GovTrack’s Bill Summary
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H.R. 3598 (111th): Energy and Water Research Integration Act
- Introduced:
- Sep 17, 2009 (111th Congress, 2009–2010)
- Sponsor:
- Rep. Barton “Bart” Gordon [D-TN6]
- Status:
- Died (Passed House)
The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. H.R. stands for House of Representatives bill.
Library of Congress Summary
The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.
12/1/2009.
Section
2
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Directs the Secretary of Energy to identify each of the Department of Energy's (DOE's) energy research, development, and demonstration programs and projects into which it is appropriate to integrate water considerations.
Requires the Secretary to:
(1) seek to advance energy and energy efficiency technologies and practices that would minimize freshwater withdrawal and consumption, increase water use efficiency, and utilize nontraditional water sources with efforts to improve water quality; and
(2) consider the effects climate variability and change may have on water supplies and quality for energy generation and fuel production; and
(3) improve understanding of the energy required to provide water supplies and the water required to provide reliable energy supplies throughout the United States. Requires the Secretary to develop, submit to Congress within nine months, and update every three years a Strategic Plan outlining the research, development, and demonstration needs of such programs and projects.
Requires the Secretary to evaluate and establish technical milestones for:
(1) new advanced cooling technologies for energy generation and fuel production technologies;
(2) performance improvement and cost reductions of cooling technologies;
(3) innovative water reuse, recovery, and treatment in energy generation and fuel production;
(4) technology development for carbon capture and storage systems that utilize efficient water use design strategies;
(5) technologies that are life-cycle cost effective;
(6) systems analysis and modeling of issues relating to the energy required to provide water supplies and the water required to provide reliable energy supplies;
(7) technologies to treat and utilize produced waters discharged from oil, natural gas, coal-bed methane, and mining activities;
(8) advanced materials for the use of nontraditional water sources for energy generation and fuel production;
(9) biomass production and utilization and the impact on hydrologic systems;
(10) technologies that reduce impacts on water from energy resource development;
(11) increases in energy efficiency of water distribution and collection systems; and
(12) technologies for energy generation from such systems.
Requires the Secretary to:
(1) implement the Strategic Plan in carrying out DOE energy research, development, and demonstration programs; and
(2) report to Congress every two years on findings and activities under this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
Section
3
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Directs the Secretary to establish an Energy-Water Architecture Council to promote and enable improved energy and water resource data collection, reporting, and technological innovation.
Requires the Council to:
(1) make recommendations on the development of data collection and communication standards and protocols to entities engaged in collecting data for the energy required to provide water supplies and the water required to provide reliable energy supplies throughout the United States;
(2) recommend ways to make improvements to federal water use data to increase understanding of trends in energy generation and fuel production;
(3) recommend best practices for utilizing information from monitoring networks to provide nationally uniform water and energy use and infrastructure data; and
(4) conduct annual technical workshops to facilitate information exchange among federal, state, and private sector experts on technologies that encourage the conservation and efficient use of water and energy.
Section
4
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Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to: (1) allow the establishment of regulations by the federal government that would infringe or impair the use of water by state, tribal, or local governments; and (2) require state, tribal, or local governments to take any action that may result in an increased financial burden by restricting their water use.
Section
6
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Directs the Secretary to coordinate activities under this Act with other DOE programs and other federal research programs.
House Republican Conference Summary
The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/111/1/hr3598.
Background
The DOE currently operates the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy with the stated mission of strengthening the U.S.'s "energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality in public-private partnerships that: enhance energy efficiency and productivity." Under H.R. 3598, the Secretary of Energy would be required to participate in new water and energy efficiency programs. Specifically, the Secretary would be required to increase technologies that minimize freshwater withdrawal and consumption, increase water use efficiency, and utilize nontraditional water sources with efforts to improve the quality of that water. Some Members may be concerned that H.R. 3598 would authorize $325 million of the FY 2010 through FY 2015 period for new DOE efficiency activities and programs while the DOE already has the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to address efficiency issues.
Summary
H.R. 3598 would authorize $65 million annually through FY 2015 to create a new federal research and development program to attempt to enhance energy and water-use efficiency in the agency's research and development programs. Specifically, the bill would authorize $60 million annually for the Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct and coordinate research and development activities to increase DOE's energy and water use efficiency.
In addition, the bill would authorize $5 million annually to establish the Energy-Water Architecture Council. The Council would have a representative from each federal agency and would conduct research and make recommendations related to energy and water resource use and efficiency.
Cost
According to CBO, H.R. 3598 would cost $221 million over the FY 2011 through FY 2014 period and an additional $104 million after FY 2014.
House Democratic Caucus Summary
The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.
So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.
We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.
The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:
United States Code
The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)
- Title 42: THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
- Chapter 109B: SECURE WATER
- Section 10368: National water availability and use assessment program