[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 95 (Tuesday, June 23, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6941-S6942]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself and Mrs. Gillibrand):
  S. 1321. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 
a credit for property labeled under the Environmental Protection Agency 
Water Sense program; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. President, there is an old saying that 
``you don't know what you've got until it's gone.'' It is true, 
especially when you are talking about water. We have a tendency to take 
water for granted when we turn on our faucets or showers and when we 
want to water our yards. We tend to use it inefficiently. We let the 
faucet run when we are brushing our teeth, or we water our lawns in the 
middle of the day when evaporation rates are at their highest.
  When you grow up in the desert, as I did, you learn to treasure 
water. Everything in the West is shaped by it, and you know that it 
might not always be there when you need it. This will become--
particularly in my part of the country, but also in the Presiding 
Officer's State as well--more apparent as we see lower snowpack and 
decreasing precipitation in the Southwest. Because of climate change 
dynamics and drought cycles, we are already experiencing those 
situations.
  Water is the lifeblood of the West. Recent droughts in the Southeast 
of our country remind us that no one is immune from water shortages. It 
is with an eye to those experiences that I rise today to introduce 
legislation that would take a measured and practical step toward 
conserving it.
  The Water Accountability Tax Efficiency Reinvestment Act of 2009--
that is a mouthful, but if you boil it down to its acronym, it is the 
WATER Act--creates a tax incentive for individuals and businesses to 
purchase products and services that use water at least 20 percent more 
efficiently than comparable technology.
  It is very similar to the existing tax credit we receive now for 
purchasing energy-efficient Energy Star products. Certainly, you see 
Energy Star products all over homes, and increasingly customers are 
purchasing them.
  I thank my friend and colleague in the House of Representatives, 
Congressman Mike Coffman, for introducing this measure in the House. I 
am pleased to work with him in a bipartisan way, as he is a Republican, 
and in a bicameral way.
  I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting this bill. Why? The 
more we can conserve today, the more we can decrease the demands on 
existing water resources. Better yet, we can save our constituents and 
ourselves literally hundreds of dollars in the process.
  What would the WATER Act do? It would create a 30-percent tax credit 
on the purchase of products that have earned the EPA's WaterSense 
label, with a maximum lifetime cap of $1,500. That is a handsome 
incentive for us as consumers.
  Like the Energy Star label awarded by the EPA and Department of 
Energy, the WaterSense label would be reserved for those products that 
consume at least 20 percent less water than comparable items. These 
products are becoming much more common. They include many brands of 
faucets, toilets, shower heads, even irrigation services.
  The predictions are that soon entire homes would become WaterSense 
certified.
  Not only is it a bonus for the environment when we conserve water, 
but it is helpful to our wallets. The cheapest gallon of water, 
frankly, like the cheapest barrel of oil, is the one we don't use.
  It is estimated by the EPA that with some simple adjustments in the 
way we use water, the average household can save close to $200 a year 
on their water and sewer bills.
  There is an interesting nexus as well between energy and water use. 
If we conserve energy water, we use less energy. Less water means less 
energy to heat the water in our showers, our sinks, our dishwashers, 
and the energy that is used to supply and treat public water. EPA 
estimates if 1 percent of American households used WaterSense-certified 
toilets, each year we could save enough electricity to power 43,000 
homes for a month, lower water bills, and reduce demands on the 
environment. That is something we ought to be striving to accomplish.
  Numerous groups already support this legislation as it is written. I 
focus in particular on my home State of Colorado where industry groups, 
water authorities, and local leaders in Colorado have signed on to this 
concept.
  I wanted to also say that moving forward on this legislation gained 
added importance for me last month when I attended a briefing that the 
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research held. This particular 
briefing was focused on the ways we will have to adapt our management 
of water resources in response to the effects of climate change. I know 
the Presiding Officer and I share a real concern about climate change.
  I used to think any discussion of adapting to climate change was 
misguided because we were giving in to the problem. We were saying we 
are going to let climate change occur. I have come to believe adapting 
to climate change is a recognition of reality. It is having impacts all 
across our country. If we do not act now, we will not be meeting our 
responsibilities to not only our constituents today but our children 
and their children in the future.
  In my State, all you have to do is look, for example, at the Colorado 
River. Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, California, 
Nevada, and the country of Mexico have an agreement that was reached 
about 80 years ago on how to divide up the Colorado River. When that 
agreement was reached, I believe, in 1922, we thought there were 16.5 
million acre feet of water we could divide among all those States and 
communities. We now believe that time period, when we took those 
numbers interest account, was a particularly wet period in the history 
of the Colorado River Basin. Our best guess now is there is only about 
14.5 million acre feet available, and 16.5 million versus 14.5 
million--there is a 2-million-acre-foot deficit there, and it is 
causing increasing concern.
  So these water shortages that are possible because of climate change, 
combined with drought cycles that are normal, have the potential to 
cause great political tension and controversy. The river levels in the 
Colorado basin most likely are going to get lower, and that means 
serious impacts for businesses, homes, and farmers in seven States and 
two counties. The longer we wait to take practical steps to adjust the 
steps of climate change, the harder it will become to deal with them.
  The good news is we have options that will do more than help address 
global climate change. These are policies we ought to be adopting 
anyway. They simply have added significance now, and they make perfect 
common sense.
  To return to the Water Act, which I came to the Senate floor to 
discuss, this is a prime example of how we can adapt and take some 
steps today that benefit all of us. If consumers in the Colorado River 
Basin install WaterSense products, they will decrease the demand on the 
overallocated Colorado River Basin, reduce their water and energy 
bills, and help head off an impending problem as a result of climate 
change. This is a win-win-win across the board.

[[Page S6942]]

  Again, I come to the Senate floor to ask my colleagues to join me in 
supporting what is a commonsense, bipartisan, bicameral effort to save 
taxpayers money and take a big practical step toward greater water 
conservation.
  As I close, I also add once again that we would be leading the world 
as it develops and the demand for water around the world increases. 
These products would be available in the marketplaces in China, India, 
Brazil, and the developing world, which would help our economy and help 
create jobs as well, which we are focused on singularly as Senators. I 
know that is important in the Presiding Officer's home State as well.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                S. 1321

       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 ``Water Accountability Tax 
     Efficiency Reinvestment Act of 2009'' or as the ``WATER Act 
     of 2009''.

     SEC. 2. CREDIT FOR WATERSENSE LABELED PROPERTY.

       (a) In General.--Subpart B of part IV of subchapter A of 
     chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 
     adding at the end the following new section:

     ``SEC. 30E. WATERSENSE LABELED PROPERTY.

       ``(a) Allowance of Credit.--There shall be allowed as a 
     credit against the tax imposed by this chapter for the 
     taxable year an amount equal to 30 percent of the amounts 
     paid or incurred by the taxpayer during such taxable year for 
     certified WaterSense labeled property.
       ``(b) Lifetime Limitation.--The aggregate amount of the 
     credits allowed under this section with respect to any 
     taxpayer for any taxable year shall not exceed the excess (if 
     any) of $1,500 over the aggregate credits allowed under this 
     section with respect to such taxpayer for all prior taxable 
     years.
       ``(c) Certified WaterSense Labeled Property.--For purposes 
     of this section, the term `certified WaterSense labeled 
     property' means any property--
       ``(1) which is certified by a licensed independent third 
     party as meeting specifications of the Environmental 
     Protection Agency WaterSense program, and
       ``(2) the original use of which commences with the 
     taxpayer.
       ``(d) Application With Other Credits.--
       ``(1) Business credit treated as part of general business 
     credit.--So much of the credit which would be allowed under 
     subsection (a) for any taxable year (determined without 
     regard to this subsection) that is attributable to property 
     of a character subject to an allowance for depreciation shall 
     be treated as a credit listed in section 38(b) for such 
     taxable year (and not allowed under subsection (a)).
       ``(2) Personal credit.--
       ``(A) In general.--For purposes of this title, the credit 
     allowed under subsection (a) for any taxable year (determined 
     after application of paragraph (1)) shall be treated as a 
     credit allowable under subpart A for such taxable year.
       ``(B) Limitation based on amount of tax.--In the case of a 
     taxable year to which section 26(a)(2) does not apply, the 
     credit allowed under subsection (a) for any taxable year 
     (determined after application of paragraph (1)) shall not 
     exceed the excess of--
       ``(i) the sum of the regular tax liability (as defined in 
     section 26(b)) plus the tax imposed by section 55, over
       ``(ii) the sum of the credits allowable under subpart A 
     (other than this section and sections 23, 25D, 30, and 30D) 
     and section 27 for the taxable year.
       ``(e) Special Rules.--For purposes of this section--
       ``(1) Aggregation rules.--All persons treated as a single 
     employer under subsection (a) or (b) of section 52, or 
     subsection (m) or (o) of section 414, shall be treated as a 
     one person.
       ``(2) Basis reduction.--For purposes of this subtitle, the 
     basis of any property for which a credit is allowable under 
     subsection (a) shall be reduced by the amount of such credit 
     so allowed (determined without regard to subsection (d)).
       ``(3) No double benefit.--The amount of any deduction or 
     other credit allowable under this chapter with respect to any 
     property for which credit is allowable under subsection (a) 
     shall be reduced by the amount of credit allowed under 
     subsection (a) with respect to such property (determined 
     without regard to subsection (d)).
       ``(4) Property used outside united states not qualified.--
     No credit shall be allowable under subsection (a) with 
     respect to any property referred to in section 50(b)(1).
       ``(f) Termination.--This section shall not apply to any 
     property placed in service after December 31, 2010.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendments.--
       (1)(A) Section 24(b)(3)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
     1986 is amended by striking ``and 30D'' and inserting ``30D, 
     and 30E''.
       (B) Section 25(e)(1)(C)(ii) of such Code is amended by 
     inserting ``30E,'' after ``30D,''.
       (C) Section 25B(g)(2) of such Code is amended by striking 
     ``and 30D'' and inserting ``30D, and 30E''.
       (D) Section 26(a)(1) of such Code is amended by striking 
     ``and 30D'' and inserting ``30D, and 30E''.
       (E) Section 904(i) of such Code is amended by striking 
     ``and 30D'' and inserting ``30D, and 30E''.
       (F) Section 1400C(d)(2) of such Code is amended by striking 
     ``and 30D'' and inserting ``30D, and 30E''.
       (2) Section 1016(a) of such Code is amended by striking 
     ``and'' at the end of paragraph (36), by striking the period 
     at the end of paragraph (37) and inserting ``, and'', and by 
     adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(38) to the extent provided in section 30E(e)(2).''.
       (3) The table of sections for subpart B of part IV of 
     subchapter A of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by adding 
     at the end the following new item:

``Sec. 30E. WaterSense labeled property.''.

       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall apply to property placed in service after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act.
                                 ______