42 U.S.C. § 13362 — Innovative clean coal technology transfer program

(a) Establishment of program: The Secretary, through the Agency for International Development (AID) and after consulting the other CCT Subgroup members, must set up a clean coal technology transfer program to meet the purposes in subsection (b). Within 150 days of October 24, 1992, the Secretary and the AID Administrator had to sign a written agreement covering how to run this section, including a way to resolve disputes between them over specific projects. For countries AID does not assist, the Secretary may make agreements with other appropriate U.S. agencies. If the Secretary and the Administrator (or another agency) cannot agree, each must send the President a memo describing an acceptable agreement, and the President must pick one version within 90 days. Any agreement made under this subsection must go to the appropriate congressional committees and be made public. (b) Purposes of program: This technology transfer program aims to: (1) shrink the U.S. trade deficit by exporting U.S. energy technology and expertise; (2) keep and create U.S. manufacturing and service jobs; (3) encourage exporting U.S. technologies, and related services, to countries that need coal-based energy facilities; (4) build markets for U.S. technologies and, where suitable, U.S. coal, to meet foreign countries' energy and environmental needs; (5) make sure U.S. firms and U.S.-developed technologies participate in foreign energy projects; (6) speed up the deployment of U.S. technologies that let foreign countries use coal more efficiently, cheaply, and cleanly; (7) introduce U.S. firms and expertise into foreign countries; (8) give federal financial help so U.S. firms can take part more in financing, owning, designing, building, or running clean coal projects abroad; (9) help foreign countries meet their energy needs cleanly, consistent with sustainable development; and (10) help U.S. firms — especially those competing with foreign firms — get chances to transfer technology or run projects abroad. (c) Identification: Under the subsection (a) agreements, the Secretary — through AID and after consulting the CCT Subgroup, U.S. firms, and foreign representatives — must find ways to identify potential energy projects in host countries, and must list such projects within 240 days of October 24, 1992, and regularly after that. (d) Financial mechanisms: (1) Under the subsection (a) agreements, the Secretary, through AID, must (A) set up financial tools to help U.S. firms take part in foreign energy projects using U.S. clean coal technology; (B) use available financial assistance to offset help that foreign governments give non-U.S. firms; and (C) give financial assistance for projects, including (i) covering the extra costs of a clean coal project that come only from preventing or reducing emissions; (ii) covering the cost difference between a conventional energy project and a comparable clean coal project in the host country; and (iii) other forms of financial assistance the Secretary considers appropriate. (2) This financial assistance may be (A) combined with other funding, including non-U.S. funding available to the project, and (B) used to help U.S. firms build creative financing packages that draw on other federal programs. (3) U.S. obligations under the OECD's Arrangement on Guidelines for Officially Supported Export Credits apply to this section. (e) Solicitations for project proposals: (1) Under the subsection (a) agreements, within one year of October 24, 1992, and periodically after that, the Secretary — through AID — must ask U.S. firms for proposals to design, build, test, and run the projects identified under subsection (c) that would use U.S. technology. Each solicitation must set a closing date for proposals. (2) As much as appropriate, the solicitation must be modeled on RFP No. DE–PS01–90FE62271, Clean Coal Technology IV, as run by the Department of Energy. (3) Every solicitation must require: (A) the U.S. firm submitting a proposal to have an ownership stake in the project; (B) the project to use U.S. clean coal technology, related services, and — where appropriate — U.S. coal, to meet the host country's energy and environmental needs; and (C) proposals to be submitted and carried out by a U.S. firm, though a joint venture or other team-up with a non-U.S. company is allowed. (f) Assistance to United States firms: Under the subsection (a) agreements, the Secretary — through AID and in consultation with the CCT Subgroup — must set up a way to give U.S. firms financial assistance under this section for a subsection (c) project when the host country or a multilateral lender is running the solicitation. (g) Other program requirements: Under the subsection (a) agreements, the Secretary — through AID and in consultation with the CCT Subgroup — must (1) set rules for which countries can host projects; (2) regularly review such countries' energy needs and export chances for U.S. firms; (3) talk with host-country officials and, as appropriate, utility representatives, to gauge interest and support; and (4) decide whether each selected project is developmentally sound, using OECD Development Assistance Committee criteria. (h) Selection of projects: (1) Under the subsection (a) agreements, the Secretary — through AID — must, within 120 days of receiving proposals from an (e) solicitation, select one or more proposals. (2) In choosing, the Secretary must weigh: (A) whether the U.S. firm, working with the host country, can finish the project; (B) how much of the project's equipment is designed and made in the U.S.; (C) how technically and competitively strong the U.S. technology and related services are long-term, and whether the U.S. firm can compete for future projects using it; (D) how much the host country is technically and financially involved; (E) how well the project meets the goals in section 13331(a); (F) the participants' technical, financial, management, and marketing skills, and their commitment to a successful project that will help U.S. technology gain future acceptance; and (G) any other appropriate criteria. (3) Among proposed projects, the Secretary must try to pick ones that, compared to similar projects in the host country, meet one or more of these tests: (A) cutting pollution below what the law already requires; (B) making coal use more efficient, including energy conversion and coal-product output; or (C) being cheaper over the technology's life cycle, per unit of energy or product. Priority goes to projects that best meet these tests. (i) United States-Asia Environmental Partnership: Work under this section must be coordinated with the United States-Asia Environmental Partnership. (j) Buy America: In running this section, under the subsection (a) agreements, the Secretary — through AID — must ensure (1) at least 50 percent of the cost of any equipment used in a section project comes from U.S.-made components, and (2) U.S. firms participate as much as possible. When figuring whether U.S. components reach 50 percent, the cost of assembling those components in the host country does not count. (k) Reports to Congress: The Secretary and the AID Administrator must report every year to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the appropriate House committees on progress introducing clean coal technologies abroad. (l) "Host country" defined: In this section, a "host country" is a foreign country that (1) hosts or takes part in the proposed clean coal project, and (2) either (A) qualifies for AID development assistance under applicable law, or (B) is a developing country or one moving from a state-run to a market economy. (m) Authorization of appropriations: Congress authorized $100,000,000 for the Secretary for each of fiscal years 1993 through 1998 to run this program.