Expanding Access to Sustainable Energy Act of 2019
Floor Speech
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Mr. LUJAN. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the CBO score on this legislation. CBO's Estimate of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Effects of Rules Committee Print 116-63, H.R. 4447, The Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act, Including Manager's Amendment (Pallone 170), as Reported by the Committee on Rules on September 21, 2020
The Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 establishes budget- reporting and enforcement procedures for legislation affecting direct spending or revenues. The net changes in outlays and revenues that are subject to those procedures are shown here.
H.R. 4447 would modify existing laws and policies governing the energy sector. CBO estimates that the provisions noted below would have an insignificant effect on net direct spending, revenues, and the deficit over the 2020-2030 period.
Subtitle C of Title I would require federal agencies and data centers to implement strategies to acquire, use, and maintain information technologies expected to increase energy efficiency. Those provisions could affect direct spending if agencies procure energy-efficient technologies using longterm contracts known as energy savings performance contracts.
Subtitle F of Title II would allow operators with certain federal leases to noncompetitively acquire the rights to coproduce geothermal resources under that lease and to noncompetitively lease land adjoining that lease. CBO expects that few leases would be affected by this provision.
Subtitle C of Title IV would reduce revenues by extending quotas for imports of uranium from Russia until 2040, which under current law are set to expire in 2020.
Title XI would allow aggrieved persons to sue entities, such as local governments, for discrimination that occurs in the context of implementing environmental projects or regulations promulgated by federal agencies. CBO expects that provision would increase the number of suits filed in federal court. Those changes would increase both revenues (from court filing fees) and spending of those fees.
H.R. 4447 also would authorize the appropriation of more than $125 billion over the 2021-2025 period for various programs related to clean energy. Any spending would be subject to the availability of appropriations for those programs.
H.R. 4447 contains intergovernmental and private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). CBO estimates that the costs of mandates on private entities would exceed the private-sector threshold established in UMRA, and the costs of mandates on state, local, and tribal governments would fall below the threshold for intergovernmental mandates (those thresholds are $168 million and $84 million in 2020, respectively, adjusted annually for inflation).
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Mr. LUJAN. Mr. Speaker, I would also be happy to share this with my colleague and my friend from Louisiana. The CBO score on this is zero. So I will make sure I hand this over to him, as well, to take a look.
Mr. Speaker, at home in New Mexico, we are very proud of our national labs, three national labs, two at the Department of Energy. New Mexico has seen the value that the United States Department of Energy brings to the fight against COVID-19.
Through our national labs, the Department has provided support to the National Institutes of Health and other government agencies, leveraged its scientific resources, but did a lot of work to improve the epidemiological models and much more.
The Department of Energy has another important role to play by helping to restart America's innovation economy, creating jobs, and moving us toward economic recovery.
My amendment with Representatives Wilson, Torres Small, and Casten, and based on the IMPACT for Energy Act, would help the Department achieve these goals by establishing the Department of Energy-affiliated nonprofit foundation to raise private-sector funds and leverage expertise that supports the research, development, and commercial application of technologies that address our Nation's energy challenges and combat climate change.
This model works. The National Institutes of Health, CDC, and USDA foundations have already demonstrated that they can raise billions of private-sector dollars to support research and innovation. And innovation, in turn, drives economic growth.
To enhance these efforts as part of the clean energy economy, we have the Clean Economy Jobs and Innovation Act.
We will also be advancing my legislation to improve innovators' access to national lab facilities and to develop the next generation of tech leaders through partnership between national labs and institutions of higher education.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this en bloc amendment and the underlying bill.
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