I

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4944

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct studies regarding the

desalination of water and water reuse, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 11, 1994

Mr. MILLER of California (for himself, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. HAMBURG, Mr.

BILBRAY, and Mr. GALLEGLY) introduced the following bill; which was

referred jointly to the Committees on Natural Resources and Science,

Space, and Technology

A BILL

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 and the importance of finding new

9 sources of supply to meet present and future water needs
2

•HR 4944 IH

1 and to further the goals of the Colorado River Basin Salin2 ity Control Act of 1974, the Water Resources Research

3 Act of 1984, Public Law 95–84 (as amended), and Public

4 Law 102–575, it is the policy of the United States to con5 duct and sponsor research to develop low-cost alternatives

6 for the desalination and reuse of water or biologically im7 paired water and to provide for the development of prac8 ticable low-cost means of producing water of a quality

9 suitable for environmental enhancement, agricultural, in10 dustrial, municipal, and other beneficial consumptive or

11 nonconsumptive uses from saline or biologically impaired

12 waters on a scale sufficient to determine the feasibility of

13 the development of such water production and distribution

14 on a large scale for the purpose of conserving and increas15 ing water resources.

16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

17 As used in this Act:

18 (1) DESALINATION OR DESALTING.—The terms

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

20 process or technique for the removal and, when fea21 sible, adaptation to beneficial use, of organic and in22 organic elements and compounds from saline or bio23 logically impaired waters, by itself or in conjunction

24 with other processes.
3

•HR 4944 IH

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

2 means sea water, brackish water, and other mineral3 ized or chemically impaired water.

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

5 States’’ means the States of the United States, the

6 District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto

7 Rico, and the territories and possessions of the

8 United States.

9 (4) USABLE WATER.—The term ‘‘usable water’’

10 means water of a high quality suitable for environ11 mental enhancement, agricultural, industrial, munic12 ipal, and other beneficial consumptive or

13 nonconsumptive uses.

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

15 the Secretary of the Interior.

16 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF RESEARCH AND STUDIES.

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

18 cost-effective and technologically efficient means by which

19 usable water can be produced from saline water or water

20 otherwise impaired or contaminated, the Secretary is au21 thorized to award grants and to enter into contracts, to

22 the extent provided in advance in appropriation Acts, to

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

24 to develop processes for converting saline water or water

25 otherwise impaired or contaminated into water suitable for
4

•HR 4944 IH

1 beneficial uses. Research and study topics authorized by

2 this section include—

3 (1) investigating desalination processes;

4 (2) ascertaining the optimum mix of investment

5 and operating costs;

6 (3) determining the best designs for different

7 conditions of operation;

8 (4) investigating methods of increasing the eco9 nomic efficiency of desalination processes through

10 dual-purpose co-facilities with other processes involv11 ing the use of water;

12 (5) conducting or contracting for technical

13 work, including the design, construction, and testing

14 of pilot systems and test beds, to develop desalting

15 processes and concepts; and

16 (6) studying methods for the recovery of by17 products resulting from the desalination of water to

18 offset the costs of treatment and to reduce environ19 mental impacts from those byproducts.

20 (b) PROJECT RECOMMENDATIONS AND REPORTS TO

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

22 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec23 retary shall recommend to Congress desalination dem24 onstration projects or full-scale desalination projects to

25 carry out the purposes of this Act and to further evaluate
5

•HR 4944 IH

1 and implement the results of research and studies con2 ducted under the authority of this section. Recommenda3 tions for projects shall be accompanied by reports on the

4 engineering and economic feasibility of proposed projects

5 and their environmental impacts.

6 (c) AUTHORITY TO ENGAGE OTHERS.—In carrying

7 out research and studies authorized in this section, the

8 Secretary may engage the necessary personnel, industrial

9 or engineering firms, Federal laboratories, water resources

10 research and technology institutes, other facilities, and

11 educational institutions suitable to conduct investigations

12 and studies authorized under this section.

13 SEC. 5. DESALINATION DEMONSTRATION AND DEVELOP14 MENT.

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

16 the feasibility of desalination processes investigated either

17 independently or in research conducted pursuant to sec18 tion 4, the Secretary shall administer and conduct a dem19 onstration and development program for water desalina20 tion and related activities, including the following:

21 (1) DESALINATION PLANTS AND MODULES.—

22 Conduct or contract for technical work, including the

23 design, construction, and testing of plants and mod24 ules to develop desalination processes and concepts.
6

•HR 4944 IH

1 (2) BYPRODUCTS.—Study methods for the mar2 keting of byproducts resulting from the desalting of

3 water to offset the costs of treatment and to reduce

4 environmental impacts of those byproducts.

5 (3) ECONOMIC SURVEYS.—Conduct economic

6 studies and surveys to determine present and pro7 spective costs of producing water for beneficial pur8 poses in various locations by desalination processes

9 compared to other methods.

10 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—Federal participa11 tion in desalination activities may be conducted through

12 cooperative agreements, including cost-sharing agree13 ments, with non-Federal public utilities and State and

14 local governmental agencies and other entities, in order

15 to develop recommendations for Federal participation in

16 processes and plants utilizing desalting technologies for

17 the production of water.

18 SEC. 6. PARTICIPATION BY AGENCIES AND INTERESTED

19 PERSONS.

20 (a) COORDINATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES.—Ac21 tivities undertaken by the Secretary pursuant to this Act

22 may be coordinated or conducted jointly, as appropriate,

23 with other Federal agencies, States, local government

24 agencies, water resources research and technology insti25 tutes, and private entities.
7

•HR 4944 IH

1 (b) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—All informa2 tion from studies sponsored or funded under authority of

3 this Act shall be considered public information.

4 SEC. 7. TECHNICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE.

5 The Secretary may—

6 (1) accept technical and administrative assist7 ance from States and public or private agencies in

8 connection with studies, surveys, location, construc9 tion, operation, and other work relating to the

10 desalting of water, and

11 (2) enter into contracts or agreements stating

12 the purposes for which the assistance is contributed

13 and providing for the sharing of costs between the

14 Secretary and any such agency.

15 SEC. 8. COST SHARING.

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

17 or demonstration project or a desalination development

18 project or activity carried out under this Act shall not ex19 ceed 50 percent of the total cost of the project or research

20 or study activity. The Secretary shall prescribe appro21 priate procedures to implement the provisions of this sec22 tion. Costs of operation, maintenance, repair, and rehabili23 tation of facilities funded under the authority of this Act

24 shall be non-Federal responsibilities.
8

•HR 4944 IH

1 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

3 as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this

4 Act.

Æ