[House Report 117-577]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


117th Congress    }                                   {    Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session       }                                   {    117-577

======================================================================

 
  SALINE LAKE ECOSYSTEMS IN THE GREAT BASIN STATES PROGRAM ACT OF 2021

                                _______
                                

 November 16, 2022.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 5345]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Natural Resources, to whom was referred 
the bill (H.R. 5345) to authorize the Director of the United 
States Geological Survey to establish a regional program to 
assess, monitor, and benefit the hydrology of saline lakes in 
the Great Basin and the migratory birds and other wildlife 
dependent on those habitats, and for other purposes, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an 
amendment and recommends 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 ``Saline Lake Ecosystems in the Great 
Basin States Program Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. SALINE LAKE ECOSYSTEMS IN THE GREAT BASIN STATES ASSESSMENT AND 
                    MONITORING PROGRAM.

  (a) Definitions.--In this section:
          (1) Program.--The term ``Program'' means the Saline Lake 
        Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Assessment and Monitoring 
        Program established under subsection (b).
          (2) Saline lake ecosystems.--The term ``saline lake 
        ecosystems'' means the ecosystems associated with the following 
        lakes:
                  (A) Abert Lake in Oregon.
                  (B) Carson Lake in Nevada.
                  (C) Carson Sink in Nevada.
                  (D) Eagle Lake in California.
                  (E) Franklin Lake in Nevada.
                  (F) Goose Lake in California and Oregon.
                  (G) Great Salt Lake in Utah.
                  (H) Harney Lake in Oregon.
                  (I) Honey Lake in California.
                  (J) Malheur Lake in Oregon.
                  (K) Mono Lake in California.
                  (L) Owens Lake in California.
                  (M) Pyramid Lake in Nevada.
                  (N) Ruby Lake in Nevada.
                  (O) Sevier Lake in Utah.
                  (P) Silver Lake in Oregon.
                  (Q) Summer Lake in Oregon.
                  (R) Walker Lake in Nevada.
                  (S) Warner Lake in Oregon.
                  (T) Winnemucca Lake in Nevada.
          (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
        the Interior, acting through the Director of the United States 
        Geological Survey.
  (b) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a Saline Lake 
Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Assessment and Monitoring Program 
to assess and monitor the hydrology of saline lake ecosystems in the 
Great Basin and the migratory birds and other wildlife that depend on 
those ecosystems to inform and support coordinated management and 
conservation actions to benefit those ecosystems, migratory birds, and 
other wildlife.
  (c) Work and Implementation Plan.--
          (1) In general.--Under the Program, the Secretary, in 
        coordination with the Director of the United States Fish and 
        Wildlife Service and the entities described in paragraph (2), 
        shall establish a multiyear work and implementation plan to 
        assess, monitor, and conserve saline lake ecosystems in the 
        Great Basin and the migratory birds and other wildlife that 
        depend on those ecosystems.
          (2) Coordinating entities.--The entities referred to in 
        paragraph (1) include--
                  (A) Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies;
                  (B) institutions of higher education;
                  (C) nonprofit organizations; and
                  (D) other local stakeholders.
          (3) Inclusions.--The work and implementation plan established 
        under paragraph (1) shall include--
                  (A) a synthesis of available information, literature, 
                and data, and an assessment of scientific and 
                informational needs, relating to--
                          (i) water quantity, water quality, water use, 
                        and water demand;
                          (ii) migratory bird and other wildlife 
                        populations, habitats, and ecology;
                          (iii) annual lifecycle needs of migratory 
                        birds; and
                          (iv) environmental changes and other 
                        stressors, including climatic stressors;
                  (B) a description of how the plan should be 
                implemented to address the scientific and informational 
                needs described in subparagraph (A), including proposed 
                activities, such as monitoring, data infrastructure 
                needs, and development of tools necessary to implement 
                the Program;
                  (C) recommendations and a cost assessment for the 
                implementation of the plan; and
                  (D) such other matters as the Secretary determines to 
                be appropriate.
          (4) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 
        report describing the work and implementation plan established 
        under paragraph (1).
  (d) Implementation.--The Secretary shall implement the Program based 
on the information, findings, and recommendations contained in the work 
and implementation plan established under subsection (c).
  (e) Cooperative Agreements and Grants.--Using such sums as the 
Secretary considers to be appropriate of amounts made available for 
each fiscal year under subsection (g), the Secretary may enter into 
cooperative funding agreements with, or provide grants to, entities 
described in subsection (c)(2) for the purposes of--
          (1) participating in developing, or providing information to 
        inform the development of, the work and implementation plan 
        under subsection (c);
          (2) carrying out assessments and monitoring of water quality, 
        quantity, use, and demand under the Program; and
          (3) carrying out ecological, biological, and avian 
        assessments and monitoring under the Program.
  (f) Effect.--The work and implementation plan established under 
subsection (c)(1) shall not affect--
          (1) any interstate water compacts in existence on the date of 
        enactment of this Act, including full development of any 
        apportionment made in accordance with those compacts;
          (2) valid and existing water rights in any State located 
        wholly or partially within the Great Basin;
          (3) water rights held by the United States in the Great 
        Basin; and
          (4) the management and operation of Bear Lake or Stewart Dam, 
        including the storage, management, and release of water.
  (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out the Program $5,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2022 through 2027.

                          PURPOSE OF THE BILL

    The purpose of H.R. 5345 is to authorize the Director of 
the United States Geological Survey to establish a regional 
program to assess, monitor, and conserve the hydrology of 
saline lake ecosystems in the Great Basin states.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The Great Basin is an approximately 200,000 square-mile 
area that drains internally--meaning all precipitation either 
evaporates, is absorbed by the ground, or flows into lakes 
rather than draining to the ocean.\1\ The Great Basin stretches 
across most of Nevada and includes parts of Utah, Idaho, 
Wyoming, Oregon, and California, as well.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\The Great Basin, NPS, https://www.nps.gov/grba/planyourvisit/
the-great-basin.htm (last updated Apr. 22, 2021).
    \2\Id. Also see generally Chad B. Wilsey, Lotem Taylor, Nicole 
Michel & Karyn Stockdale, Nat'l Audubon Soc'y, Water and Birds in the 
Arid West: Habitats in Decline (2017) [hereinafter Audubon Water and 
Birds Study], https://nas-national-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/
wbaw_report_5july17_updated.pdf--of which the above text is largely 
excerpts.
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    Saline lakes are landlocked waterbodies often referred to 
as terminal lakes because they have no outlets.\3\ As water is 
lost through evaporation and diversions, incoming salts and 
minerals tend to accumulate in the lakes, making them 
increasingly saline.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\Audubon Water and Birds Study, supra note 2, at 28.
    \4\Id.
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    Great Basin saline lakes provide benefits for economies and 
migratory bird species, alike. For example, the Great Salt Lake 
in Utah, the largest saline lake in the Western Hemisphere, 
contributes $1.3 billion annually to Utah's economy\5\ while 
providing important habitat for 10 million migratory birds.\6\ 
In general, the Great Basin saline lakes offer a network of 
habitat along the Central and Pacific Flyways. Migratory birds 
often stop at two or three Great Basin saline lakes during 
their migration.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\Great Salt Lake Advisory Council, 11th Annual Report to the Utah 
State Legislature Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee 3, 4 
(2021), https://documents.deq.utah.gov/water-quality/standards-
technical-services/great-salt-lake-advisory-council/annual-reports/DWQ-
2021-008732.pdf.
    \6\Utah Dep't of Nat. Res., Utah Geological Surv., Press Release, 
Drought Negatively Impacting Great Salt Lake Microbialites and 
Ecosystem (July 15, 2021), https://geology.utah.gov/drought-negatively-
impacting-great-salt-lake-microbialites-and-ecosystem/.
    \7\Susan M. Haig, Sean P. Murphy, John H. Matthews, Ivan Arismendi 
& Mohammad Safeeq, Climate-Altered Wetlands Challenge Waterbird Use and 
Migratory Connectivity in Arid Landscapes, 9:4666 Sci. Reps. 1 (2019), 
available at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-41135-y.
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    The West's saline lakes are shrinking and becoming saltier 
due to water diversions for human use and climate-induced 
drought.\8\ Water levels in the Great Salt Lake recently hit 
historic lows, dropping below the previous record set in 1963, 
with declines accelerated by worsening drought conditions and 
below-average water flows.\9\ More than half of the arid West's 
saline systems most important to birds have shrunk 50 to 95 
percent in the past 150 years.\10\ Climate change is predicted 
to further threaten the health of saline lakes with increased 
temperatures, more frequent and severe drought, and shifts in 
precipitation patterns.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh et al., Decline of the World's Saline Lakes, 
10 Nature Geoscience 816 (2017), available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/
rm/pubs_journals/2017/rmrs_2017_wurtsbaugh_w001.pdf (doi:10.1038/
NGEO3052); Johnnie N. Moore, Recent Desiccation of Western Great Basin 
Saline Lakes: Lessons from Lake Abert, Oregon, U.S.A., 554-55 Sci. of 
the Total Env't 142 (2016), available at https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.scitotenv.2016.02.161.
    \9\U.S. Geological Survey, Great Salt Lake Reaches New Historic Low 
(July 24, 2021) (online at https://www.usgs.gov/news/great-salt-lake-
reaches-new-historic-low).
    \10\Audubon Water and Birds Study, supra note 2, at 7.
    \11\E.g., id. at 39.
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    Declining water levels at saline lakes in the western 
United States present challenges for public health, critical 
habitat, migratory birds, and nearby economies. Dust exposed 
from drying lakebeds threatens air quality for neighboring 
communities. For example, airborne dust around the shrinking 
Great Salt Lake can worsen the region's already polluted air, 
posing a health risk to millions of people.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \12\Utah's Great Salt Lake Is Turning Into Dust, NPR: All Things 
Considered (July 20, 2021), https://www.npr.org/2021/07/20 /1018501136/
utahs-great-salt-lake-is-turning-into-dust.
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    Additionally, water level declines increase salinity, which 
affects the availability of habitat and food sources for 
migratory birds and other wildlife.\13\ At Lake Abert, a saline 
lake in Oregon, bird sightings recently declined by as much as 
82 percent during periods of low water and high salinity.\14\ 
Furthermore, since Great Basin saline lakes function as an 
interconnected network, water level declines threaten the 
integrity of the entire system, putting millions of migratory 
birds at risk.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \13\Nathan R. Senner, Johnnie N. Moore, S. Trent Seager, Steve 
Dougill, Keith Kreuz, Stanley E. Senner, A Salt Lake Under Stress: 
Relationships Among Birds, Water Levels, and Invertebrates at a Great 
Basin Saline Lake, 220 Biological Conservation 320 (2018), available at 
https://doi.org/10.1016 /j.biocon.2018.02.003.
    \14\Id.; see also Univ. of Mont., Press Release, Waterbirds 
Affected by Low Water, High Salt Levels in Lakes (Mar. 22, 2018), 
available at https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/ 
180322181152.htm.
    \15\Audubon Water and Birds Study, supra note 2, at 41.
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    Managing the increasingly strained network of saline lakes 
requires additional assessment, monitoring, and conservation 
efforts.\16\ Currently, significant data gaps make it difficult 
to assess long-term changes in hydrology and associated 
wildlife populations across the network of Great Basin saline 
lakes.\17\ H.R. 5345 would direct the United States Geological 
Survey (USGS) to establish a ``Saline Lake Ecosystems in the 
Great Basin States Assessment and Monitoring Program'' to 
assess and monitor the hydrology of saline lake ecosystems in 
the Great Basin and support coordinated management and 
conservation actions to benefit these ecosystems.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \16\E.g., Moore, supra note 8.
    \17\Audubon Water and Birds Study, supra note 2, at 40.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The bill further would direct USGS to establish a multi-
year work and implementation plan to assess, monitor, and 
conserve saline lake ecosystems in the Great Basin and 
associated wildlife in coordination with the United States Fish 
and Wildlife Service and other coordinating entities, including 
federal, tribal, state, and local governments; research 
universities; non-profit organizations; and local stakeholders. 
The legislation further would authorize USGS to enter into 
cooperative agreements with and issue grants to coordinating 
entities for the purposes of developing and carrying out the 
plan. The plan would not affect any interstate water compacts, 
water rights in the Great Basin, or the operation of designated 
reservoirs. Additionally, the bill would direct USGS to submit 
a report to Congress describing the work and implementation 
plan within a year. H.R. 5345 would authorize $5 million 
annually for the program for FY2022-2027.
    The Committee recognizes the significant and pressing 
conservation needs associated with several saline lake 
ecosystems across the Great Basin states and expects the 
Director of the United States Geological Survey to give 
priority consideration to the following saline lake ecosystems 
during the implementation of H.R. 5345: Lake Abert in Oregon; 
Great Salt Lake in Utah; Lahontan Valley Wetlands, including 
Carson Sink, Carson Lake, and Stillwater Marsh in Nevada; Ruby 
Lake in Nevada; Walker Lake in Nevada; Mono Lake in California; 
Owens Lake in California, and Summer Lake in Oregon.

                            COMMITTEE ACTION

    H.R. 5345 was introduced on September 23, 2021, by 
Representative Blake D. Moore (R-UT). The bill was referred 
solely to the Committee on Natural Resources, and within the 
Committee to the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife. 
On November 4, 2021, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the 
bill. On November 17, 2021, the Natural Resources Committee met 
to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was discharged by 
unanimous consent. Rep. Moore offered an amendment designated 
Moore #1 revised. The amendment was agreed to by unanimous 
consent. The bill, as amended, was adopted and ordered 
favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous 
consent.

                                HEARINGS

    For the purposes of clause 3(c)(6) of House rule XIII, the 
following hearing was used to develop or consider this measure: 
hearing by the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife held 
on November 4, 2021.

            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.

                  COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII AND
                        CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ACT

    1. Cost of Legislation and the Congressional Budget Act. 
With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(2) and (3) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
sections 308(a) and 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974, as well as clause 3(d) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee has received the 
following estimate for the bill from the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                    Washington, DC, March 15, 2022.
Hon. Raul M. Grijalva,
Chairman, Committee on Natural Resources,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 5345, the Saline 
Lake Ecosystems in the Great Basin States Program Act of 2021.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Robert Reese.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

    [GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    

    H.R. 5345 would authorize the appropriation of $5 million 
annually over the 2022-2027 period for the United States 
Geological Survey (USGS) to establish and implement a plan to 
assess, monitor, and conserve saline lake ecosystems and 
wildlife in the Great Basin. Those funds would be available for 
federal planning, research, and conservation activities as well 
as grants to and cooperative agreements with state, local, and 
tribal governments, and certain private entities.
    Using historical spending patterns for similar USGS 
programs and assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts, 
CBO estimates that implementing the bill would cost $23 million 
over the 2022-2026 period and $7 million after 2026.
    The costs of the legislation, detailed in Table 1, fall 
within budget function 300 (natural resources and environment).

               TABLE 1.--ESTIMATED INCREASES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION UNDER H.R. 5345
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
                                                         -------------------------------------------------------
                                                            2022     2023     2024     2025     2026   2022-2026
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authorization...........................................        5        5        5        5        5         25
Estimated Outlays.......................................        *        7        6        5        5         23
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* =between zero and $500,000.

    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Robert Reese. 
The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy 
Director of Budget Analysis.
    2. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 
clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goals and 
objectives of this bill are to authorize the Director of the 
United States Geological Survey to establish a regional program 
to assess, monitor, and conserve the hydrology of saline lake 
ecosystems in the Great Basin states.

                           EARMARK STATEMENT

    This bill does not contain any Congressional earmarks, 
limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 
under clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of rule XXI of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives.

                 UNFUNDED MANDATES REFORM ACT STATEMENT

    According to CBO, this bill contains no unfunded mandates 
as defined by the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

                           EXISTING PROGRAMS

    This bill does not establish or reauthorize a program of 
the federal government known to be duplicative of another 
program. Such program was not included in any report from the 
Government Accountability Office to Congress pursuant to 
section 21 of Public Law 111-139. The grant program authorized 
by this bill would be related and complementary to, but not 
duplicative of, the following programs identified in the most 
recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance published 
pursuant to 31 U.S.C. Sec. 6104: Agricultural Water Use 
Efficiency Program (CFDA No. 15.572); North American Wetlands 
Conservation Fund (CFDA No. 15.623); Neotropical Migratory Bird 
Conservation (CFDA No. 15.635); Migratory Bird Joint Ventures 
(CFDA No. 15.637); Migratory Bird Conservation (CFDA No. 
15.647); Migratory Bird Monitoring, Assessment and Conservation 
(CFDA No. 15.655); and Cooperative Research Units (CFDA No. 
15.812).

                  APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

               PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL, OR TRIBAL LAW

    Any preemptive effect of this bill over state, local, or 
tribal law is intended to be consistent with the bill's 
purposes and text and the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the 
U.S. Constitution.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

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

        SUPPLEMENTAL, MINORITY, ADDITIONAL, OR DISSENTING VIEWS

    None.

                                  [all]