[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7685 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7685
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 24, 2024
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To strengthen and enhance the competitiveness of American industry
through the research and development of advanced technologies to
improve the efficiency of cement, concrete, and asphalt production, 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 ``Innovative Mitigation Partnerships
for Asphalt and Concrete Technologies Act'' or the ``IMPACT Act''.
SEC. 2. ADVANCED CEMENT, CONCRETE, AND ASPHALT PRODUCTION RESEARCH
PROGRAM.
(a) Program.--Part I of subtitle C of title V of the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58) is amended by inserting
after section 40522 the following new section:
``SEC. 40523. ADVANCED CEMENT, CONCRETE, AND ASPHALT PRODUCTION
RESEARCH PROGRAM.
``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) Advanced production.--The term `advanced production'
means production of cement, concrete, or asphalt with one or
more of the following improvements with respect to the
production of commercially available cement, concrete, or
asphalt:
``(A) Improved cost-effectiveness.
``(B) Improved quality, durability, engineering
performance, and resilience.
``(C) Improved efficiency of resource consumption
and material demand.
``(2) Alternative fuels.--The term `alternative fuels'
means any solid, liquid, or gaseous materials, or a combination
thereof, used to replace or supplement any portion of fuels
used in combustion or pyrolysis for low-emissions cement,
concrete, or asphalt.
``(3) Commercially available.--The term `commercially
available', with respect to cement, concrete, and asphalt,
means that the cement, concrete, or asphalt is--
``(A) readily and widely available for purchase in
the United States; and
``(B) produced using a production method of cement,
concrete, or asphalt products, as applicable, that is
widely in use.
``(4) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means
any of the following:
``(A) An institution of higher education.
``(B) An appropriate State or Federal entity,
including a federally funded research and development
center of the Department.
``(C) A nonprofit research institution.
``(D) A private entity.
``(E) Any other relevant entity the Secretary
determines appropriate.
``(F) A partnership or consortium of two or more
entities described in subparagraphs (A) through (E).
``(5) Engineering performance-based standard.--The term
`engineering performance-based standard' means an existing
engineering standard with respect to which the requirements
applicable to such standard are stated in terms of required
results, with criteria for verifying compliance rather than
specific composition, design, or procedure.
``(6) 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).
``(7) Low-emissions cement, concrete, and asphalt.--The
term `low-emissions cement, concrete, and asphalt' means
cement, concrete, asphalt binder, or asphalt mixture that
reduces, to the maximum extent practicable, greenhouse gas or
directly-related copollutant emissions to levels below
commercially available cement, concrete, or asphalt.
``(8) Rural area.--The term `rural area' has the meaning
given such term in section 343(a) of the Consolidated Farm and
Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1991(a)).
``(b) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish a program of
research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of
advanced tools, technologies, and methods for advanced production and
use of low-emissions cement, concrete, and asphalt in order to--
``(1) increase the technological and economic
competitiveness of industry and production in the United
States;
``(2) expand and increase the stability of supply chains
through enhanced domestic production, nearshoring, and
cooperation with allies;
``(3) achieve measurable greenhouse gas or directly related
copollutant emissions reductions in the production processes
for cement, concrete, and asphalt products; and
``(4) create quality domestic jobs.
``(c) Requirements.--In carrying out the program under subsection
(b), the Secretary shall--
``(1) coordinate with the programs and activities
authorized under title VI of division Z of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act, 2021 (relating to industrial and
manufacturing technologies) and the amendments made by such
title;
``(2) coordinate across all relevant program offices of the
Department, including the Office of Science, the Advanced
Research Projects Agency-Energy, the Office of Clean Energy
Demonstrations, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy, the Office of Fossil Energy, the Office of Industrial
Efficiency and Decarbonization, the Office of Manufacturing and
Energy Supply Chains, and the Office of Nuclear Energy;
``(3) leverage, to the extent practicable, the research
infrastructure of the Department, including scientific
computing user facilities, x-ray light sources, neutron
scattering facilities, and nanoscale science research centers;
and
``(4) conduct research, development, demonstration, and
commercial application of the advanced production of low-
emissions cement, concrete, and asphalt that have the potential
to increase domestic production and employment in both advanced
and commercially available processes.
``(d) Strategic Plan.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the
establishment of the program under subsection (b), the
Secretary shall develop a 5-year strategic plan identifying
research, development, demonstration, and commercial
application goals for such program. The Secretary shall submit
such plan to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources of the Senate.
``(2) Contents.--The strategic plan under paragraph (1)
shall--
``(A) identify programs at the Department related
to the advanced production of low-emissions cement,
concrete, and asphalt that support the research,
development, demonstration, and commercial application
activities described in this section, and the
demonstration projects under subsection (f);
``(B) establish technological and programmatic
goals to achieve the requirements specified in
subsection (c); and
``(C) include timelines for the accomplishment of
such goals developed under the plan.
``(3) Updates to plan.--Not less than once every two years,
the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space,
and Technology of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate an
updated version of the strategic plan under paragraph (1).
``(e) Focus Areas.--In carrying out the program established in
subsection (c), the Secretary shall focus on the following:
``(1) Carbon capture technologies for low-emissions cement,
concrete, and asphalt production processes, which may include
the following:
``(A) Oxycombustion and chemical looping
technologies.
``(B) Precombustion technologies.
``(C) Post combustion technologies.
``(D) Direct carbon dioxide separation
technologies.
``(2) Materials, technologies, inputs, and processes that--
``(A) produce fewer greenhouse gas or directly
related copollutant emissions during production, use,
and end use of cement, concrete, and asphalt; or
``(B) provide quality, durability, resilience,
engineering, or other performance metrics equal to or
greater than commercially available products.
``(3) Medium- and high-temperature heat-generation
technologies used for the advanced production of low-emissions
cement, concrete, and asphalt which may include the following:
``(A) Alternative fuels.
``(B) Renewable heat-generation and storage
technology.
``(C) Electrification of heating processes.
``(D) Other clean heat-generation technologies and
sources.
``(4) Technologies and practices that increase the
efficiency of energy use, natural resource consumption, or
material demand, which may include the following:
``(A) Designing products that encourage reuse,
refurbishment, remanufacturing, and recycling.
``(B) Minimizing waste, including waste heat, from
low-emissions cement, concrete, and asphalt production
processes, including through the reuse of waste as a
resource in other industrial processes for mutual
benefit.
``(C) Increasing the overall energy efficiency of
low-emissions cement, concrete, and asphalt production
processes, including through life cycle assessments.
``(5) Technologies and approaches to reduce greenhouse gas
or directly related copollutant emissions from the advanced
production of cement, concrete, and asphalt.
``(6) High-performance computing to develop advanced
materials and production processes that may contribute to the
focus areas described in paragraphs (1) through (5), including
the following:
``(A) Modeling, simulation, and optimization of the
design of cost-effective and energy-efficient products
and processes.
``(B) The use of digital prototyping and additive
production to enhance product design.
``(7) Advanced sensor technologies and methods to monitor
and quantify the performance of low-emissions cement, concrete,
and asphalt materials at scale and under a variety of
conditions.
``(8) Technologies that can be retrofitted at cement,
concrete, and asphalt plants that represent the most common
facility types in the United States and in other countries,
with consideration for field validation of such retrofits.
``(9) Best practices for data standardization and data
sharing tools and technologies, in coordination with relevant
Federal agencies.
``(10) Fundamental research in chemistry and materials
science to identify the following:
``(A) Novel materials and alternative domestic
feedstocks and processing operations for the advanced
production of low-emissions cement, concrete, and
asphalt.
``(B) Improved understanding by eligible entities
of the mechanisms that determine the performance and
durability of low-emissions cement, concrete, and
asphalt over time.
``(f) Demonstrations.--
``(1) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the
date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary, in
carrying out the program established in subsection (b), and in
collaboration with the Secretary of Transportation, the
Administrator of General Services, industry partners,
institutions of higher education, and National Laboratories,
shall support demonstrations of advanced production of low-
emissions cement, concrete, and asphalt that uses either--
``(A) a single technology or practice; or
``(B) a combination of multiple technologies or
practices.
``(2) Selection requirements.--In carrying out the
demonstrations under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall select
eligible entities to carry out demonstration projects and to
the maximum extent practicable--
``(A) encourage regional diversity among eligible
entities, including participation by entities located
in rural areas;
``(B) encourage technological diversity among
eligible entities; and
``(C) ensure that specific projects selected--
``(i) expand on the existing technology
demonstration programs of the Department;
``(ii) are based on the extent of
greenhouse gas emissions reductions achieved;
and
``(iii) prioritize leveraging matching
funds from non-Federal sources.
``(3) Reports.--The Secretary shall submit to the Committee
on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural
Resources of the Senate--
``(A) not less frequently than once every two years
for the duration of the demonstrations under paragraph
(1), a report describing the performance of such
demonstration; and
``(B) if any such demonstration is terminated, an
assessment of the success of, and education provided
by, the measures carried out by such demonstration.
``(4) Termination.--The Secretary may terminate the
demonstratives under paragraph (1) if the Secretary determines
that sufficient low-emissions cement, concrete, and asphalt
produced through advanced production are commercially available
domestically at a price comparable to the price of cement,
concrete, and asphalt produced through traditional methods of
production.
``(g) Technical Assistance Program.--
``(1) In general.--The Secretary, in consultation with the
Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of Commerce (acting
through the Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology), the Administrator of General Services, the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and
appropriate representatives of relevant standards development
organizations, shall provide technical assistance to eligible
entities to carry out an activity described in paragraph (2) to
promote the commercial application of technologies for the
production and use of low-emissions cement, concrete, and
asphalt.
``(2) Activities described.--An activity referred to in
paragraph (1) is any of the following:
``(A) Efforts related to collecting data that could
be used in the updating of local codes, specifications,
and standards to engineering performance-based
standards.
``(B) A lifecycle assessment of the final product.
``(C) An environmental impact comparison between
different cements, concretes, and asphalts.
``(D) A techno-economic assessment.
``(E) An environmental permitting or other
regulatory process.
``(F) An evaluation or testing activity.
``(G) Any other activity that promotes the
commercial application of technologies developed
through the program under subsection (b).
``(3) Applications.--The Secretary shall seek applications
for technical assistance under this subsection--
``(A) on a competitive basis; and
``(B) on a periodic basis, but not less frequently
than once every 12 months.
``(4) Regional centers.--The Secretary may designate or
establish one or more regional centers to provide technical
assistance to eligible entities to carry out the activity
described in paragraph (2)(A).
``(h) Additional Coordination.--
``(1) Manufacturing usa.--In carrying out this section the
Secretary shall consider--
``(A) leveraging the resources of relevant existing
Manufacturing USA Institutes described in section 34(d)
of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
Act (15 U.S.C. 278s(d));
``(B) integrating program activities into a
relevant existing Manufacturing USA Institute; or
``(C) awarding financial assistance, consistent
with section 34(e) of the National Institute of
Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 278s(e)), to a
person or group of persons to assist the person or
group of persons in planning, establishing, or
supporting a Manufacturing U.S.A. institute focused on
advanced production of low-emissions cement, concrete,
and asphalt.
``(2) Other federal agencies.--In carrying out this
section, the Secretary shall coordinate with other Federal
agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department
of Transportation, and the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, that are carrying out research and development
initiatives to increase industrial competitiveness and achieve
measurable greenhouse gas or directly related copollutant
emissions reductions through the advanced production of cement,
concrete, and asphalt.
``(i) Sunset.--This section shall terminate seven years after the
date of the enactment of this section.
``(j) Research Security.--The activities authorized under this
section shall be applied in a manner consistent with subtitle D of
title VI of the Research and Development, Competition, and Innovation
Act (enacted as division B of Public Law 117-167 (42 U.S.C. 19231 et
seq.)).
``(k) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be
construed to amend, alter, or affect the authorities of the Secretary
to define, establish, or enforce new environmental industry standards
for, or related to, cement, concrete, or asphalt.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is amended by inserting
after the item relating to section 40522 the following new item:
``Sec. 40523. Advanced cement, concrete, and asphalt production
research program.''.
Passed the House of Representatives September 23, 2024.
Attest:
KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,
Clerk.