[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 124 (Thursday, September 28, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H7736-H7737]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1515
    RECLAMATION WASTEWATER AND GROUNDWATER STUDY AND FACILITIES ACT 
                               AMENDMENT

  Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4545) to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater 
Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
participate in the Los Angeles County Water Supply Augmentation 
Demonstration Project, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4545

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. AUTHORIZATION OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY WATER SUPPLY 
                   AUGMENTATION DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.

       (a) In General.--The Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater 
     Study and Facilities Act (Public Law 102-575, title XVI; 43 
     U.S.C. 390h et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:

     ``SEC. 16__. LOS ANGELES COUNTY WATER SUPPLY AUGMENTATION 
                   DEMONSTRATION PROJECT.

       ``(a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior, in 
     cooperation with the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers 
     Watershed Council, is authorized to participate in the 
     planning, design, construction, and assessment of a 
     neighborhood demonstration project to--
       ``(1) demonstrate the potential for infiltration of 
     stormwater runoff to recharge groundwater by retrofitting one 
     or more sites in the Los Angeles area with features designed 
     to reflect state-of-the-art best management practices for 
     water conservation, pollution reduction and treatment, and 
     habitat restoration; and
       ``(2) through predevelopment and postdevelopment 
     monitoring, assess--
       ``(A) the potential new water supply yield based on 
     increased infiltration; and
       ``(B) the value of the new water.
       ``(b) Cost Sharing.--The Federal share of the cost of the 
     project described in subsection (a) shall not exceed 25 
     percent of the total cost of the project.
       ``(c) Limitation.--No Federal funds shall be used for the 
     operation and maintenance of the project described in 
     subsection (a). For purposes of this subsection, pre- and 
     post-development monitoring for not more than 2 years before 
     and after project installation for project assessment 
     purposes shall not be considered operation and maintenance.
       ``(d) Sunset of Authority.--- The authority of the 
     Secretary to carry out any provisions of this section shall 
     terminate 10 years after the date of the enactment of this 
     section.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections in section 2 
     of Public Law 102-575 is amended by inserting after the item 
     relating to section 16__ the following:

``Sec. 16__. Los Angeles County Water Supply Augmentation Demonstration 
              Project''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Hayworth) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona.
  Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H.R. 4545 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation 
with the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council, to 
participate in the design, planning, and construction of a water 
recharge demonstration project in Southern California. To meet the 
needs of future population growth in this arid region, capturing 
stormwater runoff and recharging groundwater could substantially 
increase local water supplies.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. PALLONE. We strongly support H.R. 4545, championed by our 
colleague from Lakewood, California (Ms. Linda T. Sanchez). This 
authorization will authorize Federal financial assistance for a unique 
water reuse and conservation project in the Los Angeles area. The 
project will demonstrate that small-scale neighborhood projects can be 
built to increase local water supplies and reduce urban water 
pollution.

[[Page H7737]]

Projects like this can help residents of southern California increase 
local water supplies and reduce their dependence on imported water from 
northern California and the Colorado River.
  This is an innovative project and a good bill that deserves our 
support. Again, I want to congratulate my friend, Linda Sanchez, for 
her hard work on this bill.
  Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I would now yield as much time as she would 
consume to the gentlewoman who is the sponsor of the bill.
  Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California. Mr. Speaker, let me begin by 
thanking Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo and Ranking Member 
Nick Rahall as well as Water and Power Subcommittee Chairman George 
Radanovich for recognizing the importance of this bill, H.R. 4545, the 
Southern California Water Augmentation Study.
  I would also like to especially thank my colleague Grace Napolitano, 
the ranking member of the Water and Power Subcommittee. She has served 
in that position with distinction and established herself as an 
advocate for sound water policy in her home State of California and 
across the Nation. Representative Napolitano has supported this bill, 
and she has utilized many efforts in shepherding it through the 
legislative process.
  I became interested in this effort because California and other parts 
of this country need to move forward on two very important issues: 
First, we must increase our groundwater drinking supplies, and we can 
do this by improving the safe infiltration of surface water. And, 
second, we must reduce urban stormwater runoff that can carry trash and 
contamination to our beaches and oceans.
  The water augmentation study was created to address important 
economic and scientific questions about water quality and water supply. 
Simply put, this project is about taking the water that we lose and 
turning it into water that we can use.
  This study will assess the potential of urban stormwater infiltration 
to augment water supplies. This water augmentation study will determine 
the benefits, costs, and risks of infiltration. It will help us 
understand what conditions we need to make infiltration work and assess 
the potential for larger water supply. At the same time, it will show 
us how to reduce water pollution and create additional environmental 
and social benefits.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill is designed to make southern California more 
water self-sufficient and less reliant on imported water from our 
neighbors in the central and northern parts of our State. I am also 
very pleased that President Bush has included funding for the water 
augmentation study in his last three budgets, including this year. This 
is a bipartisan effort in which there is agreement on the merits of the 
project throughout our government.
  Also, the California staff of the Bureau of Reclamation has been very 
supportive of this project. In fact, they helped create it in the year 
2000, because they see it as helping solve a real problem we face in 
California and, shall I say, other water-challenged States across the 
country.
  Again, I would like to thank Chairman Pombo and Ranking Member 
Rahall, as well as the great staff on the House Resources Committee, 
and to Representative Napolitano for her unyielding support of this 
bill. I urge all my colleagues to join us in supporting H.R. 4545.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers. I would 
yield back my time.
  Mr. HAYWORTH. Likewise, Mr. Speaker, with that note of unanimity, 
being from a water-challenged State the gentlewoman from California 
spoke of earlier, I would simply like to say I likewise have no 
additional speakers.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Hayworth) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 4545, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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