§19341 Applied laboratories infrastructure restoration and modernization

Summary

The Secretary must pay for projects to fix old problems, update important buildings and systems, and modernize the listed National Laboratories. National Laboratory means each of the following Department of Energy labs: National Renewable Energy Laboratory; National Energy Technology Laboratory; Idaho National Laboratory; Savannah River National Laboratory; Sandia National Laboratories; Los Alamos National Laboratory; and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. From fiscal year 2023 through fiscal year 2027, Congress allows $800,000,000 each year for these activities. In each year, $640,000,000 is for the first four labs listed and $160,000,000 is for the last three. The money can fund priority repairs, upgrades, new lab space, utilities, roads, power systems, and other critical infrastructure, plus modernization to support science missions, user facilities, computing, safe and efficient operations, and pilot projects to show net-zero emissions with resilient operations. The Secretary can use various funding tools (for example, capital projects, minor construction, energy savings or utility contracts, alternative financing, or expense funds). Each year through 2027, when the President’s budget is sent, the Secretary must send Congress a list of the projects to be funded with descriptions and funding plans to the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the House Appropriations Committee, and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.