II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2039

To authorize the construction of the Perkins County Rural Water System

and authorize the appropriation of Federal dollars to assist the Perkins

County Rural Water System, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, in the planning and construction of the water supply system, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 2, 1996

Mr. DASCHLE (for himself and Mr. PRESSLER) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To authorize the construction of the Perkins County Rural

Water System and authorize the appropriation of Federal

dollars to assist the Perkins County Rural Water System,

Inc., a nonprofit corporation, in the planning and construction of the water supply system, 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 ‘‘Perkins County Rural

5 Water System Act of 1996’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

3 (1) there are insufficient water supplies of rea4 sonable quality available to the members of the Per5 kins County Rural Water System located in Perkins

6 County, South Dakota, and the water supplies that

7 are available do not meet the minimum health and

8 safety standards, thereby posing a threat to public

9 health and safety;

10 (2) in 1977 the North Dakota State Legislature

11 authorized and directed the State Water Commission

12 to conduct the Southwest Area Water Supply Study,

13 which included water service to a portion of Perkins

14 County, South Dakota;

15 (3) the Garrison Diversion Unit Reformulation

16 Act of 1986 authorized the Southwest Pipeline

17 project as an eligible project for Federal cost share

18 participation;

19 (4) the Perkins County Rural Water System

20 has continued to be recognized by the State of North

21 Dakota, the Southwest Water Authority, the North

22 Dakota Water Commission, the Department of the

23 Interior, and the Congress of the United States as

24 a component of the Southwest Pipeline Project; and

25 (5) the best available, reliable, and safe rural

26 and municipal water supply to serve the needs of the
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1 Perkins County Rural Water System, Inc., members

2 is the Missouri River as delivered by the Southwest

3 Pipeline Project in North Dakota.

4 (b) PURPOSES.—The Congress declares that the pur5 poses of sections 1 through 13 are to—

6 (1) ensure a safe and adequate municipal,

7 rural, and industrial water supply for the members

8 of the Perkins County Rural Water Supply System,

9 Inc., in Perkins County, South Dakota;

10 (2) assist the citizens of the Perkins County

11 Rural Water Supply System, Inc., to develop safe

12 and adequate municipal, rural, and industrial water

13 supplies; and

14 (3) promote the implementation of water con15 servation programs by the Perkins County Rural

16 Water System, Inc.

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

18 As used in this Act (unless the context clearly re19 quires otherwise):

20 (1) FEASIBILITY STUDY.—The term ‘‘feasibility

21 study’’ means the study entitled ‘‘Feasibility Study

22 for Rural Water System for Perkins County Rural

23 Water System, Inc.’’, as amended in March 1995.

24 (2) PROJECT CONSTRUCTION BUDGET.—The

25 term ‘‘project construction budget’’ means the de-
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1 scription of the total amount of funds that are need2 ed for the construction of the water supply system,

3 as contained in the feasibility study.

4 (3) PUMPING AND INCIDENTAL OPERATIONAL

5 REQUIREMENTS.—The term ‘‘pumping and inciden6 tal operational requirements’’ means all power re7 quirements that are incidental to the operation of in8 take facilities, pumping stations, water treatment fa9 cilities, reservoirs, and pipelines up to the point of

10 delivery of water by the Perkins County Rural

11 Water System to each entity that distributes water

12 at retail to individual users.

13 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

14 the Secretary of the Interior.

15 (5) WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘water

16 supply system’’ means the Perkins County Rural

17 Water System, Inc., that is established and operated

18 substantially in accordance with the feasibility study.

19 SEC. 4. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR THE WATER SUPPLY

20 SYSTEM.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to

22 make grants to the Perkins County Rural Water System,

23 Inc., a nonprofit corporation, for the planning and con24 struction of the water supply system.
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1 (b) SERVICE AREA.—The water supply system shall

2 provide for safe and adequate municipal, rural, and indus3 trial water supplies, mitigation of wetlands areas, and

4 water conservation in Perkins County, South Dakota.

5 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—Grants made available

6 under subsection (a) to the Perkins County Water System,

7 Inc., shall not exceed the amount authorized under section

8 10.

9 (d) LIMITATION ON AVAILABILITY OF CONSTRUC10 TION FUNDS.—The Secretary shall not obligate funds for

11 the construction of the water supply system until—

12 (1) the requirements of the National Environ13 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)

14 have been met;

15 (2) a final engineering report has been prepared

16 and submitted to the Congress for a period of not

17 less than 90 days before the commencement of con18 struction of the system; and

19 (3) a water conservation program has been de20 veloped and implemented.

21 SEC. 5. WATER CONSERVATION.

22 (a) PURPOSE.—The water conservation program re23 quired under this section shall be designed to ensure that

24 users of water from the water supply system will use the
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1 best practicable technology and management techniques to

2 conserve water use.

3 (b) DESCRIPTION.—The water conservation pro4 grams shall include—

5 (1) low consumption performance standards for

6 all newly installed plumbing fixtures;

7 (2) leak detection and repair programs;

8 (3) rate structures that do not include declining

9 block rate schedules for municipal households and

10 special water users (as defined in the feasibility

11 study);

12 (4) public education programs;

13 (5) coordinated operation between the Perkins

14 County Rural Water System and any preexisting

15 water supply facilities within its service area; and

16 (6) coordinated operation between the South17 west Pipeline Project of North Dakota and the Per18 kins County Rural Water System, Inc., of South Da19 kota.

20 (c) REVIEW AND REVISION.—The programs de21 scribed in subsection (b) shall contain provisions for peri22 odic review and revision, in cooperation with the Secretary.

23 SEC. 6. MITIGATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE LOSSES.

24 Mitigation of fish and wildlife losses incurred as a

25 result of the construction and operation of the Perkins
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1 County Rural Water Supply System shall be on an acre2 for-acre basis, based on ecological equivalency, concurrent

3 with project construction, as provided in the feasibility

4 study.

5 SEC. 7. USE OF PICK-SLOAN POWER.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—From power designated for future

7 irrigation and drainage pumping for the Pick-Sloan Mis8 souri River Basin Program, the Western Area Power Ad9 ministration shall make available the capacity and energy

10 required to meet the pumping and incidental operational

11 requirements of the water supply system during the period

12 beginning May 1, and ending October 31, of each year.

13 (b) CONDITIONS.—The capacity and energy described

14 in subsection (a) shall be made available on the following

15 conditions:

16 (1) The water supply system shall be operated

17 on a not-for-profit basis.

18 (2) The water supply system shall contract to

19 purchase its entire electric service requirements, in20 cluding the capacity and energy made available

21 under subsection (a), from a qualified preference

22 power supplier that itself purchases power from the

23 Western Area Power Administration.

24 (3) The rate schedule applicable to the capacity

25 and energy made available under subsection (a) shall
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1 be the firm power rate schedule of the Pick-Sloan

2 Eastern Division of the Western Area Power Admin3 istration in effect when the power is delivered by the

4 Administration.

5 (4) It shall be agreed by contract among—

6 (A) the Western Area Power Administra7 tion;

8 (B) the power supplier with which the

9 water supply system contracts under paragraph

10 (2);

11 (C) the power supplier of the entity de12 scribed in subparagraph (B); and

13 (D) the Perkins County Rural Water Sys14 tem, Inc.,

15 that in the case of the capacity and energy made

16 available under subsection (a), the benefit of the

17 rate schedule described in paragraph (3) shall be

18 passed through to the water supply system, except

19 that the power supplier of the water supply system

20 shall not be precluded from including, in the charges

21 of the supplier to the water system for the electric

22 service, the other usual and customary charges of

23 the supplier.
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1 SEC. 8. NO LIMITATION ON WATER PROJECTS IN STATES.

2 This Act shall not limit the authorization for water

3 projects in South Dakota and North Dakota under law

4 in effect on or after the date of enactment of this Act.

5 SEC. 9. WATER RIGHTS.

6 Nothing in this Act—

7 (1) invalidates or preempts State water law or

8 an interstate compact governing water;

9 (2) alters the rights of any State to any appro10 priated share of the waters of any body of surface

11 or ground water, whether determined by past or fu12 ture interstate compacts or by past or future legisla13 tive or final judicial allocations;

14 (3) preempts or modifies any Federal or State

15 law, or interstate compact, dealing with water qual16 ity or disposal; or

17 (4) confers on any non-Federal entity the abil18 ity to exercise any Federal right to the waters of any

19 stream or to any ground water resource.

20 SEC. 10. FEDERAL COST SHARE.

21 The Secretary is authorized to provide funds equal

22 to 75 percent of—

23 (1) the amount allocated in the total project

24 construction budget for the planning and construc25 tion of the water supply system under section 4; and
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1 (2) such sums as are necessary to defray in2 creases in development costs reflected in appropriate

3 engineering cost indices after May 1, 1994.

4 SEC. 11. NON-FEDERAL COST SHARE.

5 The non-Federal share of the costs allocated to the

6 water supply system shall be 25 percent of—

7 (1) the amount allocated in the total project

8 construction budget for the planning and construc9 tion of the water supply system under section 4; and

10 (2) such sums as are necessary to defray in11 creases in development costs reflected in appropriate

12 engineering cost indices after May 1, 1994.

13 SEC. 12. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION AUTHORIZATION.

14 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is authorized to

15 allow the Bureau of Reclamation to provide construction

16 oversight to the water supply system for those areas of

17 the water supply system that are described in section 4(b).

18 (b) PROJECT OVERSIGHT ADMINISTRATION.—The

19 amount of funds used by the Bureau of Reclamation for

20 planning and construction of the water supply system may

21 not exceed an amount equal to 3 percent of the amount

22 provided in the total project construction budget for the

23 portion of the project to be constructed in Perkins County,

24 South Dakota.
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1 SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 There are authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000

3 for the planning and construction of the water system

4 under section 4, plus such sums as are necessary to defray

5 increases in development costs reflected in appropriate en6 gineering cost indices after May 1, 1994.

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