HouseH.R. 10684119th Congress
DOE Bioenergy Program Reauthorization Act
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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10684 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10684
To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to support the research and
development of bioenergy and renewable chemicals at the Department of
Energy, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 1, 2026
Mrs. McClain Delaney (for herself, Ms. Ross, and Ms. Lofgren)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to support the research and
development of bioenergy and renewable chemicals at the Department of
Energy, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``DOE Bioenergy Program
Reauthorization Act''.
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY BIOENERGY PROGRAM.
Section 932 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16232) is
amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 932. BIOENERGY PROGRAM.
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Biobased products.--The term `biobased product' means
an intermediate chemical, material or end use product, such as
bioplastic produced from biomass, waste streams, or
biomanufacturing.
``(2) Bioeconomy.--The term `bioeconomy' means economic
activity derived from the life sciences, particularly in the
areas of biotechnology and biomanufacturing, and includes
industries, products, services, and the workforce.
``(3) Bioenergy.--The term `bioenergy' means energy,
including biofuels and biopower, derived in whole or in
significant part from biomass.
``(4) Biofuels.--The term `biofuels' means solid, liquid,
or gaseous fuel produced from biomass, waste streams, or
through biomanufacturing.
``(5) Biointermediate.--The term `biointermediate' means an
intermediate product that is derived from biomass or waste
streams.
``(6) Biomass.--The term `biomass' means any material of
biological origin that is available on a renewable or recurring
basis.
``(7) Biomanufacturing.--The term `biomanufacturing' means
the use of biological systems, including the use of biomass as
a feedstock, to produce commercially important goods and
services.
``(8) Biopower.--The term `biopower' means the generation
of electricity or process steam or both through the combustion
of biomass or waste streams.
``(9) Biorefinery.--The term `biorefinery' means a facility
that integrates conversion processes and equipment to produce
fuels or other byproduct streams, such as power and chemicals
intermediates from biomass or waste streams.
``(10) Biotechnology.--The term `biotechnology' means
technology that applies to or is enabled by life sciences
innovation or product development.
``(11) Circular bioeconomy.--The term `circular bioeconomy'
means economic activity derived from the life sciences,
particularly in the areas of biotechnology and
biomanufacturing, that focuses on the sustainable or resource-
efficient valorization of biomass, including waste streams and
other sources of carbon.
``(12) Federal research agency.--The term `Federal research
agency' means any Federal agency with an annual extramural
research expenditure of over $100,000,000 in fiscal year 2025
constant dollars.
``(13) Historically black college or university.--The term
`historically Black college or university' has the meaning
given the term `part B institution' in section 322 of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1061).
``(14) Institution of higher education.--The term
`institution of higher education' has the meaning given such
term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1001).
``(15) Lignocellulosic feedstock.--The term
`lignocellulosic feedstock' means any portion of a plant or
coproduct from conversion, including crops, trees, forest
residues, and agricultural residues not specifically grown for
food, including from barley grain, grapeseed, rice bran, rice
hulls, rice straw, soybean matter, and sugarcane bagasse.
``(16) Minority-serving institution.--The term `minority-
serving institution' means the following:
``(A) A Hispanic-serving institution (as such term
is defined in section 502(a) of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1101a(a))).
``(B) An Alaska Native serving institution or
Native Hawaiian-serving institution (as such term is
defined in section 317(b) of the Higher Education Act
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1059d(b))).
``(C) A Predominantly Black institution, Asian
American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving
institution, or Native American-serving nontribal
institution (as such terms are defined in section
371(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1067q(c))).
``(17) National laboratory.--The term `National Laboratory'
has the meaning given such term in section 2 of the Energy
Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15801).
``(18) Phytobiome.--The term `phytobiome' means a network
of interactions of plants, their associated communities of
organisms, and their environmental context.
``(19) Tribal college or university.--The term `Tribal
College or University' has the meaning given such term in
section 316 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1059c).
``(20) Waste streams.--The term `waste streams' includes
municipal solid waste, food waste, urban wood waste,
construction and demolition wastes, animal manures, food
processing and fermentation waste, sewage, biogas, industrial
waste gases, carbon oxides, atmospheric oxides, and waste gases
that are effluents or byproduct streams from various societal
pursuits that are targeted toward disposal, discharge, or
burning.
``(b) Program.--The Secretary shall conduct a program of research,
development, demonstration, and commercial application for bioenergy
and renewable chemicals and materials (in this section referred to as
the `Program'), to carry out the following:
``(1) Identify and address technical challenges, as well as
research and development opportunities, that support the
availability of the following:
``(A) Renewable carbon resources, including biomass
feedstocks, waste streams, and aquatic biomass, used as
feedstocks for bioenergy, biobased products, or other
purposes.
``(B) Technologies and processes, including
fermentation, that break down or convert biomass or
waste streams to useful biointermediates, biofuels, or
biobased products.
``(C) Analyses, tests, and verifications for scale-
up and deployment efforts, including how to integrate
diverse components, unit operations, or subsystems to
develop streamlined biomanufacturing processes.
``(D) Data, modeling, analysis, and tools to
identify and examine high value products and the
decarbonization potential for a circular bioeconomy.
``(2) Work with industry partners to identify priority
research, development, and demonstration needs, especially
regarding the commercialization of sustainable aviation fuel,
other strategic transportation fuels, bioenergy, and renewable
chemicals and materials.
``(3) Leverage data and modeling, including the development
of tools and resources, to understand and quantify
environmental and economic effects of emerging biofuel and
biobased product technologies.
``(4) Support sustainability research, including the
environmental, social, and economic effects of growing and
using large quantities of biomass, and identify strategies to
integrate biomass and bioenergy production into existing
agricultural and forestry systems.
``(5) Support workforce development activities, including
training at all levels that expands opportunities for untapped
populations, develops new career pathways, and supports the
full range of technology-driven jobs to meet domestic workforce
demand.
``(6) Develop hiring and funding decisions, project plans,
and community engagement to benefit all citizens regardless of
background, socioeconomic status, location, or any other
factor.
``(7) Conduct strategic communications with relevant
external stakeholders.
``(c) Coordination and Collaboration.--As part of the Program, the
Secretary, as practicable and appropriate, shall coordinate and
collaborate on the following:
``(1) International and interagency efforts involving
bioenergy, renewable chemicals and materials, and the
bioeconomy, including activities through the following:
``(A) The Biomass Research and Development Board
established pursuant to section 9008 of the Farm
Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C.
8108).
``(B) The interagency entity relating to
sustainable chemistry (popularly referred to as the
`Sustainable Chemistry Strategy Team') under subtitle E
of title II of division A of the William M. (Mac)
Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116-283; 15 U.S.C. 9301 et
seq.).
``(C) The National Engineering Biology Research and
Development Initiative (section 10402 of the Research
and Development, Competition, and Innovation Act; 42
U.S.C. 19132).
``(2) Education and workforce development activities with
Federal agencies (including the National Science Foundation),
private sector entities, National Laboratories, institutions of
higher education, including historically Black colleges and
universities, Minority-serving institutions, and Tribal
Colleges and Universities, Tribal governments, rural community
stakeholders, nonprofit organizations, and international bodies
with relevant scientific expertise.
``(3) Engagement with and identification of bioenergy and
renewable chemicals and materials research, development,
demonstration, and commercial needs of the following:
``(A) The Department of Agriculture.
``(B) The Department of Transportation.
``(C) The Department of Defense.
``(D) The National Science Foundation.
``(E) The National Institute of Standards and
Technology.
``(4) Other research, development, demonstration,
extension, and commercial activities relating to bioenergy and
renewable chemicals and materials with other relevant Federal
research agencies.
``(d) Process Development Facilities.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than two years after the date
of the enactment of this section and as a part of the Program,
the Secretary shall support at least four small-scale process
development or scale-up facilities to assist researchers,
industry, and the agricultural community in de-risking
bioenergy technologies and in producing small quantities of
advanced biofuels and biobased products for testing purposes.
The Secretary shall ensure such facilities are geographically
and technically diverse.
``(2) Request for information.--Not later than 90 days
after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary
shall publish a request for information that shall be used by
the Secretary to evaluate the following:
``(A) Existing process development facilities in
the United States, including facilities dedicated to
gas fermentation technologies.
``(B) Best practices, including artificial
intelligence-ready data collection methods, for
collaboration at such facilities.
``(C) Gaps and opportunities for incorporating
innovation in manufacturing at such facilities.
``(D) How data derived at such facilities
translates to the next scale-up of bioenergy
technologies and how such data has enabled
computational modeling.
``(3) Access.--The Secretary shall ensure that access to
the facilities described in paragraph (2) is provided to
eligible researchers on a competitive, technical merit-reviewed
basis for activities that demonstrate advanced bioenergy
technologies with the potential to lower the cost and improve
the environmental impact of advanced biofuels and products,
including improving the release of data to broaden the
dissemination of information.
``(e) Bioenergy Incubator Funding.--
``(1) In general.--As a part of the Program, the Secretary
shall award grants and cooperative agreements on a competitive,
technical merit-reviewed basis to eligible entities to support
innovative technologies that are not represented in a
significant way in the following:
``(A) The portfolio of bioenergy research
activities carried out by the Department of Energy as
of the date of the enactment of this section.
``(B) Technology roadmaps used by the Department of
Energy as of such date of enactment.
``(2) Implementation.--In carrying out this subsection, the
Secretary, as appropriate, shall coordinate across all relevant
Department program offices, including the Office of Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Advanced Research Projects
Agency-Energy, the Office of Science, the Office of Technology
Transfer, the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, and the
Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management.
``(f) Integrated Biorefinery Demonstration Projects.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall carry out a program
to demonstrate the commercial application of integrated
biorefineries. The Secretary shall ensure geographical
distribution of biorefinery demonstrations under such program.
In making awards under such program, the Secretary shall
encourage the following:
``(A) The demonstration of a wide variety of
lignocellulosic feedstock and other forms of
feedstocks.
``(B) The commercial application of biomass
technologies for a variety of uses, including the
following:
``(i) Liquid transportation fuels.
``(ii) High-value biobased chemicals.
``(iii) Production of strategic or valuable
biointermediates.
``(iv) Substitutes for petroleum-based
feedstocks and products.
``(v) Energy in the form of electricity or
useful heat.
``(C) The incorporation of advanced manufacturing
technologies such as integrated and continuous
manufacturing, automated systems, advanced sensors,
digital modeling, and other technologies that can
improve the efficiency, productivity, and
sustainability of biorefineries.
``(D) The demonstration of the collection and
treatment of a variety of biomass feedstocks.
``(2) Proposals.--Not later than six months after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall solicit
proposals for demonstrations of integrated biorefineries
referred to in paragraph (1). The Secretary shall select only
proposals that demonstrate that the project at issue will be
able to operate profitably without direct Federal subsidy after
initial construction costs are funded.
``(g) University Biodiesel Program.--The Secretary shall establish
a demonstration program to determine the feasibility of the operation
of diesel electric power generators, using biodiesel fuels with ratings
as high as B100, at electric generation facilities owned by
institutions of higher education. Such program shall examine the
following:
``(1) Heat rates of diesel fuels with large quantities of
cellulosic content.
``(2) The reliability of operation of various fuel blends.
``(3) Performance in cold or freezing weather.
``(4) Stability of fuel after extended storage.
``(5) Other criteria, as determined by the Secretary.
``(h) Strategic Plan.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than one year after the date
of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall--
``(A) develop a strategic plan to implement the
Program; and
``(B) annually update such plan.
``(2) Scope.--The strategic plan required under paragraph
(1) shall address near-term (up to two years), mid-term (up to
seven years), and long-term (up to 15 years) research
challenges to the advancement of biofuels and biobased
products, including opportunities to work with other Federal
departments and agencies and external stakeholders to establish
a more findable, accessible, interoperable, and responsible
data ecosystem for the United States bioeconomy.
``(3) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of
the enactment of this section and at least once every two years
thereafter, the Secretary shall provide, and make available to
the public and Congress, a report on the findings of research
conducted and activities carried out pursuant to this section,
including the most current strategic plan under paragraph (1)
and the progress made in implementing such plan.
``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section the following:
``(1) $318,150,000 for fiscal year 2027.
``(2) $334,057,500 for fiscal year 2028.
``(3) $350,760,375 for fiscal year 2029.
``(4) $368,299,000 for fiscal year 2030.
``(5) $368,713,950 for fiscal year 2031.''.
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