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      "date": "2016-12-15",
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      "title": "Water Use Efficiency Legislation in the 114th Congress",
      "summary": "More than two dozen legislative proposals in the 114th Congress were introduced that included provisions concerning water use efficiency, or water conservation, in nonagricultural sectors. These legislative proposals did not seek to set specific enforceable water use efficiency standards or goals. Rather, most sought to encourage or provide incentives for adoption of practices, technologies, and measures to achieve improved water use efficiency. \nThe 114th Congress legislation can be broadly grouped in five categories of proposals.\nCodifying 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 included provisions to establish the program in law.\nResearch and development. Several bills focused on research and development aspects of water use efficiency, including proposals that addressed 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.\nWater 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 the federal government should lead by example. Thus, several bills in the 114th Congress addressed aspects of water use efficiency in federal buildings.\nFinancial and technical assistance. The largest number of bills in the 114th Congress proposed to provide technical and financial assistance for identifying, adopting, or demonstrating practices or measures that conserve water. A number of the bills proposed to assist owners and operators of public water systems and water utilities in adopting or installing water-efficient systems, while a few proposed to help provide incentives for consumers to purchase and install water-efficient products or services.\nFederal tax incentives. Several bills proposed to 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.\nSome of the policy approaches described in this report were included in bills that addressed multiple aspects of water use efficiency alone, such as WaterSense and financial assistance. In other proposals, water use efficiency was 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. A few of the bills discussed here passed the Senate or House during the 114th Congress, and one measure that addressed water use efficiency in part (i.e., water use in buildings) was enacted. Many of these proposals also were introduced in previous Congresses.",
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      "id": 455998,
      "date": "2016-09-22",
      "retrieved": "2016-11-28T21:31:49.778294",
      "title": "Water Use Efficiency Legislation in the 114th Congress",
      "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.\nThe 114th Congress legislation can be broadly grouped in five categories of proposals.\nCodifying 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.\nResearch 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.\nWater 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.\nFinancial and technical assistance. The largest number of bills in the 114th Congress 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 water-efficient products or services.\nFederal 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.\nSome 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.",
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      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 453054,
      "date": "2016-06-01",
      "retrieved": "2016-06-21T21:10:22.538819",
      "title": "Water Use Efficiency Legislation in the 114th Congress",
      "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.\nThe 114th Congress legislation can be broadly grouped in five categories of proposals.\nCodifying 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.\nResearch 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.\nWater 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.\nFinancial and technical assistance. The largest number of bills in the 114th Congress\u201421 in all\u2014would 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 water-efficient products or services.\nFederal 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.\nSome 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.",
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      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 452160,
      "date": "2016-04-27",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T19:16:03.566941",
      "title": "Water Use Efficiency Legislation in the 114th Congress",
      "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.\nThe 114th Congress legislation can be broadly grouped in five categories of proposals.\nCodifying 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.\nResearch 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.\nWater 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 governments should lead by example. Thus, several bills in the 114th Congress address aspects of water use efficiency in federal buildings.\nFinancial and technical assistance. The largest number of bills in the 114th Congress\u201421 in all\u2014would 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 water-efficient products or services.\nFederal 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.\nSome 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.",
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