I 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3182

To reauthorize the Water Desalination Act of 1996, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 30, 2005

Mr. POMBO (for himself and Mrs. TAUSCHER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to 

the Committee on Science, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL

To reauthorize the Water Desalination Act of 1996, and 

for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Water Supply 

5 Enhancement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are—

8 (1) to provide for the development of economi9 cally viable advanced water supply enhancement 
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1 demonstration projects, including desalination, that 

2 would provide access to untapped water sources; 

3 (2) to facilitate the widespread commercializa4 tion of newly developed water supply for use in real5 world applications; and 

6 (3) to facilitate collaboration among Federal 

7 agencies in the development of advanced water sup8 ply demonstration projects, including desalination. 

9 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF WATER DESALINATION ACT 

10 OF 1996. 

11 Section 8 of the Water Desalination Act of 1996 (42 

12 U.S.C. 10301 note) is amended—

13 (1) in subsection (a) in the first sentence by 

14 striking ‘‘per year’’ and all that follows through the 

15 end of the sentence and inserting ‘‘for each of fiscal 

16 years 2005 through 2010.’’; and 

17 (2) in subsection (b) by striking ‘‘$25,000,000’’ 

18 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘$75,000,000 for 

19 fiscal years 2005 through 2010.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. DESALINATION AND WATER SUPPLY ENHANCE21 MENT DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Water De23 salination Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 10301 note) is further 

24 amended by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 10. DESALINATION AND WATER SUPPLY ENHANCE2 MENT DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab4 lish an advanced water supply enhancement program and, 

5 subject to the availability of appropriations, shall fund re6 search, development, and demonstration projects for the 

7 development and commercialization of advanced water 

8 supply technologies and processes, including desalination. 

9 ‘‘(b) COORDINATION WITH CALIFORNIA FEDERAL

10 WATER RESEARCH FACILITY.—

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall coordi12 nate with a California Federal research facility with 

13 experience working with State and local water au14 thorities to carry out water treatment and water 

15 quality technology development —

16 ‘‘(A) focusing on efficient desalination and 

17 technologies for selective extraction of contami18 nants; 

19 ‘‘(B) using resident advanced supercom20 puter modeling to optimize technology design; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(C) emphasizing unique new technologies, 

23 membranes, and materials, excluding incre24 mental development of conventional tech25 nologies. 
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1 ‘‘(2) STATE AND LOCAL WATER NEEDS.—The 

2 Secretary and the California research facility shall 

3 work with local water agencies and city governments 

4 in carrying out the program under this section to 

5 find solutions for local water needs.’’. 

6 (b) REPORT.—Within one year after the date of the 

7 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall 

8 submit a report to the Congress that identifies Federal 

9 research facilities located around the United States that 

10 could serve as regional centers for water supply enhance11 ment under the program established under section 10 of 

12 the Water Desalination Act of 1996, as amended by this 

13 section. 

14 (c) STUDY OF CONCENTRATES PRODUCED IN THE

15 PRODUCTION OF COASTAL AND BRACKISH DESALINATED

16 WATERS.—

17 (1) STUDY.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

18 conduct a study of the management and disposal of 

19 concentrates produced in the production of 

20 desalinated waters from coastal water and brackish 

21 water. The Secretary shall evaluate possible solu22 tions to the management and disposal of con23 centrates. 

24 (2) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to 

25 the Congress a report on the findings, conclusions, 
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1 and recommendations of the study under this sub2 section by not later than 180 days after the date of 

3 the enactment of this Act.

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