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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3189 Reported in House (RH)]

                                                 Union Calendar No. 278
113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3189

                      [Report No. 113-372, Part I]

    To prohibit the conditioning of any permit, lease, or other use 
 agreement on the transfer, relinquishment, or other impairment of any 
water right to the United States by the Secretaries of the Interior and 
                              Agriculture.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 26, 2013

   Mr. Tipton (for himself, Mr. Bishop of Utah, Mr. McClintock, Mr. 
    Amodei, and Mr. Polis) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the 
Committee on Agriculture, 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

                             March 4, 2014

Additional sponsors: Mr. Coffman, Mrs. Lummis, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Pearce, 
Mr. Matheson, Mr. Stewart, Mr. Chaffetz, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Poe 
                       of Texas, and Mr. Gardner

                             March 4, 2014

    Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with amendments
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

                             March 4, 2014

The Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of 
  the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
    [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on 
                          September 26, 2013]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
    To prohibit the conditioning of any permit, lease, or other use 
 agreement on the transfer, relinquishment, or other impairment of any 
water right to the United States by the Secretaries of the Interior and 
                              Agriculture.

 

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Water Rights Protection Act''.

SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF WATER RIGHTS.

    The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture--
            (1) shall not condition the issuance, renewal, amendment, 
        or extension of any permit, approval, license, lease, 
        allotment, easement, right-of-way, or other land use or 
        occupancy agreement on the transfer of any water right directly 
        to the United States, or any impairment of title, in whole or 
        in part, granted or otherwise recognized under State law, by 
        Federal or State adjudication, decree, or other judgment, or 
        pursuant to any interstate water compact; and
            (2) shall not require any water user to apply for or 
        acquire a water right in the name of the United States under 
        State law as a condition of the issuance, renewal, amendment, 
        or extension of any permit, approval, license, lease, 
        allotment, easement, right-of-way, or other land use or 
        occupancy agreement.

SEC. 3. DEFINITION.

    For purposes of this Act, the term ``water right'' means any 
surface, groundwater, or storage use filed, permitted, certificated, 
confirmed, decreed, adjudicated, or otherwise recognized by a judicial 
proceeding or by the State in which the user acquires possession of the 
water or puts it to beneficial use.

SEC. 4. IMPACT ON EXISTING AUTHORITY.

    Nothing in this Act limits or expands any existing authority of the 
Secretaries to condition any permit, approval, license, lease, 
allotment, easement, right-of-way, or other land use or occupancy 
agreement on Federal lands subject to their respective jurisdictions.
            Amend the title so as to read: ``A bill to prohibit the 
        conditioning of any permit, lease, or other use agreement on 
        the transfer of any water right to the United States by the 
        Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture.''.
                                                 Union Calendar No. 278

113th CONGRESS

  2d Session

                               H. R. 3189

                      [Report No. 113-372, Part I]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

    To prohibit the conditioning of any permit, lease, or other use 
 agreement on the transfer, relinquishment, or other impairment of any 
water right to the United States by the Secretaries of the Interior and 
                              Agriculture.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             March 4, 2014

    Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with amendments

                             March 4, 2014

The Committee on Agriculture discharged; committed to the Committee of 
  the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
```