IA

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 811

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 14, 1996

Referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committees

on Science, and Transportation and Infrastructure, 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

AN ACT

To authorize research into the desalinization and reclamation

of water and authorize a program for States, cities,

or qualifying agencies desiring to own and operate a

water desalinization or reclamation facility to develop

such facilities, 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 Desalinization

5 Research and Development Act of 1996’’.
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1 SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF POLICY.

2 In view of the increasing shortage of usable surface

3 and ground water in many parts of the United States and

4 the world, it is the policy of the United States to—

5 (1) perform research to develop low-cost alter6 natives for desalinization of saline water and rec7 lamation of nonusable nonsaline water to provide

8 water of a quality suitable for environmental en9 hancement, agricultural, industrial, municipal, and

10 other beneficial consumptive or nonconsumptive

11 uses; and

12 (2) provide, through cooperative activities with

13 local sponsors, desalinization and water reclamation

14 processes and facilities that provide proof-of-concept

15 demonstrations of advanced technologies for the pur16 pose of developing and conserving the water re17 sources of this Nation and the world.

18 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

19 In this Act:

20 (1) DESALINIZATION.—The term ‘‘desaliniza21 tion’’ means the use of any process or technique (by

22 itself or in conjunction with other processes or tech23 niques) for the removal and, when feasible, adapta24 tion to beneficial use, of organic and inorganic ele25 ments and compounds from saline water.
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1 (2) NONUSABLE NONSALINE WATER.—The

2 term ‘‘nonusable nonsaline water’’ means water that

3 is not saline water but, because it contains biological

4 or other impurities, is not usable water.

5 (3) RECLAMATION.—The term ‘‘reclamation’’

6 means the use of any process or technique (by itself

7 or in conjunction with other processes or techniques)

8 for the removal and, when feasible, adaptation to

9 beneficial use, of organic and inorganic elements and

10 compounds from nonusable nonsaline water.

11 (4) SALINE WATER.—The term ‘‘saline water’’

12 means sea water, brackish water, and other mineral13 ized or chemically impaired water.

14 (5) SPONSOR.—The term ‘‘sponsor’’ means a

15 local, State, or qualifying agency responsible for the

16 sale and delivery of usable water that has the legal

17 authority and financial capability to provide the fi18 nancial and real property requirements needed for a

19 desalinization or reclamation facility.

20 (6) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United

21 States’’ means the States of the United States, the

22 District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto

23 Rico, and the territories and possessions of the Unit24 ed States.
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1 (7) 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 non5 consumptive uses.

6 SEC. 4. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to gain basic knowledge

8 concerning the most efficient means by which usable water

9 can be produced from saline or nonusable nonsaline water,

10 the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Sec11 retary of the Army, shall conduct a basic research and

12 development program under this section.

13 (b) CONTENTS OF PROGRAM.—For the basic research

14 and development program, the Secretary of the Interior

15 shall—

16 (1) conduct, encourage, and promote fundamen17 tal scientific research and basic studies to develop

18 the best and most economical processes and methods

19 for converting saline water and nonusable nonsaline

20 water into usable water through research grants and

21 contracts—

22 (A) to conduct research and technical de23 velopment work;
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1 (B) to make studies in order to ascertain

2 the optimum mix of investment and operating

3 costs;

4 (C) to determine the best designs for dif5 ferent conditions of operation; and

6 (D) to investigate increasing the economic

7 efficiency of desalinization or reclamation proc8 esses by using the processes as dual-purpose co9 facilities with other processes involving the use

10 of water;

11 (2) study methods for the recovery of byprod12 ucts resulting from the desalinization or reclamation

13 of water to offset the costs of treatment and to re14 duce the environmental impact from those byprod15 ucts; and

16 (3) prepare a management plan for conduct of

17 the research and development program established

18 under this section.

19 (c) COORDINATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Inte21 rior shall conduct activities under this section in co22 ordination with—

23 (A) the Department of Commerce, specifi24 cally with respect to marketing and inter25 national competition; and
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1 (B)(i) the Departments of Defense, Agri2 culture, State, Health and Human Services,

3 and Energy;

4 (ii) the Environmental Protection Agency;

5 (iii) the Agency for International Develop6 ment; and

7 (iv) other concerned public and private en8 tities.

9 (2) OTHER AGENCIES.—In addition to the

10 agencies identified in paragraph (1), other interested

11 agencies may furnish appropriate resources to the

12 Secretary of the Interior to further the activities in

13 which such other agencies are interested.

14 (d) AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH.—All research

15 sponsored or funded under this section shall be carried

16 out in such a manner that information, products, proc17 esses, and other developments resulting from Federal ex18 penditures or authorities shall (with exceptions necessary

19 for national defense and the protection of patent rights)

20 be available to the general public.

21 (e) RELATIONSHIP TO ANTITRUST LAWS.—Section

22 10 of the Federal Nonnuclear Energy Research and Devel23 opment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5909) shall apply to the

24 activities of persons in connection with grants and con-
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1 tracts made by the Secretary of the Interior under this

2 section.

3 SEC. 5. DESALINIZATION DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior and

5 the Secretary of the Army shall jointly—

6 (1) conduct a desalinization development pro7 gram; and

8 (2) in connection with the program, design and

9 construct desalinization facilities.

10 (b) SELECTION OF DESALINIZATION DEVELOPMENT

11 FACILITIES.—

12 (1) APPLICATION.—A sponsor shall submit to

13 the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of the

14 Army an application for the design and construction

15 of a desalinization facility and certification that the

16 sponsor will provide the required cost sharing.

17 (2) SELECTION.—Facilities shall be selected

18 subject to availability of Federal funds.

19 (c) COST SHARING.—

20 (1) INITIAL COST.—The initial cost of a facility

21 shall include—

22 (A) design costs;

23 (B) construction costs;

24 (C) lands, easements, and rights-of-way

25 costs; and
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1 (D) relocation costs.

2 (2) MINIMUM SPONSOR SHARE.—The sponsor

3 for a facility under the desalinization development

4 program shall pay, during construction, at least 25

5 percent of the initial cost of the facility, including

6 providing all lands, easements, and rights-of-way

7 and performing all related necessary relocations.

8 (3) MAXIMUM FEDERAL SHARE.—The Sec9 retary of the Interior and Secretary of the Army

10 shall pay not more than $10,000,000 of the initial

11 cost of a facility.

12 (d) OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE.—Operation,

13 maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation of a desalinization

14 facility shall be the responsibility of the sponsor of the

15 facility.

16 (e) REVENUE.—All revenue generated from the sale

17 of usable water from a desalinization facility shall be re18 tained by the sponsor of the facility.

19 SEC. 6. MISCELLANEOUS AUTHORITIES.

20 In carrying out sections 4 and 5, the Secretary of

21 the Interior and the Secretary of the Army may—

22 (1) accept technical and administrative assist23 ance from a State or other public entities and from

24 private persons in connection with research and de-
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1 velopment activities relating to desalinization and

2 reclamation of water;

3 (2) enter into contracts or agreements stating

4 the purpose for which the assistance is contributed

5 and, in appropriate circumstances, providing for the

6 sharing of costs between the Secretary and such en7 tities or persons;

8 (3) make grants to educational and scientific

9 institutions;

10 (4) contract with educational and scientific in11 stitutions and engineering and industrial firms;

12 (5) by competition or noncompetitive contract

13 or any other means, engage the services of necessary

14 personnel, industrial and engineering firms, and edu15 cational institutions;

16 (6) use the facilities and personnel of Federal,

17 State, municipal, and private scientific laboratories;

18 (7) contract for or establish and operate facili19 ties and tests to conduct research, testing, and de20 velopment necessary for the purposes of this Act;

21 (8) acquire processes, data, inventions, patent

22 applications, patents, licenses, lands, interests in

23 land and water, facilities, and other property by pur24 chase, license, lease, or donation;
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1 (9) assemble and maintain domestic and foreign

2 scientific literature and issue pertinent biblio3 graphical data;

4 (10) conduct inspections and evaluations of do5 mestic and foreign facilities and cooperate and par6 ticipate in their development;

7 (11) conduct and participate in regional, na8 tional, and international conferences relating to the

9 desalinization of water;

10 (12) coordinate, correlate, and publish informa11 tion that will advance the development of the desa12 linization of water; and

13 (13) cooperate with Federal, State, and munici14 pal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities,

15 and with private persons, firms, educational institu16 tions, and other organizations, including foreign gov17 ernments, departments, agencies, companies, and in18 strumentalities, in effectuating the purposes of this

19 Act.

20 SEC. 7. DESALINIZATION CONFERENCE.

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The President is requested to

22 instruct the Administrator of the Agency for International

23 Development to sponsor an international desalinization

24 conference within 1 year after the date of enactment of

25 this Act.
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1 (b) PARTICIPANTS.—Participants in the conference

2 under subsection (a) should include scientists, private in3 dustry experts, desalinization experts and operators, gov4 ernment officials from the nations that use and conduct

5 research on desalinization, and government officials from

6 nations that could benefit from low-cost desalinization

7 technology (particularly nations in the developing world),

8 and international financial institutions.

9 (c) PURPOSE.—The conference under subsection (a)

10 shall—

11 (1) explore promising new technologies and

12 methods to make affordable desalinization a reality

13 in the near term; and

14 (2) propose a research agenda and a plan of ac15 tion to guide longer-term development of practical

16 desalinization applications.

17 (d) FUNDING.—

18 (1) AID FUNDS.—Funding for the conference

19 under subsection (a) may come from operating or

20 program funds of the Agency for International De21 velopment.

22 (2) OTHER NATIONS.—The Agency for Inter23 national Development shall encourage financial and

24 other support from other nations, including those
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1 that have desalinization technology and those that

2 might benefit from such technology.

3 SEC. 8. REPORTS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the

5 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter,

6 the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the Sec7 retary of the Army, shall prepare a report to the President

8 and Congress concerning the administration of this Act.

9 (b) CONTENTS.—A report under subsection (a) shall

10 describe—

11 (1) the actions taken by the Secretary of the

12 Interior and the Secretary of the Army during the

13 calendar year preceding the year in which the report

14 is submitted; and

15 (2) the actions planned for the following cal16 endar year.

17 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

18 (a) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.—There are au19 thorized to be appropriated to carry out section 4—

20 (1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 1997; and

21 (2) $7,500,000 for each of fiscal years 1998

22 through 2001.

23 (b) DESALINIZATION DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.—

24 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out sec25 tion 5 such sums as are necessary, up to a total of
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1 $40,000,000 for the period consisting of fiscal years 1997

2 through 2001, of which 50 percent shall be made available

3 to the Department of the Interior and 50 percent shall

4 be made available to the civil works program of the Army

5 Corps of Engineers.

Passed the Senate May 3, 1996.

Attest: KELLY D. JOHNSTON,

Secretary.