[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5149 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5149
To provide for a smart water management pilot program.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 17, 2014
Mr. McNerney (for himself and Mr. Kinzinger of Illinois) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and
Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Science, Space, and
Technology, Natural Resources, and Transportation and Infrastructure,
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 provide for a smart water management pilot program.
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 ``Smart Water Management Conservation
and Efficiency Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. SMART WATER MANAGEMENT PILOT PROGRAM.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
(A) a utility;
(B) a municipality;
(C) a water district; and
(D) any other authority that provides drinking
water, wastewater treatment, or water reuse services.
(2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Energy.
(3) Smart water management pilot program.--The term ``smart
water management pilot program'' or ``pilot program'' means the
pilot program established under subsection (b).
(b) Smart Water Management Pilot Program.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish and carry
out a smart water management pilot program in accordance with
this section.
(2) Purpose.--The purpose of the smart water management
pilot program is to award grants to eligible entities to
demonstrate and deploy novel and innovative technology-based
solutions that will--
(A) increase the energy and water efficiency of
drinking water, wastewater treatment, and water reuse
systems;
(B) improve drinking water, water reuse, and
wastewater treatment systems to help communities across
the United States make significant progress in
conserving water, saving energy, and reducing costs;
and
(C) support the implementation of innovative
processes and the installation of advanced automated
systems that provide real-time data on energy and
water.
(3) Project selection.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall make
competitive, merit-reviewed grants under the pilot
program to not less than 3, but not more than 5,
eligible entities.
(B) Selection criteria.--In selecting an eligible
entity to receive a grant under the pilot program, the
Secretary shall consider--
(i) energy and cost savings;
(ii) the novelty of the technology to be
used;
(iii) the degree to which the project
integrates next-generation sensors, software,
analytics, and management tools;
(iv) the anticipated cost-effectiveness of
the pilot project in terms of energy efficiency
savings, water savings or reuse, and
infrastructure costs averted;
(v) whether the technology can be deployed
in a variety of geographic regions and the
degree to which the technology can be
implemented on a smaller or larger scale; and
(vi) whether the project will be completed
in 5 years or less.
(C) Applications.--
(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii), an
eligible entity seeking a grant under the pilot
program shall submit to the Secretary an
application at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary
determines to be necessary.
(ii) Contents.--An application under clause
(i) shall, at a minimum, include--
(I) a description of the project;
(II) a description of the
technology to be used in the project;
(III) the anticipated results,
including energy and water savings, of
the project;
(IV) a comprehensive budget for the
project;
(V) the names of the project lead
organization and any partners;
(VI) the number of users to be
served by the project; and
(VII) any other information that
the Secretary determines to be
necessary to complete the review and
selection of a grant recipient.
(4) Administration.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 300 days after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
select grant recipients under this section.
(B) Evaluations.--The Secretary shall annually
carry out an evaluation of each project for which a
grant is provided under this section that--
(i) evaluates the progress and impact of
the project; and
(ii) assesses the degree to which the
project is meeting the goals of the pilot
program.
(C) Technical assistance.--On the request of a
grant recipient, the Secretary shall provide technical
assistance.
(D) Best practices.--The Secretary shall make
available to the public--
(i) a copy of each evaluation carried out
under subparagraph (B); and
(ii) a description of any best practices
identified by the Secretary as a result of
those evaluations.
(E) Report to congress.--The Secretary shall submit
to Congress a report containing the results of each
evaluation carried out under subparagraph (B).
(c) Funding.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall use not less than
$7,500,000 of amounts made available to the Secretary to carry
out this section.
(2) Prioritization.--In funding activities under this
section, the Secretary shall prioritize funding in the
following manner:
(A) Any unobligated amounts made available to the
Secretary to carry out the activities of the Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office.
(B) Any unobligated amounts (other than those
described in subparagraph (A)) made available to the
Secretary.
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