I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2339 
To encourage research, development, and demonstration of technologies to 
facilitate the utilization of water produced in connection with the develop-
ment of domestic energy resources, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 16, 2007 
Mr. HALL of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Science and Technology 
A BILL 
To encourage research, development, and demonstration of 
technologies to facilitate the utilization of water produced 
in connection with the development of domestic energy 
resources, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Produced Water Utili-
zation Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
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(1) The population of the United States is in-
creasing, and as the population increases, additional 
potable water supplies are required to sustain indi-
viduals, agricultural production, and industrial 
users, particularly in the Mountain West and desert 
Southwest, where water resources are scarce. 
(2) During the development of domestic energy 
sources, including coalbed methane, oil, and natural 
gas, water may be extracted from underground 
sources and brought to the surface, often increasing 
energy production from subsurface geological forma-
tions in the process. 
(3) Produced water frequently contains in-
creased levels of potentially harmful dissolved solids, 
rendering much of the water nonpotable and unsuit-
able for agricultural or industrial uses, and encour-
aging reinjection of the water to subsurface geologi-
cal formations to safely dispose of it, which may lead 
to reduced production of domestic energy resources 
and increased costs to producers. 
(4) Increasing environmentally responsible sur-
face utilization of produced water would— 
(A) increase water supplies available for 
agricultural and industrial use; 
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(B) reduce the amount of produced water 
returned to underground formations; and 
(C) increase domestic energy production by 
reducing costs associated with reinjection of 
produced water to the subsurface. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) EXISTING PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘existing 
program’’ means a program at the Department of 
Energy which is engaged in research, development, 
demonstration, and commercial application of tech-
nologies for unconventional domestic natural gas 
production and other domestic petroleum production 
as of the date of enactment of this Act. 
(2) PRODUCED WATER.—The term ‘‘produced 
water’’ means water from an underground source 
that is brought to the surface as part of the process 
of exploration for or development of coalbed meth-
ane, oil, natural gas, or any other substance to be 
used as an energy source. 
(3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Energy. 
SEC. 4. PURPOSES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out 
under this Act, in conjunction with an existing program, 
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a program of research, development, and demonstration 
of technologies for environmentally sustainable utilization 
of produced water for use for agriculture, irrigation, mu-
nicipal, or industrial uses, or other environmentally sus-
tainable purposes. The program shall be designed to maxi-
mize the utilization of produced water in the United States 
by increasing the quality of produced water and reducing 
the environmental impacts of produced water. 
(b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The program under this 
Act shall address the following areas, including improving 
safety and minimizing environmental impacts of activities 
within each area: 
(1) Produced water recovery, including research 
for desalination and demineralization to reduce total 
dissolved solids in the produced water. 
(2) Produced water utilization for agricultural, 
irrigation, municipal, or industrial uses, or other en-
vironmentally sustainable purposes. 
(3) Reinjection of produced water into sub-
surface geological formations to increase energy pro-
duction. 
(c) 
PROGRAM
ADMINISTRATION.—The 
program 
under this Act shall be administered by a consortium, ad-
ministering an existing program, whose members have col-
lectively demonstrated capabilities and experience in plan-
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ning and managing research, development, demonstration, 
and commercial application programs for unconventional 
natural gas and other petroleum production and produced 
water utilization. 
(d) ACTIVITIES AT THE NATIONAL ENERGY TECH-
NOLOGY LABORATORY.—The Secretary, through the Na-
tional Energy Technology Laboratory, shall carry out a 
program of research, development, and demonstration ac-
tivities complementary to and supportive of the research, 
development, and demonstration programs under sub-
section (b). 
(e) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this Act, the 
Secretary shall consult regularly with the Secretary of the 
Interior and the Administrator of the Environmental Pro-
tection Agency. 
SEC. 5. SUNSET. 
The authority provided by this Act shall terminate 
on September 30, 2016. 
SEC. 6. FUNDING. 
(a) ALLOCATION.—Amounts appropriated for this 
Act for each fiscal year shall be allocated as follows: 
(1) 75 percent shall be for activities under sec-
tion 4(a), (b), and (c). 
(2) 25 percent shall be for activities under sec-
tion 4(d) and other activities under section 4, includ-
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ing administrative functions such as program direc-
tion, overall program oversight, and contract man-
agement. 
(b) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2016. 
Æ 
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