[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1269 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1269

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

                             March 1, 2017

 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''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The State of California has recently experienced one of 
        the driest periods on record, and in 2017 is experiencing one 
        of the wettest years on record. New surface water storage 
        infrastructure with the capacity to store water in wet years 
        for use in dry periods is urgently needed.
            (2) The Sites Project (sometimes referred to as ``North of 
        Delta Offstream Storage'') 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. Further, the Sites Reservoir was found in the CALFED 
        Record of Decision to be the preferred location to provide 
        North of Delta Offstream Storage and subsequent studies have 
        shown the Sites Reservoir to be technically feasible.
            (3) Among other things, the Sites Project would--
                    (A) increase surface water storage to enhance water 
                management flexibility in the Sacramento Valley;
                    (B) 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;
                    (C) improve conditions for fish, waterfowl, and 
                wildlife in the Sacramento Valley, including anadromous 
                fish in the Sacramento River;
                    (D) provide local flood control benefits;
                    (E) integrate with renewable energy sources 
                consistent with applicable Federal and State of 
                California goals;
                    (F) create both construction and long-term jobs to 
                improve both the local and regional economies in the 
                Sacramento Valley; and
                    (G) provide additional recreational benefits.
            (4) The Sites Project has been shown to provide 
        approximately 500,000 acre-feet of additional annualized yield 
        that, when integrated into the operations of the State and 
        Federal reservoirs upstream of the Bay-Delta, can improve the 
        system-wide operational efficiency for both water supply 
        reliability and the environment.
            (5) Healthy wetlands and wildlife refuges 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 exercise of 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) 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. The current list of public agencies 
        serving on the Authority's 12-member governing board include 
        Colusa County Water District, Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, 
        Maxwell Irrigation District, Orland-Artois Water District, 
        Placer County Water District/City of Roseville, Proberta Water 
        District, Reclamation District 108, the Tehama-Colusa Canal 
        Authority, Western Canal Water District, Westside Water 
        District, the County of Glenn, the County of Colusa. In 
        addition, agencies from the Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, and 
        Southern California are actively participating to advance the 
        Sites Project.
            (2) Bureau.--The term ``Bureau'' means the Bureau of 
        Reclamation.
            (3) 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--
                    (A) the Act of October 17, 1940 (54 Stat. 1198, 
                1199);
                    (B) the Act of December 22, 1944 (58 Stat. 887);
                    (C) the Act of October 14, 1949 (63 Stat. 852);
                    (D) the Act of September 26, 1950 (64 Stat. 1036);
                    (E) the Act of August 27, 1954 (68 Stat. 879);
                    (F) the Act of August 12, 1955 (69 Stat. 719);
                    (G) the Act of June 3, 1960 (74 Stat. 156);
                    (H) the Act of October 23, 1962 (76 Stat. 1173);
                    (I) the Act of September 2, 1965 (79 Stat. 615);
                    (J) the Act of August 19, 1967 (81 Stat. 167);
                    (K) the Act of August 27, 1967 (81 Stat. 173);
                    (L) the Act of October 23, 1970 (84 Stat. 1097);
                    (M) the Act of September 28, 1976 (90 Stat. 1324); 
                and
                    (N) the Act of October 27, 1986 (100 Stat. 3050).
            (4) Commissioner.--The term ``Commissioner'' means the 
        Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation.
            (5) Repayment and water service contracts.--The terms 
        ``repayment contract'' and ``water service contract'' have the 
        same meaning given those terms in sections 9(d) and 9(e), 
        respectively, of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 (53 Stat. 
        1187, 1195).
            (6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (7) Sites project.--The term ``Sites Project''--
                    (A) refers to the off-stream water storage project 
                identified in the CALFED Record of Decision, dated 2000 
                Aug. 28; and
                    (B) means the Sites Reservoir in Glenn and Colusa 
                Counties, California, and related facilities, including 
                associated water conveyance and hydropower generation 
                and transmission facilities.
            (8) State.--The term ``State'' means the State of 
        California.

SEC. 4. FEASIBILITY STUDY AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS.

    (a) Completion of Final Feasibility Study.--The Secretary, acting 
through the Commissioner, shall--
            (1) complete the final feasibility study described in 
        clause (ii)(I) of section 103(d)(1)(A) of Public Law 108-361; 
        and
            (2) submit that study to the appropriate committees of the 
        House of Representatives and the Senate together with the joint 
        environmental impact statement and environmental impact report 
        required under subsection (d).
    (b) Evaluation of Non-Federal Project.--The feasibility study shall 
evaluate the development of the Sites Project as a non-Federal project 
whereby the Department of the Interior may be a participant in the 
locally preferred project in a manner that is consistent with the 
recommendations identified in the final feasibility study.
    (c) Locally Preferred Alternative.--If the Sites Project is 
developed as a non-Federal project and the Authority's locally 
preferred alternative be determined in the feasibility study to be the 
alternative producing the highest Regional Economic Development Account 
benefits, the locally preferred alternative shall be the preferred 
project.
    (d) Final Environmental Impact Statement and Environmental Impact 
Report.--No later than 16 months after the date that the California 
Water Commission establishes a Maximum Conditional Eligibility 
Determination for State participation in the Sites Project, as required 
before the Sites Project can be deemed to be consistent with and 
eligible for support from funds derived from the California Water 
Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act, approved by 
California voters on November 4, 2014, or November 30, 2019, whichever 
occurs later, 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.
    (e) Requirements of Existing Law.--Nothing in the section affects 
the requirements of Federal law.

SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION.

    (a) Authorization of Construction.--Section 103(d)(1)(B) of the 
Calfed Bay-Delta Authorization Act (Public Law 108-361) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating clauses (ii) and (iii) as clauses 
        (iii) and (iv), respectively;
            (2) by inserting after clause (i) the following:
                            ``(ii) Construction authorization.--If the 
                        Secretary determines that the project described 
                        in subparagraph (A)(ii)(I) is feasible, the 
                        Secretary, in cooperation with the Authority, 
                        may participate in the design, planning, and 
                        construction of the Sites Project in a manner 
                        that is substantially in accordance with the 
                        recommended plan, subject to the conditions 
                        described in the feasibility study.
                            ``(iii) Federal investment in a non-federal 
                        sites project.--The Secretary shall take such 
                        steps as are necessary to ensure that, in 
                        return for any Federal investment in a non-
                        Federal Sites Project, a proportionate share of 
                        the project's public benefits are Federal 
                        benefits, including water supplies dedicated to 
                        specific purposes such as environmental 
                        enhancement and those purposes referred to in 
                        section 6(c) and 6(d) of the Sacramento Valley 
                        Water Storage and Restoration Act.''; and
            (3) in clause (iii), by striking ``the project'' and 
        inserting ``a project described in subparagraph (A)(ii)(I)''.
    (b) Project Partnership Agreements.--At the request of the 
Authority, the Bureau shall 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.
    (c) Detailed Project Schedule.--Not later than 180 days after 
entering into a Project Partnership agreement under subsection (b), 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.

SEC. 6. NON-FEDERAL PROJECT.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, 
if at any time 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 Commissioner shall take any and all actions possible to 
advance the Sites Project as a non-Federal project, including entering 
into cost-shared financial assistance agreements with the Authority to 
support the design, planning, and construction of the Sites Project as 
a non-Federal project.
    (b) Title; Operations and Maintenance.--The Authority shall hold 
title to all new facilities constructed under this section, and shall 
be solely responsible for the operation and maintenance costs of such 
facilities.
    (c) Coordinated Operations.--The Secretary shall execute and 
implement a long-term agreement between the United States and the 
Authority to provide for the coordination of operations of the Central 
Valley Project and the Sites Project to--
            (1) satisfy any contracts or cooperative agreements entered 
        into under subsection (d);
            (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.
    (d) Contracts and Cooperative Agreements.--The Secretary is 
authorized to enter into long-term contracts and cooperative agreements 
with the Authority to acquire water supplies made available from the 
Sites Project for the purposes of meeting the requirements under 
section 3406(b)(3) and section 3408(j) of the Central Valley Project 
Improvement Act (Public Law 102-575) 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 and operate the Sites Project are completed on an 
        expeditious basis and use the shortest applicable process, and, 
        to the maximum extent practicable, are completed not later than 
        January 1, 2022, as required by the California Water Quality, 
        Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act, approved by 
        California voters on November 4, 2014, as a condition of State 
        financial participation in a project deemed eligible for 
        assistance under the aforementioned Act.

SEC. 8. COMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.

    Nothing in this Act modifies or alters any obligations or 
requirements under any Federal environmental law, including--
            (1) the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
        U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); and
            (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 area of origin and other water rights protections.
                                 <all>