Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System Act of 1998

Summary: Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System Act of 1998 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants for the Federal share of the costs of the planning and construction of the Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System, Inc.  Prohibits the obligation of System construction funds until:  (1) Federal environmental compliance requirements have been met; and (2) a final System engineering report and plan for a water conservation program have been prepared and submitted to the Congress for at least a 90-day period. 
Requires the mitigation of fish and wildlife losses during System construction and operation. 
Directs the Western Area Power Administration to make available, from power produced under the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Program, the capacity and energy required to meet the pumping and incidental operational requirements of the System from May 1 to October 31 of each year.  Provides power use conditions. 
States that this Act does not limit:  (1) the authorization for water projects in South Dakota under any law; or (2) current water rights. 
Provides the Federal share (70 percent) of System costs. 
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Reclamation, to provide construction oversight for areas of the System.  Limits the amount of funds that may be used by the Secretary for planning and construction of the System. 
Authorizes appropriations.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fall River Water Users District 
Rural Water System Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
        (1) there are insufficient water supplies of reasonable quality 
    available to the members of the Fall River Water Users District 
    Rural Water System located in Fall River County, South Dakota, and 
    the water supplies that are available are of poor quality and do 
    not meet minimum health and safety standards, thereby posing a 
    threat to public health and safety;
        (2) past cycles of severe drought in the southeastern area of 
    Fall River County have left residents without a satisfactory water 
    supply, and, during 1990, many home owners and ranchers were forced 
    to haul water to sustain their water needs;
        (3) because of the poor quality of water supplies, most members 
    of the Fall River Water Users District are forced to either haul 
    bottled water for human consumption or use distillers;
        (4) the Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System has 
    been recognized by the State of South Dakota; and
        (5) the best available, reliable, and safe rural and municipal 
    water supply to serve the needs of the Fall River Water Users 
    District Rural Water System members consists of a Madison Aquifer 
    well, 3 separate water storage reservoirs, 3 pumping stations, and 
    approximately 200 miles of pipeline.
    (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
        (1) to ensure a safe and adequate municipal, rural, and 
    industrial water supply for the members of the Fall River Water 
    Users District Rural Water System in Fall River County, South 
    Dakota;
        (2) to assist the members of the Fall River Water Users 
    District in developing safe and adequate municipal, rural, and 
    industrial water supplies; and
        (3) to promote the implementation of water conservation 
    programs by the Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
        (1) Engineering report.--The term ``engineering report'' means 
    the study entitled ``Supplemental Preliminary Engineering Report 
    for Fall River Water Users District'' published in August 1995.
        (2) Project construction budget.--The term ``project 
    construction budget'' means the description of the total amount of 
    funds that are needed for the construction of the water supply 
    system, as described in the engineering report.
        (3) Pumping and incidental operational requirements.--The term 
    ``pumping and incidental operational requirements'' means all power 
    requirements that are incidental to the operation of intake 
    facilities, pumping stations, water treatment facilities, cooling 
    facilities, reservoirs, and pipelines to the point of delivery of 
    water by the Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System to 
    each entity that distributes water at retail to individual users.
        (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of 
    Agriculture.
        (5) Water supply system.--The term ``water supply system'' 
    means the Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System, a 
    nonprofit corporation, established and operated substantially in 
    accordance with the engineering report.

SEC. 4. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall make grants to the water 
supply system for the Federal share of the costs of the planning and 
construction of the water supply system.
    (b) Service Area.--The water supply system shall provide for safe 
and adequate municipal, rural, and industrial water supplies, 
mitigation of wetlands areas, and water conservation within the 
boundaries of the Fall River Water Users District, described as 
follows: bounded on the north by the Angostura Reservoir, the Cheyenne 
River, and the line between Fall River and Custer Counties, bounded on 
the east by the line between Fall River and Shannon Counties, bounded 
on the south by the line between South Dakota and Nebraska, and bounded 
on the west by the Igloo-Provo Water Project District.
    (c) Amount of Grants.--Grants made available under subsection (a) 
to the water supply system shall not exceed the Federal share under 
section 9.
    (d) Limitation on Availability of Construction Funds.--The 
Secretary shall not obligate funds for the construction of the water 
supply system until--
        (1) the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act 
    of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) are met with respect to the water 
    supply system; and
        (2) a final engineering report and plan for a water 
    conservation program have been prepared and submitted to Congress 
    for a period of not less than 90 days before the commencement of 
    construction of the system.

SEC. 5. MITIGATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE LOSSES.

    Mitigation of fish and wildlife losses incurred as a result of the 
construction and operation of the water supply system shall be on an 
acre-for-acre basis, based on ecological equivalency, concurrent with 
project construction, as provided in the engineering report.

SEC. 6. USE OF PICK-SLOAN POWER.

    (a) In General.--From power designated for future irrigation and 
drainage pumping for the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Program, the 
Western Area Power Administration shall make available the capacity and 
energy required to meet the pumping and incidental operational 
requirements of the water supply system during the period beginning May 
1 and ending October 31 of each year.
    (b) Conditions.--The capacity and energy described in subsection 
(a) shall be made available on the following conditions:
        (1) The water supply system shall be operated on a not-for-
    profit basis.
        (2) The water supply system shall contract to purchase its 
    entire electric service requirements, including the capacity and 
    energy made available under subsection (a), from a qualified 
    preference power supplier that itself purchases power from the 
    Western Area Power Administration.
        (3) The rate schedule applicable to the capacity and energy 
    made available under subsection (a) shall be the firm power rate 
    schedule of the Pick-Sloan Eastern Division of the Western Area 
    Power Administration in effect when the power is delivered by the 
    Administration.
        (4) It shall be agreed by contract among--
            (A) the Western Area Power Administration;
            (B) the power supplier with which the water supply system 
        contracts under paragraph (2);
            (C) the power supplier of the entity described in 
        subparagraph (B); and
            (D) the Fall River Water Users District;
     that in the case of the capacity and energy made available under 
    subsection (a), the benefit of the rate schedule described in 
    paragraph (3) shall be passed through to the water supply system, 
    except that the power supplier of the water supply system shall not 
    be precluded from including, in the charges of the supplier to the 
    water system for the electric service, the other usual and 
    customary charges of the supplier.

SEC. 7. NO LIMITATION ON WATER PROJECTS IN STATE.

    This Act does not limit the authorization for water projects in 
South Dakota under law in effect on or after the date of enactment of 
this Act.

SEC. 8. WATER RIGHTS.

    Nothing in this Act--
        (1) invalidates or preempts State water law or an interstate 
    compact governing water;
        (2) alters the rights of any State to any appropriated share of 
    the waters of any body of surface or ground water, whether 
    determined by past or future interstate compacts or by past or 
    future legislative or final judicial allocations;
        (3) preempts or modifies any Federal or State law, or 
    interstate compact, dealing with water quality or disposal; or
        (4) confers on any non-Federal entity the ability to exercise 
    any Federal right to the waters of any stream or to any ground 
    water resource.

SEC. 9. FEDERAL SHARE.

    The Federal share under section 4 shall be 70 percent of--
        (1) the amount allocated in the total project construction 
    budget for the planning and construction of the water supply system 
    under section 4; and
        (2) such sums as are necessary to defray increases in 
    development costs reflected in appropriate engineering cost indices 
    after August 1, 1995.

SEC. 10. NON-FEDERAL SHARE.

    The non-Federal share under section 4 shall be 30 percent of--
        (1) the amount allocated in the total project construction 
    budget for the planning and construction of the water supply system 
    under section 4; and
        (2) such sums as are necessary to defray increases in 
    development costs reflected in appropriate engineering cost indices 
    after August 1, 1995.

SEC. 11. CONSTRUCTION OVERSIGHT.

    (a) Authorization.--The Secretary of the Interior, acting through 
the Director of the Bureau of Reclamation, may provide construction 
oversight to the water supply system for areas of the water supply 
system.
    (b) Project Oversight Administration.--The amount of funds used by 
the Secretary for planning and construction of the water supply system 
may not exceed an amount equal to 3 percent of the amount provided in 
the total project construction budget for the portion of the project to 
be constructed in Fall River County, South Dakota.

SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated--
        (1) $3,600,000 for the planning and construction of the water 
    system under section 4; and
        (2) such sums as are necessary to defray increases in 
    development costs reflected in appropriate engineering cost indices 
    after August 1, 1995.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.