II 

Calendar No. 127 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 216 

[Report No. 115–97] 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to submit to Congress a report 

on the efforts of the Bureau of Reclamation to manage its infrastructure 

assets. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 24, 2017 

Mr. BARRASSO (for himself and Mr. SCHATZ) introduced the following bill; 

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

JUNE 8, 2017 

Reported by Ms. MURKOWSKI, without amendment 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to submit to Congress a report on the efforts of the Bureau of Reclamation to manage its infrastructure assets. 

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 ‘‘Bureau of Reclamation 

5 Transparency Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) the water resources infrastructure of the 

4 Bureau of Reclamation provides important benefits 

5 related to irrigated agriculture, municipal and indus6 trial water, hydropower, flood control, fish and wild7 life, and recreation in the 17 Reclamation States; 

8 (2) as of 2013, the combined replacement value 

9 of the infrastructure assets of the Bureau of Rec10 lamation was $94,500,000,000; 

11 (3) the majority of the water resources infra12 structure facilities of the Bureau of Reclamation are 

13 at least 60 years old; 

14 (4) the Bureau of Reclamation has previously 

15 undertaken efforts to better manage the assets of 

16 the Bureau of Reclamation, including an annual re17 view of asset maintenance activities of the Bureau of 

18 Reclamation known as the ‘‘Asset Management 

19 Plan’’; and 

20 (5) actionable information on infrastructure 

21 conditions at the asset level, including information 

22 on maintenance needs at individual assets due to 

23 aging infrastructure, is needed for Congress to con24 duct oversight of Reclamation facilities and meet the 

25 needs of the public. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ASSET.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘asset’’ 

5 means any of the following assets that are used 

6 to achieve the mission of the Bureau of Rec7 lamation to manage, develop, and protect water 

8 and related resources in an environmentally and 

9 economically sound manner in the interest of 

10 the people of the United States: 

11 (i) Capitalized facilities, buildings, 

12 structures, project features, power produc13 tion equipment, recreation facilities, or 

14 quarters. 

15 (ii) Capitalized and noncapitalized 

16 heavy equipment and other installed equip17 ment. 

18 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘asset’’ in19 cludes assets described in subparagraph (A) 

20 that are considered to be mission critical. 

21 (2) ASSET MANAGEMENT REPORT.—The term 

22 ‘‘Asset Management Report’’ means— 

23 (A) the annual plan prepared by the Bu24 reau of Reclamation known as the ‘‘Asset Man25 agement Plan’’; and 


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1 (B) any publicly available information re2 lating to the plan described in subparagraph 

3 (A) that summarizes the efforts of the Bureau 

4 of Reclamation to evaluate and manage infra5 structure assets of the Bureau of Reclamation. 

6 (3) MAJOR REPAIR AND REHABILITATION

7 NEED.—The term ‘‘major repair and rehabilitation 

8 need’’ means major nonrecurring maintenance at a 

9 Reclamation facility, including maintenance related 

10 to the safety of dams, extraordinary maintenance of 

11 dams, deferred major maintenance activities, and all 

12 other significant repairs and extraordinary mainte13 nance. 

14 (4) RECLAMATION FACILITY.—The term ‘‘Rec15 lamation facility’’ means each of the infrastructure 

16 assets that are owned by the Bureau of Reclamation 

17 at a Reclamation project. 

18 (5) RECLAMATION PROJECT.—The term ‘‘Rec19 lamation project’’ means a project that is owned by 

20 the Bureau of Reclamation, including all reserved 

21 works and transferred works owned by the Bureau 

22 of Reclamation. 

23 (6) RESERVED WORKS.—The term ‘‘reserved 

24 works’’ means buildings, structures, facilities, or 

25 equipment that are owned by the Bureau of RecVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:03 Jun 09, 2017 Jkt 069000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S216.RS S216

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1 lamation for which operations and maintenance are 

2 performed by employees of the Bureau of Reclama3 tion or through a contract entered into by the Bu4 reau of Reclamation, regardless of the source of 

5 funding for the operations and maintenance. 

6 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

7 the Secretary of the Interior. 

8 (8) TRANSFERRED WORKS.—The term ‘‘trans9 ferred works’’ means a Reclamation facility at which 

10 operations and maintenance of the facility is carried 

11 out by a non-Federal entity under the provisions of 

12 a formal operations and maintenance transfer con13 tract or other legal agreement with the Bureau of 

14 Reclamation. 

15 SEC. 4. ASSET MANAGEMENT REPORT ENHANCEMENTS 

16 FOR RESERVED WORKS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

19 to Congress an Asset Management Report that— 

20 (1) describes the efforts of the Bureau of Rec21 lamation— 

22 (A) to maintain in a reliable manner all re23 served works at Reclamation facilities; and 

24 (B) to standardize and streamline data re25 porting and processes across regions and areas 


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1 for the purpose of maintaining reserved works 

2 at Reclamation facilities; and 

3 (2) expands on the information otherwise pro4 vided in an Asset Management Report, in accord5 ance with subsection (b). 

6 (b) INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE NEEDS AS7 SESSMENT.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Asset Management Re9 port submitted under subsection (a) shall include— 

10 (A) a detailed assessment of major repair 

11 and rehabilitation needs for all reserved works 

12 at all Reclamation projects; and 

13 (B) to the extent practicable, an itemized 

14 list of major repair and rehabilitation needs of 

15 individual Reclamation facilities at each Rec16 lamation project. 

17 (2) INCLUSIONS.—To the extent practicable, 

18 the itemized list of major repair and rehabilitation 

19 needs under paragraph (1)(B) shall include— 

20 (A) a budget level cost estimate of the ap21 propriations needed to complete each item; and 

22 (B) an assignment of a categorical rating 

23 for each item, consistent with paragraph (3). 

24 (3) RATING REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The system for assign2 ing ratings under paragraph (2)(B) shall be— 

3 (i) consistent with existing uniform 

4 categorization systems to inform the an5 nual budget process and agency require6 ments; and 

7 (ii) subject to the guidance and in8 structions issued under subparagraph (B). 

9 (B) GUIDANCE.—As soon as practicable 

10 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec11 retary shall issue guidance that describes the 

12 applicability of the rating system applicable 

13 under paragraph (2)(B) to Reclamation facili14 ties. 

15 (4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Except as provided 

16 in paragraph (5), the Secretary shall make publicly 

17 available, including on the Internet, the Asset Man18 agement Report required under subsection (a). 

19 (5) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Secretary may ex20 clude from the public version of the Asset Manage21 ment Report made available under paragraph (4) 

22 any information that the Secretary identifies as sen23 sitive or classified, but shall make available to the 

24 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

25 Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of 


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1 the House of Representatives a version of the report 

2 containing the sensitive or classified information. 

3 (c) UPDATES.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

4 on which the Asset Management Report is submitted 

5 under subsection (a) and biennially thereafter, the Sec6 retary shall update the Asset Management Report, subject 

7 to the requirements of section 5(b)(2). 

8 (d) CONSULTATION.—To the extent that such con9 sultation would assist the Secretary in preparing the Asset 

10 Management Report under subsection (a) and updates to 

11 the Asset Management Report under subsection (c), the 

12 Secretary shall consult with— 

13 (1) the Secretary of the Army (acting through 

14 the Chief of Engineers); and 

15 (2) water and power contractors. 

16 SEC. 5. ASSET MANAGEMENT REPORT ENHANCEMENTS 

17 FOR TRANSFERRED WORKS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall coordinate 

19 with the non-Federal entities responsible for the operation 

20 and maintenance of transferred works in developing re21 porting requirements for Asset Management Reports with 

22 respect to major repair and rehabilitation needs for trans23 ferred works that are similar to the reporting require24 ments described in section 4(b). 

25 (b) GUIDANCE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—After considering input from 

2 water and power contractors of the Bureau of Rec3 lamation, the Secretary shall develop and implement 

4 a rating system for transferred works that incor5 porates, to the maximum extent practicable, the rat6 ing system for major repair and rehabilitation needs 

7 for reserved works developed under section 4(b)(3). 

8 (2) UPDATES.—The ratings system developed 

9 under paragraph (1) shall be included in the up10 dated Asset Management Reports under section 

11 4(c). 

12 SEC. 6. OFFSET. 

13 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the 

14 case of the project authorized by section 1617 of the Rec15 lamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 

16 1992 (43 U.S.C. 390h–12c), the maximum amount of the 

17 Federal share of the cost of the project under section 

18 1631(d)(1) of that Act (43 U.S.C. 390h–13(d)(1)) other19 wise available as of the date of enactment of this Act shall 

20 be reduced by $2,000,000. 


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Calendar No. 127 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 216 

[Report No. 115–97] 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to submit 

sets. of Reclamation to manage its infrastructure asto Congress a report on the efforts of the Bureau 

JUNE 8, 2017 

Reported without amendment 


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