I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5189 

To ensure consideration of water intensity in the Department of Energy’s 

energy research, development, and demonstration programs to help guarantee efficient, reliable, and sustainable delivery of energy and clean 

water resources. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 24, 2014 

Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas (for herself and Mr. HALL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, 

Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To ensure consideration of water intensity in the Department 

of Energy’s energy research, development, and demonstration programs to help guarantee efficient, reliable, 

and sustainable delivery of energy and clean water resources. 

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 ‘‘Energy and Water Re5 search Integration Act of 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INTEGRATING ENERGY AND WATER RESEARCH. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy shall in3 tegrate water considerations into energy research, develop4 ment, and demonstration programs and projects of the 

5 Department of Energy by— 

6 (1) advancing energy and energy efficiency 

7 technologies and practices that meet the objectives 

8 of— 

9 (A) minimizing freshwater withdrawal and 

10 consumption; 

11 (B) increasing water use efficiency; and 

12 (C) utilizing nontraditional water sources 

13 with efforts to improve the quality of the water 

14 from those sources; 

15 (2) considering the effects climate variability 

16 may have on water supplies and quality for energy 

17 generation and fuel production; and 

18 (3) improving understanding of the energy19 water nexus. 

20 (b) STRATEGIC PLAN.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months 

22 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec23 retary shall develop a strategic plan identifying the 

24 research, development, and demonstration needs for 

25 Department programs and projects to carry out sub26 section (a). The strategic plan shall include technical 


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1 milestones for achieving and assessing progress to2 ward the objectives of subsection (a)(1). 

3 (2) SPECIFIC CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing 

4 the strategic plan, the Secretary shall consider— 

5 (A) new advanced cooling technologies for 

6 energy generation and fuel production tech7 nologies; 

8 (B) performance improvement of existing 

9 cooling technologies and cost reductions associ10 ated with using those technologies; 

11 (C) innovative water reuse, recovery, and 

12 treatment technologies in energy generation and 

13 fuel production; 

14 (D) technology development for carbon 

15 capture and storage systems that utilize effi16 cient water use design strategies; 

17 (E) technologies that are life-cycle cost ef18 fective; 

19 (F) systems analysis and modeling of 

20 issues relating to the energy-water nexus; 

21 (G) technologies to treat and utilize waste22 water and produced waters discharged from oil, 

23 natural gas, coalbed methane, and any other 

24 substance to be used as an energy source; 


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1 (H) advanced materials for the use of non2 traditional water sources for energy generation 

3 and fuel production; 

4 (I) biomass production and utilization and 

5 the impact on hydrologic systems; 

6 (J) technologies that reduce impacts on 

7 water from energy resource development; 

8 (K) energy efficient technologies for water 

9 distribution, treatment, and collection systems; 

10 (L) technologies for energy generation 

11 from water distribution, treatment, and collec12 tion systems; and 

13 (M) any other area of the energy-water 

14 nexus that the Secretary considers appropriate. 

15 (3) COLLABORATION AND NONDUPLICATION.— 

16 In developing the strategic plan, the Secretary shall 

17 coordinate and avoid duplication— 

18 (A) with other Federal agencies operating 

19 related programs, if appropriate; and 

20 (B) across programs and projects of the 

21 Department, including with those of the Na22 tional Laboratories. 

23 (4) RELEVANT INFORMATION AND REC24 OMMENDATIONS.—In developing the strategic plan, 

25 the Secretary shall consider and incorporate, as apVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:20 Jul 29, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5189.IH H5189

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1 propriate, relevant information and recommenda2 tions, including those of the National Water Avail3 ability and Use Assessment Program under section 

4 9508(d) of the Omnibus Public Land Management 

5 Act of 2009 (42 U.S.C. 10368(d)). 

6 (5) ADDITIONAL PARTICIPATION.—In devel7 oping the strategic plan, the Secretary shall consult 

8 and coordinate with a diverse group of representa9 tives from research and academic institutions, indus10 try, and State and local governments who have ex11 pertise in technologies and practices relating to the 

12 energy-water nexus. 

13 (6) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 

14 15 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 

15 the Secretary shall submit to Congress the strategic 

16 plan. 

17 (7) UPDATING THE STRATEGIC PLAN.—Not 

18 later than 3 years after the date of enactment of 

19 this Act, and at least once every 5 years thereafter, 

20 the Secretary shall— 

21 (A) utilize relevant information produced 

22 by Federal Government agencies, academia, 

23 States, and industry to update the strategic 

24 plan; 


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1 (B) include in the updated strategic plan a 

2 description of the changes from the previous 

3 strategic plan and the rationale for such 

4 changes; and 

5 (C) submit the updated strategic plan to 

6 Congress. 

7 (c) PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not less frequently than 

8 once every 2 years, the Secretary shall transmit to Con9 gress a report on the progress the Department has made 

10 toward the milestones outlined in the strategic plan. 

11 (d) ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary may 

12 provide for such additional research, development, and 

13 demonstration activities as appropriate to integrate water 

14 considerations into the research, development, and dem15 onstration activities of the Department as described in 

16 subsection (a). 

17 SEC. 3. ENERGY-WATER OVERSIGHT AND COORDINATION. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordination 

19 with other relevant Federal agencies, shall establish an 

20 Energy-Water Subcommittee of the Energy Advisory 

21 Board to promote and enable improved energy and water 

22 resource data collection, reporting, and technological inno23 vation. The Subcommittee shall consist of— 

24 (1) representation from each program within 

25 the Department and each Federal agency that conVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:20 Jul 29, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5189.IH H5189

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1 ducts research related to the energy-water nexus; 

2 and 

3 (2) non-Federal members, including representa4 tives of research and academic institutions, States, 

5 and industry, who have expertise in technologies and 

6 practices relating to the energy-water nexus. 

7 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Subcommittee shall— 

8 (1) make recommendations on the development 

9 and integration of data collection and data commu10 nication standards and protocols to agencies and en11 tities currently engaged in collecting the data for the 

12 energy-water nexus; 

13 (2) recommend ways to make improvements to 

14 Federal water use data to increase understanding of 

15 trends in energy generation and fuel production; 

16 (3) recommend best practices for utilizing infor17 mation from existing monitoring networks to provide 

18 nationally uniform water and energy use and infra19 structure data; and 

20 (4) conduct annual technical workshops, includ21 ing at least 1 regional workshop annually, to facili22 tate information exchange among Federal, regional, 

23 State, local, and tribal governments and private sec24 tor experts on technologies that encourage the con25 servation and efficient use of water and energy. 


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1 (c) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

2 of enactment of this Act, and at least once every 2 years 

3 thereafter, the Subcommittee, through the Secretary, shall 

4 transmit to Congress a report on its findings and activities 

5 under this section. 

6 SEC. 4. MANDATES. 

7 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to require 

8 State, tribal, or local governments to take any action that 

9 may result in an increased financial burden to such gov10 ernments by restricting the use of water by such govern11 ments. 

12 SEC. 5. COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION. 

13 To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary 

14 shall coordinate activities under this Act with other pro15 grams of the Department and other Federal research pro16 grams. 

17 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

20 means the Department of Energy. 

21 (2) ENERGY-WATER NEXUS.—The term ‘‘en22 ergy-water nexus’’ means the energy required to pro23 vide reliable water supplies and the water required 

24 to provide reliable energy supplies throughout the 

25 United States. 


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1 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Energy. 

3 (4) SUBCOMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Sub4 committee’’ means the Energy-Water Subcommittee 

5 of the Energy Advisory Board established under sec6 tion 3(a). 

Æ 


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