Water Resources Research Amendments Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2781 To amend the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 to reauthorize grants for and require applied water supply research regarding the water re- sources research and technology institutes established under that Act, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 22, 2021 Mr. HARDER of California (for himself, Mr. WITTMAN, and Mrs. NAPOLI- TANO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 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, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Water Resources Re- 4 search Amendments Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:22 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2781.IH H2781 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2781 IH SEC. 2. WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH ACT AMENDMENTS. 1 (a) CLARIFICATION OF RESEARCH ACTIVITIES.—Sec- 2 tion 104(b)(1) of the Water Resources Research Act of 3 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303(b)(1)) is amended— 4 (1) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ‘‘water- 5 related phenomena’’ and inserting ‘‘water re- 6 sources’’; and 7 (2) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period 8 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’. 9 (b) COMPLIANCE REPORTS.—Section 104(c) of the 10 Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 11 10303(c)) is amended to read as follows: 12 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.— 13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From amounts appro- 14 priated under subsection (f) and subject to sub- 15 section (e)(2), the Secretary shall— 16 ‘‘(A) make grants to institutes; and 17 ‘‘(B) require that grants under this para- 18 graph be matched on a basis of not less than 19 1 non-Federal dollar for every 1 Federal dollar. 20 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than December 31 of 21 each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit a report 22 regarding the compliance of each institute that re- 23 ceived a grant under paragraph (1) for the imme- 24 diately preceding fiscal year to each of the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:22 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2781.IH H2781 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2781 IH ‘‘(A) The Committee on Environment and 1 Public Works of the Senate. 2 ‘‘(B) The Committee on the Budget of the 3 Senate. 4 ‘‘(C) The Committee on Natural Resources 5 of the House of Representatives. 6 ‘‘(D) The Committee on Transportation 7 and Infrastructure of the House of Representa- 8 tives. 9 ‘‘(E) The Committee on the Budget of the 10 House of Representatives.’’. 11 (c) EVALUATION OF WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH 12 PROGRAM.—Section 104(e) of the Water Resources Re- 13 search Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303) is amended to read 14 as follows: 15 ‘‘(e) EVALUATION OF WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH 16 PROGRAM.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con- 18 duct a careful and detailed evaluation of each insti- 19 tute at least once every 5 years to determine— 20 ‘‘(A) the quality and relevance of the water 21 resources research of the institute; 22 ‘‘(B) the effectiveness of the institute at 23 producing measured results and applied water 24 supply research; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:22 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2781.IH H2781 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2781 IH ‘‘(C) whether the effectiveness of the insti- 1 tute as an institution for planning, conducting, 2 and arranging for research warrants continued 3 support under this section. 4 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON FURTHER SUPPORT.—If, 5 as a result of an evaluation under paragraph (1), the 6 Secretary determines that an institute does not qual- 7 ify for further support under this section, no further 8 grants to the institute may be provided until the 9 qualifications of the institute are reestablished to the 10 satisfaction of the Secretary.’’. 11 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 12 104(f)(1) of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 13 (42 U.S.C. 10303(f)(1)) is amended by striking 14 ‘‘$12,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011’’ 15 and inserting ‘‘$12,000,000 for each fiscal years 2022 16 through 2025’’. 17 (e) ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS WHERE RE- 18 SEARCH FOCUSED ON WATER PROBLEMS OF INTERSTATE 19 NATURE.—Section 104(g)(1) of the Water Resources Re- 20 search Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303(g)(1)) is amended 21 by striking ‘‘$6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 22 through 2011’’ and inserting ‘‘$6,000,000 for each of fis- 23 cal years 2022 through 2025’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:22 Jun 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2781.IH H2781 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS