[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 8 (Tuesday, January 16, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S599]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KYL (for himself, Mr. Ensign, Mr. Reid, and Mrs. 
        Feinstein):
  S. 300. A bill to authorize appropriations for the Bureau of 
Reclamation to carry out the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species 
Conservation Program in the States of Arizona, California, and Nevada, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources.
  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, today I am pleased to join with Senators 
Ensign, Feinstein and Reid to introduce the Lower Colorado River Multi-
Species Conservation Program Act. This bipartisan legislation is 
designed to protect and maintain wildlife habitat on the lower Colorado 
River and to provide assurances to the affected water and power 
agencies of Arizona, California, and Nevada that their river operations 
may continue upon compliance with the underlying program. This bill is 
nearly identical to legislation I introduced late last year with 
Senators Ensign, Feinstein, and Reid.
  The Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program, 
otherwise known as the MSCP, is a comprehensive, cooperative effort 
among 50 Federal and non-Federal entities in Arizona, California, and 
Nevada whose purposes are to 1. protect the lower Colorado River 
environment while ensuring the certainty of existing river water and 
power operations; 2. protect threatened endangered wildlife under the 
Endangered Species Act; and 3. prevent the listing of additional 
species on the lower Colorado River.
  To accomplish these goals, the MSCP will create more than 8,100 acres 
of riparian, marsh, and backwater habitat and implement additional 
measures to protect 26 endangered, threatened and sensitive species. 
The program covers approximately 400 miles, including the full-pool 
elevations of Lake Mead to the United States-Mexico Southerly 
International Boundary.
  The program costs will be spread over 50 years, and split 50-50 
between the Federal Government and the non-Federal entities covered by 
MSCP. Arizona and Nevada will each bear 25 percent of the non-Federal 
costs and California will bear 50 percent of the non-federal costs.
  Although implementation of the program began in April 2005 under the 
U.S. Department of the Interior's existing authority, legislation is 
needed to protect the substantial financial commitments that the non-
Federal parties are making to species protection . To that end, the 
bill 1. expressly authorizes appropriations to cover the Federal share 
of the program costs; 2. directs the Secretary of the Interior to 
manage and implement the MSCP in accordance with the underlying program 
documents; and 3. provides a waiver of sovereign immunity to allow the 
non-Federal parties to enforce, if necessary, the underlying program 
documents. The waiver, however, does not allow an action to be brought 
against the United States for money damages.
  Late in 2006, the House Committee on Resources, Subcommittee on Water 
and Power held a comprehensive field hearing in Arizona on the MSCP 
Act. The hearing highlighted the significance of the program to 
Colorado River users in Arizona, California, and Nevada and 
demonstrated the strong support for the legislation. Unfortunately, 
Congress adjourned before it could take action on the bill. We hope for 
its swift passage in the 110th Congress.
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