[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6113 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6113
To establish an Advanced Research Projects Agency-Water, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 5, 2020
Mr. Katko (for himself and Mr. Kildee) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish an Advanced Research Projects Agency-Water, 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 ``ARPA-H20 Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY-WATER.
(a) Establishment.--There is established within the Environmental
Protection Agency the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Water, headed
by a Director, who shall be appointed by the Administrator to carry out
programs to provide funds to eligible entities for projects intended to
enhance, through the deployment of advanced technologies, the
treatment, monitoring, delivery, affordability, and safety of--
(1) drinking water provided by a water system;
(2) wastewater or stormwater discharged by a water system;
(3) groundwater or well water used for drinking water; or
(4) any other activities carried out by a water system for
the purposes of enhancing public health or environmental
safety.
(b) Programs.--ARPA-H20 shall be comprised of programs that--
(1) provide funds for projects described in subsection (a),
as determined appropriate by the Director; and
(2) are carried out and overseen by program managers under
subsection (e).
(c) Research Advisory Council.--
(1) In general.--The Director shall establish a research
advisory council to recommend the content of the programs under
ARPA-H20, including annual research priorities for funding
consideration.
(2) Membership.--The council established under paragraph
(1) shall be composed of 12 members appointed by the Director
who represent--
(A) public and private water systems including
large decentralized systems;
(B) academia;
(C) national nonprofits and organizations that
represent the water sector and collaborate with the
Agency;
(D) public or private entities engaged in
technology development, deployment, or consultation to
enhance delivery, reliability, affordability, and
safety of the operations of water systems; and
(E) relevant Federal agencies.
(d) Responsibilities of the Director.--The Director shall--
(1) approve each grant, contract, cooperative agreement,
cash prize, or other transaction to fund projects under this
Act;
(2) terminate funding for any project under this Act that
does not meet the goals of the program through which such
project was funded;
(3) ensure that projects funded under this Act are not
duplicative of other Federal research projects that enhance the
delivery, reliability, affordability, and safety of the
operations of water systems;
(4) coordinate with non-governmental entities for
demonstration of technologies and research applications to
facilitate technology transfer;
(5) establish research and development goals to carry out
this Act;
(6) set criteria for funding and assessment of projects
under this Act in addition to the criteria established in
section 3(c); and
(7) provide funds through any funding mechanism that the
Director determines appropriate to eligible entities to carry
out this Act.
(e) Program Managers.--
(1) In general.--The Director shall designate managers to
carry out the programs established under subsection (b).
(2) Responsibilities.--A program manager shall--
(A) establish research and development goals for
the program, including by convening workshops,
conferring with outside experts, and publicizing the
goals of the program to public and private sector
entities;
(B) solicit applications for projects in specific
areas of particular promise, especially areas that the
private sector or the Federal Government are not likely
to undertake alone;
(C) build research collaborations to carry out the
program; and
(D) establish a selection process under the program
based upon criteria established in section 3(c).
(3) Term.--The term of a program manager shall be not more
than 5 years and such term may be renewed by the Director.
SEC. 3. SELECTION OF RECIPIENTS OF FUNDS.
(a) In General.--In carrying out a program under this Act, the
program manager shall select projects described in subsection (b) to
receive funds under the program.
(b) Eligible Projects.--Projects related to the following shall be
eligible for funding under a program:
(1) Advanced technologies for--
(A) the security and materials of water systems; or
(B) the testing, monitoring, conveyance,
distribution, and treatment of--
(i) drinking water provided by a water
system; or
(ii) wastewater or stormwater discharged by
a water system.
(2) Water technologies that may improve efficiency and
resiliency of water systems, lower life-cycle costs or reduce
energy consumption of water systems treatment and conveyance.
(3) Methods to detect, monitor, and address contaminants
present in drinking water or wastewater.
(4) Methods to advance nutrient management for source water
protection.
(5) Resource recovery of marketable products derived from
water systems including, but not limited to, nutrient,
biosolids, energy, metals, and recycled water.
(6) Advancements in beneficial reuse and desalination that
support the diversification of water supplies.
(7) Approaches to mitigation, containment, and treatment of
stormwater.
(8) Methods to test, treat, and study the impacts of
emerging contaminants.
(9) Any other activities carried out by a water system for
the purposes of enhancing public health or environmental
safety.
(c) Criteria.--A program manager shall select a project to receive
funds under the program based on the demonstration of the applicant
of--
(1) the scientific and technical merit of the proposed
project;
(2) transformative technological potential;
(3) the potential for cost effective technology
applications;
(4) the capabilities of the applicants to successfully
carry out the proposed project;
(5) the consideration of future commercial applications of
the project, including the feasibility of partnering with one
or more water sector entities;
(6) the potential of the applicant to use funds from non-
Federal sources in addition to the funds made available under
this Act; and
(7) any other criteria considered appropriate by the
Director.
SEC. 4. TERMINATION; REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.
(a) Termination.--The authority to carry out this Act shall
terminate on the date that is 5 years after the date on which the first
funds are appropriated for ARPA-H20.
(b) Reporting Requirements.--
(1) Report to congress.--Not later than 2 years after the
date on which funds are first appropriated to carry out this
Act, the Director shall submit to Congress a report with a
detailed list of each project funded under the new ARPA-H20
program and a description of the technological achievements and
progress made by the project.
(2) Transparency.--The Director shall publish on a publicly
available website a description of each project that receives
funds under this Act, including--
(A) the name of the entity that received such
funds; and
(B) the amount of funds that such entity received.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act, the following definitions apply:
(1) ARPA-h20.--The term ``ARPA-H20'' means the Advanced
Research Projects Agency-Water established in subsection (a).
(2) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
ARPA-H20 appointed in subsection (a).
(3) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means
the following:
(A) Nonprofit research organizations.
(B) Academic institutions.
(C) Private sector entities.
(D) Water systems.
(E) National labs.
(F) Federally funded research and development
centers.
(G) Research consortia that consist of entities in
industries that the Director determines relevant to the
program under this Act.
(4) Water systems.--The term ``water system'' means an
entity that--
(A) serves the public;
(B) manages the supply, treatment, or conveyance
of--
(i) drinking water;
(ii) wastewater and water resource
recovery;
(iii) stormwater; or
(iv) water reuse; and
(C) large decentralized systems that provide
treatment for two or more households.
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