42 U.S.C. § 6343 — Waste energy recovery incentive grant

Page 6790 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 6343 ance Partnership Program. See section 6345 of this title. PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 6342, Pub. L. 94–163, title III, § 372, Dec. 22, 1975, 89 Stat. 936; Pub. L. 95–91, title III, § 301(a), title VII, §§ 703, 707, Aug. 4, 1977, 91 Stat. 577, 606, 607; Pub. L. 95–619, title VI, § 691(b)(2), Nov. 9, 1978, 92 Stat. 3288, re- lated to establishment and maintenance of an energy efficiency program, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 99–509, title III, § 3101(b), Oct. 21, 1986, 100 Stat. 1888. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective on the date that is 1 day after Dec. 19, 2007, see section 1601 of Pub. L. 110–140, set out as a note under section 1824 of Title 2, The Congress. § 6343. Waste energy recovery incentive grant program (a) Establishment The Secretary shall establish in the Depart- ment of Energy a waste energy recovery incen- tive grant program to provide incentive grants to— (1) owners and operators of projects that suc- cessfully produce electricity or incremental useful thermal energy from waste energy re- covery; (2) utilities purchasing or distributing the electricity; and (3) States that have achieved 80 percent or more of recoverable waste heat recovery op- portunities. (b) Grants to projects and utilities (1) In general The Secretary shall make grants under this section— (A) to the owners or operators of waste en- ergy recovery projects; and (B) in the case of excess power purchased or transmitted by a electric utility, to the utility. (2) Proof Grants may only be made under this section on receipt of proof of waste energy recovery or excess electricity generation, or both, from the project in a form prescribed by the Sec- retary. (3) Excess electric energy (A) In general In the case of waste energy recovery, a grant under this section shall be made at the rate of $10 per megawatt hour of documented electricity produced from recoverable waste energy (or by prevention of waste energy in the case of a new facility) by the project during the first 3 calendar years of produc- tion, beginning on or after December 19, 2007. (B) Utilities If the project produces net excess power and an electric utility purchases or trans- mits the excess power, 50 percent of so much of the grant as is attributable to the net ex- cess power shall be paid to the electric util- ity purchasing or transporting the net ex- cess power. (4) Useful thermal energy In the case of waste energy recovery that produces useful thermal energy that is used for a purpose different from that for which the project is principally designed, a grant under this section shall be made to the owner or op- erator of the waste energy recovery project at the rate of $10 for each 3,412,000 Btus of the ex- cess thermal energy used for the different pur- pose. (c) Grants to States In the case of any State that has achieved 80 percent or more of waste heat recovery opportu- nities identified by the Secretary under this part, the Administrator shall make a 1-time grant to the State in an amount of not more than $1,000 per megawatt of waste-heat capacity recovered (or a thermal equivalent) to support State-level programs to identify and achieve ad- ditional energy efficiency. (d) Eligibility The Secretary shall— (1) establish rules and guidelines to establish eligibility for grants under subsection (b); (2) publicize the availability of the grant program known to owners or operators of re- coverable waste energy sources and sites listed on the Registry; and (3) award grants under the program on the basis of the merits of each project in recov- ering or preventing waste energy throughout the United States on an impartial, objective, and not unduly discriminatory basis. (e) Limitation The Secretary shall not award grants to any person for a combined heat and power project or a waste heat recovery project that qualifies for specific Federal tax incentives for combined heat and power or for waste heat recovery. (f) Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary— (1) to make grants to projects and utilities under subsection (b)— (A) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2012; and (B) such additional amounts for fiscal year 2008 and each fiscal year thereafter as may be necessary for administration of the waste energy recovery incentive grant program; and (2) to make grants to States under sub- section (b), $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012, to remain available until ex- pended. (Pub. L. 94–163, title III, § 373, as added Pub. L. 110–140, title IV, § 451(a), Dec. 19, 2007, 121 Stat. 1627.) Editorial Notes PRIOR PROVISIONS A prior section 6343, Pub. L. 94–163, title III, § 373, Dec. 22, 1975, 89 Stat. 936; Pub. L. 95–619, title VI, §§ 601(a), 691(b)(2), Nov. 9, 1978, 92 Stat. 3282, 3288, related to iden- tification of major energy-consuming industries and corporations in the United States, prior to repeal by Page 6791 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 6344 Pub. L. 99–509, title III, § 3101(b), Oct. 21, 1986, 100 Stat. 1888. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective on the date that is 1 day after Dec. 19, 2007, see section 1601 of Pub. L. 110–140, set out as a note under section 1824 of Title 2, The Congress. § 6344. Additional incentives for recovery, use, and prevention of industrial waste energy (a) Consideration of standard (1) In general Not later than 180 days after the receipt by a State regulatory authority (with respect to each electric utility for which the authority has ratemaking authority), or nonregulated electric utility, of a request from a project sponsor or owner or operator, the State regu- latory authority or nonregulated electric util- ity shall— (A) provide public notice and conduct a hearing respecting the standard established by subsection (b); and (B) on the basis of the hearing, consider and make a determination whether or not it is appropriate to implement the standard to carry out the purposes of this part. (2) Relationship to State law For purposes of any determination under paragraph (1) and any review of the determina- tion in any court, the purposes of this section supplement otherwise applicable State law. (3) Nonadoption of standard Nothing in this part prohibits any State reg- ulatory authority or nonregulated electric utility from making any determination that it is not appropriate to adopt any standard de- scribed in paragraph (1), pursuant to authority under otherwise applicable State law. (b) Standard for sales of excess power For purposes of this section, the standard re- ferred to in subsection (a) shall provide that an owner or operator of a waste energy recovery project identified on the Registry that generates net excess power shall be eligible to benefit from at least 1 of the options described in subsection (c) for disposal of the net excess power in ac- cordance with the rate conditions and limita- tions described in subsection (d). (c) Options The options referred to in subsection (b) are as follows: (1) Sale of net excess power to utility The electric utility shall purchase the net excess power from the owner or operator of the eligible waste energy recovery project during the operation of the project under a contract entered into for that purpose. (2) Transport by utility for direct sale to third party The electric utility shall transmit the net excess power on behalf of the project owner or operator to up to 3 separate locations on the system of the utility for direct sale by the owner or operator to third parties at those lo- cations. (3) Transport over private transmission lines The State and the electric utility shall per- mit, and shall waive or modify such laws as would otherwise prohibit, the construction and operation of private electric wires con- structed, owned, and operated by the project owner or operator, to transport the power to up to 3 purchasers within a 3-mile radius of the project, allowing the wires to use or cross public rights-of-way, without subjecting the project to regulation as a public utility, and according the wires the same treatment for safety, zoning, land use, and other legal privi- leges as apply or would apply to the wires of the utility, except that— (A) there shall be no grant of any power of eminent domain to take or cross private property for the wires; and (B) the wires shall be physically seg- regated and not interconnected with any portion of the system of the utility, except on the customer side of the revenue meter of the utility and in a manner that precludes any possible export of the electricity onto the utility system, or disruption of the sys- tem. (4) Agreed on alternatives The utility and the owner or operator of the project may reach agreement on any alternate arrangement and payments or rates associated with the arrangement that is mutually satis- factory and in accord with State law. (d) Rate conditions and criteria (1) Definitions In this subsection: (A) Per unit distribution costs The term ‘‘per unit distribution costs’’ means (in kilowatt hours) the quotient ob- tained by dividing— (i) the depreciated book-value distribu- tion system costs of a utility; by (ii) the volume of utility electricity sales or transmission during the previous year at the distribution level. (B) Per unit distribution margin The term ‘‘per unit distribution margin’’ means— (i) in the case of a State-regulated elec- tric utility, a per-unit gross pretax profit equal to the product obtained by multi- plying— (I) the State-approved percentage rate of return for the utility for distribution system assets; by (II) the per unit distribution costs; and (ii) in the case of a nonregulated utility, a per unit contribution to net revenues de- termined multiplying— (I) the percentage (but not less than 10 percent) obtained by dividing— (aa) the amount of any net revenue payment or contribution to the owners or subscribers of the nonregulated util- ity during the prior year; by (bb) the gross revenues of the utility during the prior year to obtain a per- centage; by