II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2368

To authorize studies on water supply management and development.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 6, 2000

Mr. FRIST introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To authorize studies on water supply management and

development.

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 Resource Study

5 Act of 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) water resources in the United States are

9 among the most plentiful in the world;

10 (2) for many years, the effective development

11 and use of water resources in the United States has
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1 been the focus of a wide array of Federal policies

2 and programs;

3 (3) in recent years, unprecedented growth, mul4 tiple competing water uses, and growing public in5 terest in environmental protection have combined to

6 create an atmosphere of conflicting policy interests;

7 (4) large-scale water conflicts continue to

8 emerge between communities, States, and stake9 holder interests in the southeastern region of the

10 United States; and

11 (5) Federal support is needed to assess the util12 ity and effectiveness of current Federal policies and

13 programs as they relate to resolving State and local

14 water supply needs.

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

16 In this Act:

17 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

18 the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief

19 of Engineers.

20 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State

21 of Tennessee.

22 SEC. 4. STUDIES ON EMERGING WATER SUPPLY NEEDS.

23 (a) DESIGNATION.—The Secretary shall offer to pro24 vide assistance to the State to conduct the studies de25 scribed in this section.
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1 (b) STUDIES.—As a condition of receiving assistance

2 under this section, not later than 1 year after the date

3 of enactment of this Act, in consultation with the Sec4 retary, the State shall—

5 (1) select a geographic area within the State

6 having consistent, emerging, water supply needs;

7 and

8 (2) conduct a study on the emerging water sup9 ply needs of the geographic area.

10 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—A study conducted under this

11 section shall—

12 (1) identify Federal and State resources, assist13 ance programs, regulations, and sources of funding

14 for water supply development and management that

15 are applicable to the geographic areas selected under

16 subsection (b)(1);

17 (2) identify potential weaknesses, redundancies,

18 and contradictions in those resources, assistance

19 programs, regulations, policies, and sources of fund20 ing;

21 (3) conduct a water resource inventory in the

22 geographic study area to determine, with respect to

23 the water supply needs of the area—

24 (A) projected demand;

25 (B) existing supplies and infrastructure;
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1 (C) water resources that cannot be devel2 oped for water supplies due to regulatory or

3 technical barriers, including—

4 (i) special aquatic sites (as defined in

5 section 330.2 of title 33, Code of Federal

6 Regulations (or a successor regulation));

7 and

8 (ii) waters protected under any other

9 Federal or State law;

10 (D) water resources that can be developed

11 for water supplies, such as sites that have few,

12 if any, technical or regulatory barriers to devel13 opment;

14 (E) any water resources for which further

15 research or investigation, such as testing of

16 groundwater aquifers, is required to determine

17 the potential for water supply development for

18 the site;

19 (F) a description of the social, political, in20 stitutional, and economic dynamics and charac21 teristics of the geographic study area that may

22 impact the resolution of water supply needs;

23 (G) incentives for cooperation between

24 water districts, local governments, and State

25 governments, including methods that maximize
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1 private sector participation in the water supply

2 development; and

3 (H) new water resource development tech4 nologies that merit further analysis and testing.

5 (d) LEAD AGENCY.—For each study under this sec6 tion, the Corps of Engineers—

7 (1) shall be the lead Federal agency; and

8 (2) shall consult with the State for guidance in

9 the development of the study.

10 (e) PARTICIPANTS.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—In consultation with the Sec12 retary, the State shall select entities to participate in

13 the study under this section.

14 (2) TENNESSEE.—

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—In addition to entities

16 selected under paragraph (1), the United States

17 Geological Survey and the Tennessee Valley Au18 thority shall participate in the study in the

19 State.

20 (B) UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE.—The

21 University of Tennessee may elect to participate

22 in the study in the State.

23 (f) FUNDING.—The Federal share of each study

24 under this section shall be 100 percent.
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1 (g) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the com2 pletion of a study under this section, the State completing

3 the study shall submit a report describing the findings of

4 the study to—

5 (1) the Committee on Resources of the House

6 of Representatives; and

7 (2) the Committee on Energy and Natural Re8 sources of the Senate.

9 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

10 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

11 $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2001.

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