SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Leveraging Our Water and Energy data to Reduce En-
ergy Bills Act of 2022’’ or the ‘‘LOWER Energy Bills Act 
of 2022’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Covered property benchmarking and transparency initiative. 
Sec. 4. National benchmarking requirement. 
Sec. 5. Exemptions and extensions. 
Sec. 6. Data transparency and sharing. 
Sec. 7. Federal assistance. 
Sec. 8. Penalties. 
Sec. 9. Report. 
Sec. 10. Residential benchmarking study. 
Sec. 11. Regulations. 
Sec. 12. Definitions. 
Sec. 13. Authorization of appropriations. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The climate crisis is raging and is already 
imposing significant costs on the economy of the 
United States. 
(2) The Biden-Harris Administration has com-
mitted to reducing harmful climate pollution by 50 
to 52 percent below 2005 levels economy-wide by 
2030. 
(3) Increasing energy efficiency will improve en-
ergy security, save money on energy bills, create 
jobs, and reduce harmful climate pollution. 
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(4) Building energy benchmarking and disclo-
sure helps provide transparency in building energy 
efficiency and has provided substantial benefits at 
affordable costs to State and local governments who 
have adopted benchmarking, including reducing en-
ergy use and emissions, helping tenants become in-
formed about the utility costs associated with prop-
erties, helping tenants experience better health and 
comfort in properties, helping building owners expe-
rience lower vacancy and turnover rates, and allow-
ing policymakers to make more informed decisions 
about future energy efficiency policies. 
(5) A Federal benchmarking requirement will 
reduce harmful climate pollution that crosses State 
boundaries, provide information for people relocating 
to other States, and harmonize building energy effi-
ciency and disclosure requirements in metropolitan 
areas that cross State lines. 
SEC. 3. COVERED PROPERTY BENCHMARKING AND TRANS-
PARENCY INITIATIVE. 
(a) PURPOSE.—The Administrator shall develop and 
carry out a benchmarking and transparency initiative for 
covered properties the purpose of which is to— 
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(1) advance the knowledge of owners and occu-
pants regarding building energy and water use and 
greenhouse gas emissions; and 
(2) inform efforts to reduce energy and water 
use and greenhouse gas emissions nationwide. 
(b) CONSULTATION AND COORDINATION.—In devel-
oping the initiative, the Administrator shall consult with 
and coordinate with the Secretary, other relevant agencies, 
and relevant stakeholders, including State and local gov-
ernments with relevant benchmarking programs and ex-
perts from academia, nonprofits, and industry. 
(c) EXISTING PROGRAMS.—In developing the initia-
tive, the Administrator shall make appropriate use of ex-
isting Federal programs. 
SEC. 4. NATIONAL BENCHMARKING REQUIREMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the initiative, the 
Administrator shall require each owner of a covered prop-
erty to, as applicable, submit data annually to the Admin-
istrator (in this Act referred to as a ‘‘benchmarking sub-
mission’’) in accordance with this section. 
(b) BENCHMARKING SCHEDULE.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The owner of a covered 
property shall, as applicable, make a benchmarking 
submission for the covered property with respect to 
the previous calendar year not later than— 
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(A) for a covered property that is greater 
than 200,000 square feet in gross floor area— 
(i) May 1, 2025; and 
(ii) May 1 of each calendar year 
thereafter; 
(B) for a covered property that is greater 
than 100,000 square feet in gross floor area, 
but equal to or less than 200,000 square feet 
in gross floor area— 
(i) May 1, 2026; and 
(ii) May 1 of each calendar year 
thereafter; and 
(C) for a covered property that is greater 
than 50,000 square feet in gross floor area, but 
equal to or less than 100,000 square feet in 
gross floor area— 
(i) May 1, 2027; and 
(ii) May 1 of each calendar year 
thereafter. 
(2) SMALLER COVERED PROPERTIES.—The Ad-
ministrator may, as the Administrator determines 
appropriate, require an owner of a covered property 
that is equal to or less than 50,000 square feet in 
gross floor area to make a benchmarking submission 
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for the covered property with respect to the previous 
calendar year. 
(c) NOTIFICATION.— 
(1) FIRST SUBMISSIONS.—Between January 1 
and March 1 of each year, for at least the first 3 
years during which an owner of a covered property 
is required to make a benchmarking submission, the 
Administrator shall attempt to notify such owner of 
such requirement via direct mail, electronically via 
email, or through a public posting on a website. 
(2) FAILURE TO NOTIFY.—Failure of the Ad-
ministrator to notify an owner of a covered property 
under this subsection shall not affect the obligation 
of such owner to make a benchmarking submission. 
(d) BENCHMARKING DATA COLLECTION AND RE-
PORTING.— 
(1) REQUIREMENTS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator 
shall develop requirements for benchmarking 
submissions. 
(B) FAILURE
TO
DEVELOP
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—If the Administrator fails to develop 
requirements pursuant to subparagraph (A), 
the owner of a covered property shall make a 
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benchmarking submission in accordance with 
paragraphs (2) and (3). 
(C) UPDATING REQUIREMENTS.—The Ad-
ministrator may periodically update the require-
ments developed under this paragraph to in-
crease data transparency for the purposes of re-
ducing energy and water use and greenhouse 
gas emissions of covered properties. 
(2) DATA REQUIREMENTS.—The requirements 
developed under paragraph (1) shall include a re-
quirement that each benchmarking submission for a 
covered property include— 
(A) descriptive information about the cov-
ered property; and 
(B) information about the operational 
characteristics of the covered property, includ-
ing— 
(i) aggregated whole-building data re-
garding energy and water use for the cov-
ered property compiled or submitted in ac-
cordance with subsection (e); and 
(ii) any other information that is re-
quired by the Administrator for purposes 
of the Energy Star Portfolio Manager. 
(3) VERIFICATION REQUIREMENT.— 
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(A) IN GENERAL.—The requirements de-
veloped under paragraph (1) shall include a re-
quirement that each owner of a covered prop-
erty verify, not less than once every 3 years, as 
applicable, 
that 
data 
submitted 
in 
each 
benchmarking submission for the covered prop-
erty, including data regarding energy and water 
use for the covered property, is accurate. 
(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The Administrator 
shall develop requirements for verification of 
data required under subparagraph (A), includ-
ing requirements related to third-party data 
verification, the use of licensed professionals for 
such verification, and any appropriate waivers 
for such verification. 
(e) AGGREGATED WHOLE-BUILDING DATA.— 
(1) COMPILATION OF DATA.—For purposes of 
meeting the requirements of the initiative, an owner 
of a covered property may obtain aggregated whole- 
building data on the energy and water use of the 
covered property— 
(A) by obtaining such data from an electric 
utility, gas utility, or public water system pur-
suant to paragraph (2); 
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(B) by collecting such data from all ten-
ants pursuant to paragraph (3); or 
(C) by reading a master meter or reading 
all meters serving the covered property. 
(2) ENERGY AND WATER DATA.— 
(A) REQUEST.—An owner of a covered 
property may request, for purposes of meeting 
the requirements of the initiative, that an elec-
tric utility, gas utility, or public water system— 
(i) provide the owner aggregated 
whole-building data on the energy or water 
use of the covered property; and 
(ii) directly submit to the Adminis-
trator aggregated whole-building data on 
the energy or water use of the covered 
property. 
(B) FULFILLMENT OF REQUEST.— 
(i) IN GENERAL.—An electric utility, 
gas utility, or public water system shall, 
not later than 10 days after receiving a re-
quest from an owner of a covered property 
under subparagraph (A), provide the owner 
aggregated whole-building data on the en-
ergy or water use of the covered property 
and submit to the Administrator aggre-
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gated whole-building data on the energy or 
water use of the covered property, provided 
that— 
(I) the number of individually 
metered accounts associated with the 
covered property is at least 4; or 
(II) the electric utility, gas util-
ity, or public water system receives 
consent from tenants, or in the case 
of a condominium, receives consent 
from an individual unit owner, for the 
electric utility, gas utility, or public 
water system to provide and submit 
the data. 
(ii) EXCEPTION.—Clause (i) shall not 
apply to a public water system, with re-
spect to a covered property, if such public 
water system does not measure and record 
water usage of such covered property. 
(C) SPECIFICATIONS.—Data provided or 
submitted under subparagraph (B) shall— 
(i) be provided in an electronic, auto-
mated, machine readable form, without ad-
ditional charge; 
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(ii) include information on at least 24 
months of energy or water use; and 
(iii) be provided in a manner that pro-
vides adequate protections for the security 
of the information and consumer privacy. 
(3) TENANT DATA.—If an electric utility, gas 
utility, or public water system does not provide ag-
gregated whole-building data pursuant to this sub-
section, the owner of a covered property shall re-
quest any information that cannot otherwise be ac-
quired by the owner and that is needed by the owner 
to comply with the requirements of this section from 
each tenant or, in the case of a condominium, an in-
dividual unit owner, located on the covered property. 
(4) USE
OF
DATA.—Nothing in this section 
shall be construed to relieve covered property owners 
from compliance with State or local laws governing 
direct access to utility data by a tenant or, in the 
case of a condominium, an individual unit owner, 
from the responsible electric utility, gas utility, or 
public water system. 
(5) UNMETERED
WATER
USE.—In making a 
benchmarking submission, the owner of a covered 
property shall not be required to include aggregated 
whole-building data regarding water use if the cov-
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ered property does not have a meter that measures 
and records water usage data. 
SEC. 5. EXEMPTIONS AND EXTENSIONS. 
(a) STATE OR LOCAL BENCHMARKING.— 
(1) EXEMPTION.—The owner of a covered prop-
erty shall not be required to make a benchmarking 
submission to comply with the initiative with respect 
to the covered property for a calendar year if the 
owner is required for such calendar year to comply 
with a benchmarking requirement of a State or local 
government that the Administrator has determined 
meets or exceeds the benchmarking submission re-
quirements under section 4. 
(2) LISTING.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 
section, the Administrator shall list, and update 
the list periodically, the States and local govern-
ments that have benchmarking requirements 
that meet or exceed the benchmarking submis-
sion requirements under section 4. 
(B) REMOVAL.—The Administrator may 
remove a State or local government from the 
list under subparagraph (A) if the Adminis-
trator determines that the benchmarking re-
quirements of such State or local government 
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no longer meet or exceed the benchmarking 
submission requirements under section 4, in-
cluding due to low compliance with the 
benchmarking requirements of such State or 
local government. 
(b) EXEMPTIONS FOR CERTAIN CONDITIONS.— 
(1) 
CONDITIONS.—The 
Administrator 
may 
grant an exemption from making a benchmarking 
submission or a time extension for making a 
benchmarking submission if the request for such ex-
emption or a time extension establishes that due to 
special circumstances not based on a condition 
caused by actions of the applicant, compliance with 
requirements of the initiative would cause undue 
hardship or would not be in the public interest. 
(2) DETERMINATION.—The Administrator shall 
determine and describe the circumstances in which 
the owner of a covered property may be exempt from 
making a benchmarking submission or may be 
granted 
a 
time 
extension 
for 
making 
a 
benchmarking submission in accordance with this 
subsection. 
SEC. 6. DATA TRANSPARENCY AND SHARING. 
(a) DATA TRANSPARENCY.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the initia-
tive, the Administrator shall, to help inform owners, 
managers, tenants, and the market at large about a 
covered property’s energy and water use, annually 
make available, on a publicly accessible website, the 
subset of data, determined in accordance with para-
graph (3), that is submitted to the Administrator as 
part of a benchmarking submission for the previous 
calendar year for such covered property. 
(2) MAPPING AND AUTOMATED DATA ACCESS.— 
The Administrator shall seek to make data made 
available under this subsection easily accessible and 
interpretable, including— 
(A) through interactive web-based maps, 
including by city or region; 
(B) by making the data available for 
download in 1 or more forms to enable analysis 
and use of the data; 
(C) by encouraging real estate listing serv-
ices to include the data for all listed properties; 
and 
(D) if the Administrator determines appro-
priate, by assigning covered properties letter 
grades or other categorical ratings based on 
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such data to improve understanding of the 
data. 
(3) SHARED BENCHMARKING INFORMATION.— 
The Administrator shall determine the subset of 
data submitted to the Administrator as part of a 
benchmarking submission to be made publicly avail-
able under paragraph (1), which shall include gross 
floor area and the information described in section 
4(d)(2)(B), as the Administrator determines appro-
priate. 
(4) EXCLUSIONS.—The Administrator may de-
termine that data be excluded from publication 
under this subsection because publication of such 
data is not in the public interest. 
(b) SHARING OF DATA.— 
(1) SHARING OF NONANONYMIZED DATA.—The 
Administrator may provide data regarding a covered 
property that is not anonymized data from 
benchmarking submissions to any electric utility, gas 
utility, or public water system serving the covered 
property or to any Federal, State, county or city- 
managed energy efficiency or management program, 
provided that the data will be used only for purposes 
of offering government regulated programs, services, 
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and incentives related to energy and water efficiency 
and management. 
(2) DISCLOSURE OF ANONYMIZED DATA.—The 
Administrator 
may 
disclose 
any 
data 
from 
benchmarking submissions to a third party for aca-
demic or other non-commercial research purposes 
provided that such data is anonymized data. 
SEC. 7. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE. 
(a) ENERGY
STAR
PORTFOLIO
MANAGER
SUP-
PORT.—In carrying out the initiative, the Administrator 
shall improve the Energy Star Portfolio Manager and en-
hance implementation of the initiative, including by— 
(1) expanding the types of buildings eligible for 
Energy Star scores; 
(2) considering the most effective use of data 
gathered from the initiative and the Commercial 
Buildings Energy Consumption Survey in deter-
mining timely and accurate Energy Star scores for 
covered properties; 
(3) considering greenhouse gas emissions in de-
termining eligibility for Energy Star recognition; and 
(4) making any other improvements the Admin-
istrator determines appropriate. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 
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(1) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—In carrying out 
the initiative, the Administrator may provide tech-
nical assistance to any State or local government 
that has or intends to establish a building energy 
and water benchmarking requirement. 
(2) NEW BENCHMARKING PROGRAMS.—The Ad-
ministrator may provide financial assistance to 
States and local governments to help such State and 
local governments establish building energy and 
water benchmarking programs. Not later than 180 
days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad-
ministrator shall develop application materials for 
State and local governments to apply for such assist-
ance and funding award limits for such assistance. 
SEC. 8. PENALTIES. 
(a) PENALTIES ASSESSED ON OWNERS OF COVERED 
PROPERTIES.— 
(1) WRITTEN
WARNING.—The Administrator 
shall issue a written warning to an owner of a cov-
ered property if the Administrator determines that 
the owner of the covered property has— 
(A) failed to submit a benchmarking sub-
mission for the covered property by the applica-
ble deadline under section 4(b); 
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(B) misrepresented any material fact in a 
benchmarking submission; 
(C) submitted incomplete or inaccurate in-
formation in a benchmarking submission; or 
(D) failed to verify that data submitted in 
a benchmarking submission for the covered 
property is accurate in accordance with section 
4(d). 
(2) NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND INITIAL PEN-
ALTIES.—If an owner of a covered property does not 
make or appropriately update a benchmarking sub-
mission, or verify data, as applicable, within 30 days 
of the date on which a written warning is issued to 
such owner under paragraph (1), the Administrator 
may issue such owner a notice of violation assessing 
a penalty of not more than 1 cent per square foot 
of the applicable covered property per month of non-
compliance. 
(3) SUBSEQUENT PENALTIES.—If an owner of 
a covered property does not make or appropriately 
update a benchmarking submission, or verify data, 
as applicable, within 90 days of the date on which 
a notice of violation is issued to such owner under 
paragraph (2), the Administrator may, at that time, 
and every three months thereafter, assess an addi-
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tional penalty against such owner of not more than 
2 cents per square foot of the applicable covered 
property per month of noncompliance. 
(b) PENALTIES ASSESSED ON UTILITIES.— 
(1) WRITTEN
WARNING.—The Administrator 
shall issue a written warning to an electric utility, 
gas utility, or public water system that is, with re-
spect to a covered property, required under section 
4(e)(2) to provide the owner of such covered prop-
erty aggregated whole-building data on the energy or 
water use of the covered property and to submit to 
the Administrator such aggregated whole-building 
data, if the Administrator determines that the elec-
tric utility, gas utility, or public water system has 
failed to provide or submit such aggregated whole- 
building data in accordance with section 4(e)(2). 
(2) NOTICE OF VIOLATION AND INITIAL PEN-
ALTIES.—If an electric utility, gas utility, or public 
water system that is described in paragraph (1) and 
issued a written warning under such paragraph does 
not provide or submit aggregated whole-building 
data to the applicable owner or to the Administrator 
within 30 days of the date on which such written 
warning is issued, the Administrator may issue such 
electric utility, gas utility, or public water system a 
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notice of violation assessing a penalty of not more 
than $5,000 per violation. 
(3) SUBSEQUENT
PENALTIES.—If an electric 
utility, gas utility, or public water system that is de-
scribed in paragraph (1) and issued a notice of viola-
tion under paragraph (2) does not provide or submit 
aggregated whole-building data to the applicable 
owner or the Administrator within 90 days of the 
date on which such notice of violation is issued, the 
Administrator may, at that time, and every three 
months thereafter, assess an additional penalty 
against such electric utility, gas utility, or public 
water system, of not more than $10,000 per viola-
tion. 
SEC. 9. REPORT. 
Not later than December 1, 2027, the Administrator 
shall conduct an assessment of the initiative, including an 
assessment of compliance rates for the initiative, and sub-
mit to Congress a report— 
(1) on the findings of the assessment, includ-
ing— 
(A) a summary of energy and water use 
data submitted under the initiative; 
(B) an evaluation of the accuracy, and 
issues affecting the accuracy, of such data; and 
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(C) changes in the energy and water use 
and greenhouse gas emissions of covered prop-
erties over time; and 
(2) that includes any recommendations for 
modifications to improve the impact of the assist-
ance provided under section 7(b) to help achieve the 
purpose of the initiative. 
SEC. 10. RESIDENTIAL BENCHMARKING STUDY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the initiative, the 
Administrator, in consultation and coordination with the 
Secretary, shall— 
(1) conduct a study on energy rating and as-
sessment programs for residential buildings, includ-
ing— 
(A) an evaluation of the impacts of State 
and local energy benchmarking, energy audit, 
home energy rating, and other related energy 
benchmarking and transparency policies for res-
idential buildings, including multifamily units 
and single-family homes, on energy use and 
emissions of greenhouse gases and other air 
pollutants; 
(B) identification of best practice policy 
approaches studied under subparagraph (A), in-
cluding approaches for rating systems, that 
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have resulted in the greatest reductions in resi-
dential building energy use and emissions of 
greenhouse gases and other air pollutants; and 
(C) consideration of the impacts of a Fed-
eral residential benchmarking and transparency 
requirement modeled after best practice policy 
approaches identified under subparagraph (B), 
including on— 
(i) the benefits and costs to home-
owners, tenants, landlords, enforcement 
agencies, and other parties; 
(ii) residential energy use; 
(iii) residential emissions of green-
house gases and other air pollutants; 
(iv) distributional effects, especially 
for low-income communities and commu-
nities of color; 
(v) housing affordability; and 
(vi) energy insecurity; and 
(2) based on the study conducted under para-
graph (1), develop recommendations on changes to 
existing Federal programs or new Federal policies, 
programs, or incentives to better provide information 
on home energy use and emissions of greenhouse 
gases and other air pollutants to homeowners and 
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tenants for the purposes of reducing residential en-
ergy use and emissions of greenhouse gases and 
other air pollutants and alleviating household energy 
burdens. 
(b) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 12 
months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad-
ministrator shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce of the House of Representatives and Commit-
tees on Environment and Public Works and Energy and 
Natural Resources of the Senate a report on the results 
of the study conducted, and the recommendations devel-
oped under subsection (a). 
SEC. 11. REGULATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall promul-
gate and revise such regulations as are necessary to carry 
out the initiative. 
(b) INITIAL REGULATIONS.—The Administrator shall 
promulgate initial regulations under this section not later 
than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 12. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-
trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency. 
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(2) 
ANONYMIZED
DATA.—The 
term 
‘‘anonymized data’’ means data that does not reveal 
names, addresses, or any other information that 
would identify an individual or business. 
(3) CONDOMINIUM.—The term ‘‘condominium’’ 
means a property that combines separate ownership 
of individual units with common ownership of other 
elements, such as common areas. 
(4) COVERED PROPERTY.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘‘covered 
property’’ means any of the following prop-
erties: 
(i) A single building. 
(ii) One or more buildings held in the 
condominium form of ownership. 
(iii) A campus of two or more build-
ings which are owned and operated by the 
same party and are— 
(I) behind a common utility 
meter, or served by a common me-
chanical or electrical system (such as 
a chilled water loop), which would pre-
vent the owner from being able to eas-
ily determine the energy use attrib-
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utable to each of the individual build-
ings; or 
(II) used primarily as— 
(aa) an elementary or sec-
ondary school; 
(bb) a hospital; 
(cc) a hotel; 
(dd) multifamily housing; or 
(ee) a senior care commu-
nity. 
(B) EXCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘covered 
property’’ does not include any of the following: 
(i) Single family, duplex, triplex, and 
fourplex residential homes and related ac-
cessory structures, or any other residential 
building with less than 5 units. 
(ii) Properties classified as manufac-
turing per designated Standard Industrial 
Classification (SIC) codes 20 through 39. 
(iii) Other building types not meeting 
the purpose of the initiative, as determined 
by the Administrator. 
(5) ELECTRIC
UTILITY.—The term ‘‘electric 
utility’’ has the meaning given such term in section 
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3 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 
1978 (16 U.S.C. 2602). 
(6) ENERGY STAR PORTFOLIO MANAGER.—The 
term ‘‘Energy Star Portfolio Manager’’ means the 
tool developed and maintained by the Administrator 
to track and assess the relative energy performance 
of buildings. 
(7) ENERGY STAR SCORE.—The term ‘‘Energy 
Star score’’ means the 1–100 numeric rating gen-
erated by the Energy Star Portfolio Manager as a 
measurement of a building’s energy efficiency. 
(8) GAS UTILITY.—The term ‘‘gas utility’’ has 
the meaning given such term in section 302 of the 
Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (15 
U.S.C. 3202). 
(9) GREENHOUSE GAS.—The term ‘‘greenhouse 
gas’’ means the air pollutants carbon dioxide, 
hydrofluorocarbons, 
methane, 
nitrous 
oxide, 
perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. 
(10) GROSS
FLOOR
AREA.—The term ‘‘gross 
floor area’’ has the meaning given such term in the 
glossary for the Energy Star Portfolio Manager. 
(11) INITIATIVE.—The term ‘‘initiative’’ means 
the benchmarking and transparency initiative for 
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commercial and multifamily properties developed 
and carried out pursuant to section 3. 
(12) OWNER.—The term ‘‘owner’’ means any of 
the following: 
(A) An individual or entity possessing title 
to a property. 
(B) In the case of a condominium, the 
board of the owners’ association or the master 
association, as applicable. 
(C) The board of directors, in the case of 
a cooperative apartment corporation. 
(D) An agent authorized to act on behalf 
of any individual or entity described in subpara-
graph (A), (B), or (C). 
(13) PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘pub-
lic water system’’ has the meaning given such term 
in section 1401(4) of the Safe Drinking Water Act 
(42 U.S.C. 300f(4)). 
(14) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 
the several States, the District of Columbia, each 
territory or possession of the United States, and the 
governing body of each federally recognized Indian 
Tribe, band, nation, pueblo, or other organized 
group or community which is recognized as eligible 
for the special programs and services provided by 
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the United States to Indians because of their status 
as Indians. 
(15) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of Energy. 
SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) INITIAL DEVELOPMENT AND REGULATIONS.— 
For each of fiscal years 2023 through 2027, there is au-
thorized to be appropriated to develop and carry out the 
initiative, including to promulgate initial regulations under 
section 11, $10,000,000, to remain available until ex-
pended. 
(b) IMPLEMENTATION OF INITIATIVE.—In addition 
to amounts authorized to be appropriated under sub-
section (a), for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2032, 
there is authorized to be appropriated— 
(1) $5,000,000 to carry out section 7(a), to re-
main available until expended; 
(2) $50,000,000 to provide technical and finan-
cial assistance under section 7(b), to remain avail-
able until expended; and 
(3) $5,000,000 to carry out section 8, to re-
main available until expended. 
Æ 
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