[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3041 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3041

    To supplement the Small Reclamation Projects Act of 1956 and to 
   supplement the Federal Reclamation Laws by providing for Federal 
   cooperation in non-Federal projects and for participation by non-
                 Federal agencies in Federal projects.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 7, 1996

 Mr. Calvert introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                         Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To supplement the Small Reclamation Projects Act of 1956 and to 
   supplement the Federal Reclamation Laws by providing for Federal 
   cooperation in non-Federal projects and for participation by non-
                 Federal agencies in Federal projects.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

                                TITLE I

SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

    This title may be cited as the ``Small Reclamation Water Resources 
Project Act of 1995''.

SEC. 102. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this title is to encourage Federal, State, and local 
participation in the development of projects under the Federal 
Reclamation Laws that provide for total water resources management with 
emphasis on, but not limited to, projects that achieve improvements in 
the augmentation and management of local water supplies, conservation 
of water and energy, fish and wildlife conservation, supplemental water 
for existing supplies, water quality improvements, flood control, and 
to provide timely Federal assistance in the development of similar 
projects in the seventeen western reclamation States by non-Federal 
organizations. Irrigation shall remain an eligible project purpose, but 
shall not be a required purpose for project proposals.

SEC. 103. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this title:
            (1) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
        Interior.
            (2) The term ``Federal Reclamation Laws'' means the Act of 
        June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388), and Acts amendatory thereof or 
        supplementary thereto.
            (3) The term ``project sponsor'' means a State or a 
        department, agency, or political subdivision thereof; or a 
        conservancy district, water users' association, tribal 
        authority, or agency created by interstate compact or similar 
        organization which has the capacity to contract with the United 
        States under the Federal Reclamation Laws.
            (4) The term ``water and energy conservation'' means the 
        preservation, protection, enhancement, or extension of water or 
        energy resources.
            (5) The term ``fish and wildlife conservation'' means those 
        operational measures, habitat, or physical features associated 
        with the protection, preservation, enhancement, or recovery of 
        those fish and wildlife resources that are considered of 
        importance and interest and which shall include, but not be 
        limited to, migratory species, threatened or endangered species 
        as listed, or proposed for listing, under the Endangered 
        Species Act, or other species, as determined by the Secretary, 
        to be worthy of consideration under these terms.
            (6) The term ``water quality improvements'' shall mean and 
        involve those operation measures and physical features 
        associated with--
                    (A) the reclamation and reuse of irrigation 
                drainage or municipal and industrial return flows, 
                including wastewater flows;
                    (B) the reclamation, dilution, or control, of 
                brackish, toxic, or hazardous waters for beneficial 
                reuse or protection of other related water, land, or 
                environmental resources; or
                    (C) flow augmentation from storage to achieve 
                national or State water quality goals.
            (7) The term ``project'' means--
                    (A) a single or multipurpose water resource 
                development project; or
                    (B) a project for the rehabilitation, betterment, 
                or retrofit of any existing Federal or non-Federal 
                water infrastructure for purposes of significant water 
                and energy conservation or fish and wildlife 
                conservation.
            (8) The term ``maximum allowable estimated Federal share'' 
        shall be determined by the Secretary using the Bureau of 
        Reclamation composite construction cost index for January of 
        that year with $30,000,000 as the January 1995 base and shall 
        be for any given proposal submitted during any given calendar 
        year.

SEC. 104. PROPOSAL FEE.

    Any project sponsor applying for assistance under this Act shall 
submit a proposal to the Secretary in such form and manner as the 
Secretary may prescribe. Each such proposal shall be accompanied by a 
payment of $5,000 plus $1,000 for each $1,000,000 of the 
estimated Federal share of project costs, or portion thereof. Fifty 
percent of the payment shall accompany the application and the 
remaining 50 percent shall be due upon approval of the project by the 
Secretary, if approved.

SEC. 105. CONTENTS OF PROPOSAL.

    (a) Any project proposal shall set forth a plan and estimated cost 
in detail comparable to those included in preauthorization reports 
required for a Federal reclamation project. Any such proposal shall 
have been submitted for review by the State or States in which the 
project is located and shall include a proposed allocation of capital 
costs to function such that costs for facilities used for a single 
purpose shall be allocated to that purpose and costs for facilities 
used for more than one purpose shall be so allocated among the purposes 
served such that each purpose will share equitably in the costs of such 
joint facilities. The costs of means and measures to prevent loss of 
and damage to existing fish and wildlife resources shall be considered 
as non-Federal project costs and allocated as may be appropriate among 
project functions. Such proposal shall also include an investigation of 
soil characteristics which might result in toxic or hazardous return 
flows.
    (b)(1) Each proposal shall include a finding that the project 
sponsor already holds or can acquire all lands and interests in land, 
except public and other lands and interest in land owned by the United 
States which are within the administrative jurisdiction of the 
Secretary and subject to disposition by the Secretary, and rights, 
pursuant to applicable State law, to the use of water necessary for the 
successful construction, operation, and maintenance of the project and 
that it is ready, able, and willing to finance otherwise than by loan 
and grant of Federal funds the non-Federal portion of the costs of the 
project, which portion shall include all costs of acquiring lands, 
interests in land, and rights to the use of water except as provided in 
section 105(b)(2) hereof.
    (2) The Secretary shall require each project sponsor to contribute 
towards the cost of the project, other than by loan or grant of Federal 
funds, not less than 25 percent nor more than 40 percent of the 
allowable estimated costs of the project, unless mutually agreed to by 
the Secretary and the project sponsor. In determining the amount of the 
contribution, the Secretary shall credit toward that amount the cost of 
investigations, surveys, engineering, and other services necessary to 
the preparation of proposals and plans for the project as required by 
the Secretary, the costs of lands and rights-of-way acquisition 
required for the project, amounts spent by the project sponsor for 
construction or acquisition of existing facilities prior to project 
approval, and the filing fee required by this Act. In determining the 
allowable estimated cost of the project, the Secretary shall not 
include the amount of grants accorded the organizations under section 
106(b).
    (c) Within nine months from the time the initial loan application 
report proposal is submitted to the Secretary, the Secretary shall make 
a determination whether the proposal is financially feasible and 
constitutes a reasonable risk under the provisions of this Act and 
either approve or disapprove the proposal. The Secretary shall promptly 
transmit any approved proposals to the Congress. Any National 
Environmental Policy Act documentation for the project shall be 
completed prior to Secretarial approval of the proposal.
    (d) At the time the Secretary submits a project proposal to the 
Congress, or at any subsequent time prior to the completion of 
construction of the project, the Secretary may increase the amount of 
the requested loan and/or grant, subject to the limitations allowed by 
subsection (8) of section 103 of this Act, to compensate for increases 
in construction costs due to price escalation.
    (e) No Federal funds may be obligated for Federal financial 
participation in any project prior to sixty calendar days not including 
days on which either the House of Representatives or the Senate is not 
in session because of an adjournment of more than three calendar days 
to a day certain, from the date on which the Secretary's findings and 
approval are submitted to the Congress.
    (f) Title to all project works and facilities constructed under 
this Act shall remain in the name of the local project sponsor.
    (g) Nothing contained in this Act shall preclude the making of more 
than one loan or grant, or combined loan and grant, to a project 
sponsor so long as no two such loans or grants, or combinations 
thereof, are for the same project, as herein defined. No loan shall be 
made for less than 15 years nor more than 25 years unless agreed to by 
both parties.

SEC. 106. CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

    Upon approval of any project proposal the Secretary shall negotiate 
a contract which shall set out, but shall not be limited to:
            (a) The maximum amount of any loan to be made to the 
        project sponsor and the time and method of making the same 
        available to the project sponsor.
            (b) The maximum amount of any grant to be accorded the 
        project sponsor.
            (c) A plan of repayment by the project sponsor of: The 
        principal of the loan together with interest on those features 
        required to bear interest under Federal Reclamation Laws, at a 
        rate determined by the Secretary of the Treasury as of the 
        beginning of the fiscal year in which the contract is executed 
        on the basis of the average market yields on outstanding 
        marketable obligations of the United States with remaining 
        periods to maturity comparable to the applicable repayment 
        period of the project, adjusted to the nearest one-eighth of 1 
        percent on the unamortized balance of any portion of the loan: 
        Provided, That the Secretary, at his discretion, may reduce the 
        interest to not less than one-half the average market rate as 
        so determined, or to the extent that he determines that the 
        project sponsor is unable to secure financing from other 
        sources under reasonable terms and conditions, and shall 
        include letters from lenders or other written evidence in 
        support of any finding of an applicant's inability to secure 
        such financing in any project proposal transmitted to the 
        Congress. Loans under these terms may be made for all costs 
        allocated to commercial irrigation; however, the Secretary 
        shall reduce the interest to not less than \1/3\ the average 
        based on the applicant's average ability to pay calculations, 
        or further reduce the loan rate if he finds at his discretion 
        that there are sufficient benefits to approve a reduced loan 
        rate.
            (d) Such terms and conditions as the Secretary deems 
        necessary or proper to provide assurance of and security for 
        prompt repayment and to ensure achievement of the purposes for 
        which the loan was made.

SEC. 107. CONTRACT CONFORMITY.

    The Secretary may waive the requirements of subsections (a) and (b) 
of section 105, for any proposal relating to a project authorized for 
construction under the Federal reclamation laws prior to the date of 
enactment of this Act if he finds the requirements of such subsections 
to be duplicative of, or rendered unnecessary or impossible by, actions 
already taken by the United States.

SEC. 108. INFORMATION AVAILABILITY.

    Upon request of a project sponsor which has made or intends to make 
a proposal under the Act, the head of any Federal department or agency 
may make available to the project sponsor any existing engineering, 
economic, hydrologic, or other appropriate information and printed 
material that it may have and that will be useful in connection with 
the planning, design, construction, or operation and maintenance of the 
project concerned. The reasonable cost of any plans, specifications, 
and other unpublished material furnished by the Secretary pursuant to 
this section and the cost of making and administering any provision 
under this Act shall, to the extent that they would not be 
nonreimbursable in the case of a project constructed under the Federal 
Reclamation Laws, be treated as a loan and covered in the provisions of 
the contract entered into under section 106 of this Act unless they are 
otherwise paid for by the project sponsor.

SEC. 109. COMPLIANCE WITH FISH AND WILDLIFE COORDINATION ACT.

    For those projects where the planning and construction of projects 
undertaken pursuant to this Act is subject to the provisions of the 
Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, the cost of such provisions shall 
be a Federal expense and the Secretary is authorized, as may be 
provided in Appropriation Acts, to transfer to the Fish and Wildlife 
Service or to the National Marine Fisheries Service, such funds as may 
be necessary to conduct the investigations required to carry out the 
purposes of this Act, except that the Secretary may not use any funds 
appropriated for the purposes of projects or programs under the Bureau 
of Reclamation.

SEC. 110. RULES AND REGULATIONS.

    The Secretary is authorized to make such rules and regulations as 
may be necessary or proper in carrying out the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 111. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Funds authorized for appropriation under the Small Reclamation 
Projects Act (43 U.S.C. 504) shall be available for the purposes of 
this Act. To the extent that such funds are not adequate, there are 
hereby authorized to be appropriated to carry out the provisions of 
this title not to exceed $300,000,000 from fiscal year 1998 to fiscal 
year 2007. All such appropriations shall remain available until 
expended.

                                TITLE II

SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

    This title may be cited as the ``Small Reclamation Water Resources 
Partnership Program''.

SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this title:
            (1) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
        Interior.
            (2) The term ``Federal Reclamation Laws'' means the Act of 
        June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388), and Acts amendatory thereof or 
        supplementary thereto.
            (3) The term ``project sponsor'' means a State or a 
        department, agency, or political subdivision thereof; or a 
        conservancy district, irrigation district, water users' 
        association, tribal authority, or agency created by interstate 
        compact or similar organization which has the capacity to 
        contract with the United States under the Federal Reclamation 
        Laws.
            (4) The term ``project purposes'' means certain Bureau of 
        Reclamation programs of water conservation, fish and wildlife 
        enhancement, public safety, public outdoor recreation, 
        environmental education, archaeological surveys, integrated 
        resource planning, watershed management, technology transfer, 
        groundwater management, and research and nonstructural flood 
        control activities.
            (5) The term ``regional loan officer'' means the Bureau of 
        Reclamation employee assigned responsibility for processing the 
        loan or grant applications under this program.

SEC. 203. ESTABLISHMENT OF A SMALL GRANT AND LOAN PROGRAM.

    There is hereby established within the Department of the Interior's 
Bureau of Reclamation the Small Reclamation Water Resources Management 
Partnership Program for a small grant and loan program. Grants shall 
not exceed $5,000,000 for any one project and shall be matched on a 50-
50 basis. There are authorized to be appropriated not to exceed 
$10,000,000 per year for the purposes of this title for fiscal year 
1998 through fiscal year 2002. Loans shall not exceed $1,500,000 per 
project. Once work is certified complete by the regional loan officer, 
the loans shall be repaid within a five-year period into a revolving 
loan fund program that shall be established in the Department of the 
Treasury. Money from the repayment of the loans shall be available from 
the revolving loan program fund without further appropriation.

SEC. 204. ACTIVITIES ELIGIBLE UNDER THE SMALL RECLAMATION WATER 
              RESOURCES PARTNERSHIP.

    (a) The following types of activities shall be eligible for grant 
or loan purposes:
            (1) Water conservation.--
                    (A) rehabilitation of existing structures;
                    (B) wastewater reuse systems;
                    (C) groundwater recharge and development systems;
                    (D) watershed management programs;
                    (E) water quality improvement projects;
                    (F) conjunctive use projects;
                    (G) metering of systems; and
                    (H) public education.
            (2) Fish and wildlife enhancement.--
                    (A) fish and wildlife habitat improvement programs;
                    (B) grassland/water/wetland areas;
                    (C) stabilization of instream flows; and
                    (D) Federal or State endangered species habitat 
                protection and enhancement where improvement or 
                enhancement activities are within normal operating 
                criteria.
            (3) Public safety.--
                    (A) downstream warning system projects;
                    (B) canal fencing for public safety; and
                    (C) public access facilities.
            (4) Public outdoor recreation.--
                    (A) replacement, repair, or improvement of boat 
                ramps, hiking and biking trails, benches, picnic areas, 
                parking facilities associated with Federal reclamation 
                projects; and
                    (B) addition of public access facilities.
            (5) Archaeological surveys.--Site clearances.
    (b) The Secretary may add to this list of activities as he deems 
appropriate, except that any such addition shall not take effect until 
60 days after the Secretary publishes a notice of the proposed addition 
in the Federal Register and has notified the Committee on Resources of 
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources of the United States Senate in writing of the proposed 
addition and the reasons therefor.

SEC. 205. APPLICATION PROCESS.

    (a) Each applicant shall submit a Notice of Intent to the 
appropriate Regional Director of the United States Bureau of 
Reclamation outlining the proposed project and the public benefits 
thereof. The Regional Director shall provide a written response to the 
applicant within 90 days of receiving the application either affirming 
or rejecting Federal interest in participating in the project.
    (b) Upon notification of a Federal interest, the applicant shall 
have the option of proceeding with an appropriate loan application 
giving details of the project and the associated public benefits.
    (c) The contents of any project proposal shall include, but need 
not be limited to, the following:
            (1) A resolution by the board of directors of the 
        qualifying organization stating the total estimated cost, the 
        amount of the grant or loan requested, the amount of the local 
        contribution for the grant, and the project objectives.
            (2) A summary of the proposal.
            (3) A brief description of the anticipated effects of the 
        project on the natural, as well as manmade environment.
            (4) Evidence that the applicant has all lands and water 
        rights needed for the project, or can obtain them.
            (5) A description of the project plan, including a general 
        map showing the location of proposed physical features, 
        sufficient engineering drawings of major and typical 
        structures, and general standards for design.
            (6) A construction schedule, if applicable, with dates and 
        schedule of Federal funding requirements, in sufficient detail 
        to permit analysis of the proposed construction program.
            (7) A determination of those portions of the project costs 
        which constitute the Federal grant/loan amounts and the 
        applicant's local contribution.
    (d) The cost of any investigations and preparation of any 
environmental documentation shall be borne by the project applicant and 
any such costs shall be credited as part of the local cost share for 
grant funding.
    (e) The Secretary shall publish on a quarterly basis in the Federal 
Register a listing of the activities and total funding required for 
work committed under this program.

SEC. 206. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF PROJECT WORK.

    The applicant is solely responsible for planning, constructing, 
operating, and maintaining the project. The office of the Regional 
Director will examine the plans to determine if the project can 
reasonably be expected to accomplish its purpose. Once approved by the 
Regional Director, funding, subject to the availability of 
appropriations or funds from repayments, shall be provided within sixty 
days for the schedule of work within that fiscal year.
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HR 3041 IH----2