[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1466 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.1466

                    One Hundred Seventeenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

           Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
          the third day of January, two thousand and twenty two


                                 An Act


 
  To authorize the Director of the United States Geological Survey to 
    establish a regional program to assess, monitor, and benefit the 
hydrology of saline lakes in the Great Basin and the migratory birds and 
   other wildlife dependent on those habitats, 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 ``Saline Lake Ecosystems in the Great 
Basin States Program Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. SALINE LAKE ECOSYSTEMS IN THE GREAT BASIN STATES ASSESSMENT AND 
MONITORING PROGRAM.
    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
        (1) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the Saline Lake 
    Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Assessment and Monitoring 
    Program established under subsection (b).
        (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
    the Interior, acting through the Director of the United States 
    Geological Survey.
    (b) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a Saline Lake 
Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Assessment and Monitoring Program 
to assess and monitor the hydrology of saline lake ecosystems in the 
Great Basin and the migratory birds and other wildlife that depend on 
those ecosystems to inform and support coordinated management and 
conservation actions to benefit those ecosystems, migratory birds, and 
other wildlife.
    (c) Work and Implementation Plan.--
        (1) In general.--Under the Program, the Secretary, in 
    coordination with the Director of the United States Fish and 
    Wildlife Service and the entities described in paragraph (2), shall 
    establish a multiyear work and implementation plan to assess, 
    monitor, and conserve saline lake ecosystems in the Great Basin and 
    the migratory birds and other wildlife that depend on those 
    ecosystems.
        (2) Coordinating entities.--The entities referred to in 
    paragraph (1) include--
            (A) Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies;
            (B) institutions of higher education;
            (C) nonprofit organizations; and
            (D) other local stakeholders.
        (3) Inclusions.--The work and implementation plan established 
    under paragraph (1) shall include--
            (A) a synthesis of available information, literature, and 
        data, and an assessment of scientific and informational needs, 
        relating to--
                (i) water quantity, water quality, water use, and water 
            demand;
                (ii) migratory bird and other wildlife populations, 
            habitats, and ecology;
                (iii) annual lifecycle needs of migratory birds; and
                (iv) environmental changes and other stressors, 
            including climatic stressors;
            (B) a description of how the plan should be implemented to 
        address the scientific and informational needs described in 
        subparagraph (A), including proposed activities, such as 
        monitoring, data infrastructure needs, and development of tools 
        necessary to implement the Program;
            (C) recommendations and a cost assessment for the 
        implementation of the plan; and
            (D) such other matters as the Secretary determines to be 
        appropriate.
        (4) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
    of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 
    describing the work and implementation plan established under 
    paragraph (1).
    (d) Implementation.--The Secretary shall implement the Program 
based on the information, findings, and recommendations contained in 
the work and implementation plan established under subsection (c).
    (e) Cooperative Agreements and Grants.--The Secretary may enter 
into cooperative funding agreements with, or provide grants to, 
entities described in subsection (c)(2) for the purposes of--
        (1) participating in developing, or providing information to 
    inform the development of, the work and implementation plan under 
    subsection (c);
        (2) carrying out assessments and monitoring of water quality, 
    quantity, use, and demand under the Program; and
        (3) carrying out ecological, biological, and avian assessments 
    and monitoring under the Program.
    (f) Effect.--The work and implementation plan established under 
subsection (c)(1) shall not affect--
        (1) any interstate water compacts in existence on the date of 
    enactment of this Act, including full development of any 
    apportionment made in accordance with those compacts;
        (2) valid and existing water rights in any State located wholly 
    or partially within the Great Basin;
        (3) water rights held by the United States in the Great Basin; 
    and
        (4) the management and operation of Bear Lake or Stewart Dam, 
    including the storage, management, and release of water.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out the Program $5,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2022 through 2027.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.