II 

Calendar No. 84 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 653 

[Report No. 114–48] 

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 

MARCH 4, 2015 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

MAY 18, 2015 

Reported by Mr. INHOFE, without amendment 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Water Resources Re3 search Amendments Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH ACT AMENDMENTS. 

5 (a) CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARA6 TIONS.—Section 102 of the Water Resources Research 

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

8 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) through 

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

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

11 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

12 (3) by inserting after paragraph (6) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(7) additional research is required into in15 creasing the effectiveness and efficiency of new and 

16 existing treatment works through alternative ap17 proaches, including— 

18 ‘‘(A) nonstructural alternatives; 

19 ‘‘(B) decentralized approaches; 

20 ‘‘(C) energy use efficiency; 

21 ‘‘(D) water use efficiency; and 

22 ‘‘(E) actions to extract energy from waste23 water;’’. 

24 (b) CLARIFICATION OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES.—Sec25 tion 104(b)(1) of the Water Resources Research Act of 

26 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303(b)(1)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘water2 related phenomena’’ and inserting ‘‘water re3 sources’’; and 

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

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

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

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

8 10303(c)) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘(c) From the’’ and inserting 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the’’; and 

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

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

15 each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to the 

16 Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 

17 Senate, the Committee on the Budget of the Senate, 

18 the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

19 of the House of Representatives, and the Committee 

20 on the Budget of the House of Representatives a re21 port regarding the compliance of each funding re22 cipient with this subsection for the immediately pre23 ceding fiscal year.’’. 

24 (d) EVALUATION OF WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH

25 PROGRAM.—Section 104 of the Water Resources Research 


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

2 subsection (e) and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(e) EVALUATION OF WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH

4 PROGRAM.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con6 duct a careful and detailed evaluation of each insti7 tute at least once every 3 years to determine— 

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

9 resources research of the institute; 

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

11 producing measured results and applied water 

12 supply research; and 

13 ‘‘(C) whether the effectiveness of the insti14 tute as an institution for planning, conducting, 

15 and arranging for research warrants continued 

16 support under this section. 

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

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

19 Secretary determines that an institute does not qual20 ify for further support under this section, no further 

21 grants to the institute may be provided until the 

22 qualifications of the institute are reestablished to the 

23 satisfaction of the Secretary.’’. 

24 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

25 104(f)(1) of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 


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

2 ‘‘$12,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘$7,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2015 

4 through 2020’’. 

5 (f) ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS WHERE RE6 SEARCH FOCUSED ON WATER PROBLEMS OF INTERSTATE

7 NATURE.—Section 104(g)(1) of the Water Resources Re8 search Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303(g)(1)) is amended 

9 in the first sentence by striking ‘‘$6,000,000 for each of 

10 fiscal years 2007 through 2011’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘$1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2015 through 2020’’. 


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Calendar No. 84 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 653 

[Report No. 114–48] 

A BILL 

To amend the Water Resources Research Act of 

tablished under that Act. resources research and technology institutes esplied water supply research regarding the water 1984 to reauthorize grants for and require apMAY 18, 2015 

Reported without amendment 


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