–90FE62271 Clean Coal Technology IV, as administered by the De- partment of Energy. (3) Any solicitation made under this sub- section shall include the following require- ments: (A) The United States firm that submits a proposal in response to the solicitation shall have an equity interest in the proposed project. (B) The project shall utilize a United States renewable energy technology, including serv- ices related thereto, in meeting the applicable energy and environmental requirements of the host country. (C) Proposals for projects shall be submitted by and undertaken with a United States firm, although a joint venture or other teaming ar- rangement with a non-United States manufac- turer or other non-United States entity is per- missible. (f) Assistance to United States firms Pursuant to the agreements under subsection (a), the Secretary, through the Agency for Inter- national Development, and in consultation with the interagency working group, shall establish a procedure to provide financial assistance to United States firms under this section for a project identified under subsection (c) where so- licitations for the project are being conducted by the host country or by a multilateral lending institution. (g) Other program requirements Pursuant to the agreements under subsection (a), the Secretary, through the Agency for Inter- national Development, and in consultation with the working group, shall— (1) establish eligibility criteria for host countries; (2) periodically review the energy needs of such countries and export opportunities for United States firms for the development of projects in such countries; (3) consult with government officials in host countries and, as appropriate, with representa- tives of utilities or other entities in host coun- tries, to determine interest in and support for potential projects; and (4) determine whether each project selected under this section is developmentally sound, as determined under the criteria developed by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (h) Selection of projects (1) Pursuant to the agreements under sub- section (a), the Secretary, through the Agency for International Development, shall, not later than 120 days after receipt of proposals in re- sponse to a solicitation under subsection (e), se- lect one or more proposals under this section. (2) In selecting a proposal under this section, the Secretary, through the Agency for Inter- national Development, shall consider— (A) the ability of the United States firm, in cooperation with the host country, to under- take and complete the project; (B) the degree to which the equipment to be included in the project is designed and manu- factured in the United States; (C) the long-term technical and competitive viability of the United States technology, and services related thereto, and the ability of the United States firm to compete in the develop- ment of additional energy projects using such technology in the host country and in other foreign countries; (D) the extent of technical and financial in- volvement of the host country in the project; (E) the extent to which the proposed project meets the purposes stated in section 13311(b) 1 of this title; (F) the extent of technical, financial, man- agement, and marketing capabilities of the participants in the project, and the commit- ment of the participants to completion of a successful project in a manner that will facili- tate acceptance of the United States tech- nology for future application; and (G) such other criteria as may be appro- priate. (3) In selecting among proposed projects, the Secretary shall seek to ensure that, relative to otherwise comparable projects in the host coun- try, a selected project will meet 1 or more of the following criteria: (A) It will reduce environmental emissions to an extent greater than required by applica- ble provisions of law. (B) It will make greater use of indigenous re- newable energy resources. (C) It will be a more cost-effective techno- logical alternative, based on life cycle capital and operating costs per unit of energy pro- duced and, where applicable, costs per unit of product produced. Priority in selection shall be given to those projects which, in the judgment of the Sec- retary, best meet one or more of these criteria. (i) United States-Asia Environmental Partner- ship Activities carried out under this section shall be coordinated with the United States-Asia En- vironmental Partnership. (j) Buy America In carrying out this section, the Secretary, through the Agency for International Develop- ment, and pursuant to the agreements under subsection (a), shall ensure— (1) the maximum percentage, but in no case less than 50 percent, of the cost of any equip- ment furnished in connection with a project authorized under this section shall be attrib- utable to the manufactured United States components of such equipment; and (2) the maximum participation of United States firms. In determining whether the cost of United States components equals or exceeds 50 percent, the cost of assembly of such United States com- Page 8550 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 13317 1 See References in Text note below. ponents in the host country shall not be consid- ered a part of the cost of such United States component. (k) Reports to Congress The Secretary and the Administrator of the Agency for International Development shall re- port annually to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the appro- priate committees of the House of Representa- tives on the progress being made to introduce renewable energy technologies into foreign countries. (l) Definitions For purposes of this section— (1) the term ‘‘host country’’ means a foreign country which is— (A) the participant in or the site of the proposed renewable energy technology project; and (B) either— (i) classified as a country eligible to par- ticipate in development assistance pro- grams of the Agency for International De- velopment pursuant to applicable law or regulation; or (ii) a developing country. (2) the term ‘‘developing country’’ includes, but is not limited to, countries in Central and Eastern Europe or in the independent states of the former Soviet Union. (m) Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the program required by this section, $100,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998. (Pub. L. 102–486, title XII, § 1211, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 2965.) § 13317. Renewable energy production incentive (a) Incentive payments (1) For electric energy generated and sold by a qualified renewable energy facility during the incentive period, the Secretary shall make, sub- ject to the availability of appropriations, incen- tive payments to the owner or operator of such facility. (2) The amount of such payment made to any such owner or operator shall be as determined under subsection (e). (3) Payments under this section may only be made upon receipt by the Secretary of an incen- tive payment application which establishes that the applicant is eligible to receive such pay- ment. (4)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), if there are insufficient appropriations to make full pay- ments for electric production from all qualified renewable energy facilities for a fiscal year, the Secretary shall assign— (i) 60 percent of appropriated funds for the fiscal year to facilities that use solar, wind, marine energy (as defined in section 17211 of this title), geothermal, or closed-loop (dedi- cated energy crops) biomass technologies to generate electricity; and (ii) 40 percent of appropriated funds for the fiscal year to other projects. (B) After submitting to Congress an expla- nation of the reasons for the alteration, the Sec- retary may alter the percentage requirements of subparagraph (A). (b) Qualified renewable energy facility For purposes of this section, a qualified renew- able energy facility is a facility which is owned by a not-for-profit electric cooperative, a public utility described in section 115 of title 26, a State, Commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States, or the District of Colum- bia, or a political subdivision thereof, an Indian tribal government or subdivision thereof, or a Native Corporation (as defined in section 1602 of title 43), and which generates electric energy for sale in, or affecting, interstate commerce using solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, livestock methane, marine energy (as defined in section 17211 of this title), or geothermal energy, except that— (1) the burning of municipal solid waste shall not be treated as using biomass energy; and (2) geothermal energy shall not include en- ergy produced from a dry steam geothermal reservoir which has— (A) no mobile liquid in its natural state; (B) steam quality of 95 percent water; and (C) an enthalpy for the total produced fluid greater than or equal to 1200 Btu/lb (British thermal units per pound). (c) Eligibility window Payments may be made under this section only for electricity generated from a qualified renewable energy facility first used before Octo- ber 1, 2016. (d) Payment period A qualified renewable energy facility may re- ceive payments under this section for a 10-fiscal year period. Such period shall begin with the fis- cal year in which electricity generated from the facility is first eligible for such payments, or in which the Secretary determines that all nec- essary Federal and State authorizations have been obtained to begin construction of the facil- ity. (e) Amount of payment (1) In general Incentive payments made by the Secretary under this section to the owner or operator of any qualified renewable energy facility shall be based on the number of kilowatt hours of electricity generated by the facility through the use of solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, livestock methane, marine energy (as defined in section 17211 of this title), or geothermal energy during the payment period referred to in subsection (d). For any facility, the amount of such payment shall be 1.5 cents per kilowatt hour, adjusted as provided in paragraph (2). (2) Adjustments The amount of the payment made to any person under this subsection as provided in paragraph (1) shall be adjusted for inflation for each fiscal year beginning after calendar year 1993 in the same manner as provided in the provisions of section 29(d)(2)(B) of title 26,1 ex-