S.Amdt. 147

SA 147. Mrs. SHAHEEN submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
to amendment SA 2 proposed by Ms. Murkowski (for herself, Mr. Hoeven,
Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Risch, Mr. Lee, Mr. Flake, Mr. Daines, Mr. Manchin,
Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Portman, Mr. Alexander, and Mrs. Capito)
to the bill S. 1, to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline; which was
ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

After section 2, insert the following:

SECTION __. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING GREEN BUILDING
PROGRAMS.

(a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
(1) The U.S. building sector consumes nearly 40 percent of
the nation's energy.
(2) Investments in building efficiency are among the most
cost-effective, energy-saving measures the federal government
can deploy to save money for taxpayers, families and
businesses, grow the domestic economy, create jobs, reduce
emissions and make the United States more energy secure.
i. The State Energy Program converts every dollar of
federal finding into $7.22 in energy cost savings, according
to a study by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The study also
found that for every $1 of State Energy Program federal
funding, the program leverages $10.71 in state and non-
federal funds.
ii. The Weatherization Assistance Program saves low-income
families up to 22.9 percent on their home energy costs.
iii. From 2009 to 2011, the Federal Energy Management
Program arranged energy savings performance contracts that
leveraged almost $1.2 billion in private-sector investment to
save the federal government and taxpayers more than $3.5
billion in energy and water costs.
iv. A 2012 analysis of federal appliance and equipment
efficiency standards prepared by the American Council for an
Energy Efficient Economy and the Appliance Standards
Awareness Project found that federal efficiency standards
already established would save consumers about $27 billion in
2010, increasing to $61 billion in 2025.
(3) Federal building energy efficiency programs related to
the construction and operations and maintenance of buildings
play a key role in cost-effectively reducing energy and water
waste in both the private and public sector.
(4) Reducing energy and water use in buildings requires a
network of federal programs that strategically target
different segments of the diverse building sector and use a
variety of approaches.
(5) The Government Accountability Office report, entitled
``2012 Annual Report: Opportunities to Reduce Duplication,
Overlap and Fragmentation, Achieve Savings, and Enhance
Revenue'' recommends enhanced coordination between agencies
to increase effectiveness of complimentary programs. This
report did not find any specific instances of program
duplication and it did not recommend the elimination of any
green building programs.
(b) Sense of Congress--It is the sense of Congress that--
1. The federal government successfully employs a variety of
federal green building programs to address the complex
challenge of reducing energy and water waste in buildings.
2. Federal green building programs save U.S. families,
taxpayers and businesses energy and money, boost domestic job
creation and strengthen the U.S. economy.
3. The federal government should encourage enhanced
coordination between agencies, State and local governments,
tribes and the private-sector to increase continued
effectiveness and avoid unnecessary duplication of federal
green building programs.
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