§390h–3 Research and Demonstration Projects

Summary

The Secretary may run research and build cooperative demonstration projects to test ways to treat and reclaim municipal, industrial, domestic, and agricultural wastewater and naturally impaired ground and surface waters. The federal government may pay up to 50% of a demonstration project's total cost, including operation and maintenance. Rights to inventions made under these projects are handled under the Stevenson‑Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980, as amended by the Technology Transfer Act of 1986. The Secretary may help design, plan, and build the Long Beach Desalination Research and Development Project in Los Angeles County with the city of Long Beach and two California water districts, and may help the Las Vegas Area Shallow Aquifer Desalination Research and Development Project in Clark County with the Southern Nevada Water Authority. For each project, the federal share must not exceed 50% and the federal government must not pay for operation or maintenance. The federal share cannot be more than 25% unless the Secretary first finds the project would not be feasible without a larger federal contribution.