I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3723 

To promote desalination project development and drought resilience, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 11, 2019 

Mr. LEVIN of California (for himself and Mr. HUFFMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, 

and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, 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 

A BILL 

To promote desalination project development and drought 

resilience, 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 ‘‘Desalination Develop5 ment Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DESALINATION PROJECTS AUTHORIZATION. 

7 Section 4(a) of the Water Desalination Act of 1996 

8 (42 U.S.C. 10301 note; Public Law 104–298) is amended 


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1 by striking the second paragraph (1) (relating to projects) 

2 and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(2) PROJECTS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE DESALINA5 TION PROJECT.—In this paragraph, the term 

6 ‘eligible desalination project’ means any project 

7 located in a Reclamation State that— 

8 ‘‘(i) involves an ocean or brackish 

9 water desalination facility— 

10 ‘‘(I) constructed, operated, and 

11 maintained by a State, Indian Tribe, 

12 irrigation district, water district, or 

13 other organization with water or 

14 power delivery authority; or 

15 ‘‘(II) sponsored or funded by any 

16 State, department of a State, subdivi17 sion of a State, or public agency orga18 nized pursuant to State law, includ19 ing— 

20 ‘‘(aa) direct sponsorship or 

21 funding; or 

22 ‘‘(bb) indirect sponsorship or 

23 funding, such as by paying for 

24 the water provided by the facility; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) provides a Federal benefit in ac2 cordance with the reclamation laws; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) is consistent with all applicable 

4 State and Federal resource protection laws 

5 including the protection of marine pro6 tected areas. 

7 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL SHARE.—Subject to the re8 quirements of this paragraph, the Secretary 

9 may participate in an eligible desalination 

10 project in an amount equal to not more than 25 

11 percent of the total cost of the eligible desalina12 tion project. 

13 ‘‘(C) STATE ROLE.—Participation by the 

14 Secretary in an eligible desalination project 

15 under this paragraph shall not occur unless— 

16 ‘‘(i)(I) the eligible desalination project 

17 is included in a State-approved plan; or 

18 ‘‘(II) the participation has been re19 quested by the Governor of the State in 

20 which the eligible desalination project is lo21 cated; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) the State or local sponsor of the 

23 eligible desalination project determines, 

24 and the Secretary concurs, that— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the eligible desalination 

2 project— 

3 ‘‘(aa) is technically and fi4 nancially feasible; 

5 ‘‘(bb) provides a Federal 

6 benefit in accordance with the 

7 reclamation laws; and 

8 ‘‘(cc) is consistent with ap9 plicable State laws, State regula10 tions, State coastal zone manage11 ment plans and other State plans 

12 such as California’s Water Qual13 ity Control Plan for the Ocean 

14 Waters in California; 

15 ‘‘(II) sufficient non-Federal fund16 ing is available to complete the eligible 

17 desalination project; and 

18 ‘‘(III) the eligible desalination 

19 project sponsors are financially sol20 vent; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) the Secretary submits to Con22 gress a written notification of the deter23 minations under clause (ii) by not later 

24 than 30 days after the date of the deter25 minations. 


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1 ‘‘(D) ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.—In partici2 pating in an eligible desalination project under 

3 this paragraph, the Secretary shall comply with 

4 all applicable environmental laws, including, but 

5 not limited to, the National Environmental Pol6 icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and 

7 State laws implementing the Coastal Zone Man8 agement Act. 

9 ‘‘(E) INFORMATION.—In participating in 

10 an eligible desalination project under this sub11 section, the Secretary— 

12 ‘‘(i) may rely on reports prepared by 

13 the sponsor of the eligible desalination 

14 project, including feasibility or equivalent 

15 studies, environmental analyses, and other 

16 pertinent reports and analyses; but 

17 ‘‘(ii) shall retain responsibility for 

18 making the independent determinations de19 scribed in subparagraph (C). 

20 ‘‘(F) FUNDING.— 

21 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA22 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appro23 priated to carry out this paragraph 

24 $260,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 

25 2020 through 2024. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL INI2 TIALLY REQUIRED.— 

3 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Each initial 

4 award under this paragraph for de5 sign and study or for construction of 

6 an eligible desalination project shall 

7 be approved by an Act of Congress. 

8 ‘‘(II) RECLAMATION REC9 OMMENDATIONS.—The Commissioner 

10 of Reclamation shall submit rec11 ommendations regarding the initial 

12 award of preconstruction and con13 struction funding for consideration 

14 under subclause (I) to— 

15 ‘‘(aa) the Committee on Ap16 propriations of the Senate; 

17 ‘‘(bb) the Committee on En18 ergy and Natural Resources of 

19 the Senate; 

20 ‘‘(cc) the Committee on Ap21 propriations of the House of Rep22 resentatives; and 

23 ‘‘(dd) the Committee on 

24 Natural Resources of the House 

25 of Representatives. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) SUBSEQUENT FUNDING

2 AWARDS.—After approval by Congress of 

3 an initial award of preconstruction or con4 struction funding for an eligible desalina5 tion project under clause (ii), the Commis6 sioner of Reclamation may award addi7 tional preconstruction or construction 

8 funding, respectively, for the eligible desali9 nation project without further congres10 sional approval.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. PRIORITIZATION FOR PROJECTS. 

12 Section 4 of the Water Desalination Act of 1996 (42 

13 U.S.C. 10301 note; Public Law 104–298) is amended by 

14 striking subsection (c) and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(c) PRIORITIZATION.—In carrying out demonstra16 tion and development activities under this section, the Sec17 retary and the Commissioner of Reclamation shall each 

18 prioritize projects— 

19 ‘‘(1) for the benefit of drought-stricken States 

20 and communities; 

21 ‘‘(2) for the benefit of States that have author22 ized funding for research and development of desali23 nation technologies and projects; 

24 ‘‘(3) that demonstrably reduce a reliance on im25 ported water supplies that have an impact on species 


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1 listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

2 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

3 ‘‘(4) that, in a measurable and verifiable man4 ner, reduce a reliance on imported water supplies 

5 from imperiled ecosystems such as the Sacramento6 San Joaquin River Delta; 

7 ‘‘(5) that demonstrably leverage the experience 

8 of international partners with considerable expertise 

9 in desalination, such as the state of Israel; 

10 ‘‘(6) that maximize use of renewable energy to 

11 power desalination facilities; 

12 ‘‘(7) that maximize energy efficiency so that the 

13 lifecycle energy demands of desalination are mini14 mized; 

15 ‘‘(8) located in regions that have employed 

16 strategies to increase water conservation and the 

17 capture and recycling of wastewater and stormwater; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(9) that meet the following criteria if they are 

20 ocean desalination facilities— 

21 ‘‘(A) utilize a subsurface intake or, if a 

22 subsurface intake is not technologically feasible, 

23 an intake that uses the best available site, de24 sign, technology, and mitigation measures to 


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1 minimize the mortality of all forms of marine 

2 life and impacts to coastal dependent resources; 

3 ‘‘(B) are sited and designed to ensure that 

4 the disposal of wastewaters including brine 

5 from the desalination process— 

6 ‘‘(i) are not discharged to impaired 

7 bodies of water, or State or Federal Ma8 rine Protected Areas; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) achieve ambient salinity levels 

10 within a reasonable distance from the dis11 charge point; 

12 ‘‘(C) are sited, designed, and operated in a 

13 manner that maintains indigenous marine life 

14 and a healthy and diverse marine community; 

15 ‘‘(D) do not cause significant unmitigated 

16 harm to aquatic life; and 

17 ‘‘(E) include a construction and operation 

18 plan designed to minimize loss of coastal habi19 tat as well as aesthetic, noise, and air quality 

20 impacts.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. RECOMMENDATIONS TO CONGRESS. 

22 In determining project recommendations to Congress 

23 under section 4(a)(2)(F)(ii)(II) of the Water Desalination 

24 Act of 1996, the Commissioner of Reclamation shall estab25 lish a priority scoring system that assigns priority scores 


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1 to each project evaluated based on the prioritization cri2 teria of section 4(c) of the Water Desalination Act of 1996 

3 (42 U.S.C. 10301 note; Public Law 104–298). 

Æ 


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