[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1544 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1544

To authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to provide cost sharing for the 
endangered fish recovery implementation programs for the Upper Colorado 
                       and San Juan River Basins.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 5, 1999

  Mr. Allard introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to provide cost sharing for the 
endangered fish recovery implementation programs for the Upper Colorado 
                       and San Juan River Basins.

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

SECTION 1. PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this Act is to authorize and provide funding for the 
Bureau of Reclamation to continue the implementation of the endangered 
fish recovery implementation programs for the Upper Colorado and San 
Juan River Basins in order to accomplish the objectives of these 
programs within a currently established time schedule.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act:
            (1) The term ``Recovery Implementation Programs'' means the 
        intergovernmental programs established pursuant to the 1988 
        Cooperative Agreement to implement the Recovery Implementation 
        Program for the Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado 
        River dated September 29, 1987, and the 1992 Cooperative 
        Agreement to implement the San Juan River Recovery 
        Implementation Program dated October 21, 1992, and as they may 
        be amended by the parties thereto.
            (2) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
        Interior.
            (3) The term ``Upper Division States'' means the States of 
        Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
            (4) The term ``Colorado River Storage Project'' or 
        ``storage project'' means those dams, reservoirs, power plants, 
        and other appurtenant project facilities and features 
        authorized by and constructed in accordance with the Colorado 
        River Storage Project Act (43 U.S.C. 620 et seq.).
            (5) The term ``capital projects'' means planning, design, 
        permitting or other compliance, pre-construction activities, 
        construction, construction management, and replacement of 
        facilities, and the acquisition of interests in land or water, 
        as necessary to carry out the Recovery Implementation Programs.
            (6) The term ``facilities'' includes facilities for the 
        genetic conservation or propagation of the endangered fishes, 
        those for the restoration of floodplain habitat or fish 
        passage, those for control or supply of instream flows, and 
        those for the removal or translocation of nonnative fishes.
            (7) The term ``interests in land and water'' includes, but 
        is not limited to, long-term leases and easements, and long-
        term enforcement, or other agreements protecting instream 
        flows.
            (8) The term ``base funding'' means funding for operation 
        and maintenance of capital projects, implementation of recovery 
        actions other than capital projects, monitoring and research to 
        evaluate the need for or effectiveness of any recovery action, 
        and program management, as necessary to carry out the Recovery 
        Implementation Programs. Base funding also includes annual 
        funding provided under the terms of the 1988 Cooperative 
        Agreement and the 1992 Cooperative Agreement.
            (9) The term ``recovery actions other than capital 
        projects'' includes short-term leases and agreements for 
        interests in land, water, and facilities; the reintroduction or 
        augmentation of endangered fish stocks; and the removal, 
        translocation, or other control of nonnative fishes.
            (10) The term ``depletion charge'' means a one-time 
        contribution in dollars per acre-foot to be paid to the United 
        States Fish and Wildlife Service based on the average annual 
        new depletion by each project.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION TO FUND RECOVERY PROGRAMS.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations for Federal Participation in 
Capital Projects.--(1) There is hereby authorized to be appropriated to 
the Secretary, $46,000,000 to undertake capital projects to carry out 
the purposes of this Act. Such funds shall be considered a 
nonreimbursable Federal expenditure.
    (2) The authority of the Secretary, acting through the Bureau of 
Reclamation, under this or any other provision of law to implement 
capital projects for the Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered 
Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin shall expire in fiscal 
year 2005 unless reauthorized by an Act of Congress.
    (3) The authority of the Secretary to implement the capital 
projects for the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program 
shall expire in fiscal year 2007 unless reauthorized by an Act of 
Congress.
    (b) Cost of Capital Projects.--The total costs of the capital 
projects undertaken for the Recovery Implementation Programs receiving 
assistance under this Act shall not exceed $100,000,000 of which--
            (1) costs shall not exceed $82,000,000 for the Recovery 
        Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper 
        Colorado River Basin through fiscal year 2005; and
            (2) costs shall not exceed $18,000,000 for the San Juan 
        River Recovery Implementation Program through fiscal year 2007.
The amounts set forth in this subsection shall be adjusted by the 
Secretary for inflation in each fiscal year beginning after the 
enactment of this Act.
    (c) Non-Federal Contributions to Capital Projects.--(1) The 
Secretary, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, may accept 
contributed funds from the Upper Division States, or political 
subdivisions or organizations with the Upper Division States, pursuant 
to  agreements that provide for the contributions to be used for 
capital projects costs. Such funds may be expended as if appropriated 
for such purposes. Such non-Federal contributions shall not exceed 
$17,000,000.
    (2) In addition to the contribution described in paragraph (1), the 
Secretary of Energy, acting through the Western Area Power 
Administration, and the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 
Bureau of Reclamation, may utilize power revenues collected pursuant to 
the Colorado River Storage Project Act to carry out the purposes of 
section 3(c) of this Act. Such funds shall be treated as reimbursable 
costs assigned to power for repayment under section 5 of the Colorado 
River Storage Project Act. This additional contribution shall not 
exceed $17,000,000. Such funds shall be considered a non-Federal 
contribution for the purposes of this Act.
    (3) The additional funding provided pursuant to paragraph (2) may 
be provided through loans from the Colorado Water Conservation Board 
Construction Fund (37-60-121 C.R.S.) to the Western Area Power 
Administration in lieu of funds which would otherwise be collected from 
power revenues and used for storage project repayments. The Western 
Area Power Administration is authorized to repay such loan or loans 
from power revenues collected beginning in fiscal year 2012, subject to 
an agreement between the Colorado Water Conservation Board, the Western 
Area Power Administration, and the Bureau of Reclamation. The agreement 
and any future loan contracts that may be entered into by the Colorado 
Water Conservation Board, the Western Area Power Administration, and 
the Bureau of Reclamation shall be negotiated in consultation with Salt 
Lake City Area Integrated Projects Firm Power Contractors. The 
agreement and loan contracts shall include provisions designed to 
minimize impacts on electrical power rates and shall ensure that loan 
repayment to the Colorado Water Conservation Board, including principal 
and interest, is completed no later than September 30, 2057. The 
Western Area Power Administration is authorized to include in power 
rates such sums as are necessary to carry out this paragraph and 
paragraph (2).
    (4) All contributions made pursuant to this subsection shall be in 
addition to the cost of replacement power purchased due to modifying 
the operation of the Colorado River Storage Project and the capital 
cost of water from Wolford Mountain Reservoir in Colorado. Such costs 
shall be considered as non-Federal contributions, not to exceed 
$20,000,000.
    (d) Base Funding.--(1) Beginning in the first fiscal year 
commencing after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary may 
utilize power revenues collected pursuant to the Colorado River Storage 
Project Act for the annual base funding contributions to the Recovery 
Implementation Programs by the Bureau of Reclamation. Such funding 
shall be treated as nonreimbursable and as having been repaid and 
returned to the general fund of the Treasury as costs assigned to power 
for repayment under section 5 of the Colorado River Storage Project 
Act.
    (2) For the Recovery Implementation Program for the Endangered Fish 
Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin, the contributions to base 
funding referred to in paragraph (1) shall not exceed $4,000,000 per 
year. For the San Juan River Recovery Implementation Program, such 
contributions shall not exceed $2,000,000 per year. The Secretary shall 
adjust such amounts for inflation in fiscal years commencing after the 
enactment of this Act. The utilization of power revenues for annual 
base funding shall cease after the fiscal year 2011, unless 
reauthorized by Congress; except that power revenues may continue to be 
utilized to fund the operation and maintenance of capital projects and 
monitoring. No later than the end of fiscal year 2008, the Secretary 
shall submit a report on the utilization of power revenues to the 
appropriate Committees of the United States Senate and the House of 
Representatives. The Secretary shall also make a recommendation in such 
report regarding the need for continued funding after fiscal year 2011 
that may be required to fulfill the goals of the Recovery 
Implementation Programs. The Western Area Power Administration and the 
Bureau of Reclamation shall maintain sufficient revenues in the 
Colorado River Basin Fund to meet their obligation to provide base 
funding in accordance with this provision. If the Western Area Power 
Administration and the Bureau of Reclamation determine that the funds 
in the Colorado River Basin Fund will not be sufficient to meet the 
obligations of section 5(c)(1) of the Colorado River Storage Project 
Act for a 3-year period, the Western Area Power Administration and the 
Bureau of Reclamation shall request appropriations to meet base funding 
obligations. Nothing in this Act shall otherwise modify or amend 
existing agreements among participants regarding base funding and 
depletion charges for the Recovery Implementation Programs.
    (e) Authority To Retain Appropriated Funds.--At the end of each 
fiscal year any unexpended appropriated funds for capital projects 
under this Act shall be retained for use in future fiscal years. 
Unexpended funds under this Act that are carried over shall continue to 
be used to implement the capital projects needed for the Recovery 
Implementation Programs.
    (f) Additional Authority.--The Secretary may enter into agreements 
and contracts with Federal and non-Federal entities, acquire and 
transfer interests in land, water, and facilities, and accept or give 
grants in order to carry out the purposes of this Act.
    (g) Indian Trust Assets.--The Congress finds that much of the 
potential water development in the San Juan River Basin is for the 
benefit of Indian tribes and most of the federally designated critical 
habitat for the endangered fish species in the Basin is on Indian trust 
lands. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to restrict the 
Secretary, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of 
Indian Affairs, from funding activities or capital projects in 
accordance with the Federal Government's Indian trust responsibility.

SEC. 4. EFFECT ON RECLAMATION LAW.

    Construction of facilities and acquisition of land and water 
interests under this Act shall not render these facilities or land and 
water interests or associated processes and procedures subject to the 
Reclamation Act of 1902 and Acts supplementary thereto and amendatory 
thereof.
                                 <all>