I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1268 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to submit to Congress a report 

on the efforts of the Bureau of Reclamation to manage its infrastructure 

assets. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2019 

Mr. GOSAR (for himself, Mr. BIGGS, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. 

GIANFORTE, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. HICE of Georgia, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. 

HUNTER, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. MULLIN, 

Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, and Mr. TIPTON) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to submit to Congress a report on the efforts of the Bureau of Reclamation to manage its infrastructure assets. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bureau of Reclamation 

5 Transparency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ASSET.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘asset’’ 

3 means any of the following assets that are used 

4 to achieve the mission of the Bureau to man5 age, develop, and protect water and related re6 sources in an environmentally and economically 

7 sound manner in the interest of the people of 

8 the United States: 

9 (i) Capitalized facilities, buildings, 

10 structures, project features, power produc11 tion equipment, recreation facilities, or 

12 quarters. 

13 (ii) Capitalized and noncapitalized 

14 heavy equipment and other installed equip15 ment. 

16 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘asset’’ in17 cludes assets described in subparagraph (A) 

18 that are considered to be mission critical. 

19 (2) ASSET MANAGEMENT REPORT.—The term 

20 ‘‘Asset Management Report’’ means— 

21 (A) the annual plan prepared by the Bu22 reau known as the ‘‘Asset Management Plan’’; 

23 and 

24 (B) any publicly available information re25 lating to the plan described in subparagraph 


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1 (A) that summarizes the efforts of the Bureau 

2 to evaluate and manage infrastructure assets of 

3 the Bureau. 

4 (3) MAJOR REPAIR AND REHABILITATION

5 NEED.—The term ‘‘major repair and rehabilitation 

6 need’’ means major nonrecurring maintenance at a 

7 Reclamation facility, including maintenance related 

8 to the safety of dams, extraordinary maintenance of 

9 dams, deferred major maintenance activities, and all 

10 other significant repairs and extraordinary mainte11 nance. 

12 (4) RECLAMATION FACILITY.—The term ‘‘Rec13 lamation facility’’ means each of the infrastructure 

14 assets that are owned by the Bureau at a Reclama15 tion project. 

16 (5) RECLAMATION PROJECT.—The term ‘‘Rec17 lamation project’’ means a project that is owned by 

18 the Bureau, including all reserved works and trans19 ferred works owned by the Bureau. 

20 (6) RESERVED WORKS.—The term ‘‘reserved 

21 works’’ means any building, structure, facility, or 

22 equipment— 

23 (A) that is owned by the Bureau; and 


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1 (B) for which operations and maintenance 

2 are performed, regardless of the source of fund3 ing— 

4 (i) by an employee of the Bureau; or 

5 (ii) through a contract entered into by 

6 the Commissioner. 

7 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

8 the Secretary of the Interior. 

9 (8) RECLAMATION.—The term ‘‘Reclamation’’ 

10 means the Bureau of Reclamation. 

11 (9) BUREAU.—The term ‘‘Bureau’’ means the 

12 Bureau of Reclamation. 

13 (10) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis14 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of Reclamation. 

15 (11) TRANSFERRED WORKS.—The term ‘‘trans16 ferred works’’ means a Reclamation facility at which 

17 operations and maintenance of the facility is carried 

18 out by a non-Federal entity under the provisions of 

19 a formal operations and maintenance transfer con20 tract or other legal agreement with the Bureau. 

21 SEC. 3. ASSET MANAGEMENT REPORT ENHANCEMENTS 

22 FOR RESERVED WORKS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

24 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

25 to Congress an Asset Management Report that— 


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1 (1) describes the efforts of the Bureau— 

2 (A) to maintain in a reliable manner all re3 served works at Reclamation facilities; and 

4 (B) to standardize and streamline data re5 porting and processes across regions and areas 

6 for the purpose of maintaining reserved works 

7 at Reclamation facilities; and 

8 (2) expands on the information otherwise pro9 vided in an Asset Management Report, in accord10 ance with subsection (b). 

11 (b) INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE NEEDS AS12 SESSMENT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Asset Management Re14 port submitted under subsection (a) shall include— 

15 (A) a detailed assessment of major repair 

16 and rehabilitation needs for all reserved works 

17 at all Reclamation projects; and 

18 (B) to the maximum extent practicable, an 

19 itemized list of major repair and rehabilitation 

20 needs of individual Reclamation facilities at 

21 each Reclamation project. 

22 (2) INCLUSIONS.—To the maximum extent 

23 practicable, the itemized list of major repair and re24 habilitation needs under paragraph (1)(B) shall in25 clude— 


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1 (A) a budget level cost estimate of the ap2 propriations needed to complete each item; and 

3 (B) an assignment of a categorical rating 

4 for each item, consistent with paragraph (3). 

5 (3) RATING REQUIREMENTS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The system for assign7 ing ratings under paragraph (2)(B) shall be— 

8 (i) consistent with existing uniform 

9 categorization systems to inform the an10 nual budget process and agency require11 ments; and 

12 (ii) subject to the guidance and in13 structions issued under subparagraph (B). 

14 (B) GUIDANCE.—As soon as practicable 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec16 retary shall issue guidance that describes the 

17 applicability of the rating system applicable 

18 under paragraph (2)(B) to Reclamation facili19 ties. 

20 (4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Except as provided 

21 in paragraph (5), the Secretary shall make publicly 

22 available, including on the internet, the Asset Man23 agement Report required under subsection (a). 

24 (5) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Secretary may ex25 clude from the public version of the Asset ManageVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:18 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1268.IH H1268

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1 ment Report made available under paragraph (4) 

2 any information that the Secretary identifies as sen3 sitive or classified, but shall make available to the 

4 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

5 Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of 

6 the House of Representatives a version of the report 

7 containing the sensitive or classified information. 

8 (c) UPDATES.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

9 on which the Asset Management Report is submitted 

10 under subsection (a) and biennially thereafter, the Sec11 retary shall update the Asset Management Report, subject 

12 to the requirements of section 4(b)(2). 

13 (d) CONSULTATION.—To the extent that such con14 sultation would assist the Secretary in preparing the Asset 

15 Management Report under subsection (a) and updates to 

16 the Asset Management Report under subsection (c), the 

17 Secretary shall consult with— 

18 (1) the Secretary of the Army (acting through 

19 the Chief of Engineers); and 

20 (2) water and power contractors. 

21 SEC. 4. ASSET MANAGEMENT REPORT ENHANCEMENTS 

22 FOR TRANSFERRED WORKS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall coordinate 

24 with the non-Federal entities responsible for the operation 

25 and maintenance of transferred works in developing reVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:18 Mar 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1268.IH H1268

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1 porting requirements for Asset Management Reports with 

2 respect to major repair and rehabilitation needs for trans3 ferred works that are similar to the reporting require4 ments described in section 3(b). 

5 (b) GUIDANCE.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—After considering input from 

7 water and power contractors of the Bureau, the Sec8 retary shall develop and implement a rating system 

9 for transferred works that incorporates, to the max10 imum extent practicable, the rating system for major 

11 repair and rehabilitation needs for reserved works 

12 developed under section 3(b)(3). 

13 (2) UPDATES.—The ratings system developed 

14 under paragraph (1) shall be included in the up15 dated Asset Management Reports under section 

16 3(c). 

Æ 


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