Water Use Efficiency Legislation in the 114th Congress (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Dec. 15, 2016 |
| Report Number |
R44482 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Claudia Copeland, Specialist in Resources and Environmental Policy |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
More than two dozen legislative proposals in the 114th Congress include provisions concerning
water use efficiency, or water conservation, in nonagricultural sectors. These legislative proposals
do not seek to set specific enforceable water use efficiency standards or goals. Rather, most seek
to encourage or provide incentives for adoption of practices, technologies, and measures to
achieve improved water use efficiency.
The 114th Congress legislation can be broadly grouped in five categories of proposals.
Codifying the WaterSense program. WaterSense is a voluntary labeling and
recognition program that seeks to help consumers and businesses identify highly
water-efficient products, services, and homes. It was established administratively
by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2006. Nine legislative measures
include provisions to establish the program in law.
Research and development. Several bills focus on research and development
aspects of water use efficiency, including proposals that address needs for more
and better water use data. Research also is examining technology advances in
water and wastewater treatment facilities that would achieve water and energy
savings.
Water use efficiency in buildings. Buildings are estimated to account for about
13% of total water consumed in the United States; one-quarter of that total is
used by commercial buildings, and three-quarters by residences. It is sometimes
argued that, on matters of policy, the federal government should lead by example.
Thus, several bills in the 114th Congress address aspects of water use efficiency
in federal buildings.
Financial and technical assistance. The largest number of bills in the 114th
Congress—21 in all—would provide technical and financial assistance for
identifying, adopting, or demonstrating practices or measures that conserve
water. A number of the bills would assist owners and operators of public water
systems and water utilities in adopting or installing water-efficient systems, while
a few would help provide incentives for consumers to purchase and install waterefficient
products or services.
Federal tax incentives. Several bills would use the federal tax code to provide
incentives for adopting or installing equipment or practices to save water, such as
a federal tax credit for purchasing qualified equipment or federal tax exemption
of rebates or other financial incentives received for installing water conservation
measures.
Some of the policy approaches described in this report are included in bills that address multiple
aspects of water use efficiency alone, such as WaterSense and financial assistance. In other
proposals, water use efficiency is one of a number of issues, but not the main issue, contained in a
comprehensive policy proposal on topics such as energy policy, water policy generally, or
solutions to the western U.S. drought. Many of the current proposals also have been introduced in
previous Congresses, but have not advanced.
