I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1967 

To encourage water efficiency. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 24, 2011 

Mr. HOLT (for himself, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. HINCHEY, 

Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. OLVER, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. MCNERNEY, and Mr. 

PIERLUISI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on 

Oversight and Government Reform and Armed Services, 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 encourage water efficiency. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Water Advanced Tech5 nologies for Efficient Resource Use Act of 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. WATERSENSE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the 

8 Environmental Protection Agency a WaterSense program 


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1 to identify and promote water efficient products, buildings 

2 and landscapes, and services in order— 

3 (1) to reduce water use; 

4 (2) to reduce the strain on water, wastewater, 

5 and stormwater infrastructure; 

6 (3) to conserve energy used to pump, heat, 

7 transport, and treat water; and 

8 (4) to preserve water resources for future gen9 erations, 

10 through voluntary labeling of, or other forms of commu11 nications about, products, buildings and landscapes, and 

12 services that meet the highest water efficiency and per13 formance standards. 

14 (b) DUTIES.—The Administrator of the Environ15 mental Protection Agency shall— 

16 (1) promote WaterSense labeled products, 

17 buildings and landscapes, and services in the market 

18 place as the preferred technologies and services 

19 for— 

20 (A) reducing water use; and 

21 (B) ensuring product and service perform22 ance; 

23 (2) work to enhance public awareness of the 

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1 cation, water recycling and reuse technology re2 search and development, and other means; 

3 (3) establish and maintain performance stand4 ards so that products, buildings and landscapes, and 

5 services labeled with the WaterSense label perform 

6 as well or better than their less efficient counter7 parts; 

8 (4) publicize the importance of proper installa9 tion of WaterSense plumbing products by a 

10 WaterSense-certified or, if WaterSense certification 

11 guidelines do not exist, licensed plumber or mechan12 ical contractor, and the installation, maintenance, 

13 and audit of WaterSense irrigation systems by a 

14 WaterSense-certified irrigation professional to en15 sure optimal performance; 

16 (5) preserve the integrity of the WaterSense 

17 label; 

18 (6) regularly review and, when appropriate, up19 date WaterSense criteria for categories of products, 

20 buildings and landscapes, and services, at least once 

21 every four years; 

22 (7) regularly collect and make available to the 

23 public summary data on the production and relative 

24 market shares of WaterSense labeled products, 


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1 buildings and landscapes, and services, at least an2 nually; 

3 (8) regularly estimate and make available to the 

4 public the water and energy savings attributable to 

5 the use of WaterSense labeled products, buildings 

6 and landscapes, and services, at least annually; 

7 (9) solicit comments from interested parties and 

8 the public prior to establishing or revising a 

9 WaterSense category, specification, installation cri10 terion, or other criterion (or prior to effective dates 

11 for any such category, specification, installation cri12 terion, or other criterion); 

13 (10) provide reasonable notice to interested par14 ties and the public of any changes (including effec15 tive dates), on the adoption of a new or revised cat16 egory, specification, installation criterion, or other 

17 criterion, along with— 

18 (A) an explanation of changes; and 

19 (B) as appropriate, responses to comments 

20 submitted by interested parties; 

21 (11) provide appropriate lead time (as deter22 mined by the Administrator) prior to the applicable 

23 effective date for a new or significant revision to a 

24 category, specification, installation criterion, or other 

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1 ments of the manufacturing, marketing, training, 

2 and distribution process for the specific product, 

3 building and landscape, or service category ad4 dressed; and 

5 (12) identify and, where appropriate, implement 

6 other voluntary approaches, such as labeling water7 less devices that perform the same function as a 

8 water consuming product or encouraging reuse, rec9 lamation, and recycling technologies, in commercial, 

10 institutional, residential, municipal, and industrial 

11 sectors to improve water efficiency or lower water 

12 use while meeting the performance standards estab13 lished under paragraph (3). 

14 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 are authorized to be appropriated $7,500,000 for fiscal 

16 year 2012, $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2013, $20,000,000 

17 for fiscal year 2014, and $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2015 

18 and each year thereafter, adjusted for inflation, to carry 

19 out this section. 

20 SEC. 3. FEDERAL PROCUREMENT OF WATER EFFICIENT 

21 PRODUCTS. 

22 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ has the 

24 meaning given that term in section 7902(a) of title 

25 5, United States Code. 


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1 (2) WATERSENSE PRODUCT OR SERVICE.—The 

2 term ‘‘WaterSense product or service’’ means a 

3 product or service that is rated for water efficiency 

4 under the WaterSense program. 

5 (3) WATERSENSE PROGRAM.—The term 

6 ‘‘WaterSense program’’ means the program estab7 lished by section 2 of this Act. 

8 (4) FEMP DESIGNATED PRODUCT.—The term 

9 ‘‘FEMP designated product’’ means a product that 

10 is designated under the Federal Energy Manage11 ment Program of the Department of Energy as 

12 being among the highest 25 percent of equivalent 

13 products for efficiency. 

14 (5) PRODUCT AND SERVICE.—The terms ‘‘prod15 uct’’ and ‘‘service’’ do not include any water con16 suming product or service designed or procured for 

17 combat or combat-related missions. The terms also 

18 exclude products or services already covered by the 

19 Federal procurement regulations established under 

20 section 553 of the National Energy Conservation 

21 Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 8259b). 

22 (b) PROCUREMENT OF WATER EFFICIENT PROD23 UCTS.— 

24 (1) REQUIREMENT.—To meet the requirements 

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1 ice, the head of the agency shall, except as provided 

2 in paragraph (2), procure— 

3 (A) a WaterSense product or service; or 

4 (B) a FEMP designated product. 

5 A WaterSense plumbing product should preferably, 

6 when possible, be installed by a WaterSense-certified 

7 or, if WaterSense certification guidelines do not 

8 exist, licensed plumber or mechanical contractor, 

9 and a WaterSense irrigation system should pref10 erably, when possible, be installed, maintained, and 

11 audited by a WaterSense-certified irrigation profes12 sional to ensure optimal performance. 

13 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—The head of an agency is 

14 not required to procure a WaterSense product or 

15 service or FEMP designated product under para16 graph (1) if the head of the agency finds in writing 

17 that— 

18 (A) a WaterSense product or service or 

19 FEMP designated product is not cost-effective 

20 over the life of the product, taking current and 

21 future energy, water, and wastewater cost sav22 ings into account; or 

23 (B) no WaterSense product or service or 

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1 able that meets the functional requirements of 

2 the agency. 

3 (3) PROCUREMENT PLANNING.—The head of an 

4 agency shall incorporate into the specifications for 

5 all procurements involving water consuming products 

6 and systems, including guide specifications, project 

7 specifications, and construction, renovation, and 

8 services contracts that include provision of water 

9 consuming products and systems, and into the fac10 tors for the evaluation of offers received for the pro11 curement, criteria used for rating WaterSense prod12 ucts and services and FEMP designated products. 

13 The head of an agency shall consider, to the max14 imum extent practicable, additional measures for re15 ducing agency water consumption, including water 

16 reuse, reclamation, and recycling technologies, leak 

17 detection and repair, and use of waterless products 

18 that perform similar functions to existing water-con19 suming products. 

20 (c) LISTING OF WATER EFFICIENT PRODUCTS IN

21 FEDERAL CATALOGS.—WaterSense products and services 

22 and FEMP designated products shall be clearly identified 

23 and prominently displayed in any inventory or listing of 

24 products by the General Services Administration or the 

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1 tration and the Defense Logistics Agency shall supply only 

2 WaterSense products or FEMP designated products for 

3 all product categories covered by the WaterSense program 

4 or the Federal Energy Management Program, except in 

5 cases where the agency ordering a product specifies in 

6 writing that no WaterSense product or FEMP designated 

7 product is available to meet the buyer’s functional require8 ments, or that no WaterSense product or FEMP des9 ignated product is cost-effective for the intended applica10 tion over the life of the product, taking energy, water, and 

11 wastewater cost savings into account. 

12 (d) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

14 the Environmental Protection Agency shall issue regula15 tions to carry out this section. 

16 SEC. 4. EARLY ADOPTER WATER EFFICIENT PRODUCTS IN17 CENTIVE PROGRAMS. 

18 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis20 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ21 mental Protection Agency. 

22 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti23 ty’’ means a State government, local or county gov24 ernment, tribal government, wastewater or sewage 

25 utility, municipal water authority, energy utility, 


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1 water utility, or nonprofit organization that meets 

2 the requirements of subsection (b). 

3 (3) INCENTIVE PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘incentive 

4 program’’ means a program for administering finan5 cial incentives for consumer purchase and installa6 tion of residential water efficient products and serv7 ices as described in subsection (b)(1). 

8 (4) RESIDENTIAL WATER EFFICIENT PRODUCT

9 OR SERVICE.—The term ‘‘residential water efficient 

10 product or service’’ means a product or service for 

11 a single-family or multifamily residence or its land12 scape that is rated for water efficiency and perform13 ance— 

14 (A) by the WaterSense program; or 

15 (B) by an incentive program and approved 

16 by the Administrator. 

17 Categories of water efficient products and services 

18 may include faucets, irrigation technologies and 

19 services, point-of-use water treatment devices, reuse, 

20 reclamation, and recycling technologies, toilets, and 

21 showerheads. 

22 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 

23 the several States of the United States, the District 

24 of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 


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1 Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Common2 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

3 (6) WATERSENSE PROGRAM.—The term 

4 ‘‘WaterSense program’’ means the program estab5 lished by section 2 of this Act. 

6 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—An entity shall be eligible 

7 to receive an allocation under subsection (c) if the entity— 

8 (1) establishes (or has established) an incentive 

9 program to provide rebates, vouchers, other financial 

10 incentives, or direct installs to consumers for the 

11 purchase and installation of residential water effi12 cient products or services; 

13 (2) submits an application for the allocation at 

14 such time, in such form, and containing such infor15 mation as the Administrator may require; and 

16 (3) provides assurances satisfactory to the Ad17 ministrator that the entity will use the allocation to 

18 supplement, but not supplant, funds made available 

19 to carry out the incentive program. 

20 (c) AMOUNT OF ALLOCATIONS.—For each fiscal year, 

21 the Administrator shall determine the amount to allocate 

22 to each eligible entity to carry out subsection (d) taking 

23 into consideration— 


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1 (1) the population served by the eligible entity 

2 in the most recent calendar year for which data are 

3 available; 

4 (2) the targeted population of the eligible enti5 ty’s incentive program, such as general households, 

6 low-income households, or first-time homeowners, 

7 and the probable effectiveness of the incentive pro8 gram for that population; 

9 (3) for existing programs, the effectiveness of 

10 the incentive program in encouraging the adoption 

11 of water efficient products and services; and 

12 (4) any prior year’s allocation to the eligible en13 tity that remains unused. 

14 (d) USE OF ALLOCATED FUNDS.—Funds allocated to 

15 an entity under subsection (c) may be used to pay up to 

16 50 percent of the cost of establishing and carrying out 

17 an incentive program. 

18 (e) FIXTURE RECYCLING.—Entities are encouraged 

19 to promote or implement fixture recycling programs to 

20 manage the disposal of older fixtures replaced due to the 

21 incentive program under this section. 

22 (f) ISSUANCE OF REBATES.—Financial incentives 

23 may be provided to consumers that meet the requirements 

24 of the incentive program. The entity may issue all finan25 cial incentives directly to consumers or, with approval of 


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1 the Administrator, delegate some or all financial incentive 

2 administration to other organizations including, but not 

3 limited to, local governments, municipal water authorities, 

4 and water utilities. The amount of a financial incentive 

5 shall be determined by the entity, taking into consider6 ation— 

7 (1) the amount of the allocation to the entity 

8 under subsection (c); 

9 (2) the amount of any Federal, State, or other 

10 organization’s tax or financial incentive available for 

11 the purchase of the residential water efficient prod12 uct or service; 

13 (3) the amount necessary to change consumer 

14 behavior to purchase water efficient products and 

15 services; and 

16 (4) the consumer expenditures for onsite prepa17 ration, assembly, and original installation of the 

18 product. 

19 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to 

21 carry out this section $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2012, 

22 $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2013, $150,000,000 for fis23 cal year 2014, $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2015, and 

24 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2016. 

Æ 


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