Sec. 2. White house council on energy transitions
1,881 words·~9 min read·
/bill/117/hr/2245/ih/section-2·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
There is established in the Executive Office of the President a White House Council on Energy Transitions. The Council shall be headed by a Director, who shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Director shall be a person who, as a result of training, experience, and attainments, has the requisite skills, abilities, and knowledge to— carry out the duties and functions of the position and Council set forth in this Act; and formulate and recommend policies to assist workers and communities adversely disrupted due to the downturn of employment associated with coal-fired electricity generation amidst the Nation’s transition to significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions across the economy.
The annual rate of pay for the Director shall be fixed by the President at a rate that may not exceed the annual rate of pay for level IV of the Executive Schedule. The Council shall be composed of the heads of the following: The Department of Commerce. The Department of Energy. The Department of Labor. The Department of the Treasury. The Department of Health and Human Services. The Department of the Interior. The Environmental Protection Agency. The Office of Management and Budget.
The Office of Science and Technology Policy. The Small Business Administration. The Council on Environmental Quality. The National Economic Council. The Economic Development Administration. The Appalachian Regional Commission. The White House Office of Public Engagement. Any other department, agency, or office of the executive branch as the President or Director may designate. Any member of the Council may designate a senior-level official, who is employed full-time in the department, agency, or office of such member, to carry out the duties of the member under this section.
The Director shall assess and publish, in a publicly available format and on the website of the Council, data on the economic and societal impacts of closures, occurring on or after January 1, 2010, of covered electric generating stations, including associated mines (as applicable), on economically distressed communities, and communities the Director believes based on available information, may become economically distressed communities. The Director shall conduct outreach activities— to increase awareness of the technical, financial, and policy assistance resources of the Council, for economically distressed communities, and communities the Director believes, based on available information, may become economically distressed communities; and to facilitate the establishment of, and otherwise support, Regional Transition Advisory Committees.
To the extent practicable, not later than 60 days upon receiving a request for assistance from an economically distressed community, the Director shall provide technical assistance, and other assistance the Director determines appropriate, to such community to facilitate the establishment by such community of a Regional Transition Advisory Committee and to otherwise support such Regional Transition Advisory Committee. To the extent practicable, the Director shall meet with each Regional Transition Advisory Committee at least 2 times in the first full calendar year after the Committee is established, and at least once annually thereafter.
The Director may provide technical, policy, and financial assistance to a Regional Transition Advisory Committee for developing, implementing, assessing, and evaluating, an economic development transition plan. In carrying out subparagraph (A), the Director shall evaluate any interim economic development transition goals that are voluntarily submitted to the Director prior to submission of an economic development transition plan by a Regional Transition Advisory Committee, and provide such Committee, within 90 days of receipt, an evaluation and recommendations with respect to such interim goals.
In order to receive financial assistance pursuant to this subparagraph, the Director shall certify that a Regional Transition Advisory Committee— has or will submit to the Director an economic development transition plan that meets the criteria described in section 3(c); and has committed to begin implementing such plan, including by adhering to the metrics developed pursuant to section 3(c), not later than 90 days after receiving a certification under clause (iv). Not later than 90 days after a Regional Transition Advisory Committee submits to the Director an economic development transition plan, the Director shall provide to the Regional Transition Advisory Committee— a certification of such economic development transition plan; or recommendations, consistent with the criteria described in section 3(c), to improve the economic development transition plan.
Not later than every 2 years after the date in which the first economic development transition plan is submitted by a Regional Transition Advisory Committee and certified by the Director under clause (iv), the Director shall conduct periodic outreach to such Regional Transition Advisory Committee to review and assist in the revision of such economic development transition plan as necessary. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Director shall publish, maintain, and make publicly available a clearinghouse, to be known as the Coal Community Resource Clearinghouse, on the website of the Council for the purpose of increasing awareness of Federal and State programs, grants, loans, loan guarantees, and other assistance resources the Director determines will assist economic development activities in economically distressed communities.
In maintaining the Clearinghouse, the Director shall, not less than once per calendar year, update the Clearinghouse to address changes to the needs of economically distressed communities, as determined appropriate by the Director. The Director shall establish within the Council a team of grant specialists (referred to in this paragraph as the team ) that shall— to the extent practicable, not later than 90 days upon receiving a request for assistance from a local government representing an economically distressed community, conduct a visit to the economically distressed community to survey the relevant assets and evaluate the requisite needs of the economically distressed community in order to fulfill the goals of the economic development transition plan, if applicable; assist in soliciting applications from economically distressed communities for financial and technical assistance resources identified in the Coal Community Resource Clearinghouse; and provide technical assistance to economically distressed communities with applications for resources described in clause (ii).
The Director shall ensure that the team is comprised of the number of grant specialists necessary to assist each economically distressed community on an individual basis. A vacant position on the team shall be filled not later than 90 days after the date on which the position becomes vacant. The team shall collaborate with other Federal and State agencies that implement programs aimed at supporting economically distressed communities. Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and at least four time annually thereafter, the Council shall convene a meeting of the Council.
At such meetings— each member of the Council shall share information regarding the efforts of the members’s department, agency, or office to support through technical assistance, or other policy or financial assistance the Director determines appropriate, the development and implementation of economic development transitions plans by Regional Transition Advisory Committees; the Council shall evaluate progress, as necessary, of economic development transition plan goals; the Council shall discuss methods to identify and disseminate information to Regional Transition Advisory Committees on best practices to consider in developing economic development transition plans; and the Council shall discuss such other matters as the Director determines are essential to the Council providing support to the economic transition efforts of dislocated workers and local communities.
To the extent permitted by law and subject to the amounts made available for such purpose, the Director (or staff designated by the Director) shall provide to the Council administrative support services and additional resources, as appropriate. The Director shall determine the amount of funding and personnel each department, agency, or office represented on the Council should contribute in order for the Council to carry out such duties. Such department, agency, or office, shall, upon the request of the Director, make available to the Council personnel, administrative support services, and information.
The Director shall make available to the public, on a regular basis on the website of the Council and through open meetings, information regarding the activities of the Council and minutes from meetings of the Council under subsection (e). The Council may establish an advisory body to advise and provide recommendations to the Council regarding the execution of its duties and, as necessary and with the approval of the Director, to support the development of economic development transition plans submitted by Regional Transition Advisory Committees under section 3.
The advisory body established under paragraph
(1)shall, to the maximum extent practicable, be comprised of— at least 2 representatives from a union or labor organization representing workers of covered electric generating stations, or associated mines; at least 2 representatives from an electric utility organization with demonstrated experience providing workforce transition support to workers associated with the generation of electricity from coal; at least 2 representatives from an institution of higher education with demonstrated expertise in energy workforce disruption or labor development issues; at least 2 representatives from an environmental organization with demonstrated expertise in energy workforce disruption or labor development issues; at least 3 representatives from an economic development authority of a State or Indian Tribe; at least 3 representatives from an environmental regulatory agency of a State or Indian Tribe; at least 3 representatives who are serving as the Chief Executive Officer of a State; at least 3 representatives who are representatives of a Tribal government; and any other representative the Director may designate. Not later than 90 days after the date of establishment of the advisory body under this section, and at least twice annually thereafter and in coordination with the Director, the advisory body shall hold a public meeting in an economically distressed community for the purpose of— soliciting feedback from the public, units of local government and Indian Tribes, and dislocated workers on concerns related to the closure, or imminent closure, of a covered electric generating station; and soliciting recommendations on actions the departments, agencies, and offices represented on the Council may consider to support the development and implementation of economic development transition plans. Not later than 270 days after the first public meeting described in subparagraph (A), and at least once annually thereafter, the advisory body shall submit to the Director a report providing— a summary of recommendations approved by a simple majority of the members of the Advisory Body on actions the departments, agencies, and offices represented on the Council should take to better support, through resources provided by the Council, the development and implementation of economic development transition plans; and an assessment of applicable policies or guidance of the departments, agencies, and offices represented on the Council that the advisory body believes are barriers to a Regional Transition Advisory Committee fully implementing an economic development transition plan. The Director shall, within 60 days of receipt of a report described in subparagraph (B), provide the advisory body a formal written response describing the Council’s findings on recommendations for potential actions described in such report. Section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the advisory body established under this subsection. Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Director shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of Congress describing the activities carried out pursuant to this section. There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2035.