[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 149 (Tuesday, September 24, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H5731-H5733]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   UPPER COLORADO AND SAN JUAN RIVER BASINS ENDANGERED FISH RECOVERY 
                  PROGRAMS REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2024

  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 4596) to reauthorize the Bureau of Reclamation to provide 
cost-shared funding to implement the endangered and threatened fish 
recovery programs for the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 4596

       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 ``Upper Colorado and San Juan 
     River Basins Endangered Fish Recovery Programs 
     Reauthorization Act of 2024''.

     SEC. 2. REAUTHORIZATION OF UPPER COLORADO AND SAN JUAN RIVER 
                   BASINS ENDANGERED FISH AND THREATENED FISH 
                   RECOVERY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAMS.

       (a) Purpose.--Section 1 of Public Law 106-392 (114 Stat. 
     1602) is amended by inserting ``and threatened'' after 
     ``endangered''.
       (b) Definitions.--Section 2 of Public Law 106-392 (114 
     Stat. 1602; 116 Stat. 3113) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``to implement the 
     Recovery Implementation Program for the Endangered Fish 
     Species in the Upper Colorado River dated September 29, 1987, 
     and extended by the Extension of the Cooperative Agreement 
     dated December 6, 2001, and the 1992 Cooperative Agreement to 
     implement the San Juan River Recovery Implementation Program 
     dated October 21, 1992, and as they may be amended'' and 
     inserting ``for the Recovery Implementation Program for 
     Endangered Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin dated 
     September 29, 1987, and the 1992 Cooperative Agreement for 
     the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation Program 
     dated October 21, 1992, as the agreements may be amended and 
     extended'';
       (2) in paragraph (6)--
       (A) by inserting ``or threatened'' after ``endangered''; 
     and
       (B) by striking ``removal or translocation'' and inserting 
     ``control'';
       (3) in paragraph (7), by striking ``long-term'' each place 
     it appears;
       (4) in paragraph (8), in the second sentence, by striking 
     ``1988 Cooperative Agreement and the 1992 Cooperative 
     Agreement'' and inserting ``Recovery Implementation 
     Programs'';
       (5) in paragraph (9)--
       (A) by striking ``leases and agreements'' and inserting 
     ``acquisitions'';
       (B) by inserting ``or threatened'' after ``endangered''; 
     and
       (C) by inserting ``, as approved under the Recovery 
     Implementation Programs'' after ``nonnative fishes''; and
       (6) in paragraph (10), by inserting ``pursuant to the 
     Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Species in the 
     Upper Colorado River Basin'' after ``Service''.
       (c) Authorization to Fund Recovery Programs.--Section 3 of 
     Public Law 106-392 (114 Stat. 1603; 116 Stat. 3113; 120 Stat. 
     290; 123 Stat 1310; 126 Stat. 2444; 133 Stat. 809) (as 
     amended by section 101 of division CC of the Consolidated 
     Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117-328)) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (a)--
       (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``(1) There is hereby 
     authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, $88,000,000 
     to undertake capital projects to carry out the purposes of 
     this Act. Such funds'' and inserting the following:
       ``(1) Authorization.--
       ``(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), there is 
     authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for use by the 
     Bureau of Reclamation to undertake capital projects to carry 
     out the purposes of this Act $50,000,000 for the period of 
     fiscal years 2024 through 2031.
       ``(B) Annual adjustment.--For each of fiscal years 2025 
     through 2031, the amount authorized to be appropriated under 
     subparagraph (A) shall be annually adjusted to reflect widely 
     available engineering cost indices applicable to relevant 
     construction activities.
       ``(C) Nonreimbursable funds.--Amounts made available 
     pursuant to subparagraph (A)'';
       (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ``Program for Endangered 
     Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin shall expire 
     in fiscal year 2024'' and inserting ``Programs shall expire 
     in fiscal year 2031''; and
       (C) by striking paragraph (3);
       (2) by striking subsections (b) and (c) and inserting the 
     following:
       ``(b) Non-federal Contributions to Capital Projects.--The 
     Secretary, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, may 
     accept contributed funds, interests in land and water, or 
     other contributions from the Upper Division States, political 
     subdivisions of the Upper Division States, or individuals, 
     entities, or organizations within the Upper Division States, 
     pursuant to agreements that provide for the contributions to 
     be used for capital projects costs.'';
       (3) by redesignating subsections (d) through (j) as 
     subsections (c) through (i), respectively;
       (4) in subsection (c) (as so redesignated)--
       (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ``$10,000,000 for each 
     of fiscal years 2020 through 2024'' and inserting 
     ``$80,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2024 through 
     2031'';
       (B) in paragraph (2)--
       (i) in the first sentence, by striking ``$4,000,000 per 
     year'' and inserting ``$52,914,285 for the period of fiscal 
     years 2024 through 2031'';
       (ii) in the second sentence--

       (I) by inserting ``Basin'' after ``San Juan River''; and
       (II) by striking ``$2,000,000 per year'' and inserting 
     ``$27,085,715 for the period of fiscal years 2024 through 
     2031''; and

       (iii) in the third sentence, by striking ``in fiscal years 
     commencing after the enactment of this Act'' and inserting 
     ``for fiscal year 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter''; and
       (C) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:
       ``(3) Federal contributions to annual base funding.--

[[Page H5732]]

       ``(A) In general.--For each of fiscal years 2024 through 
     2031, the Secretary, acting through the Bureau of 
     Reclamation, may accept funds from other Federal agencies, 
     including power revenues collected pursuant to the Act of 
     April 11, 1956 (commonly known as the `Colorado River Storage 
     Project Act') (43 U.S.C. 620 et seq.).
       ``(B) Availability of funds.--Funds made available under 
     subparagraph (A) shall be available for expenditure by the 
     Secretary, as determined by the contributing agency in 
     consultation with the Secretary.
       ``(C) Treatment of funds.--Funds made available under 
     subparagraph (A) shall be treated as nonreimbursable Federal 
     expenditures.
       ``(D) Treatment of power revenues.--Not more than $499,000 
     in power revenues over the period of fiscal years 2024 
     through 2031 shall be accepted under subparagraph (A) and 
     treated as having been repaid and returned to the general 
     fund of the Treasury.
       ``(4) Non-federal contributions to annual base funding.--
     The Secretary, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, may 
     accept contributed funds from the Upper Division States, 
     political subdivisions of the Upper Division States, or 
     individuals, entities, or organizations within the Upper 
     Division States, pursuant to agreements that provide for the 
     contributions to be used for annual base funding.
       ``(5) Replacement power.--Contributions of funds made 
     pursuant to this subsection shall not include the cost of 
     replacement power purchased to offset modifications to the 
     operation of the Colorado River Storage Project to benefit 
     threatened or endangered fish species under the Recovery 
     Implementation Programs.'';
       (5) in subsection (f) (as so redesignated), in the first 
     sentence, by inserting ``or threatened'' after 
     ``endangered'';
       (6) in subsection (g) (as so redesignated), by striking 
     ``unless the time period for the respective Cooperative 
     Agreement is extended to conform with this Act'' and 
     inserting ``, as amended or extended'';
       (7) in subsection (h) (as so redesignated), in the first 
     sentence, by striking ``Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish 
     Recovery Program or the San Juan River Basin Recovery 
     Implementation Program'' and inserting ``Recovery 
     Implementation Programs''; and
       (8) in subsection (i)(1) (as so redesignated)--
       (A) by striking ``2022'' each place it appears and 
     inserting ``2030'';
       (B) by striking ``2024'' each place it appears and 
     inserting ``2031''; and
       (C) in subparagraph (C)(ii)(III), by striking 
     ``contributions by the States, power customers, Tribes, water 
     users, and environmental organizations'' and inserting ``non-
     Federal contributions''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Arkansas (Mr. Westerman) and the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Ocasio-
Cortez) 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 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on H.R. 4596, the bill now under 
consideration.
  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 Representative Boebert's bill, the 
Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins Endangered Fish Recovery 
Programs Reauthorization Act of 2024.
  The Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins endangered fish recovery 
programs provide Endangered Species Act compliance for over 2,500 water 
and hydroelectric power projects.
  Without these recovery programs, projects would be open to litigation 
and disruptions to operations that would negatively impact millions of 
Americans' water and power supplies.
  These programs have been a conservation success story. Their goal is 
to recover four ESA-listed fish species: the Colorado pikeminnow, the 
razorback sucker, the humpback chub, and the bonytail. Yet, they also 
allow for the continuation of operations to meet current and future 
needs.
  In recent years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has recognized 
the program's success by reclassifying the humpback chump from an 
endangered species to a threatened species.

                              {time}  2000

  This service has also proposed to reclassify the razorback sucker 
from an endangered species to a threatened species.
  In a report submitted to Congress in March of 2023, the service 
stated: ``When the recovery programs were initiated in 1988 and 1992, 
the trajectory of all four listed species was toward extinction. The 
implementation of these recovery elements not only prevented 
extinctions, but substantially improved the prospect for recovering the 
listed fishes.'' This is a rare occurrence and should be celebrated.
  I urge my colleagues to allow this success to continue by supporting 
this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4596, the Upper Colorado and 
San Juan River Basins Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Reauthorization 
Act.
  This bill would reauthorize two fish recovery programs in the 
Colorado River Basin: the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery 
Program, and the San Juan River Basin Implementation Program.
  The Colorado River is known as the hardest working river in the West, 
supporting a multitude of uses, including irrigation, municipal water 
use, recreation, and sustaining numerous fish and wildlife species.
  Established in the late eighties and early nineties, these two fish 
recovery programs allowed the Bureau of Reclamation to partner with 
other Federal agencies, States, Tribes, and hydropower customers, water 
users, and conservation groups to work collaboratively on species 
recovery and ensure water-related projects are in compliance with the 
Endangered Species Act.
  Without this reauthorization, these two programs will expire, and we 
risk the long history of collaboration and successful recovery of four 
native fish species. We need to get this done as soon as possible.
  Mr. Speaker, I support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Colorado (Ms. Boebert), the lead sponsor of this bill.
  Ms. BOEBERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his support, and 
I appreciate the bipartisan support here in the House.
  I rise in support of H.R. 4596, the Upper Colorado and San Juan River 
Basins Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Reauthorization Act of 2024. 
This bicameral bill, which passed through the House Natural Resources 
Committee with unanimous bipartisan support, provides a clean, 7-year 
reauthorization of the Upper Colorado and San Juan Recovery Programs 
that protect four threatened and endangered native fish species in the 
Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins by extending conservation 
programs at current funding levels for 7 additional fiscal years.
  These programs provide Endangered Species Act compliance to ensure 
2,500 water projects continue to function and provide legal certainty 
for water users throughout Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
  These projects, including 1,200 in Colorado alone, include major 
water reservoirs, agricultural water users, ski areas, and power-
generation facilities that use more than 3.7 million acre-feet of water 
per year.
  The Upper Colorado and San Juan Recovery Programs were established in 
1988 to achieve full recovery for four federally listed endangered fish 
species, including the humpback chub, bonytail, Colorado pikeminnow, 
and razorback sucker.
  Those designations led to the threat of significant water- and power-
use restrictions. For over three decades, States, Tribes, local 
communities, environmental groups, energy users, and water users have 
partnered to help recover four threatened and endangered fish species 
while continuing water and power facility development and operations in 
the Upper Colorado River Basin and the San Juan River Basin.
  Without these programs, these 2,500 water and power users would have 
to perform extremely burdensome Section 7 consultations for all 2,500 
individual projects. Because of the success of these programs, the 
humpback chub and the razorback sucker are success stories and have 
been downlisted from endangered to threatened under the Endangered 
Species Act.
  Last Congress, I worked on a short-term extension to reauthorize 
these programs until September 30 of 2024. I

[[Page H5733]]

am proud to report that this bill today is the result of months of hard 
work with local stakeholders, the Bureau of Reclamation, and Senators 
Hickenlooper and Romney to provide a long-term solution by 
reauthorizing these vital programs until 2031.
  My bill has significant support from more than 30 Colorado and 
Western stakeholder organizations, including Denver Water, Pueblo 
Water, both of the Colorado Indian Tribes, Utah Water Users 
Association, and many more.
  I urge the passage of this critical bipartisan and bicameral 
legislation.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, I am 
prepared to close, and I continue to reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the 
legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. WESTERMAN. Mr. Speaker, the Upper Colorado and San Juan River 
Endangered Fish Recovery Programs are essential to the region's future. 
These programs have been successful in conserving and recovering 
endangered species, which is the goal of the Endangered Species Act.
  Mr. Speaker, as an Arkansas Razorback, I rise in strong support of 
this legislation that will continue to help recover the razorback 
sucker.
  Mr. Speaker, 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. 4596, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________