Sec. 3152. Promoting water efficiency with WaterSense
598 words·~3 min read·
/bill/114/s/2089/pcs/section-3152·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
There is established within the Environmental Protection Agency a program, to be known as the WaterSense Program , to identify and promote water efficient products, buildings, landscapes, facilities, processes, and services— to reduce water use; to reduce the strain on water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure; to conserve energy used to pump, heat, transport, and treat water; and to preserve water resources for future generations through voluntary labeling of, or other forms of communications regarding, products, buildings, landscapes, facilities, processes, and services that meet the highest water efficiency and performance criteria.
The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (referred to in this section as the Administrator ) shall— establish— a WaterSense label to be used for certain items; and the procedure by which an item may be certified to display the WaterSense label; promote WaterSense-labeled products, buildings, landscapes, facilities, processes, and services in the marketplace as the preferred technologies and services for— reducing water use; and ensuring product and service performance; work to enhance public awareness of the WaterSense label through public outreach, education, and other means; preserve the integrity of the WaterSense label by— establishing and maintaining performance criteria so that products, buildings, landscapes, facilities, processes, and services labeled with the WaterSense label perform as well as, or better than, less water-efficient counterparts; overseeing WaterSense certifications made by third parties; conducting reviews of the use of the WaterSense label in the marketplace and taking corrective action in any case in which misuse of the label is identified; and carrying out such other measures as the Administrator determines to be appropriate; at least once every 6 years, review and, if appropriate, update WaterSense criteria for categories of products, buildings, landscapes, facilities, processes, and services; to the maximum extent practicable, at least annually estimate and make available to the public the production and relative market shares of, and the savings of water, energy, and capital costs of water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure attributable to the use of WaterSense-labeled products, buildings, landscapes, facilities, processes, and services; solicit comments from interested parties and the public prior to establishing or revising a WaterSense category, specification, installation criterion, or other criterion; provide reasonable notice to interested parties and the public of any changes (including effective dates), on the adoption of a new or revised category, specification, installation criterion, or other criterion, along with— an explanation of the changes; and as appropriate, responses to comments submitted by interested parties and the public; provide appropriate lead time (as determined by the Administrator) prior to the applicable effective date for a new or significant revision to a category, specification, installation criterion, or other criterion, taking into account the timing requirements of the manufacturing, marketing, training, and distribution process for the specific product, building and landscape, or service category addressed; identify and, if appropriate, implement other voluntary approaches in commercial, institutional, residential, industrial, and municipal sectors to encourage recycling and reuse technologies to improve water efficiency or lower water use; and if appropriate, authorize the WaterSense label for use on products that are labeled by the Energy Star program implemented by the Administrator and the Secretary of Energy.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section— $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2016; $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2017; $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2018; $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2019; and for each fiscal year thereafter, the applicable amount for the preceding fiscal year, as adjusted to reflect changes for the 12-month period ending the preceding November 30 in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor.