II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1218 

To establish an interagency coordination committee or subcommittee with 

the leadership of the Department of Energy and the Department of 

the Interior, focused on the nexus between energy and water production, 

use, and efficiency, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 6, 2015 

Ms. MURKOWSKI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To establish an interagency coordination committee or subcommittee with the leadership of the Department of Energy and the Department of the Interior, focused on 

the nexus between energy and water production, use, 

and efficiency, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Nexus of Energy and 

5 Water for Sustainability Act of 2015’’ or the ‘‘NEWS Act 

6 of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) COMMITTEE OR SUBCOMMITTEE.—The term 

4 ‘‘Committee or Subcommittee’’ means the Com5 mittee on the Nexus of Energy and Water for Sus6 tainability (or the ‘‘NEWS Committee’’) or the Sub7 committee on the Nexus of Energy and Water for 

8 Sustainability (or the ‘‘NEWS Subcommittee’’), 

9 whichever is established by section 3(a). 

10 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

11 the Director of the Office of Science and Technology 

12 Policy. 

13 (3) ENERGY-WATER NEXUS.—The term ‘‘en14 ergy-water nexus’’ means the links between— 

15 (A) the water needed to produce fuels, 

16 electricity, and other forms of energy; and 

17 (B) the energy needed to transport, re18 claim, and treat water and wastewater. 

19 (4) GRAND CHALLENGES.—The term ‘‘Grand 

20 Challenges’’ means the 21st Century Grand Chal21 lenges program coordinated by the Office of Science 

22 and Technology Policy. 

23 (5) NSTC.—The term ‘‘NSTC’’ means the Na24 tional Science and Technology Council. 


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1 (6) RD&D ACTIVITIES.—The term ‘‘RD&D ac2 tivities’’ means research, development, and dem3 onstration activities. 

4 SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION COMMITTEE. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall establish 

6 either a committee or a subcommittee under the NSTC, 

7 to be known as either the Committee on the Nexus of En8 ergy and Water for Sustainability (or the ‘‘NEWS Com9 mittee’’) or the Subcommittee on the Nexus of Energy and 

10 Water for Sustainability (or the ‘‘NEWS Subcommittee’’), 

11 to carry out the duties described in subsection (c). 

12 (b) ADMINISTRATION.— 

13 (1) CHAIRS.—The Secretary of Energy and 

14 Secretary of the Interior shall serve as co-chairs of 

15 the Committee or Subcommittee. 

16 (2) MEMBERSHIP; STAFFING.—Membership and 

17 staffing shall be determined by the NSTC. 

18 (c) DUTIES.—The Committee or Subcommittee 

19 shall— 

20 (1) serve as a forum for developing common 

21 Federal goals and plans on energy-water nexus 

22 RD&D activities; 

23 (2) not later than 1 year after the date of en24 actment of this Act, and biannually thereafter, issue 


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1 a strategic plan on energy-water nexus RD&D activi2 ties priorities and objectives; 

3 (3) promote coordination of the activities of 

4 Federal departments and agencies on energy-water 

5 nexus RD&D activities, including the activities of— 

6 (A) the Department of Energy; 

7 (B) the Department of the Interior; 

8 (C) the Corps of Engineers; 

9 (D) the Department of Agriculture; 

10 (E) the Department of Defense; 

11 (F) the Department of State; 

12 (G) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

13 (H) the Council on Environmental Quality; 

14 (I) the National Institute of Standards and 

15 Technology; 

16 (J) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

17 Administration; 

18 (K) the National Science Foundation; 

19 (L) the Office of Management and Budget; 

20 (M) the Office of Science and Technology 

21 Policy; and 

22 (N) such other Federal departments and 

23 agencies as the Director or the Committee or 

24 Subcommittee consider appropriate; and 


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1 (4)(A) coordinate and develop capabilities and 

2 methodologies for data collection, management, and 

3 dissemination of information related to energy-water 

4 nexus RD&D activities from and to other Federal 

5 departments and agencies; and 

6 (B) promote information exchange between 

7 Federal departments and agencies— 

8 (i) to identify and document Federal and 

9 non-Federal programs and funding opportuni10 ties that support basic and applied research, de11 velopment, and demonstration proposals to ad12 vance energy-water nexus related science and 

13 technologies; 

14 (ii) if practicable, to leverage existing pro15 grams by encouraging joint solicitations, block 

16 grants, and matching programs with non-Fed17 eral entities; and 

18 (iii) to identify opportunities for domestic 

19 and international public-private partnerships, 

20 innovative financing mechanisms, information 

21 and data exchange, and Grand Challenges. 

22 (d) NO REGULATION.—Nothing in this section grants 

23 to the Committee or Subcommittee (including the mem24 bers of the Committee or Subcommittee) the authority to 

25 promulgate regulations or set standards. 


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1 (e) REVIEW; REPORT.—At the end of the 10-year pe2 riod beginning on the date on which the Committee or 

3 Subcommittee is established, the Director— 

4 (1) shall review the activities, relevance, and ef5 fectiveness of the Committee or Subcommittee; and 

6 (2) submit to the Committee on Energy and 

7 Natural Resources of the Senate and the Commit8 tees on Science, Space, and Technology, Energy and 

9 Commerce, and Natural Resources of the House of 

10 Representatives, a report describing the results of 

11 the review conducted under paragraph (1) and a rec12 ommendation on whether the Committee or Sub13 committee should continue. 

14 SEC. 4. CROSSCUT BUDGET. 

15 Not later than 30 days after the President submits 

16 the budget of the United States Government under section 

17 1105 of title 31, United States Code, the Director of the 

18 Office of Management and Budget shall submit to the 

19 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Sen20 ate and the Committees on Science, Space, and Tech21 nology, Energy and Commerce, and Natural Resources of 

22 the House of Representatives, an interagency budget 

23 crosscut report that displays at the program-, project-, 

24 and activity-level for each of the Federal agencies that 

25 carry out or support (including through grants, contracts, 


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1 interagency and intraagency transfers, multiyear and no2 year funds) basic and applied RD&D activities to advance 

3 the energy-water nexus related science and technologies— 

4 (1) the budget proposed in the budget request 

5 of the President for the upcoming fiscal year; 

6 (2) expenditures and obligations for the prior 

7 fiscal year; and 

8 (3) estimated expenditures and obligations for 

9 the current fiscal year. 

Æ 


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