The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the in the Senate section section on pages S3004-S3006 on June 16.
The Department oversees energy policies and is involved in how the US handles nuclear programs. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the Department's misguided energy regulations have caused large losses to consumers for decades.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Ms. Cantwell):
S. 4420. A bill to provide for advancements in carbon removal research, quantification, and commercialization, including by harnessing natural processes, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Carbon Removal and Emissions Storage Technologies Act, the CREST Act. I am pleased to be partnering with Senator Cantwell on this bill. Our bipartisan bill would direct the Department of Energy to research and evaluate the feasibility of innovative carbon removal and storage pathways. The name the CREST Act alludes to the fact that we have reached the ``crest'' of our emissions and we must work to bring them down.
With more and more private and public sector commitments to reach net-zero emissions within certain timeframes, companies are scrambling to invest in quantifiable, durable, and verifiable carbon removal solutions. Microsoft, for example, has made a commitment to be carbon negative by 2030. Even though Microsoft plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by more than half, it will need to remove the rest of its carbon emissions. In order to do this, Microsoft plans to invest $1 billion in carbon removal technologies, such as direct air capture, forestation, and carbon mineralization.
Despite the growing number of companies that are looking to offset their emissions, current cost estimates show that private sector investment alone will not be sufficient to research and deploy carbon removal pathways. I strongly supported the Energy Act of 2020, which authorized the first comprehensive Federal carbon removal research and development program, and the bipartisan infrastructure, which invested
$3.6 billion in direct air capture. Although these investments have been significant, more work is needed in further research, increased testing, and enhanced public-private partnerships to help aid in scaling carbon removal technologies.
The CREST Act would expand the Department of Energy's carbon removal research and development programs to include carbon removal pathways that can permanently sequester carbon dioxide or use carbon dioxide to produce biofuels or products. The key areas of focus for research and development in our legislation are biomass carbon removal and storage, geological removal, atmospheric and aquatic removal, carbon dioxide storage, and carbon dioxide removal quantification.
Our legislation also aims to accelerate the commercialization of innovative carbon solutions through a pilot program at the Department of Energy. This pilot program would be charged with accelerating the deployment of affordable and proven carbon removal technologies. This reverse-auction style pilot program would position the government to purchase innovative and promising technologies, subject to certain criteria, and reduce the costs of those technologies. This would allow companies that may not have as much purchasing power as Microsoft to participate in carbon removal to help offset emissions.
This pilot program would also support companies that are leading the way in carbon removal technology, like Running Tide in Maine, in bringing down the cost of its product. Running Tide captures carbon dioxide using kelp microforests, sun, ocean currents, and gravity. This new and exciting company grows floating kelp microforest attached to biodegradable buoys that sink as they break down. The carbon captured through the floating microforest is effectively removed for hundreds of years once it hits the ocean floor. Running Tide hopes to soon be selling ``kelp carbon credits'' to help offset private entities' emissions. They are currently working to commercialize quickly. These innovative solutions are the kinds that our new pilot program would seek to encourage.
Mr. President, climate change is a significant environmental challenge that requires innovative and global solutions to reduce greenhouse gas pollution. While carbon removal and storage is only a small part of the solution, it is critical that we expand our country's work in this area. Our bipartisan bill has earned endorsements from Bipartisan Policy Center Action, ClearPath Action, Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, and many others. I urge my colleagues to join Senator Cantwell and me in supporting this legislation.
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By Mr. PADILLA (for himself and Mrs. Feinstein):
S. 4424. A bill to amend the Recreation and Public Purposes Act to authorize sales and leases of certain Federal land to federally recognized Indian Tribes, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan Recreation and Public Purposes Tribal Parity Act to correct a long-
standing and unjust oversight that prevents Tribal governments from having the same opportunities as State and local governments do to buy and lease public lands for recreational purposes.
Current law allows the Bureau of Land Management to lease or sell certain public lands to State and local governments or qualifying nonprofits if those lands will be used for explicit public and recreational purposes. These lands are used for a variety of public and recreational purposes, like historic monument sites, schools, firehouses, law enforcement facilities, courthouses, health facilities, hospitals, and parks. However, the law does not allow the BLM to sell or lease these lands to Tribal governments.
Our bill would allow Tribal governments to participate in the program in the same way that State and local governments do. Doing so would help ensure Tribal nations enjoy the same opportunities for land acquisition as State and local governments and nonprofit organizations do.
Tribal governments were not considered when the Recreation and Public Purposes Act became law in 1926. The omission leaves Tribes without the same opportunities as other governments to use public lands for these beneficial purposes. This disadvantage is clear, as the sale and lease of public lands is often at a discount compared to fair market value. This issue is part of the greater need to correct longstanding barriers that undermine the sovereignty of Tribal governments and our efforts to right historic wrongs.
The Federal Government owns about 640 million acres of land, about 28% of the total land in the United States. Public lands potentially available for disposal by the Bureau of Land Management alone are located across at least 18 States. The exclusion of Indian Tribes from qualifying for acquisition of these lands is not based on any clear policy rationale.
As our Nation works to strengthen Tribal sovereignty and self-
determination, it is important that we ensure our laws treat Tribal governments in equal regard as State and local governments and ensure they have the opportunity for positive and productive land use activity.
I thank Senator Feinstein for introducing this legislation with me in the Senate, and Congressman LaMalfa for championing this effort in the House of Representatives. I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact this commonsense bill as quickly as possible.
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By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Tillis, and Mr. Grassley):
S. 4430. A bill to amend title 35, United States Code, to establish an interagency task force between the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Food and Drug Administration for purposes of sharing information and providing technical assistance with respect to patents, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 4430
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 ``Interagency Patent Coordination and Improvement Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Decisions by the United States Patent and Trademark Office relating to patents may implicate, or have relevance to, information housed at or involving other Federal agencies.
(2) Entities submitting patent applications to the United States Patent and Trademark Office may also submit information to, or share information with, other Federal agencies, necessitating accuracy and consistency in those representations.
(3) Research has shown that patent examiners may benefit from additional information that is housed at, or is available to, Federal agencies other than the United States Patent and Trademark Office in order to assess prior art and the state of science and technology.
(4) The Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office is encouraged to work with other Federal agencies.
SEC. 3. REPORT BY UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE.
Not later than 4 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report that contains--
(1) a description of the frequency with which--
(A) information is provided by the Food and Drug Administration to the United States Patent and Trademark Office through the Interagency Task Force on Patents established under section 15 of title 35, United States Code, as added by section 4(a) of this Act, or under processes established by that Task Force; and
(B) the information described in subparagraph (A) is used in patent examinations;
(2) an identification of which methods of providing information, as described in paragraph (1)(A), and types of information so shared, are most useful to patent examiners;
(3) any recommendations for changes to be made by Congress to the mandate, funding, or operations of the Task Force described in paragraph (1)(A); and
(4) an identification of other Federal agencies with which the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office should explore opportunities for coordination that are similar to those undertaken with the Food and Drug Administration through the activities of the Task Force described in paragraph (1)(A).
SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON PATENTS.
(a) In General.--Chapter 1 of title 35, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in section 2(c), by adding at the end the following:
``(6)(A) In exercising the Director's powers and duties under this section relating to patents, and decisions or actions involving patents, for human drugs and biological products, the Director shall, through the Interagency Task Force on Patents established under section 15, consult with the Commissioner of Food and Drugs in the manner described in that section.
``(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the term `decisions or actions involving patents' means decisions or actions taken with respect to patents under this title.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 15. Interagency Task Force on Patents
``(a) Establishment.--There is established an interagency task force, to be known as the Interagency Task Force on Patents (referred to in this section as the `task force'), to coordinate efforts between the Director and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs (referred to in this section as the
`Commissioner') regarding communication about, evaluation of, and effective implementation of the activities of the Office and the Food and Drug Administration with respect to patents, and decisions or actions involving patents (as defined in section 2(c)(6)(B)), for human drugs and biological products.
``(b) Memorandum of Understanding.--The Director and the Commissioner shall enter into a memorandum of understanding, or update an existing memorandum of understanding, for the purposes of implementing and carrying out the duties of the task force.
``(c) Membership.--The task force shall be comprised of employees of the Office, who shall be appointed by the Director, and employees of the Food and Drug Administration, who shall be appointed by the Commissioner, who have appropriate expertise and decision-making authority regarding operational, administrative, technical, medical, pharmacological, clinical, and scientific matters to carry out the functions of the task force.
``(d) Activities.--The task force shall carry out the following functions regarding interagency coordination to promote reciprocal access of information:
``(1) Sharing information on the general processes of the Office and the Food and Drug Administration, what each such agency considers in its respective review of applications, and how each such agency evaluates those applications, which may be undertaken through routine and ongoing meetings, workshops, and training sessions.
``(2) Sharing information on new approvals of patents, human drugs and biological products, new technologies and prior art (as appropriate on a case-by-case basis), and scientific trends and developments.
``(3) Establishing a process that requires--
``(A) the Director to request from the Commissioner (and the Commissioner to provide to the Director, upon receiving such a request)--
``(i) appropriate information for use by employees of the Office with responsibility to examine patent applications under section 131 (referred to in this section as `patent examiners') regarding when certain information relating to a human drug or biological product approval, which may include updates to a label or newly approved indications, is made publicly available, including when such information is posted online; and
``(ii) appropriate access for patent examiners to relevant sources of product application, approval, patent, and labeling information or communications between the Food and Drug Administration and the prescription drug or biological product sponsors that may not currently be subject to public disclosure, as appropriate and only to the extent necessary for the Office to carry out the responsibilities of the Office, including ensuring accurate representations and the enforcement of the limitation on granting a patent because the claimed invention that would be the subject of the patent was on sale before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, as described in section 102(a)(1); and
``(B) the Office to assist the Food and Drug Administration in its ministerial role of listing appropriate and accurate descriptions of patents.
``(4) Establishing a process to ensure that, in appropriate circumstances, at the request of the Director, the Commissioner shall consult with or otherwise furnish specific, available information to the Office with respect to certain applications, responses, or affidavits after rejections in order to assist patent examiners in carrying out the duties of those patent examiners.
``(e) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in subsection
(d)(3)(B) shall be construed as--
``(1) directing the Office to interfere with or delay the ministerial function of the Food and Drug Administration of listing patents; or
``(2) indicating the position of the Office regarding the ability to assert a patent in infringement litigation.
``(f) Confidentiality.--
``(1) In general.--The task force shall establish appropriate protocols to safeguard confidentiality and prevent the inappropriate disclosure of information when sharing information between the Office and the Food and Drug Administration.
``(2) Potential remedies.--In establishing protocols under paragraph (1), the task force shall identify appropriate remedies for any potential injury suffered when confidential information is made available, including inadvertently, through the sharing of information described in that paragraph.''.
(b) Technical and Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 1 of title 35, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``15. Interagency Task Force on Patents.''.
(c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs such sums as may be necessary for the purposes of carrying out the functions of the Interagency Task Force on Patents established under section 15 of title 35, United States Code, as added by subsection (a).
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