[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5459 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5459

  To direct the Secretary of the Army to recommend a water resources 
development and conservation project for authorization by Congress only 
 if the project has projected benefits that are at least 1.5 times as 
  great as the project's estimated total cost, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 12, 2000

 Mr. Sanford (for himself, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Tancredo, and Ms. 
  McKinney) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Secretary of the Army to recommend a water resources 
development and conservation project for authorization by Congress only 
 if the project has projected benefits that are at least 1.5 times as 
  great as the project's estimated total cost, 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 ``Corps of Engineers Benefit-Cost 
Improvement Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. REQUIRED BENEFIT-COST RATIO.

    (a) Recommendation of Projects.--Beginning in fiscal year 2001, in 
the case of a water resources development and conservation project that 
is subject to a benefit-cost analysis (including any project that has 
been contingently authorized subject to a favorable report from the 
Chief of Engineers), the Secretary of the Army shall only recommend the 
project for authorization by Congress, and shall only choose the 
project as a recommended alternative in any record of decision or 
environmental impact statement, if the project, in addition to meeting 
any other criteria required by law, has projected benefits that are at 
least 1.5 times as great as the project's estimated total cost.
    (b) Review and Deauthorization of Projects.--
            (1) Review.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall review each water 
        resources development and conservation project described in 
        paragraph (2) to determine whether the project has projected 
        benefits that are less than 1.5 times as great as the project's 
        estimated total cost.
            (2) Projects subject to review.--A water resources 
        development and conservation project shall be subject to review 
        under paragraph (1) if--
                    (A) the project is currently authorized;
                    (B) the project is a project that is subject to a 
                benefit-cost analysis; and
                    (C) less than 33 percent of the project's estimated 
                total cost (other than costs of preliminary engineering 
                and design) have been expended.
            (3) Deauthorizations.--Upon completion of the review under 
        paragraph (1), the Secretary shall transmit to Congress a list 
        of each project that has projected benefits that are less than 
        1.5 times as great as the project's estimated total cost. A 
        project included on the list is not authorized after the date 
        that is 3 years after the date of transmittal of the list to 
        Congress unless the project is reauthorized by law.
            (4) Deauthorized projects for which construction has been 
        initiated.--In the case of a project that is deauthorized under 
        paragraph (3) and for which construction (other than 
        preliminary engineering and design) has been initiated, the 
        Secretary may take such actions as may be necessary with 
        respect to the project to protect public health and safety and 
        the environment.
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