I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3867 

To authorize the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority System and the 

Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System in the State of Montana, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 29, 2015 

Mr. ZINKE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority 

System and the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System 

in the State of Montana, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Clean Water for Rural 

5 Communities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to ensure a safe and ade8 quate municipal, rural, and industrial water supply for the 

9 citizens of— 


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1 (1) Dawson, Garfield, McCone, Prairie, Rich2 land, Judith Basin, Wheatland, Golden Valley, Fer3 gus, Yellowstone, and Musselshell Counties in the 

4 State of Montana; and 

5 (2) McKenzie County, North Dakota. 

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Western 

10 Area Power Administration. 

11 (2) AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Authority’’ 

12 means— 

13 (A) in the case of the Dry-Redwater Re14 gional Water Authority System— 

15 (i) the Dry-Redwater Regional Water 

16 Authority, which is a publicly owned non17 profit water authority formed in accord18 ance with Mont. Code Ann. § 75–6–302 

19 (2007); and 

20 (ii) any nonprofit successor entity to 

21 the Authority described in clause (i); and 

22 (B) in the case of the Musselshell-Judith 

23 Rural Water System— 

24 (i) the Central Montana Regional 

25 Water Authority, which is a publicly owned 


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1 nonprofit water authority formed in ac2 cordance with Mont. Code Ann. § 75–6– 

3 302 (2007); and 

4 (ii) any nonprofit successor entity to 

5 the Authority described in clause (i). 

6 (3) DRY-REDWATER REGIONAL WATER AU7 THORITY SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Dry-Redwater Re8 gional Water Authority System’’ means the Dry9 Redwater Regional Water Authority System author10 ized under section 4(a)(1) with a project service area 

11 that includes— 

12 (A) Garfield and McCone Counties in the 

13 State; 

14 (B) the area west of the Yellowstone River 

15 in Dawson and Richland Counties in the State; 

16 (C) T. 15 N. (including the area north of 

17 the Township) in Prairie County in the State; 

18 and 

19 (D) the portion of McKenzie County, 

20 North Dakota, that includes all land that is lo21 cated west of the Yellowstone River in the State 

22 of North Dakota. 

23 (4) INTEGRATED SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘inte24 grated system’’ means the transmission system 

25 owned by the Western Area Power Administration 


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1 Basin Electric Power District and the Heartland 

2 Consumers Power District. 

3 (5) MUSSELSHELL-JUDITH RURAL WATER SYS4 TEM.—The term ‘‘Musselshell-Judith Rural Water 

5 System’’ means the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water 

6 System authorized under section 4(a)(2) with a 

7 project service area that includes— 

8 (A) Judith Basin, Wheatland, Golden Val9 ley, and Musselshell Counties in the State; 

10 (B) the portion of Yellowstone County in 

11 the State within 2 miles of State Highway 3 

12 and within 4 miles of the county line between 

13 Golden Valley and Yellowstone Counties in the 

14 State, inclusive of the Town of Broadview, 

15 Montana; and 

16 (C) the portion of Fergus County in the 

17 State within 2 miles of US Highway 87 and 

18 within 4 miles of the county line between Fer19 gus and Judith Basin Counties in the State, in20 clusive of the Town of Moore, Montana. 

21 (6) NON-FEDERAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.— 

22 The term ‘‘non-Federal distribution system’’ means 

23 a non-Federal utility that provides electricity to the 

24 counties covered by the Dry-Redwater Regional 

25 Water Authority System. 


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1 (7) PICK-SLOAN PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Pick2 Sloan program’’ means the Pick-Sloan Missouri 

3 River Basin Program (authorized by section 9 of the 

4 Act of December 22, 1944 (commonly known as the 

5 ‘‘Flood Control Act of 1944’’) (58 Stat. 891, chapter 

6 665)). 

7 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

8 the Secretary of the Interior. 

9 (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

10 of Montana. 

11 (10) WATER SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Water Sys12 tem’’ means— 

13 (A) the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Au14 thority System; and 

15 (B) the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water 

16 System. 

17 SEC. 4. DRY-REDWATER REGIONAL WATER AUTHORITY SYS18 TEM AND MUSSELSHELL-JUDITH RURAL 

19 WATER SYSTEM. 

20 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary may carry 

21 out— 

22 (1) the project entitled the ‘‘Dry-Redwater Re23 gional Water Authority System’’ in a manner that is 

24 substantially in accordance with the feasibility study 

25 entitled ‘‘Dry-Redwater Regional Water System FeaVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:41 Oct 29, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3867.IH H3867

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1 sibility Study’’ (including revisions of the study), 

2 which received funding from the Bureau of Reclama3 tion on September 1, 2010; and 

4 (2) the project entitled the ‘‘Musselshell-Judith 

5 Rural Water System’’ in a manner that is substan6 tially in accordance with the feasibility report enti7 tled ‘‘Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System Feasi8 bility Report’’ (including any and all revisions of the 

9 report). 

10 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—The Secretary shall 

11 enter into a cooperative agreement with the Authority to 

12 provide Federal assistance for the planning, design, and 

13 construction of the Water Systems. 

14 (c) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 

15 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of 

17 the costs relating to the planning, design, and 

18 construction of the Water Systems shall not ex19 ceed— 

20 (i) in the case of the Dry-Redwater 

21 Regional Water Authority System— 

22 (I) 75 percent of the total cost of 

23 the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Au24 thority System; or 


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1 (II) such other lesser amount as 

2 may be determined by the Secretary, 

3 acting through the Commissioner of 

4 Reclamation, in a feasibility report; or 

5 (ii) in the case of the Musselshell-Ju6 dith Rural Water System, 75 percent of 

7 the total cost of the Musselshell-Judith 

8 Rural Water System. 

9 (B) LIMITATION.—Amounts made avail10 able under subparagraph (A) shall not be re11 turnable or reimbursable under the reclamation 

12 laws. 

13 (2) USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.— 

14 (A) GENERAL USES.—Subject to subpara15 graphs (B) and (C), the Water Systems may 

16 use Federal funds made available to carry out 

17 this section for— 

18 (i) facilities relating to— 

19 (I) water pumping; 

20 (II) water treatment; and 

21 (III) water storage; 

22 (ii) transmission pipelines; 

23 (iii) pumping stations; 

24 (iv) appurtenant buildings, mainte25 nance equipment, and access roads; 


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1 (v) any interconnection facility that 

2 connects a pipeline of the Water System to 

3 a pipeline of a public water system; 

4 (vi) electrical power transmission and 

5 distribution facilities required for the oper6 ation and maintenance of the Water Sys7 tem; 

8 (vii) any other facility or service re9 quired for the development of a rural water 

10 distribution system, as determined by the 

11 Secretary; and 

12 (viii) any property or property right 

13 required for the construction or operation 

14 of a facility described in this subsection. 

15 (B) ADDITIONAL USES.—In addition to the 

16 uses described in subparagraph (A)— 

17 (i) the Dry-Redwater Regional Water 

18 Authority System may use Federal funds 

19 made available to carry out this section 

20 for— 

21 (I) facilities relating to water in22 take; and 

23 (II) distribution, pumping, and 

24 storage facilities that— 


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1 (aa) serve the needs of citi2 zens who use public water sys3 tems; 

4 (bb) are in existence on the 

5 date of enactment of this Act; 

6 and 

7 (cc) may be purchased, im8 proved, and repaired in accord9 ance with a cooperative agree10 ment entered into by the Sec11 retary under subsection (b); and 

12 (ii) the Musselshell-Judith Rural 

13 Water System may use Federal funds 

14 made available to carry out this section 

15 for— 

16 (I) facilities relating to— 

17 (aa) water supply wells; and 

18 (bb) distribution pipelines; 

19 and 

20 (II) control systems. 

21 (C) LIMITATION.—Federal funds made 

22 available to carry out this section shall not be 

23 used for the operation, maintenance, or replace24 ment of the Water Systems. 


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1 (D) TITLE.—Title to the Water Systems 

2 shall be held by the Authority. 

3 SEC. 5. USE OF POWER FROM PICK-SLOAN PROGRAM BY 

4 THE DRY-REDWATER REGIONAL WATER AU5 THORITY SYSTEM. 

6 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that— 

7 (1) McCone and Garfield Counties in the State 

8 were designated as impact counties during the pe9 riod in which the Fort Peck Dam was constructed; 

10 and 

11 (2) as a result of the designation, the Counties 

12 referred to in paragraph (1) were to receive impact 

13 mitigation benefits in accordance with the Pick14 Sloan program. 

15 (b) AVAILABILITY OF POWER.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

17 the Administrator shall make available to the Dry18 Redwater Regional Water Authority System a quantity of power required, of up to 11 19 ⁄2 megawatt capac20 ity, to meet the pumping and incidental operation 

21 requirements of the Dry-Redwater Regional Water 

22 Authority System during the period beginning on 

23 May 1 and ending on October 31 of each year— 

24 (A) from the water intake facilities; and 


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1 (B) through all pumping stations, water 

2 treatment facilities, reservoirs, storage tanks, 

3 and pipelines up to the point of delivery of 

4 water by the water supply system to all storage 

5 reservoirs and tanks and each entity that dis6 tributes water at retail to individual users. 

7 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—The Dry-Redwater Regional 

8 Water Authority System shall be eligible to receive 

9 power under paragraph (1) if the Dry-Redwater Re10 gional Water Authority System— 

11 (A) operates on a not-for-profit basis; and 

12 (B) is constructed pursuant to a coopera13 tive agreement entered into by the Secretary 

14 under section 4(b). 

15 (3) RATE.—The Administrator shall establish 

16 the cost of the power described in paragraph (1) at 

17 the firm power rate. 

18 (4) ADDITIONAL POWER.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—If power, in addition to 

20 that made available to the Dry-Redwater Re21 gional Water Authority System under para22 graph (1), is necessary to meet the pumping re23 quirements of the Dry-Redwater Regional 

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1 chase the necessary additional power at the best 

2 available rate. 

3 (B) REIMBURSEMENT.—The cost of pur4 chasing additional power shall be reimbursed to 

5 the Administrator by the Dry-Redwater Re6 gional Water Authority. 

7 (5) RESPONSIBILITY FOR POWER CHARGES.— 

8 The Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority shall 

9 be responsible for the payment of the power charge 

10 described in paragraph (4) and non-Federal delivery 

11 costs described in paragraph (6). 

12 (6) TRANSMISSION ARRANGEMENTS.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Dry-Redwater Re14 gional Water Authority System shall be respon15 sible for all non-Federal transmission and dis16 tribution system delivery and service arrange17 ments. 

18 (B) UPGRADES.—The Dry-Redwater Re19 gional Water Authority System shall be respon20 sible for funding any transmission upgrades, if 

21 required, to the integrated system necessary to 

22 deliver power to the Dry-Redwater Regional 

23 Water Authority System. 

24 SEC. 6. WATER RIGHTS. 

25 Nothing in this Act— 


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1 (1) preempts or affects any State water law; or 

2 (2) affects any authority of a State, as in effect 

3 on the date of enactment of this Act, to manage 

4 water resources within that State. 

5 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

6 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be ap7 propriated such sums as are necessary to carry out the 

8 planning, design, and construction of the Water Systems, 

9 substantially in accordance with the cost estimate set forth 

10 in the applicable feasibility study or feasibility report de11 scribed in section 4(a). 

12 (b) COST INDEXING.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amount authorized to 

14 be appropriated under subsection (a) may be in15 creased or decreased in accordance with ordinary 

16 fluctuations in development costs incurred after the 

17 applicable date specified in paragraph (2), as indi18 cated by any available engineering cost indices appli19 cable to construction activities that are similar to 

20 the construction of the Water Systems. 

21 (2) APPLICABLE DATES.—The date referred to 

22 in paragraph (1) is— 

23 (A) in the case of the Dry-Redwater Re24 gional Water Authority System, January 1, 

25 2008; and 


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1 (B) in the case of the Musselshell-Judith 

2 Rural Water Authority System, November 1, 

3 2014. 

Æ 


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