[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2027 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2027

 To authorize the Secretary of the Army to design and construct a warm 
            water fish hatchery at Fort Peck Lake, Montana.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 3, 2000

   Mr. Burns introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Secretary of the Army to design and construct a warm 
            water fish hatchery at Fort Peck Lake, Montana.

    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 ``Fort Peck Fish Hatchery 
Authorization Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) Fort Peck Lake, Montana, is in need of a warm water 
        fish hatchery;
            (2) the burden of carrying out efforts to raise and stock 
        warm water fish species in the State of Montana has been 
        disproportionately borne by the State despite the existence of 
        many Federal projects on waterways in the State;
            (3)(A) as of the date of enactment of this Act, eastern 
        Montana has only 1 warm water fish hatchery, which is 
        inadequate to meet the demands of the region; and
            (B) a disease or infrastructure failure at that hatchery 
        could imperil fish populations throughout the region;
            (4) although the multipurpose project at Fort Peck, 
        Montana, authorized by the first section of the Act of August 
        30, 1935 (49 Stat. 1034, chapter 831), was intended to include 
        irrigation projects and other activities designed to promote 
        economic growth, many of those projects were never completed, 
        to the detriment of the local communities flooded by the Fort 
        Peck Dam;
            (5) the process of developing an environmental impact 
        statement for the update of the Corps of Engineers Master 
        Manual for the operation of the Missouri River recognized the 
        need for greater support of recreation activities and other 
        authorized purposes of the Fort Peck project;
            (6)(A) although fish stocking is included among the 
        authorized purposes of the Fort Peck project, the State of 
        Montana has funded the stocking of Fort Peck Lake since 1947; 
        and
            (B) the obligation to fund the stocking constitutes an 
        undue burden on the State; and
            (7) a viable warm water fishery would spur economic 
        development in the region.

SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

    The purposes of this Act are--
            (1) to authorize and provide funding for the design and 
        construction of a warm water fish hatchery at Fort Peck Lake, 
        Montana; and
            (2) to ensure stable operation and maintenance of the fish 
        hatchery.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Fort peck lake.--The term ``Fort Peck Lake'' means the 
        reservoir created by the damming of the upper Missouri River in 
        northeastern Montana.
            (2) Hatchery project.--The term ``hatchery project'' means 
        the project authorized by section 5.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Army.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION.

    The Secretary shall carry out a project at Fort Peck Lake, Montana, 
for the design and construction of a fish hatchery and such associated 
facilities as are necessary to sustain a warm water fishery.

SEC. 6. COST SHARING.

    (a) Design and Construction.--
            (1) Federal share.--The Federal share of the cost of design 
        and construction of the hatchery project shall be 75 percent.
            (2) Form of non-federal share.--
                    (A) In general.--The non-Federal share of the cost 
                of the hatchery project may be provided in the form of 
                cash or in the form of land, easements, rights-of-way, 
                services, roads, or any other form of in-kind 
                contribution determined by the Secretary to be 
                appropriate.
                    (B) Required crediting.--The Secretary shall credit 
                toward the non-Federal share of the cost of the 
                hatchery project--
                            (i) the cost to the State of Montana of 
                        stocking Fort Peck Lake during the period 
                        beginning January 1, 1947; and
                            (ii) the cost to the State of Montana and 
                        the counties having jurisdiction over land 
                        surrounding Fort Peck Lake of construction of 
                        local access roads to the lake.
    (b) Operation, Maintenance, Repair, and Replacement.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and 
        (3), the operation, maintenance, repair, and replacement of the 
        hatchery project shall be a non-Federal responsibility.
            (2) Cost associated with threatened and endangered 
        species.--The cost of operation and maintenance associated with 
        raising threatened or endangered species shall be a Federal 
        responsibility.
            (3) Power.--The Secretary shall offer to the hatchery 
        project low-cost project power for all hatchery operations.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to carry 
out this Act--
            (1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2001;
            (2) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2002; and
            (3) such sums as are necessary to carry out section 
        6(b)(2).
    (b) Availability of Funds.--Sums made available under subsection 
(a) shall remain available until expended.
                                 <all>