PUBLIC LAW 106–392—OCT. 30, 2000

UPPER COLORADO AND SAN JUAN RIVER

BASINS ENDANGERED FISH RECOVERY

PROGRAMS

114 STAT. 1602 PUBLIC LAW 106–392—OCT. 30, 2000

Public Law 106–392

106th Congress

An Act

To authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to provide cost sharing for the endangered

fish recovery implementation programs for the Upper Colorado and San Juan

River Basins.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PURPOSE.

The purpose of this Act is to authorize and provide funding

for the Bureau of Reclamation to continue the implementation

of the endangered fish recovery implementation programs for the

Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins in order to accomplish

the objectives of these programs within a currently established

time schedule.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

As used in this Act:

(1) The term ‘‘Recovery Implementation Programs’’ means

the intergovernmental programs established pursuant to the

1988 Cooperative Agreement to implement the Recovery

Implementation Program for the Endangered Fish Species in

the Upper Colorado River dated September 29, 1987, and the

1992 Cooperative Agreement to implement the San Juan River

Recovery Implementation Program dated October 21, 1992, and

as they may be amended by the parties thereto.

(2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of the

Interior.

(3) The term ‘‘Upper Division States’’ means the States

of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

(4) The term ‘‘Colorado River Storage Project’’ or ‘‘storage

project’’ means those dams, reservoirs, power plants, and other

appurtenant project facilities and features authorized by and

constructed in accordance with the Colorado River Storage

Project Act (43 U.S.C. 620 et seq.).

(5) The term ‘‘capital projects’’ means planning, design,

permitting or other compliance, pre-construction activities,

construction, construction management, and replacement of

facilities, and the acquisition of interests in land or water,

as necessary to carry out the Recovery Implementation Programs.

(6) The term ‘‘facilities’’ includes facilities for the genetic

conservation or propagation of the endangered fishes, those

for the restoration of floodplain habitat or fish passage, those

for control or supply of instream flows, and those for the

removal or translocation of nonnative fishes.

Oct. 30, 2000

[H.R. 2348]

PUBLIC LAW 106–392—OCT. 30, 2000 114 STAT. 1603

(7) The term ‘‘interests in land and water’’ includes, but

is not limited to, long-term leases and easements, and longterm enforcement, or other agreements protecting instream

flows.

(8) The term ‘‘base funding’’ means funding for operation

and maintenance of capital projects, implementation of recovery

actions other than capital projects, monitoring and research

to evaluate the need for or effectiveness of any recovery action,

and program management, as necessary to carry out the

Recovery Implementation Programs. Base funding also includes

annual funding provided under the terms of the 1988 Cooperative Agreement and the 1992 Cooperative Agreement.

(9) The term ‘‘recovery actions other than capital projects’’

includes short-term leases and agreements for interests in land,

water, and facilities; the reintroduction or augmentation of

endangered fish stocks; and the removal, translocation, or other

control of nonnative fishes.

(10) The term ‘‘depletion charge’’ means a one-time contribution in dollars per acre-foot to be paid to the United

States Fish and Wildlife Service based on the average annual

new depletion by each project.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION TO FUND RECOVERY PROGRAMS.

(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR FEDERAL PARTICIPATION IN CAPITAL PROJECTS.—(1) There is hereby authorized to

be appropriated to the Secretary, $46,000,000 to undertake capital

projects to carry out the purposes of this Act. Such funds shall

be considered a nonreimbursable Federal expenditure.

(2) The authority of the Secretary, acting through the Bureau

of Reclamation, under this or any other provision of law to implement capital projects for the Recovery Implementation Program

for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin

shall expire in fiscal year 2005 unless reauthorized by an Act

of Congress.

(3) The authority of the Secretary to implement the capital

projects for the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation

Program shall expire in fiscal year 2007 unless reauthorized by

an Act of Congress.

(b) COST OF CAPITAL PROJECTS.—The total costs of the capital

projects undertaken for the Recovery Implementation Programs

receiving assistance under this Act shall not exceed $100,000,000

of which—

(1) costs shall not exceed $82,000,000 for the Recovery

Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in the

Upper Colorado River Basin through fiscal year 2005; and

(2) costs shall not exceed $18,000,000 for the San Juan

River Recovery Implementation Program through fiscal year

2007.

The amounts set forth in this subsection shall be adjusted by

the Secretary for inflation in each fiscal year beginning after the

enactment of this Act.

(c) NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO CAPITAL PROJECTS.—(1)

The Secretary, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, may

accept contributed funds from the Upper Division States, or political

subdivisions or organizations with the Upper Division States, pursuant to agreements that provide for the contributions to be used

Expiration date.

114 STAT. 1604 PUBLIC LAW 106–392—OCT. 30, 2000

for capital projects costs. Such non-Federal contributions shall not

exceed $17,000,000.

(2) In addition to the contribution described in paragraph (1),

the Secretary of Energy, acting through the Western Area Power

Administration, and the Secretary of the Interior, acting through

the Bureau of Reclamation, may utilize power revenues collected

pursuant to the Colorado River Storage Project Act to carry out

the purposes of this subsection. Such funds shall be treated as

reimbursable costs assigned to power for repayment under section

5 of the Colorado River Storage Project Act. This additional contribution shall not exceed $17,000,000. Such funds shall be considered a non-Federal contribution for the purposes of this Act. The

funding authorized by this paragraph over any 2-fiscal-year period

shall be made available in amounts equal to the contributions

for the same 2-fiscal-year period made by the Upper Division States

pursuant to paragraph (1).

(3) The additional funding provided pursuant to paragraph

(2) may be provided through loans from the Colorado Water Conservation Board Construction Fund (37–60–121 C.R.S.) to the

Western Area Power Administration in lieu of funds which would

otherwise be collected from power revenues and used for storage

project repayments. The Western Area Power Administration is

authorized to repay such loan or loans from power revenues collected beginning in fiscal year 2012, subject to an agreement

between the Colorado Water Conservation Board, the Western Area

Power Administration, and the Bureau of Reclamation. The agreement and any future loan contracts that may be entered into

by the Colorado Water Conservation Board, the Western Area Power

Administration, and the Bureau of Reclamation shall be negotiated

in consultation with Salt Lake City Area Integrated Projects Firm

Power Contractors. The agreement and loan contracts shall include

provisions designed to minimize impacts on electrical power rates

and shall ensure that loan repayment to the Colorado Water Conservation Board, including principal and interest, is completed no

later than September 30, 2057. The Western Area Power Administration is authorized to include in power rates such sums as are

necessary to carry out this paragraph and paragraph (2).

(4) All contributions made pursuant to this subsection shall

be in addition to the cost of replacement power purchased due

to modifying the operation of the Colorado River Storage Project

and the capital cost of water from Wolford Mountain Reservoir

in Colorado. Such costs shall be considered as non-Federal contributions, not to exceed $20,000,000.

(d) BASE FUNDING.—(1) Beginning in the first fiscal year commencing after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

may utilize power revenues collected pursuant to the Colorado

River Storage Project Act for the annual base funding contributions

to the Recovery Implementation Programs by the Bureau of Reclamation. Such funding shall be treated as nonreimbursable and

as having been repaid and returned to the general fund of the

Treasury as costs assigned to power for repayment under section

5 of the Colorado River Storage Project Act.

(2) For the Recovery Implementation Program for the Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin, the contributions to base funding referred to in paragraph (1) shall not exceed

$4,000,000 per year. For the San Juan River Recovery Implementation Program, such contributions shall not exceed $2,000,000 per

Effective date.

Contracts.

Deadline.

PUBLIC LAW 106–392—OCT. 30, 2000 114 STAT. 1605

year. The Secretary shall adjust such amounts for inflation in

fiscal years commencing after the enactment of this Act. The utilization of power revenues for annual base funding shall cease after

the fiscal year 2011, unless reauthorized by Congress; except that

power revenues may continue to be utilized to fund the operation

and maintenance of capital projects and monitoring. No later than

the end of fiscal year 2008, the Secretary shall submit a report

on the utilization of power revenues for base funding to the appropriate Committees of the United States Senate and the House

of Representatives. The Secretary shall also make a recommendation in such report regarding the need for continued base funding

after fiscal year 2011 that may be required to fulfill the goals

of the Recovery Implementation Programs. Nothing in this Act

shall otherwise modify or amend existing agreements among participants regarding base funding and depletion charges for the Recovery

Implementation Programs.

(3) The Western Area Power Administration and the Bureau

of Reclamation shall maintain sufficient revenues in the Colorado

River Basin Fund to meet their obligation to provide base funding

in accordance with paragraph (2). If the Western Area Power

Administration and the Bureau of Reclamation determine that the

funds in the Colorado River Basin Fund will not be sufficient

to meet the obligations of section 5(c)(1) of the Colorado River

Storage Project Act for a 3-year period, the Western Area Power

Administration and the Bureau of Reclamation shall request appropriations to meet base funding obligations.

(e) AUTHORITY TO RETAIN APPROPRIATED FUNDS.—At the end

of each fiscal year any unexpended appropriated funds for capital

projects under this Act shall be retained for use in future fiscal

years. Unexpended funds under this Act that are carried over

shall continue to be used to implement the capital projects needed

for the Recovery Implementation Programs.

(f ) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may enter into

agreements and contracts with Federal and non-Federal entities,

acquire and transfer interests in land, water, and facilities, and

accept or give grants in order to carry out the purposes of this

Act.

(g) INDIAN TRUST ASSETS.—The Congress finds that much of

the potential water development in the San Juan River Basin

and in the Duchesne River Basin (a subbasin of the Green River

in the Upper Colorado River Basin) is for the benefit of Indian

tribes and most of the federally designated critical habitat for

the endangered fish species in the San Juan River Basin is on

Indian trust lands, and 21⁄2 miles of critical habitat on the Duchesne

River is on Indian Trust Land. Nothing in this Act shall be construed to restrict the Secretary, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, from funding activities

or capital projects in accordance with the Federal Government’s

Indian trust responsibility.

(h) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—All authorities provided by

this section for the respective Recovery Implementation Program

shall terminate upon expiration of the current time period for

the respective Cooperative Agreement referenced in section 2(1)

unless, at least 1 year prior to such expiration, the time period

for the respective Cooperative Agreement is extended to conform

with this Act.

Deadline.

Reports.

114 STAT. 1606 PUBLIC LAW 106–392—OCT. 30, 2000

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 2348 (S. 2239):

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 106–791 (Comm. on Resources).

SENATE REPORTS: No. 106–403 accompanying S. 2239 (Comm. on Energy and

Natural Resources).

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 146 (2000):

July 25, considered and passed House.

Oct. 13, considered and passed Senate.

Æ

SEC. 4. EFFECT ON RECLAMATION LAW.

Specifically with regard to the acreage limitation provisions

of Federal reclamation law, any action taken pursuant to or in

furtherance of this title will not—

(1) be considered in determining whether a district as

defined in section 202(2) of the Reclamation Reform Act of

1982 (43 U.S.C. 390bb) has discharged its obligation to repay

the construction cost of project facilities used to make irrigation

water available for delivery to land in the district;

(2) serve as the basis for reinstating acreage limitation

provisions in a district that has completed payment of its

construction obligations; or

(3) serve as the basis for increasing the construction repayment obligation of the district and thereby extending the period

during which the acreage limitation provisions will apply.

Approved October 30, 2000.