[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 183 (Monday, November 6, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H5410-H5411]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CLARIFYING JURISDICTION WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN BUREAU OF RECLAMATION 
                       PUMPED STORAGE DEVELOPMENT

  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 1607) to clarify jurisdiction with respect to certain Bureau 
of Reclamation pumped storage development, and for other purposes, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1607

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

     SECTION 1. LAND WITHDRAWAL AND RESERVATION.

       (a) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) Agreement.--The term ``Agreement'' means the agreement 
     between the United States and the Association dated September 
     6, 1917, as amended.
       (2) Association.--The term ``Association'' means the Salt 
     River Valley Water Users' Association.
       (3) Covered land.--The term ``covered land'' means the 
     portion of the National Forest System land located on the 
     south side of the Salt River from the March 9, 1903, 1-mile 
     withdrawal area for the Bureau of Reclamation purposes 
     extending an additional 2 miles from the Salt River at 
     Roosevelt Dam to 18.25 river miles downstream, in the State 
     of Arizona, not including the Superstition Mountain 
     Wilderness Area and the Tonto National Monument, as depicted 
     on the Map.
       (4) District.--The term ``District'' means the Salt River 
     Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District.
       (5) Map.--The term ``Map'' means the map prepared under 
     subsection (e)(1).
       (6) SRP.--The term ``SRP'' means--
       (A) the District; and
       (B) the Association.
       (b) Reservation of Covered Land.--Subject to valid existing 
     rights, the covered land is reserved to the United States, 
     through the Secretary of the Interior, for the exclusive 
     right to use the covered land and interests in the covered 
     land for the development, generation, and transmission of 
     electrical power and energy for the use and benefit of the 
     Salt River Federal Reclamation Project pursuant to the 
     Agreement.
       (c) Withdrawal of Covered Land.--The covered land is 
     permanently withdrawn from--
       (1) all forms of entry, appropriation, and disposal under 
     the public land laws;
       (2) location, entry, and patent under the mining laws; and
       (3) operation of the mineral leasing, mineral materials, 
     and geothermal leasing laws.
       (d) Facilities.--With respect to facilities constructed by 
     SRP on the covered land for the development, generation, and 
     transmission of electrical power and energy--
       (1) the design and specifications shall conform to Bureau 
     of Reclamation standards, and final designs shall be subject 
     to review and approval by the Secretary of the Interior;
       (2) all construction work shall be subject to inspection 
     and approval by the Secretary of the Interior;
       (3) upon a determination of substantial completion of such 
     facilities, the Secretary of the Interior shall accept title 
     on behalf of the United States as part of the Salt River 
     Federal Reclamation Project pursuant to--
       (A) section 6 of the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 389, 
     chapter 1093; 43 U.S.C. 498); and
       (B) the Agreement; and
       (4) SRP shall be responsible for the care, operation, and 
     maintenance pursuant to the Agreement.
       (e) Map.--
       (1) In general.--As soon as practicable after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall 
     prepare a map depicting the boundary of the covered land.
       (2) Availability.--The Map shall be on file and available 
     for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the 
     Forest Service and the Bureau of Reclamation.
       (f) Management of Covered Land.--Management of the covered 
     lands shall be in accordance with the Management Memorandum 
     among the District, United States Department of Agriculture, 
     Forest Service, and the Bureau of Reclamation, dated April 
     27, 1979, as amended.
       (g) Relation to Other Law.--
       (1) Compliance with environmental laws.--The Secretary of 
     the Interior is directed to carry out all necessary 
     environmental compliance under the National Environmental 
     Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.), the Endangered 
     Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531, et seq.), and all other 
     applicable environmental laws and regulations, prior to 
     construction of facilities on the covered land for the 
     development, generation, and transmission of electrical power 
     and energy.
       (2) Lead agency.--The Bureau of Reclamation shall be the 
     lead agency with respect to environmental compliance.
       (3) Withdrawal not major federal action.--The withdrawal of 
     the covered land shall not constitute a major Federal action 
     under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
     U.S.C. 4321, et seq.).
       (4) Antideficiency.--The United States shall not be liable 
     for failure to carry out any obligation or activity 
     authorized to be carried out under this title (including any 
     such obligation or activity under the Agreement) if adequate 
     appropriations are not provided by Congress expressly to 
     carry out the purposes of this Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Arkansas (Mr. Westerman) and the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arkansas.


                             General Leave

  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to 
include extraneous material on H.R. 1607, as amended.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Arkansas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my colleague, Mr. Schweikert's bill 
which enables the Bureau of Reclamation and Salt River Project to move 
forward with developing pumped storage hydropower facilities in the 
Salt River reservoir system in Arizona.
  Pumped storage is an efficient means to store energy when supply 
exceeds demand and has been shown to be one of the most useful methods 
for regulating intermittent renewable generation resources, such as 
wind and solar.
  Based on initial work done by the Bureau of Reclamation in 2014, the 
Salt River Project developed two possible locations for the 
construction of a pumped storage hydropower project.
  H.R. 1607 would withdraw approximately 17,000 acres of Federal lands

[[Page H5411]]

from the National Forest System and transfer it to the Bureau of 
Reclamation for the development of pumped storage hydropower and the 
development, generation, and transmission of electrical power and 
energy.
  Through the transfer of this land, the proposed pumped storage 
project to be developed will be entirely within the authorities and 
footprint of the Federal reclamation project--streamlining development 
and maximizing Federal reclamation project benefits. Without it, the 
project would need to be permitted by both the Bureau of Reclamation 
and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
  Mr. Speaker, for those reasons, I support and urge my colleagues to 
join me in supporting this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1607, introduced by my 
colleague from Arizona (Mr. Schweikert) and co-led by Representative   
Greg Stanton, also from Arizona.
  This bill would reserve certain lands in Arizona to the United States 
for use as part of the Salt River Federal Reclamation Project. The Salt 
River Project was first authorized in 1903 and provides water and power 
to over 2 million people in central Arizona today.
  Under this legislation, the reserved lands will be used for 
development, generation, and transmission of electrical power and 
energy to assist the Salt River Project in expanding pumped storage 
hydropower facilities to meet increasing energy demands.
  I thank my colleagues from Arizona, Representatives Schweikert and 
Stanton for introducing and promoting this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the bill, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Schweikert), the lead sponsor of this bill.
  Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Mr. Speaker, this is fun to have one of these where 
we all sort of agree on it.
  Let me put in a little character--you heard some of the basic 
mechanisms. The Salt River Project is a waterpower quasi-municipality. 
It is very unique. It actually predates statehood for us. Think about 
that. It actually was put together before we actually became a State.
  What is unique in Arizona is--many of you have heard the discussion 
of the thing called the duck curve. In the late afternoon you get lots 
of photovoltaic power and then the sun goes down, and you don't get 
lots of photovoltaic power, but we still run our air conditioners.
  We need some ginormous batteries for those of us that live in the 
desert Southwest, hence, comes the concept of pumped storage. Where 
this is at is actually where I live. I live probably 25 minutes away 
from this. It is the lake I grew up on.
  To try to get this visually, picture a series of lakes that are our 
water reservoirs for the Phoenix area, and then these cliffs that are 
just tremendously high--it is a very impressive area--and the concept 
of using gravity as a battery.
  I appreciate everyone from our delegation who has been very, very 
helpful on this, but this is one of those occasions where it makes 
sense. It is environmentally sound. It actually allows us to take care 
of something that is somewhat unique for us in the Southwest; and that 
is the solar power we produce.
  Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is, I do hope all of our brothers 
and sisters here, later on, vote ``yes'' in suspension.
  Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the 
legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, the bill before us today does streamline 
the permitting process for a project that is intended to keep energy 
costs low, help stabilize the electric grid during peak demand, and 
boost affordable and reliable energy.
  As Mr. Schweikert explained, this is one of the oldest forms of 
batteries that we have to pump water uphill when we have excess energy 
and then to use it to generate energy on the off-hours.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join in supporting this 
legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Westerman) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1607, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.

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