HouseH.R. 9478119th Congress
Methane Removal Research and Innovation Act of 2026
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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9478 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9478
To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a research initiative
to develop technologies to remove methane from the atmosphere, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 25, 2026
Mr. Mullin (for himself, Mrs. Miller of West Virginia, and Ms. Salinas)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Energy to establish a research initiative
to develop technologies to remove methane from the atmosphere, 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 ``Methane Removal Research and
Innovation Act of 2026''.
SEC. 2. METHANE REMOVAL RESEARCH INITIATIVE.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the
Senate.
(2) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given such
term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1001(a)).
(3) Methane removal approach.--The term ``methane removal
approach'' means enhancing sinks by breaking down methane in,
or removing methane from, the ambient atmosphere through a
physical, chemical, or biological method, or combination
thereof.
(4) 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).
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Energy.
(b) Methane Removal.--
(1) Establishment.--
(A) In general.--Not later than one year after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
establish a research initiative, to be known as the
``Methane Removal Research Initiative'' (in this
section referred to as the ``Initiative''), to expand
the scientific understanding of chemistry, geosciences,
biosciences, atmospheric sciences, earth and
environmental systems sciences, engineering, materials,
social sciences, and ethics useful for the practical
development of methane removal approaches.
(B) Implementation.--In carrying out the
Initiative, the Secretary shall seek to the greatest
extent practicable to leverage expertise and resources
from the following:
(i) The Office of Science of the Department
of Energy, especially the Basic Energy Sciences
Program and the Biological and Environmental
Research Program of such Office.
(ii) The Office of Fossil Energy of the
Department of Energy.
(iii) The Advanced Research Projects
Agency-Energy.
(iv) The National Science Foundation.
(v) The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.
(vi) The Environmental Protection Agency.
(vii) The Department of Agriculture.
(viii) The United States Geological Survey.
(ix) The Department of the Interior.
(x) The National Aeronautics and Space
Administration.
(xi) The National Institute of Standards
and Technology.
(2) Methane removal.--
(A) In general.--Through the Initiative, the
Secretary shall organize activities among
multidisciplinary teams, consisting of experts from
National Laboratories, institutions of higher
education, private sector entities, and other
appropriate entities to support research, development,
demonstration, and commercial application activities
examining the feasibility, costs, potential scale,
social barriers, and the practical development of
methane removal approaches.
(B) Research goals.--The activities described in
subparagraph (A) shall include defining and satisfying
milestone-driven research goals relating to examining
the following:
(i) Existing mechanisms of atmospheric
oxidation and atmospheric oxidative capacity.
(ii) Methanotrophy enhancement.
(iii) Biological methods involving plants.
(iv) Methane concentrators and breakdown
reactors.
(v) Methane breakdown coatings and other
new materials.
(vi) Other new and existing methane removal
approaches.
(vii) Tools to assess atmospheric methane
removal methods.
(viii) Science communication and public
engagement materials.
(C) Consistency with national academies report.--
The research goals described in subparagraph (B) shall
be informed by the National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine report entitled ``A Research
Agenda Toward Atmospheric Methane Removal''.
(D) Organization.--The Secretary is authorized to
organize research activities under this paragraph
through single Principal Investigator awards, small
research groups, Energy Frontier Research Centers,
Energy Innovation Hubs, or other organizational
structures.
(E) Resources.--The Secretary shall provide
sufficient resources for the purpose of satisfying the
goals specified in subparagraph (B) over a period of
time to be determined by the Secretary.
(3) Report to congress.--Not later than three years after
the date of the enactment of this Act and every three years
thereafter, the Secretary, in consultation with the heads of
other relevant Department of Energy applied energy and
commercialization offices, the Administrator of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency, and other relevant Federal
officials at the Secretary's discretion, shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a brief report detailing
the following:
(A) Research activities and goals under paragraph
(2).
(B) Progress toward meeting such goals.
(C) A summary of the state of scientific knowledge
on methane removal approaches, including key knowledge
gaps and proposed research to fill such knowledge gaps.
(D) Resource limitations and needs.
(E) Recommendations for future activities to
advance methane removal technologies.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $25,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2027 through 2031.
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