The regulations in this part are issued pursuant to title I of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (Pub. L. 98-242, 98 Stat. 97), which authorizes appropriations to, and confers authority upon, the Secretary of the Interior to promote national programs of water-resources research and technology development.

The Water-Resources Research Program and the Water-Resources Technology Development Program, as authorized by sections 105 and 106 of the Act (42 U.S.C. 10304 and 10305), have been established as components of the USGS. The Secretary of the Interior has delegated to the Director of the USGS authority to take actions and make the determinations that, under the Act, are the responsibility of the Secretary.

(a) Grant is used in these rules as a generic term for a Federal assistance award, including project grants and cooperative agreements.

(b) Act means the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (Pub. L. 98-242, 98 Stat. 97).

(c) Educational institution means any educational institution—privately and/or publicly owned.

(d) Dollar-for-dollar matching grant means for each Federal dollar provided to support the projects, a non-Federal dollar also must be provided to the project.

The information-collection requirements contained in sections 402.10, 402.11, and 402.15 have been approved by the OMB under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and assigned clearance number 1028-0046. The application proposals being collected will contain technical information that will be used by the USGS as a basis for selection and award of grants. The progress reports being collected will contain a description of all work accomplished and results achieved on each funded project and will enable the USGS to carry out its oversight responsibilities and provide dissemination of technical information.