866 



administration of the navigable waterways, and: 

 maintenance of water quality standards finds that 

 the technology for the conversion of saline and other 

 chemically contaminated waters is vital to all these 

 areas of responsibility. It is the policy of the Con- 

 gress, therefore, to provide for the development and- 

 demonstration of practicable means to convert saline 

 and other chemically contaminated water to a qual- 

 ity suitable for municipal, industrial, agricultural, 

 and other beneficial uses. (Pub. L. 92-60, § 2, July 29, 

 1971, 85 Stat. 159.) 



Short Title 

 Section 1 of Pub. L. 92-60 provided: "That this Act 

 [which enacted sections 1959 to 1959h and repealed sec- 

 tions 1951 to 1958 of this title) may be cited as 'The Saline 

 Water Conversion Act of 1971'." 



§ 1959a. Duties of Secretary of Interior. 



The Secretary of the Interior is authorized and 

 directed to — 



(a) Research and studies for development of proc- 

 esses and equipinent for converting saline water. 



conduct, encourage, and promote basic scientific 

 research and fundamental studies to develop effec- 

 tive and economical processes and equipment for 

 the puriKJse of converting saline and other chemi- 

 cally contaminated water into water suitable for 

 beneficial consumptive uses; 



(b) Publication of findings from research and 

 studies for application to other than water treat- 

 men' matters. 



pursue the findings of research arid studies au- 

 thorized by this chapter having potential practical 

 applications to matters other than water treat- 

 ment to the stage that such findings can be pub* 

 lished in an effective form for utilization by 

 others; 



(c) Engineering and technical work for development 

 of desalting processes and plant design concepts 

 for scaled demonstrations. 



conduct engineering and technical work includ- 

 ing the design, construction, and testing of pilot 

 plants, test beds, and modules to develop desalt- 

 ing processes and plant design concepts to the 

 point of demonstration on a practical scale; 



(d) Methods for recovery and marketing of byprod- 

 ucts as offsets against treatment costs; reduction 

 of impact on environment from discharge of 

 brine into waters. 



study methods for the recovery and marketing 

 of byproducts resulting from the desalination of 

 water to offset the costs of treatment and to reduce 

 impact on the environment from the discharge of 

 brines into lakes, streams, and other waters; and 



(e) Economic studies and surveys on water produc- 

 tion costs; information concerning relation of 

 desalting to other aspects of comprehensive 

 water resource planning: coordination of studies 

 and water resource planning, 

 undertake economic studies and surveys to de- 

 termine present and prospective costs of producing 

 water for beneficial consumptive purposes in var- 

 ious parts of the United States by the saline water 



processes as compared with other standard meth- 

 ods, and by means of mathematical models or other 

 methodologies prepare and m'aintain information 

 concerning the relation of desalting to other 

 aspects of State, regional, and national compre- 

 hensive water resource planning: Provided, That 

 in carrying out this function, the Secretary shall 

 coordinate these studies with planning being per- 

 formed under the provisions of the Water Re- 

 sources Planning Act, as amended. 

 (Pub. L. 92-60, § 3, July 29, 1971, 85 Stat. 159.) 



§ 1959b. Additional duties of Secretary of Interior. 



(a) Prototype plants; preliminary investigations. 

 The Secretary is authorized and directed to con- 

 duct preliminary investigations and to explore po- 

 tential cooperative agreements with non-Pederal 

 utilities and governmental entities in order to develop 

 recommendations for Federal participation in the 

 construction, operation, and maintenance of proto- 

 type plants utilizing desalting technologies for the 

 production of water for consumptive use. 



(b) Report to Congress; recommendations respecting 

 construction of large-scale prototype desalting 

 plant; criteria. 



The Secretary is authorized and directed to report 

 to the President and to the Congress, not later than 

 one year after July 29, 1971, his recommendation as 

 to the best opportunity for the early construction of 

 a large-scale prototype desalting plant. In making 

 his recommendation, the Secretary shall consider 

 the following — 



(i) plant size and process type best suited, within 

 the presently available technology, to demonstrate 

 the practicability of construction and operation 

 of a large-scale plant for water supply on a reliable 

 basis, and to provide information on the manage- 

 ment problems and economics of such operation; 

 (ii) availability of operating entities or utilities 

 wUling to enter, and capable of entering, into 

 agreements and contracts to provide a market for 

 water and an operating agency for the plants; 



(iii) availability of entities or utilities willing 

 to enter, and capable of entering, into agreements 

 and contracts to provide an energy source for the 

 plants; 



(iv) availability of a site, the environmental im- 

 plications of the energy source, and brine disposal 

 problems; and 



(V) need for the development of new water 

 sources in the area. 



(c) Federal agencies; assistance. 



In carrying out the provisions of this section, the 

 Secretary shall utilize the expertise of the water and 

 power marketing agencies of the Department of the 

 Interior or of (jther Federal agencies to insure that 

 the recommended prototype plant and the support- 

 ing agreements are fully integrated and compatible 

 with the water and power systems of the region. 



(d) State and other puhlic agencies; assistance. 



The Secretary Is authorized to accept financial 



