[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2117 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2117

To authorize the construction of the Perkins County Rural Water System 
 and authorize financial assistance to the Perkins County Rural Water 
System, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, in the planning and construction 
          of the water supply system, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 22, 1998

  Mr. Johnson (for himself and Mr. Daschle) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the construction of the Perkins County Rural Water System 
 and authorize financial assistance to the Perkins County Rural Water 
System, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, in the planning and construction 
          of the water supply system, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Perkins County Rural Water System 
Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
            (1) there are insufficient water supplies of reasonable 
        quality available to the members of the Perkins County Rural 
        Water System located in Perkins County, South Dakota, and the 
        water supplies that are available do not meet minimum health 
        and safety standards, thereby posing a threat to public health 
        and safety;
            (2) in 1977, the North Dakota State Legislature authorized 
        and directed the State Water Commission to conduct the 
        Southwest Area Water Supply Study, which included water service 
        to a portion of Perkins County, South Dakota;
            (3) amendments made by the Garrison Diversion Unit 
        Reformulation Act of 1986 (Public Law 101-294) authorized the 
        Southwest Pipeline project as an eligible project for Federal 
        cost share participation;
            (4) the Perkins County Rural Water System has continued to 
        be recognized by the State of North Dakota, the Southwest Water 
        Authority, the North Dakota Water Commission, the Department of 
        the Interior, and Congress as a component of the Southwest 
        Pipeline Project; and
            (5) the best available, reliable, and safe rural and 
        municipal water supply to serve the needs of the Perkins County 
        Rural Water System, Inc., members is the waters of the Missouri 
        River as delivered by the Southwest Pipeline Project in North 
        Dakota.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to ensure a safe and adequate municipal, rural, and 
        industrial water supply for the members of the Perkins County 
        Rural Water Supply System, Inc., in Perkins County, South 
        Dakota;
            (2) to assist the members of the Perkins County Rural Water 
        Supply System, Inc., in developing safe and adequate municipal, 
        rural, and industrial water supplies; and
            (3) to promote the implementation of water conservation 
        programs by the Perkins County Rural Water System, Inc.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Feasibility study.--The term ``feasibility study'' 
        means the study entitled ``Feasibility Study for Rural Water 
        System for Perkins County Rural Water System, Inc.'', as 
        amended in March 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 described 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 to 
        the point of delivery of water by the Perkins County 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, acting through the Commissioner of the Bureau 
        of Reclamation.
            (5) Water supply system.--The term ``water supply system'' 
        means the Perkins County Rural Water System, Inc., a nonprofit 
        corporation, established and operated substantially in 
        accordance with the feasibility study.

SEC. 4. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall make grants to the water 
supply system for the Federal share of the costs of--
            (1) the planning and construction of the water supply 
        system; and
            (2) repairs to existing public water distribution systems 
        to ensure conservation of the resources and to make the systems 
        functional under the new 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, repairs to existing public water 
distribution systems, and water conservation in Perkins County, South 
Dakota.
    (c) Amount of Grants.--Grants made available under subsection (a) 
to the water supply system shall not exceed the Federal share 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.) are met with respect to 
        the water supply system;
            (2) a final engineering report has been prepared and 
        submitted to Congress for a period of not less than 90 days 
        before the commencement of construction of the system; and
            (3) the water supply system has developed and implemented a 
        water conservation program.

SEC. 5. WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAM.

    (a) Purpose.--The water conservation program under section 4(d)(3) 
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 or special water users 
        (as defined in the feasibility study);
            (4) public education programs;
            (5) coordinated operation and maintenance (including 
        necessary repairs to ensure minimal water losses) by and 
        between the water supply system and any member of the system 
        that is a preexisting water supply facility within the service 
        area of the system; and
            (6) coordinated operation between the Southwest Pipeline 
        Project of North Dakota and the Perkins County Rural Water 
        System, Inc., of South Dakota.
    (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 water supply 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 Perkins County Rural Water System, Inc.;
        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 STATES.

    This Act does not limit the authorization for water projects in 
South Dakota and North Dakota 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 SHARE.

    The Federal share under section 4 shall be 75 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 March 1, 1995.

SEC. 11. NON-FEDERAL SHARE.

    The non-Federal share under section 4 shall be 25 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 March 1, 1995.

SEC. 12. CONSTRUCTION OVERSIGHT.

    (a) Authorization.--The Secretary may provide construction 
oversight to the water supply system for areas of the water supply 
system.
    (b) Project Oversight Administration.--The amount of funds used by 
the Secretary 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 project to 
be constructed in Perkins County, South Dakota.

SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated--
            (1) $15,000,000 for the planning and construction of the 
        water system under section 4; and
            (2) such sums as are necessary to defray increases in 
        development costs reflected in appropriate engineering cost 
        indices after March 1, 1995.
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