Home › Resources ›

Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Company Accountability Act (S. 3663)

Share this
Resource Type:
Policy Summary
Image

On July 28, 2010 Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) introduced the Senate’s Democratic Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Company Accountability Act (S. 3663). The bill would advance energy efficiency by supporting clean energy jobs and consumer savings with the Home Star residential retrofit program. In addition the legislation seeks to hold oil companies accountable for future spills and enhance future spill response strategies, reduce U.S. oil consumption through the use of natural gas and electric vehicles and protect the environment by investing in the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

The bill contains five divisions:

Division A: Oil Spill Response and Accountability

The bill would ensure that BP pays for the costs incurred in the Deepwater Horizon disaster by removing the current $75 million liability cap on parties responsible for oil spills. It would enhance research and development for oil spill mitigation, response, and environmental assessment and restoration. It would also establish federal interagency collaborative research to enhance technologies and practices of both oil spill prevention and response, with guidance from the National Academy of Sciences. It would reform policy and management of the Outer Continental Shelf, including strengthening considerations and criteria related to protection of the environment, health, safety, and property, and would include a study on effects of the moratoria on new deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico on employment and small business. The Act would direct the review and amendment of sentencing guidelines and penalties related to Federal Water Pollution Control Act offenses. Further, it would strengthen protections against and penalties for damage to coral reefs.

Division B: Reducing Oil Consumption in the Transportation Sector

The Department of Energy (DOE) would be required to establish a consumer rebate program for vehicle owners who convert or repower a conventional fuel vehicle to operate on natural gas, or to a mixed- or bi-fuel vehicle to facilitate the use of natural gas as an alternative transportation fuel. Natural gas vehicles put into service by 2013 would be eligible. No more than 25% of the rebate program funds could be used towards the purchase of vehicles weighing less than 8,501 pounds. The larger the vehicle, the greater the rebate would be. Larger rebates would be given to natural gas only vehicles than to mixed- or bi-fuel vehicles. $3.8 billion would be given to DOE to carry out this program. DOE would also be required to establish natural gas infrastructure deployment and manufacturing development grant programs, as well as a direct loan program to assist vehicle manufacturers with the cost of facility retooling required to expand natural gas vehicle production.

DOE would also be required to establish a program to support the nation-wide deployment of electric vehicles (EVs), providing technical assistance to state and local governments and making grants available for diverse deployment activities. It would direct the Federal Energy Management Program and General Services Administration (GSA) to report on how many EVs could be deployed in federal fleets; directs GSA to acquire and deploy EVs in federal fleets in a pilot program; and authorizes funds to cover incremental costs. DOE would also conduct relevant R&D, establish a competition for a 500-mile vehicle battery, and set national goals for EV market penetration. It would ask electric utilities and State Utility Commissions to consider impacts and implications of plug-in EVs on the electric grid.

Division C: Clean Energy Jobs and Consumer Savings

Home Star Retrofit Rebate Program

This title would direct DOE to establish the Home Star Retrofit Rebate Program (Section 3003), which would provide up to $8,000 to homeowners to make their homes more energy- and water- efficient. The program would reward rebate amounts according to two methods: a Silver Star program for prescriptive energy-saving measures and equipment and a Gold Star program for performance-based whole-home energy use reductions. The program would also provide funds to states and territories to support administrative, financing, and technical support for home retrofits. The bill would authorize $5 billion for the Home Star program (Section 3016).

Program Establishment and Rebate Processing (Sections 3003-3005) - The bill would direct DOE to establish a Federal Rebate Processing System to manage claims and distribute funds (Section 3003). Contractors would float the discounts to homeowners and, upon project installation, apply for rebates with rebate aggregators, who would review applications for completeness and accuracy before filing them with DOE. DOE would be required to distribute funds to rebate aggregators not more than 10 days after receiving the rebate application.

Rebate aggregators could include utilities, state agencies, retailers, software companies, large contractors, or any public or private entity that demonstrates sufficient rebate processing capabilities and energy efficiency experience (Section 3005). Contractors would be required to meet specified licensing, insurance, warrantee and certification requirements, with additional specifications for Gold Star contractors (Section 3006).

Public Information Campaign (Section 3003(d)) - The bill would direct EPA to administer a public information campaign on the Home Star program and would authorize up to $10 million for the campaign (Section 3016(e)).

Silver Star Rebate Program (Section 3007) - This section would establish a Silver Star Rebate Program, which would give rebates to homeowners for installing specific energy-saving measures, including envelope efficiency upgrades and efficient equipment installation. The bill specifies rebate amounts for each type of measure installed, from $50 to $1,500 per measure (Section 3007(b-d), up to $3,000 per home or 50 percent of project cost.

Qualifying measures would need to be installed by a certified contractor less than one year after the bill enactment and be subject to random field testing of up to 20 percent of retrofit projects (Section 3007(f)).

The bill would also provide up to $250 for homeowners to install their own high-efficiency insulation (Section 3007(e)). The bill would authorize $250,000,000 for these homeowner-installed measures (Section 3016(g)).

Gold Star Rebate Program (Section 3008) - This section would establish a Gold Star program, which would give rebates of up to $8,000 (or up to 50 percent of project cost) to homeowners for achieving whole-home energy and water use reductions. The program would award rebate amounts according to whole-home energy savings, beginning with $3,000 for 20 percent savings, and increasing by $1,000 for each additional five percent improvement, up to $8,000 per home (Section 3008(b)), with additional considerations for water savings. Gold Star rebates could be given to a homeowner who had already received Silver Star rebates, so long as the reductions were additional and the total rebate amount no more than $8,000.

The title specifies additional qualifications, including BPI certification or an equivalent, necessary for contractors to participate in the Gold Star program (Section 3004(b)). For project funding, contractors would need to install measures less than two years after the bill enactment, provide appropriate documentation and verification, and projects would be subject to random field testing of up to 15 percent of projects (Section 3008(d-f)). Certified contractors would determine whole home energy use reductions through home energy audits and DOE-supported home energy modeling software (Section 3008(e)).

Grants to States and Indian Tribes (Section 3009) - This section would provide formula grants to states and Indian tribes to support Home Star program administrative costs, quality assurance programs, financing pilot programs and coordination with existing retrofit programs in each state (Section 3009). The bill would authorize $380,000,000 to carry out the section (Section 3016(b)).

Quality Assurance (Sections 3006, 3010) - The bill would require each state to establish a quality assurance framework that ensures contractor accreditation and qualification, compliance with the federal rebate processing system, and sets targets for recruitment of disadvantaged employees and for participation of low-income households in retrofits (Section 3010).

The bill would require that 20 percent of Silver Star homes and 15 percent of Gold Star homes be inspected by quality assurance providers (Sections 3007(f) and 3008(d)), which may include Building Performance Institute (BPI) and Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) certified home performance analysts (Section 3006). In the event of a failed inspection, the contractor would have 14 days to correct the installation or face a $15,000 fine.

Tax Treatment (Section 3013) - Home owners already receiving tax credits for installing an energy efficiency measure would not be permitted to supplement that tax credit with a Home Star rebate for the same measure.

Financing (Section 3015) - This section would direct DOE to establish the Home Star Efficiency Loan Program, which would provide funds to states to support existing home retrofit financing programs. The state, or a designee, could use the grant to provide credit support and interest rate buy-downs for a number of loan products, including on-utility-bill payment, property-assessed clean energy (PACE) financing, municipal service charges, and traditional loans. The section would require the loan delivery entity to report regularly to DOE on program participation, job creation, energy savings, and default and repayment rates. The bill would authorize $200 million for the program, to be distributed to states via formula grants (Section 3016(k)).

Division D: Protecting the Environment

The bill would authorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund at $900 million annually through 2015, and at least $500 million for FY2016 and beyond, without further appropriation. The Act would also provide the Fish and Wildlife Service authority to recover compensation for damages and accept donations for the restoration of FWS resources.

Division E: Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund

The current $1 billion liability cap of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund would be increased to $5 billion, as would the amount that oil companies are required to pay into Fund -- from eight cents to 49 cents per barrel.