[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1516 Introduced in Senate (IS)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1516

 To further the purposes of the Reclamation Projects Authorization and 
  Adjustment Act of 1992 by directing the Secretary of the Interior, 
    acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to carry out an 
 assessment and demonstration program to assess potential increases in 
 water availability for Bureau of Reclamation projects and other uses 
            through control of salt cedar and Russian olive.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                July 31 (legislative day, July 21), 2003

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To further the purposes of the Reclamation Projects Authorization and 
  Adjustment Act of 1992 by directing the Secretary of the Interior, 
    acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to carry out an 
 assessment and demonstration program to assess potential increases in 
 water availability for Bureau of Reclamation projects and other uses 
            through control of salt cedar and Russian olive.

    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 ``Salt Cedar Control Demonstration 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the western United States is currently experiencing its 
        worst drought in modern history;
            (2) it is estimated that throughout the western United 
        States salt cedar and Russian olive--
                    (A) occupy between 1,000,000 and 1,500,000 acres of 
                land; and
                    (B) are non-beneficial users of 2,000,000 to 
                4,500,000 acre-feet of water per year;
            (3) the quantity of non-beneficial use of water by salt 
        cedar and Russian olive is greater than the quantity that 
        valuable native vegetation would use;
            (4) much of the salt cedar and Russian olive infestation is 
        located on Bureau of Land Management land or other land of the 
        Department of the Interior; and
            (5) as drought conditions and legal requirements relating 
        to water supply accelerate water shortages, innovative 
        approaches are needed to address the increasing demand for a 
        diminishing water supply.

SEC. 3. SALT CEDAR AND RUSSIAN OLIVE ASSESSMENT AND DEMONSTRATION 
              PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--In furtherance of the purposes of the 
Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 (106 
Stat. 4600), the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 
Commissioner of Reclamation (referred to in this Act as the 
``Secretary''), shall carry out a salt cedar and Russian olive 
assessment and demonstration program to--
            (1) assess the extent of the infestation of salt cedar and 
        Russian olive in the western United States; and
            (2) develop strategic solutions for long-term management of 
        salt cedar and Russian olive.
    (b) Assessment.--Not later than 1 year after the date on which 
funds are made available to carry out this Act, the Secretary shall 
complete an assessment of the extent of salt cedar and Russian olive 
infestation in the western United States. The assessment shall--
            (1) consider past and ongoing research on tested and 
        innovative methods to control salt cedar and Russian olive;
            (2) consider the feasibility of reducing water consumption;
            (3) consider methods of and challenges associated with the 
        restoration of infested land;
            (4) estimate the costs of destruction of salt cedar and 
        Russian olive, biomass removal, and restoration and maintenance 
        of the infested land; and
            (5) identify long-term management and funding strategies 
        that could be implemented by Federal, State, and private land 
        managers.
    (c) Demonstration Projects.--The Secretary shall carry out not less 
than 5 projects to demonstrate and evaluate the most effective methods 
of controlling salt ceder and Russian olive. Projects carried out under 
this subsection shall--
            (1) monitor and document any water savings from the control 
        of salt cedar and Russian olive;
            (2) identify the quantity of, and rates at which, any water 
        savings under paragraph (1) return to surface water supplies;
            (3) assess the best approach to and tools for implementing 
        available control methods;
            (4) assess all costs and benefits associated with control 
        methods and the restoration and maintenance of land;
            (5) determine conditions under which removal of biomass is 
        appropriate and the optimal methods for its disposal or use;
            (6) define appropriate final vegetative states and optimal 
        revegetation methods; and
            (7) identify methods for preventing the regrowth and 
        reintroduction of salt cedar and Russian olive.
    (d) Control Methods.--The demonstration projects carried out under 
subsection (c) may implement 1 or more control method per project, but 
to assess the full range of control mechanisms--
            (1) at least 1 project shall use airborne application of 
        herbicides;
            (2) at least 1 project shall use mechanical removal; and
            (3) at least 1 project shall use biocontrol methods such as 
        goats or insects.
    (e) Implementation.--A demonstration project shall be carried out 
during a time period and to a scale designed to meet the requirements 
of subsection (c).
    (f) Costs.--
            (1) In general.--Each demonstration project under 
        subsection (c) shall be carried out at a cost of not more than 
        $7,000,000, including costs of planning, design, 
        implementation, maintenance, and monitoring.
            (2) Cost-sharing.--
                    (A) Federal share.--The Federal share of the costs 
                of a demonstration project shall not exceed 75 percent.
                    (B) Form of non-federal share.--The non-Federal 
                share of the costs of a demonstration project may be 
                provided in the form of in-kind contributions, 
                including services provided by a State agency.
    (g) Cooperation.--In carrying out the program, the Secretary 
shall--
            (1) use the expertise of Federal agencies, national 
        laboratories, Indian tribes, institutions of higher education, 
        State agencies, and soil and water conservation districts that 
        are actively conducting research on or implementing salt cedar 
        and Russian olive control activities; and
            (2) cooperate with other Federal agencies and affected 
        States, local units of government, and Indian tribes.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act--
            (1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; and
            (2) such sums as are necessary for each fiscal year 
        thereafter.
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