II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2104 

To amend the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 to reauthorize grants 

for and require applied water supply research regarding the water resources research and technology institutes established under that Act. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2012 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mrs. BOXER, and Mr. INHOFE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 to 

reauthorize grants for and require applied water supply 

research regarding the water resources research and 

technology institutes established under that Act. 

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 Resources Re5 search Amendments Act of 2012’’. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

2 

•S 2104 IS

1 SEC. 2. WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH ACT AMENDMENTS. 

2 (a) CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARA3 TIONS.—Section 102 of the Water Resources Research 

4 Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10301) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) through 

6 (9) as paragraphs (8) through (10), respectively; 

7 (2) in paragraph (8) (as so redesignated), by 

8 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

9 (3) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(7) additional research is required into in12 creasing the effectiveness and efficiency of new and 

13 existing treatment works through alternative ap14 proaches, including— 

15 ‘‘(A) nonstructural alternatives; 

16 ‘‘(B) decentralized approaches; 

17 ‘‘(C) water use efficiency; and 

18 ‘‘(D) actions to reduce energy consumption 

19 or extract energy from wastewater;’’. 

20 (b) CLARIFICATION OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES.—Sec21 tion 104(b)(1) of the Water Resources Research Act of 

22 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303(b)(1)) is amended— 

23 (1) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘water24 related phenomena’’ and inserting ‘‘water re25 sources’’; and 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

3 

•S 2104 IS

1 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 

2 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’. 

3 (c) COMPLIANCE REPORT.—Section 104(c) of the 

4 Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 

5 10303(c)) is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘From the’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) 

7 IN GENERAL.—From the’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than December 31 of 

10 each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to the 

11 Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 

12 Senate, the Committee on the Budget of the Senate, 

13 the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

14 of the House of Representatives, and the Committee 

15 on the Budget of the House of Representatives a re16 port regarding the compliance of each funding re17 cipient with this subsection for the immediately pre18 ceding fiscal year.’’. 

19 (d) EVALUATION OF WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH

20 PROGRAM.—Section 104 of the Water Resources Research 

21 Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303) is amended by striking 

22 subsection (e) and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(e) EVALUATION OF WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH

24 PROGRAM.— 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

4 

•S 2104 IS

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con2 duct a careful and detailed evaluation of each insti3 tute at least once every 5 years to determine— 

4 ‘‘(A) the quality and relevance of the water 

5 resources research of the institute; 

6 ‘‘(B) the effectiveness of the institute at 

7 producing measured results and applied water 

8 supply research; and 

9 ‘‘(C) whether the effectiveness of the insti10 tute as an institution for planning, conducting, 

11 and arranging for research warrants continued 

12 support under this section. 

13 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON FURTHER SUPPORT.—If, 

14 as a result of an evaluation under paragraph (1), the 

15 Secretary determines that an institute does not qual16 ify for further support under this section, no further 

17 grants to the institute may be provided until the 

18 qualifications of the institute are reestablished to the 

19 satisfaction of the Secretary.’’. 

20 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

21 104(f)(1) of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 

22 (42 U.S.C. 10303(f)(1)) is amended by striking 

23 ‘‘$12,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘$7,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2012 

25 through 2017’’. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

5 

•S 2104 IS

1 (f) ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS WHERE RE2 SEARCH FOCUSED ON WATER PROBLEMS OF INTERSTATE

3 NATURE.—Section 104(g)(1) of the Water Resources Re4 search Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303(g)(1)) is amended 

5 by striking ‘‘$6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 

6 through 2011’’ and inserting ‘‘$1,500,000 for each of fis7 cal years 2012 through 2017’’. 

Æ 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS