[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2225 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2225

    To provide for a smart water resource management pilot program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 9, 2014

Mr. Udall of New Mexico (for himself and Mr. Chambliss) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                      Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide for a smart water resource management pilot program.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Smart Water Resource Management 
Conservation and Efficiency Act of 2014''.

SEC. 2. SMART WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PILOT PROGRAM.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
                    (A) a utility;
                    (B) a municipality;
                    (C) a water district; and
                    (D) any other authority that provides water, 
                wastewater, or water reuse services.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.
            (3) Smart water resource management pilot program.--The 
        term ``smart water resource management pilot program'' or 
        ``pilot program'' means the pilot program established under 
        subsection (b).
    (b) Smart Water Resource Management Pilot Program.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish and carry 
        out a smart water resource management pilot program in 
        accordance with this section.
            (2) Purpose.--The purpose of the smart water resource 
        management pilot program is to award grants to eligible 
        entities to demonstrate novel and innovative technology-based 
        solutions that will--
                    (A) increase the energy and water efficiency of 
                water, wastewater, and water reuse systems;
                    (B) improve water, wastewater, and water reuse 
                systems to help communities across the United States 
                make significant progress in conserving water, saving 
                energy, and reducing costs; and
                    (C) support the implementation of innovative 
                processes and the installation of advanced automated 
                systems that provide real-time data on energy and 
                water.
            (3) Project selection.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary shall make 
                competitive, merit-reviewed grants under the pilot 
                program to not less than 3, but not more than 5, 
                eligible entities.
                    (B) Selection criteria.--In selecting an eligible 
                entity to receive a grant under the pilot program, the 
                Secretary shall consider--
                            (i) energy and cost savings;
                            (ii) the novelty of the technology to be 
                        used;
                            (iii) the degree to which the project 
                        integrates next-generation sensors, software, 
                        analytics, and management tools;
                            (iv) the anticipated cost-effectiveness of 
                        the pilot project in terms of energy efficiency 
                        savings, water savings or reuse, and 
                        infrastructure costs averted;
                            (v) whether the technology can be deployed 
                        in a variety of geographic regions and the 
                        degree to which the technology can be 
                        implemented on a smaller or larger scale; and
                            (vi) whether the project will be completed 
                        in 5 years or less.
                    (C) Applications.--
                            (i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii), an 
                        eligible entity seeking a grant under the pilot 
                        program shall submit to the Secretary an 
                        application at such time, in such manner, and 
                        containing such information as the Secretary 
                        determines to be necessary.
                            (ii) Contents.--An application under clause 
                        (i) shall, at a minimum, include--
                                    (I) a description of the project;
                                    (II) a description of the 
                                technology to be used in the project;
                                    (III) the anticipated results, 
                                including energy and water savings, of 
                                the project;
                                    (IV) a comprehensive budget for the 
                                project;
                                    (V) the names of the project lead 
                                organization and any partners;
                                    (VI) the number of users to be 
                                served by the project; and
                                    (VII) any other information that 
                                the Secretary determines to be 
                                necessary to complete the review and 
                                selection of a grant recipient.
            (4) Administration.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 300 days after the 
                date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
                select grant recipients under this section.
                    (B) Evaluations.--The Secretary shall annually 
                carry out an evaluation of each project for which a 
                grant is provided under this section that--
                            (i) evaluates the progress and impact of 
                        the project; and
                            (ii) assesses the degree to which the 
                        project is meeting the goals of the pilot 
                        program.
                    (C) Technical and policy assistance.--On the 
                request of a grant recipient, the Secretary shall 
                provide technical and policy assistance.
                    (D) Best practices.--The Secretary shall make 
                available to the public--
                            (i) a copy of each evaluation carried out 
                        under subparagraph (B); and
                            (ii) a description of any best practices 
                        identified by the Secretary as a result of 
                        those evaluations.
                    (E) Report to congress.--The Secretary shall submit 
                to Congress a report containing the results of each 
                evaluation carried out under subparagraph (B).
    (c) Funding.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall use not less than 
        $7,500,000 of amounts made available to the Secretary to carry 
        out this section.
            (2) Prioritization.--In funding activities under this 
        section, the Secretary shall prioritize funding in the 
        following manner:
                    (A) Any unobligated amounts made available to the 
                Secretary to carry out the activities of the Energy 
                Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office.
                    (B) Any unobligated amounts (other than those 
                described in subparagraph (A)) made available to the 
                Secretary.
                                 <all>