I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3143 

To provide for a smart water resource management pilot program. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 21, 2015 

Mr. MCNERNEY (for himself and Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, 

and Technology, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, 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 resource management pilot 

program. 

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 ‘‘Smart Energy and 

5 Water Efficiency Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SMART ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY PILOT 

7 PROGRAM. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means— 

3 (A) a utility; 

4 (B) a municipality; 

5 (C) a water district; and 

6 (D) any other authority that provides 

7 water, wastewater, or water reuse services. 

8 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of Energy. 

10 (3) SMART ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY

11 PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘smart energy and 

12 water efficiency pilot program’’ or ‘‘pilot program’’ 

13 means the pilot program established under sub14 section (b). 

15 (b) SMART ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY PILOT

16 PROGRAM.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

18 and carry out a smart energy and water efficiency 

19 management pilot program in accordance with this 

20 section. 

21 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the smart en22 ergy and water efficiency pilot program is to award 

23 grants to eligible entities to demonstrate advanced 

24 and innovative technology-based solutions that will— 


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1 (A) increase and improve the energy effi2 ciency of water, wastewater, and water reuse 

3 systems to help communities across the United 

4 States make significant progress in conserving 

5 water, saving energy, and reducing costs; 

6 (B) support the implementation of innova7 tive processes and the installation of advanced 

8 automated systems that provide real-time data 

9 on energy and water; and 

10 (C) improve energy and water conserva11 tion, water quality, and predictive maintenance 

12 of energy and water systems, through the use 

13 of Internet-connected technologies, including 

14 sensors, intelligent gateways, and security em15 bedded in hardware. 

16 (3) PROJECT SELECTION.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

18 make competitive, merit-reviewed grants under 

19 the pilot program to not less than 3, but not 

20 more than 5, eligible entities. 

21 (B) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting an 

22 eligible entity to receive a grant under the pilot 

23 program, the Secretary shall consider— 

24 (i) energy and cost savings anticipated 

25 to result from the project; 


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1 (ii) the innovative nature, commercial 

2 viability, and reliability of the technology 

3 to be used; 

4 (iii) the degree to which the project 

5 integrates next-generation sensors, soft6 ware, hardware, analytics, and manage7 ment tools; 

8 (iv) the anticipated cost-effectiveness 

9 of the pilot project in terms of energy effi10 ciency savings, water savings or reuse, and 

11 infrastructure costs averted; 

12 (v) whether the technology can be de13 ployed in a variety of geographic regions 

14 and the degree to which the technology can 

15 be implemented on a smaller or larger 

16 scale, including whether the technology can 

17 be implemented by each type of eligible en18 tity; 

19 (vi) whether the technology has been 

20 successfully deployed elsewhere; 

21 (vii) whether the technology is sourced 

22 from a manufacturer based in the United 

23 States; and 

24 (viii) whether the project will be com25 pleted in 5 years or less. 


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1 (C) APPLICATIONS.— 

2 (i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

3 (ii), an eligible entity seeking a grant 

4 under the pilot program shall submit to 

5 the Secretary an application at such time, 

6 in such manner, and containing such infor7 mation as the Secretary determines to be 

8 necessary. 

9 (ii) CONTENTS.—An application under 

10 clause (i) shall, at a minimum, include— 

11 (I) a description of the project; 

12 (II) a description of the tech13 nology to be used in the project; 

14 (III) the anticipated results, in15 cluding energy and water savings, of 

16 the project; 

17 (IV) a comprehensive budget for 

18 the project; 

19 (V) the names of the project lead 

20 organization and any partners; 

21 (VI) the number of users to be 

22 served by the project; and 

23 (VII) any other information that 

24 the Secretary determines to be necVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Jul 23, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3143.IH H3143

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1 essary to complete the review and se2 lection of a grant recipient. 

3 (4) ADMINISTRATION.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 300 

5 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

6 the Secretary shall select grant recipients under 

7 this section. 

8 (B) EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary shall 

9 annually carry out an evaluation of each project 

10 for which a grant is provided under this section 

11 that— 

12 (i) evaluates the progress and impact 

13 of the project; and 

14 (ii) assesses the degree to which the 

15 project is meeting the goals of the pilot 

16 program. 

17 (C) TECHNICAL AND POLICY ASSIST18 ANCE.—On the request of a grant recipient, the 

19 Secretary shall provide technical and policy as20 sistance to the grant recipient to carry out the 

21 project. 

22 (D) BEST PRACTICES.—The Secretary 

23 shall make available to the public— 

24 (i) a copy of each evaluation carried 

25 out under subparagraph (B); and 


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1 (ii) a description of any best practices 

2 identified by the Secretary as a result of 

3 those evaluations. 

4 (E) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Sec5 retary shall submit to Congress a report con6 taining the results of each evaluation carried 

7 out under subparagraph (B). 

8 (c) FUNDING.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use not 

10 less than $7,500,000 of amounts made available to 

11 the Secretary to carry out this section. 

12 (2) PRIORITIZATION.—In funding activities 

13 under this section, the Secretary shall prioritize 

14 funding in the following manner: 

15 (A) The Secretary shall first use any unob16 ligated amounts made available to the Secretary 

17 to carry out the activities of the Energy Effi18 ciency and Renewable Energy Office. 

19 (B) After any amounts described in sub20 paragraph (A) have been used, the Secretary 

21 shall then use any unobligated amounts (other 

22 than those described in subparagraph (A)) 

23 made available to the Secretary. 

Æ 


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