I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 438 

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a California New River restoration program to build on, and help 

coordinate funding for, restoration and protection efforts relating to 

the New River, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 11, 2017 

Mr. VARGAS (for himself and Mr. HUNTER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 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 Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

Agency to establish a California New River restoration 

program to build on, and help coordinate funding for, 

restoration and protection efforts relating to the New 

River, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘California New River 

5 Restoration Act of 2017’’. 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 438 IH

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) the New River was born out of the Colorado 

4 River’s occasional flows into the Salton Sink and the 

5 erosion of the New River channel which formed the 

6 deep river canyon between 1905 and 1907; 

7 (2) the New River starts in Mexicali, Mexico, 

8 flows north into the United States through Calexico, 

9 passes through the Imperial Valley and drains into 

10 the Salton Sea, roughly 66 miles north of the inter11 national boundary, and the sub-watershed covers ap12 proximately 750 square miles, with 63 percent of 

13 that in Mexico and 37 percent in the United States; 

14 (3) the New River has been widely recognized 

15 for its significant water pollution problems, pri16 marily because of agricultural runoff, raw sewage, 

17 pesticides, and discharges of wastes from domestic, 

18 agricultural, and industrial sources in Mexico and 

19 the Imperial Valley; 

20 (4) by the 1980s, the New River acquired the 

21 reputation of being one of the most polluted rivers 

22 in the United States, with many of the pollutants 

23 posing serious human health hazards to local popu24 lations, particularly those in Calexico and Mexicali; 

25 (5) in 1992, the International Boundary Water 

26 Commission’s Treaty Minute No. 288 established a 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 438 IH

1 sanitation strategy for the New River water quality 

2 problems at the international boundary and divided 

3 the sanitation projects into two immediate repairs 

4 projects, the Mexicali I and the Mexicali II, which 

5 totaled about $50 million dollars and were funded by 

6 both countries through the North American Develop7 ment Bank; 

8 (6) in 1995, the Environmental Protection 

9 Agency provided funds to the California Regional 

10 Water Quality Control Board to monitor and docu11 ment the water quality at the international boundary 

12 on a monthly basis; 

13 (7) in the late 1990s, the United States and 

14 Mexico spent $100 million (45 percent paid by Mex15 ico and 55 percent paid by the United States) to 

16 build the Las Arenitas and Zaragoza Wastewater 

17 Treatment plants, and untreated New River water 

18 passing through four microbial treatment cells at 

19 Las Arenitas was then chlorinated and fed into a re20 forestation project along the desiccated Rio Hardy 

21 which stretches to the Sea of Cortez; 

22 (8) a 10-year effort by community groups, law23 yers, regulatory agencies, and politicians addressed 

24 the problem at the source by federally funding a new 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 438 IH

1 sewage treatment plant in Mexicali and developing a 

2 site plan for the river on the United States side; 

3 (9) in 2009, the State of California required the 

4 California-Mexico Border Relations Council to create 

5 a strategic plan to study, monitor, remediate, and 

6 enhance the New River’s water quality to protect 

7 human health and develop a river parkway suitable 

8 for public use; 

9 (10) in 2012, the California-Mexico Border Re10 lations Council approved the strategic plan for the 

11 New River Improvement Project prepared by the 

12 New River Improvement Project Technical Advisory 

13 Committee; 

14 (11) in 2016, the New River Improvement 

15 Project Technical Advisory Committee revised the 

16 recommended infrastructure of the New River Im17 provement Project, and the State of California ap18 propriated $1.4 million to provide grants or con19 tracts to implement the necessary planning, design, 

20 environmental review, and permitting work; 

21 (12) the revised New River Improvement 

22 Project includes the installation of a large trash 

23 screen, a conveyance system, aeration devices, a new 

24 pump station and managed wetlands; and 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 438 IH

1 (13) the existing and ongoing voluntary con2 servation efforts at the New River necessitate im3 proved efficiency and cost effectiveness, as well as 

4 increased private-sector investments and coordina5 tion of Federal and non-Federal resources. 

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ10 mental Protection Agency. 

11 (2) MEXICAN.—The term ‘‘Mexican’’ refers to 

12 the Federal, State, and local governments of the 

13 United Mexican States. 

14 (3) NEW RIVER.—The term ‘‘New River’’ 

15 means the river that starts in Mexicali, Mexico, 

16 flows north into the United States through Calexico, 

17 passes through the Imperial Valley, and drains into 

18 the Salton Sea. 

19 (4) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

20 the California New River restoration program estab21 lished under section 4. 

22 (5) RESTORATION AND PROTECTION.—The 

23 term ‘‘restoration and protection’’ means the con24 servation, stewardship, and enhancement of habitat 

25 for fish and wildlife to preserve and improve ecoVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Jan 21, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H438.IH H438

rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 438 IH

1 systems and ecological processes on which they de2 pend. 

3 SEC. 4. CALIFORNIA NEW RIVER RESTORATION PROGRAM 

4 ESTABLISHMENT. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

7 establish a program to be known as the ‘‘California New 

8 River restoration program’’. 

9 (b) DUTIES.—In carrying out the program, the Ad10 ministrator shall— 

11 (1) implement projects, plans, and initiatives 

12 for the New River supported by the California-Mex13 ico Border Relations Council, and work in consulta14 tion with applicable management entities, including 

15 representatives of the Calexico New River Com16 mittee, the California-Mexico Border Relations 

17 Council, the New River Improvement Project Tech18 nical Advisory Committee, the Federal Government, 

19 State and local governments, and regional and non20 profit organizations, to implement restoration and 

21 protection activities relating to the New River; 

22 (2) undertake activities that— 

23 (A) support the implementation of a 

24 shared set of science-based restoration and proVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:08 Jan 21, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H438.IH H438

rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 438 IH

1 tection activities identified in accordance with 

2 paragraph (1); 

3 (B) target cost-effective projects with 

4 measurable results; and 

5 (C) maximize conservation outcomes with 

6 no net gain of Federal full-time equivalent em7 ployees; and 

8 (3) provide grants and technical assistance in 

9 accordance with section 5. 

10 (c) COORDINATION.—In establishing the program, 

11 the Administrator shall consult, as appropriate, with— 

12 (1) the heads of Federal agencies, including— 

13 (A) the Secretary of the Interior; 

14 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

15 (C) the Secretary of Homeland Security; 

16 (D) the Administrator of General Services; 

17 (E) the Commissioner of U.S. Customs 

18 and Border Protection; 

19 (F) the Commissioner of the International 

20 Boundary Water Commission; and 

21 (G) the head of any other applicable agen22 cy; 

23 (2) the Governor of California; 

24 (3) the California Environmental Protection 

25 Agency; 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 438 IH

1 (4) the California State Water Resources Con2 trol Board; 

3 (5) the California Department of Water Re4 sources; 

5 (6) the Colorado River Basin Regional Water 

6 Quality Control Board; 

7 (7) the Imperial Irrigation District; and 

8 (8) other public agencies and organizations with 

9 authority for the planning and implementation of 

10 conservation strategies relating to the New River in 

11 both the United States and Mexico. 

12 (d) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program in13 clude— 

14 (1) coordinating restoration and protection ac15 tivities, among Mexican, Federal, State, local, and 

16 regional entities and conservation partners, relating 

17 to the New River; and 

18 (2) carrying out coordinated restoration and 

19 protection activities, and providing for technical as20 sistance relating to the New River— 

21 (A) to sustain and enhance fish and wild22 life habitat restoration and protection activities; 

23 (B) to improve and maintain water quality 

24 to support fish and wildlife, as well as the habi25 tats of fish and wildlife; 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 438 IH

1 (C) to sustain and enhance water manage2 ment for volume and flood damage mitigation 

3 improvements to benefit fish and wildlife habi4 tat; 

5 (D) to improve opportunities for public ac6 cess to, and recreation in and along, the New 

7 River consistent with the ecological needs of 

8 fish and wildlife habitat; 

9 (E) to maximize the resilience of natural 

10 systems and habitats under changing watershed 

11 conditions; 

12 (F) to engage the public through outreach, 

13 education, and citizen involvement, to increase 

14 capacity and support for coordinated restora15 tion and protection activities relating to the 

16 New River; 

17 (G) to increase scientific capacity to sup18 port the planning, monitoring, and research ac19 tivities necessary to carry out coordinated res20 toration and protection activities; and 

21 (H) to provide technical assistance to carry 

22 out restoration and protection activities relating 

23 to the New River. 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
10 

•HR 438 IH

1 SEC. 5. GRANTS AND ASSISTANCE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program, the 

3 Administrator shall provide grants and technical assist4 ance to State and local governments, nonprofit organiza5 tions, and institutions of higher education, in both the 

6 United States and Mexico, to carry out the purposes of 

7 the program. 

8 (b) CRITERIA.—The Administrator, in consultation 

9 with the organizations described in section 4(c), shall de10 velop criteria for providing grants and technical assistance 

11 under this section to ensure that such activities accomplish 

12 one or more of the purposes identified in section 4(d)(2) 

13 and advance the implementation of priority actions or 

14 needs identified in the New River-wide strategy adopted 

15 under section 4(b)(2). 

16 (c) COST SHARING.— 

17 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

18 the cost of a project for which a grant is provided 

19 under this section shall not exceed 55 percent of the 

20 total cost of the activity, as determined by the Ad21 ministrator. 

22 (2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal 

23 share of the cost of a project for which a grant is 

24 provided under this section may be provided in the 

25 form of an in-kind contribution of services or mate26 rials. 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
11 

•HR 438 IH

1 (d) ADMINISTRATION.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may 

3 enter into an agreement to manage the implementa4 tion of this section with the North American Devel5 opment Bank or a similar organization that offers 

6 grant management services. 

7 (2) FUNDING.—If the Administrator enters into 

8 an agreement under paragraph (1), the organization 

9 selected shall— 

10 (A) for each fiscal year, receive amounts to 

11 carry out this section in an advance payment of 

12 the entire amount on October 1, or as soon as 

13 practicable thereafter, of that fiscal year; 

14 (B) invest and reinvest those amounts for 

15 the benefit of the program; and 

16 (C) otherwise administer the implementa17 tion of this section to support partnerships be18 tween the public and private sectors in accord19 ance with this Act. 

20 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORTS. 

21 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

22 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Administrator 

23 shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation 

24 of this Act, including a description of each project that 

25 has received funding under this Act and the status of all 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS
12 

•HR 438 IH

1 such projects that are in progress on the date of submis2 sion of the report. 

Æ 


rfrederick on DSKBCBPHB2PROD with BILLS