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1 1 (March 8, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govyfc0001 and id is 1 raw text is: ConresinlRsacrevc 0 March 8, 2019 WaterSense® Program: Congressional Authorization WaterSense is a voluntary labeling program created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to encourage the development and use of water-efficient products and services. Through WaterSense, EPA develops water efficiency specifications for products, certain services, and homes; licenses third-party certification bodies; and maintains a registry of WaterSense-labeled products and certified services. EPA initially established WaterSense in 2006. The 115th Congress authorized and expanded WaterSense in America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (AWIA; P.L. 115-270), Section 4306 (42 U.S.C. §6294b). WaterSense funding has garnered public and congressional interest as a result of the Trump Administration's proposals to eliminate program funding for FY2018 and FY2019. In FY2018, EPA funded WaterSense with $3.1 million from the agency's discretionary appropriations. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 (P.L. 116-6) included FY2019 appropriations for EPA and other federal agencies: FY2019 funding for WaterSense is the same as the FY2018 enacted level, according to the conference report (H.Rept. 116-9) that accompanied P.L. 116-6. AWIA does not include an authorization of appropriations for WaterSense. A description of the WaterSense program, authorization, and revisions follows. Figure I. WaterSense Labels Label for products that Label for promotional have been independently partners to encourage use of certified to meet FPA Waterenselabeled products, WaterSense crteia, services, and homes. Source: EPA.gov. Notes: Compiled by CRS. Program Design WaterSense supports voluntary partnerships with service providers, manufacturers, retailers, and other organizations that manufacture, distribute, certify, or promote WaterSense-labeled products, homes, and/or services. The WaterSense program design is similar to ENERGY STAR, another voluntary labeling program established by EPA in 1992. The Department of Energy and EPA jointly administer ENERGY STAR, which was authorized in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58, § 131). For more information, see CRS In Focus IF10753, ENERGY STAR Program. Under WaterSense, EPA establishes water efficiency specifications for products, services, and homes. These specifications also identify which testing protocols should be used to evaluate the product. EPA requires manufacturers, service providers, and home builders who wish to use a WaterSense label to have their products, services, and homes certified that they achieve the water efficiency specification. Third-party organizations provide the certifications. EPA licenses these certification organizations, which must also maintain accreditation from EPA-approved accreditation bodies. Products Currently, EPA has issued WaterSense specifications for a variety of products, including residential toilets, showerheads, bathroom faucets, commercial toilets, urinals, irrigation controllers, and spray sprinkler bodies. To obtain certification to use a WaterSense label, manufacturers must first develop products that meet EPA specifications. EPA states that a water-efficient product should generally (1) reduce water use by at least 20% from federally mandated water-use conservation standards and (2) function at least as well as regular models. For products without federal standards, such as irrigation equipment, WaterSense certifications are based on calculations of average efficiency. Manufacturers may submit their products to an accredited third-party organization for certification that the product complies with established water efficiency specifications. Once a product is certified, it does not have to be recertified. However, EPA requires certification organizations to conduct annual market surveillance on at least 15% of the models that it has certified for each product category and report the results to EPA. Manufacturers of WaterSense-labeled products sign a partnership agreement with EPA. In the agreement, EPA expects manufacturers to report the number of WaterSense- labeled products sold annually. EPA uses this data to calculate water and energy savings attributed to the WaterSense program as well as the return on investment. EPA's 2017 WaterSense Accomplishments report states that over 27,000 product models have been certified. More than half of these products are faucet models. https://crsreports.congress.gov

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