I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 5150

To direct the Secretary of the Army to conduct studies and ecosystem restoration projects within the Lower Columbia River and Tillamook Bay Estuaries, Oregon and Washington.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 12, 2000

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, and

Mr. WU) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To direct the Secretary of the Army to conduct studies

and ecosystem restoration projects within the Lower Columbia River and Tillamook Bay Estuaries, Oregon and

Washington.

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

3 SECTION 1. LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER AND TILLAMOOK BAY

4 ESTUARIES, OREGON AND WASHINGTON.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Army shall

6 conduct studies and ecosystem restoration projects within
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1 the Lower Columbia River and Tillamook Bay Estuaries,

2 Oregon and Washington.

3 (b) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out this section,

4 the Secretary shall consult with—

5 (1) the States of Oregon and Washington;

6 (2) the Administrator of the Environmental

7 Protection Agency;

8 (3) the Director of the United States Fish and

9 Wildlife Service of the Department of Interior;

10 (4) the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmos11 phere of the Department of Commerce; and

12 (5) the Chief of the Forest Service of the De13 partment of Agriculture.

14 (c) USE OF MANAGEMENT PLANS AND COMMIT15 TEES.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall

16 use comprehensive conservation and management plans

17 and committees established pursuant to the Tillamook

18 Bay National Estuary Project (in this section referred to

19 as the ‘‘TBNEP’’) and the Lower Columbia River Estuary

20 Program (in this section referred to as the ‘‘LCREP’’) as

21 guides for estuary restoration projects.

22 (d) REQUIREMENTS FOR PROJECTS.—The Secretary

23 shall conduct projects under this section that are nec24 essary to protect, monitor, and restore fish and wildlife

25 habitat without adversely affecting the water-related needs
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1 of the Lower Columbia River and Tillamook Bay Estu2 aries (including navigation, recreation, and water supply)

3 and private property rights.

4 (e) PRIORITIZATION.—In prioritizing projects for im5 plementation under this subsection, the Secretary shall

6 consult with the LCREP Implementation Committee and

7 the TBNEP Tillamook Performance Partnership Com8 mittee and give full consideration to their priorities for

9 projects.

10 (f) IMPLEMENTATION.—Ecosystem restoration meas11 ures determined by the Secretary to be feasible based on

12 studies conducted under this section and on prior analyses

13 conducted by both Federal agencies and non-Federal spon14 sors shall be implemented using funds made available to

15 carry out this section. These measures may include envi16 ronmental improvements related to existing Corps of En17 gineers facilities and other Federal facilities. The Sec18 retary shall develop cost effectiveness and other criteria

19 for evaluating and approving authorized studies and prior

20 analyses.

21 (g) DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.—To demonstrate

22 the importance of expediting restoration efforts in the

23 Lower Columbia River and Tillamook Bay Estuaries, the

24 Secretary shall work with the LCREP Implementation

25 Committee and the TBNEP Tillamook Performance Part-
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1 nership Committee to select 2 sites for appropriate envi2 ronmental restoration actions and to plan, design, and

3 construct 2 demonstration projects at full Federal ex4 pense. Funding for each project shall not exceed

5 $5,000,000.

6 (h) COST SHARING.—

7 (1) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—Except as other8 wise provided under this section, the non-Federal

9 share of the cost of a project carried out under this

10 section shall be 25 percent.

11 (2) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—Not more than

12 50 percent of the non-Federal share required under

13 this subsection may be satisfied by the provision of

14 in-kind services.

15 (3) FEDERAL LANDS.—The Federal share of

16 the cost of a project under this section to make res17 toration improvements to Corps of Engineers facili18 ties or other Federal facilities or to Federal lands

19 shall be 100 percent, including operation and main20 tenance. Operation and maintenance for such

21 projects shall be the responsibility of the managing

22 agency.

23 (4) OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE.—Except

24 as provided under paragraph (3), the operation and
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1 maintenance of a project carried out under this sec2 tion shall be a non-Federal responsibility.

3 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi4 nitions apply:

5 (1) LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER ESTUARY.—The

6 term ‘‘Lower Columbia River Estuary’’ means those

7 river reaches having navigation channels on the Co8 lumbia River main stem river west of the Bonneville

9 Dam, and their tributaries to the extent they are

10 tidally influenced.

11 (2) TILLAMOOK BAY ESTUARY.—The term

12 ‘‘Tillamook Bay Estuary’’ means those areas of

13 Tillamook Bay and its tributaries to the extent they

14 are tidally influenced.

15 (j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

16 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section a

17 total of $175,000,000, of which not more than

18 $35,000,000 may be appropriated in any fiscal year. Such

19 amounts shall remain available until expended.

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