§2003 Methane Hydrate Research and Development Program

Summary

The Secretary of Energy must start a methane hydrate research and development program within 90 days after August 8, 2005. The Secretary must work with the Secretaries of Commerce, Defense, and the Interior, and the Director. Each of those officials must name people to carry out the work. The person the Energy Secretary names will coordinate all DOE methane hydrate activities. The named people must meet not later than 180 days after August 8, 2005 and at least every 180 days after that to review progress and coordinate the work. The Secretary may give grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to universities, oceanographic groups, and industry to do a range of work: find and map methane hydrates, reprocess seismic data, develop safe and clean extraction technology, train students, study environmental effects and drilling risks, and run exploratory and production tests (including one or more full-scale production test wells). Money must be awarded by a competitive process with outside scientific peer review. The Secretary must set up an advisory panel of experts from industry, schools, oceanographic groups, state agencies, and environmental groups to advise the program, review progress, and, not later than 2 years after August 8, 2005 (and later if needed), report assessments to Congress. The panel must avoid conflicts of interest, meet on schedule (first meeting within 180 days of its creation and then biennially), and coordinate with DOE labs. No funds may be used to build or alter buildings. The Secretary must foster partnerships, share data widely, promote interagency cooperation, report to Congress yearly, and, as much as practical, boost DOE participation in international efforts.