II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1989

To authorize the construction and operation of the Fort Peck Reservation

Rural Water System in the State of Montana, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 25, 1996

Mr. BURNS (for himself and Mr. BAUCUS) introduced the following bill; which

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

Resources

A BILL

To authorize the construction and operation of the Fort

Peck Reservation Rural Water System in the State of

Montana, 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 ‘‘Fort Peck Reservation

5 Rural Water System Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) there are insufficient water supplies avail9 able to residents of the Fort Peck Indian Reserva-
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1 tion in Montana, and the water systems that are

2 available do not meet minimum health and safety

3 standards, posing a threat to public health and safe4 ty;

5 (2) the United States has a trust responsibility

6 to ensure that adequate and safe water supplies are

7 available to meet the economic, environmental, water

8 supply, and public health needs of the Fort Peck In9 dian Reservation; and

10 (3) the best available, reliable, and safe rural

11 and municipal water supply to serve the needs of the

12 Fort Peck Indian Reservation is the Missouri River.

13 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to ensure

14 a safe and adequate municipal, rural, and industrial water

15 supply for the residents of the Fort Peck Indian Reserva16 tion in Montana.

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

18 In this Act:

19 (1) FORT PECK TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Fort Peck

20 tribe’’ means the Assiniboine Indian Tribe and the

21 Sioux Indian Tribe within the Fort Peck Indian

22 Reservation.

23 (2) PICK-SLOAN.—The term ‘‘Pick-Sloan’’

24 means the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program au25 thorized by section 9 of the Act of December 22,
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1 1944 (58 Stat. 891, chapter 665) (commonly known

2 as the ‘‘Flood Control Act of 1944’’).

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

4 the Secretary of the Interior.

5 (4) WATER SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Water Sys6 tem’’ means the Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water

7 System authorized by section 4.

8 SEC. 4. FORT PECK RESERVATION RURAL WATER SYSTEM.

9 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary shall plan, de10 sign, construct (including replacement of structures and

11 equipment in existence on the date of enactment of this

12 Act, as necessary), operate, and maintain a municipal,

13 rural, and industrial water system, to be known as the

14 ‘‘Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System’’, as gen15 erally depicted in the report entitled ‘‘Technical Report

16 for the Fort Peck Reservation Rural Water System’’ and

17 dated July 1995.

18 (b) COMPONENTS.—The Water System shall consist

19 of—

20 (1) pumping and treatment facilities located

21 along the Missouri River near Poplar, Montana;

22 (2) pipelines extending from the Missouri River

23 near Poplar, Montana, throughout the Fort Peck In24 dian Reservation;
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1 (3) facilities to allow for future interconnections

2 to areas outside the Fort Peck Indian Reservation,

3 including the communities of Plentywood, Scobey,

4 Flaxville, and Culbertson, Montana;

5 (4) distribution and treatment facilities to serve

6 the needs of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, in7 cluding the purchase, improvement, and repair of

8 water systems in existence on the date of enactment

9 of this Act, including systems owned by individual

10 tribal members and other residents of the Fort Peck

11 Indian Reservation;

12 (5) appurtenant buildings and access roads;

13 (6) all property and property rights associated

14 with the facilities described in paragraphs (1)

15 through (5);

16 (7) electrical power transmission and distribu17 tion facilities necessary for services to Water System

18 facilities; and

19 (8) such other pipelines, pumping plants, and

20 facilities as the Secretary considers necessary or ap21 propriate to meet the water supply, economic, public

22 health, and environmental needs of the reservation,

23 including water storage tanks, water lines, and other

24 facilities for the Fort Peck tribes and reservation vil25 lages, towns, and municipalities.
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1 (c) AGREEMENT.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out subsection

3 (b), the Secretary shall enter into a cooperative

4 agreement with the Fort Peck Tribal Executive

5 Board for planning, designing, constructing (includ6 ing necessary replacement), operating, and maintain7 ing the Water System.

8 (2) MANDATORY PROVISIONS.—The cooperative

9 agreement under paragraph (1) shall describe, in a

10 manner that is acceptable to the Secretary and the

11 Fort Peck Tribal Executive Board—

12 (A) the responsibilities of the parties for—

13 (i) needs assessment, feasibility, and

14 environmental studies;

15 (ii) engineering and design;

16 (iii) construction;

17 (iv) water conservation measures; and

18 (v) administration of contracts relat19 ing to performance of the activities de20 scribed in clauses (i) through (iv);

21 (B) the procedures and requirements for

22 approval and acceptance of the design and con23 struction; and

24 (C) the rights, responsibilities, and liabil25 ities of each party to the agreement.
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1 (3) OPTIONAL PROVISIONS.—The cooperative

2 agreement under paragraph (1) may include provi3 sions relating to the purchase, improvement, and re4 pair of water systems in existence on the date of en5 actment of this Act, including systems owned by in6 dividual tribal members and other residents of the

7 Fort Peck Indian Reservation.

8 (4) TERMINATION.—The Secretary may termi9 nate a cooperative agreement under paragraph (1) if

10 the Secretary determines that—

11 (A) the quality of construction does not

12 meet all standards established for similar facili13 ties constructed by the Secretary; or

14 (B) the operation and maintenance of the

15 Water System does not meet conditions accept16 able to the Secretary that are adequate to fulfill

17 the obligations of the United States to the Fort

18 Peck tribes.

19 (5) TRANSFER.—On execution of a cooperative

20 agreement under paragraph (1), in accordance with

21 the terms of the cooperative agreement, the Sec22 retary may transfer to the Fort Peck tribes, on a

23 nonreimbursable basis, funds appropriated for the

24 Water System under section 8.
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1 (d) SERVICE AREA.—The service area of the Water

2 System shall be the area within the boundaries of the Fort

3 Peck Indian Reservation.

4 (e) CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS.—The pumping

5 plants, pipelines, treatment facilities, and other appur6 tenant facilities for the Water System shall be planned

7 and constructed to a size sufficient to meet the municipal,

8 rural, and industrial water supply requirements of the

9 Fort Peck Indian Reservation and the rural areas north

10 of the reservation, taking into account the effects of the

11 water conservation plan under section 5.

12 (f) TITLE TO WATER SYSTEM.—Title to the Water

13 System shall be held in trust by the United States for the

14 Fort Peck tribes and shall not be transferred unless a

15 transfer is authorized by an Act of Congress enacted after

16 the date of enactment of this Act.

17 (g) LIMITATION ON AVAILABILITY OF CONSTRUC18 TION FUNDS.—The Secretary shall not obligate funds for

19 the construction of the Water System until—

20 (1) the requirements of the National Environ21 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)

22 have been met with respect to the Water System;

23 (2) a final engineering report for the Water

24 System has been approved by the Secretary; and
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1 (3) the Secretary publishes a written finding

2 that the water conservation plan under section 5 in3 cludes prudent and responsible water conservation

4 measures for the operation of the Water System that

5 have been shown to be economically and financially

6 feasible.

7 (h) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall

8 provide such technical assistance as may be necessary to

9 enable the Fort Peck tribes to plan, develop, construct (in10 cluding necessary replacement), operate, and maintain the

11 Water System, including operation and management

12 training.

13 (i) APPLICATION OF INDIAN SELF-DETERMINATION

14 ACT.—Planning, design, construction (including necessary

15 replacement), and operation of the Water System shall be

16 subject to the Indian Self-Determination Act (25 U.S.C.

17 450f et seq.).

18 SEC. 5. WATER CONSERVATION PLAN.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fort Peck tribes shall de20 velop a water conservation plan containing definite goals,

21 appropriate water conservation measures, and a time

22 schedule for meeting the water conservation objectives.

23 (b) PURPOSE.—The water conservation plan under

24 subsection (a) shall be designed to ensure that users of
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1 water from the Water System will use the best practicable

2 technology and management techniques to conserve water.

3 (c) APPLICATION OF THE RECLAMATION REFORM

4 ACT OF 1982.—Section 210(c) of the Reclamation Reform

5 Act of 1982 (43 U.S.C. 390jj(c)) shall apply to the Water

6 System.

7 SEC. 6. USE OF PICK-SLOAN POWER.

8 (a) POWER.—The Water System shall use power

9 from Pick-Sloan for operation. The use of the power shall

10 be considered to be a project use pumping requirement

11 of Pick-Sloan.

12 (b) POWER TO BE USED.—Power identified for fu13 ture project use pumping shall be reserved for and made

14 available for the purpose authorized by subsection (a).

15 (c) RATE.—The rate for project use power made

16 available under subsection (b) shall be the wholesale firm

17 power rate for Pick-Sloan (Eastern Division) in effect at

18 the time at which the power is sold.

19 (d) ADDITIONAL POWER.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—If power in addition to that

21 made available under subsection (b) is required to

22 meet the pumping requirements of the Water Sys23 tem, the Administrator of the Western Area Power

24 Administration may purchase the necessary addi-
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1 tional power under such terms and conditions as the

2 Administrator considers appropriate.

3 (2) RECOVERY OF EXPENSES.—Expenses asso4 ciated with power purchases under paragraph (1)

5 shall be recovered through a separate power charge,

6 sufficient to recover the expenses, applied to the

7 Water System.

8 SEC. 7. WATER RIGHTS.

9 This Act does not—

10 (1) impair the validity of or preempt any provi11 sion of State water law, or of any interstate compact

12 governing water;

13 (2) alter the rights of any State to any appro14 priated share of the waters of any body or surface

15 or ground water, whether determined by past or fu16 ture interstate compacts, or by past or future legis17 lative or final judicial allocations;

18 (3) preempt or modify any Federal or State law

19 or interstate compact dealing with water quality or

20 disposal;

21 (4) confer on any non-Federal entity the ability

22 to exercise any Federal right to the waters of any

23 stream or to any groundwater resources;

24 (5) affect any water rights of the Fort Peck

25 tribes, located within or without the external bound-
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1 aries of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, based on

2 a treaty, compact, executive order, agreement, Act of

3 Congress, aboriginal title, the decision in Winters v.

4 United States, 207 U.S. 564 (1908) (commonly

5 known as the ‘‘Winters Doctrine’’), or otherwise; or

6 (6) validate or invalidate any assertion of the

7 existence, nonexistence, or extinguishment of any

8 water rights held by the Fort Peck tribes or any

9 other Indian Tribe or individual Indian under Fed10 eral or State law.

11 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

12 (a) PLANNING, DESIGN, AND CONSTRUCTION.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be

14 appropriated, over a period of 5 fiscal years,

15 $114,734,300 for the planning, design, and con16 struction of the Water System.

17 (2) ADJUSTMENT.—The funds authorized to be

18 appropriated by paragraph (1), less any amounts

19 previously obligated for the Water System, are in20 creased or decreased by such amounts as are justi21 fied by reason of ordinary fluctuations in develop22 ment costs incurred after January 1, 1996, as indi23 cated by engineering cost indices applicable for the

24 type of construction involved.
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1 (b) OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE.—There are au2 thorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary

3 for the operation and maintenance of the Water System.

Æ