Energy and Water Research Integration Act of 2019

IIB 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 34 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 24, 2019 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources AN ACT To ensure consideration of water intensity in the Department of Energy’s energy research, development, and dem- onstration programs to help guarantee efficient, reliable, and sustainable delivery of energy and clean water re- sources. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H34.RFS H34 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 HR 34 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Energy and Water Re- 2 search Integration Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. INTEGRATING ENERGY AND WATER RESEARCH. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy shall in- 5 tegrate water considerations into energy research, develop- 6 ment, and demonstration programs and projects of the 7 Department of Energy by— 8 (1) advancing energy and energy efficiency 9 technologies and practices that meet the objectives 10 of— 11 (A) minimizing freshwater withdrawal and 12 consumption; 13 (B) increasing water use efficiency; 14 (C) utilizing nontraditional water sources 15 with efforts to improve the quality of the water 16 from those sources; 17 (D) minimizing deleterious impacts on 18 water bodies, groundwater, and waterways; and 19 (E) minimizing seismic impacts; 20 (2) considering the effects climate variability 21 may have on water supplies and quality for energy 22 generation and fuel production; and 23 (3) improving understanding of the energy- 24 water nexus. 25 (b) STRATEGIC PLAN.— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H34.RFS H34 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 HR 34 RFS (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months 1 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec- 2 retary shall develop a strategic plan identifying the 3 research, development, and demonstration needs for 4 Department programs and projects to carry out sub- 5 section (a). The strategic plan shall include technical 6 milestones for achieving and assessing progress to- 7 ward the objectives of subsection (a)(1). 8 (2) SPECIFIC CONSIDERATIONS.—In developing 9 the strategic plan, the Secretary shall consider— 10 (A) new advanced cooling technologies for 11 energy generation and fuel production tech- 12 nologies; 13 (B) performance improvement of existing 14 cooling technologies and cost reductions associ- 15 ated with using those technologies; 16 (C) innovative water reuse, recovery, and 17 treatment technologies in energy generation and 18 fuel production, including renewable energy; 19 (D) technology development for carbon 20 capture and storage systems that utilize effi- 21 cient water use design strategies; 22 (E) technologies that are life-cycle cost ef- 23 fective; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H34.RFS H34 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 HR 34 RFS (F) systems analysis and modeling of 1 issues relating to the energy-water nexus; 2 (G) technologies to treat and utilize waste- 3 water and produced waters discharged from oil, 4 natural gas, coalbed methane, and any other 5 substance to be used as an energy source; 6 (H) advanced materials for the use of non- 7 traditional water sources for energy generation 8 and fuel production; 9 (I) biomass production and utilization and 10 the impact on hydrologic systems; 11 (J) technologies that reduce impacts on 12 water from energy resource development; 13 (K) energy efficient technologies for water 14 distribution, treatment, supply, and collection 15 systems; 16 (L) technologies for energy generation 17 from water distribution, treatment, supply, and 18 collection systems; 19 (M) the flexible operation of water infra- 20 structure to provide essential grid reliability 21 services; 22 (N) modular or energy-water microgrid 23 systems that can provide energy and water re- 24 sources in remote or disaster recovery areas; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H34.RFS H34 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 HR 34 RFS (O) recovering energy in the form of 1 biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower from munic- 2 ipal and industrial wastewaters, and similar or- 3 ganic streams; and 4 (P) any other area of the energy-water 5 nexus that the Secretary considers appropriate. 6 (3) COLLABORATION AND NONDUPLICATION.— 7 In developing the strategic plan, the Secretary shall 8 coordinate and avoid duplication— 9 (A) with other Federal agencies operating 10 related programs, if appropriate; and 11 (B) across programs and projects of the 12 Department, including with those of the Na- 13 tional Laboratories. 14 (4) RELEVANT INFORMATION AND REC- 15 OMMENDATIONS.—In developing the strategic plan, 16 the Secretary shall consider and incorporate, as ap- 17 propriate, relevant information and recommenda- 18 tions, including those of the National Water Avail- 19 ability and Use Assessment Program under section 20 9508(d) of the Omnibus Public Land Management 21 Act of 2009 (42 U.S.C. 10368(d)). 22 (5) ADDITIONAL PARTICIPATION.—In devel- 23 oping the strategic plan, the Secretary shall consult 24 and coordinate with a diverse group of representa- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H34.RFS H34 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 HR 34 RFS tives from research and academic institutions, indus- 1 try, public utility commissions, and State and local 2 governments who have expertise in technologies and 3 practices relating to the energy-water nexus. 4 (6) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 5 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 6 the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 7 Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 8 Representatives and the Committee on Energy and 9 Natural Resources of the Senate the strategic plan. 10 (7) UPDATING THE STRATEGIC PLAN.—Not 11 later than 3 years after the date of enactment of 12 this Act, and at least once every 5 years thereafter, 13 the Secretary shall— 14 (A) utilize relevant information produced 15 by Federal Government agencies, academia, 16 State, local, and tribal governments and indus- 17 try to update the strategic plan; 18 (B) include in the updated strategic plan a 19 description of the changes from the previous 20 strategic plan and the rationale for such 21 changes; 22 (C) include a review of progress made to- 23 wards the milestones outlined in the previous 24 strategic plan; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H34.RFS H34 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 HR 34 RFS (D) submit the updated strategic plan to 1 the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech- 2 nology of the House of Representatives and the 3 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 4 the Senate. 5 (c) ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary may 6 provide for such additional research, development, and 7 demonstration activities as appropriate to integrate water 8 considerations into the research, development, and dem- 9 onstration activities of the Department as described in 10 subsection (a). 11 SEC. 3. ENERGY-WATER OVERSIGHT AND COORDINATION. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the research, de- 13 velopment, and demonstration activities outlined in section 14 2, the Secretary, in coordination with other relevant Fed- 15 eral agencies, shall establish an Energy-Water Committee 16 to promote and enable improved energy and water re- 17 source data collection, reporting, and technological innova- 18 tion. The Committee shall consist of— 19 (1) representation from each program within 20 the Department and each Federal agency that con- 21 ducts research related to the energy-water nexus; 22 and 23 (2) non-Federal members, including representa- 24 tives of research and academic institutions, State, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H34.RFS H34 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 HR 34 RFS local, and tribal governments, public utility commis- 1 sions, and industry, who have expertise in tech- 2 nologies, technological innovations, or practices re- 3 lating to the energy-water nexus. 4 (b) FUNCTIONS.—The Committee shall, in carrying 5 out section 2— 6 (1) make recommendations on the development 7 and integration of data collection and data commu- 8 nication standards and protocols, including models 9 and modeling results, to agencies and entities cur- 10 rently engaged in collecting the data for the energy- 11 water nexus; 12 (2) recommend ways to make improvements to 13 Federal water use data to increase understanding of 14 trends in energy generation and fuel production, in- 15 cluding non-cooling water uses; 16 (3) recommend best practices for utilizing infor- 17 mation from existing monitoring networks to provide 18 nationally uniform water and energy use and infra- 19 structure data; and 20 (4) conduct annual technical workshops, includ- 21 ing at least one regional workshop annually, to fa- 22 cilitate information exchange among Federal, re- 23 gional, State, local, and tribal governments and pri- 24 vate sector experts on technologies that encourage 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H34.RFS H34 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 HR 34 RFS the conservation and efficient use of water and en- 1 ergy. 2 (c) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 3 of enactment of this Act, and at least once every 2 years 4 thereafter, the Committee, through the Secretary, shall 5 transmit to Congress a report on its findings and activities 6 under this section. 7 (d) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COM- 8 MITTEE ACT.—Except as otherwise provided in this sec- 9 tion, the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 10 shall apply to the Committee. 11 SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 12 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, nothing 13 in this Act shall be construed to require State, tribal, or 14 local governments to provide additional data for Federal 15 purposes, or to take any action that may result in an in- 16 creased financial burden to such governments by restrict- 17 ing the use of water by such governments. 18 SEC. 5. COORDINATION AND NONDUPLICATION. 19 To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary 20 shall coordinate activities under this Act with other pro- 21 grams of the Department and other Federal research pro- 22 grams. 23 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 24 In this Act: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H34.RFS H34 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 HR 34 RFS (1) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’ 1 means the Energy-Water Committee established 2 under section 3(a). 3 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 4 means the Department of Energy. 5 (3) ENERGY-WATER NEXUS.—The term ‘‘en- 6 ergy-water nexus’’ means the energy required to pro- 7 vide reliable water supplies and the water required 8 to provide reliable energy supplies throughout the 9 United States. 10 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 11 the Secretary of Energy. 12 SEC. 7. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 13 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 14 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 15 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 16 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 17 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 18 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, 19 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H34.RFS H34 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 HR 34 RFS provided that such statement has been submitted prior to 1 the vote on passage. 2 Passed the House of Representatives July 23, 2019. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Jul 24, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H34.RFS H34 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS