“A bill to amend the Energy Policy Act of 1992 with respect to the Department of Energy Tribal loan guarantee program, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section modifies Department of Energy (DOE) tribal energy programs to expand support for Indian tribes. Specifically, with respect to the tribal energy loan guarantee program under Section 2602(c) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (25 U.S.C. 3502(c)), it (1) authorizes DOE, at an applicant's request, to use appropriated funds for financial and technical assessments related to loan or loan guarantee applications supporting eligible projects—including renewable energy and transmission on or near Indian land or outside Indian land—with a limit of $500,000 per application; (2) removes a double-benefit restriction under Section 50145(a) of P.L. 117-169; and (3) expands eligible projects under Section 50141(d)(3) of P.L. 117-169 to include those carried out by an Indian tribe on or near Indian land or outside Indian land (i.e., Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program and similar direct loan programs). (As background, these loan programs support tribal development of advanced energy technologies to promote self-determination and economic growth on Indian land.) The section further revises the grid resilience grant program under Section 40101 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 18711) to (1) allow Indian tribes to apply directly and either execute projects or award subgrants to eligible entities (e.g., utilities, governments) using a comparable state-like plan; (2) expand eligible projects to include distributed generation; (3) provide oversight flexibility for tribal subawards; (4) clarify that tribes are not required to subaward funds; and (5) exempt tribes and tribally owned eligible entities from grant matching requirements. (Thus, the program—intended to prevent electric grid outages through investments in transmission, generation, and resilience—now enables direct tribal access without cost-sharing barriers.) Finally, this section adds a cost-sharing exemption under Section 988(f) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16352(f)) for grants awarded to Indian tribes under the grid resilience program.