[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1800 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1800

To require the Secretary of the Interior to submit to Congress a report 
       on the efforts of the Bureau of Reclamation to manage its 
                         infrastructure assets.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 11, 2013

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of the Interior to submit to Congress a report 
       on the efforts of the Bureau of Reclamation to manage its 
                         infrastructure assets.

    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 ``Bureau of Reclamation Transparency 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the water resources infrastructure of the Bureau of 
        Reclamation provides important benefits related to irrigated 
        agriculture, hydropower, and recreation in the 17 Reclamation 
        States;
            (2) as of 2013, the combined replacement value of the 
        infrastructure assets of the Bureau of Reclamation was 
        $94,500,000,000;
            (3) the majority of the water resources infrastructure 
        facilities of the Bureau of Reclamation are at least 60 years 
        old;
            (4) the Bureau of Reclamation has previously undertaken 
        efforts to better manage the assets of the Bureau of 
        Reclamation, including an annual review of asset maintenance 
        activities of the Bureau of Reclamation known as the ``Asset 
        Management Plan''; and
            (5) actionable information on infrastructure conditions at 
        the project level, including information on maintenance needs 
        and potential public safety threats at individual projects due 
        to aging infrastructure, is needed for Congress to conduct 
        oversight of Reclamation facilities and meet the needs of the 
        public.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Asset management report.--The term ``Asset Management 
        Report'' means--
                    (A) the annual plan prepared by the Bureau of 
                Reclamation known as the ``Asset Management Plan''; and
                    (B) any publicly available information relating to 
                the plan described in subparagraph (A) that summarizes 
                the efforts of the Bureau of Reclamation to evaluate 
                and manage infrastructure assets of the Bureau of 
                Reclamation.
            (2) Major repair and rehabilitation need.--The term ``major 
        repair and rehabilitation need'' means a significant 
        maintenance need at a Reclamation facility, including 
        maintenance related to the safety of dams, extraordinary 
        operations at and maintenance of dams, deferred maintenance, 
        and all other significant repairs and extraordinary 
        maintenance.
            (3) Reclamation facility.--The term ``Reclamation 
        facility'' means each of the infrastructure assets that are 
        owned by the Bureau of Reclamation at a Reclamation project.
            (4) Reclamation project.--The term ``Reclamation project'' 
        means a project that is owned by the Bureau of Reclamation, 
        including all reserved works and transferred works owned by the 
        Bureau of Reclamation.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.

SEC. 4. ASSET MANAGEMENT REPORT ENHANCEMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report that--
            (1) describes the efforts of the Bureau of Reclamation--
                    (A) to manage all Reclamation facilities; and
                    (B) to standardize and streamline data reporting 
                and processes across regions and areas for the purpose 
                of managing Reclamation facilities; and
            (2) expands on the information otherwise provided in Asset 
        Management Reports, in accordance with subsection (b).
    (b) Infrastructure Maintenance Needs Assessment.--
            (1) In general.--The report submitted under subsection (a) 
        shall include--
                    (A) a detailed assessment of major repair and 
                rehabilitation needs at all Reclamation projects; and
                    (B) to the extent practicable, an itemized list of 
                major repair and rehabilitation needs of individual 
                Reclamation facilities at each Reclamation project.
            (2) Inclusions.--To the extent practicable, the itemized 
        list of major repair and rehabilitation needs under paragraph 
        (1)(B) shall include--
                    (A) a cost estimate of the expenditures needed to 
                complete each item; and
                    (B) an assignment of a categorical rating of 1, 2, 
                3, 4, or 5 for each item, consistent with paragraph 
                (3).
            (3) Rating requirements.--
                    (A) In general.--The system for assigning ratings 
                under paragraph (2)(B) shall be--
                            (i) consistent with existing uniform 
                        categorization systems for the safety of dams 
                        projects; and
                            (ii) subject to any regulations issued 
                        under subparagraph (B).
                    (B) Regulations.--As soon as practicable after the 
                date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
                issue regulations that describe the applicability of 
                the rating system applicable under paragraph (2)(B) to 
                Reclamation facilities.
            (4) Public availability.--Except as provided in paragraph 
        (5), the Secretary shall make publically available, including 
        on the Internet, the report required under subsection (a).
            (5) Confidentiality.--Subject to the discretion of the 
        Secretary, the Secretary may exclude from the public version of 
        the report made available under paragraph (4) any information 
        that the Secretary identifies as sensitive or classified, but 
        shall make available to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
        Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources 
        of the House of Representatives a version of the report 
        containing the sensitive or classified information.
    (c) Updates.--Not later than 2 years after the date on which the 
report is submitted under subsection (a) and biennially thereafter, the 
Secretary shall update the report, subject to the requirements of 
subsection (b).
    (d) Consultation.--The Secretary shall consult with the Secretary 
of the Army (acting through the Chief of Engineers) to the extent that 
the consultation would assist the Secretary in preparing the report 
under subsection (a) and updates to the report under subsection (c).
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