I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2963

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to cooperate and assist in environmental and other studies and to execute and implement a contract

for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of facilities

in the South Delta, California, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 6, 1993

Mr. LEHMAN (for himself, Mr. POMBO, and Mr. CONDIT) introduced the

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to cooperate and

assist in environmental and other studies and to execute

and implement a contract for the design, construction,

operation, and maintenance of facilities in the South

Delta, California, and for other purposes.

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

3 SECTION 1. AUTHORIZATION.

4 Subject to section 2 and in accordance with the provi5 sions of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior is author6 ized and directed to execute and implement the ‘‘Contract

7 Among the United States Bureau of Reclamation, the
2

•HR 2963 IH

1 California Department of Water Resources, and the South

2 Delta Water Agency’’ dated August 28, 1990 (hereafter

3 in this Act referred to as the ‘‘contract’’).

4 SEC. 2. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONTRACT.

5 (a) CONDITIONS.—The Secretary of the Interior

6 (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) may

7 not implement the construction of permanent barriers pur8 suant to the contract until after the following:

9 (1) ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES.—A final envi10 ronmental impact statement and environmental im11 pact report is prepared pursuant to the provisions of

12 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and

13 the California Environmental Quality Act and is cer14 tified by the appropriate lead agencies, and, if nec15 essary, the permanent barriers are modified or the

16 contract amended to address issues identified as

17 part of the environmental review process.

18 (2) TESTING PROGRAM.—Notwithstanding any

19 other provision of the contract, the testing program

20 called for in the contract is continued for a period

21 determined by the Secretary to be sufficient to es22 tablish, from analysis of the testing data, that the

23 South Delta barrier facilities are likely to have the

24 desired water level, circulation, and quality results

25 anticipated at the time the contract was negotiated.
3

•HR 2963 IH

1 (b) APPLICABLE LAWS; MONITORING PROGRAM.—

2 Construction, operation, and maintenance of the tem3 porary South Delta barrier facilities associated with the

4 testing program referred to in subsection (a)(2) shall be

5 in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. The

6 Secretary shall develop an environmental monitoring pro7 gram with the assistance of and in coordination with the

8 California Department of Fish and Game, the California

9 Department of Water Resources, the United States Fish

10 and Wildlife Service, and the National Marine Fisheries

11 Service, which shall be in place during construction, oper12 ation, and maintenance of the temporary barrier facilities.

13 (c) INTERIM FLOWS.—The interim water flows pro14 vided for in the contract shall not limit any existing or

15 future obligation of the Secretary to provide additional

16 instream flow releases from New Melones Reservoir for

17 fish and wildlife purposes or other environmental pur18 poses. This subsection does not create any new or addi19 tional authority that is or may otherwise be provided

20 under applicable law. To the extent possible, water flows

21 provided under the contract and for fishery purposes shall

22 be released on a schedule which maximizes the efficiency

23 of use of water allocated for water quality and fishery ben24 efits and shall be made in coordination with the California

25 Department of Fish and Game.
4

•HR 2963 IH

1 (d) COMPATIBILITY WITH OLD RIVER BARRIER.—

2 The Secretary shall determine whether the barrier at the

3 head of the Old River in the Sacramento/San Joaquin

4 Delta, authorized in section 3406(b)(15) of the Central

5 Valley Project Improvement Act (106 Stat. 4719), can be

6 constructed and operated in a manner compatible with the

7 South Delta barriers called for in the contract and wheth8 er the barrier facilities in the contract are likely to have

9 the desired water level, circulation, and quality results an10 ticipated at the time the contract was negotiated.

11 (e) CONTRACT AMENDMENTS.—

12 (1) REQUIRED BY ENVIRONMENTAL ANALY13 SIS.—If necessary, the contract shall be amended to

14 incorporate the changes required by the results from

15 the environmental and other studies and testing re16 ferred to in this section. Any such amendment shall

17 not increase the payment obligations of the South

18 Delta Water Agency.

19 (2) SAN JOAQUIN RIVER WATER QUANTITY AND

20 QUALITY.—In negotiating the contract amendment

21 in accordance with Article 4.b. of the contract, the

22 Secretary shall consider—

23 (A) the activities and recommendations of

24 other programs for the improvement of flows

25 and reduction of salinity and toxic trace ele-
5

•HR 2963 IH

1 ment discharges and concentrations in the San

2 Joaquin River Basin for fish and wildlife and

3 other purposes and for the attainment of all ap4 plicable water quality standards, including

5 nondegradation requirements; and

6 (B) recommendations contained in the

7 final report of the San Joaquin Valley Drainage

8 Program dated September 1990.

9 (3) MINIMIZED ALTERATION OF ACTIVITIES

10 AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Secretary shall at11 tempt to minimize any necessary alteration required

12 by the contract amendment of the activities and rec13 ommendations referred to in paragraph (2).

14 SEC. 3. COSTS.

15 (a) ALLOCATION.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by sub17 section (b), the costs of implementing the contract

18 authorized by section 1 shall be allocated among the

19 United States, the California Department of Water

20 Resources, and the South Delta Water Agency in ac21 cordance with the provisions of Article 6 of the con22 tract.

23 (2) LIMITATION ON EXPENDITURES BY UNITED

24 STATES.—In no event shall expenditures made by

25 the United States for construction exceed 50 percent
6

•HR 2963 IH

1 of the actual construction costs incurred pursuant to

2 Article 6 of the contract.

3 (3) EFFECT OF AVAILABILITY OF CERTAIN

4 FUNDS.—In the event that funds become available

5 from the California State General Fund, from relat6 ed water development mitigation agreements, or as

7 the result of legislation enacted providing for (A) re8 imbursement of the incremental costs of the facilities

9 attributable to changes in design or construction for

10 the benefit of fisheries or navigation, or (B) the

11 mitigation of impacts caused by other upstream

12 water users or waste dischargers, such funds shall

13 be applied to the overall cost of implementing the

14 contract, thereby evenly reducing the shares paid by

15 the United States and the California Department of

16 Water Resources.

17 (4) OPERATION AND MONITORING COSTS.—The

18 costs incurred by the United States for operation

19 and maintenance, including monitoring, shall not ex20 ceed 50 percent of the actual operation and mainte21 nance costs.

22 (5) ALLOCATION OF UNITED STATES COSTS.—

23 The costs incurred by the United States for con24 struction and for operation and maintenance shall be

25 allocated by the Secretary among the reimbursable
7

•HR 2963 IH

1 and nonreimbursable purposes of the Central Valley

2 Project for purposes of repayment in accordance

3 with the Federal reclamation laws (Act of June 17,

4 1902 (32 Stat. 388), and Acts supplementary there5 to and amendatory thereof).

6 (6) PAYMENTS BY SOUTH DELTA WATER AGEN7 CY.—Any payment to the United States made by the

8 South Delta Water Agency pursuant to Article 6.f.

9 of the contract shall be used for the further imple10 mentation of the contract.

11 (b) COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH BARRIER AT HEAD OF

12 OLD RIVER.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), the costs

13 associated with the barrier at the head of Old River shall

14 be consistent with section 3406(b)(15) of the Central

15 Valley Project Improvement Act (106 Stat. 4719).

16 (c) TREATMENT OF COSTS INCURRED.—The costs

17 incurred with respect to items covered by the contract,

18 both before and after the date of execution of the contract,

19 including interest, shall be included in the total for the

20 purposes of determining the share of the United States

21 of construction, operation, and maintenance costs.

22 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

23 (a) ENVIRONMENTAL, TESTING, AND CONSTRUC24 TION.—There is authorized to be appropriated—
8

•HR 2963 IH

1 (1) $30,000,000 for the share of the costs of

2 the United States pursuant to Article 6 of the con3 tract, including environmental, testing, construction,

4 and repayment of the share of the United States of

5 past costs incurred by the State of California in de6 veloping the program set forth in the contract; and

7 (2) such sums as may be necessary for oper8 ation and maintenance.

9 (b) CONTRACT AMENDMENT.—There is authorized to

10 be appropriated such funds as are necessary to negotiate

11 an amendment to the contract in accordance with Article

12 4.b. of the contract. Nothing in this Act provides author13 ization for implementation of any amendment negotiated

14 pursuant to Article 4.b. of the contract that is not other15 wise authorized.

16 (c) AVAILABILITY.—Appropriations pursuant to this

17 Act are authorized to remain available until expended

18 without any fiscal year limitation but appropriations for

19 construction of permanent barriers may not be expended

20 until the conditions set forth in section 2(a) are completed.

Æ