Calendar No. 713

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4944

AN ACT

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conOand water reuse, and for other purposes. duct studies regarding the desalination of water CTOBER 4 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 12), 1994

Received; read twice and ordered placed on the calendar
II

Calendar No. 713

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 4944

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 4 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 12), 1994

Received; read twice and ordered placed on the calendar

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

2 the Water Resources Research Act of 1984, Public Law

3 95–84 (as amended), and Public Law 102–575, it is the

4 policy of the United States to conduct and sponsor re5 search to develop low-cost alternatives for the desalination

6 and reuse of water or biologically impaired water and to

7 provide for the development of practicable low-cost means

8 of producing water of a quality suitable for environmental

9 enhancement, agricultural, industrial, municipal, and

10 other beneficial consumptive or nonconsumptive uses from

11 saline or biologically impaired waters on a scale sufficient

12 to determine the feasibility of the development of such

13 water production and distribution on a large scale for the

14 purpose of conserving and increasing water resources.

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

16 As used in this Act:

17 (1) DESALINATION OR DESALTING.—The terms

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

19 process or technique for the removal and, when fea20 sible, adaptation to beneficial use, of organic and in21 organic elements and compounds from saline or bio22 logically impaired waters, by itself or in conjunction

23 with other processes.
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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
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1 beneficial uses. Awards of research grants and contracts

2 under this section shall be made on the basis of a competi3 tive, merit-reviewed process. Research and study topics

4 authorized by this section include—

5 (1) investigating desalination processes;

6 (2) ascertaining the optimum mix of investment

7 and operating costs;

8 (3) determining the best designs for different

9 conditions of operation;

10 (4) investigating methods of increasing the eco11 nomic efficiency of desalination processes through

12 dual-purpose co-facilities with other processes involv13 ing the use of water;

14 (5) conducting or contracting for technical

15 work, including the design, construction, and testing

16 of pilot systems and test beds, to develop desalting

17 processes and concepts; and

18 (6) studying methods for the recovery of by19 products resulting from the desalination of water to

20 offset the costs of treatment and to reduce environ21 mental impacts from those byproducts.

22 (b) PROJECT RECOMMENDATIONS AND REPORTS TO

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

24 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec25 retary shall recommend to Congress desalination dem-
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1 onstration projects or full-scale desalination projects to

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

3 and implement the results of research and studies con4 ducted under the authority of this section. Recommenda5 tions for projects shall be accompanied by reports on the

6 engineering and economic feasibility of proposed projects

7 and their environmental impacts.

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

9 out research and studies authorized in this section, the

10 Secretary may engage the necessary personnel, industrial

11 or engineering firms, Federal laboratories, water resources

12 research and technology institutes, other facilities, and

13 educational institutions suitable to conduct investigations

14 and studies authorized under this section.

15 (d) DESALINATION CONFERENCE.—Within 12

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

17 Secretary, in coordination with the United States Agency

18 for International Development, will plan and host a desali19 nation conference, to include officials and desalination ex20 perts from academia, private industry, financial institu21 tions, and government in the United States and other na22 tions that use or conduct research on desalination. The

23 conference shall explore promising technologies and meth24 ods for near-term development of affordable desalination
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1 and shall propose a research agenda and a plan of action

2 to guide longer-term desalination development activities.

3 SEC. 5. DESALINATION DEMONSTRATION AND DEVELOP4 MENT.

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

6 the feasibility of desalination processes investigated either

7 independently or in research conducted pursuant to sec8 tion 4, the Secretary shall administer and conduct a dem9 onstration and development program for water desalina10 tion and related activities, including the following:

11 (1) DESALINATION PLANTS AND MODULES.—

12 Conduct or contract for technical work, including the

13 design, construction, and testing of plants and mod14 ules to develop desalination processes and concepts.

15 (2) BYPRODUCTS.—Study methods for the mar16 keting of byproducts resulting from the desalting of

17 water to offset the costs of treatment and to reduce

18 environmental impacts of those byproducts.

19 (3) ECONOMIC SURVEYS.—Conduct economic

20 studies and surveys to determine present and pro21 spective costs of producing water for beneficial pur22 poses in various locations by desalination processes

23 compared to other methods.

24 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.—Federal participa25 tion in desalination activities may be conducted through
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1 cooperative agreements, including cost-sharing agree2 ments, with non-Federal public utilities and State and

3 local governmental agencies and other entities, in order

4 to develop recommendations for Federal participation in

5 processes and plants utilizing desalting technologies for

6 the production of water.

7 SEC. 6. PARTICIPATION BY AGENCIES AND INTERESTED

8 PERSONS.

9 (a) COORDINATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES.—Ac10 tivities undertaken by the Secretary pursuant to this Act

11 may be coordinated or conducted jointly, as appropriate,

12 with the National Science Foundation, Department of De13 fense, United States Army Corps of Engineers, National

14 Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Environ15 mental Protection Agency, and other Federal agencies,

16 States, local government agencies, water resources re17 search and technology institutes, and private entities.

18 (b) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—All informa19 tion from studies sponsored or funded under authority of

20 this Act shall be considered public information.

21 SEC. 7. TECHNICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANCE.

22 The Secretary may—

23 (1) accept technical and administrative assist24 ance from States and public or private agencies in

25 connection with studies, surveys, location, construc-
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1 tion, operation, and other work relating to the

2 desalting of water, and

3 (2) enter into contracts or agreements stating

4 the purposes for which the assistance is contributed

5 and providing for the sharing of costs between the

6 Secretary and any such agency.

7 SEC. 8. COST SHARING.

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

9 or demonstration project or a desalination development

10 project or activity carried out under this Act shall not ex11 ceed 50 percent of the total cost of the project or research

12 or study activity. The Secretary shall prescribe appro13 priate procedures to implement the provisions of this sec14 tion. Costs of operation, maintenance, repair, and rehabili15 tation of facilities funded under the authority of this Act

16 shall be non-Federal responsibilities.

17 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

18 (a) SECTION 4.—There are authorized to be appro19 priated to carry out section 4 of this Act $5,000,000 for

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

21 1996 through 1999. Of these amounts, up to $1,000,000

22 in each fiscal year may be awarded to institutions of high23 er education for research grants without any cost-sharing

24 requirement.
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1 (b) SECTION 5.—There are authorized to be appro2 priated to carry out section 5 of this Act $50,000,000 for

3 fiscal years 1996 through 1999.

4 SEC. 10. DROUGHT RELIEF FOR MADERA–CHOWCHILLA

5 POWER AUTHORITY HYDROELECTRIC

6 PROJECTS.

7 Section 103 of the Reclamation States Emergency

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

9 2213) is amended—

10 (1) by inserting in the first sentence after ‘‘re11 sulting from drought conditions.’’ the following:

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

13 to the Madera-Chowchilla Power Authority to assist

14 in the repayment of financial obligations associated

15 with hydroelectric facilities that have been adversely

16 affected by drought conditions.’’; and

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

18 proviso and inserting ‘‘loan, except that loans spe19 cifically for the Madera-Chowchilla Power Authority

20 associated with hydroelectric facilities impacted by

21 drought shall be under such terms and conditions as

22 the Secretary deems appropriate.’’.
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1 SEC. 11. AMENDMENT TO THE RECLAMATION PROJECTS

2 AUTHORIZATION AND ADJUSTMENT ACT OF

3 1992.

4 Title XVI of the Reclamation Projects Authorization

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

6 amended by adding the following section:

7 ‘‘SEC. 1618. ORANGE COUNTY REGIONAL WATER RECLAMA8 TION PROJECT.

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

10 the Orange County Water District in the State of Califor11 nia, and other appropriate authorities, in the planning, de12 sign and construction of water reclamation projects to

13 treat up to 100,000 acre feet per year of wastewater efflu14 ent from the county of Orange, in order to provide new

15 water supplies for ground water replenishment, industrial

16 applications and other beneficial purposes, to reduce the

17 demand for imported water, and to reduce sewage effluent

18 discharged into the ocean near Huntington Beach.

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

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

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

22 for operation or maintenance of the project.
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1 ‘‘(c) There are authorized to be appropriated not

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

3 section.’’.

Passed the House of Representatives October 3,

1994.

Attest: DONNALD K. ANDERSON,

Clerk.