[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3144 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3144


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 26, 2018

 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 
                              Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To provide for operations of the Federal Columbia River Power System 
 pursuant to a certain operation plan for a specified period of time, 
                        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. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act:
            (1) FCRPS.--The term ``FCRPS'' means those portions of the 
        Federal Columbia River Power System that are the subject of the 
        Supplemental Opinion.
            (2) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries'' means--
                    (A) the Secretary of the Interior, acting through 
                the Bureau of Reclamation;
                    (B) the Secretary of Energy, acting through the 
                Bonneville Power Administration; and
                    (C) Secretaries of the Army, acting through the 
                Army Corps of Engineers.
            (3) Supplemental opinion.--The term ``Supplemental 
        Opinion'' means the document titled ``Endangered Species Act 
        Section 7(a)(2) Supplemental Biological Opinion'', NOAA 
        Fisheries Log Number NWR-2013-9562, and dated January 17, 2014, 
        which supplements, without replacing, the 2008 and 2010 FCRPS 
        Biological Opinions and the Reasonable and Prudent Alternative 
        contained therein.

SEC. 2. OPERATION OF FCRPS.

    The Secretaries shall operate the FCRPS in a manner consistent with 
the reasonable and prudent alternative set forth in the Supplemental 
Opinion until the later of the following dates:
            (1) September 30, 2022.
            (2) The date upon which a subsequent final biological 
        opinion for the FCRPS operations is--
                    (A) issued after completion of the final 
                environmental impact statement on a record of decision 
                for a new operations plan for the FCRPS; and
                    (B) in effect, with no pending further judicial 
                review.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO SUPPLEMENTAL OPINION.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding section 2, the Secretaries may 
amend portions of the Supplemental Opinion and operate the FCRPS in 
accordance with such amendments, before the date established under 
section 2 if all of the Secretaries determine, in the sole discretion 
of each Secretary, that--
            (1) the amendment is necessary for public safety or 
        transmission and grid reliability; or
            (2) the actions, operations, or other requirements that the 
        amendment would remove are no longer warranted.
    (b) Restriction on Amendments.--The process described in subsection 
(a) shall be the only method by which the Secretaries may operate the 
FCRPS during the time period established under section 2 in any way 
that is not consistent with the reasonable and prudent alternatives set 
forth in the Supplemental Opinion.

SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON RESTRICTING FCRPS ELECTRICAL GENERATION OR 
              NAVIGATION ON THE SNAKE RIVER.

    No structural modification, action, study, or engineering plan that 
restricts electrical generation at any FCRPS hydroelectric dam, or that 
limits navigation on the Snake River in the State of Washington, 
Oregon, or Idaho, shall proceed unless such proposal is specifically 
and expressly authorized by an Act of Congress enacted after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. Nothing in this section affects or 
interferes with the authority of the Secretaries to conduct operation 
and maintenance activities or make capital improvements necessary to 
meet authorized project purposes of FCRPS facilities.

            Passed the House of Representatives April 25, 2018.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.