(1) 

69–010 

Calendar No. 674 

110TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 2d Session 110–322 

BAY AREA REGIONAL WATER RECYCLING PROGRAM 

AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2007 

APRIL 10, 2008.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. BINGAMAN, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 1526] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the Act (H.R. 1526) to amend the Reclamation Wastewater 

and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize in the Bay 

Area Regional Water Recycling Program, and for other purposes, 

having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 

amendment and recommends that the Act do pass. 

PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE

The purpose of H.R. 1526 is to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the 

Bay Area Regional Water Recycling Program, and for other purposes. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

The Bay Area Regional Water Recycling Program (BARWRP) is 

a partnership between 17 local San Francisco Bay Area water and 

wastewater agencies and the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), which is dedicated to maximizing water recycling 

throughout the region. The partnership was formed by Title XVI of 

the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 

1992, P.L. 102–575, which brought Bay area agencies together to 

study opportunities to recycle treated wastewater for beneficial 

uses. 

The Bay Area Recycled Water Master Plan, completed in 1999, 

identified 125,000 acre-feet/year (af/yr) by 2010, and about 240,000 

af/yr by 2025, that could be made available through water recycling 


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efforts. The BARWRP agencies have invested nearly $300 million 

of local funds in water recycling projects, and many more projects 

are ready to be built. Federal investment in these highly leveraged, 

locally managed projects will help ensure the security of water supplies in the Bay Area, a region that encompasses the SacramentoSan Joaquin Delta system, which is the largest estuary on the west 

coast of North America and the source of drinking water for twothirds of California. In particular, this new water supply will help 

preserve State and Federal reservoir supplies in California for uses 

other than urban landscape irrigation, including drought-year protections. The projects included in H.R. 1526 are estimated to yield 

approximately 12,200 af/yr of water in the short-term and 37,600 

af/yr in the long-term. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

H.R. 1526, was introduced on March 16, 2007 by Representative 

George Miller and referred to the House Natural Resources Committee. Representatives Anna Eshoo, Michael Honda, Tom Lantos, 

Zoe Lofgren, Jerry McNerney, Pete Stark, and Ellen Tauscher are 

original cosponsors. Under suspension of the rules, H.R. 1526 

passed the House of Representatives on July 23, 2007, and was referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in the 

Senate. 

A companion measure, S. 1475, was introduced by Senator Feinstein for herself and Senator Boxer on May 24, 2007, and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The Subcommittee on Water and Power held a hearing on S. 1475 and H.R. 

1526 on August 1, 2007. (S. Hrg. 110–170.) At its business meeting 

on January 30, 2008, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered H.R. 1526 favorably reported. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open business session on January 30, 2008, by voice vote of a quorum 

present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 1526. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 provides the short title of the Act. 

Section 2(a) amends the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act by authorizing the Secretary to participate in the design, planning, and construction of the following 

new projects in California: (1) Mountain View, Moffett Area Reclaimed Water Pipeline Project, at a 25% cost-share up to 

$5,000,000; (2) Pittsburg Recycled Water Project, at a 25% costshare up to $1,750,000; (3) Antioch Recycled Water Project, at a 

25% cost-share up to $2,250,000; (4) North Coast County Water 

District Project, at a 25% cost-share up to $2,500,000; (5) Redwood 

City Recycled Water Project, at a 25% cost-share up to $1,100,000; 

(6) South Santa Clara County Recycled Water Project, at a 25% 

cost-share up to $7,000,000; and (7) South Bay Advanced Recycled 

Water Facility, at a 25% cost-share up to $8,250,000. 

Section 2(b) contains conforming amendments to the Reclamation 

Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act. 


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Section 3 states the intent of Congress regarding the scope of section 1607 of the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of costs of this measure has been provided 

by the Congressional Budget Office: 

H.R. 1526—Bay Area Regional Water Recycling Program Authorization Act of 2007 

Summary: H.R. 1526 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to help plan, design, and construct several water recycling 

projects in the San Francisco Bay area of California. 

Assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 1526 would cost $28 million over the 

2008–2013 period. Enacting the legislation would not affect direct 

spending or revenues. 

H.R. 1526 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) 

and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated budgetary impact of H.R. 1526 is shown in the following table. The costs 

of this legislation fall within budget function 300 (natural resources 

and environment). 

By fiscal year, in millions of dollars— 

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION 

Estimated Authorization Level .......................................... 4 12 10 2 0 0 

Estimated Outlays ............................................................ 3 9 14 2 0 0 

Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that the legislation will be enacted in fiscal year 2008 and that the necessary 

amounts will be appropriated for each year. 

H.R. 1526 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to help 

plan, design, and construct several water recycling projects in the 

San Francisco Bay area of California. The projects would be constructed with the cooperation of the affected municipalities. Based 

on information from the Department of the Interior, CBO estimates 

that the total cost of all the projects would be about $110 million. 

Under the act, the federal share of those costs would be limited 

to the lesser of 25 percent or $28 million. Federal funds would not 

be available for operating and maintaining the projects. 

Assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would cost $28 million (25 

percent of $110 million) over the 2008–2013 period. 

Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 1526 contains 

no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in 

UMRA and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. Funds authorized to be appropriated by the act would benefit a number of cities and water districts in California. 

Estimate prepared by: Federal costs: Tyler Kruzich; Impact on 

state, local, and tribal governments: Melissa Merrell; Impact on the 

private sector: Amy Petz. 


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Estimate approved by: Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant Director 

for Budget Analysis. 

REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following evaluation 

of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out 

H.R. 1526. The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imposing Government-established standards or significant economic 

responsibilities on private individuals and businesses. 

No personal information would be collected in administering the 

program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal privacy. 

Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the enactment of H.R. 1526, as ordered reported. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

S. 1526, as reported, does not contain any congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The testimony provided by the Bureau of Reclamation at the 

Subcommittee hearing on August 1, 2007 on companion measure, 

S. 1475, follows: 

STATEMENT OF LARRY TODD, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, I am 

Larry Todd, Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Administration and Budget with the Bureau of Reclamation. I am 

pleased to be here today to provide the Department of the 

Interior’s views on S. 1475, the Bay Area Regional Water 

Recycling Program Authorization Act. The Department 

does not support S. 1475. 

S. 1475 would amend the Reclamation Wastewater and 

Groundwater Study and Facilities Act (Public Law 102–

575, 43 U.S.C. 390h et seq.) to include authorization for 

construction of seven new projects. These new projects are 

the Mountain View Moffett Area Reclaimed Water Pipeline 

Project; the Pittsburg Recycled Water Project; the Antioch 

Recycled Water Project; the North Coast County Water 

District Recycled Water Project; the Redwood City Recycled Water Project; the South Santa Clara County Recycled Water Project; and the South Bay Advanced Recycled 

Water Treatment Facility. The Federal share of the costs 

to implement each of the seven new Title XVI projects 

would not exceed 25 percent. S. 1475 also establishes a 

Federal cost ceiling for each of the seven new projects, collectively totaling $27.5 million. 

Of the 32 specific Title XVI projects authorized to date, 

21 have received funding. The remaining estimated total 

authorized Federal cost share of these 21 active Title XVI 


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projects is at least $328 million. Given the costs of the currently active Title XVI projects, we do not support the authorization of new projects at this time. 

I would like to briefly describe the status of these 

projects, most of which are already under review by Reclamation’s Regional and Area Office staff. Of the seven 

projects providing new Title XVI construction authorization, the South Bay Advanced Recycled Water Treatment 

Facility, is already authorized by Congress and is considered feasible under Reclamation guidelines. Two additional 

projects—the Pittsburg Recycled Water Project and the 

Mountain View/Moffett Area Recycled Water Project—have 

received feasibility determinations from Reclamation. 

Meanwhile, the sponsors of the South Santa Clara County Recycled Water Project and the Antioch Recycled Water 

Project have not yet completed a review of their draft feasibility reports and environmental documents. Therefore, 

the feasibility reports do not meet the requirements for 

Title XVI feasibility studies. 

Feasibility reports for the last two projects identified for 

construction authorization in S. 1475—the North Coast 

County Water District Recycled Water Project and the 

Redwood City Recycled Water Project—were reviewed by 

the Bureau of Reclamation in 2006. The feasibility reports 

for both projects needed additional environmental and financial capability information. To date, the project sponsors have not provided this additional information in order 

for Reclamation to complete the determination of feasibility. 

Although one of the projects included in the bill is already authorized for design, planning, and construction, 

and two of the projects have feasibility reports that meet 

the requirements of Title XVI feasibility studies, the remaining four projects do not have feasibility reports that 

meet those requirements. As such, the Department believes that it is premature to authorize projects prior to 

completion of feasibility reports. 

While Reclamation does not support new authorizations 

for Federal cost sharing of water recycling projects, we understand that the projects established by Title XVI are important to many water users in the West. To that end, 

Reclamation has set about revising and improving its Directives and Standards that govern reviews of Title XVI 

projects. By doing so, we believe that Reclamation can play 

a more constructive role with local sponsors in weighing 

the merits and ultimate feasibility of proposed water recycling projects. 

The Department appreciates local efforts to address future water issues. However, in light of the concerns expressed above, we do not support S. 1475. That concludes 

my prepared remarks. I would be pleased to answer any 

questions. 


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CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill H.R. 

1526, as ordered reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is 

printed in italic, existing law in which no change is proposed is 

shown in roman): 

RECLAMATION PROJECTS AUTHORIZATION AND 

ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 1992 

Public Law 102–575, Title XVI, Section 16XX (106 Stat. 4663) 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

* * * * * * * 

TITLE XVI—RECLAMATION WASTEWATER AND GROUNDWATER STUDIES 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

* * * * * * * 

Sec. 16xx. Mountain View, Moffett Area Reclaimed Water Pipeline Project. 

Sec. 16xx. Pittsburg Recycled Water Project. 

Sec. 16xx. Antioch Recycled Water Project. 

Sec. 16xx. North Coast County Water District Recycled Water Project. 

Sec. 16xx. Redwood City Recycled Water Project. 

Sec. 16xx. South Santa Clara County Recycled Water Project. 

Sec. 16xx. South Bay Advanced Recycled Water Treatment Facility. 

* * * * * * * 

TITLE XVI—RECLAMATION WASTEWATER AND 

GROUNDWATER STUDIES 

SEC. 1601. SHORT TITLE. 

This title may be referred to as the ‘‘Reclamation Wastewater 

and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act’’. 

* * * * * * * 

SEC. 16XX. MOUNTAIN VIEW, MOFFETT AREA RECLAIMED WATER PIPELINE PROJECT. 

(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary, in cooperation with the City 

of Palo Alto, California, and the City of Mountain View, California, 

is authorized to participate in the design, planning, and construction of recycled water distribution systems. 

(b) COST SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost of the project authorized by this section shall not exceed 25 percent of the total cost 

of the project. 

(c) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not provide funds for the operation and maintenance of the project authorized by this section. 

(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized to 

be appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000. 

SEC. 16xx. PITTSBURG RECYCLED WATER PROJECT. 

(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary, in cooperation with the City 

of Pittsburg, California, and the Delta Diablo Sanitation District, 

is authorized to participate in the design, planning, and construction of recycled water system facilities. 

(b) COST SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost of the project authorized by this section shall not exceed 25 percent of the total cost 

of the project. 


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(c) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not provide funds for the operation and maintenance of the project authorized by this section. 

(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized to 

be appropriated to carry out this section $1,750,000. 

SEC. 16xx. ANTIOCH RECYCLED WATER PROJECT. 

(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary, in cooperation with the City 

of Antioch, California, and the Delta Diablo Sanitation District, is 

authorized to participate in the design, planning, and construction 

of recycled water system facilities. 

(b) COST SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost of the project authorized by this section shall not exceed 25 percent of the total cost 

of the project. 

(c) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not provide funds for the operation and maintenance of the project authorized by this section. 

(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized to 

be appropriated to carry out this section $2,250,000. 

SEC. 16xx. NORTH COAST COUNTY WATER DISTRICT RECYCLED WATER 

PROJECT. 

(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary, in cooperation with the 

North Coast County Water District, is authorized to participate in 

the design, planning, and construction of recycled water system facilities. 

(b) COST SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost of the project authorized by this section shall not exceed 25 percent of the total cost 

of the project. 

(c) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not provide funds for the operation and maintenance of the project authorized by this section. 

(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized to 

be appropriated to carry out this section $2,500,000. 

SEC. 16xx. REDWOOD CITY RECYCLED WATER PROJECT. 

(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary, in cooperation with the City 

of Redwood City, California, is authorized to participate in the design, planning, and construction of recycled water system facilities. 

(b) COST SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost of the project authorized by this section shall not exceed 25 percent of the total cost 

of the project. 

(c) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not provide funds for the operation and maintenance of the project authorized by this section. 

(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized to 

be appropriated to carry out this section $1,100,000. 

SEC. 16xx. SOUTH SANTA CLARA COUNTY RECYCLED WATER PROJECT. 

(a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary, in cooperation with the 

South County Regional Wastewater Authority and the Santa Clara 

Valley Water District, is authorized to participate in the design, 

planning, and construction of recycled water system distribution facilities. 

(b) COST SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost of the project authorized by this section shall not exceed 25 percent of the total cost 

of the project. 

(c) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not provide funds for the operation and maintenance of the project authorized by this section. 

(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS—There is authorized to 

be appropriated to carry out this section $7,000,000. 


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SEC. 16xx. SOUTH BAY ADVANCED RECYCLED WATER TREATMENT FACILITY. 

(a) AUTHORIZATION—The Secretary, in cooperation with the City 

of San Jose, California, and the Santa Clara Valley Water District, 

is authorized to participate in the design, planning, and construction of recycled water treatment facilities. 

(b) COST SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost of the project authorized by this section shall not exceed 25 percent of the total cost 

of the project. 

(c) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not provide funds for the operation and maintenance of the project authorized by this section. 

(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized to 

be appropriated to carry out this section $8,250,000. 

Æ 


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