[House Report 110-483]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



110th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    110-483

======================================================================
 
 AUTHORIZING APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE SAN GABRIEL BASIN RESTORATION FUND

                                _______
                                

 December 11, 2007.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Rahall, from the Committee on Natural Resources, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 123]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 123) to authorize appropriations for the San Gabriel 
Basin Restoration Fund, 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. SAN GABRIEL BASIN RESTORATION FUND.

  Section 110 of division B of the Miscellaneous Appropriations Act, 
2001 (114 Stat. 2763A-222), as enacted into law by section 1(a)(4) of 
the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public Law 106-554, as 
amended by Public Law 107-66), is further amended--
          (1) in subsection (a)(3)(B), by inserting after clause (iii) 
        the following:
                          ``(iv) Non-federal match.--After $85,000,000 
                        has cumulatively been appropriated under 
                        subsection (d)(1), the remainder of Federal 
                        funds appropriated under subsection (d) shall 
                        be subject to the following matching 
                        requirement:
                                  ``(I) San gabriel basin water quality 
                                authority.--The San Gabriel Basin Water 
                                Quality Authority shall be responsible 
                                for providing a 35 percent non-Federal 
                                match for Federal funds made available 
                                to the Authority under this Act.
                                  ``(II) Central basin municipal water 
                                district.--The Central Basin Municipal 
                                Water District shall be responsible for 
                                providing a 35 percent non-Federal 
                                match for Federal funds made available 
                                to the District under this Act.''; and
          (2) by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:
  ``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
          ``(1) In general.--There is authorized to be appropriated to 
        the Restoration Fund established under subsection (a) 
        $146,200,000. Such funds shall remain available until expended.
          ``(2) Set-aside.--Of the amounts appropriated under paragraph 
        (1), no more than $21,200,000 shall be made available to carry 
        out the Central Basin Water Quality Project.''.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of H.R. 123, as amended by the Committee on 
Natural Resources, is to authorize additional appropriations 
for the San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    The San Gabriel Basin supplies drinking water to 1.4 
million people in eastern Los Angeles County. Volatile organic 
compounds, including suspected carcinogens, were discovered in 
the groundwater basin in 1979. Efforts to remove these 
compounds were moving forward under the federal Superfund 
program until 1997 when perchlorate was found in groundwater. 
This greatly complicated the cleanup because perchlorate and 
volatile organic compounds require different treatment methods. 
The perchlorate discovery closed a number of wells, cutting off 
the entire water supply for one water district and restricting 
water production for other producers. Faced with these 
problems, water producers and the San Gabriel Basin Water 
Quality Authority (WQA) began joint efforts to solve the 
immediate water supply problems and create an overall solution 
that could win backing from all levels of government and from 
private industry.
    The San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund (Restoration Fund) 
was originally authorized in 2000 as the San Gabriel Basin 
Water Quality Initiative (Public Law 106-554). The fund's 
authorized appropriations ceiling was established at 
$85,000,000 in total for groundwater cleanup in the San Gabriel 
Basin and the Central Basin in Southern California. 
Specifically, up to $75,000,000 was dedicated to the WQA to 
address contamination in the San Gabriel Basin, and up to 
$10,000,000 for the Central Basin Municipal Water District 
(CBMWD) to address contamination in the Central Basin. While 
the initial authorizing legislation directed the Secretary of 
the Army to administer the Restoration Fund, Congress in 2002 
began appropriating the Restoration Fund to the U.S. Bureau of 
Reclamation (USBR) to administer (Public Law 107-66).
    H.R. 123, as introduced, proposed to raise the 
appropriations ceiling for the Restoration Fund from 
$85,000,000 to $135,000,000, an increase of $50,000,000 over 
the current authorization.
    As amended and ordered reported by the Committee on Natural 
Resources, H.R. 123 would raise the appropriations ceiling for 
the Restoration Fund from $85,000,000 to $146,200,000, an 
increase of $61,200,000 over the current authorization. The 
bill, as amended, specifically allocates $50,000,000 of the 
additional funds to the San Gabriel Water Quality Authority 
(WQA) for use in groundwater cleanup efforts in the San Gabriel 
Basin, and further allocates $11,200,000 to the Central Basin 
Municipal Water District (CBMWD) for use in groundwater cleanup 
efforts in the Central Basin.
    Use of the Restoration Fund is restricted to (1) 
construction of groundwater treatment facilities, and (2) 
operation and maintenance of facilities for no more than 10 
years. The Restoration Fund also requires a non-federal cost 
share of at least 35% of any appropriated funds obligated by 
the USBR in a given fiscal year, and the WQA is responsible for 
providing the non-federal amount prior to the obligation of any 
funds. H.R. 123, as amended and ordered reported by the 
Committee on Natural Resources, amends current law on the non-
federal cost share by stipulating that CBMWD will now also be 
responsible for 35% non-federal cost share for any funds they 
are specifically slated to receive.

                            Committee Action

    H.R. 123 was introduced on January 4, 2007 by Rep. David 
Dreier (R-CA). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Natural Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee 
on Water and Power. The Subcommittee held a hearing on H.R. 123 
on September 25, 2007. The Subcommittee subsequently met on 
October 16, 2007 to mark up H.R. 123. The Subcommittee 
forwarded the bill to the Full Committee on Natural Resources 
by unanimous consent without amendment. On November 15, 2007, 
the Full Natural Resources Committee met to consider the bill. 
Rep. Grace F. Napolitano, (D-CA) offered an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute. This amendment further increased the 
authorized appropriation ceiling and specifically allocated 
additional funds for the CBMWD to continue the Water Quality 
Protection Project. The amendment further stipulated that CBMWD 
must provide a non-federal cost share of 35% of any future 
annual appropriations it receives as a part of the Restoration 
Fund. The amendment was adopted by unanimous consent. H.R. 123, 
as amended, was then ordered favorably reported to the House of 
Representatives by unanimous consent.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis


Section 1. San Gabriel Restoration Fund

    Public Law 106-554 established the San Gabriel Restoration 
Fund with an appropriations ceiling of $85,000,000. Of this 
amount, $75,000,000 was made available to the WQA, and 
$10,000,000 was set aside for CBMWD. In past years, CBMWD and 
the WQA would seek one appropriation under the Restoration 
Fund, and split that appropriation between them. According to 
information supplied to the Committee by the Bureau of 
Reclamation, as of November 2007, CBMWD has received the full 
$10,000,000 originally authorized in P.L. 106-554, while the 
WQA has not yet received the full $75,000,000 originally 
authorized. Therefore, all funds currently left under the 
current authorization ceiling of $85,000,000 should be directed 
solely to the WQA.
    H.R. 123, as amended, amends P.L. 106-554 to further raise 
the appropriations ceiling for the Restoration Fund by an 
additional $61,200,000, by striking $85,000,000 and inserting 
$146,200,000. Of this amount, an additional $50,000,000, or up 
to $135,000,000, will be available to the WQA once they have 
received their full appropriation under the original P.L. 106-
554 authorizing language, and the $11,200,000 that remains 
within the overall $146,200,000 ceiling will be set aside for 
the CBMWD by striking $10,000,000 and inserting $21,200,000. 
H.R. 123, as amended, maintains the 35% non-federal cost share 
required by P.L. 106-554. However, H.R. 123, as amended, amends 
Public Law 106-554 to divide up responsibility for this cost 
share. Under the original authorizing language of Public Law 
106-544, the WQA was responsible for the full 35% non-federal 
cost share of all funds appropriated under the Restoration 
Fund. H.R. 123, as amended, will now require that the WQA will 
only be responsible for providing 35% non-federal cost share of 
any funds they receive through the annual appropriations 
process, and requires that once CBMWD begins to draw down on 
the $21,200,000 ceiling, CBMWD will also be responsible for 
providing 35% non-federal cost share of any funds they receive.
    As stated above, because CBMWD has already received their 
full $10,000,000 under the original authorization allowed under 
P.L. 106-554, the WQA is not bound to split any further 
appropriations granted under the current $85,000,000 ceiling 
with CBMWD. However, CBMWD retains the ability to seek their 
own appropriation and begin drawing down on the $21,200,000 
ceiling as soon as this bill is enacted into law, provided that 
CBMWD can provide the 35% non-federal cost share of any funds 
they receive.
    Further, the Committee is aware that once the WQA receives 
its full appropriation under the original authorization, should 
the WQA and CBMWD decide to pursue and split a single 
appropriation as they've done in the past, then the WQA and the 
CBMWD have mutually agreed that the WQA will continue to 
receive 90 percent of the annual appropriation under the new 
authorization ceiling and the CBMWD will continue to receive 10 
percent of the annual appropriation to the Restoration Fund 
under the new authorization ceiling.

            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 Natural 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. This bill does 
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not 
apply.
    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. 123--A bill to authorize appropriations for the San Gabriel Basin 
        Restoration Fund

    Summary: H.R. 123 would authorize the appropriation of 
additional amounts to the San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund 
and would make use of those funds contingent on the provision 
of matching funds by local entities in the state of California.
    Assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO 
estimates that implementing H.R. 123 would cost $40 million 
over the 2008-2012 period. Unspent deposits into the fund would 
be credited with interest, and CBO estimates that enacting the 
legislation also would increase direct spending by $3 million 
over the 2008-2017 period because that interest could be spent 
without further appropriation. Enacting H.R. 123 would not 
affect revenues.
    H.R. 123 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 
and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated 
budgetary impact of H.R. 123 is shown in the following table. 
The costs of this legislation fall within budget function 300 
(natural resources and environment).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                       By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
                                                             -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               2008   2009   2010   2011   2012   2013   2014   2015   2016   2017  2008-2012  2008-2017
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                               CHANGES IN DIRECT SPENDING

Estimated Budget Authority..................................      0      *      *      1      1      1      0      0      0      0         2          3
Estimated Outlays...........................................      0      *      *      1      1      1      0      0      0      0         2          3

                                                      CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION

Estimated Authorization Level \1\...........................      0     12     12     12     12     13      0      0      0      0        48         61
Estimated Outlays...........................................      0     10     10     10     10     10     11      0      0      0        40         61
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: * = direct spending of less than $500,000.
\1\ A full-year appropriation for this program has not yet been provided for 2008.

    Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that the 
bill will be enacted near the beginning of fiscal year 2008 and 
that the necessary amounts will be appropriated for each year.
    H.R. 123 would authorize an increase in the total amounts 
that could be appropriated to the San Gabriel Basin Restoration 
Fund from $85 million to $146.2 million. (To date, $69 million 
has been appropriated.) The fund was established for the 
purpose of cleaning up and preventing contamination of 
groundwater in the San Gabriel River basin in California. The 
Secretary of the Interior, working in coordination with 
municipalities, is authorized to help design and construct 
water quality projects and reimburse the operation and 
maintenance costs of those facilities for up to 10 years.
    Assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO 
estimates that implementing the legislation would result in 
additional discretionary spending of $40 million over the 2008-
2012 period and an additional $21 million thereafter.
    Funds deposited into the San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund 
are credited with interest until they are spent. Those amounts 
are available for spending without further appropriation. Based 
on CBO's projections of the federal funds rate and estimated 
balances in the San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund, CBO 
estimates that enacting H.R. 123 would increase net direct 
spending by $3 million over the 2008-2017 period.
    Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 123 
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
defined in UMRA and would impose no costs on state, local, or 
tribal governments. Assuming appropriation of the authorized 
amounts, the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority and the 
Central Basin Municipal Water District would receive an 
additional $40 million for water restoration activities. Those 
entities would be required to provide matching funds, but those 
costs would be incurred voluntarily.
    Estimate prepared by: Federal costs: Tyler Kruzich; Impact 
on State, local, and tribal governments: Melissa Merrell; 
Impact on the private sector: Amy Petz.
    Estimate approved by: Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                    Compliance With Public Law 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                           Earmark Statement

    H.R. 123 does not contain any congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in 
clause 9(d), 9(e) or 9(f) of rule XXI.

                Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law

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

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (existing law 
proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new 
matter is printed in italic, existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

MISCELLANEOUS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2001

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *



                               DIVISION B


TITLE I

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


  Sec. 110. San Gabriel Basin, California. (a) San Gabriel 
Basin Restoration.--
          (1) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (3) Purposes of fund.--
                  (A) * * *
                  (B) Cost-sharing limitation.--
                          (i) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

                          (iv) Non-federal match.--After 
                        $85,000,000 has cumulatively been 
                        appropriated under subsection (d)(1), 
                        the remainder of Federal funds 
                        appropriated under subsection (d) shall 
                        be subject to the following matching 
                        requirement:
                                  (I) San gabriel basin water 
                                quality authority.--The San 
                                Gabriel Basin Water Quality 
                                Authority shall be responsible 
                                for providing a 35 percent non-
                                Federal match for Federal funds 
                                made available to the Authority 
                                under this Act.
                                  (II) Central basin municipal 
                                water district.--The Central 
                                Basin Municipal Water District 
                                shall be responsible for 
                                providing a 35 percent non-
                                Federal match for Federal funds 
                                made available to the District 
                                under this Act.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

  [(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
          [(1) In general.--There is authorized to be 
        appropriated to the Restoration Fund established under 
        subsection (a) $85,000,000. Such funds shall remain 
        available until expended.
          [(2) Set-aside.--Of the amounts appropriated under 
        paragraph (1), no more than $10,000,000 shall be 
        available to carry out the Central Basin Water Quality 
        Project.]
  (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--
          (1) In general.--There is authorized to be 
        appropriated to the Restoration Fund established under 
        subsection (a) $146,200,000. Such funds shall remain 
        available until expended.
          (2) Set-aside.--Of the amounts appropriated under 
        paragraph (1), no more than $21,200,000 shall be made 
        available to carry out the Central Basin Water Quality 
        Project.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                                  
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