Smart Energy and Water Efficiency Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2665 To direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a smart energy and water efficiency program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 10, 2019 Mr. MCNERNEY (for himself and Mr. KINZINGER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Natural Resources, and Transportation and Infrastructure, 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 direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a smart energy and water efficiency program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smart Energy and 4 Water Efficiency Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. SMART ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY PRO- 6 GRAM. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:44 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2665.IH H2665 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2665 IH (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 1 ty’’ means— 2 (A) a municipality; 3 (B) a water district; and 4 (C) any other entity that provides water, 5 wastewater, or water reuse services, including a 6 joint water and power authority. 7 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 8 the Secretary of Energy. 9 (3) SMART ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY 10 PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘smart energy and water effi- 11 ciency program’’ or ‘‘program’’ means the program 12 established under subsection (b). 13 (b) SMART ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY PRO- 14 GRAM.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 16 and carry out a smart energy and water efficiency 17 program in accordance with this section. 18 (2) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—In carrying out the 19 smart energy and water efficiency program, the Sec- 20 retary shall award grants to eligible entities to carry 21 out projects that implement advanced and innovative 22 technology-based solutions that will improve the en- 23 ergy or water efficiency of water, wastewater, or 24 water reuse systems to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:44 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2665.IH H2665 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2665 IH (A) help eligible entities make significant 1 progress in conserving water, conserving energy, 2 or reducing the operating costs of such systems; 3 (B) support the implementation of innova- 4 tive processes or the installation of advanced 5 automated systems that provide real-time data 6 on energy and water; or 7 (C) improve predictive maintenance of 8 water, wastewater, or water reuse systems 9 through the use of Internet-connected tech- 10 nologies, such as sensors, intelligent gateways, 11 or security embedded in hardware. 12 (3) PROJECT SELECTION.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 14 make competitive, merit-reviewed grants under 15 the program to not fewer than 3, but not more 16 than 5, eligible entities. 17 (B) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In selecting an 18 eligible entity to receive a grant under the pro- 19 gram, the Secretary shall consider— 20 (i) energy and cost savings anticipated 21 to result from the project; 22 (ii) the innovative nature, commercial 23 viability, and reliability of the technology 24 to be used; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:44 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2665.IH H2665 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2665 IH (iii) the degree to which the project 1 integrates innovative sensors, software, 2 hardware, analytics, and management 3 tools; 4 (iv) the anticipated cost-effectiveness 5 of the project in terms of energy savings, 6 water savings or reuse, and infrastructure 7 costs averted; 8 (v) whether the technology can be de- 9 ployed in a variety of geographic regions 10 and the degree to which the technology can 11 be implemented on a smaller or larger 12 scale, including whether the technology can 13 be implemented by other types of eligible 14 entities; and 15 (vi) whether implementation of the 16 project will be complete within 5 years. 17 (C) APPLICATIONS.— 18 (i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 19 (ii), an eligible entity seeking a grant 20 under the program shall submit to the Sec- 21 retary an application at such time, in such 22 manner, and containing such information 23 as the Secretary determines to be nec- 24 essary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:44 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2665.IH H2665 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2665 IH (ii) CONTENTS.—An application under 1 clause (i) shall, at a minimum, include— 2 (I) a description of the project; 3 (II) a description of the tech- 4 nology to be used in the project; 5 (III) the anticipated results, in- 6 cluding energy and water savings, of 7 the project; 8 (IV) a comprehensive budget for 9 the project; and 10 (V) the number of households or 11 customers that are served by the eligi- 12 ble entity and will benefit from the 13 project. 14 (4) ADMINISTRATION.— 15 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 300 16 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 17 the Secretary shall select grant recipients under 18 this section. 19 (B) EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary shall 20 annually for 5 years carry out an evaluation of 21 each project for which a grant is provided 22 under this section that— 23 (i) evaluates the progress and effects 24 of the project; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:44 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2665.IH H2665 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2665 IH (ii) assesses the degree to which the 1 project can be replicated in other regions, 2 systems, and situations. 3 (C) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—On the re- 4 quest of a grant recipient, the Secretary shall 5 provide technical assistance to the grant recipi- 6 ent to carry out the project. 7 (D) BEST PRACTICES.—The Secretary 8 shall make available to the public— 9 (i) a copy of each evaluation carried 10 out under subparagraph (B); and 11 (ii) a description of any best practices 12 identified by the Secretary as a result of 13 those evaluations. 14 (E) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 15 than the date on which the Secretary completes 16 the last evaluation required under subparagraph 17 (B), the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 18 report containing the results of each evaluation 19 carried out under such subparagraph. 20 (c) FUNDING.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall use not 22 less than $15,000,000 of amounts made available to 23 the Secretary to carry out this section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:44 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2665.IH H2665 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2665 IH (2) PRIORITIZATION.—In funding activities 1 under this section, the Secretary shall prioritize 2 funding in the following manner: 3 (A) The Secretary shall first use any unob- 4 ligated amounts made available to the Secretary 5 to carry out the activities of the Energy Effi- 6 ciency and Renewable Energy Office. 7 (B) After any amounts described in sub- 8 paragraph (A) have been used, the Secretary 9 shall then use any unobligated amounts (other 10 than those described in subparagraph (A)) 11 made available to the Secretary. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:44 May 13, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2665.IH H2665 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS