IA
103D CONGRESS 2D SESSION
S. 617
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 5, 1994 Referred jointly to the Committees on Natural Resources, Science, Space, and Technology, and Public Works and Transportation
AN ACT
To authorize research into the desalinization of water and water reuse and to authorize a program for States, cities, or any qualifying agency which desires to own and operate a desalinization or water reuse facility to develop such facilities. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 4
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Desalinization Re-
5 search and Development Act of 1994’’.
2 1 2
SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF POLICY.
In view of the increasing shortage of usable surface
3 and ground water in many parts of the United States and 4 the world, it is the policy of the United States to perform 5 research to develop low-cost alternatives in the desaliniza6 tion and reuse of saline or biologically impaired water to 7 provide water of a quality suitable for environmental en8 hancement, agricultural, industrial, municipal, and other 9 beneficial consumptive or nonconsumptive uses, and to 10 provide, through cooperative activities with local sponsors, 11 desalinization and water reuse processes or facilities which 12 provide proof-of-concept demonstrations of advanced tech13 nologies for the purpose of developing and conserving the 14 water resources of this Nation and the world. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act— (1) the term ‘‘desalinization’’ means the use of any process or technique for the removal and, when feasible, adaptation to beneficial use, of organic and inorganic elements and compounds from saline or biologically impaired waters, by itself or in conjunction with other processes; (2) the term ‘‘saline water’’ means sea water, brackish water, and other mineralized or chemically impaired water;
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3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 (3) the term ‘‘United States’’ means the States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the territories and possessions of the United States; (4) the term ‘‘usable water’’ means water of a high quality suitable for environmental enhancement, agricultural, industrial, municipal, and other beneficial consumptive or nonconsumptive uses; and (5) the term ‘‘sponsor’’ means any local, State, or interstate agency responsible for the sale and delivery of usable water that has the legal and financial authority and capability to provide the financial and real property requirements needed for a desalinization facility.
SEC. 4. RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PROGRAM.
(a) RESEARCH
AND
DEVELOPMENT.—The Secretary
17 of the Interior shall have primary program management 18 and oversight for conduct of the research and development 19 under this Act and shall coordinate these activities with 20 the Secretary of the Army. 21 (b) DESALINIZATION DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.—
22 The Secretary of the Interior shall jointly execute the De23 salinization Development Program established under sec24 tion 6 with the Secretary of the Army.
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4 1 2
SEC. 5. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—In order to gain basic knowledge
3 concerning the most efficient means by which usable water 4 can be produced from saline water, the Secretary of the 5 Interior and the Secretary of the Army shall conduct a 6 basic research and development program as established by 7 this Act. 8 (b) CONTENTS OF PROGRAM.—For the basic research
9 and development program, the Secretary of the Interior 10 and the Secretary of the Army shall— 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 (1) conduct, encourage, and promote fundamental scientific research and basic studies to develop the best and most economical processes and methods for converting saline water into usable water through research grants and contracts— (A) to conduct research and technical development work, (B) to make studies in order to ascertain the optimum mix of investment and operating costs, (C) to determine the best designs for different conditions of operation, and (D) to investigate increasing the economic efficiency of desalinization processes by using them as dual-purpose co-facilities with other processes involving the use of water;
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5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 (2) engage, by competitive or noncompetitive contract or any other means, necessary personnel, industrial or engineering firms, Federal laboratories and other facilities, and educational institutions suitable to conduct research or other work; (3) study methods for the recovery of byproducts resulting from the desalinization of water to offset the costs of treatment and to reduce the environmental impact from those byproducts; and (4) prepare a management plan for conduct of the research and development program established under this section.
SEC. 6. DESALINIZATION DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.
(a) PROGRAM RESPONSIBILITY.—The Secretary of
15 the Interior shall have program responsibility for the De16 salinization Development Program established under this 17 section (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Desalinization 18 Development Program’’). 19 (b) DESIGN
AND
CONSTRUCTION.—The Secretary of
20 the Army and the Secretary of the Interior both shall have 21 authority to design and construct facilities under the De22 salinization Development Program. 23 (c) SELECTION
OF
DESALINIZATION DEVELOPMENT
24 FACILITIES.—Candidate facilities shall be submitted by 25 the sponsor directly to the Secretary of the Army or the
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6 1 Secretary of the Interior. Sponsors shall submit their ap2 plication for the design and construction of a facility and 3 certification that they can provide the required cost shar4 ing. Facilities shall be selected subject to availability of 5 Federal funds. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 (d) COST SHARING.— (1) INITIAL shall include— (A) design cost, (B) construction cost, (C) lands, easements, and rights-of-way costs, and (D) relocation costs. (2) GENERAL
RULE.—The COST.—The
initial cost of a facility
sponsor for a facility
under the Desalinization Development Program shall pay, during construction, at least 25 percent of the initial cost of the facility, including providing all lands, easements, and rights-of-way and performing all related necessary relocations. (3) 25-PERCENT
MINIMUM CONTRIBUTION.—If
the value of the contributions required under paragraph (2) of this subsection is less than 25 percent of the initial cost of the facility, the sponsor shall pay during construction of the facility such additional amounts as are necessary so that the total
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7 1 2 3 4 5 6 contribution of the sponsor is equal to 25 percent of the initial cost of the facility. (4) 50-PERCENT
MAXIMUM.—The
sponsor share
under paragraph (2) shall not exceed 50 percent of the initial cost of the facility. (e) MAXIMUM INITIAL COST.—The initial cost of a under subsection (d)(1) may not exceed
7 facility
8 $10,000,000. 9 (f) OPERATION
AND
MAINTENANCE.—Operation,
10 maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation of facilities shall 11 be the responsibility of the sponsor. 12 (g) REVENUE.—All revenue generated from the sale
13 of usable water from the facilities shall be retained by the 14 sponsors. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
SEC. 7. PARTICIPATION BY INTERESTED AGENCIES AND OTHER PERSONS.
(a) COORDINATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES.— (1) IN
GENERAL.—Research
and development
activities undertaken by the Secretary of the Interior under this Act shall be coordinated or conducted jointly, as appropriate— (A) with the Department of Commerce, specifically with respect to marketing and international competition, and (B) with—
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8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 (i) the Departments of Defense, Agriculture, State, Health and Human Services, and Energy, (ii) Agency, (iii) the Agency for International Development, and (iv) other concerned Government and private entities. (2) OTHER
AGENCIES.—Other
the
Environmental
Protection
interested agen-
cies may furnish appropriate resources to the Secretary of the Interior to further the activities in which they are interested. (b) AVAILABILITY
OF
RESEARCH.—All research
15 sponsored or funded under authority of this Act shall be 16 provided in such manner that information, products, proc17 esses, and other developments resulting from Federal ex18 penditures or authorities shall (with exceptions necessary 19 for national defense and the protection of patent rights) 20 be available to the general public consistent with this Act. 21 (c) RELATIONSHIP
TO
ANTITRUST LAWS.—Section
22 10 of the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Devel23 opment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5909) shall apply to the 24 activities of individuals, corporations, and other business
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9 1 organizations in connection with grants and contracts 2 made by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to this Act. 3 4
SEC. 8. TECHNICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to accept
5 technical and administrative assistance from a State, pub6 lic, or private agency in connection with research and de7 velopment activities relating to desalinization of water and 8 may enter into contracts or agreements stating the pur9 pose for which the assistance is contributed and, in appro10 priate circumstances, providing for the sharing of costs be11 tween the Secretary of the Interior and such agency. 12 13
SEC. 9. MISCELLANEOUS AUTHORITIES.
In carrying out this Act, the Secretary of the Interior
14 or the Secretary of the Army, as appropriate, may— 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 (1) make grants to educational and scientific institutions; (2) contract with educational and scientific institutions and engineering and industrial firms; (3) engage, by competition or noncompetitive contract or any other means, necessary personnel, industrial and engineering firms and educational institutions; (4) use the facilities and personnel of Federal, State, municipal, and private scientific laboratories;
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10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 (5) contract for or establish and operate facilities and tests to conduct research, testing, and development necessary for the purposes of this Act; (6) acquire processes, data, inventions, patent applications, patents, licenses, lands, interests in lands and water, facilities, and other property by purchase, license, lease, or donation; (7) assemble and maintain domestic and foreign scientific literature and issue pertinent bibliographical data; (8) conduct inspections and evaluations of domestic and foreign facilities and cooperate and participate in their development; (9) conduct and participate in regional, national, and international conferences relating to the desalinization of water; (10) coordinate, correlate, and publish information which will advance the development of the desalinization of water; and (11) cooperate with Federal, State, and municipal departments, agencies and instrumentalities, and with private persons, firms, educational institutions, and other organizations, including foreign governments, departments, agencies, companies, and in-
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11 1 2 3 4 strumentalities, in effectuating the purposes of this Act.
SEC. 10. DESALINIZATION CONFERENCE.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President shall instruct
5 the Agency for International Development to sponsor an 6 international desalinization conference within twelve 7 months following the date of the enactment of this Act. 8 Participants in such conference should include scientists, 9 private industry experts, desalinization experts and opera10 tors, government officials from the nations that use and 11 conduct research on desalinization, and those from nations 12 that could benefit from low-cost desalinization technology, 13 particularly in the developing world, and international fi14 nancial institutions. 15 (b) PURPOSE.—The conference established in sub-
16 section (a) shall explore promising new technologies and 17 methods to make affordable desalinization a reality in the 18 near term, and shall further propose a research agenda 19 and a plan of action to guide longer-term development of 20 practical desalinization applications. 21 (c) FUNDING.—Funding for the international desa-
22 linization conference may come from operating or program 23 funds of the Agency for International Development. The 24 Agency for International Development shall encourage fi25 nancial and other support from other nations, including
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12 1 those that have desalinization technology and those that 2 might benefit from it. 3 4
SEC. 11. REPORTS.
Prior to the expiration of the twelve-month period fol-
5 lowing the date of enactment of this Act, and each twelve6 month period thereafter, the Secretary of the Interior, in 7 consultation with the Secretary of the Army, shall prepare 8 a report to the President and Congress concerning the ad9 ministration of this Act. Such report shall include the ac10 tions taken by the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec11 retary of the Army during the calendar year preceding the 12 calendar year in which such report is filed, and shall in13 clude actions planned for the next following calendar year. 14 15
SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) RESEARCH
AND
DEVELOPMENT.—There are au-
16 thorized to be appropriated to carry out section 5 17 $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1995, $10,000,000 for fiscal 18 year 1996, and such sums as may be necessary for each 19 of fiscal years 1997 through 1999. 20 (b) DESALINIZATION DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.—
21 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out sec22 tion 6 such sums as may be necessary, up to a total of 23 $50,000,000, for fiscal years 1995 through 1999. Funds 24 made available under this subsection shall be made avail25 able in equal amounts to the Department of the Interior
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13 1 and the civil works program of the Army Corps of Engi2 neers. Passed the Senate August 4 (legislative day, July 20), 1994. Attest: MARTHA S. POPE, Secretary.
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