[House Report 109-339]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    109-339

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             ARTHUR V. WATKINS DAM ENLARGEMENT ACT OF 2005

                                _______
                                

 December 13, 2005.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

              Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 3626]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 3626) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study 
the feasibility of enlarging the Arthur V. Watkins Dam Weber 
Basin Project, Utah, to provide additional water for the Weber 
Basin Project to fulfill the purposes for which that project 
was authorized, having considered the same, report favorably 
thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as 
amended do pass.
  The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Arthur V. Watkins Dam Enlargement Act 
of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

  Congress finds the following:
          (1) Arthur V. Watkins Dam is a feature of the Weber Basin 
        Project, which was authorized by law on August 29, 1949.
          (2) Increasing the height of Arthur V. Watkins Dam and 
        construction of pertinent facilities may provide additional 
        storage capacity for the development of additional water supply 
        for the Weber Basin Project for uses of municipal and 
        industrial water supply, flood control, fish and wildlife, and 
        recreation.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF FEASIBILITY STUDY.

  The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of 
Reclamation, is authorized to conduct a feasibility study on raising 
the height of Arthur V. Watkins Dam for the development of additional 
storage to meet water supply needs within the Weber Basin Project area 
and the Wasatch Front. The feasibility study shall include such 
environmental evaluation as required under the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and a cost allocation as 
required under the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 (43 U.S.C. 485 et 
seq.).

SEC. 4. COST SHARES.

  (a) Federal Share.--The Federal share of the costs of the study 
authorized in section 3 shall not exceed 50 percent of the total cost 
of the study.
  (b) In-Kind Contributions.--The Secretary shall accept, as 
appropriate, in-kind contributions of goods or services from the Weber 
Basin Water Conservancy District. Such goods and services accepted 
under this section shall be counted as part of the non-Federal cost 
share for the study.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

  There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary $1,000,000 
for the Federal cost share of the study authorized in section 3.

SEC. 6. SUNSET.

  The authority of the Secretary to carry out any provisions of this 
Act shall terminate 10 years after the date of the enactment of this 
Act.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 3626 is to authorize the Secretary of 
the Interior to study the feasibility of enlarging the Arthur 
V. Watkins Dam Weber Basin Project, Utah, to provide additional 
water for the Weber Basin Project to fulfill the purposes for 
which that project was authorized.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Bureau of Reclamation's Weber Basin Project, located in 
northern Utah, stores and delivers water from the Weber River 
and its tributaries. Arthur V. Watkins Dam, part of the Weber 
Basin Project, is an off-stream reservoir on the northeastern 
edge of the Great Salt Lake. It is formed by a roughly 
rectangular-shaped perimeter dam about 14.5 miles long. Water 
from the Weber River near its outlet to the Great Salt Lake is 
diverted into the reservoir via the Willard Canal, and pumped 
from the reservoir via the same canal for multiple uses. In 
addition to providing water supply, the reservoir is a popular 
recreation facility.
    Recent drought and a growing population in Utah have 
highlighted the need for additional water storage. As a result, 
the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, a water user which 
manages Arthur V. Watkins Dam and Reservoir, desires the Bureau 
of Reclamation's assistance in determining the feasibility of 
adding water storage capacity to the Reservoir. H.R. 3626 
authorizes such assistance.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 3626 was introduced on July 29, 2005, by Congressman 
Rob Bishop (R-UT). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 
Water and Power. On November 9, 2005, the Subcommittee held a 
hearing on the bill. On November 16, 2005, the Full Resources 
Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Water 
and Power was discharged from further consideration of the bill 
by unanimous consent. Congressman George Radanovich (R-CA) 
offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute to specify 
that up to $1 million is authorized for the bill's purpose and 
is subject to a 50 percent federal cost-share. The amendment 
also limited the bill's authorization to ten years. The 
amendment was adopted by unanimous consent. The bill, as 
amended, was then ordered favorably reported to the House of 
Representatives by unanimous consent.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1. Short title

    This section cites the bill as the ``Arthur V. Watkins Dam 
Enlargement Act of 2005.''

Section 2. Findings

    This section contains findings relevant to the bill.

Section 3. Authorization of feasibility study

    This section authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, 
acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to conduct a 
feasibility study on raising the height of Arthur V. Watkins 
Dam to provide additional water storage. The feasibility study 
shall include any environmental evaluation as required under 
the National Environmental Policy Act and a cost allocation 
required under the Reclamation Project Act of 1939.

Section 4. cost shares

    This section directs the federal share of the cost of the 
study to be no more than 50 percent. In-kind goods or services 
provided by the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District may be 
counted as part of the non-federal cost share.

Section 5. Authorization of appropriations

    This section authorizes federal appropriations of $1 
million for the feasibility study.

Section 6. Sunset

    This section limits the federal authorization to ten years 
after the date of enactment.

            COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations 
are reflected in the body of this report.

                   CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

    Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United 
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and 
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be 
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) 
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when 
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted 
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
    2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) 
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this 
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in 
revenues or tax expenditures.
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or 
objective of this bill is to authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to study the feasibility of enlarging the Arthur V. 
Watkins Dam, Weber Basin Project, Utah, to provide additional 
water for the Weber Basin Project to fulfill the purposes for 
which that project was authorized.
    4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act 
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate 
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office:

H.R. 3626--Arthur V. Watkins Dam Enlargement Act of 2005

    H.R. 3626 would authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to 
participate in a water management feasibility study of the 
Arthur V. Watkins Dam in northern Utah. The study would 
consider increasing the height of the Dam in order to increase 
the water storage capacity of the Watkins Reservoir and the 
water supply to the Weber Basin Project area and Wasatch Front. 
H.R. 3626 would authorize the appropriation of $1 million for 
the federal share of the cost of this study, which could not 
exceed 50 percent of the total cost.
    Assuming appropriation of the specified amount, CBO 
estimates that implementing H.R. 3626 would cost $1 million 
over the 2006-2007 period. Enacting H.R. 3626 would not affect 
direct spending or revenues.
    H.R. 3626 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 
Funds authorized in the bill to conduct a study of the Arthur 
V. Watkins Dam would benefit the Weber Basin Water Conservancy 
District. Any costs it might incur would result from complying 
with conditions for receiving federal assistance.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Gregory Waring. 
This estimate was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                    COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

    This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or 
tribal law.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing 
law.

                                  
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