|
U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 5906. Federal assistance and participation in programs
(a) Forms of activities authorized
In carrying out the objectives of this chapter, the Secretary may
utilize various forms of Federal assistance and participation which
may include but are not limited to -
(1) joint Federal-industry experimental, demonstration, or
commercial corporations consistent with the provisions of
subsection (b) of this section;
(2) contractual arrangements with non-Federal participants
including corporations, consortia, universities, governmental
entities and nonprofit institutions;
(3) contracts for the construction and operation of federally
owned facilities;
(4) Federal purchases or guaranteed price of the products of
demonstration plants or activities consistent with the provisions
of subsection (c) of the section;
(5) Federal loans to non-Federal entities conducting
demonstrations of new technologies;
(6) incentives, including financial awards, to individual
inventors, such incentives to be designed to encourage the
participation of a large number of such inventors; and
(7) Federal loan guarantees and commitments thereof as provided
in section 5919 )1(! of this title.
(b) Proposed joint Federal-industry corporations; operational
guidelines; powers, duties, and functions; composition; scope of
Federal assistance and participation; specific authorization
Joint Federal-industry corporations proposed for congressional
authorization pursuant to this chapter shall be subject to the
provisions of section 5908 of this title and shall conform to the
following guidelines except as otherwise authorized by Congress:
(1) Each such corporation may design, construct, operate, and
maintain one or more experimental, demonstration, or
commercial-size facilities, or other operations which will
ascertain the technical, environmental, and economic feasibility
of a particular energy technology. In carrying out this function,
the corporation shall be empowered, either directly or by
contract, to utilize commercially available technologies, perform
tests, or design, construct, and operate pilot plants, as may be
necessary for the design of the full-scale facility.
(2) Each corporation shall have -
(A) a Board of nine directors consisting of individuals who
are citizens of the United States, of whom one shall be elected
annually by the Board to serve as Chairman. The Board shall be
empowered to adopt and amend bylaws. Five members of the Board
shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by
and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and four members
of the Board shall be appointed by the President on the basis
of recommendations received by him from any non-Federal entity
or entities entering into contractual arrangements to
participate in the corporation;
(B) a President and such other officers and employees as may
be named and appointed by the Board (with the rates of
compensation of all officers and employees being fixed by the
Board); and
(C) the usual powers conferred upon corporations by the laws
of the District of Columbia.
(3) An appropriate time interval, not to exceed 12 years, shall
be established for the term of Federal participation in the
corporation, at the expiration of which the Board of Directors
shall take such action as may be necessary to dissolve the
corporation or otherwise terminate Federal participation and
financial interests. In carrying out such dissolution, the Board
of Directors shall dispose of all physical facilities of the
corporation in such manner and subject to such terms and
conditions as the Board determines are in the public interest and
consistent with existing law; and a share of the appraised value
of the corporate assets proportional to the Federal participation
in the corporation, including the proceeds from the disposition
of such facilities, on the date of its dissolution, after
satisfaction of all its legal obligations, shall be made
available to the United States and deposited in the Treasury of
the United States as miscellaneous receipts. All patent rights of
the corporation shall, on such date of dissolution, be vested in
the Secretary: Provided, That Federal participation may be
terminated prior to the time established in the authorizing Act
upon recommendation of the Board of Directors.
(4) Any commercially valuable product produced by demonstration
facilities shall be disposed of in such manner and under such
terms and conditions as the corporation shall prescribe. All
revenues received by the corporation from the sale of such
products shall be available to the corporation for use by it in
defraying expenses incurred in connection with carrying out its
functions to which this chapter applies.
(5) The estimated Federal share of the construction, operation,
and maintenance cost over the life of each corporation shall be
determined in order to facilitate a single congressional
authorization of the full amount at the time of establishment of
the corporation.
(6) The Federal share of the cost of each such corporation
shall reflect (A) the technical and economic risk of the venture,
(B) the probability of any financial return to the non-Federal
participants arising from the venture, (C) the financial
capability of the potential non-Federal participants, and (D)
such other factors as the Secretary may set forth in proposing
the corporation: Provided, That in no instance shall the Federal
share exceed 90 per centum of the cost.
(7) No such corporation shall be established unless previously
authorized by specific legislation enacted by the Congress.
(c) Proposed competitive systems of price supports for
demonstration facilities; guidelines
Competitive systems of price supports proposed for congressional
authorization pursuant to this chapter shall conform to the
following guidelines:
(1) The Secretary shall determine the types and capacities of
the desired full-scale, commercial-size facility or other
operation which would demonstrate the technical, environmental,
and economic feasibility of a particular nonnuclear energy
technology.
(2) The Secretary may award planning grants for the purpose of
financing a study of the full cycle economic and environmental
costs associated with the demonstration facility selected
pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection. Such planning
grants may be awarded to Federal and non-Federal entities
including, but not limited to, industrial entities, universities,
and nonprofit organizations. Such planning grants may also be
used by the grantee to prepare a detailed and comprehensive bid
to construct the demonstration facility.
(3) Following the completion of the studies pursuant to the
planning grants awarded under paragraph (2) of this subsection
regarding each such potential price supported demonstration
facility for which the Secretary intends to request congressional
authorization, he shall invite bids from all interested parties
to determine the minimum amount of Federal price support needed
to construct the demonstration facility. The Secretary may
designate one or more competing entities, each to construct one
commercial demonstration facility. Such designation shall be made
on the basis of those entities, (A) commitment to construct the
demonstration facility at the minimum level of Federal price
supports, (B) detailed plan of environmental protection, and (C)
proposed design and operation of the demonstration facility.
(4) The construction plans and actual construction of the
demonstration facility, together with all related facilities,
shall be monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency. If
additional environmental requirements are imposed by the
Secretary after the designation of the successful bidders and if
such additional environmental requirements result in additional
costs, the Secretary is authorized to renegotiate the support
price to cover such additional costs.
(5) The estimated amount of the Federal price support for a
demonstration facility's product over the life of such facility
shall be determined by the Secretary to facilitate a single
congressional authorization of the full amount of such support at
the time of the designation of the successful bidders.
(6) No price support program shall be implemented unless
previously authorized by specific legislation enacted by the
Congress.
(d) Support for joint university-industry research efforts
Nothing in this section shall preclude Federal participation in,
and support for, joint university-industry nonnuclear energy
research efforts.
|
|