113 HR 1963 IH: Bureau of Reclamation Conduit Hydropower Development Equity and Jobs Act
U.S. House of Representatives
2013-05-14
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.This Act may be cited as the
Bureau of Reclamation Conduit
Hydropower Development Equity and Jobs Act
.
2.Section 9 of the Act entitled An Act
authorizing construction of water conservation and utilization projects in the
Great Plains and arid semiarid areas of the United States
, approved
August 11, 1939 (16 U.S.C. 590z–7; commonly known as the Water
Conservation and Utilization Act
), is amended—
(1)by striking In connection
with
and inserting (a) In connection with
;
(2)by striking
All right, title, and interest in the facilities provided for such
municipal or miscellaneous water supplies or surplus power and the revenues
derived therefrom shall be and remain in the United States.
; and
(3)by adding at the
end the following:
(b)The Secretary is
authorized to enter into leases of power privileges for electric power
generation in connection with any project constructed under this Act, and shall
have authority in addition to and alternative to any authority in existing laws
related to particular projects, including small conduit hydropower development,
consistent with the terms of this Act, the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 (43
U.S.C. 485h), and other Federal reclamation laws.
(c)When carrying out
this section, the Secretary shall first offer the lease of power privilege to
an irrigation district or water users association operating the applicable
transferred conduit, or to the irrigation district or water users association
receiving water from the applicable reserved conduit. The Secretary shall
determine a reasonable timeframe for the irrigation district or water users
association to accept or reject a lease of power privilege offer. If the
irrigation district or water users association elects not to accept a lease of
power privilege offer under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall offer the lease
of power privilege to other parties in accordance with this section.
(d)The Bureau of
Reclamation shall apply its categorical exclusion process under the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to small conduit
hydropower development under this section, excluding siting of associated
transmission facilities on Federal lands.
(e)Nothing in this
section shall obligate the Western Area Power Administration or the Bonneville
Power Administration to purchase or market any of the power produced by the
facilities covered under this section and none of the costs associated with
production or delivery of such power shall be assigned to project purposes for
inclusion in project rates.
(f)Nothing in this
section shall alter or impede the delivery and management of water by Bureau of
Reclamation facilities, as water used for conduit hydropower generation shall
be deemed incidental to use of water for the original project purposes. Lease
of power privilege shall be made only when, in the judgment of the Secretary,
the exercise of the lease will not be incompatible with the purposes of the
project or division involved and shall not create any unmitigated financial or
physical impacts to the project or division involved. The Secretary shall
notify and consult with the irrigation district or legally organized water
users association operating the transferred conduit in advance of offering the
lease of power privilege and shall prescribe such terms and conditions
necessary to adequately protect the planning, design, construction, operation,
maintenance, and other interests of the United States and the project or
division involved.
(g)Nothing in this section shall alter or
affect any agreements in effect on the date of the enactment of the Bureau of
Reclamation Conduit Hydropower Development Equity and Jobs Act for the
development of conduit hydropower projects or disposition of revenues.
(h)In this
section:
(1)The
term conduit means any Bureau of Reclamation tunnel, canal,
pipeline, aqueduct, flume, ditch, or similar manmade water conveyance that is
operated for the distribution of water for agricultural, municipal, or
industrial consumption and not primarily for the generation of
electricity.
(2)The term irrigation district means any
irrigation, water conservation or conservancy, multi-county water conservation
or conservancy district, or any separate public entity composed of two or more
such districts and jointly exercising powers of its member districts.
(3)The term reserved conduit means any conduit
that is included in project works the care, operation, and maintenance of which
has been reserved by the Secretary, through the Commissioner of the Bureau of
Reclamation.
(4)The term transferred conduit means any
conduit that is included in project works the care, operation, and maintenance
of which has been transferred to a legally organized water users association or
irrigation district.
(5)The term small conduit hydropower means a
facility capable of producing 5 megawatts or less of electric
capacity.
.