103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4944

AN ACT

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct studies

regarding the desalination of water and water reuse,

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 ‘‘Water Desalination

5 Act of 1994’’.

6 SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF POLICY.

7 In view of the increasing shortage of usable surface

8 and ground water in the United States and the world and

9 the importance of finding new sources of supply to meet

10 present and future water needs and to further the goals

11 of the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act of 1974,

12 the Water Resources Research Act of 1984, Public Law

13 95–84 (as amended), and Public Law 102–575, it is the

14 policy of the United States to conduct and sponsor re15 search to develop low-cost alternatives for the desalination

16 and reuse of water or biologically impaired water and to
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1 provide for the development of practicable low-cost means

2 of producing water of a quality suitable for environmental

3 enhancement, agricultural, industrial, municipal, and

4 other beneficial consumptive or nonconsumptive uses from

5 saline or biologically impaired waters on a scale sufficient

6 to determine the feasibility of the development of such

7 water production and distribution on a large scale for the

8 purpose of conserving and increasing water resources.

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

10 As used in this Act:

11 (1) DESALINATION OR DESALTING.—The terms

12 ‘‘desalination’’ or ‘‘desalting’’ mean the use of any

13 process or technique for the removal and, when fea14 sible, adaptation to beneficial use, of organic and in15 organic elements and compounds from saline or bio16 logically impaired waters, by itself or in conjunction

17 with other processes.

18 (2) SALINE WATER.—The term ‘‘saline water’’

19 means sea water, brackish water, and other mineral20 ized or chemically impaired water.

21 (3) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United

22 States’’ means the States of the United States, the

23 District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto

24 Rico, and the territories and possessions of the

25 United States.
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1 (4) USABLE WATER.—The term ‘‘usable water’’

2 means water of a high quality suitable for environ3 mental enhancement, agricultural, industrial, munic4 ipal, and other beneficial consumptive or

5 nonconsumptive uses.

6 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

7 the Secretary of the Interior.

8 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF RESEARCH AND STUDIES.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to determine the most

10 cost-effective and technologically efficient means by which

11 usable water can be produced from saline water or water

12 otherwise impaired or contaminated, the Secretary is au13 thorized to award grants and to enter into contracts, to

14 the extent provided in advance in appropriation Acts, to

15 conduct, encourage, and assist in the financing of research

16 to develop processes for converting saline water or water

17 otherwise impaired or contaminated into water suitable for

18 beneficial uses. Awards of research grants and contracts

19 under this section shall be made on the basis of a competi20 tive, merit-reviewed process. Research and study topics

21 authorized by this section include—

22 (1) investigating desalination processes;

23 (2) ascertaining the optimum mix of investment

24 and operating costs;
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1 (3) determining the best designs for different

2 conditions of operation;

3 (4) investigating methods of increasing the eco4 nomic efficiency of desalination processes through

5 dual-purpose co-facilities with other processes involv6 ing the use of water;

7 (5) conducting or contracting for technical

8 work, including the design, construction, and testing

9 of pilot systems and test beds, to develop desalting

10 processes and concepts; and

11 (6) studying methods for the recovery of by12 products resulting from the desalination of water to

13 offset the costs of treatment and to reduce environ14 mental impacts from those byproducts.

15 (b) PROJECT RECOMMENDATIONS AND REPORTS TO

16 THE CONGRESS.—As soon as practicable and within three

17 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec18 retary shall recommend to Congress desalination dem19 onstration projects or full-scale desalination projects to

20 carry out the purposes of this Act and to further evaluate

21 and implement the results of research and studies con22 ducted under the authority of this section. Recommenda23 tions for projects shall be accompanied by reports on the

24 engineering and economic feasibility of proposed projects

25 and their environmental impacts.
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1 (c) AUTHORITY TO ENGAGE OTHERS.—In carrying

2 out research and studies authorized in this section, the

3 Secretary may engage the necessary personnel, industrial

4 or engineering firms, Federal laboratories, water resources

5 research and technology institutes, other facilities, and

6 educational institutions suitable to conduct investigations

7 and studies authorized under this section.

8 (d) DESALINATION CONFERENCE.—Within 12

9 months following the date of enactment of this Act, the

10 Secretary, in coordination with the United States Agency

11 for International Development, will plan and host a desali12 nation conference, to include officials and desalination ex13 perts from academia, private industry, financial institu14 tions, and government in the United States and other na15 tions that use or conduct research on desalination. The

16 conference shall explore promising technologies and meth17 ods for near-term development of affordable desalination

18 and shall propose a research agenda and a plan of action

19 to guide longer-term desalination development activities.

20 SEC. 5. DESALINATION DEMONSTRATION AND DEVELOP21 MENT.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to further demonstrate

23 the feasibility of desalination processes investigated either

24 independently or in research conducted pursuant to sec25 tion 4, the Secretary shall administer and conduct a dem-
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1 onstration and development program for water desalina2 tion and related activities, including the following:

3 (1) DESALINATION PLANTS AND MODULES.—

4 Conduct or contract for technical work, including the

5 design, construction, and testing of plants and mod6 ules to develop desalination processes and concepts.

7 (2) BYPRODUCTS.—Study methods for the mar8 keting of byproducts resulting from the desalting of

9 water to offset the costs of treatment and to reduce

10 environmental impacts of those byproducts.

11 (3) ECONOMIC SURVEYS.—Conduct economic

12 studies and surveys to determine present and pro13 spective costs of producing water for beneficial pur14 poses in various locations by desalination processes

15 compared to other methods.

16 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—Federal participa17 tion in desalination activities may be conducted through

18 cooperative agreements, including cost-sharing agree19 ments, with non-Federal public utilities and State and

20 local governmental agencies and other entities, in order

21 to develop recommendations for Federal participation in

22 processes and plants utilizing desalting technologies for

23 the production of water.
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1 SEC. 6. PARTICIPATION BY AGENCIES AND INTERESTED

2 PERSONS.

3 (a) COORDINATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES.—Ac4 tivities undertaken by the Secretary pursuant to this Act

5 may be coordinated or conducted jointly, as appropriate,

6 with the National Science Foundation, Department of De7 fense, United States Army Corps of Engineers, National

8 Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Environ9 mental Protection Agency, and other Federal agencies,

10 States, local government agencies, water resources re11 search and technology institutes, and private entities.

12 (b) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—All informa13 tion from studies sponsored or funded under authority of

14 this Act shall be considered public information.

15 SEC. 7. TECHNICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE.

16 The Secretary may—

17 (1) accept technical and administrative assist18 ance from States and public or private agencies in

19 connection with studies, surveys, location, construc20 tion, operation, and other work relating to the

21 desalting of water, and

22 (2) enter into contracts or agreements stating

23 the purposes for which the assistance is contributed

24 and providing for the sharing of costs between the

25 Secretary and any such agency.
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1 SEC. 8. COST SHARING.

2 The Federal share of the cost of a research, study,

3 or demonstration project or a desalination development

4 project or activity carried out under this Act shall not ex5 ceed 50 percent of the total cost of the project or research

6 or study activity. The Secretary shall prescribe appro7 priate procedures to implement the provisions of this sec8 tion. Costs of operation, maintenance, repair, and rehabili9 tation of facilities funded under the authority of this Act

10 shall be non-Federal responsibilities.

11 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

12 (a) SECTION 4.—There are authorized to be appro13 priated to carry out section 4 of this Act $5,000,000 for

14 fiscal year 1995 and $10,000,000 per year for fiscal years

15 1996 through 1999. Of these amounts, up to $1,000,000

16 in each fiscal year may be awarded to institutions of high17 er education for research grants without any cost-sharing

18 requirement.

19 (b) SECTION 5.—There are authorized to be appro20 priated to carry out section 5 of this Act $50,000,000 for

21 fiscal years 1996 through 1999.
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1 SEC. 10. DROUGHT RELIEF FOR MADERA–CHOWCHILLA

2 POWER AUTHORITY HYDROELECTRIC

3 PROJECTS.

4 Section 103 of the Reclamation States Emergency

5 Drought Relief Act of 1991 (106 Stat. 55; 43 U.S.C.

6 2213) is amended—

7 (1) by inserting in the first sentence after ‘‘re8 sulting from drought conditions.’’ the following:

9 ‘‘The Secretary is further authorized to make a loan

10 to the Madera-Chowchilla Power Authority to assist

11 in the repayment of financial obligations associated

12 with hydroelectric facilities that have been adversely

13 affected by drought conditions.’’; and

14 (2) by striking ‘‘loan.’’ at the end of the second

15 proviso and inserting ‘‘loan, except that loans spe16 cifically for the Madera-Chowchilla Power Authority

17 associated with hydroelectric facilities impacted by

18 drought shall be under such terms and conditions as

19 the Secretary deems appropriate.’’.

20 SEC. 11. AMENDMENT TO THE RECLAMATION PROJECTS

21 AUTHORIZATION AND ADJUSTMENT ACT OF

22 1992.

23 Title XVI of the Reclamation Projects Authorization

24 and Adjustment Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 390h et seq.) is

25 amended by adding the following section:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 1618. ORANGE COUNTY REGIONAL WATER RECLAMA2 TION PROJECT.

3 ‘‘(a) The Secretary is authorized to participate with

4 the Orange County Water District in the State of Califor5 nia, and other appropriate authorities, in the planning, de6 sign and construction of water reclamation projects to

7 treat up to 100,000 acre feet per year of wastewater efflu8 ent from the county of Orange, in order to provide new

9 water supplies for ground water replenishment, industrial

10 applications and other beneficial purposes, to reduce the

11 demand for imported water, and to reduce sewage effluent

12 discharged into the ocean near Huntington Beach.

13 ‘‘(b) The Secretary’s share of costs associated with

14 the project described in section (a) shall not exceed 25

15 percent of the total. The Secretary shall not provide funds

16 for operation or maintenance of the project.

17 ‘‘(c) There are authorized to be appropriated not

18 more than $250,000 for the design of projects under this

19 section.’’.

Passed the House of Representatives October 3,

1994.

Attest:

Clerk.

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4944

AN ACT

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conand water reuse, and for other purposes. duct studies regarding the desalination of water