§16183 Energy and water for sustainability

Summary

Create a joint office and an interagency committee to plan and coordinate federal research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) work on the links between energy and water. Key terms: Department = Department of Energy; energy-water nexus = how water is needed to make and move energy and how energy is needed to move and treat water; Interagency RD&D Coordination Committee = the NEWS RD&D Committee; NEWS RD&D Office = the joint office run by the Department of Energy and the Department of the Interior; RD&D = research, development, and demonstration; Secretary = the Secretary of Energy. Within 180 days after December 27, 2020, the Secretary and the Secretary of the Interior must set up the NEWS RD&D Office and the NEWS RD&D Committee and co-chair them. The Committee must make common federal goals, issue a strategic plan within 1 year after December 27, 2020 and every two years after that, coordinate federal RD&D work, share data and methods, list federal and non‑federal programs and funding opportunities, look for partnerships and better ways to use existing programs, make RD&D results public, and consult with universities, industry, and State, local, and Tribal governments. The strategic plan must avoid duplicating other federal work (including National Laboratories) and should cover needs such as improving water efficiency and reuse in energy production and use, generating energy from water/wastewater, and modeling the energy‑water system. The plan and later reviews must be sent to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committees on Science, Space, and Technology; Energy and Commerce; and Natural Resources. The Committee cannot make rules or force State, Tribal, or local governments to take actions that raise their costs. Five years after the office is set up it must review the Committee and report to those same congressional committees with a recommendation about continuing the Committee. Within 30 days after the President’s budget is submitted, the co‑chairs must give those committees an interagency budget crosscut showing program-, project-, and activity‑level budgets, prior year spending, and current year estimates for all federal RD&D that supports the energy‑water nexus. The joint office and Committee authority ends 7 years after December 27, 2020, without stopping already ongoing planning or coordination. The Secretary must also fold into DOE energy RD&D work efforts to cut freshwater use, boost water efficiency, use nontraditional water sources, consider climate impacts on water for energy, and improve understanding of the energy‑water nexus. The Secretary may add more RD&D as needed to meet these goals.