110 STAT. 3622 PUBLIC LAW 104-298—OCT. 11, 1996 Public Law 104-298 104th Congress An Act Oct. 11, 1996 [S. 811] Water Desalination Act of 1996. 42 USC 10301 note. 42 USC 10301 note. 42 USC 10301 note. To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct studies regarding the desalination of water and water reuse, 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 "Water Desahnation Act of 1996". SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. As used in this Act: (1) DESALINATION OR DESALTING. — The terms "desahnation" or "desalting" mean the use of any process or technique for the removal and, when feasible, adaptation to beneficial use, of organic and inorganic elements and compounds from saline or biologically impaired waters, by itself or in conjunction with other processes. (2) SALINE WATER.—The term "saline water" means sea water, brackish water, and other mineralized or chemically impaired water. (3) UNITED STATES.— The term "United States" means the States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the territories and possessions of the United States. (4) USABLE WATER.— The term "usable water" means water of a high quality suitable for environmental enhancement, agricultural, industrial, municipal, and other beneficial consumptive or nonconsumptive uses. (5) SECRETARY.— The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Interior. SEC. 3 AUTHORIZATION OF RESEARCH AND STUDIES. (a) IN GENERAL.—In order to determine the most cost-effective and technologically efficient means by which usable water can be produced from saline water or water otherwise impaired or contaminated, the Secretary is authorized to award grants and to enter into contracts, to the extent provided in advance in appropriation Acts, to conduct, encourage, and assist in the financing of research to develop processes for converting saline water into water suitable for beneficial uses. Awards of research ^ants and contracts under this section shall be made on the basis of a competitive, meritreviewed process. Research and study topics authorized by this section include— (1) investigating desalination processes;
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