[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1060 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1060

To direct the Secretary of the Interior to take actions to support non-
    Federal investments in water infrastructure improvements in the 
               Sacramento Valley, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 25, 2015

 Mr. LaMalfa (for himself and Mr. Garamendi) introduced the following 
     bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to take actions to support non-
    Federal investments in water infrastructure improvements in the 
               Sacramento Valley, 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 ``Sacramento Valley Water Storage and 
Restoration Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The State of California and much of the West are 
        experiencing one of the driest years on record, exacerbating 
        water supply problems caused by a lack of surface water storage 
        infrastructure. The drought conditions have caused reductions 
        in water supplies to almost all water users in the State.
            (2) The Sites Project has been identified by the State of 
        California and the Federal Government as an important component 
        to integrated water management in the Sacramento Valley that 
        would advance the co-equal objectives of improving water 
        management and restoring ecological health for beneficial uses 
        of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the Sacramento River 
        watershed.
            (3) Among other things, the Sites Project would--
                    (A) increase surface water storage to enhance water 
                management flexibility in the Sacramento Valley;
                    (B) provide flood control benefits;
                    (C) improve conditions for fish, waterfowl, and 
                wildlife in the Sacramento Valley, including anadromous 
                fish in the Sacramento River; and
                    (D) improve the operation of the State's water 
                system to provide improvements in ecosystem and water 
                quality conditions in the Bay-Delta while providing a 
                more reliable water supply for the State of California.
            (4) The Sites Project has been shown to provide 
        approximately 1,300,000 of additional yield when the Sites 
        Project is integrated into the operations of other State and 
        Federal reservoirs upstream of the Bay-Delta.
            (5) Healthy wetlands are of vital importance to wildlife in 
        California and require a reliable supply of water, and 
        additional surface water storage can help meet water supply 
        goals under the Central Valley Project Improvement Act.
            (6) It is in the interests of the United States for the 
        Federal Government to work with the Sites Project Authority, 
        which has been established under laws of the State of 
        California as an independent joint powers authority to, among 
        other things, study, promote, develop, design, finance, 
        acquire, construct, manage, and operate Sites Reservoir and 
        related facilities, in order to advance the Sites Project in 
        the most expeditious and cost-effective manner possible.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (2) Commissioner.--The term ``Commissioner'' means the 
        Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation.
            (3) Bureau.--The term ``Bureau'' means the Bureau of 
        Reclamation.
            (4) Authority.--The term ``Authority'' means the Sites 
        Project Authority that entered into a Joint Powers Agreement on 
        August 26, 2010, for the purpose of advancing the Sites Project 
        as a non-Federal facility and includes Glenn-Colusa Irrigation 
        District, Reclamation District 108, the Tehama-Colusa Canal 
        Authority, Maxwell Irrigation District, the County of Glenn, 
        the County of Colusa and Yolo County Flood Control and Water 
        Conservation District.
            (5) Sites project.--The term ``Sites Project'' means the 
        Sites Reservoir in Glenn and Colusa Counties, California, and 
        related facilities, including associated water conveyance and 
        hydropower generation and transmission facilities.
            (6) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of 
        California.
            (7) Central valley project.--The term ``Central Valley 
        Project'' means all Federal reclamation projects located within 
        or diverting water from or to the watershed of the Sacramento 
        and San Joaquin rivers and their tributaries as authorized by 
        the Act of August 26, 1937 (50 Stat. 850), and all Acts 
        amendatory or supplemental thereto, including but not limited 
        to the Act of October 17, 1940 (54 Stat. 1198, 1199), Act of 
        December 22, 1944 (58 Stat. 887), Act of October 14, 1949 (63 
        Stat. 852), Act of September 26, 1950 (64 Stat. 1036), Act of 
        August 27, 1954 (68 Stat. 879), Act of August 12, 1955 (69 
        Stat. 719), Act of June 3, 1960 (74 Stat. 156), Act of October 
        23, 1962 (76 Stat. 1173), Act of September 2, 1965 (79 Stat. 
        615), Act of August 19, 1967 (81 Stat. 167), Act of August 27, 
        1967 (81 Stat. 173), Act of October 23, 1970 (84 Stat. 1097), 
        Act of September 28, 1976 (90 Stat. 1324) and Act of October 
        27, 1986 (100 Stat. 3050).
            (8) Repayment and water service contracts.--The terms 
        ``repayment contract'' and ``water service contract'' have the 
        same meaning as provided in sections 9(d) and 9(e) of the 
        Reclamation Project Act of 1939 (53 Stat. 1187, 1195), as 
        amended.

SEC. 4. FEASIBILITY STUDY AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.

    (a) Feasibility Study.--No later than December 15, 2016, the 
Secretary, acting through the Bureau, shall finalize and publish in the 
Federal Register, the feasibility study authorized in section 
103(d)(1)(i)(II) of title I of Public Law 108-361.
    (b) Environmental Impact Statement and Environmental Impact 
Report.--No later than June 30, 2015, the Secretary shall work with the 
Secretary of Commerce, the Army Corps of Engineers and the 
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator to coordinate the efforts 
of the relevant agencies and work with the State, the Authority, and 
other stakeholders to complete and issue the final joint environmental 
impact statement and environmental impact report on the Sites Project.
    (c) Availability of Documents.--The Secretary shall ensure that all 
documents associated with the preparation of planning and feasibility 
studies and applicable environmental reviews under the National 
Environmental Policy Act for the Sites Project shall be made available 
to the Authority.
    (d) Financial Assistance and Other Agreements.--To assist the 
Secretary in meeting the deadlines for completing the feasibility study 
and environmental impact statement identified in this section, no later 
than 90 days following enactment, the Secretary, acting through the 
Bureau, shall enter into such agreements with the Authority, including 
financial assistance agreements, to carry out such work as the Bureau 
and the Authority mutually agree is appropriate to ensure that all 
studies and environmental reviews are completed on an expeditious basis 
and that the shortest applicable process under the National 
Environmental Policy Act shall be utilized, including in the completion 
of the final feasibility study and final joint environmental impact 
statement and environmental impact report on the Sites Project.
    (e) Non-Federal Cost-Share.--The Secretary shall attribute all 
funds expended, or in-kind services provided, by the Authority or the 
State to advance the Sites Project, including the $42,379,999 in non-
Federal funds provided to the North-of-Delta Offstream Storage 
Feasibility Study reflected in the Bureau's fiscal year 2015 Budget 
Justification, to the non-Federal share of cost-share requirements for 
any Federal support provided to the Sites Project.
    (f) Requirements of Existing Law.--Nothing in the section herein 
modifies existing requirements of Federal law.

SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION.

    (a) Authorization of Construction.--Section 103(d)(1)(B) of title I 
of Public Law 108-361 (the Calfed Bay-Delta Authorization Act, 118 
Stat. 1681) is amended by--
            (1) adding after clause (i) the following:
                            ``(ii) Construction authorization.--If the 
                        Secretary determines the project described in 
                        clause (ii)(I) of subparagraph (A) is feasible, 
                        the Secretary is authorized to carry out the 
                        project in a manner that is substantially in 
                        accordance with the recommended plan, and 
                        subject to the conditions described in the 
                        feasibility study.'';
            (2) striking in clause (iii), ``the project'' and inserting 
        ``a project described in clause (ii)(I) of subparagraph (A)''; 
        and
            (3) redesignating clause (ii) and (iii) as clause (iii) and 
        (iv), respectively.
    (b) Project Partnership Agreements.--At the request of the 
Authority, the Bureau shall--
            (1) enter into a project partnership agreement with the 
        Authority for the Authority to provide full project management 
        control for construction of the Sites Project, or a separable 
        element of the project, in accordance with plans approved by 
        the Secretary; and
            (2) following execution of the project partnership 
        agreement, transfer to the Authority interest to carry out 
        construction of the project, or a separable element of the 
        project--
                    (A) if applicable, the balance of the unobligated 
                amounts appropriated for the Sites Project, except that 
                the Secretary shall retain sufficient amounts for the 
                Bureau to carry out any responsibilities of the Bureau 
                relating to the project; and
                    (B) additional amounts, as determined by the 
                Secretary, from amounts made available to the 
                Secretary, except that the total amount transferred to 
                the non-Federal interest shall not exceed the updated 
                estimate of the Federal share of the cost of 
                construction, including any required design.
    (c) Detailed Project Schedule.--Not later than 180 days after 
entering into a Project Partnership agreement, the Authority, to the 
maximum extent practicable, shall submit to the Secretary a detailed 
project schedule, based on estimated funding levels, that lists all 
deadlines for each milestone in the construction of the project.
    (d) Administration.--All laws and regulations that would apply to 
the Secretary if the Secretary were carrying out the project shall 
apply to Authority, if the Authority enters into an agreement with the 
Secretary to carry out the project under this section.

SEC. 6. NON-FEDERAL PROJECT.

    (a) In General.--At any time, notwithstanding any other provision 
of this Act, if the Commissioner determines and the Secretary concurs, 
that the Sites Project can be expedited by the Authority as a non-
Federal project, and that there is a demonstrable Federal interest for 
the Sites Project to be constructed and operated as a non-Federal 
project, the Bureau is authorized and directed to take any and all 
actions possible to advance the Sites Project as a non-Federal project, 
including, but not limited to, entering into cost-shared financial 
assistance agreements with the Authority to support construction of the 
Sites Project as a non-Federal project.
    (b) Title; Operations and Maintenance.--The Authority shall hold 
title to all facilities constructed under this section, and shall be 
solely responsible for the operation and maintenance costs of such 
facilities.
    (c) Federal Reviews and Permits.--The Bureau shall be the lead 
Federal agency for the purposes of all Federal reviews, analyses, 
opinions, statements, permits, licenses, or other approvals or 
decisions required under Federal law to allow the Authority to 
construct the Sites Project as a non-Federal project.
    (d) Coordinated Operations.--The Secretary of the Interior is 
authorized and directed to execute and implement a long-term agreement 
between the United States of America and the Authority that shall 
provide for the coordination of operations of the Central Valley 
Project and the Sites Project to--
            (1) satisfy any contracts entered into in subsection (e) of 
        this Act;
            (2) help meet any unmet needs for Sacramento Valley in-
        basin water uses;
            (3) help meet any unmet needs of existing Central Valley 
        Project repayment and water service contracts; and
            (4) ensure that any surplus water supplies from the Sites 
        Project are put to full and beneficial use.
    (e) Contracts.--The Secretary is authorized to enter into long-term 
contracts with the Authority to acquire water supplies made available 
from the Sites Project for the purposes of meeting the requirements 
section 3406(b)(3) and section 3408(j) of Public Law 102-575, the 
Central Valley Project Improvement Act, and such other purposes as the 
Secretary may deem appropriate.

SEC. 7. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND PERMITTING.

    With respect to the Sites Project, the Bureau shall--
            (1) be the lead Federal agency for the purposes of all 
        Federal reviews, analyses, opinions, statements, permits, 
        licenses, or other approvals or decisions required under 
        Federal law to allow either the Bureau or the Authority to 
        construct the Sites Project, including all requirements under--
                    (A) the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
                (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.);
                    (B) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 
                1531 et seq.); and
                    (C) any other Federal law applicable to the 
                construction of the Sites Project facilities by the 
                Bureau or the Authority; and
            (2) take such steps as are necessary to ensure that all 
        Federal reviews, analyses, opinions, statements, permits, 
        licenses, or other approvals or decisions required under 
        Federal law to allow either the Bureau or the Authority to 
        construct the Sites Project are completed on an expeditious 
        basis and utilize the shortest applicable process.

SEC. 8. COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.

    Nothing in this Act modifies or alters any obligations under--
            (1) the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
        U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); or
            (2) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
        seq.).

SEC. 9. SAVINGS CLAUSE.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preempt any existing 
State law, including but not limited to area of origin and other water 
rights protections.
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