Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 102 Part 3.djvu/947

 PUBLIC LAW 100-576—OCT. 31, 1988

102 STAT. 2899

merits with the Government of Bangladesh must be used, should be extended from September 30, 1989, to at least September 30, 1990. SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after the date of President of U.S. enactment of this Act, the President shall submit to the Congress a report on efforts by the international community and the governments of the region to develop regional programs for the Ganges basin and the Brahmaputra basin that are designed— (1) to ensure an equitable and predictable supply of water in the dry season; and (2) to promote better flood control mechanisms to mitigate in the mid-term, and prevent in the long-term, floods as severe as the 1988 floods in Bangladesh. (b) SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS.—The report required by subsection (a)(1) shall describe what efforts have been made by international organizations and other international institutions, by bilateral and multilateral assistance donors, and by countries in the region, to achieve the objectives set forth in subsection (a); (2) shall describe the feasibility studies, planning studies, or actual projects that are in preparation or have been completed to achieve those objectives; (3) shall analyze the potential costs, the technology obstacles (such as those presented by the earthquakes to which the region is prone), and the political problems that stand in the way of effective flood control in the Ganges basin and the Brahmaputra basin; (4) shall describe the environmental causes of the flood, particularly deforestation and soil erosion; and (5) shall describe the efforts made, and the efforts proposed to be made, by the President to promote a regional approach to achieving the objectives set forth in subsection (a). SEC. 6. OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT.

It is the sense of the Congress that the Office of Technology Assessment— (1) should cooperate in the effort described in section 5; and (2) in particular, should provide to the Department of State and the Congress— (A) a synopsis of all current studies and reports— (i) on flood control in the Ganges basin and the Brahmaputra basin, or (ii) on state-of-the-art technology available for the construction and maintenance of flood control projects, and

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