[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6316 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6316
To help increase the development, distribution, and use of clean
cookstoves and fuels to improve health, protect the climate and
environment, empower women, create jobs, and help consumers save time
and money.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 16, 2021
Mr. Neguse introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on
Energy and Commerce, and Science, Space, and Technology, for a period
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To help increase the development, distribution, and use of clean
cookstoves and fuels to improve health, protect the climate and
environment, empower women, create jobs, and help consumers save time
and money.
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 ``Clean Cooking Support Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Almost 3,000,000,000 people, representing more than
one-third of the global population, rely on open fires or
inefficient, polluting, and unsafe cookstoves using wood,
charcoal, kerosene, agricultural waste, animal dung, coal, or
other fuels. The majority of people using these types of
cookstoves and fuels are in developing countries in Asia,
Africa, and Latin America.
(2) Smoke from the use of traditional cookstoves and open
fires contribute to household air pollution that causes
illnesses that disproportionately affect women and young
children. Such illnesses include low birth weight, pneumonia,
cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
lung cancer, and other respiratory illnesses.
(3) The household air pollution caused by traditional
cookstoves and open fires claims 4,000,000 premature deaths
annually, including 400,000 children younger than 5 years of
age, most of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa. Household air
pollution does not remain in the home and contributes to more
than 10 percent of global ambient air pollution. In some
countries, such as Nepal, household air pollution contributes
to more than 30 percent of ambient air pollution. In 2019, more
than 600,000 deaths were attributed to ambient air pollution
stemming from the household combustion of solid fuels.
(4) According to the World Health Organization, the large-
scale use of wood, charcoal, and kerosene for traditional
cooking fuel accounts for 1.5-3.0 percent of global
CO<INF>2</INF> emissions, which is a significant contributor to
air pollution.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States to reduce the adverse effects
of household energy use in its foreign assistance programs and
activities, as appropriate, including through--
(1) applied research and development to improve design,
lower costs, promote technology adoption, conduct health
research and evaluation, and develop global industry standards
and testing protocols for cookstoves and fuels to help ensure
minimum standards for efficiency and emissions to lower health
and environmental impacts;
(2) diplomatic engagement to encourage a commercial market
for clean cookstoves and fuels, reduce trade barriers, promote
consumer awareness, improve access to large-scale carbon
financing and other investment, and foster women-owned
businesses along the entire business value chain;
(3) international development projects to help build
commercial businesses to manufacture, market, distribute, sell,
and service clean cookstoves and fuels;
(4) development efforts related to refugee camps, disaster
relief, and long-term humanitarian and empowerment programs
aimed at assisting women, girls, and other vulnerable
populations;
(5) financing or insurance to support projects that provide
access to clean, affordable energy and energy savings through
the manufacture, sale, and purchase of clean cookstoves and
fuels;
(6) dissemination of cookstove standards to lower
environmental and health impacts associated with cook stoves
through the International Organization for Standardization
process for household, institutional, or commercial use; and
(7) political engagement with low-to-middle-income
countries to include cookstove and household energy emission
reduction goals in their Nationally Determined Contributions
(NDCs), guidance on implementation of the NDCs, and monitoring
and verification frameworks.
SEC. 4. CLEAN COOKING INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.
(a) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State and the Administrator of
the United States Agency for International Development shall jointly
establish the Clean Cooking Interagency Working Group (referred to in
this section as the ``Working Group''), consisting of representatives
from the Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental
Protection Agency, and any other Federal agency that the Secretary and
the Administrator may designate to assist with overseeing the planning,
management, and coordination of initiatives to increase the number of
clean cookstoves and fuels worldwide.
(b) Responsibilities.--The Working Group shall--
(1) establish goals and priorities for increasing the
number of clean cookstoves and fuels worldwide; and
(2) provide for interagency coordination, including budget
coordination, of activities under this Act.
(c) Governance.--The Secretary of State and the Administrator of
the United States Agency for International Development, or their
designees, shall serve as co-chairs of the Working Group.
(d) Meetings.--Members of the Working Group shall meet not later
than 90 days after the Working Group is established pursuant to
subsection (a), and quarterly thereafter, to carry out the
responsibilities described in subsection (b).
SEC. 5. CLEAN COOKING PROGRAM.
(a) Department of State; United States Agency for International
Development.--The Secretary of State and the Administrator of the
United States Agency for International Development shall work with the
Clean Cooking Alliance, founded in 2010--
(1) to engage in a wide range of diplomatic activities,
including with countries across the globe and with United
States embassies abroad, to support activities of the Clean
Cooking Alliance and the clean cookstoves and fuels sector;
(2) to continue the clean cooking initiatives supported by
the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, an intergovernmental
organization formed in 2012, to reduce emissions of climate
pollutants;
(3) to advance programs that support the adoption of
affordable cookstoves that require less fuel to meet household
energy needs and release fewer pollutants, as a means to
improve health, reduce environmental degradation, mitigate
climate change, foster economic growth, and empower women; and
(4) to carry out other activities authorized under this
Act.
(b) Department of Energy.--The Secretary of Energy shall work with
the Clean Cooking Alliance--
(1) to conduct research to spur development of low-cost,
low-emission, high-efficiency cookstoves through research in
areas such as combustion, heat transfer, and materials
development;
(2) to conduct research to spur development of low-
emission, high-efficiency energy sources;
(3) to support innovative small businesses in the United
States that are developing advanced cookstoves and improved
cookstove assessment devices; and
(4) to carry out other activities authorized under this
Act.
(c) National Institutes of Health.--The Director of the National
Institutes of Health shall work with the Clean Cooking Alliance--
(1) to support health research and training to improve the
health and lives of those at risk from household burning of
solid fuels, including--
(A) dedicated resources for research on household
air pollution to ensure adoption of life-saving
interventions and policy formulation; and
(B) regional network research and training hubs in
global environmental health and occupational health
with a household air pollution focus; and
(2) to carry out other activities authorized under this
Act.
(d) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.--The Director of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shall work with the
Clean Cooking Alliance--
(1) to evaluate cookstove and fuel programs to better
understand their public health benefits and key determinants of
adoption;
(2) to promote a better understanding of the relationship
between human exposures and health outcomes from the use of
rudimentary cookstoves and open fires; and
(3) to carry out other activities authorized under this
Act.
(e) Environmental Protection Agency.--The Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency shall work with the Clean Cooking
Alliance--
(1) to conduct cookstove and fuel testing and evaluation in
the lab and in the field, including by--
(A) evaluating energy efficiency and air pollutant
emissions that impact human health and the environment;
(B) building the capacity of regional stove testing
and knowledge centers around the world; and
(C) developing international standards regarding
fuel use, emissions, and safety of cookstoves and
fuels;
(2) to conduct climate, health, and air quality research,
including with United States institutions of higher education,
regarding the air quality and climatic benefits of
interventions for cookstoves and residential burning, and to
continue the clean cooking initiatives supported by the Climate
and Clean Air Coalition to reduce emissions of climate
pollutants;
(3) to provide technical and policy expertise and to help
the Clean Cooking Alliance align with ongoing international
efforts in the field; and
(4) to carry out other activities authorized under this
Act.
(f) Other Federal Agencies.--Other Federal agencies may engage with
the Clean Cooking Alliance or other agencies, as appropriate, to
further the policy described in section 3.
SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Defined Term.--In this section, the term ``appropriate
congressional committees'' means--
(1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate;
(2) the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate;
(3) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of
Representatives; and
(4) the Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
(b) Annual Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the President shall
submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees that
describes the progress made to further the policy described in section
3.
(c) Information Included in Reports.--Each report submitted
pursuant to subsection (b) shall include--
(1) the indicators used by the Department of State and each
Federal agency participating in the interagency working group
established pursuant to section 4(a) to monitor and evaluate
the progress made by each such agency to further the policy
described in section 3;
(2) data pertaining to populations served in United States
Government-funded cookstoves and fuels programming;
(3) information regarding United States Government
investments in clean cookstoves and fuels programming,
including funding that has been planned, appropriated,
obligated, or expended during the most recently concluded
fiscal year and cumulatively for the 5 most recently concluded
fiscal years; and
(4) information regarding the progress made toward
increasing collaboration among Federal agencies to further the
policy described in section 3, including interagency research
efforts and collaboration with international research partners.
(d) Public Availability.--The President shall make the report
required under subsection (b) available to the public.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal years 2022
through 2027 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
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