Water Desalination Act of 1994

Summary: Water Desalination Act of 1994 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to award grants and enter into contracts to conduct, encourage, and assist in the financing of research to develop processes for converting saline or contaminated water into water suitable for beneficial uses. 
Directs the Secretary to recommend desalination projects to the Congress and to conduct a demonstration and development program for water desalination and related activities. 
Directs the Secretary to plan and host a desalination conference for the United States and other nations that use or conduct desalination research.  Limits Federal funding for projects to 50 percent of the total cost. 
Authorizes appropriations for FY 1996 through 1999. 
Amends the Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991 to authorize the Secretary to make a loan to the Madera-Chowchilla Power Authority to assist in the repayment of financial obligations associated with hydroelectric facilities adversely affected by drought conditions. 
Amends the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 to authorize the Secretary to participate with the Orange County, California, Water District in the planning, design, and construction of specified water reclamation projects.  Limits to 25 percent the Secretary's share of project costs.  Authorizes appropriations.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Water Desalination Act of 1994''.

SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF POLICY.

    In view of the increasing shortage of usable surface and ground 
water in the United States and the world and the importance of finding 
new sources of supply to meet present and future water needs and to 
further the goals of the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act of 
1974, the Water Resources Research Act of 1984, Public Law 95-84 (as 
amended), and Public Law 102-575, it is the policy of the United States 
to conduct and sponsor research to develop low-cost alternatives for 
the desalination and reuse of water or biologically impaired water and 
to provide for the development of practicable low-cost means of 
producing water of a quality suitable for environmental enhancement, 
agricultural, industrial, municipal, and other beneficial consumptive 
or nonconsumptive uses from saline or biologically impaired waters on a 
scale sufficient to determine the feasibility of the development of 
such water production and distribution on a large scale for the purpose 
of conserving and increasing water resources.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
            (1) Desalination or desalting.--The terms ``desalination'' 
        or ``desalting'' mean 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) Saline water.--The term ``saline water'' means sea 
        water, brackish water, and other mineralized or chemically 
        impaired water.
            (3) United states.--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) Usable water.--The term ``usable water'' means water of 
        a high quality suitable for environmental enhancement, 
        agricultural, industrial, municipal, and other beneficial 
        consumptive or nonconsumptive uses.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF RESEARCH AND STUDIES.

    (a) In General.--In order to determine the most cost-effective and 
technologically efficient means by which usable water can be produced 
from saline water or water otherwise impaired or contaminated, the 
Secretary is authorized to award grants and to enter into contracts, to 
the extent provided in advance in appropriation Acts, to conduct, 
encourage, and assist in the financing of research to develop processes 
for converting saline water or water otherwise impaired or contaminated 
into water suitable for beneficial uses. Awards of research grants and 
contracts under this section shall be made on the basis of a 
competitive, merit-reviewed process. Research and study topics 
authorized by this section include--
            (1) investigating desalination processes;
            (2) ascertaining the optimum mix of investment and 
        operating costs;
            (3) determining the best designs for different conditions 
        of operation;
            (4) investigating methods of increasing the economic 
        efficiency of desalination processes through dual-purpose co-
        facilities with other processes involving the use of water;
            (5) conducting or contracting for technical work, including 
        the design, construction, and testing of pilot systems and test 
        beds, to develop desalting processes and concepts; and
            (6) studying methods for the recovery of byproducts 
        resulting from the desalination of water to offset the costs of 
        treatment and to reduce environmental impacts from those 
        byproducts.
    (b) Project Recommendations and Reports to the Congress.--As soon 
as practicable and within three years after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary shall recommend to Congress desalination 
demonstration projects or full-scale desalination projects to carry out 
the purposes of this Act and to further evaluate and implement the 
results of research and studies conducted under the authority of this 
section. Recommendations for projects shall be accompanied by reports 
on the engineering and economic feasibility of proposed projects and 
their environmental impacts.
    (c) Authority To Engage Others.--In carrying out research and 
studies authorized in this section, the Secretary may engage the 
necessary personnel, industrial or engineering firms, Federal 
laboratories, water resources research and technology institutes, other 
facilities, and educational institutions suitable to conduct 
investigations and studies authorized under this section.
    (d) Desalination Conference.--Within 12 months following the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in coordination with the 
United States Agency for International Development, will plan and host 
a desalination conference, to include officials and desalination 
experts from academia, private industry, financial institutions, and 
government in the United States and other nations that use or conduct 
research on desalination. The conference shall explore promising 
technologies and methods for near-term development of affordable 
desalination and shall propose a research agenda and a plan of action 
to guide longer-term desalination development activities.

SEC. 5. DESALINATION DEMONSTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT.

    (a) In General.--In order to further demonstrate the feasibility of 
desalination processes investigated either independently or in research 
conducted pursuant to section 4, the Secretary shall administer and 
conduct a demonstration and development program for water desalination 
and related activities, including the following:
            (1) Desalination plants and modules.--Conduct or contract 
        for technical work, including the design, construction, and 
        testing of plants and modules to develop desalination processes 
        and concepts.
            (2) Byproducts.--Study methods for the marketing of 
        byproducts resulting from the desalting of water to offset the 
        costs of treatment and to reduce environmental impacts of those 
        byproducts.
            (3) Economic surveys.--Conduct economic studies and surveys 
        to determine present and prospective costs of producing water 
        for beneficial purposes in various locations by desalination 
        processes compared to other methods.
    (b) Cooperative Agreements.--Federal participation in desalination 
activities may be conducted through cooperative agreements, including 
cost-sharing agreements, with non-Federal public utilities and State 
and local governmental agencies and other entities, in order to develop 
recommendations for Federal participation in processes and plants 
utilizing desalting technologies for the production of water.

SEC. 6. PARTICIPATION BY AGENCIES AND INTERESTED PERSONS.

    (a) Coordination With Other Agencies.--Activities undertaken by the 
Secretary pursuant to this Act may be coordinated or conducted jointly, 
as appropriate, with the National Science Foundation, Department of 
Defense, United States Army Corps of Engineers, National Aeronautics 
and Space Administration, and Environmental Protection Agency, and 
other Federal agencies, States, local government agencies, water 
resources research and technology institutes, and private entities.
    (b) Availability of Information.--All information from studies 
sponsored or funded under authority of this Act shall be considered 
public information.

SEC. 7. TECHNICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE.

    The Secretary may--
            (1) accept technical and administrative assistance from 
        States and public or private agencies in connection with 
        studies, surveys, location, construction, operation, and other 
        work relating to the desalting of water, and
            (2) enter into contracts or agreements stating the purposes 
        for which the assistance is contributed and providing for the 
        sharing of costs between the Secretary and any such agency.

SEC. 8. COST SHARING.

    The Federal share of the cost of a research, study, or 
demonstration project or a desalination development project or activity 
carried out under this Act shall not exceed 50 percent of the total 
cost of the project or research or study activity. The Secretary shall 
prescribe appropriate procedures to implement the provisions of this 
section. Costs of operation, maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation of 
facilities funded under the authority of this Act shall be non-Federal 
responsibilities.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) Section 4.--There are authorized to be appropriated to carry 
out section 4 of this Act $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1995 and 
$10,000,000 per year for fiscal years 1996 through 1999. Of these 
amounts, up to $1,000,000 in each fiscal year may be awarded to 
institutions of higher education for research grants without any cost-
sharing requirement.
    (b) Section 5.--There are authorized to be appropriated to carry 
out section 5 of this Act $50,000,000 for fiscal years 1996 through 
1999.

SEC. 10. DROUGHT RELIEF FOR MADERA-CHOWCHILLA POWER AUTHORITY 
              HYDROELECTRIC PROJECTS.

    Section 103 of the Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act 
of 1991 (106 Stat. 55; 43 U.S.C. 2213) is amended--
            (1) by inserting in the first sentence after ``resulting 
        from drought conditions.'' the following: ``The Secretary is 
        further authorized to make a loan to the Madera-Chowchilla 
        Power Authority to assist in the repayment of financial 
        obligations associated with hydroelectric facilities that have 
        been adversely affected by drought conditions.''; and
            (2) by striking ``loan.'' at the end of the second proviso 
        and inserting ``loan, except that loans specifically for the 
        Madera-Chowchilla Power Authority associated with hydroelectric 
        facilities impacted by drought shall be under such terms and 
        conditions as the Secretary deems appropriate.''.

SEC. 11. AMENDMENT TO THE RECLAMATION PROJECTS AUTHORIZATION AND 
              ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 1992.

    Title XVI of the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment 
Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 390h et seq.) is amended by adding the following 
section:

``SEC. 1618. ORANGE COUNTY REGIONAL WATER RECLAMATION PROJECT.

    ``(a) The Secretary is authorized to participate with the Orange 
County Water District in the State of California, and other appropriate 
authorities, in the planning, design and construction of water 
reclamation projects to treat up to 100,000 acre feet per year of 
wastewater effluent from the county of Orange, in order to provide new 
water supplies for ground water replenishment, industrial applications 
and other beneficial purposes, to reduce the demand for imported water, 
and to reduce sewage effluent discharged into the ocean near Huntington 
Beach.
    ``(b) The Secretary's share of costs associated with the project 
described in section (a) shall not exceed 25 percent of the total. The 
Secretary shall not provide funds for operation or maintenance of the 
project.
    ``(c) There are authorized to be appropriated not more than 
$250,000 for the design of projects under this section.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives October 3, 1994.

            Attest:

                                           DONNALD K. ANDERSON,

                                                                 Clerk.