[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 91 (Tuesday, June 9, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3975-S3976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2015
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 83, S. 611, and
Calendar No. 84, S. 653, en bloc.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bills by title en
bloc.
The bill clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 611) to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to
reauthorize technical assistance to small public water
systems, and for other purposes.
A bill (S. 653) 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.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bills
en bloc.
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bills
be read a third time and passed and the motions to reconsider be
considered made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The bill (S. 611) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading,
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:
S. 611
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 ``Grassroots Rural and Small
Community Water Systems Assistance Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 (Public
Law 104-182) authorized technical assistance for small and
rural communities to assist those communities in complying
with regulations promulgated pursuant to the Safe Drinking
Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.);
(2) technical assistance and compliance training--
(A) ensures that Federal regulations do not overwhelm the
resources of small and rural communities; and
(B) provides small and rural communities lacking technical
resources with the necessary skills to improve and protect
water resources;
(3) across the United States, more than 90 percent of the
community water systems serve a population of less than
10,000 individuals;
(4) small and rural communities have the greatest
difficulty providing safe, affordable public drinking water
and wastewater services due to limited economies of scale and
lack of technical expertise; and
(5) in addition to being the main source of compliance
assistance, small and rural water technical assistance has
been the main source of emergency response assistance in
small and rural communities.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) to assist small and rural communities most effectively,
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
should prioritize the types of technical assistance that are
most beneficial to those communities, based on input from
those communities; and
(2) local support is the key to making Federal assistance
initiatives work in small and rural communities to the
maximum benefit.
SEC. 4. FUNDING PRIORITIES.
Section 1442(e) of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C.
300j-1(e)) is amended--
(1) by designating the first through seventh sentences as
paragraphs (1) through (7), respectively;
(2) in paragraph (5) (as so designated), by striking ``1997
through 2003'' and inserting ``2015 through 2020''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(8) Nonprofit organizations.--
``(A) In general.--The Administrator may use amounts made
available to carry out this section to provide grants or
cooperative agreements to nonprofit organizations that
provide to small public water systems onsite technical
assistance, circuit-rider technical assistance programs,
multistate, regional technical assistance programs, onsite
and regional training, assistance with implementing source
water protection plans, and assistance with implementing
monitoring plans, rules, regulations, and water security
enhancements.
``(B) Preference.--To ensure that technical assistance
funding is used in a manner that is most beneficial to the
small and rural communities of a State, the Administrator
shall give preference under this paragraph to nonprofit
organizations that, as determined by the Administrator, are
the most qualified and experienced in providing training and
technical assistance to small public water systems and that
the small community water systems in that State find to be
the most beneficial and effective.
``(C) Limitation.--No grant or cooperative agreement
provided or otherwise made available under this section may
be used for litigation pursuant to section 1449.''.
The bill (S. 653) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading,
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:
S. 653
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 2015''.
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 2015 through 2020''.
(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
[[Page S3976]]
years 2007 through 2011'' and inserting ``$1,500,000 for each
of fiscal years 2015 through 2020''.
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