[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1212 Introduced in House (IH)]
105th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1212
To authorize the construction of the Fall River Water Users District
Rural Water System and authorize the appropriation of Federal dollars
to assist the Fall River Water Users District, a nonprofit corporation,
in the planning and construction of the water supply system.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 20, 1997
Mr. Thune introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Resources
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the construction of the Fall River Water Users District
Rural Water System and authorize the appropriation of Federal dollars
to assist the Fall River Water Users District, a nonprofit corporation,
in the planning and construction of the water supply system.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Fall River Water Users District
Rural Water System Act of 1997''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
(1) there are insufficient water supplies of reasonable
quality available to the members of the Fall River Water Users
District Rural Water System located in Fall River County, South
Dakota, and the water supplies that are available are of poor
quality and do not meet the minimum health and safety
standards, thereby posing a threat to public health and safety;
(2) past cycles of severe drought in the southeastern area
of Fall River county have left local residents without a
satisfactory water supply and during 1990, many home owners and
ranchers were forced to haul water to sustain their water
needs;
(3) most members of the Fall River Water Users District are
forced to either haul bottled water for human consumption or
use distillers due to the poor quality of water supplies
available;
(4) the Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System
has been recognized by the State of South Dakota; and
(5) the best available, reliable, and safe rural and
municipal water supply to serve the needs of the Fall River
Water Users District Rural Water System members consists of a
Madison Aquifer well, 3 separate water storage reservoirs, 3
pumping stations, and approximately 200 miles of pipeline.
(b) Purposes.--The Congress declares that the purposes of sections
1 through 13 are to--
(1) ensure a safe and adequate municipal, rural, and
industrial water supply for the members of the Fall River Water
Users District Rural Water System in Fall River County, South
Dakota;
(2) assist the citizens of the Fall River Water Users
District to develop safe and adequate municipal, rural, and
industrial water supplies; and
(3) promote the implementation of water conservation
programs by the Fall River Water Users District Rural Water
System.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act (unless the context clearly requires
otherwise):
(1) Engineering report.--The term ``engineering report''
means the study entitled ``Supplemental Preliminary Engineering
Report for Fall River Water Users District'', as amended in
August 1995.
(2) Project construction budget.--The term ``project
construction budget'' means the description of the total amount
of funds that are needed for the construction of the water
supply system, as contained in the feasibility study.
(3) Pumping and incidental operational requirements.--The
term ``pumping and incidental operational requirements'' means
all power requirements that are incidental to the operation of
intake facilities, pumping stations, water treatment
facilities, cooling facilities, reservoirs, and pipelines up to
the point of delivery of water by the Fall River Water Users
District Rural Water System to each entity that distributes
water at retail to individual users.
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(5) Water supply system.--The term ``water supply system''
means the Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System
that is established and operated substantially in accordance
with the feasibility study.
SEC. 4. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR THE WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM.
(a) In General.--The Secretary is authorized to make grants to the
Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System, a nonprofit
corporation, for the planning and construction of the water supply
system.
(b) Service Area.--The water supply system shall provide for safe
and adequate municipal, rural, and industrial water supplies,
mitigation of wetlands areas; and water conservation within the
boundaries of the Fall River Water Users District, described as
follows: bounded on the north by the Angostura Reservoir, the Cheyenne
River, and the Fall River/Custer County line, bounded on the east by
the Fall River/Shannon County line, bounded on the south by the South
Dakota/Nebraska State line, and bounded on the west by the previously
established Igloo-Provo Water Project District.
(c) Amount of Grants.--Grants made available under subsection (a)
to the Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System shall not
exceed the amount authorized under section 10.
(d) Limitation on Availability of Construction Funds.--The
Secretary shall not obligate funds for the construction of the water
supply system until--
(1) the requirements of the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) have been met;
(2) a final engineering report has been prepared and
submitted to the Congress for a period of not less than 90 days
before the commencement of construction of the system; and
(3) a water conservation program has been developed and
implemented under section 5.
SEC. 5. WATER CONSERVATION.
(a) Purpose.--The water conservation program required under this
section shall be designed to ensure that users of water from the water
supply system will use the best practicable technology and management
techniques to conserve water use.
(b) Description.--The water conservation program shall include--
(1) low consumption performance standards for all newly
installed plumbing fixtures;
(2) leak detection and repair programs;
(3) rate structures that do not include declining block
rate schedules for municipal households and special water users
(as defined in the feasibility study);
(4) public education programs; and
(5) coordinated operation between the Fall River Water
Users District Rural Water System and any preexisting water
supply facilities within its service area.
(c) Review and Revision.--The program described in subsection (b)
shall contain provisions for periodic review and revision, in
cooperation with the Secretary.
SEC. 6. MITIGATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE LOSSES.
Mitigation of fish and wildlife losses incurred as a result of the
construction and operation of the Fall River Water Users District Rural
Water System shall be on an acre-for-acre basis, based on ecological
equivalency, concurrent with project construction, as provided in the
feasibility study.
SEC. 7. USE OF PICK-SLOAN POWER.
(a) In General.--From power designated for future irrigation and
drainage pumping for the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Program, the
Western Area Power Administration shall make available the capacity and
energy required to meet the pumping and incidental operational
requirements of the water supply system during the period beginning May
1, and ending October 31, of each year.
(b) Conditions.--The capacity and energy described in subsection
(a) shall be made available on the following conditions:
(1) The water supply system shall be operated on a not-for-
profit basis.
(2) The water supply system shall contract to purchase its
entire electric service requirements, including the capacity
and energy made available under subsection (a), from a
qualified preference power supplier that itself purchases power
from the Western Area Power Administration.
(3) The rate schedule applicable to the capacity and energy
made available under subsection (a) shall be the firm power
rate schedule of the Pick-Sloan Eastern Division of the Western
Area Power Administration in effect when the power is delivered
by the Administration.
(4) It shall be agreed by contract among--
(A) the Western Area Power Administration;
(B) the power supplier with which the water supply
system contracts under paragraph (2);
(C) the power supplier of the entity described in
subparagraph (B); and
(D) the Fall River Water Users District,
that in the case of the capacity and energy made available
under subsection (a), the benefit of the rate schedule
described in paragraph (3) shall be passed through to the water
supply system, except that the power supplier of the water
supply system shall not be precluded from including, in the
charges of the supplier to the water system for the electric
service, the other usual and customary charges of the supplier.
SEC. 8. NO LIMITATION ON WATER PROJECTS IN STATE.
This Act shall not limit the authorization for water projects in
South Dakota and under law in effect on or after the date of enactment
of this Act.
SEC. 9. WATER RIGHTS.
Nothing in this Act--
(1) invalidates or preempts State water law or an
interstate compact governing water;
(2) alters the rights of any State to any appropriated
share of the waters of any body of surface or ground water,
whether determined by past or future interstate compacts or by
past or future legislative or final judicial allocations;
(3) preempts or modifies any Federal or State law, or
interstate compact, dealing with water quality or disposal; or
(4) confers on any non-Federal entity the ability to
exercise any Federal right to the waters of any stream or to
any ground water resource.
SEC. 10. FEDERAL COST SHARE.
The Secretary is authorized to provide funds equal to 80 percent
of--
(1) the amount allocated in the total project construction
budget for the planning and construction of the water supply
system under section 4; and
(2) such sums as are necessary to defray increases in
development costs reflected in appropriate engineering cost
indices after August 1, 1995.
SEC. 11. NON-FEDERAL COST SHARE.
The non-Federal share of the costs allocated to the water supply
system shall be 20 percent of--
(1) the amount allocated in the total project construction
budget for the planning and construction of the water supply
system under section 4; and
(2) such sums as are necessary to defray increases in
development costs reflected in appropriate engineering cost
indices after August 1, 1995.
SEC. 12. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION AUTHORIZATION.
(a) Authorization.--The Secretary is authorized to allow the Bureau
of Reclamation to provide construction oversight to the water supply
system for those areas of the water supply system that are described in
section 4(b).
(b) Project Oversight Administration.--The amount of funds used by
the Bureau of Reclamation for planning and construction of the water
supply system may not exceed an amount equal to 3 percent of the amount
provided in the total project construction budget for the portion of
the projects to be constructed in Fall River County, South Dakota.
SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated $3,600,000 for the planning
and construction of the water system under section 4, plus such sums as
are necessary to defray increases in development costs reflected in
appropriate engineering cost indices after August 1, 1995.
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