Water Resources Research Amendments Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3510 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. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 26, 2019 Mr. HARDER of California (for himself, Mr. WITTMAN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, and Mr. GRIFFITH) 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. 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 02:24 Jul 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3510.IH H3510 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 3510 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 REPORT.—Section 104(c) of the 10 Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 11 10303(c)) is amended— 12 (1) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 13 following: 14 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the sums appro- 16 priated pursuant to subsection (f) of this section, the 17 Secretary shall make grants to each institute to be 18 matched on a basis of no less than 1 non-Federal 19 dollar for every 1 Federal dollar.’’; and 20 (2) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than December 31 of 22 each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to the 23 Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 24 Senate, the Committee on the Budget of the Senate, 25 the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:24 Jul 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3510.IH H3510 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 3510 IH of the House of Representatives, and the Committee 1 on the Budget of the House of Representatives a re- 2 port regarding the compliance of each funding re- 3 cipient with this subsection for the immediately pre- 4 ceding fiscal year.’’. 5 (c) EVALUATION OF WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH 6 PROGRAM.—Section 104 of the Water Resources Research 7 Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303) is amended by striking 8 subsection (e) and inserting the following: 9 ‘‘(e) EVALUATION OF WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH 10 PROGRAM.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con- 12 duct a careful and detailed evaluation of each insti- 13 tute at least once every 5 years to determine— 14 ‘‘(A) the quality and relevance of the water 15 resources research of the institute; 16 ‘‘(B) the effectiveness of the institute at 17 producing measured results and applied water 18 supply research; and 19 ‘‘(C) whether the effectiveness of the insti- 20 tute as an institution for planning, conducting, 21 and arranging for research warrants continued 22 support under this section. 23 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON FURTHER SUPPORT.—If, 24 as a result of an evaluation under paragraph (1), the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:24 Jul 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3510.IH H3510 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 3510 IH Secretary determines that an institute does not qual- 1 ify for further support under this section, no further 2 grants to the institute may be provided until the 3 qualifications of the institute are reestablished to the 4 satisfaction of the Secretary.’’. 5 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 6 104(f)(1) of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 7 (42 U.S.C. 10303(f)(1)) is amended by striking 8 ‘‘$12,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011’’ 9 and inserting ‘‘$8,250,000 for each fiscal years 2020 10 through 2023’’. 11 (e) ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS WHERE RE- 12 SEARCH FOCUSED ON WATER PROBLEMS OF INTERSTATE 13 NATURE.—Section 104(g)(1) of the Water Resources Re- 14 search Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303(g)(1)) is amended 15 in the first sentence by striking ‘‘$6,000,000 for each of 16 fiscal years 2007 through 2011’’ and inserting 17 ‘‘$1,750,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2023’’. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:24 Jul 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3510.IH H3510 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS