H.R.6316 – Clean Cooking Support Act

Following the COP26 international climate conference, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), have introduced a bill to accelerate access to clean cooking. Here is the opening text of the section defining the activities directed in the bill. H.R.6316 has been referred to the Subcommittee on Energy:

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.

The bill continues on in sections (c) through (f) to direct the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies to engage in supportive activities. You can read the full text of the bill at https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6316/text