lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2016-11-17 00:00:00

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through December 31, 2017, the income tax credit for energy efficient new homes.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2016-11-17 00:00:00

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through December 31, 2018, the income tax credit for energy efficient new homes.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2016-11-17 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Power And Security Systems (PASS) Act

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to revise energy conservation standards (i.e., no-load mode standards for devices operating in standby) for external power supplies (EPSs) designed to be connected to a security or life safety alarm or surveillance system component, such as smoke alarms that have to remain powered at all times.

Current law exempts EPSs of security or life safety systems from those standards until July 1, 2017. This bill extends that exemption until July 1, 2023. The Department of Energy (DOE) must decide by July 1, 2021, whether standards for those EPSs should be amended further. In the rule, DOE may treat such EPSs as a separate class with different standards or may extend the exemption.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2016-11-17 00:00:00

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the deduction for energy efficient commercial buildings, to: (1) permit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations and Indian tribal governments to allocate the deduction to the person primarily responsible for designing the property in lieu of the owner of the property, (2) allow partnerships and S corporations to receive the full benefit of a deduction allocated at the partner or shareholder level, and (3) exempt property placed in service in a qualified low-income building from the requirement to reduce the basis of the property by the amount of the deduction.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2016-11-30 00:00:00

Building Efficiently Act of 2016 

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to expand the new energy efficient home tax credit to allow, in lieu of the existing credit, a credit for 3.3% of the cost of constructing a new energy efficient home that is a qualified energy efficient residential rental property.

An energy efficient residential rental property must be certified as being constructed, reconstructed, or retrofitted under a plan designed to reduce energy and power consumption of the building by at least 40% compared to: (1) the baseline annual energy and power consumption of the building in the case of a retrofit made to an existing building, or (2) a reference building which meets the minimum requirements of the International Energy Conservation Code 2004 in any other case.

The bill also eliminates the basis reduction requirements for low-income housing properties receiving: (1) the new energy efficient home credit, (2) the energy efficient commercial buildings deduction, or (3) the credit for investments in energy property.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-01-08 00:00:00

Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015

Better Buildings Act of 2015

 This bill requires the General Services Administration (GSA) to: (1) develop and publish model leasing provisions to encourage building owners and tenants to use greater cost-effective energy efficiency and water efficiency measures in commercial buildings, and (2) develop policies and best practices to implement the measures for the realty services provided by the GSA to federal agencies.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) to develop a voluntary Tenant Star program within the Energy Star program to recognize tenants of spaces in commercial buildings that voluntarily achieve high levels of energy efficiency. The EPA may develop a voluntary program to recognize commercial building owners and tenants that use high-performance energy efficiency measures in the design and construction of leased spaces.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act is amended to prescribe additional energy conservation standards for grid-enabled water heaters for use as part of an electric thermal storage or demand response program, which is a program that enables customers to reduce or shift their power use during peak demand periods.

Energy Efficient Government Technology Act 

The EISA is amended also to require: (1) each federal agency to coordinate with the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Energy (DOE), and the EPA to develop an implementation strategy for the maintenance, purchase, and use of energy-efficient and energy-saving information technologies; (2) DOE to maintain a data center energy practitioner program that leads to the certification of energy practitioners qualified to evaluate the energy usage and efficiency opportunities in federal data centers; and (3) DOE to establish an open data initiative to make information about federal data center energy usage available and accessible in a manner that encourages data center innovation, optimization, and consolidation.

DOE must maintain, and if necessary create, a database for storing and making available public energy-related information on commercial and multifamily buildings.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-01-27 00:00:00

Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to provide additional energy conservation standards applicable to grid-enabled water heaters for use as part of an electric thermal storage or demand response program (a program that enables customers to reduce or shift their power use during peak demand periods).

Requires annual reports from: (1) manufacturers of such water heaters regarding the quantity of the products shipped each year, and (2) utilities and other demand response and thermal storage program operators regarding the quantity of products activated for their programs.

Requires the Secretary of Energy to publish analyses of data collected from such reports and to establish procedures to prevent product diversion if sales of the products exceed by at least 15% the quantity activated for use in the demand response and thermal storage programs annually.

Maintains the standards and publication procedures established by this Act until the Secretary determines that: (1) such water heaters do not require a separate efficiency requirement, or (2) procedures to prevent product diversion for non-program purposes would not be adequate to prevent such product diversion.

Requires the Secretary to consider the impact of EPCA electric water heater standards on thermal storage and demand response programs, including on energy savings, electric bills, peak load reduction, electric reliability, integration of renewable resources, and the environment.

Directs the Secretary to require the water heaters be equipped with communication capability to enable the grid-enabled water heaters to participate in ancillary services programs if the technology is available, practical, and cost-effective.

Makes it unlawful for any person to:

 activate an activation lock for a grid-enabled water heater with knowledge that it is not used as part of such program, distribute an activation key for such a water heater with knowledge that it will be used to activate a heater that is not used as part of the program, enable such water heater to operate at its designed specification and capabilities with knowledge that it is not used as part of the program, or knowingly remove or render illegible the label of a such water heater.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-02-12 00:00:00

This bill amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to direct the Department of Energy (DOE), acting through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, to act as the lead federal agency for coordinating and disseminating information on existing federal programs and assistance that may be used to help initiate, develop, and finance energy efficiency, renewable energy, and energy retrofitting projects for schools.

DOE must:

 carry out a review of existing programs and financing mechanisms available in or from appropriate federal agencies with jurisdiction over energy financing and facilitation that are currently used or may be used for such purposes; establish a federal cross-departmental collaborative coordination, education, and outreach effort to streamline communication and promote available federal opportunities and assistance for such projects that enables states, local educational agencies, and schools to use existing federal opportunities more effectively and to form partnerships with appropriate entities to support project initiation; provide technical assistance for states, local educational agencies, and schools to help develop and finance projects that meet specified requirements; develop and maintain a single online resource website with contact information for relevant technical assistance and support staff in the Office for states, local educational agencies, and schools to effectively access and use federal opportunities and assistance to develop such projects; and establish a process for recognition of schools that have successfully implemented such projects and are willing to serve as resources for other local educational agencies and schools to assist initiation of similar efforts.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-02-26 00:00:00

This bill directs the Department of Energy to establish a pilot program to award matching grants for nonprofit organizations to retrofit their buildings with energy-efficiency improvements.

This bill amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to decrease the amount of appropriations authorized in FY2015 for the Zero Net Energy Commercial Buildings Initiative.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-03-11 00:00:00

Weatherization Enhancement and Local Energy Efficiency Investment and Accountability Act 

This bill amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act to reauthorize the Weatherization Assistance Program for low-income persons through FY2020.

The Department of Energy (DOE) must make competitive grants to qualified tax-exempt charitable organizations for energy efficiency retrofit of low-income homes. The grants may be used for single-family and multifamily housing.

Contractors carrying out weatherization with funds under the bill must be selected through a competitive bidding process and be accredited as specified by this bill. In order to receive a grant, organizations must use a crew chief who is certified or accredited as required by this bill.

Beginning on October 1, 2016, DOE must ensure that: (1) each retrofit for which weatherization assistance is provided meets minimum efficiency and quality of work standards, (2) at least 10% of the dwelling units are randomly inspected by an accredited third party to ensure compliance with the standards, and (3) the standards meet or exceed the current industry standards for home performance work.

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act is amended to reauthorize the program for state energy conservation plans through FY2020.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-03-12 00:00:00

Utility Energy Service Contracts Improvement Act of 2015 

 This bill amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to make explicit that utility energy service contracts (UESCs) may have a contract period of up to 25 years. UESCs are contracts that allow utilities to provide federal agencies with energy and water efficiency improvements and demand reduction services.

UESC conditions must include requirements for measurement, verification, and performance assurances or guarantees of the savings.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Taxation
Date: 2015-03-12 00:00:00

Biomass Thermal Utilization Act of 2015 or the BTU Act of 2015

Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include 30% of qualified biomass fuel property expenditures made in taxable years beginning before 2021 in the residential energy efficient property tax credit. Defines "qualified biomass fuel property expenditure" as an expenditure for property which uses the burning of biomass fuel (a plant-derived fuel available on a renewable or recurring basis) to heat a dwelling used as a residence, or to heat water for use in such dwelling, and which has a thermal efficiency rating of at least 75%.

Allows: (1) a 15% energy tax credit until 2021 for investment in open-loop biomass heating property, and (2) a 30% credit for boilers or furnaces that operate at thermal output efficiencies of at least 80% and provide thermal energy.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-03-17 00:00:00

This bill provides directions to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) for determining the budgetary effects of energy savings performance contracts and utility energy service contracts.

Under an energy savings performance contract, a private party agrees to fund energy-efficient upgrades for a federal facility, and the federal agency agrees to pay the private party from reductions in the agency's energy costs. Under a utility energy service contract, the services and equipment are provided by a utility.

In scoring legislation that modifies the authority to enter into the contracts or the scope, terms, or use of the contracts, CBO must: (1) record all budgetary effects during the first year in which the authority or modification becomes effective, (2) calculate the cost and savings on a net present value basis by adding market risk over the useful life of the services or product to the discount rate required by the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, and (3) classify the effects to be changes in spending subject to the availability of appropriations.

CBO currently scores the authority to enter into the contracts as a form of mandatory spending rather than discretionary spending that is subject to the appropriations process.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-03-25 00:00:00

Energy Savings Through Public-Private Partnerships Act of 2015



This bill amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to revise requirements for energy savings performance and utility energy service contracts (performance contracts). (These contracts allow federal agencies to work with private contractors on energy efficiency upgrades to federal facilities.)

Each federal facility energy manager must provide an explanation regarding life cycle cost-effective measures that have not been implemented as part of the web-based compliance certification system. (Life cycle costs are the total cost of owning, operating, and maintaining a building over its useful life.)

The Department of Energy must report to the President and Congress on each agency's performance contracts, including their investment value and their energy savings.

The energy conservation measures that may be contained in performance contracts are expanded by including those involving energy consuming devices and required support structures.

Agencies may not limit recognition of operation and maintenance savings associated with energy systems that were modernized or replaced with energy conservation measures and water conservation measures (e.g. lower energy and water bills due to energy efficiency and conservation measures).

Agencies may sell or transfer energy savings and apply the proceeds to fund a performance contract.

The energy savings that may be contained in performance contracts are expanded to include: (1) the use, sale, or transfer of energy incentives, rebates, or credits (including renewable energy credits) from governments or utilities; and (2) any revenue generated from a reduction in energy or water use, more efficient waste recycling, or additional energy generated from more efficient equipment.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-03-26 00:00:00

All-Of-The-Above Federal Building Energy Conservation Act of 2015 

 Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to extend energy performance requirements for federal buildings in FY2016-FY2017 (from a 33% reduction from 2003 energy consumption level for FY2016 to a 36% reduction for FY2017).

Requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to review the results of the implementation of such requirements by December 31, 2017 (currently, December 31, 2014) and, based on such review, report to Congress on the feasibility of requiring each agency to apply energy conservation measures to, and improve the design for the construction of, agency buildings to achieve a reduction in energy consumption.

Requires designated facility energy managers to consider using a system to manage energy use at their facilities in accordance with the International Organization for Standardization standard numbered 50001 and entitled "Energy Management Systems."

Establishes exemptions from energy and water evaluation requirements.

 Amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act to revise the definition of "federal building" to include buildings altered by federal agencies, and to define "major renovation," for purposes of such Act. Requires DOE to establish revised federal building energy efficiency performance standards after the approval of revisions of ASHRAE Standard 90.1 or the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) to meet or exceed such revisions, including requiring, unless new or renovated federal buildings are demonstrated not to be life-cycle cost effective: (1) such buildings to be designed to achieve energy consumption levels that are at least 30% below the levels established in the ASHRAE Standard or the IECC, and (2) no less than 30% of the hot water demand for each new building or building undergoing a major renovation to be met through the installation and use of solar hot water heaters.

Requires DOE to review federal building energy standards once every five years and upgrade to the standards to include all new energy efficiency and renewable energy measures that are technologically feasible and economically justified if DOE determines that significant energy savings would result.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-03-26 00:00:00

This bill amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to require the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish a voluntary loan program to provide support to a state, territory, and tribal organization (eligible entity) in establishing or expanding programs that provide financing to residential property owners or tenants (recipient households) for energy efficiency upgrades of residential buildings.

DOE must establish favorable terms for a loan provided to an eligible entity. An eligible entity shall use a loan to establish or expand one or more financing programs that: (1) enable recipient households to undertake residential energy efficiency upgrades, (2) may require an outlay of capital by recipient households, and (3) incorporate a consumer-friendly repayment approach.

To offset the cost of this bill, the bill amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to decrease the authorization of appropriations for the Zero Net Energy Commercial Buildings Initiative for FY2016-FY2018.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-03-26 00:00:00

Smart Energy and Water Efficiency Act of 2015

This bill amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to require the Department of Energy (DOE) to establish and carry out a smart energy and water efficiency pilot program to award grants to utilities, municipalities, water districts, and other water authorities for demonstrating novel and innovative technology-based solutions that will:

 increase the energy efficiency of water, wastewater, and water reuse systems; improve those systems to help communities make significant progress in conserving water, saving energy, and reducing costs; and support the implementation of innovative processes and the installation of advanced automated systems that provide real-time data on energy and water. DOE must annually evaluate each grant project and make best practices identified in the evaluations available to the public.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Government operations and politics
Date: 2015-04-20 00:00:00

Requires the heads of specified federal agencies, assisted by their chief information officers, to submit in FY2015-FY2019 to the Office of E-Government and Information Technology of the Office of Management and Budget: (1) a comprehensive asset inventory of the data centers owned, operated, or maintained by or on behalf of such agencies; and (2) an updated consolidation plan for such data centers. Requires the Inspector General of each specified agency to issue a public report evaluating the completeness of agency inventories.

Requires the Office of E-Government and Information Technology to: (1) establish the deadline each year for agencies to submit information required by this Act; (2) develop and publish a goal for the total amount of planned cost savings through the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative during a five-year period and report on the actual savings achieved through the Initiative; and (3) report to Congress on data center cost savings. Directs the Government Accountability Office to publish an annual report on agency asset inventory and consolidation plans and agency implementation of such plans.

Requires agencies that are required to implement a data center consolidation plan and migrate to cloud computing to do so in a manner consistent with federal guidelines on cloud computing security, including applicable provisions in the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program of the General Services Administration and guidance published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Authorizes the Director of National Intelligence to waive requirements of this Act for any element of the intelligence community.

Repeals this Act effective on October 1, 2019.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-04-21 00:00:00

This bill amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to prohibit the Department of Energy (DOE) from prescribing a final rule amending the efficiency standards for residential non-weatherized gas furnaces or mobile home furnaces until each of the following has occurred:

 DOE convenes a representative advisory group of interested stakeholders, the advisory group completes an analysis of a nationwide requirement of a condensing furnace efficiency standard, the advisory group determines whether that standard is technically feasible and economically justified, and the determination is published in the Federal Register. If the advisory group determines that the standard is not technically feasible and economically justified, DOE must establish amended standards through the negotiated rulemaking procedure provided for under the Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-04-22 00:00:00

Energy Star Program Integrity Act 

This bill amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to revise the Energy Star program to prohibit a disclosure relating to participation of a product in the program from creating a warranty or giving rise to private claims or rights of action relating to disqualification of the product from Energy Star if: (1) the product has been certified by a certification body recognized by the program, (2) the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved corrective measures, and (3) the responsible party has fully complied with all such measures.

The bill may not be construed to require the EPA to modify any procedure or take any other action.