[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 566 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 566

  To establish a pilot program to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of 
       allowing non-Federal interests to carry out certain water 
            infrastructure projects, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 14, 2013

 Mr. Durbin (for himself and Mr. Kirk) introduced the following bill; 
 which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 
                              Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish a pilot program to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of 
       allowing non-Federal interests to carry out certain water 
            infrastructure projects, 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 ``Water Infrastructure Now Public-
Private Partnership Act'' or the ``WIN P3 Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) investment in water infrastructure is critical to 
        protecting property and personal safety through flood, 
        hurricane, and storm damage reduction activities;
            (2) investment in infrastructure on the inland waterways of 
        the United States is critical to the economy of the United 
        States through the maintenance of safe, reliable, and efficient 
        navigation for recreation and the movement of billions of 
        dollars in goods each year;
            (3) fiscal challenges facing Federal, State, local, and 
        tribal governments require new and innovative financing 
        structures to continue robust investment in public water 
        infrastructure;
            (4) under existing fiscal restraints and project delivery 
        processes, large-scale water infrastructure projects like the 
        lock and dam modernization on the upper Mississippi River and 
        Illinois River will take decades to complete, with benefits for 
        the lock modernization not expected to be realized until 2047;
            (5) the Corps of Engineers has an estimated backlog of more 
        than $60,000,000,000 in outstanding projects; and
            (6) in developing innovative financing options for water 
        infrastructure projects, any prior public investment in 
        projects must be protected.

SEC. 3. WATER INFRASTRUCTURE NOW PILOT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Army, acting through the 
Chief of Engineers, shall establish a pilot program to evaluate the 
cost-effectiveness and project delivery efficiency of allowing non-
Federal interests to carry out authorized flood damage reduction, 
hurricane and storm damage reduction, and navigation projects.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of the pilot program are--
            (1) to identify project delivery and cost-saving 
        alternatives that reduce the backlog of authorized Corps of 
        Engineers projects;
            (2) to evaluate the technical, financial, and 
        organizational efficiencies of a non-Federal interest carrying 
        out the design, execution, management, and construction of 1 or 
        more projects; and
            (3) to evaluate alternatives for the decentralization of 
        the project planning, management, and operational decision-
        making processes of the Corps of Engineers.
    (c) Administration.--
            (1) In general.--In carrying out the pilot program, the 
        Secretary shall--
                    (A) identify a total of not more than 15 flood 
                damage reduction, hurricane and storm damage reduction, 
                and navigation projects, including levees, floodwalls, 
                flood control channels, water control structures, and 
                navigation locks and channels, authorized for 
                construction;
                    (B) notify the Committee on Environment and Public 
                Works of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation 
                and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives upon 
                the identification of each project under the pilot 
                program;
                    (C) in consultation with the non-Federal interest, 
                develop a detailed project management plan for each 
                identified project that outlines the scope, budget, 
                design, and construction resource requirements 
                necessary for the non-Federal interest to execute the 
                project, or a separable element of the project;
                    (D) on the request of the non-Federal interest, 
                enter into a project partnership agreement with the 
                non-Federal interest for the non-Federal interest to 
                provide full project management control for 
                construction of the project, or a separable element of 
                the project, in accordance with plans approved by the 
                Secretary;
                    (E) following execution of the project partnership 
                agreement, transfer to the non-Federal interest to 
                carry out construction of the project, or a separable 
                element of the project--
                            (i) if applicable, the balance of the 
                        unobligated amounts appropriated for the 
                        project, except that the Secretary shall retain 
                        sufficient amounts for the Corps of Engineers 
                        to carry out any responsibilities of the Corps 
                        of Engineers relating to the project and pilot 
                        program; and
                            (ii) additional amounts, as determined by 
                        the Secretary, from amounts made available 
                        under section 5, except that the total amount 
                        transferred to the non-Federal interest shall 
                        not exceed the estimate of the Federal share of 
                        the cost of construction, including any 
                        required design; and
                    (F) regularly monitor and audit each project being 
                constructed by a non-Federal interest under this 
                section to ensure that the construction activities are 
                carried out in compliance with the plans approved by 
                the Secretary and that the construction costs are 
                reasonable.
            (2) Restrictions.--Of the projects identified by the 
        Secretary--
                    (A) not more than 12 projects shall--
                            (i) have received Federal funds and 
                        experienced delays or missed scheduled 
                        deadlines in the 5 fiscal years prior to the 
                        date of enactment of this Act; or
                            (ii) for more than 2 consecutive fiscal 
                        years, have an unobligated funding balance for 
                        that project in the Corps of Engineers 
                        construction account; and
                    (B) not more than 3 projects shall--
                            (i) have not received Federal funding for 
                        recapitalization and modernization in the 
                        period beginning on the date on which the 
                        project was authorized and ending on the date 
                        of enactment of this Act; and
                            (ii) be, in the determination of the 
                        Secretary, significant to the national economy 
                        as a result of the impact the project would 
                        have on the national transportation of goods.
            (3) Technical assistance.--On the request of a non-Federal 
        interest, the Secretary may provide technical assistance to the 
        non-Federal interest, if the non-Federal interest contracts 
        with the Secretary for the technical assistance and compensates 
        the Secretary for the technical assistance, relating to--
                    (A) any study, engineering activity, and design 
                activity for construction carried out by the non-
                Federal interest under this section; and
                    (B) obtaining any permits necessary for the 
                project.
            (4) Waivers.--
                    (A) In general.--For any project included in the 
                pilot program, the Secretary may waive or modify any 
                applicable Federal regulations for that project if the 
                Secretary determines that such a waiver would provide 
                public and financial benefits, including expediting 
                project delivery and enhancing efficiency while 
                maintaining safety.
                    (B) Notification.--The Secretary shall notify the 
                Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate 
                and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 
                of the House of Representatives each time the Secretary 
                issues a waiver or modification under subparagraph (A).
    (d) Public Benefit Study.--
            (1) In general.--Before entering into a project partnership 
        agreement under this section, the Secretary shall enter into an 
        arrangement with an independent third party to conduct an 
        assessment of whether, and provide justification that, the 
        proposed partnership agreement would represent a better public 
        and financial benefit than a similar transaction using public 
        funding or financing.
            (2) Contents.--The study under paragraph (1) shall--
                    (A) be completed by the third party in a timely 
                manner and in a period of not more than 90 days;
                    (B) take into consideration any supporting 
                materials and data submitted by the Secretary, the 
                nongovernmental party to the proposed project 
                partnership agreement, and other stakeholders; and
                    (C) recommend whether the project partnership 
                agreement will be in the public interest by determining 
                whether the agreement will provide public and financial 
                benefits, including expedited project delivery and 
                savings to taxpayers.
    (e) Cost Share.--Nothing in this Act affects the cost-sharing 
requirement applicable on the day before the date of enactment of this 
Act to a project carried out under this Act.
    (f) Report.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the 
        Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the 
        Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 
        Representatives a report detailing the results of the pilot 
        program carried out under this section, including any 
        recommendations of the Secretary concerning whether the program 
        or any component of the program should be implemented on a 
        national basis.
            (2) Update.--Not later than 5 years after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the 
        Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate and the 
        Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 
        Representatives an update of the report described in paragraph 
        (1).
    (g) Administration.--All laws (including regulations) that would 
apply to the Secretary if the Secretary were carrying out the project 
shall apply to a non-Federal interest carrying out a project under this 
Act.
    (h) Termination of Authority.--The authority to commence a project 
under this Act terminates on the date that is 5 years after the date of 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.

    Nothing in this Act authorizes or permits the privatization of any 
Federal asset.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 
out this Act such sums as are necessary.
                                 <all>