H.R. 7936

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7936 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7936

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to support the development, 
demonstration, and commercial application of biotechnology products to 
increase energy resiliency, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 16, 2026

Mr. Baird (for himself, Ms. Houlahan, Mrs. Bice, and Mr. Khanna) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to support the development, 
demonstration, and commercial application of biotechnology products to 
increase energy resiliency, 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 ``Bioindustrial Scale-Up for Supply 
Chains and Energy Resiliency Act of 2026''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the biggest roadblock for United States biotechnology 
innovators to commercialization is proving that their products 
and processes can scale, thus showing investors a path to 
financial return;
(2) the United States faces several main challenges to 
securing the broad range of infrastructure needed for the 
breadth of products that biotechnology can make, which are 
that--
(A) the United States lacks sufficient 
biomanufacturing capacity, including because 
researchers are generating new products faster than 
manufacturing capacity is increasing and building new 
facilities is expensive and time-consuming; and
(B) biomanufacturing technologies of the future 
have yet to mature into routine commercial 
applications, as current biomanufacturing facilities 
are generally optimized for 1 type of product and are 
usually not compatible with other products; and
(3) to position the United States as a leader in 
bioindustrial innovation and enable participation in 
groundbreaking projects through state-of-the-art 
infrastructure, it is critical to establish technology 
maturation facilities to provide world-class capabilities.

SEC. 3. BIOINDUSTRIAL SCALE-UP FOR SUPPLY CHAINS AND ENERGY RESILIENCY.

Section 932 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 16232) is 
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)--
(A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 
paragraphs (5) and (7), respectively;
(B) by inserting before paragraph (5) (as so 
redesignated) the following:
``(1) Biobased product.--The term `biobased product' has 
the meaning given the term in section 9001 of the Farm Security 
and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8101).
``(2) Bioindustrial manufacturing.--The term `bioindustrial 
manufacturing' means the use of living organisms, cells, 
tissues, enzymes, or cell-free systems to produce materials and 
products for nonpharmaceutical applications.
``(3) Biointermediate.--The term `biointermediate' means an 
intermediate product that is derived from biomass or waste 
streams, including carbon oxides.
``(4) Biomanufacturing.--The term `biomanufacturing' means 
the use of biological systems to produce goods and services at 
commercial scale.'';
(C) by inserting after paragraph (5) (as so 
redesignated) the following:
``(6) Biotechnology.--The term `biotechnology' means 
technology that applies to or is enabled by life sciences 
innovation or product development.''; and
(D) by inserting after paragraph (7) (as so 
redesignated) the following:
``(8) Open access.--The term `open access', with respect to 
infrastructure, data, or research resources, means that those 
resources are--
``(A) available without licensing or intellectual 
property barriers; and
``(B) accessible to public and private entities on 
an equitable basis.
``(9) Phytobiome.--The term `phytobiome' means a network of 
interactions of plants, their associated communities of 
organisms, and their environmental context.
``(10) Technology maturation.--The term `technology 
maturation' means the development, testing, and scaling of 
technologies to a level of readiness suitable for 
commercialization or integration into industrial processes, 
including activities such as prototyping, pilot-scale testing 
and demonstration, and early-stage manufacturing and market 
entry.
``(11) Waste stream.--The term `waste stream' includes 
municipal solid waste, food waste, urban wood waste, food 
processing and fermentation waste, sewage, biogas, industrial 
waste gases, carbon oxides, atmospheric oxides, and waste gases 
that are effluents or byproduct streams from various societal 
pursuits that are targeted toward disposal, discharge, or 
burning.''; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (e) the following:
``(f) Bioindustrial Technology Maturation Facilities.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than September 30, 2030, the 
Secretary shall establish not fewer than 2 bioindustrial 
technology maturation facilities (referred to in this 
subsection as `covered facilities')--
``(A) to conduct research, development, 
demonstration, and commercial application to derisk 
product and process technologies for biotechnology-
based products relevant to the mission of the 
Department;
``(B) that are precommercial; and
``(C) that shall operate as user facilities 
available to governmental and nongovernmental users.
``(2) Considerations.--In determining the number, type, and 
location of covered facilities to establish, the Secretary 
shall--
``(A) consider--
``(i) the greatest needs of industry and 
the gaps in current types of infrastructure;
``(ii) unique capabilities that are 
currently not available anywhere in the world;
``(iii) how the covered facilities may--
``(I) complement current 
infrastructure and capabilities, 
including infrastructure and 
capabilities of--
``(aa) the Department, 
including National 
Laboratories;
``(bb) the Department of 
Defense;
``(cc) the Department of 
Commerce; and
``(dd) other covered 
facilities; and
``(II) increase production levels 
by functioning as a connected network, 
including by ensuring that available 
fermentation capacity, including of 
covered facilities and facilities of 
the Department, covers the full range 
needed for precommercial scale-up; and
``(iv) how each covered facility aligns 
with regional and local workforce needs, pre-
existing capabilities, the skills required for 
the proposed biomanufacturing operations, and 
the potential for regional and local workforce 
development and job creation; and
``(B) ensure that--
``(i) covered facilities are in 
geographically diverse locations--
``(I) to maximize access to 
biological material needed as an input 
to bioindustrial manufacturing 
processes;
``(II) to leverage available 
industrial and academic expertise, 
including workforce and human capital; 
and
``(III) to leverage relevant 
domestic infrastructure required to 
secure supply chains for chemicals and 
other materials;
``(ii) covered facilities are complementary 
to each other and any other existing related 
facilities; and
``(iii) the first covered facility is 
planned and built within a 2-year time period, 
and the plan for the second and each subsequent 
facility is developed while construction occurs 
on the earlier planned covered facility.
``(3) Activities.--Activities carried out by a covered 
facility may include the following:
``(A) Conducting pilot and demonstration projects 
to evaluate bioindustrial manufacturing processes and 
technologies for customers.
``(B) Conducting activities to scale bioindustrial 
manufacturing processes and products for scale-up and 
deployment efforts, and larger, higher, or different 
levels of production for customers.
``(C) Developing, testing, and implementing 
applications and tools, including equipment, hardware, 
software, and algorithms, with industry and academic 
partners.
``(D) Addressing technical challenges around 
bioindustrial manufacturing inputs and the technologies 
and processes that break down or convert biomass, waste 
streams, and other inputs that are useful to the 
bioindustrial manufacturing process, biointermediates, 
or other products.
``(E) Supporting training and workforce development 
needs in bioindustrial manufacturing.
``(F) Establishing an interoperable, secure, 
digital infrastructure for collaborative data exchange 
across entities in the bioindustrial manufacturing 
community, including government agencies, industry, and 
academia.
``(G) Developing and implementing digital tools, 
process security and assurance capabilities, 
cybersecurity protocols, and best practices for data 
storage, sharing, and analysis.
``(H) Leveraging data, modeling, and expertise to 
assist stakeholders in quantifying economic effects of, 
and future investment strategies relating to, emerging 
processes and technologies, and incorporating those 
findings into techno-economic analysis.
``(I) Any other activity that the Secretary 
determines appropriate.
``(4) Collaboration.--In carrying out the activities 
described in paragraph (3), a covered facility may--
``(A) develop and implement policies to ensure open 
access to the covered facility for public and private 
sector entities, with a focus on inclusion of rural 
communities;
``(B) pursue cost-sharing and cofunding 
arrangements or opportunities with private sector 
stakeholders to supplement Federal funding and promote 
financial sustainability; and
``(C) to maximize the impact of the covered 
facility, coordinate and collaborate with--
``(i) industry partners, including to 
identify priority research, development, and 
demonstration needs;
``(ii) other Department facilities, 
including National Laboratories;
``(iii) the defense community, including 
the Department of Defense and BioMADE;
``(iv) the agricultural community and 
relevant Federal agencies, including the 
Department of Agriculture;
``(v) the transportation sector and 
relevant Federal agencies, including the 
Department of Transportation;
``(vi) other Federal agencies, including 
the Department of Commerce, as determined 
necessary by the covered facility;
``(vii) Federal education and workforce 
development programs, including the National 
Science Foundation;
``(viii) institutions of higher education;
``(ix) rural community stakeholders;
``(x) nonprofit organizations;
``(xi) State and local governments; and
``(xii) international bodies with relevant 
scientific expertise.
``(5) Request for information.--Not later than 90 days 
after the date of enactment of the Bioindustrial Scale-Up for 
Supply Chains and Energy Resiliency Act of 2026, the Secretary 
shall publish a request for information that shall be used by 
the Secretary to evaluate--
``(A) existing and planned bioindustrial technology 
maturation facilities in the United States, including 
facilities with gas fermentation technologies and 
large-scale fermentation tanks with robust sensor 
suites;
``(B) best practices for collaboration at those 
facilities; and
``(C) any other information determined necessary 
for the development of the strategic plan under 
paragraph (6).
``(6) Strategic plan.--Not later than 180 days after the 
date of enactment of the Bioindustrial Scale-Up for Supply 
Chains and Energy Resiliency Act of 2026, the Secretary shall 
submit to the relevant congressional committees a strategic 
plan for the implementation of this subsection that includes--
``(A) an assessment of capacity scaling needs to 
determine what type of additional technology maturation 
facilities are needed;
``(B) a description of the type, size, and location 
of each covered facility that the Secretary intends to 
establish;
``(C) the total number of covered facilities that 
the Secretary intends to establish;
``(D) the timelines associated with planning and 
execution of each covered facility, phased over time; 
and
``(E) a general description of--
``(i) the focus of each covered facility, 
including the types of manufacturing equipment, 
if any, that are expected to be procured for 
each covered facility;
``(ii) how covered facilities will work as 
a network to maximize the variety of 
bioindustrial products available to be produced 
by the network, including how the capabilities 
of covered facilities will complement the 
capabilities of existing and planned technology 
maturation facilities, including those of other 
Federal agencies, including the Department of 
Commerce and the Department of Defense;
``(iii) how that network will support the 
establishment and maintenance of the 
bioindustrial manufacturing industrial base;
``(iv) how the Secretary intends to ensure 
that data is collected and shared with the rest 
of that network, as applicable; and
``(v) how the Secretary intends to 
coordinate with other Federal agencies, 
including the Department of Commerce and the 
Department of Defense, to ensure the effective 
use of funds, development of capabilities, and 
prioritization of biotechnologies.
``(7) Intellectual property protections.--
``(A) Federal employee contributions.--Any 
intellectual property created by a Federal employee at 
a covered facility in the performance of the duties of 
that Federal employee shall be considered to be part of 
the public domain.
``(B) Other entities.--Any intellectual property 
created by an individual at a covered facility who is 
not a Federal employee shall be protected under 
applicable intellectual property laws, subject to the 
terms of the contractual agreement that the individual 
has entered into with the Secretary.
``(C) Data sharing.--To the maximum extent 
practicable, a covered facility shall establish a 
secure, interoperable digital system to facilitate data 
exchange across government, academia, and industry.
``(8) Report to congress.--Not later than 1 year after the 
date of enactment of the Bioindustrial Scale-Up for Supply 
Chains and Energy Resiliency Act of 2026, and at least once 
every year thereafter for the following 7 years, the Secretary 
shall submit to the relevant congressional committees, and make 
publicly available, a report on the activities carried out 
under this subsection during the year covered by the report, 
including the progress made in implementing the strategic plan 
under paragraph (6), including--
``(A) the number of existing covered facilities;
``(B) the number of additional covered facilities 
being planned, if any;
``(C) a description of the activities carried out 
by covered facilities; and
``(D) any collaborations under paragraph (4).
``(9) Authorization of appropriations.--There is authorized 
to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this 
subsection $225,500,000 for the period of fiscal years 2026 
through 2030.''.

SEC. 4. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

The table of contents of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 
109-58; 119 Stat. 594) is amended by inserting after the item relating 
to section 1 the following:

``Sec. 2. Definitions.''.
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