I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 123 

To encourage water efficiency. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2013 

Mr. HOLT (for himself and Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California) 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 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. WATERSENSE. 

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

8 Environmental Protection Agency a WaterSense program 

9 to identify and promote water efficient products, buildings 

10 and landscapes, and services in order— 


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1 (1) to reduce water use; 

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

3 and stormwater infrastructure; 

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

5 transport, and treat water; and 

6 (4) to preserve water resources for future gen7 erations, 

8 through voluntary labeling of, or other forms of commu9 nications about, products, buildings and landscapes, and 

10 services that meet the highest water efficiency and per11 formance standards. 

12 (b) DUTIES.—The Administrator of the Environ13 mental Protection Agency shall— 

14 (1) promote WaterSense labeled products, 

15 buildings and landscapes, and services in the market 

16 place as the preferred technologies and services 

17 for— 

18 (A) reducing water use; and 

19 (B) ensuring product and service perform20 ance; 

21 (2) work to enhance public awareness of the 

22 WaterSense label through public outreach, edu23 cation, water recycling and reuse technology re24 search and development, and other means; 


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1 (3) establish and maintain performance stand2 ards so that products, buildings and landscapes, and 

3 services labeled with the WaterSense label perform 

4 as well or better than their less efficient counter5 parts; 

6 (4) publicize the importance of proper installa7 tion of WaterSense plumbing products by a 

8 WaterSense-certified or, if WaterSense certification 

9 guidelines do not exist, licensed plumber or mechan10 ical contractor, and the installation, maintenance, 

11 and audit of WaterSense irrigation systems by a 

12 WaterSense-certified irrigation professional to en13 sure optimal performance; 

14 (5) preserve the integrity of the WaterSense 

15 label; 

16 (6) regularly review and, when appropriate, up17 date WaterSense criteria for categories of products, 

18 buildings and landscapes, and services, at least once 

19 every four years; 

20 (7) regularly collect and make available to the 

21 public summary data on the production and relative 

22 market shares of WaterSense labeled products, 

23 buildings and landscapes, and services, at least an24 nually; 


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1 (8) regularly estimate and make available to the 

2 public the water and energy savings attributable to 

3 the use of WaterSense labeled products, buildings 

4 and landscapes, and services, at least annually; 

5 (9) solicit comments from interested parties and 

6 the public prior to establishing or revising a 

7 WaterSense category, specification, installation cri8 terion, or other criterion (or prior to effective dates 

9 for any such category, specification, installation cri10 terion, or other criterion); 

11 (10) provide reasonable notice to interested par12 ties and the public of any changes (including effec13 tive dates), on the adoption of a new or revised cat14 egory, specification, installation criterion, or other 

15 criterion, along with— 

16 (A) an explanation of changes; and 

17 (B) as appropriate, responses to comments 

18 submitted by interested parties; 

19 (11) provide appropriate lead time (as deter20 mined by the Administrator) prior to the applicable 

21 effective date for a new or significant revision to a 

22 category, specification, installation criterion, or other 

23 criterion, taking into account the timing require24 ments of the manufacturing, marketing, training, 

25 and distribution process for the specific product, 


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1 building and landscape, or service category ad2 dressed; and 

3 (12) identify and, where appropriate, implement 

4 other voluntary approaches, such as labeling water5 less devices that perform the same function as a 

6 water consuming product or encouraging reuse, rec7 lamation, and recycling technologies, in commercial, 

8 institutional, residential, municipal, and industrial 

9 sectors to improve water efficiency or lower water 

10 use while meeting the performance standards estab11 lished under paragraph (3). 

12 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

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

14 year 2014, $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2015, $20,000,000 

15 for fiscal year 2016, and $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2017 

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

17 out this section. 

18 SEC. 3. FEDERAL PROCUREMENT OF WATER EFFICIENT 

19 PRODUCTS. 

20 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

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

23 5, United States Code. 

24 (2) WATERSENSE PRODUCT OR SERVICE.—The 

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


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1 product or service that is rated for water efficiency 

2 under the WaterSense program. 

3 (3) WATERSENSE PROGRAM.—The term 

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

6 (4) FEMP DESIGNATED PRODUCT.—The term 

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

8 is designated under the Federal Energy Manage9 ment Program of the Department of Energy as 

10 being among the highest 25 percent of equivalent 

11 products for efficiency. 

12 (5) PRODUCT AND SERVICE.—The terms ‘‘prod13 uct’’ and ‘‘service’’ do not include any water con14 suming product or service designed or procured for 

15 combat or combat-related missions. The terms also 

16 exclude products or services already covered by the 

17 Federal procurement regulations established under 

18 section 553 of the National Energy Conservation 

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

20 (b) PROCUREMENT OF WATER EFFICIENT PROD21 UCTS.— 

22 (1) REQUIREMENT.—To meet the requirements 

23 of an agency for a water consuming product or serv24 ice, the head of the agency shall, except as provided 

25 in paragraph (2), procure— 


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1 (A) a WaterSense product or service; or 

2 (B) a FEMP designated product. 

3 A WaterSense plumbing product should preferably, 

4 when possible, be installed by a WaterSense-certified 

5 or, if WaterSense certification guidelines do not 

6 exist, licensed plumber or mechanical contractor, 

7 and a WaterSense irrigation system should pref8 erably, when possible, be installed, maintained, and 

9 audited by a WaterSense-certified irrigation profes10 sional to ensure optimal performance. 

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

12 not required to procure a WaterSense product or 

13 service or FEMP designated product under para14 graph (1) if the head of the agency finds in writing 

15 that— 

16 (A) a WaterSense product or service or 

17 FEMP designated product is not cost-effective 

18 over the life of the product, taking current and 

19 future energy, water, and wastewater cost sav20 ings into account; or 

21 (B) no WaterSense product or service or 

22 FEMP designated product is reasonably avail23 able that meets the functional requirements of 

24 the agency. 


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

2 agency shall incorporate into the specifications for 

3 all procurements involving water consuming products 

4 and systems, including guide specifications, project 

5 specifications, and construction, renovation, and 

6 services contracts that include provision of water 

7 consuming products and systems, and into the fac8 tors for the evaluation of offers received for the pro9 curement, criteria used for rating WaterSense prod10 ucts and services and FEMP designated products. 

11 The head of an agency shall consider, to the max12 imum extent practicable, additional measures for re13 ducing agency water consumption, including water 

14 reuse, reclamation, and recycling technologies, leak 

15 detection and repair, and use of waterless products 

16 that perform similar functions to existing water-con17 suming products. 

18 (c) LISTING OF WATER EFFICIENT PRODUCTS IN

19 FEDERAL CATALOGS.—WaterSense products and services 

20 and FEMP designated products shall be clearly identified 

21 and prominently displayed in any inventory or listing of 

22 products by the General Services Administration or the 

23 Defense Logistics Agency. The General Services Adminis24 tration and the Defense Logistics Agency shall supply only 

25 WaterSense products or FEMP designated products for 


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1 all product categories covered by the WaterSense program 

2 or the Federal Energy Management Program, except in 

3 cases where the agency ordering a product specifies in 

4 writing that no WaterSense product or FEMP designated 

5 product is available to meet the buyer’s functional require6 ments, or that no WaterSense product or FEMP des7 ignated product is cost-effective for the intended applica8 tion over the life of the product, taking energy, water, and 

9 wastewater cost savings into account. 

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

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

12 the Environmental Protection Agency shall issue regula13 tions to carry out this section. 

14 SEC. 4. EARLY ADOPTER WATER EFFICIENT PRODUCTS IN15 CENTIVE PROGRAMS. 

16 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis18 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ19 mental Protection Agency. 

20 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti21 ty’’ means a State government, local or county gov22 ernment, tribal government, wastewater or sewage 

23 utility, municipal water authority, energy utility, 

24 water utility, or nonprofit organization that meets 

25 the requirements of subsection (b). 


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

2 program’’ means a program for administering finan3 cial incentives for consumer purchase and installa4 tion of residential water efficient products and serv5 ices as described in subsection (b)(1). 

6 (4) RESIDENTIAL WATER EFFICIENT PRODUCT

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

8 product or service’’ means a product or service for 

9 a single-family or multifamily residence or its land10 scape that is rated for water efficiency and perform11 ance— 

12 (A) by the WaterSense program; or 

13 (B) by an incentive program and approved 

14 by the Administrator. 

15 Categories of water efficient products and services 

16 may include faucets, irrigation technologies and 

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

18 reclamation, and recycling technologies, toilets, and 

19 showerheads. 

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

21 the several States of the United States, the District 

22 of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 

23 Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Common24 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 


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1 (6) WATERSENSE PROGRAM.—The term 

2 ‘‘WaterSense program’’ means the program estab3 lished by section 2 of this Act. 

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

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

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

7 program to provide rebates, vouchers, other financial 

8 incentives, or direct installs to consumers for the 

9 purchase and installation of residential water effi10 cient products or services; 

11 (2) submits an application for the allocation at 

12 such time, in such form, and containing such infor13 mation as the Administrator may require; and 

14 (3) provides assurances satisfactory to the Ad15 ministrator that the entity will use the allocation to 

16 supplement, but not supplant, funds made available 

17 to carry out the incentive program. 

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

19 the Administrator shall determine the amount to allocate 

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

21 into consideration— 

22 (1) the population served by the eligible entity 

23 in the most recent calendar year for which data are 

24 available; 


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1 (2) the targeted population of the eligible enti2 ty’s incentive program, such as general households, 

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

4 and the probable effectiveness of the incentive pro5 gram for that population; 

6 (3) for existing programs, the effectiveness of 

7 the incentive program in encouraging the adoption 

8 of water efficient products and services; and 

9 (4) any prior year’s allocation to the eligible en10 tity that remains unused. 

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

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

13 50 percent of the cost of establishing and carrying out 

14 an incentive program. 

15 (e) FIXTURE RECYCLING.—Entities are encouraged 

16 to promote or implement fixture recycling programs to 

17 manage the disposal of older fixtures replaced due to the 

18 incentive program under this section. 

19 (f) ISSUANCE OF REBATES.—Financial incentives 

20 may be provided to consumers that meet the requirements 

21 of the incentive program. The entity may issue all finan22 cial incentives directly to consumers or, with approval of 

23 the Administrator, delegate some or all financial incentive 

24 administration to other organizations including, but not 

25 limited to, local governments, municipal water authorities, 


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1 and water utilities. The amount of a financial incentive 

2 shall be determined by the entity, taking into consider3 ation— 

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

5 under subsection (c); 

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

7 organization’s tax or financial incentive available for 

8 the purchase of the residential water efficient prod9 uct or service; 

10 (3) the amount necessary to change consumer 

11 behavior to purchase water efficient products and 

12 services; and 

13 (4) the consumer expenditures for onsite prepa14 ration, assembly, and original installation of the 

15 product. 

16 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

17 are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator to 

18 carry out this section $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2014, 

19 $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2015, $150,000,000 for fis20 cal year 2016, $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2017, and 

21 $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2018. 

Æ 


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