[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2970 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2970

To enhance the ability of drinking water utilities in the United States 
    to develop and implement climate change adaptation programs and 
                   policies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 2, 2008

  Mr. Reid (for himself and Mrs. Feinstein) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment 
                            and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To enhance the ability of drinking water utilities in the United States 
    to develop and implement climate change adaptation programs and 
                   policies, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Climate Change Drinking Water 
Adaptation Research Act.''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the consensus among climate scientists is overwhelming 
        that climate change is occurring more rapidly than can be 
        attributed to natural causes, and that significant impacts to 
        the water supply are already occurring;
            (2) among the first and most critical of those impacts will 
        be change to patterns of precipitation around the world, which 
        will affect water availability for the most basic drinking 
        water and domestic water needs of populations in many areas of 
        the United States;
            (3) drinking water utilities throughout the United States, 
        as well as those in Europe, Australia, and Asia, are concerned 
        that extended changes in precipitation will lead to extended 
        droughts;
            (4) supplying water is highly energy-intensive and will 
        become more so as climate change forces more utilities to turn 
        to alternative supplies;
            (5) energy production consumes a significant percentage of 
        the fresh water resources of the United States;
            (6) since 2003, the drinking water industry of the United 
        States has sponsored, through a nonprofit water research 
        foundation, various studies to assess the impacts of climate 
        change on drinking water supplies;
            (7) those studies demonstrate the need for a comprehensive 
        program of research into the full range of impacts on drinking 
        water utilities, including impacts on water supplies, 
        facilities, and customers;
            (8) that nonprofit water research foundation is also 
        coordinating internationally with other drinking water 
        utilities on shared research projects and has hosted 
        international workshops with counterpart European and Asian 
        water research organizations to develop a unified research 
        agenda for applied research on adaptive strategies to address 
        climate change impacts;
            (9) research data in existence as of the date of enactment 
        of this Act--
                    (A) summarize the best available scientific 
                evidence on climate change;
                    (B) identify the implications of climate change for 
                the water cycle and the availability and quality of 
                water resources; and
                    (C) provide general guidance on planning and 
                adaptation strategies for water utilities; and
            (10) given uncertainties about specific climate changes in 
        particular areas, drinking water utilities need to prepare for 
        a wider range of likely possibilities in managing and delivery 
        of water.

SEC. 3. RESEARCH ON THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON DRINKING WATER 
              UTILITIES.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency, in cooperation with the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of 
Energy, and the Secretary of the Interior, shall establish and provide 
funding for a program of directed and applied research, to be conducted 
through a nonprofit water research foundation and sponsored by drinking 
water utilities, to assist suppliers of drinking water in adapting to 
the effects of climate change.
    (b) Research Areas.--The research conducted in accordance with 
subsection (a) shall include research into--
            (1) water quality impacts and solutions, including 
        research--
                    (A) to address probable impacts on raw water 
                quality resulting from--
                            (i) erosion and turbidity from extreme 
                        precipitation events;
                            (ii) watershed vegetation changes; and
                            (iii) increasing ranges of pathogens, 
                        algae, and nuisance organisms resulting from 
                        warmer temperatures; and
                    (B) on mitigating increasing damage to watersheds 
                and water quality by evaluating extreme events, such as 
                wildfires and hurricanes, to learn and develop 
                management approaches to mitigate--
                            (i) permanent watershed damage;
                            (ii) quality and yield impacts on source 
                        waters; and
                            (iii) increased costs of water treatment;
            (2) impacts on groundwater supplies from carbon 
        sequestration, including research to evaluate potential water 
        quality consequences of carbon sequestration in various 
        regional aquifers, soil conditions, and mineral deposits;
            (3) water quantity impacts and solutions, including 
        research--
                    (A) to evaluate climate change impacts on water 
                resources throughout hydrological basins of the United 
                States;
                    (B) to improve the accuracy and resolution of 
                climate change models at a regional level;
                    (C) to identify and explore options for increasing 
                conjunctive use of aboveground and underground storage 
                of water; and
                    (D) to optimize operation of existing and new 
                reservoirs in diminished and erratic periods of 
                precipitation and runoff;
            (4) infrastructure impacts and solutions for water 
        treatment facilities and underground pipelines, including 
        research--
                    (A) to evaluate and mitigate the impacts of sea 
                level rise on--
                            (i) near-shore facilities;
                            (ii) soil drying and subsidence; and
                            (iii) reduced flows in water and wastewater 
                        pipelines; and
                    (B) on ways of increasing the resilience of 
                existing infrastructure and development of new design 
                standards for future infrastructure;
            (5) desalination, water reuse, and alternative supply 
        technologies, including research--
                    (A) to improve and optimize existing membrane 
                technologies, and to identify and develop breakthrough 
                technologies, to enable the use of seawater, brackish 
                groundwater, treated wastewater, and other impaired 
                sources;
                    (B) into new sources of water through more cost-
                effective water treatment practices in recycling and 
                desalination; and
                    (C) to improve technologies for use in--
                            (i) managing and minimizing the volume of 
                        desalination and reuse concentrate streams; and
                            (ii) minimizing the environmental impacts 
                        of seawater intake at desalination facilities;
            (6) energy efficiency and greenhouse gas minimization, 
        including research--
                    (A) on optimizing the energy efficiency of water 
                supply and improving water efficiency in energy 
                production; and
                    (B) to identify and develop renewable, carbon-
                neutral energy options for the water supply industry;
            (7) regional and hydrological basin cooperative water 
        management solutions, including research into--
                    (A) institutional mechanisms for greater regional 
                cooperation and use of water exchanges, banking, and 
                transfers; and
                    (B) the economic benefits of sharing risks of 
                shortage across wider areas;
            (8) utility management, decision support systems, and water 
        management models, including research--
                    (A) into improved decision support systems and 
                modeling tools for use by water utility managers to 
                assist with increased water supply uncertainty and 
                adaptation strategies posed by climate change;
                    (B) to provide financial tools, including new rate 
                structures, to manage financial resources and 
                investments, because increased conservation practices 
                may diminish revenue and increase investments in 
                infrastructure; and
                    (C) to develop improved systems and models for use 
                in evaluating--
                            (i) successful alternative methods for 
                        conservation and demand management; and
                            (ii) climate change impacts on groundwater 
                        resources;
            (9) reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy demand 
        management, including research to improve energy efficiency in 
        water collection, production, transmission, treatment, 
        distribution, and disposal to provide more sustainability and 
        means to assist drinking water utilities in reducing the 
        production of greenhouse gas emissions in the collection, 
        production, transmission, treatment, distribution, and disposal 
        of drinking water;
            (10) water conservation and demand management, including 
        research--
                    (A) to develop strategic approaches to water demand 
                management that offer the lowest-cost, 
                noninfrastructural options to serve growing populations 
                or manage declining supplies, primarily through--
                            (i) efficiencies in water use and 
                        reallocation of the saved water;
                            (ii) demand management tools;
                            (iii) economic incentives; and
                            (iv) water-saving technologies; and
                    (B) into efficiencies in water management through 
                integrated water resource management that 
                incorporates--
                            (i) supply-side and demand-side processes;
                            (ii) continuous adaptive management; and
                            (iii) the inclusion of stakeholders in 
                        decisionmaking processes; and
            (11) communications, education, and public acceptance, 
        including research--
                    (A) into improved strategies and approaches for 
                communicating with customers, decisionmakers, and other 
                stakeholders about the implications of climate change 
                on water supply; and
                    (B) to develop effective communication approaches 
                to gain--
                            (i) public acceptance of alternative water 
                        supplies and new policies and practices, 
                        including conservation and demand management; 
                        and
                            (ii) public recognition and acceptance of 
                        increased costs.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $25,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2009 through 2019.
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