42 U.S.C. § 16237 — Wind energy research and development

Page 8811 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 16237 (1) assess conflicting guidance on the eco- nomic potential of concentrating solar power for electricity production received from the National Research Council in the report enti- tled ‘‘Renewable Power Pathways: A Review of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy Programs’’ and dated 2000 and subse- quent reviews of that report funded by the De- partment; and (2) provide an assessment of the potential impact of technology used to concentrate solar power for electricity before, or concur- rent with, submission of the budget for fiscal year 2008. (d) Report Not later than 5 years after August 8, 2005, the Secretary shall provide to Congress a report on the economic and technical potential for elec- tricity or hydrogen production, with or without cogeneration, with concentrating solar power, including the economic and technical feasibility of potential construction of a pilot demonstra- tion facility suitable for commercial production of electricity or hydrogen from concentrating solar power. (Pub. L. 109–58, title IX, § 934, Aug. 8, 2005, 119 Stat. 872.) § 16235. Renewable energy in public buildings (a) Demonstration and technology transfer pro- gram The Secretary shall establish a program for the demonstration of innovative technologies for solar and other renewable energy sources in buildings owned or operated by a State or local government, and for the dissemination of infor- mation resulting from such demonstration to in- terested parties. (b) Limit on Federal funding Notwithstanding section 16352 of this title, the Secretary shall provide under this section no more than 40 percent of the incremental costs of the solar or other renewable energy source project funded. (c) Requirements As part of the application for awards under this section, the Secretary shall require all ap- plicants— (1) to demonstrate a continuing commit- ment to the use of solar and other renewable energy sources in buildings they own or oper- ate; and (2) to state how they expect any award to further their transition to the significant use of renewable energy. (Pub. L. 109–58, title IX, § 935, Aug. 8, 2005, 119 Stat. 873.) § 16236. Research and development into inte- grating renewable energy onto the electric grid (a) In general Not later than 180 days after December 27, 2020, the Secretary shall establish a research, development, and demonstration program on technologies that enable integration of renew- able energy generation sources onto the electric grid across multiple program offices of the De- partment. The program shall include— (1) forecasting for predicting generation from variable renewable energy sources; (2) development of cost-effective low-loss, long-distance transmission lines; and (3) development of cost-effective advanced technologies for variable renewable generation sources to provide grid services. (b) Coordination In carrying out this program, the Secretary shall coordinate across all relevant program of- fices at the Department to achieve the goals es- tablished in this section, including the Office of Electricity. (c) Adoption of technologies In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall consider barriers to adoption and commer- cial application of technologies that enable inte- gration of renewable energy sources onto the electric grid, including cost and other economic barriers, and shall coordinate with relevant en- tities to reduce these barriers. (Pub. L. 109–58, title IX, § 936, as added Pub. L. 116–260, div. Z, title VIII, § 8004(b), Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 2583.) § 16237. Wind energy research and development (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Critical material The term ‘‘critical material’’ has the mean- ing given the term in section 1606 of title 30. (2) Economically distressed area The term ‘‘economically distressed area’’ means an area described in section 3161(a) of this title. (3) Eligible entity The term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means— (A) an institution of higher education, in- cluding a minority-serving institution; (B) a National Laboratory; (C) a Federal research agency; (D) a State research agency; (E) a research agency associated with a territory or freely associated state; (F) a Tribal energy development organiza- tion; (G) an Indian Tribe; (H) a Tribal organization; (I) a Native Hawaiian community-based organization; (J) a nonprofit research organization; (K) an industrial entity; (L) any other entity, as determined by the Secretary; and (M) a consortium of 2 or more entities de- scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (L). (4) Indian Tribe The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ has the meaning given the term in section 5304 of title 25. (5) Institution of higher education The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ means— (A) an institution of higher education (as defined in section 1001(a) of title 20); or Page 8812 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 16237 (B) a postsecondary vocational institution (as defined in section 1002(c) of title 20). (6) Minority serving institution The term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘eligible institu- tion’’ in section 1067q(a) of title 20. (7) National Laboratory The term ‘‘National Laboratory’’ has the meaning given such term in section 15801(3) of this title. (8) Native Hawaiian community-based organi- zation The term ‘‘Native Hawaiian community- based organization’’ has the meaning given the term in section 7517 of title 20. (9) Program The term ‘‘program’’ means the program es- tablished under subsection (b)(1). (10) Secretary The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Energy. (11) Territory or freely associated state The term ‘‘territory or freely associated state’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘insu- lar area’’ in section 3103 of title 7. (12) Tribal energy development organization The term ‘‘Tribal energy development orga- nization’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘tribal energy development organization’’ in section 3501 of title 25. (13) Tribal organization The term ‘‘Tribal organization’’ has the meaning given the term in section 5304 of title 25. (b) Wind energy technology program (1) Establishment (A) In general The Secretary shall establish a program to conduct research, development, demonstra- tion, and commercialization of wind energy technologies in accordance with this sub- section. (B) Purposes The purposes of the program are the fol- lowing: (i) To improve the energy efficiency, cost effectiveness, reliability, resilience, secu- rity, siting, integration, manufacturability, installation, decom- missioning, and recyclability of wind en- ergy technologies. (ii) To optimize the performance and op- eration of wind energy components, tur- bines, and systems, including through the development of new materials, hardware, and software. (iii) To optimize the design and adapt- ability of wind energy technologies to the broadest practical range of geographic, at- mospheric, offshore, and other site condi- tions, including— (I) at varying hub heights; and (II) through the use of computer mod- eling. (iv) To support the integration of wind energy technologies with the electric grid and other energy technologies and sys- tems. (v) To reduce the cost, risk, and other potential negative impacts across the life- span of wind energy technologies, includ- ing— (I) manufacturing, siting, permitting, installation, operations, maintenance, decommissioning, and recycling; and (II) through the development of solu- tions to transportation barriers to wind components. (vi) To reduce and mitigate potential negative impacts of wind energy tech- nologies on human communities, the envi- ronment, or commerce. (vii) To address barriers to the commer- cialization and export of wind energy tech- nologies. (viii) To support the domestic wind in- dustry, workforce, and supply chain. (C) Targets Not later than 180 days after December 27, 2020, the Secretary shall establish targets for the program relating to near-term (up to 2 years), mid-term (up to 7 years), and long- term (up to 15 years) challenges to the ad- vancement of wind energy technologies, in- cluding onshore, offshore, distributed, and off-grid technologies. (2) Activities (A) Types of activities In carrying out the program, the Secretary shall carry out research, development, dem- onstration, and commercialization activi- ties, including— (i) awarding grants and awards, on a competitive, merit-reviewed basis; (ii) performing precompetitive research and development; (iii) establishing or maintaining dem- onstration facilities and projects, includ- ing through stewardship of existing facili- ties such as the National Wind Test Cen- ter; (iv) providing technical assistance; (v) entering into contracts and coopera- tive agreements; (vi) providing small business vouchers; (vii) establishing prize competitions; (viii) conducting education and outreach activities; (ix) conducting professional development activities; and (x) conducting analyses, studies, and re- ports. (B) Subject areas The Secretary shall carry out research, de- velopment, demonstration, and commer- cialization activities in the following subject areas: (i) Wind power plant siting, performance, operations, and security. (ii) New materials and designs relating to all hardware, software, and components of wind energy technologies, including Page 8813 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 16237 technologies and strategies that reduce the use of energy, water, critical mate- rials, and other commodities that are de- termined to be vulnerable to disruption. (iii) Advanced wind energy manufac- turing and installation technologies and practices, including materials, processes, such as onsite or near site manufacturing, and design. (iv) Offshore wind-specific projects and plants, including— (I) fixed and floating substructure sys- tems, materials, and components; (II) the operation of offshore facilities, such as— (aa) an offshore research facility to conduct research for oceanic, biologi- cal, geological, and atmospheric re- source characterization relevant to off- shore wind energy development in co- ordination with the ocean and atmos- pheric science communities; and (bb) an offshore support structure testing facility to conduct develop- ment, demonstration, and commer- cialization of large-scale and full-scale offshore wind energy support structure components and systems; (III) the monitoring and analysis of site and environmental considerations unique to offshore sites, including fresh- water environments. (v) Integration of wind energy tech- nologies with— (I) the electric grid, including trans- mission, distribution, microgrids, and distributed energy systems; and (II) other energy technologies, includ- ing— (aa) other generation sources; (bb) demand response technologies; and (cc) energy storage technologies. (vi) Methods to improve the lifetime, maintenance, decommissioning, recycling, reuse, and sustainability of wind energy components and systems, including tech- nologies and strategies to reduce the use of energy, water, critical materials, and other valuable or harmful inputs. (vii) Wind power forecasting and atmos- pheric measurement systems, including for turbines and plant systems of varying height. (viii) Integrated wind energy systems, grid-connected and off-grid, that incor- porate diverse— (I) generation sources; (II) loads; and (III) storage technologies. (ix) Reducing market barriers, including non-hardware and information-based bar- riers, to the adoption of wind energy tech- nologies, such as impacts on, or challenges relating to— (I) distributed wind technologies, in- cluding the development of best prac- tices, models, and voluntary streamlined processes for local siting and permitting of distributed wind energy systems to re- duce costs; (II) airspace; (III) military operations; (IV) radar; (V) local communities, with special consideration given to economically dis- tressed areas, previously disturbed lands such as landfills and former mines, and other areas disproportionately impacted by environmental pollution; (VI) wildlife and wildlife habitats; and (VII) any other appropriate matter, as determined by the Secretary. (x) Technologies or strategies to avoid, minimize, and offset the potential impacts of wind energy facilities on bird species, bat species, marine wildlife, and other sen- sitive species and habitats. (xi) Advanced physics-based and data analysis computational tools, in coordina- tion with the high-performance computing programs of the Department, to more effi- ciently design, site, permit, manufacture, install, operate, decommission, and recy- cle wind energy systems. (xii) Technologies for distributed wind, including micro, small, and medium tur- bines and the components of those tur- bines and their microgrid applications. (xiii) Transformational technologies for harnessing wind energy. (xiv) Other research areas that advance the purposes of the program, as deter- mined by the Secretary. (C) Prioritization In carrying out activities under the pro- gram, the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, give special consider- ation to— (i) projects that— (I) are located in a geographically di- verse range of eligible entities; (II) support the development or dem- onstration of projects— (aa) in economically distressed areas and areas disproportionately impacted by pollution; and (bb) that provide the greatest poten- tial to reduce energy costs, as well as promote accessibility and community implementation of demonstrated tech- nologies; (III) can be replicated in a variety of regions and climates; (IV) include business commercializa- tion plans that have the potential for— (aa) domestic manufacturing and production of wind energy tech- nologies; or (bb) exports of wind energy tech- nologies; and (V) are carried out in collaboration with Tribal energy development organi- zations, Indian Tribes, Tribal organiza- tions, Native Hawaiian community- based organizations, minority-serving institutions, or territories or freely asso- ciated States; and Page 8814 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 16237 (ii) with regards to professional develop- ment, activities that expand the number of individuals from underrepresented groups pursuing and attaining skills relevant to wind energy. (D) Coordination To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall coordinate activities under the program with other relevant programs and capabilities of the Department and other Federal research programs. (E) Use of funds To the extent that funding is not other- wise available through other Federal pro- grams or power purchase agreements, fund- ing awarded for demonstration projects may be used for additional nontechnology costs, as determined to be appropriate by the Sec- retary, such as engineering or feasibility studies. (F) Solicitation Not less than once every two years, the Secretary shall conduct a national solicita- tion for applications for demonstration projects under this section. (G) Report (i) In general Not later than 180 days after December 27, 2020, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech- nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re- sources of the Senate a report on the po- tential for, and technical viability of, air- borne wind energy systems to provide a significant source of energy in the United States. (ii) Contents The report under paragraph (1) shall in- clude a summary of research, develop- ment, demonstration, and commercializa- tion needs, including an estimate of Fed- eral funding requirements, to further ex- amine and validate the technical and eco- nomic viability of airborne wind energy concepts over the 10-year period beginning on December 27, 2020. (3) Wind technician training grant program The Secretary may award grants, on a com- petitive basis, to eligible entities to purchase large pieces of wind component equipment, such as nacelles, towers, and blades, for use in training wind technician students in onshore or offshore wind applications. (4) Wind energy technology recycling research, development, and demonstration program (A) In general In addition to the program activities de- scribed in paragraph (2), in carrying out the program, the Secretary shall award financial assistance to eligible entities for research, development, and demonstration, and com- mercialization projects to create innovative and practical approaches to increase the reuse and recycling of wind energy tech- nologies, including— (i) by increasing the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the recovery of raw mate- rials from wind energy technology compo- nents and systems, including enabling technologies such as inverters; (ii) by minimizing potential environ- mental impacts from the recovery and dis- posal processes; (iii) by advancing technologies and proc- esses for the disassembly and recycling of wind energy devices; (iv) by developing alternative materials, designs, manufacturing processes, and other aspects of wind energy technologies and the disassembly and resource recovery process that enable efficient, cost effec- tive, and environmentally responsible dis- assembly of, and resource recovery from, wind energy technologies; and (v) strategies to increase consumer ac- ceptance of, and participation in, the recy- cling of wind energy technologies. (B) Dissemination of results The Secretary shall make available to the public and the relevant committees of Con- gress the results of the projects carried out through financial assistance awarded under subparagraph (A), including— (i) development of best practices or training materials for use in the wind en- ergy technology manufacturing, design, installation, decommissioning, or recy- cling industries; (ii) dissemination at industry con- ferences; (iii) coordination with information dis- semination programs relating to recycling of electronic devices in general; (iv) demonstration projects; and (v) educational materials. (C) Priority In carrying out the activities authorized under this subsection, the Secretary shall give special consideration to projects that recover critical materials. (D) Sensitive information In carrying out the activities authorized under this subsection, the Secretary shall ensure proper security controls are in place to protect proprietary or sensitive informa- tion, as appropriate. (5) Wind energy technology materials physical property database (A) In general Not later than September 1, 2022, the Sec- retary shall establish a comprehensive phys- ical property database of materials for use in wind energy technologies, which shall identify the type, quantity, country of ori- gin, source, significant uses, projected avail- ability, and physical properties of materials used in wind energy technologies. (B) Coordination In establishing the database described in subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall co- ordinate and, to the extent practicable, avoid duplication with— Page 8815 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 16238 (i) other Department activities, includ- ing those carried out by the Office of Science; (ii) the Director of the National Insti- tute of Standards and Technology; (iii) the Administrator of the Environ- mental Protection Agency; (iv) the Secretary of the Interior; and (v) relevant industry stakeholders, as de- termined by the Secretary. (6) Wind energy program strategic vision (A) In general Not later than September 1, 2022, and every 6 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the strategic vision, progress, goals, and targets of the program, including assessments of wind en- ergy markets and manufacturing. (B) Preparation The Secretary shall coordinate the prepa- ration of the report under subparagraph (A) with— (i) existing peer review processes; (ii) studies conducted by the National Laboratories; and (iii) the multiyear program planning re- quired under section 16358 of this title. (7) Authorization of appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out the program $125,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025. (Pub. L. 116–260, div. Z, title III, § 3003, Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 2497.) Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Section was enacted as part of the Energy Act of 2020, and not as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 which comprises this chapter. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries APPLICATION Pub. L. 116–260, div. Z, title IX, § 9006(b), Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 2600, provided that: ‘‘The provisions of section 602 of the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3212) shall apply with respect to con- struction, alteration, or repair work of demonstration projects funded by grants or contracts authorized under sections 3001 [enacting part C of subchapter V of chap- ter 152 of this title], 3003 [enacting this section], 3004 [enacting section 16238 of this title], 5001 [enacting sec- tion 16298d of this title], and 8007 [enacting section 17389 of this title] and the amendments made by such sections.’’ § 16238. Solar energy research and development (a) Definitions In this section: (1) Critical material The term ‘‘critical material’’ has the mean- ing given the term in section 1606 of title 30. (2) Economically distressed area The term ‘‘economically distressed area’’ means an area described in section 3161(a) of this title. (3) Eligible entity The term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means— (A) an institution of higher education, in- cluding a minority-serving institution; (B) a National Laboratory; (C) a Federal research agency; (D) a State research agency; (E) a research agency associated with a territory or freely associated state; (F) a Tribal energy development organiza- tion; (G) an Indian Tribe; (H) a Tribal organization; (I) a Native Hawaiian community-based organization; (J) a nonprofit research organization; (K) an industrial entity; (L) any other entity, as determined by the Secretary; and (M) a consortium of 2 or more entities de- scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (L). (4) Indian Tribe The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ has the meaning given the term in section 5304 of title 25. (5) Institution of higher education The term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the meaning given the term in section 1001 of title 20. (6) Mine land The term ‘‘mine land’’ means— (A) land subject to titles IV and V of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1231 et seq.; 30 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); and (B) land that has been claimed or patented subject to sections 2319 through 2344 of the Revised Statutes (commonly known as the ‘‘Mining Law of 1872’’) (30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.). (7) Minority-serving institution The term ‘‘minority-serving institution’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘eligible institu- tion’’ in section 1067q(a) of title 20. (8) National Laboratory The term ‘‘National Laboratory’’ has the meaning given such term in section 15801(3) of this title. (9) Native Hawaiian community-based organi- zation The term ‘‘Native Hawaiian community- based organization’’ has the meaning given the term in section 7517 of title 20. (10) Photovoltaic device The term ‘‘photovoltaic device’’ means— (A) a device that converts light directly into electricity through a solid-state, semi- conductor process; (B) the photovoltaic cells of a device de- scribed in subparagraph (A); and (C) the electronic and electrical compo- nents of a device described in subparagraph (A). (11) Program The term ‘‘program’’ means the program es- tablished under subsection (b)(1)(A). (12) Secretary The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of Energy.