Udall; Dr. Donald Hornig, Director, Office of Science and Technology and Science Adviser to the President; Commissioner James T. Ramey of the Atomic Energy Commission; and Mr. Frank C. Di Luzio, Director of the Office of Saline Water. The cominittee also received testimony from numerous representatives of industries which have done extensive research work in this field, either on their own or by participation in the Federal program. In addition, the committee received testimony from several internationally known scientists with long experience in this field. Two additional days of hearings in executive session were held to discuss with Director Di Luzio the details of the proposed 5-year, $200 million program. COMMITTEE AMENDMENT AND PROGRAM AUTHORIZED The program presented to the committee by the Department of the Interior was in terms of goals which the Department hoped to attain during the 5-year period. The only breakdown of the $200 million program dollarwise furnished by the Department was by categories. For instance, the major categories and the dollar assignment for the 5-year period are as follows: In discussing these catgories with the subcommittee, Mr. Di Luzio was able to state in general what the Office of Saline Water had in mind and what it hoped to accomplish during the 5-year period but he was not able to lay out a detailed program. This is understandable and the committee has no criticism of the new Director. The committee considers that Director Di Luzio, since assuming resonsibility for this important national program only 6 months ago, has done an excellent job of putting the program on a sound basis and establishing definite goals. The committee, of course, understands that in this type of research program the direction which it must take in the future depends to a great extent upon the progress which is made and the results obtained as the research progresses. Of course, it is not possible at this time to set out a 5-year program showing in detail how available funds will be spent. At the same time, the committee must retain its legislative responsibility for establishing the guidelines and the direction which the program is to take at this critical stage when it is proposed to be greatly accelerated. The question of where Federal role and responsibility with respect to any particular saline water conversion process or method ends and local government and industry responsibility begins is of vital interest to the committee. The objective of the program must be only to advance the state of the art of desalination, and the responsibility of the Federal Government and the Office of Saline Water for any process or method of conversion should be concluded at the earliest possible stage in the development. The committee questions whether the proposed program is properly balanced between expenditures for discovering new desalting techniques and expenditures for large modules, components, and plants. The committee has the responsibility for assuring that the expenditures of the limited funds available for this program are fully justified and are in line with expenditures for other water research which is just as important. Because the committee is so interested in making this program a success and in accomplishing the program objective of providing truly low-cost desalination, it will not approve a blank check for $200 million. It feels it must share the responsibility for determining how the funds authorized are to be used. The committee has therefore amended the bill so that, in effect, authority is provided only for a fiscal year 1967 program not exceeding $30 million. The committee recognizes the need for research and development work on parts or segmented pieces of a large plant and, therefore, has no objection to amending the basic act to include the words "module" and "component." At the same time, the committee shall insist upon being given an opportunity to review specific development work proposed under the expanded authority which the addition of these two words provides. Information on the program of the Office of Saline Water for fiscal year 1967, which was furnished the committee and presented to the committee by Mr. Di Luzio, was in sufficient detail that the committee understands what is proposed to be accomplished. The preliminary program totaling $29 million is comparable to the fiscal year 1966 program with a modest expansion in research and the inclusion of approximately $5.5 million to initiate development work on a module for large plants. The program calls for the establishment during fiscal year 1967 of the West Coast Test Center. The committee has examined the general research program that the Office of Saline Water has in mind pursuing in fiscal year 1967. It provides for an increase of about $2 million over the fiscal year 1966 research program and will permit some new meritorious proposals and projects to be initiated. With respect to the West Coast Test Center, the committee understands the need for establishing it at the earliest possible date so that items such as pumps, special control devices, and special equipment to be installed at the Test Center are available at the time they are expected to be needed under the research and development schedule that has been laid out. In addition, the construction of the multistage flash distillation plant (San Diego No. 2) which the committee has approved cannot go forward until the site for the Test Center is selected and installation work is initiated. With respect to the construction of the first module, the committee would like to be advised at such time as a final decision is reached as to its size and total cost. The committee understands that approximately $5.5 million of the $29 million is for this purpose. While Mr. DiLuzio talked to the committee in terms of building a 17-milliongallon-per-day hydraulic system at a cost of $7.5 million, he indicated, at the same time, that there was a possibility, based upon other studies and experiments presently underway and upon the operation of the San Diego No. 2 demonstration plant, that the 17-million-gallon-per-į day module might be bypassed, going directly to 50 million gallons per day. Because of this present uncertainty and the large cost involved, the committee requests that it be advised at the time the final decision on this matter is made, that it be furnished detailed data related to the development of the module, and that construction not be undertaken until the committee has had an opportunity to review the matter. This request is not intended to prohibit the preparation of designs. COMMITTEE POSITION ON FUTURE PROGRAM The committee has no objection to the Department of the Interior and the Office of Saline Water planning its fiscal year 1968 program, for purposes of presentation to the Congress, on the basis of the goals set out in the 5-year program presented in support of H.R. 7092. The committee recognizes the need for extending and expanding the program. The committee's objective and the President's objective are the same. The question is how best to accomplish the objective of the program with the funds which can be made available. The committee and the Congress have responsibilities which cannot be met, in the committee's view, by approving the legislation recommended by the President. COMMITTEE'S RECOMMENDATION The Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs of the House of Representatives recommends that H.R. 7092, as amended, be enacted. EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION The President's message to Congress (H. Doc. 128) recommending the legislation embodied in H.R. 7092 follows: THE WHITE HOUSE, Hon. JOHN W. MCCORMACK, DEAR MR. SPEAKER: Past generations of Americans have Water shortages-real as well as prospective-already plague some regions of our land. Other areas and communities will soon be threatened. Yet, we must have an abundance of fresh water if we are to continue to grow and prosper. Action to conserve what nature has so generously provided has often been inadequate and too late. We are determined not to make this mistake again. I have already pledged full support for cleaning up our rivers-and keeping them clean. We will continue to foster conservation by planning for the wisest possible use of all existing water supplies and by curbing and eliminating wasteful and uneconomic uses of water. But these steps are not enough. New sources of supply at competitive costs are also required if we are to stay abreast of the evermounting demand for water. The seas around us offer an inexhaustible reservoir to help meet this need in coastal areas while vast quantities of brackish water are available to supplement the supplies of many inland areas. We must spare no effort in learning how to desalt these waters economically. For the past 12 years the United States has been engaged in a program of research and development which has brought desalting technology to a point where it shows promise of economic application in the future. To stimulate the translation of this promise into reality, I requested the Department of the Interior last July to develop, in close collaboration with the Atomic Energy Commission, a proposed program which would significantly advance large-scale desalting technology. The resulting report entitled "Program for Advancing Desalting Technology" was completed promptly and released to the public on October 26, 1964. It recommended-and I am transmitting with this letter draft legislation to accomplishexpansion, extension, and acceleration of the salt water conversion research and development activities now being conducted by the Department of the Interior under authority of the Anderson-Aspinall Act of 1961. This legislative proposal would increase by $200 million the $75 million appropriation authorization provided in the 1961 act and extend through 1972 the time during which the authorized funds would be available to support this important program. Enactment of this legislation is vital if the Department of the Interior is to mount and lead the substantial sustained effort necessary to achieve truly economical desalting of sea and brackish waters. In the meantime, I have already transmitted to the Congress a request for a supplemental appropriation of $3.9 million in 1965 to enable the Department, through a reorganized Office of Saline Water, to accelerate its research and development activities along the general lines outlined in the report mentioned above. Desalting activities will receive continuing emphasis in 1966. My budgetary recommendations to Congress for the coming fiscal year amount to $29 million for the Office of Saline Water, more than double the amount appropriated for 1965. By pressing ahead with a vigorous program of economic desalting to meet our ever-growing domestic needs for water, we will at the same time provide the technology which can be shared with other nations. This technology could prove to be the key that will unlock the door to economic growth for many of these nations. It would be difficult to exaggerate the power for good, the palliative effect on age-old animosities and problems, that would result from providing an abundance of water in lands which, for countless generations, have known only shortage. To stimulate cooperation in the field with such great potential for the good of mankind, the United States will convoke a symposium of interested nations in October 1965 to exchange information on desalting technology. In recommending this measure to the Congress, I wish to acknowledge the foresight of such able legislators as Clinton Anderson, Wayne Aspinall, and the late Clair Engle. Our present efforts in desalting rest in substantial measure upon LYNDON B. JOHNSON. A BILL To expand, extend, and accelerate the saline water conversion Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the (1) In section 2(b) add the words ", module, component,' after the word "laboratory". (2) In section 8 substitute the figure "$275,000,000" for the figure "$75,000,000" and the figure "1972" for the figure "1967". CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW In compliance with clause 3 of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): ACT OF JULY 3, 1952 (66 STAT. 328), AS AMENDED (42 U.S.C. 1951 ET SEQ.) In view of the increasing shortage of usable surface and ground water in many parts of the Nation and the importance of finding new sources of supply to meet its present and future water needs, it is the policy of the Congress to provide for the development of practicable low-cost means for the large-scale production of water of a quality suitable for municipal, industrial, agricultural, and other beneficial consumptive uses from saline water, and for studies and research related thereto. As used in this Act, the term "saline water" includes sea water, brackish water, and other mineralized or chemically charged water, and the term "United States" extends to and includes the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the territories and possessions of the United States. SEC. 2. În order to accomplish the purposes of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall (a) conduct, encourage, and promote fundamental scientific research and basic studies to develop the best and most economical processes and methods for converting saline water into water suitable for beneficial consumptive purposes; (b) conduct engineering research and technical development work to determine, by laboratory, module, component, and pilot |