I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3041

To supplement the Small Reclamation Projects Act of 1956 and to supplement

the Federal Reclamation Laws by providing for Federal cooperation

in non-Federal projects and for participation by non-Federal agencies

in Federal projects.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 7, 1996

Mr. CALVERT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Resources

A BILL

To supplement the Small Reclamation Projects Act of 1956

and to supplement the Federal Reclamation Laws by

providing for Federal cooperation in non-Federal projects

and for participation by non-Federal agencies in Federal

projects.

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

3 TITLE I

4 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.

5 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Small Reclamation

6 Water Resources Project Act of 1995’’.
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1 SEC. 102. PURPOSE.

2 The purpose of this title is to encourage Federal,

3 State, and local participation in the development of

4 projects under the Federal Reclamation Laws that provide

5 for total water resources management with emphasis on,

6 but not limited to, projects that achieve improvements in

7 the augmentation and management of local water supplies,

8 conservation of water and energy, fish and wildlife con9 servation, supplemental water for existing supplies, water

10 quality improvements, flood control, and to provide timely

11 Federal assistance in the development of similar projects

12 in the seventeen western reclamation States by non-Fed13 eral organizations. Irrigation shall remain an eligible

14 project purpose, but shall not be a required purpose for

15 project proposals.

16 SEC. 103. DEFINITIONS.

17 As used in this title:

18 (1) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

19 of the Interior.

20 (2) The term ‘‘Federal Reclamation Laws’’

21 means the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388), and

22 Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto.

23 (3) The term ‘‘project sponsor’’ means a State

24 or a department, agency, or political subdivision

25 thereof; or a conservancy district, water users’ asso26 ciation, tribal authority, or agency created by inter-
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1 state compact or similar organization which has the

2 capacity to contract with the United States under

3 the Federal Reclamation Laws.

4 (4) The term ‘‘water and energy conservation’’

5 means the preservation, protection, enhancement, or

6 extension of water or energy resources.

7 (5) The term ‘‘fish and wildlife conservation’’

8 means those operational measures, habitat, or phys9 ical features associated with the protection, preser10 vation, enhancement, or recovery of those fish and

11 wildlife resources that are considered of importance

12 and interest and which shall include, but not be lim13 ited to, migratory species, threatened or endangered

14 species as listed, or proposed for listing, under the

15 Endangered Species Act, or other species, as deter16 mined by the Secretary, to be worthy of consider17 ation under these terms.

18 (6) The term ‘‘water quality improvements’’

19 shall mean and involve those operation measures and

20 physical features associated with—

21 (A) the reclamation and reuse of irrigation

22 drainage or municipal and industrial return

23 flows, including wastewater flows;

24 (B) the reclamation, dilution, or control, of

25 brackish, toxic, or hazardous waters for bene-
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1 ficial reuse or protection of other related water,

2 land, or environmental resources; or

3 (C) flow augmentation from storage to

4 achieve national or State water quality goals.

5 (7) The term ‘‘project’’ means—

6 (A) a single or multipurpose water re7 source development project; or

8 (B) a project for the rehabilitation, better9 ment, or retrofit of any existing Federal or non10 Federal water infrastructure for purposes of

11 significant water and energy conservation or

12 fish and wildlife conservation.

13 (8) The term ‘‘maximum allowable estimated

14 Federal share’’ shall be determined by the Secretary

15 using the Bureau of Reclamation composite con16 struction cost index for January of that year with

17 $30,000,000 as the January 1995 base and shall be

18 for any given proposal submitted during any given

19 calendar year.

20 SEC. 104. PROPOSAL FEE.

21 Any project sponsor applying for assistance under

22 this Act shall submit a proposal to the Secretary in such

23 form and manner as the Secretary may prescribe. Each

24 such proposal shall be accompanied by a payment of

25 $5,000 plus $1,000 for each $1,000,000 of the estimated
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1 Federal share of project costs, or portion thereof. Fifty

2 percent of the payment shall accompany the application

3 and the remaining 50 percent shall be due upon approval

4 of the project by the Secretary, if approved.

5 SEC. 105. CONTENTS OF PROPOSAL.

6 (a) Any project proposal shall set forth a plan and

7 estimated cost in detail comparable to those included in

8 preauthorization reports required for a Federal reclama9 tion project. Any such proposal shall have been submitted

10 for review by the State or States in which the project is

11 located and shall include a proposed allocation of capital

12 costs to function such that costs for facilities used for a

13 single purpose shall be allocated to that purpose and costs

14 for facilities used for more than one purpose shall be so

15 allocated among the purposes served such that each pur16 pose will share equitably in the costs of such joint facili17 ties. The costs of means and measures to prevent loss of

18 and damage to existing fish and wildlife resources shall

19 be considered as non-Federal project costs and allocated

20 as may be appropriate among project functions. Such pro21 posal shall also include an investigation of soil characteris22 tics which might result in toxic or hazardous return flows.

23 (b)(1) Each proposal shall include a finding that the

24 project sponsor already holds or can acquire all lands and

25 interests in land, except public and other lands and inter-
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1 est in land owned by the United States which are within

2 the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary and sub3 ject to disposition by the Secretary, and rights, pursuant

4 to applicable State law, to the use of water necessary for

5 the successful construction, operation, and maintenance of

6 the project and that it is ready, able, and willing to finance

7 otherwise than by loan and grant of Federal funds the

8 non-Federal portion of the costs of the project, which por9 tion shall include all costs of acquiring lands, interests in

10 land, and rights to the use of water except as provided

11 in section 105(b)(2) hereof.

12 (2) The Secretary shall require each project sponsor

13 to contribute towards the cost of the project, other than

14 by loan or grant of Federal funds, not less than 25 percent

15 nor more than 40 percent of the allowable estimated costs

16 of the project, unless mutually agreed to by the Secretary

17 and the project sponsor. In determining the amount of the

18 contribution, the Secretary shall credit toward that

19 amount the cost of investigations, surveys, engineering,

20 and other services necessary to the preparation of propos21 als and plans for the project as required by the Secretary,

22 the costs of lands and rights-of-way acquisition required

23 for the project, amounts spent by the project sponsor for

24 construction or acquisition of existing facilities prior to

25 project approval, and the filing fee required by this Act.
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1 In determining the allowable estimated cost of the project,

2 the Secretary shall not include the amount of grants ac3 corded the organizations under section 106(b).

4 (c) Within nine months from the time the initial loan

5 application report proposal is submitted to the Secretary,

6 the Secretary shall make a determination whether the pro7 posal is financially feasible and constitutes a reasonable

8 risk under the provisions of this Act and either approve

9 or disapprove the proposal. The Secretary shall promptly

10 transmit any approved proposals to the Congress. Any Na11 tional Environmental Policy Act documentation for the

12 project shall be completed prior to Secretarial approval of

13 the proposal.

14 (d) At the time the Secretary submits a project pro15 posal to the Congress, or at any subsequent time prior

16 to the completion of construction of the project, the Sec17 retary may increase the amount of the requested loan and/

18 or grant, subject to the limitations allowed by subsection

19 (8) of section 103 of this Act, to compensate for increases

20 in construction costs due to price escalation.

21 (e) No Federal funds may be obligated for Federal

22 financial participation in any project prior to sixty cal23 endar days not including days on which either the House

24 of Representatives or the Senate is not in session because

25 of an adjournment of more than three calendar days to
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1 a day certain, from the date on which the Secretary’s find2 ings and approval are submitted to the Congress.

3 (f) Title to all project works and facilities constructed

4 under this Act shall remain in the name of the local

5 project sponsor.

6 (g) Nothing contained in this Act shall preclude the

7 making of more than one loan or grant, or combined loan

8 and grant, to a project sponsor so long as no two such

9 loans or grants, or combinations thereof, are for the same

10 project, as herein defined. No loan shall be made for less

11 than 15 years nor more than 25 years unless agreed to

12 by both parties.

13 SEC. 106. CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

14 Upon approval of any project proposal the Secretary

15 shall negotiate a contract which shall set out, but shall

16 not be limited to:

17 (a) The maximum amount of any loan to be

18 made to the project sponsor and the time and meth19 od of making the same available to the project spon20 sor.

21 (b) The maximum amount of any grant to be

22 accorded the project sponsor.

23 (c) A plan of repayment by the project sponsor

24 of: The principal of the loan together with interest

25 on those features required to bear interest under
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1 Federal Reclamation Laws, at a rate determined by

2 the Secretary of the Treasury as of the beginning of

3 the fiscal year in which the contract is executed on

4 the basis of the average market yields on outstand5 ing marketable obligations of the United States with

6 remaining periods to maturity comparable to the ap7 plicable repayment period of the project, adjusted to

8 the nearest one-eighth of 1 percent on the

9 unamortized balance of any portion of the loan: Pro10 vided, That the Secretary, at his discretion, may re11 duce the interest to not less than one-half the aver12 age market rate as so determined, or to the extent

13 that he determines that the project sponsor is unable

14 to secure financing from other sources under reason15 able terms and conditions, and shall include letters

16 from lenders or other written evidence in support of

17 any finding of an applicant’s inability to secure such

18 financing in any project proposal transmitted to the

19 Congress. Loans under these terms may be made for

20 all costs allocated to commercial irrigation; however,

21 the Secretary shall reduce the interest to not less

than 1 22 ⁄3 the average based on the applicant’s average

23 ability to pay calculations, or further reduce the loan

24 rate if he finds at his discretion that there are suffi25 cient benefits to approve a reduced loan rate.
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1 (d) Such terms and conditions as the Secretary

2 deems necessary or proper to provide assurance of

3 and security for prompt repayment and to ensure

4 achievement of the purposes for which the loan was

5 made.

6 SEC. 107. CONTRACT CONFORMITY.

7 The Secretary may waive the requirements of sub8 sections (a) and (b) of section 105, for any proposal relat9 ing to a project authorized for construction under the Fed10 eral reclamation laws prior to the date of enactment of

11 this Act if he finds the requirements of such subsections

12 to be duplicative of, or rendered unnecessary or impossible

13 by, actions already taken by the United States.

14 SEC. 108. INFORMATION AVAILABILITY.

15 Upon request of a project sponsor which has made

16 or intends to make a proposal under the Act, the head

17 of any Federal department or agency may make available

18 to the project sponsor any existing engineering, economic,

19 hydrologic, or other appropriate information and printed

20 material that it may have and that will be useful in con21 nection with the planning, design, construction, or oper22 ation and maintenance of the project concerned. The rea23 sonable cost of any plans, specifications, and other

24 unpublished material furnished by the Secretary pursuant

25 to this section and the cost of making and administering
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1 any provision under this Act shall, to the extent that they

2 would not be nonreimbursable in the case of a project con3 structed under the Federal Reclamation Laws, be treated

4 as a loan and covered in the provisions of the contract

5 entered into under section 106 of this Act unless they are

6 otherwise paid for by the project sponsor.

7 SEC. 109. COMPLIANCE WITH FISH AND WILDLIFE COORDI8 NATION ACT.

9 For those projects where the planning and construc10 tion of projects undertaken pursuant to this Act is subject

11 to the provisions of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination

12 Act, the cost of such provisions shall be a Federal expense

13 and the Secretary is authorized, as may be provided in

14 Appropriation Acts, to transfer to the Fish and Wildlife

15 Service or to the National Marine Fisheries Service, such

16 funds as may be necessary to conduct the investigations

17 required to carry out the purposes of this Act, except that

18 the Secretary may not use any funds appropriated for the

19 purposes of projects or programs under the Bureau of

20 Reclamation.

21 SEC. 110. RULES AND REGULATIONS.

22 The Secretary is authorized to make such rules and

23 regulations as may be necessary or proper in carrying out

24 the provisions of this Act.
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1 SEC. 111. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 Funds authorized for appropriation under the Small

3 Reclamation Projects Act (43 U.S.C. 504) shall be avail4 able for the purposes of this Act. To the extent that such

5 funds are not adequate, there are hereby authorized to be

6 appropriated to carry out the provisions of this title not

7 to exceed $300,000,000 from fiscal year 1998 to fiscal

8 year 2007. All such appropriations shall remain available

9 until expended.

10 TITLE II

11 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.

12 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Small Reclamation

13 Water Resources Partnership Program’’.

14 SEC. 202. DEFINITIONS.

15 As used in this title:

16 (1) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

17 of the Interior.

18 (2) The term ‘‘Federal Reclamation Laws’’

19 means the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388), and

20 Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto.

21 (3) The term ‘‘project sponsor’’ means a State

22 or a department, agency, or political subdivision

23 thereof; or a conservancy district, irrigation district,

24 water users’ association, tribal authority, or agency

25 created by interstate compact or similar organization
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1 which has the capacity to contract with the United

2 States under the Federal Reclamation Laws.

3 (4) The term ‘‘project purposes’’ means certain

4 Bureau of Reclamation programs of water conserva5 tion, fish and wildlife enhancement, public safety,

6 public outdoor recreation, environmental education,

7 archaeological surveys, integrated resource planning,

8 watershed management, technology transfer, ground9 water management, and research and nonstructural

10 flood control activities.

11 (5) The term ‘‘regional loan officer’’ means the

12 Bureau of Reclamation employee assigned respon13 sibility for processing the loan or grant applications

14 under this program.

15 SEC. 203. ESTABLISHMENT OF A SMALL GRANT AND LOAN

16 PROGRAM.

17 There is hereby established within the Department

18 of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation the Small Rec19 lamation Water Resources Management Partnership Pro20 gram for a small grant and loan program. Grants shall

21 not exceed $5,000,000 for any one project and shall be

22 matched on a 50–50 basis. There are authorized to be ap23 propriated not to exceed $10,000,000 per year for the pur24 poses of this title for fiscal year 1998 through fiscal year

25 2002. Loans shall not exceed $1,500,000 per project.
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1 Once work is certified complete by the regional loan offi2 cer, the loans shall be repaid within a five-year period into

3 a revolving loan fund program that shall be established

4 in the Department of the Treasury. Money from the re5 payment of the loans shall be available from the revolving

6 loan program fund without further appropriation.

7 SEC. 204. ACTIVITIES ELIGIBLE UNDER THE SMALL REC8 LAMATION WATER RESOURCES PARTNER9 SHIP.

10 (a) The following types of activities shall be eligible

11 for grant or loan purposes:

12 (1) WATER CONSERVATION.—

13 (A) rehabilitation of existing structures;

14 (B) wastewater reuse systems;

15 (C) groundwater recharge and development

16 systems;

17 (D) watershed management programs;

18 (E) water quality improvement projects;

19 (F) conjunctive use projects;

20 (G) metering of systems; and

21 (H) public education.

22 (2) FISH AND WILDLIFE ENHANCEMENT.—

23 (A) fish and wildlife habitat improvement

24 programs;

25 (B) grassland/water/wetland areas;
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1 (C) stabilization of instream flows; and

2 (D) Federal or State endangered species

3 habitat protection and enhancement where im4 provement or enhancement activities are within

5 normal operating criteria.

6 (3) PUBLIC SAFETY.—

7 (A) downstream warning system projects;

8 (B) canal fencing for public safety; and

9 (C) public access facilities.

10 (4) PUBLIC OUTDOOR RECREATION.—

11 (A) replacement, repair, or improvement of

12 boat ramps, hiking and biking trails, benches,

13 picnic areas, parking facilities associated with

14 Federal reclamation projects; and

15 (B) addition of public access facilities.

16 (5) ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEYS.—Site clear17 ances.

18 (b) The Secretary may add to this list of activities

19 as he deems appropriate, except that any such addition

20 shall not take effect until 60 days after the Secretary pub21 lishes a notice of the proposed addition in the Federal

22 Register and has notified the Committee on Resources of

23 the House of Representatives and the Committee on En24 ergy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate
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1 in writing of the proposed addition and the reasons there2 for.

3 SEC. 205. APPLICATION PROCESS.

4 (a) Each applicant shall submit a Notice of Intent

5 to the appropriate Regional Director of the United States

6 Bureau of Reclamation outlining the proposed project and

7 the public benefits thereof. The Regional Director shall

8 provide a written response to the applicant within 90 days

9 of receiving the application either affirming or rejecting

10 Federal interest in participating in the project.

11 (b) Upon notification of a Federal interest, the appli12 cant shall have the option of proceeding with an appro13 priate loan application giving details of the project and

14 the associated public benefits.

15 (c) The contents of any project proposal shall include,

16 but need not be limited to, the following:

17 (1) A resolution by the board of directors of the

18 qualifying organization stating the total estimated

19 cost, the amount of the grant or loan requested, the

20 amount of the local contribution for the grant, and

21 the project objectives.

22 (2) A summary of the proposal.

23 (3) A brief description of the anticipated effects

24 of the project on the natural, as well as manmade

25 environment.
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1 (4) Evidence that the applicant has all lands

2 and water rights needed for the project, or can ob3 tain them.

4 (5) A description of the project plan, including

5 a general map showing the location of proposed

6 physical features, sufficient engineering drawings of

7 major and typical structures, and general standards

8 for design.

9 (6) A construction schedule, if applicable, with

10 dates and schedule of Federal funding requirements,

11 in sufficient detail to permit analysis of the proposed

12 construction program.

13 (7) A determination of those portions of the

14 project costs which constitute the Federal grant/loan

15 amounts and the applicant’s local contribution.

16 (d) The cost of any investigations and preparation

17 of any environmental documentation shall be borne by the

18 project applicant and any such costs shall be credited as

19 part of the local cost share for grant funding.

20 (e) The Secretary shall publish on a quarterly basis

21 in the Federal Register a listing of the activities and total

22 funding required for work committed under this program.

23 SEC. 206. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF PROJECT WORK.

24 The applicant is solely responsible for planning, con25 structing, operating, and maintaining the project. The of-
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1 fice of the Regional Director will examine the plans to de2 termine if the project can reasonably be expected to ac3 complish its purpose. Once approved by the Regional Di4 rector, funding, subject to the availability of appropria5 tions or funds from repayments, shall be provided within

6 sixty days for the schedule of work within that fiscal year.

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