I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2705 

To develop a pilot program to remove non-native predator fishes from the 

Stanislaus River to protect the native anadromous fishery resources affected by the operation of the New Melones Unit of the East Side 

Division of the Central Valley Project, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 17, 2013 

Mr. DENHAM introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To develop a pilot program to remove non-native predator 

fishes from the Stanislaus River to protect the native 

anadromous fishery resources affected by the operation 

of the New Melones Unit of the East Side Division 

of the Central Valley Project, 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 ‘‘Stanislaus River Na5 tive Anadromous Fish Improvement Act’’. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

2 

•HR 2705 IH

1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO PROTECT ANADROMOUS FISH 

2 IN THE STANISLAUS RIVER. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF NON-NATIVE PREDATOR

4 FISH REMOVAL PROGRAM.—The Commissioner and dis5 tricts, in consultation with the National Marine Fisheries 

6 Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and 

7 the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, shall 

8 jointly develop and conduct a pilot non-native predator 

9 fish removal program to remove non-native striped bass, 

10 smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, black bass, and other 

11 non-native predator fishes from the Stanislaus River. The 

12 pilot program shall— 

13 (1) be scientifically based; 

14 (2) include methods to quantify the number and 

15 size of predator fishes removed each year, the im16 pact of such removal on the overall abundance of 

17 predator fishes, and the impact of such removal on 

18 the populations of juvenile anadromous fish found in 

19 the Stanislaus River by, among other things, evalu20 ating the number of juvenile anadromous fish that 

21 migrate past the rotary screw trap located at 

22 Caswell; 

23 (3) use wire fyke trapping, portable resistance 

24 board weirs, and boat electrofishing, which are the 

25 most effective predator collection techniques that 

26 minimize affects to native anadromous fish; 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

3 

•HR 2705 IH

1 (4) be developed, including the application for 

2 all necessary scientific research and species enhance3 ment permits under section 10(a)(1) of the Endan4 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1539(a)(1)), 

5 for the performance of the pilot program, not later 

6 than 6 months after the date of the enactment of 

7 this Act; 

8 (5) be implemented on the first business day of 

9 the calendar year following the issuance of all nec10 essary scientific research and species enhancement 

11 permits needed to begin the pilot program; and 

12 (6) be implemented for a period of five consecu13 tive calendar years. 

14 (b) MANAGEMENT.—The management of the pilot 

15 program shall be the joint responsibility of the Commis16 sioner and the districts. Such parties shall work collabo17 ratively to insure the performance of the pilot program, 

18 and shall discuss and agree upon, among other things, 

19 changes in the structure, management, personnel, tech20 niques, strategy, data collection, reporting, and conduct 

21 of the pilot program. 

22 (c) CONDUCT.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—At the election of the dis24 tricts, the pilot program may be conducted by their 

25 own personnel, qualified private contractors hired by 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

4 

•HR 2705 IH

1 the districts, personnel of, on loan to, or otherwise 

2 assigned to the Bureau of Reclamation, or a com3 bination thereof. 

4 (2) PARTICIPATION BY BUREAU OF RECLAMA5 TION.—In the event the districts elect to conduct the 

6 program using their own personnel or qualified pri7 vate contractors hired by them, the Commissioner 

8 has the option to assign an employee of, on loan to, 

9 or otherwise assigned to the Bureau of Reclamation, 

10 to be present for all activities performed in the field. 

11 Such presence shall insure compliance with the 

12 agreed upon elements specified in subsection (b). 

13 The districts shall pay 100 percent of the cost of 

14 such participation as specified in subsection (d). 

15 (3) TIMING OF ELECTION.—The districts shall 

16 notify the Commissioner of their election on or be17 fore October 15 of each calendar year of the pilot 

18 program, which election shall apply to the work per19 formed in the subsequent calendar year. 

20 (d) FUNDING.— 

21 (1) ANNUAL FUNDING.—The districts shall be 

22 responsible for 100 percent of the cost of the pilot 

23 program. On or before December 1 of each year of 

24 the pilot program, the Commissioner shall submit to 

25 the districts an estimate of the cost to be incurred 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

5 

•HR 2705 IH

1 by the Bureau of Reclamation in the following cal2 endar year, if any, including the cost of any data 

3 collection and posting under subsection (e). If an 

4 amount equal to the estimate is not provided to the 

5 reclamation fund identified in section 3 of the Act 

6 of February 21, 1911 (43 U.S.C. 525), by the dis7 tricts on or before December 31 of each year— 

8 (A) the Bureau of Reclamation shall have 

9 no obligation to conduct the pilot program ac10 tivities otherwise scheduled until full payment is 

11 made by the districts; and 

12 (B) the districts shall be prohibited from 

13 conducting any aspect of the pilot program 

14 until full payment is made by the districts. 

15 (2) ACCOUNTING.—On or before September 1 

16 of each calendar year, the Commissioner shall pro17 vide an accounting of the prior calendar year’s ex18 penses to the districts. If the estimate paid by the 

19 districts was less than the actual costs incurred by 

20 the Bureau of Reclamation, the districts shall have 

21 until September 30 of that calendar year to pay the 

22 difference to the reclamation fund. If the estimate 

23 paid by the districts was greater than the actual 

24 costs incurred by the Bureau of Reclamation, then 

25 a credit shall be provided to the districts, which shall 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

6 

•HR 2705 IH

1 be deducted from the estimate payment the districts 

2 must make for the work performed by the Bureau 

3 of Reclamation, if any, in the next calendar year. 

4 (e) REPORTING AND EVALUATION.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—On or before the 15th day 

6 of each month, the Commissioner shall post on the 

7 Web site of the Bureau of Reclamation a tabular 

8 summary of the raw data collected in the prior 

9 month. 

10 (2) REPORT.—On or before June 30 of the cal11 endar year following the completion of the program, 

12 the Commissioner and districts shall jointly publish 

13 a peer reviewed report that— 

14 (A) discusses the findings and conclusions 

15 of the pilot program; 

16 (B) synthesizes the data collected under 

17 paragraph (1); and 

18 (C) makes recommendations for further 

19 study and action. 

20 (f) PERMITS PROCESS.— 

21 (1) Not later than 180 days after filing of an 

22 application by the Commissioner and the districts, 

23 the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Com24 merce, or both, as appropriate, shall issue all nec25 essary scientific research and species enhancement 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

7 

•HR 2705 IH

1 permits under section 10(a)(1) of the Endangered 

2 Species Act (16 U.S.C. 153(9)(a)(1)), for the per3 formance of the pilot program. 

4 (2) Any permit application that is not approved 

5 by the Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Com6 merce, or both, as appropriate, for any reason, with7 in 180 days after receiving the application, shall be 

8 deemed approved. 

9 (3) All permits issued shall be in the name of 

10 the Bureau of Reclamation and the districts. 

11 (4) Districts may delegate the authority to ad12 minister the permit authority to any qualified pri13 vate contractor retained in accordance with sub14 section (c). 

15 (5) The pilot program, including amendments 

16 thereto by the appropriate Federal and State agen17 cies, shall constitute a conservation plan that com18 plies with the requirements of section 10(a)(2) of 

19 the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

20 1539(a)(2)). 

21 (g) NEPA.—Section 102(2)(C) of the National Envi22 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)) 

23 shall not apply with respect to section 2 and the issuance 

24 of any permit under this subsection during the seven-year 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

8 

•HR 2705 IH

1 period beginning on the date of the implementation of the 

2 pilot program. 

3 SEC. 3. RESTRICTIONS. 

4 Any restriction imposed under California law on the 

5 catch, take, or harvest of any non-native or introduced 

6 aquatic or terrestrial species that preys upon anadromous 

7 fish and that occupies or is found in the Stanislaus River 

8 is hereby void and is preempted. 

9 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

10 For the purposes of this Act: 

11 (1) ANADROMOUS FISH.— 

12 (A) The term ‘‘anadromous fish’’ as ap13 plied to the Stanislaus River and the operation 

14 of New Melones— 

15 (i) means those native stocks of salm16 on (including steelhead) that— 

17 (I) as of October 30, 1992, were 

18 present in and had not been extir19 pated from the Stanislaus River; and 

20 (II) which ascend the Stanislaus 

21 River to reproduce after maturing in 

22 San Francisco Bay or the Pacific 

23 Ocean; and 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

9 

•HR 2705 IH

1 (ii) does not mean any stock, strain or 

2 member of American shad, sockeye salmon, 

3 or striped bass. 

4 (B) The definition of anadromous fish pro5 vided in section 3403(a) of the Central Valley 

6 Project Improvement Act (Public Law 102– 

7 575) shall not apply to the operation of New 

8 Melones Dam and Reservoir, or to any Federal 

9 action in the Stanislaus River. 

10 (2) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis11 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of the Bureau of 

12 Reclamation. 

13 (3) DISTRICTS.—The term ‘‘districts’’ means 

14 the Oakdale Irrigation District and the South San 

15 Joaquin Irrigation District. 

16 (4) PILOT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot pro17 gram’’ means the pilot non-native predator removal 

18 program established under section 2(b). 

19 SEC. 5. SUNSET. 

20 This Act and the authorities provided under this Act 

21 shall expire 7 years after implementation of the pilot pro22 gram begins. 

Æ 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS