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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1855 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  1st Session
                                H. R. 1855

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 23, 2007

   Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 
 To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau 
 of Reclamation to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Madera 
Irrigation District for purposes of supporting the Madera Water Supply 
                          Enhancement Project.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Madera Water Supply Enhancement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act:
            (1) District.--The term ``District'' means the Madera 
        Irrigation District, Madera, California.
            (2) Project.--The term ``Project'' means the Madera Water 
        Supply Enhancement Project, a groundwater bank on the 13,646-
        acre Madera Ranch in Madera, California, owned, operated, 
        maintained, and managed by the District that will plan, design, 
        and construct recharge, recovery, and delivery systems able to 
        store up to 250,000 acre-feet of water and recover up to 55,000 
        acre-feet of water per year, as substantially described in the 
        California Environmental Quality Act, Final Environmental 
        Impact Report for the Madera Irrigation District Water Supply 
        Enhancement Project, September 2005.
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the United States Department of the Interior.
            (4) Total cost.--The term ``total cost'' means all 
        reasonable costs, such as the planning, design, permitting, and 
        construction of the Project and the acquisition costs of lands 
        used or acquired by the District for the Project.

SEC. 3. PROJECT FEASIBILITY.

    (a) Project Feasible.--Pursuant to the Reclamation Act of 1902 (32 
Stat. 388) and Acts amendatory thereof and supplemental thereto, the 
Project is feasible and no further studies or actions regarding 
feasibility are necessary.
    (b) Applicability of Other Laws.--The Secretary shall implement the 
authority provided in this Act in accordance with all applicable 
Federal laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (7 
U.S.C. 136; 16 U.S.C. 460 et seq.).

SEC. 4. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.

    All final planning and design and the construction of the Project 
authorized by this Act shall be undertaken in accordance with a 
cooperative agreement between the Secretary and the District for the 
Project. Such cooperative agreement shall set forth in a manner 
acceptable to the Secretary and the District the responsibilities of 
the District for participating, which shall include--
            (1) engineering and design;
            (2) construction; and
            (3) the administration of contracts pertaining to any of 
        the foregoing.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION FOR THE MADERA WATER SUPPLY AND ENHANCEMENT 
              PROJECT.

    (a) Authorization of Construction.--The Secretary, acting pursuant 
to the Federal reclamation laws (Act of June 17, 1902; 32 Stat. 388), 
and Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, is authorized to 
enter into a cooperative agreement through the Bureau of Reclamation 
with the District for the support of the final design and construction 
of the Project.
    (b) Total Cost.--The total cost of the Project for the purposes of 
determining the Federal cost share shall not exceed $90,000,000.
    (c) Cost Share.--The Federal share of the capital costs of the 
Project shall not exceed 25 percent of the total cost. Capital, 
planning, design, permitting, construction, and land acquisition costs 
incurred by the District prior to the date of the enactment of this Act 
shall be considered a portion of the non-Federal cost share.
    (d) Credit for Non-Federal Work.--The District shall receive credit 
toward the non-Federal share of the cost of the Project for--
            (1) in-kind services that the Secretary determines would 
        contribute substantially toward the completion of the project;
            (2) reasonable costs incurred by the District as a result 
        of participation in the planning, design, permitting, and 
        construction of the Project; and
            (3) the acquisition costs of lands used or acquired by the 
        District for the Project.
    (e) Limitation.--The Secretary shall not provide funds for the 
operation or maintenance of the Project authorized by this section. The 
operation, ownership, and maintenance of the Project shall be the sole 
responsibility of the District.
    (f) Plans and Analyses Consistent With Federal Law.--Before 
obligating funds for design or construction under this section, the 
Secretary shall work cooperatively with the District to use, to the 
extent possible, plans, designs, and engineering and environmental 
analyses that have already been prepared by the District for the 
Project. The Secretary shall ensure that such information as is used is 
consistent with applicable Federal laws and regulations.
    (g) Title; Responsibility; Liability.--Nothing in this section or 
the assistance provided under this section shall be construed to 
transfer title, responsibility, or liability related to the Project to 
the United States.
    (h) Authorization of Appropriation.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this Act $22,500,000 or 25 
percent of the total cost of the Project, whichever is less.

SEC. 6. SUNSET.

    The authority of the Secretary to carry out any provisions of this 
Act shall terminate 10 years after the date of the enactment of this 
Act.

            Passed the House of Representatives October 22, 2007.

            Attest:

                                            LORRAINE C. MILLER,

                                                                 Clerk.
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