Title: Water Resources Research Amendments Act of 2017
Policy area: Water Resources Development

Summary:
Water Resources Research Amendments Act of 2017
This bill amends the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 to: (1) declare that additional research is required into increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of new and existing treatment works through alternative approaches, including non-structural alternatives, decentralized approaches, energy use efficiency, water use efficiency, and actions to extract energy from wastewater; (2) require each water resources research and technology institute to arrange for research that fosters the exploration of new ideas that expand understanding of water resources (currently, of water-related phenomena); (3) direct the Department of the Interior to report to specified congressional committees annually on each institute's compliance with matching fund requirements and provisions permitting the use of funds only to reimburse direct cost expenditures incurred for the conduct of the water resources research program; and (4) authorize appropriations for such institutes through FY2022.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 451 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 451

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

                           February 27, 2017

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Water Resources Research Amendments 
Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH ACT AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Congressional Findings and Declarations.--Section 102 of the 
Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10301) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (7) through (9) as 
        paragraphs (8) through (10), respectively;
            (2) in paragraph (8) (as so redesignated), by striking 
        ``and'' at the end; and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (6) the following:
            ``(7) additional research is required into increasing the 
        effectiveness and efficiency of new and existing treatment 
        works through alternative approaches, including--
                    ``(A) nonstructural alternatives;
                    ``(B) decentralized approaches;
                    ``(C) energy use efficiency;
                    ``(D) water use efficiency; and
                    ``(E) actions to extract energy from wastewater;''.
    (b) Clarification of Research Activities.--Section 104(b)(1) of the 
Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303(b)(1)) is 
amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ``water-related 
        phenomena'' and inserting ``water resources''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting ``; and''.
    (c) Compliance Report.--Section 104(c) of the Water Resources 
Research Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303(c)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``(c) From the'' and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(c) Grants.--
            ``(1) In general.--From the''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Report.--Not later than December 31 of each fiscal 
        year, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 
        Environment and Public Works of the Senate, the Committee on 
        the Budget of the Senate, the Committee on Transportation and 
        Infrastructure of the House of Representatives, and the 
        Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives a 
        report regarding the compliance of each funding recipient with 
        this subsection for the immediately preceding fiscal year.''.
    (d) Evaluation of Water Resources Research Program.--Section 104 of 
the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303) is amended 
by striking subsection (e) and inserting the following:
    ``(e) Evaluation of Water Resources Research Program.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall conduct a careful 
        and detailed evaluation of each institute at least once every 3 
        years to determine--
                    ``(A) the quality and relevance of the water 
                resources research of the institute;
                    ``(B) the effectiveness of the institute at 
                producing measured results and applied water supply 
                research; and
                    ``(C) whether the effectiveness of the institute as 
                an institution for planning, conducting, and arranging 
                for research warrants continued support under this 
                section.
            ``(2) Prohibition on further support.--If, as a result of 
        an evaluation under paragraph (1), the Secretary determines 
        that an institute does not qualify for further support under 
        this section, no further grants to the institute may be 
        provided until the qualifications of the institute are 
        reestablished to the satisfaction of the Secretary.''.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 104(f)(1) of the 
Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303(f)(1)) is amended 
by striking ``$12,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011'' 
and inserting ``$7,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 through 
2022''.
    (f) Additional Appropriations Where Research Focused on Water 
Problems of Interstate Nature.--Section 104(g)(1) of the Water 
Resources Research Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303(g)(1)) is amended in 
the first sentence by striking ``$6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
2007 through 2011'' and inserting ``$1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 
2017 through 2022''.
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