Notice of Request for Information (RFI) on Critical Water Issues Prize Competition, 11997-12000 [2018-05472]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 53 / Monday, March 19, 2018 / Notices can view this document, as well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). To use PDF, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at the site. You may also access documents of the Department published in the Federal Register by using the article search feature at www.federalregister.gov. Specifically, through the advanced search feature at this site, you can limit your search to documents published by the Department. DATES: Authority: Title III, Part D, Section 347, of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended in 1998 (20 U.S.C. 1066f). Table of Contents Frank T. Brogan, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and delegated the duties of the Assistant Secretary, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Delegated the duties of the Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education. [FR Doc. 2018–05535 Filed 3–16–18; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4000–01–P DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Notice of Request for Information (RFI) on Critical Water Issues Prize Competition Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of Energy (DOE). ACTION: Request for Information (RFI). AGENCY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), seeks information from the public to understand the key technical and other barriers that may prevent long-term access to low-cost water supplies that could be best addressed through challenges and prize competitions. DOE may use the information provided through this Request for Information (RFI) to develop challenges and prize competitions to address low-cost water problems. For the purposes of this RFI, challenges and prize competitions are tools and approaches the Federal government and others can use to engage a broad range of stakeholders, including the general public, to develop solutions to difficult problems. Challenges and prize competitions rely on competitive structures to drive innovation among participants and usually offer rewards (financial and/or other) to winners and/ or finalists. This RFI is not designed to solicit input on DOE’s broader water research and development (R&D) efforts. sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:43 Mar 16, 2018 Jkt 244001 Responses to the RFI must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. (ET) on May 14, 2018. ADDRESSES: Interested parties are to submit comments electronically to WaterPrizeRFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. (ET) on May 14, 2018. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions may be addressed to: Andre de Fontaine, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, 1000 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20585. Telephone: (202)-586–6585. Email: andre.defontaine@ee.doe.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background II. Purpose III. Request for Information Categories and Questions IV. Guidance for Submitting Documents I. Background Water is a critical resource for human health, economic growth, and agricultural productivity. The United States has benefitted from access to generally low-cost water supplies, but new challenges are emerging that, if left unaddressed, could threaten this paradigm. For example, traditional freshwater sources are coming under stress from competing uses in a growing number of U.S. regions. A range of water quality problems are impacting human health and the environment, while municipal water and wastewater treatment systems face billions of dollars in unmet infrastructure investment needs, which will likely increase as population grows, and water and wastewater treatment requirements become more stringent.1 This will put upward pressure on water and sewer rates, which have already experienced steady increases, on a national average, over the last several years.2 Energy is a key resource that modern water systems need to function properly. DOE has conducted substantial work to explore issues and advance solutions related to the energywater nexus,3 a term used to describe 1 Arzbaecher, C., K. Parmenter, R. Ehrhard, and J. Murphy. 2013. Electricity Use and Management in the Municipal Water Supply and Wastewater Industries. Palo Alto, CA: Electric Power Research Institute and Water Research Foundation. https:// www.waterrf.org/PublicReportLibrary/4454.pdf. 2 DOE (Department of Energy). 2017. Water and Wastewater Annual Price Escalation Rates for Selected Cities across the United States. Washington, DC: DOE. https://www.energy.gov/ sites/prod/files/2017/10/f38/water_wastewater_ escalation_rate_study.pdf. 3 See, DOE. 2014. The Water-Energy Nexus: Challenges and Opportunities. Washington, DC: DOE. https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/07/ f17/Water%20Energy%20Nexus%20Full%20 Report%20July%202014.pdf. PO 00000 Frm 00044 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 11997 the interconnected nature of energy and water systems. This RFI contains a category of questions that specifically target the energy-water nexus, and energy is a theme that runs through several, if not all, of the other categories. With the exception of the energy-water nexus category, however, respondents should not limit themselves to energy issues in their responses. DOE is interested in collecting broad information that helps define the key water issues that could be addressed through challenges and prize competitions whether they concern energy explicitly, implicitly, or not at all. Responses collected through this RFI may be shared with other agencies to help them craft related prize competitions and challenges. DOE recognizes that local, state, Federal, private, and non-profit actors are working to address water challenges using a range of mechanisms, including policy changes, early stage R&D, and grant funding. For example, DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) is developing an early stage R&D program to develop technologies that advance the cost-effective and energy efficient production of treated water from a range of conventional and nonconventional sources. AMO has conducted substantial stakeholder engagement to support this early stage R&D effort, including three workshops and a separate RFI issued in June of 2017. This RFI differs from the June request in that it seeks input from the public specifically on the water problems that could be best addressed through challenges and prize competitions. Additionally, it asks how those challenges and prize competitions could be structured to achieve maximum results. In challenges and prize competitions, a given prize sponsor will define a problem and offer a reward for a solution.4 Rewards can be monetary as well as non-monetary, such as national recognition, testing and validation of technologies, access to experts and specialists, and other organizational support. A key characteristic of challenges and prize competitions is they clearly define a problem without prescribing a particular solution path. Participation in prize competitions is generally open to a wide range of participants, with financial or other rewards provided at the end of the competition after a designated target or goal has been reached. This contrasts 4 For an overview of challenges and prize competitions, see Hendrix, M. 2014. The Power of Prizes: Incentivizing Radical Innovation. Washington, DC: U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. E:\FR\FM\19MRN1.SGM 19MRN1 11998 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 53 / Monday, March 19, 2018 / Notices sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES with traditional R&D funding in which participants are selected up front with funding provided at the beginning in order to pursue a target or goal. Prizes and competitions tend to work best when targeting solutions that are measurable and achievable within a relatively short time period—typically between two and ten years.5 Challenges and prize competitions are not limited to technology and technical solutions; they can also promote business models, financing approaches, market design, information systems, policy design, and other innovative solutions. Among the benefits of challenges and prize competitions are they: • Reach beyond the ‘‘usual suspects’’ to increase the number of solvers tackling a problem; • Identify novel approaches; • Bring out-of-discipline perspectives to bear; • Establish an ambitious goal without having to predict which team or approach is most; likely to succeed; and • Maximize return on investment by paying only for success.6 Since 2010, the Federal government has launched more than 740 challenges and prize competitions with millions of dollars in prize money and other incentives 7 (foundations, non-profit organizations, and private companies have launched many more). Examples of Federal prizes can be viewed on Challenge.gov. In recent years, DOE has run several prize competitions, including: The Catalyst Energy Innovation Prize (https://energy.gov/ eere/solar/sunshot-catalyst-energyinnovation-prize), which offered cash prizes to teams and individuals that developed data, analysis, and software solutions that serve the energy efficiency and renewable energy market; and the Clean Tech University Prize (https://energy.gov/eere/technology-tomarket/cleantech-university-prizecleantech), which offered entrepreneurial support and financial rewards to teams of university students to support the commercialization of clean energy technologies; and the Wave Energy Prize (https://wave energyprize.org/), which was a multistage prototype competition 5 National Research Council. 2007. Innovation Inducement Prizes at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2007. 6 OSTP (Office of Science and Technology Policy). 2016. Implementation of Federal Prize Authority: Fiscal Year 2015 Progress Report, A Report from the Office of Science and Technology Policy In Response to the Requirements of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010. Washington, DC: OSTP. 7 ‘‘About,’’ https://www.challenge.gov/about/, retrieved February 22, 2018. VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:43 Mar 16, 2018 Jkt 244001 incentivizing innovation in wave energy conversion technologies. II. Purpose The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on the key water problems that can be best addressed through challenges and prize competitions. DOE is specifically interested in information on how challenges and prize competitions can be used to engage a broad collection of stakeholders in removing barriers and enabling access to long-term, abundant supplies of low-cost, water. This is solely a request for information and not an announcement of a prize, challenge or competition, nor a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA). III. Request for Information Categories and Questions Category 1: Increasing Alternative Water Supplies Traditional freshwater supplies are under stress in several parts of the country with withdrawals either already outpacing supplies or approaching that point. This will become a bigger problem over time as population grows and growth patterns shift. As a result, demand is expected to increase for nontraditional sources of water, which include sea water along coastal regions, brackish water available in much of the heartland, produced waters associated with oil and gas recovery, and beneficial reuse of wastewater treatment effluents. Technologies exist to treat these nontraditional sources of water, though often at high expense. 1. What are the key technical and non-technical challenges that, if overcome, would allow for a significant increase in the volume of available water produced from non-traditional sources? (This can be for a range of beneficial uses, including agricultural, industrial, or drinking purposes.) Please limit responses to those technical and non-technical challenges that could be best addressed through prize competitions. 2. Please elaborate on these challenges by providing: (1) A brief description of the challenge; (2) solutions that could be used to overcome the challenge; and (3) near-term goals that, if met, would signal success in, or significant progress toward, overcoming the challenge. 3. What types of prize incentives or other competitive structures could be employed to drive solutions to these challenges? 4. To what extent do insufficient information, data availability, and PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 monitoring capabilities impede the utilization of non-traditional water sources? Please explain how. Category 2: Reducing Costs To Treat Drinking Water and Wastewater DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory estimates that water prices increased each year, on average, by about 4.1% for drinking water and 3.3% for wastewater covering the time period 2008 through 2016. Price increases generally come about as water utilities pay back capital investments to modernize their infrastructure, add capacity, meet new water quality regulatory limits, or some combination of all three. Additional, significant capital expenses for these purposes are expected to persist into the future, leading to continued upward pressure on water prices. 1. What are the key technical and non-technical challenges that, if overcome, could reduce the cost to treat and deliver drinking water and wastewater to consumers, without negative impact on water quality? Please limit responses to those technical and non-technical challenges that could be best addressed through prize competitions. 2. Please elaborate on these challenges by: (1) Providing a brief description of the challenge; (2) solutions that could be used to overcome the challenge; and (3) near-term goals that, if met, would signal success in, or significant progress toward, overcoming the challenge. 3. What novel opportunities exist for wastewater treatment plant operators to create revenue streams from resources recovered from their influent? What barriers prevent operators from capturing these opportunities? 4. Are there water quality solutions that, if deployed, could protect water quality more cost-effectively than central treatment systems alone? What are the barriers to deploying these solutions? 5. What types of prize incentives or other competitive structures could be employed to drive solutions to these challenges? 6. To what extent do insufficient information, data availability, and monitoring capabilities impede addressing challenges in the water and wastewater treatment sectors? Please explain how. Category 3: Opportunities To Use Water More Efficiently Using water more efficiently can relieve pressure on freshwater sources, save energy, cut costs, and improve water quality. There are opportunities for the commercial and industrial E:\FR\FM\19MRN1.SGM 19MRN1 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 53 / Monday, March 19, 2018 / Notices sectors to use water more efficiently, though DOE recognizes that approaches to do so will vary by sector— commercial, residential, industrial, oil and gas, electric power, or agricultural. Respondents should note which sector(s) they are referring to in any sector specific responses. 1. What are the key technical and non-technical challenges that, if overcome, could lead to significant improvements in water efficiency? Please limit responses to those technical and non-technical challenges that could be best addressed through prize competitions. 2. Please elaborate on these challenges by: (1) Providing a brief description of the challenge; (2) solutions that could be used to overcome the challenge; and (3) near-term goals that, if met, would signal success in, or significant progress toward, overcoming the challenge. 3. To what extent do insufficient information, data availability, and monitoring capabilities impede water conservation efforts? Please explain how. 4. Do emerging water utility business models with revenue structures that encourage conservation hold promise for reducing water consumption? What are some of these business models? 5. Given a ten-year timeframe, what are ambitious but achievable water efficiency targets for certain industrial and/or power sector applications? What are those applications? What are the technical and economic barriers to improving water efficiency within those applications? 6. For any of the questions raised above, what types of prize incentives or other competitive structures could be deployed to drive the development of solutions to these issues? sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES Category 4: Market-Based Solutions That Incentivize Innovation and Conservation Water utilities across the United States employ a variety of different rate structures. While water can be scarce or abundant in different parts of the country, water prices often do not reflect these supply and demand conditions. The manner in which water rights are allocated can also have an impact on how water is used. Additionally, end-use customers may not always be aware of the full cost of their water consumption, including the energy needed to pump and heat the water within their homes, buildings, and plants. 1. Do water markets and water rates currently relay appropriate price signals based on supply and demand? If the VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:43 Mar 16, 2018 Jkt 244001 answer is no, please describe the mechanisms that distort the price signal. 2. Are there market failures or government failures in water markets that, if addressed, could result in water market pricing that more closely reflects supply and demand? Please describe those failures. What are the barriers to achieving more efficient water markets? 3. What challenges related to water pricing or other market design could be best addressed through the use of prizes or competitions? 4. What types of prize incentives or competitive structures could be deployed to drive meaningful solutions to these problems on a near-term basis? Category 5: The Energy-Water Nexus The energy-water nexus is a term used to describe the interconnected nature of energy and water systems. For example, energy is required to extract, convey, and deliver water of appropriate quality for diverse human uses and then again to treat wastewater prior to return to the environment. Conversely, water is used in multiple phases of energy production and electricity generation, from hydraulic fracturing and irrigating crops for biofuels to providing cooling water for thermoelectric power plants. Vulnerabilities in one system can affect the other. DOE recognizes that the energy-water nexus theme cuts across the other categories of questions listed above. This category is intended to solicit input on water challenges solely or predominantly impacted by energy issues and energy challenges solely or predominantly impacted by water issues. For questions 1–4, please limit responses to those technical and nontechnical challenges that could be best addressed through prize competitions. 1. What are the most critical energy issues that, if solved, could have a measurable and significant near-term impact on the availability of low-cost water supplies? 2. What are the most critical water issues that, if solved, could have a measurable and significant near term impact on low-cost energy production? 3. What opportunities are there to pursue measurable value through integrated energy and water systems? 4. What opportunities are there to pursue measurable value through innovation in water, electricity, and other market design? 5. Please elaborate on the challenges identified in questions 1 through 4 by: (1) Providing a brief description of the challenge; (2) solutions that could be used to overcome the challenge; and (3) near-term goals that, if met, would signal success in, or significant progress toward, overcoming the challenge. PO 00000 Frm 00046 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 11999 6. What types of prize incentives or other competitive structures could be employed to drive solutions to these challenges? Category 6: Past, Existing, and Forthcoming Water-Related Challenges and Prize Competitions DOE would like to be aware of any past, existing, or forthcoming waterrelated challenges and prize competitions to: Learn from others’ experiences; potentially partner with synergistic initiatives; and/or avoid duplication of effort. 1. Please list any past, existing, or forthcoming water-related challenges and prize competitions. Include brief descriptions of the initiatives and web links if available. 2. What have been some key characteristics of prior successful water or energy-water nexus prize competitions and challenges? Please include examples of incentives that have been effective in prize competitions and challenges. 3. Are there any considerations that DOE should keep in mind when formulating new challenges or prize competitions focused on key water issues? Category 7: Other Water Challenges Not Covered Elsewhere in This RFI DOE is interested in understanding the broad range of critical water problems that challenges and prize competitions are best suited to tackle. The preceding categories may not be inclusive of all key water challenges facing the country and world. This category of questions is designed to gather input on any other water challenges not covered elsewhere in the RFI. 1. Please include additional challenges not covered previously. What are the technical and non-technical barriers that need to be overcome to solve these problems? 2. How could a challenge or prize competition be structured to address these problems? IV. Request for Information Response Guidelines DOE invites all interested parties to submit responses electronically to WaterPrizeRFI@ee.doe.gov no later than 5:00 p.m. (ET) on May 14, 2018. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) attachment to the email, and no more than 5 pages in E:\FR\FM\19MRN1.SGM 19MRN1 12000 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 53 / Monday, March 19, 2018 / Notices length per category of questions, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. Only electronic responses will be accepted. Please identify your answers by responding to a specific question or topic if applicable. Respondents may answer as many or as few questions as they wish. Respondents are requested to provide the following information at the start of their response to this RFI: • Company/institution name; • Company/institution contact; • Contact’s address, phone number, and email address. Confidential Business Information Pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any person submitting information that he or she believes to be confidential and exempt by law from public disclosure should submit via email two well marked copies: One copy of the document marked ‘‘confidential’’ including all the information believed to be confidential, and one copy of the document marked ‘‘non-confidential’’ with the information believed to be confidential deleted. DOE will make its own determination about the confidential status of the information and treat it according to its determination. Factors of interest to DOE when evaluating requests to treat submitted information as confidential include: (1) A description of the items; (2) whether and why such items are customarily treated as confidential within the industry; (3) whether the information is generally known by or available from other sources; (4) whether the information has previously been made available to others without obligation concerning its confidentiality; (5) an explanation of the competitive injury to the submitting person that would result from public disclosure; (6) when such information might lose its confidential character due to the passage of time; and (7) why disclosure of the information would be contrary to the public interest. sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES Issued in Washington, DC, on March 12, 2018. Daniel Simmons, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy. [FR Doc. 2018–05472 Filed 3–16–18; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450–01–P VerDate Sep<11>2014 16:43 Mar 16, 2018 Jkt 244001 DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. CP18–95–000] Notice of Application; ETG Acquisition Corp. Take notice that on February 28, 2018, ETG Acquisition Corp (ETG), 1 South Jersey Plaza, Folsom, NJ 08037, filed in Docket No. CP18–95–000 an application an application pursuant to section 7(f) of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) requesting a service area determination within which ETG may, without further Commission authorization, enlarge or expand its facilities. ETG further requests that the Commission determine that ETG is a local distribution company (LDC) for purposes of Section 311 of the Natural Gas Policy Act (NGPA) and grant a waiver of all reporting and accounting requirements, rules, and regulations that are normally applicable to natural gas companies under the NGA and NGPA, all as more fully described in the application which is on file with the Commission and open to public inspection. The filing may also be viewed on the web at https:// www.ferc.gov using the ‘‘eLibrary’’ link. Enter the docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket number field to access the document. For assistance, contact FERC at FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or call toll-free, (866) 208–3676 or TTY, (202) 502–8659. Specifically, in Docket No. CP18–95– 000, ETG requests a NGA Section 7(f) service area determination for its anticipated distribution operations in western Warren County and northern Hunterdon County, New Jersey and for an area immediately surrounding the Penn-Jersey pipeline in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Any questions regarding this application should be directed to Melissa Orsen, South Jersey Industries, Inc., 1 South Jersey Plaza, Folsom, New Jersey 08037 or call (609) 567–4000, or email: morsen@sjindustries.com. Pursuant to section 157.9 of the Commission’s rules, 18 CFR 157.9, within 90 days of this Notice the Commission staff will either: Complete its environmental assessment (EA) and place it into the Commission’s public record (eLibrary) for this proceeding; or issue a Notice of Schedule for Environmental Review. If a Notice of Schedule for Environmental Review is issued, it will indicate, among other milestones, the anticipated date for the Commission staff’s issuance of the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) PO 00000 Frm 00047 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 or EA for this proposal. The filing of the EA in the Commission’s public record for this proceeding or the issuance of a Notice of Schedule for Environmental Review will serve to notify federal and state agencies of the timing for the completion of all necessary reviews, and the subsequent need to complete all federal authorizations within 90 days of the date of issuance of the Commission staff’s FEIS or EA. There are two ways to become involved in the Commission’s review of this project. First, any person wishing to obtain legal status by becoming a party to the proceedings for this project should, on or before the comment date stated below file with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426, a motion to intervene in accordance with the requirements of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.214 or 385.211) and the Regulations under the NGA (18 CFR 157.10). A person obtaining party status will be placed on the service list maintained by the Secretary of the Commission and will receive copies of all documents filed by the applicant and by all other parties. A party must submit 7 copies of filings made in the proceeding with the Commission and must mail a copy to the applicant and to every other party. Only parties to the proceeding can ask for court review of Commission orders in the proceeding. However, a person does not have to intervene in order to have comments considered. The second way to participate is by filing with the Secretary of the Commission, as soon as possible, an original and two copies of comments in support of or in opposition to this project. The Commission will consider these comments in determining the appropriate action to be taken, but the filing of a comment alone will not serve to make the filer a party to the proceeding. The Commission’s rules require that persons filing comments in opposition to the project provide copies of their protests only to the party or parties directly involved in the protest. Persons who wish to comment only on the environmental review of this project should submit an original and two copies of their comments to the Secretary of the Commission. Environmental commentors will be placed on the Commission’s environmental mailing list, will receive copies of the environmental documents, and will be notified of meetings associated with the Commission’s environmental review process. Environmental commentors will not be required to serve copies of filed E:\FR\FM\19MRN1.SGM 19MRN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 53 (Monday, March 19, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11997-12000]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-05472]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Request for Information (RFI) on Critical Water Issues 
Prize Competition

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Request for Information (RFI).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy 
Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), seeks information from the 
public to understand the key technical and other barriers that may 
prevent long-term access to low-cost water supplies that could be best 
addressed through challenges and prize competitions. DOE may use the 
information provided through this Request for Information (RFI) to 
develop challenges and prize competitions to address low-cost water 
problems. For the purposes of this RFI, challenges and prize 
competitions are tools and approaches the Federal government and others 
can use to engage a broad range of stakeholders, including the general 
public, to develop solutions to difficult problems. Challenges and 
prize competitions rely on competitive structures to drive innovation 
among participants and usually offer rewards (financial and/or other) 
to winners and/or finalists. This RFI is not designed to solicit input 
on DOE's broader water research and development (R&D) efforts.

DATES: Responses to the RFI must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. 
(ET) on May 14, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties are to submit comments electronically to 
[email protected] no later than 5:00 p.m. (ET) on May 14, 2018.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions may be addressed to: Andre 
de Fontaine, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, 1000 
Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20585. Telephone: (202)-586-6585. 
Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Table of Contents

I. Background
II. Purpose
III. Request for Information Categories and Questions
IV. Guidance for Submitting Documents

I. Background

    Water is a critical resource for human health, economic growth, and 
agricultural productivity. The United States has benefitted from access 
to generally low-cost water supplies, but new challenges are emerging 
that, if left unaddressed, could threaten this paradigm. For example, 
traditional freshwater sources are coming under stress from competing 
uses in a growing number of U.S. regions. A range of water quality 
problems are impacting human health and the environment, while 
municipal water and wastewater treatment systems face billions of 
dollars in unmet infrastructure investment needs, which will likely 
increase as population grows, and water and wastewater treatment 
requirements become more stringent.\1\ This will put upward pressure on 
water and sewer rates, which have already experienced steady increases, 
on a national average, over the last several years.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Arzbaecher, C., K. Parmenter, R. Ehrhard, and J. Murphy. 
2013. Electricity Use and Management in the Municipal Water Supply 
and Wastewater Industries. Palo Alto, CA: Electric Power Research 
Institute and Water Research Foundation. https://www.waterrf.org/PublicReportLibrary/4454.pdf.
    \2\ DOE (Department of Energy). 2017. Water and Wastewater 
Annual Price Escalation Rates for Selected Cities across the United 
States. Washington, DC: DOE. https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2017/10/f38/water_wastewater_escalation_rate_study.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Energy is a key resource that modern water systems need to function 
properly. DOE has conducted substantial work to explore issues and 
advance solutions related to the energy-water nexus,\3\ a term used to 
describe the interconnected nature of energy and water systems. This 
RFI contains a category of questions that specifically target the 
energy-water nexus, and energy is a theme that runs through several, if 
not all, of the other categories. With the exception of the energy-
water nexus category, however, respondents should not limit themselves 
to energy issues in their responses. DOE is interested in collecting 
broad information that helps define the key water issues that could be 
addressed through challenges and prize competitions whether they 
concern energy explicitly, implicitly, or not at all. Responses 
collected through this RFI may be shared with other agencies to help 
them craft related prize competitions and challenges.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ See, DOE. 2014. The Water-Energy Nexus: Challenges and 
Opportunities. Washington, DC: DOE. https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/07/f17/Water%20Energy%20Nexus%20Full%20Report%20July%202014.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    DOE recognizes that local, state, Federal, private, and non-profit 
actors are working to address water challenges using a range of 
mechanisms, including policy changes, early stage R&D, and grant 
funding. For example, DOE's Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) is 
developing an early stage R&D program to develop technologies that 
advance the cost-effective and energy efficient production of treated 
water from a range of conventional and non-conventional sources. AMO 
has conducted substantial stakeholder engagement to support this early 
stage R&D effort, including three workshops and a separate RFI issued 
in June of 2017. This RFI differs from the June request in that it 
seeks input from the public specifically on the water problems that 
could be best addressed through challenges and prize competitions. 
Additionally, it asks how those challenges and prize competitions could 
be structured to achieve maximum results.
    In challenges and prize competitions, a given prize sponsor will 
define a problem and offer a reward for a solution.\4\ Rewards can be 
monetary as well as non-monetary, such as national recognition, testing 
and validation of technologies, access to experts and specialists, and 
other organizational support. A key characteristic of challenges and 
prize competitions is they clearly define a problem without prescribing 
a particular solution path. Participation in prize competitions is 
generally open to a wide range of participants, with financial or other 
rewards provided at the end of the competition after a designated 
target or goal has been reached. This contrasts

[[Page 11998]]

with traditional R&D funding in which participants are selected up 
front with funding provided at the beginning in order to pursue a 
target or goal. Prizes and competitions tend to work best when 
targeting solutions that are measurable and achievable within a 
relatively short time period--typically between two and ten years.\5\ 
Challenges and prize competitions are not limited to technology and 
technical solutions; they can also promote business models, financing 
approaches, market design, information systems, policy design, and 
other innovative solutions. Among the benefits of challenges and prize 
competitions are they:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ For an overview of challenges and prize competitions, see 
Hendrix, M. 2014. The Power of Prizes: Incentivizing Radical 
Innovation. Washington, DC: U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
    \5\ National Research Council. 2007. Innovation Inducement 
Prizes at the National Science Foundation. Washington, DC: National 
Academy Press, 2007.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Reach beyond the ``usual suspects'' to increase the number 
of solvers tackling a problem;
     Identify novel approaches;
     Bring out-of-discipline perspectives to bear;
     Establish an ambitious goal without having to predict 
which team or approach is most; likely to succeed; and
     Maximize return on investment by paying only for 
success.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ OSTP (Office of Science and Technology Policy). 2016. 
Implementation of Federal Prize Authority: Fiscal Year 2015 Progress 
Report, A Report from the Office of Science and Technology Policy In 
Response to the Requirements of the America COMPETES Reauthorization 
Act of 2010. Washington, DC: OSTP.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Since 2010, the Federal government has launched more than 740 
challenges and prize competitions with millions of dollars in prize 
money and other incentives \7\ (foundations, non-profit organizations, 
and private companies have launched many more). Examples of Federal 
prizes can be viewed on Challenge.gov. In recent years, DOE has run 
several prize competitions, including: The Catalyst Energy Innovation 
Prize (https://energy.gov/eere/solar/sunshot-catalyst-energy-innovation-prize), which offered cash prizes to teams and individuals 
that developed data, analysis, and software solutions that serve the 
energy efficiency and renewable energy market; and the Clean Tech 
University Prize (https://energy.gov/eere/technology-to-market/cleantech-university-prize-cleantech), which offered entrepreneurial 
support and financial rewards to teams of university students to 
support the commercialization of clean energy technologies; and the 
Wave Energy Prize (https://waveenergyprize.org/), which was a multi-
stage prototype competition incentivizing innovation in wave energy 
conversion technologies.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ ``About,'' https://www.challenge.gov/about/, retrieved 
February 22, 2018.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

II. Purpose

    The purpose of this RFI is to solicit feedback from industry, 
academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other 
stakeholders on the key water problems that can be best addressed 
through challenges and prize competitions. DOE is specifically 
interested in information on how challenges and prize competitions can 
be used to engage a broad collection of stakeholders in removing 
barriers and enabling access to long-term, abundant supplies of low-
cost, water. This is solely a request for information and not an 
announcement of a prize, challenge or competition, nor a Funding 
Opportunity Announcement (FOA).

III. Request for Information Categories and Questions

Category 1: Increasing Alternative Water Supplies

    Traditional freshwater supplies are under stress in several parts 
of the country with withdrawals either already outpacing supplies or 
approaching that point. This will become a bigger problem over time as 
population grows and growth patterns shift. As a result, demand is 
expected to increase for non-traditional sources of water, which 
include sea water along coastal regions, brackish water available in 
much of the heartland, produced waters associated with oil and gas 
recovery, and beneficial reuse of wastewater treatment effluents. 
Technologies exist to treat these non-traditional sources of water, 
though often at high expense.
    1. What are the key technical and non-technical challenges that, if 
overcome, would allow for a significant increase in the volume of 
available water produced from non-traditional sources? (This can be for 
a range of beneficial uses, including agricultural, industrial, or 
drinking purposes.) Please limit responses to those technical and non-
technical challenges that could be best addressed through prize 
competitions.
    2. Please elaborate on these challenges by providing: (1) A brief 
description of the challenge; (2) solutions that could be used to 
overcome the challenge; and (3) near-term goals that, if met, would 
signal success in, or significant progress toward, overcoming the 
challenge.
    3. What types of prize incentives or other competitive structures 
could be employed to drive solutions to these challenges?
    4. To what extent do insufficient information, data availability, 
and monitoring capabilities impede the utilization of non-traditional 
water sources? Please explain how.

Category 2: Reducing Costs To Treat Drinking Water and Wastewater

    DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory estimates that water 
prices increased each year, on average, by about 4.1% for drinking 
water and 3.3% for wastewater covering the time period 2008 through 
2016. Price increases generally come about as water utilities pay back 
capital investments to modernize their infrastructure, add capacity, 
meet new water quality regulatory limits, or some combination of all 
three. Additional, significant capital expenses for these purposes are 
expected to persist into the future, leading to continued upward 
pressure on water prices.
    1. What are the key technical and non-technical challenges that, if 
overcome, could reduce the cost to treat and deliver drinking water and 
wastewater to consumers, without negative impact on water quality? 
Please limit responses to those technical and non-technical challenges 
that could be best addressed through prize competitions.
    2. Please elaborate on these challenges by: (1) Providing a brief 
description of the challenge; (2) solutions that could be used to 
overcome the challenge; and (3) near-term goals that, if met, would 
signal success in, or significant progress toward, overcoming the 
challenge.
    3. What novel opportunities exist for wastewater treatment plant 
operators to create revenue streams from resources recovered from their 
influent? What barriers prevent operators from capturing these 
opportunities?
    4. Are there water quality solutions that, if deployed, could 
protect water quality more cost-effectively than central treatment 
systems alone? What are the barriers to deploying these solutions?
    5. What types of prize incentives or other competitive structures 
could be employed to drive solutions to these challenges?
    6. To what extent do insufficient information, data availability, 
and monitoring capabilities impede addressing challenges in the water 
and wastewater treatment sectors? Please explain how.

Category 3: Opportunities To Use Water More Efficiently

    Using water more efficiently can relieve pressure on freshwater 
sources, save energy, cut costs, and improve water quality. There are 
opportunities for the commercial and industrial

[[Page 11999]]

sectors to use water more efficiently, though DOE recognizes that 
approaches to do so will vary by sector--commercial, residential, 
industrial, oil and gas, electric power, or agricultural. Respondents 
should note which sector(s) they are referring to in any sector 
specific responses.
    1. What are the key technical and non-technical challenges that, if 
overcome, could lead to significant improvements in water efficiency? 
Please limit responses to those technical and non-technical challenges 
that could be best addressed through prize competitions.
    2. Please elaborate on these challenges by: (1) Providing a brief 
description of the challenge; (2) solutions that could be used to 
overcome the challenge; and (3) near-term goals that, if met, would 
signal success in, or significant progress toward, overcoming the 
challenge.
    3. To what extent do insufficient information, data availability, 
and monitoring capabilities impede water conservation efforts? Please 
explain how.
    4. Do emerging water utility business models with revenue 
structures that encourage conservation hold promise for reducing water 
consumption? What are some of these business models?
    5. Given a ten-year timeframe, what are ambitious but achievable 
water efficiency targets for certain industrial and/or power sector 
applications? What are those applications? What are the technical and 
economic barriers to improving water efficiency within those 
applications?
    6. For any of the questions raised above, what types of prize 
incentives or other competitive structures could be deployed to drive 
the development of solutions to these issues?

Category 4: Market-Based Solutions That Incentivize Innovation and 
Conservation

    Water utilities across the United States employ a variety of 
different rate structures. While water can be scarce or abundant in 
different parts of the country, water prices often do not reflect these 
supply and demand conditions. The manner in which water rights are 
allocated can also have an impact on how water is used. Additionally, 
end-use customers may not always be aware of the full cost of their 
water consumption, including the energy needed to pump and heat the 
water within their homes, buildings, and plants.
    1. Do water markets and water rates currently relay appropriate 
price signals based on supply and demand? If the answer is no, please 
describe the mechanisms that distort the price signal.
    2. Are there market failures or government failures in water 
markets that, if addressed, could result in water market pricing that 
more closely reflects supply and demand? Please describe those 
failures. What are the barriers to achieving more efficient water 
markets?
    3. What challenges related to water pricing or other market design 
could be best addressed through the use of prizes or competitions?
    4. What types of prize incentives or competitive structures could 
be deployed to drive meaningful solutions to these problems on a near-
term basis?

Category 5: The Energy-Water Nexus

    The energy-water nexus is a term used to describe the 
interconnected nature of energy and water systems. For example, energy 
is required to extract, convey, and deliver water of appropriate 
quality for diverse human uses and then again to treat wastewater prior 
to return to the environment. Conversely, water is used in multiple 
phases of energy production and electricity generation, from hydraulic 
fracturing and irrigating crops for biofuels to providing cooling water 
for thermoelectric power plants. Vulnerabilities in one system can 
affect the other. DOE recognizes that the energy-water nexus theme cuts 
across the other categories of questions listed above. This category is 
intended to solicit input on water challenges solely or predominantly 
impacted by energy issues and energy challenges solely or predominantly 
impacted by water issues. For questions 1-4, please limit responses to 
those technical and non-technical challenges that could be best 
addressed through prize competitions.
    1. What are the most critical energy issues that, if solved, could 
have a measurable and significant near-term impact on the availability 
of low-cost water supplies?
    2. What are the most critical water issues that, if solved, could 
have a measurable and significant near term impact on low-cost energy 
production?
    3. What opportunities are there to pursue measurable value through 
integrated energy and water systems?
    4. What opportunities are there to pursue measurable value through 
innovation in water, electricity, and other market design?
    5. Please elaborate on the challenges identified in questions 1 
through 4 by: (1) Providing a brief description of the challenge; (2) 
solutions that could be used to overcome the challenge; and (3) near-
term goals that, if met, would signal success in, or significant 
progress toward, overcoming the challenge.
    6. What types of prize incentives or other competitive structures 
could be employed to drive solutions to these challenges?

Category 6: Past, Existing, and Forthcoming Water-Related Challenges 
and Prize Competitions

    DOE would like to be aware of any past, existing, or forthcoming 
water-related challenges and prize competitions to: Learn from others' 
experiences; potentially partner with synergistic initiatives; and/or 
avoid duplication of effort.
    1. Please list any past, existing, or forthcoming water-related 
challenges and prize competitions. Include brief descriptions of the 
initiatives and web links if available.
    2. What have been some key characteristics of prior successful 
water or energy-water nexus prize competitions and challenges? Please 
include examples of incentives that have been effective in prize 
competitions and challenges.
    3. Are there any considerations that DOE should keep in mind when 
formulating new challenges or prize competitions focused on key water 
issues?

Category 7: Other Water Challenges Not Covered Elsewhere in This RFI

    DOE is interested in understanding the broad range of critical 
water problems that challenges and prize competitions are best suited 
to tackle. The preceding categories may not be inclusive of all key 
water challenges facing the country and world. This category of 
questions is designed to gather input on any other water challenges not 
covered elsewhere in the RFI.
    1. Please include additional challenges not covered previously. 
What are the technical and non-technical barriers that need to be 
overcome to solve these problems?
    2. How could a challenge or prize competition be structured to 
address these problems?

IV. Request for Information Response Guidelines

    DOE invites all interested parties to submit responses 
electronically to [email protected] no later than 5:00 p.m. (ET) 
on May 14, 2018. Responses must be provided as attachments to an email. 
It is recommended that attachments with file sizes exceeding 25MB be 
compressed (i.e., zipped) to ensure message delivery. Responses must be 
provided as a Microsoft Word (.docx) attachment to the email, and no 
more than 5 pages in

[[Page 12000]]

length per category of questions, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. Only 
electronic responses will be accepted. Please identify your answers by 
responding to a specific question or topic if applicable. Respondents 
may answer as many or as few questions as they wish. Respondents are 
requested to provide the following information at the start of their 
response to this RFI:
     Company/institution name;
     Company/institution contact;
     Contact's address, phone number, and email address.

Confidential Business Information

    Pursuant to 10 CFR 1004.11, any person submitting information that 
he or she believes to be confidential and exempt by law from public 
disclosure should submit via email two well marked copies: One copy of 
the document marked ``confidential'' including all the information 
believed to be confidential, and one copy of the document marked ``non-
confidential'' with the information believed to be confidential 
deleted. DOE will make its own determination about the confidential 
status of the information and treat it according to its determination.
    Factors of interest to DOE when evaluating requests to treat 
submitted information as confidential include: (1) A description of the 
items; (2) whether and why such items are customarily treated as 
confidential within the industry; (3) whether the information is 
generally known by or available from other sources; (4) whether the 
information has previously been made available to others without 
obligation concerning its confidentiality; (5) an explanation of the 
competitive injury to the submitting person that would result from 
public disclosure; (6) when such information might lose its 
confidential character due to the passage of time; and (7) why 
disclosure of the information would be contrary to the public interest.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on March 12, 2018.
Daniel Simmons,
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Energy Efficiency & 
Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 2018-05472 Filed 3-16-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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