12 2 STA T . 2 08 2 PUBLIC LA W 110 – 2 46—J U NE 18 , 2008 ‘ ‘ (i)fundsa u thor i ze d for the I nitiati v e are distri b- uted and used in a m anner that is c onsistent w ith the ob j ectives ,p urposes, and considerations of the Ini- tiative
‘‘(ii) so l icitations are open and competitive with awards made annuall y
‘‘(iii) objectives and evaluation criteria of the solici- tations are clearly stated and minimally prescriptive, with no areas of special interest; ‘‘(iv) the points of contact are fundin g proposals under this title that are selected on the basis of merit, as determined by an independent panel of scientific and technical peers predominantly from outside the D epartments of A griculture and E nergy; and ‘‘(v) activities under this title are carried out in accordance with this title . ‘‘( 4 ) CO O RDINAT ION. —T o avoid duplication of effort, the Advisory Committee shall coordinate its activities with those of other F ederal advisory committees wor k ing in related areas. ‘‘( 5 ) ME ETIN GS .—The Advisory Committee shall meet at least q uarterly. ‘‘( 6 ) TER M S.—Members of the Advisory Committee shall be appointed for a term of 3 years. ‘‘(e) B IOMASS R ESEAR CH AND DE V E L O P MENT INITIATIVE.— ‘‘( 1 ) IN GENERAL.—The S ecretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Energy, acting through their respective points of contact and in consultation with the Board, shall establish and carry out a Biomass Research and Development Initiative under which competitively awarded grants, contracts, and financial assistance are provided to, or entered into with, eligible entities to carry out research on and development and demonstration of— ‘‘(A) biofuels and biobased products; and ‘‘(B) the methods, practices, and technologies, for the production of biofuels and biobased products. ‘‘( 2 ) OBJ ECTIVES.—The objectives of the Initiative are to develop— ‘‘(A) technologies and processes necessary for abundant commercial production of biofuels at prices competitive with fossil fuels; ‘‘(B) high-value biobased products— ‘‘(i) to enhance the economic viability of biofuels and power; ‘‘(ii) to serve as substitutes for petroleum-based feedstocks and products; and ‘‘(iii) to enhance the value of coproducts produced using the technologies and processes; and ‘‘(C) a diversity of economically and environmentally sustainable domestic sources of renewable biomass for conversion to biofuels, bioenergy, and biobased products. ‘‘(3) TECHNICAL AREAS.—The Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental P rotection Agency and heads of other appropriate departments and agencies (referred to in this sub- section as the ‘Secretaries ’ ), shall direct the Initiative in the 3 following areas
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