Water Resources Research Amendments Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2164 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 18, 2019 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 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 23:35 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2164.IS S2164 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2164 IS 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 of the 10 Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303) 11 is amended by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 12 following: 13 ‘‘(c) GRANTS.— 14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the sums appro- 15 priated pursuant to subsection (f) of this section, the 16 Secretary shall make grants to each institute to be 17 matched on a basis of no less than 1 non-Federal 18 dollar for every 1 Federal dollar. 19 ‘‘(2) REPORT.—Not later than December 31 of 20 each fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to the 21 Committee on Environment and Public Works of the 22 Senate, the Committee on the Budget of the Senate, 23 the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 24 of the House of Representatives, and the Committee 25 on the Budget of the House of Representatives a re- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2164.IS S2164 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2164 IS port regarding the compliance of each funding re- 1 cipient with this subsection for the immediately pre- 2 ceding fiscal year.’’. 3 (c) EVALUATION OF WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH 4 PROGRAM.—Section 104 of the Water Resources Research 5 Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303) is amended by striking 6 subsection (e) and inserting the following: 7 ‘‘(e) EVALUATION OF WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH 8 PROGRAM.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall con- 10 duct a careful and detailed evaluation of each insti- 11 tute at least once every 5 years to determine— 12 ‘‘(A) the quality and relevance of the water 13 resources research of the institute; 14 ‘‘(B) the effectiveness of the institute at 15 producing measured results and applied water 16 supply research; and 17 ‘‘(C) whether the effectiveness of the insti- 18 tute as an institution for planning, conducting, 19 and arranging for research warrants continued 20 support under this section. 21 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON FURTHER SUPPORT.—If, 22 as a result of an evaluation under paragraph (1), the 23 Secretary determines that an institute does not qual- 24 ify for further support under this section, no further 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2164.IS S2164 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2164 IS grants to the institute may be provided until the 1 qualifications of the institute are reestablished to the 2 satisfaction of the Secretary.’’. 3 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 4 104(f)(1) of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 5 (42 U.S.C. 10303(f)(1)) is amended by striking 6 ‘‘$12,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011’’ 7 and inserting ‘‘$8,250,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 8 through 2023’’. 9 (e) ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATIONS WHERE RE- 10 SEARCH FOCUSED ON WATER PROBLEMS OF INTERSTATE 11 NATURE.—Section 104(g)(1) of the Water Resources Re- 12 search Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10303(g)(1)) is amended 13 in the first sentence by striking ‘‘$6,000,000 for each of 14 fiscal years 2007 through 2011’’ and inserting 15 ‘‘$1,750,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2023’’. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Jul 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2164.IS S2164 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS