I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2898 

To provide drought relief in the State of California, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2015 

Mr. VALADAO (for himself, Mr. MCCARTHY, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. NUNES, Mr. 

LAMALFA, Mr. DENHAM, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. JOYCE, Mr. DIAZBALART, Mr. STEWART, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. KNIGHT, Mr. COOK, Mr. 

RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mrs. MIMI WALTERS of California, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. ROYCE, Mr. ISSA, Mr. ZINKE, Mr. COSTA, 

Mr. AMODEI, Mr. HARDY, Mr. TIPTON, Mr. NEWHOUSE, and Mrs. LUMMIS) 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 

A BILL 

To provide drought relief in the State of California, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Western Water and American Food Security Act of 

6 2015’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

TITLE I—ADJUSTING DELTA SMELT MANAGEMENT BASED ON 

INCREASED REAL-TIME MONITORING AND UPDATED SCIENCE 

Sec. 101. Definitions. 

Sec. 102. Revise incidental take level calculation for delta smelt to reflect new 

science. 

Sec. 103. Factoring increased real-time monitoring and updated science into 

Delta smelt management. 

TITLE II—ENSURING SALMONID MANAGEMENT IS RESPONSIVE 

TO NEW SCIENCE 

Sec. 201. Definitions. 

Sec. 202. Process for ensuring salmonid management is responsive to new 

science. 

Sec. 203. Non-Federal program to protect native anadromous fish in the 

Stanislaus River. 

TITLE III—OPERATIONAL FLEXIBILITY AND DROUGHT RELIEF 

Sec. 301. Definitions. 

Sec. 302. Operational flexibility in times of drought. 

Sec. 303. Operation of cross-channel gates. 

Sec. 304. Flexibility for export/inflow ratio. 

Sec. 305. Emergency environmental reviews. 

Sec. 306. Increased flexibility for regular project operations. 

Sec. 307. Temporary operational flexibility for first few storms of the water 

year. 

Sec. 308. Expediting water transfers. 

Sec. 309. Additional emergency consultation. 

Sec. 310. Additional storage at New Melones. 

Sec. 311. Regarding the operation of Folsom Reservoir. 

Sec. 312. Applicants. 

Sec. 313. San Joaquin River settlement. 

Sec. 314. Program for water rescheduling. 

TITLE IV—CALFED STORAGE FEASIBILITY STUDIES 

Sec. 401. Studies. 

Sec. 402. Temperance Flat. 

Sec. 403. CALFED storage accountability. 

Sec. 404. Water storage project construction. 

TITLE V—WATER RIGHTS PROTECTIONS 

Sec. 501. Protection for State Water Project contractors. 

Sec. 502. Area of origin protections. 

Sec. 503. No redirected adverse impacts. 

Sec. 504. Allocations for Sacramento Valley contractors. 


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Sec. 505. Effect on existing obligations. 

TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS 

Sec. 601. Authorized service area. 

Sec. 602. Oversight board for Restoration Fund. 

Sec. 603. Water supply accounting. 

Sec. 604. Implementation of water replacement plan. 

Sec. 605. Natural and artificially spawned species. 

Sec. 606. Transfer the New Melones Unit, Central Valley Project to interested 

providers. 

Sec. 607. Basin studies. 

Sec. 608. Operations of the Trinity River Division. 

Sec. 609. Amendment to purposes. 

Sec. 610. Amendment to definition. 

TITLE VII—WATER SUPPLY PERMITTING ACT 

Sec. 701. Short title. 

Sec. 702. Definitions. 

Sec. 703. Establishment of lead agency and cooperating agencies. 

Sec. 704. Bureau responsibilities. 

Sec. 705. Cooperating agency responsibilities. 

Sec. 706. Funding to process permits. 

TITLE VIII—BUREAU OF RECLAMATION PROJECT STREAMLINING 

Sec. 801. Short title. 

Sec. 802. Definitions. 

Sec. 803. Acceleration of studies. 

Sec. 804. Expedited completion of reports. 

Sec. 805. Project acceleration. 

Sec. 806. Annual report to Congress. 

TITLE IX—ACCELERATED REVENUE, REPAYMENT, AND SURFACE 

WATER STORAGE ENHANCEMENT 

Sec. 901. Short title. 

Sec. 902. Prepayment of certain repayment contracts between the United 

States and contractors of federally developed water supplies. 

TITLE X—SAFETY OF DAMS 

Sec. 1001. Authorization of additional project benefits. 

TITLE XI—WATER RIGHTS PROTECTION 

Sec. 1101. Short title. 

Sec. 1102. Definition of water right. 

Sec. 1103. Treatment of water rights. 

Sec. 1104. Recognition of State authority. 

Sec. 1105. Effect of title. 

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds as follows: 


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1 (1) As established in the Proclamation of a 

2 State of Emergency issued by the Governor of the 

3 State on January 17, 2014, the State is experi4 encing record dry conditions. 

5 (2) Extremely dry conditions have persisted in 

6 the State since 2012, and the drought conditions are 

7 likely to persist into the future. 

8 (3) The water supplies of the State are at 

9 record-low levels, as indicated by the fact that all 

10 major Central Valley Project reservoir levels were at 

11 20–35 percent of capacity as of September 25, 2014. 

12 (4) The lack of precipitation has been a signifi13 cant contributing factor to the 6,091 fires experi14 enced in the State as of September 15, 2014, and 

15 which covered nearly 400,000 acres. 

16 (5) According to a study released by the Uni17 versity of California, Davis in July 2014, the 

18 drought has led to the fallowing of 428,000 acres of 

19 farmland, loss of $810 million in crop revenue, loss 

20 of $203 million in dairy and other livestock value, 

21 and increased groundwater pumping costs by $454 

22 million. The statewide economic costs are estimated 

23 to be $2.2 billion, with over 17,000 seasonal and 

24 part-time agricultural jobs lost. 


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1 (6) CVPIA Level II water deliveries to refuges 

2 have also been reduced by 25 percent in the north 

3 of Delta region, and by 35 percent in the south of 

4 Delta region. 

5 (7) Only one-sixth of the usual acres of rice 

6 fields are being flooded this fall, which leads to a 

7 significant decline in habitat for migratory birds and 

8 an increased risk of disease at the remaining wet9 lands due to overcrowding of such birds. 

10 (8) The drought of 2013 through 2014 con11 stitutes a serious emergency that poses immediate 

12 and severe risks to human life and safety and to the 

13 environment throughout the State. 

14 (9) The serious emergency described in para15 graph (4) requires— 

16 (A) immediate and credible action that re17 spects the complexity of the water system of the 

18 State and the importance of the water system 

19 to the entire State; and 

20 (B) policies that do not pit stakeholders 

21 against one another, which history shows only 

22 leads to costly litigation that benefits no one 

23 and prevents any real solutions. 

24 (10) Data on the difference between water de25 mand and reliable water supplies for various regions 


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1 of California south of the Delta, including the San 

2 Joaquin Valley, indicate there is a significant annual 

3 gap between reliable water supplies to meet agricul4 tural, municipal and industrial, groundwater, and 

5 refuges water needs within the Delta Division, San 

6 Luis Unit and Friant Division of the Central Valley 

7 Project and the State Water Project south of the 

8 Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and the de9 mands of those areas. This gap varies depending on 

10 the methodology of the analysis performed, but can 

11 be represented in the following ways: 

12 (A) For Central Valley Project South-of13 Delta water service contractors, if it is assumed 

14 that a water supply deficit is the difference in 

15 the amount of water available for allocation 

16 versus the maximum contract quantity, then the 

17 water supply deficits that have developed from 

18 1992 to 2014 as a result of legislative and reg19 ulatory changes besides natural variations in 

20 hydrology during this timeframe range between 

21 720,000 and 1,100,000 acre-feet. 

22 (B) For Central Valley Project and State 

23 Water Project water service contractors south 

24 of the Delta and north of the Tehachapi moun25 tain range, if it is assumed that a water supply 


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1 deficit is the difference between reliable water 

2 supplies, including maximum water contract de3 liveries, safe yield of groundwater, safe yield of 

4 local and surface supplies and long-term con5 tracted water transfers, and water demands, in6 cluding water demands from agriculture, munic7 ipal and industrial and refuge contractors, then 

8 the water supply deficit ranges between ap9 proximately 2,500,000 to 2,700,000 acre-feet. 

10 (11) Data of pumping activities at the Central 

11 Valley Project and State Water Project delta pumps 

12 identifies that, on average from Water Year 2009 to 

13 Water Year 2014, take of Delta smelt is 80 percent 

14 less than allowable take levels under the biological 

15 opinion issued December 15, 2008. 

16 (12) Data of field sampling activities of the 

17 Interagency Ecological Program located in the Sac18 ramento-San Joaquin Estuary identifies that, on av19 erage from 2005 to 2013, the program ‘‘takes’’ 

20 3,500 delta smelt during annual surveys with an au21 thorized ‘‘take’’ level of 33,480 delta smelt annu22 ally—according to the biological opinion issued De23 cember 9, 1997. 

24 (13) In 2015, better information exists than 

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1 ations that may or may not lead to high salvage 

2 events that jeopardize the fish populations, and what 

3 alternative management actions can be taken to 

4 avoid jeopardy. 

5 (14) Alternative management strategies, remov6 ing non-native species, enhancing habitat, moni7 toring fish movement and location in real-time, and 

8 improving water quality in the Delta can contribute 

9 significantly to protecting and recovering these en10 dangered fish species, and at potentially lower costs 

11 to water supplies. 

12 (15) Resolution of fundamental policy questions 

13 concerning the extent to which application of the 

14 Endangered Species Act of 1973 affects the oper15 ation of the Central Valley Project and State Water 

16 Project is the responsibility of Congress. 

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this Act: 

19 (1) DELTA.—The term ‘‘Delta’’ means the Sac20 ramento-San Joaquin Delta and the Suisun Marsh, 

21 as defined in sections 12220 and 29101 of the Cali22 fornia Public Resources Code. 

23 (2) EXPORT PUMPING RATES.—The term ‘‘ex24 port pumping rates’’ means the rates of pumping at 


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1 the C.W. ‘‘Bill’’ Jones Pumping Plant and the Har2 vey O. Banks Pumping Plant, in the southern Delta. 

3 (3) LISTED FISH SPECIES.—The term ‘‘listed 

4 fish species’’ means listed salmonid species and the 

5 Delta smelt. 

6 (4) LISTED SALMONID SPECIES.—The term 

7 ‘‘listed salmonid species’’ means natural origin 

8 steelhead, natural origin genetic spring run Chinook, 

9 and genetic winter run Chinook salmon including 

10 hatchery steelhead or salmon populations within the 

11 evolutionary significant unit (ESU) or distinct popu12 lation segment (DPS). 

13 (5) NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE LONG-TERM

14 SURVIVAL.—The term ‘‘negative impact on the long15 term survival’’ means to reduce appreciably the like16 lihood of the survival of a listed species in the wild 

17 by reducing the reproduction, numbers, or distribu18 tion of that species. 

19 (6) OMR.—The term ‘‘OMR’’ means the Old 

20 and Middle River in the Delta. 

21 (7) OMR FLOW OF ¥5,000 CUBIC FEET PER

22 SECOND.—The term ‘‘OMR flow of ¥5,000 cubic 

23 feet per second’’ means Old and Middle River flow 

24 of negative 5,000 cubic feet per second as described 

25 in— 


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1 (A) the smelt biological opinion; and 

2 (B) the salmonid biological opinion. 

3 (8) SALMONID BIOLOGICAL OPINION.—The 

4 term ‘‘salmonid biological opinion’’ means the bio5 logical opinion issued by the National Marine Fish6 eries Service on June 4, 2009. 

7 (9) SMELT BIOLOGICAL OPINION.—The term 

8 ‘‘smelt biological opinion’’ means the biological opin9 ion on the Long-Term Operational Criteria and Plan 

10 for coordination of the Central Valley Project and 

11 State Water Project issued by the United States 

12 Fish and Wildlife Service on December 15, 2008. 

13 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the 

14 State of California. 

15 TITLE I—ADJUSTING DELTA 

16 SMELT MANAGEMENT BASED 

17 ON INCREASED REAL-TIME 

18 MONITORING AND UPDATED 

19 SCIENCE 

20 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this title: 

22 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

23 the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife 

24 Service. 


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1 (2) DELTA SMELT.—The term ‘‘Delta smelt’’ 

2 means the fish species with the scientific name 

3 Hypomesus transpacificus. 

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

5 the Secretary of the Interior. 

6 (4) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis7 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of the Bureau of 

8 Reclamation. 

9 SEC. 102. REVISE INCIDENTAL TAKE LEVEL CALCULATION 

10 FOR DELTA SMELT TO REFLECT NEW 

11 SCIENCE. 

12 (a) REVIEW AND MODIFICATION.—Not later than 

13 October 1, 2016, and at least every five years thereafter, 

14 the Director, in cooperation with other Federal, State, and 

15 local agencies, shall use the best scientific and commercial 

16 data available to complete a review and, modify the meth17 od used to calculate the incidental take levels for adult 

18 and larval/juvenile Delta smelt in the smelt biological opin19 ion that takes into account all life stages, among other 

20 considerations— 

21 (1) salvage information collected since at least 

22 1993; 

23 (2) updated or more recently developed statis24 tical models; 

25 (3) updated scientific and commercial data; and 


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1 (4) the most recent information regarding the 

2 environmental factors affecting Delta smelt salvage. 

3 (b) MODIFIED INCIDENTAL TAKE LEVEL.—Unless 

4 the Director determines in writing that one or more of 

5 the requirements described in paragraphs (1) through (4) 

6 are not appropriate, the modified incidental take level de7 scribed in subsection (a) shall— 

8 (1) be normalized for the abundance of 

9 prespawning adult Delta smelt using the Fall 

10 Midwater Trawl Index or other index; 

11 (2) be based on a simulation of the salvage that 

12 would have occurred from 1993 through 2012 if 

13 OMR flow has been consistent with the smelt bio14 logical opinions; 

15 (3) base the simulation on a correlation between 

16 annual salvage rates and historic water clarity and 

17 OMR flow during the adult salvage period; and 

18 (4) set the incidental take level as the 80 per19 cent upper prediction interval derived from simu20 lated salvage rates since at least 1993. 

21 SEC. 103. FACTORING INCREASED REAL-TIME MONITORING 

22 AND UPDATED SCIENCE INTO DELTA SMELT 

23 MANAGEMENT. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall use the best 

25 scientific and commercial data available to implement, 


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1 continuously evaluate, and refine or amend, as appro2 priate, the reasonable and prudent alternative described 

3 in the smelt biological opinion, and any successor opinions 

4 or court order. The Secretary shall make all significant 

5 decisions under the smelt biological opinion, or any suc6 cessor opinions that affect Central Valley Project and 

7 State Water Project operations, in writing, and shall docu8 ment the significant facts upon which such decisions are 

9 made, consistent with section 706 of title 5, United States 

10 Code. 

11 (b) INCREASED MONITORING TO INFORM REAL12 TIME OPERATIONS.—The Secretary shall conduct addi13 tional surveys, on an annual basis at the appropriate time 

14 of the year based on environmental conditions, in collabo15 ration with other Delta science interests. 

16 (1) In implementing this section, the Secretary 

17 shall— 

18 (A) use the most accurate survey methods 

19 available for the detection of Delta smelt to de20 termine the extent that adult Delta smelt are 

21 distributed in relation to certain levels of tur22 bidity, or other environmental factors that may 

23 influence salvage rate; and 

24 (B) use results from appropriate survey 

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1 termine how the Central Valley Project and 

2 State Water Project may be operated more effi3 ciently to minimize salvage while maximizing 

4 export pumping rates without causing a signifi5 cant negative impact on the long-term survival 

6 of the Delta smelt. 

7 (2) During the period beginning on December 

8 1, 2015, and ending March 31, 2016, and in each 

9 successive December through March period, if sus10 pended sediment loads enter the Delta from the Sac11 ramento River and the suspended sediment loads ap12 pear likely to raise turbidity levels in the Old River 

13 north of the export pumps from values below 12 

14 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTU) to values 

15 above 12 NTU, the Secretary shall— 

16 (A) conduct daily monitoring using appro17 priate survey methods at locations including, 

18 but not limited to, the vicinity of Station 902 

19 to determine the extent that adult Delta smelt 

20 are moving with turbidity toward the export 

21 pumps; and 

22 (B) use results from the monitoring sur23 veys referenced in paragraph (A) to determine 

24 how increased trawling can inform daily real25 time Central Valley Project and State Water 


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1 Project operations to minimize salvage while 

2 maximizing export pumping rates without caus3 ing a significant negative impact on the long4 term survival of the Delta smelt. 

5 (c) PERIODIC REVIEW OF MONITORING.—Within 12 

6 months of the date of enactment of this title, and at least 

7 once every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary shall— 

8 (1) evaluate whether the monitoring program 

9 under subsection (b), combined with other moni10 toring programs for the Delta, is providing sufficient 

11 data to inform Central Valley Project and State 

12 Water Project operations to minimize salvage while 

13 maximizing export pumping rates without causing a 

14 significant negative impact on the long-term survival 

15 of the Delta smelt; and 

16 (2) determine whether the monitoring efforts 

17 should be changed in the short or long term to pro18 vide more useful data. 

19 (d) DELTA SMELT DISTRIBUTION STUDY.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—No later than January 1, 

21 2016, and at least every five years thereafter, the 

22 Secretary, in collaboration with the California De23 partment of Fish and Wildlife, the California De24 partment of Water Resources, public water agencies, 

25 and other interested entities, shall implement new 


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1 targeted sampling and monitoring specifically de2 signed to understand Delta smelt abundance, dis3 tribution, and the types of habitat occupied by Delta 

4 smelt during all life stages. 

5 (2) SAMPLING.—The Delta smelt distribution 

6 study shall, at a minimum— 

7 (A) include recording water quality and 

8 tidal data; 

9 (B) be designed to understand Delta smelt 

10 abundance, distribution, habitat use, and move11 ment throughout the Delta, Suisun Marsh, and 

12 other areas occupied by the Delta smelt during 

13 all seasons; 

14 (C) consider areas not routinely sampled 

15 by existing monitoring programs, including wet16 land channels, near-shore water, depths below 

17 35 feet, and shallow water; and 

18 (D) use survey methods, including sam19 pling gear, best suited to collect the most accu20 rate data for the type of sampling or moni21 toring. 

22 (e) SCIENTIFICALLY SUPPORTED IMPLEMENTATION

23 OF OLD AND MIDDLE RIVER FLOW REQUIREMENTS.—In 

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1 taining to management of reverse flow in the Old and Mid2 dle River, the Secretary shall— 

3 (1) consider the relevant provisions of the bio4 logical opinion or any successor biological opinion; 

5 (2) to maximize Central Valley project and 

6 State Water Project water supplies, manage export 

7 pumping rates to achieve a reverse flow rate in Old 

8 and Middle River of ¥5,000 cubic feet per second 

9 unless information developed by the Secretary under 

10 paragraphs (3) and (4) leads the Secretary to rea11 sonably conclude that a less negative OMR flow rate 

12 is necessary to avoid a negative impact on the long13 term survival of the Delta smelt. If information 

14 available to the Secretary indicates that a reverse 

15 flow rate in Old and Middle River more negative 

16 than ¥5,000 cubic feet per second can be estab17 lished without an imminent negative impact on the 

18 long-term survival of the Delta smelt, the Secretary 

19 shall manage export pumping rates to achieve that 

20 more negative OMR flow rate; 

21 (3) document in writing any significant facts 

22 about real-time conditions relevant to the determina23 tions of OMR reverse flow rates, including— 

24 (A) whether targeted real-time fish moni25 toring in the Old River pursuant to this section, 


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1 including monitoring in the vicinity of Station 

2 902, indicates that a significant negative impact 

3 on the long-term survival of the Delta smelt is 

4 imminent; and 

5 (B) whether near-term forecasts with avail6 able salvage models show under prevailing con7 ditions that OMR flow of ¥5,000 cubic feet per 

8 second or higher will cause a significant nega9 tive impact on the long-term survival of the 

10 Delta smelt; 

11 (4) show in writing that any determination to 

12 manage OMR reverse flow at rates less negative 

13 than ¥5,000 cubic feet per second is necessary to 

14 avoid a significant negative impact on the long-term 

15 survival of the Delta smelt, including an explanation 

16 of the data examined and the connection between 

17 those data and the choice made, after considering— 

18 (A) the distribution of Delta smelt 

19 throughout the Delta; 

20 (B) the potential effects of documented, 

21 quantified entrainment on subsequent Delta 

22 smelt abundance; 

23 (C) the water temperature; 

24 (D) other significant factors relevant to 

25 the determination; and 


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1 (E) whether any alternative measures 

2 could have a substantially lesser water supply 

3 impact; and 

4 (5) for any subsequent biological opinion, make 

5 the showing required in paragraph (4) for any deter6 mination to manage OMR reverse flow at rates less 

7 negative than the most negative limit in the biologi8 cal opinion if the most negative limit in the biologi9 cal opinion is more negative than ¥5,000 cubic feet 

10 per second. 

11 (f) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—No later 

12 than December 1, 2015, the Commissioner and the Direc13 tor will execute a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) 

14 to ensure that the smelt biological opinion is implemented 

15 in a manner that maximizes water supply while complying 

16 with applicable laws and regulations. If that MOU alters 

17 any procedures set out in the biological opinion, there will 

18 be no need to reinitiate consultation if those changes will 

19 not have a significant negative impact on the long-term 

20 survival on listed species and the implementation of the 

21 MOU would not be a major change to implementation of 

22 the biological opinion. Any change to procedures that does 

23 not create a significant negative impact on the long-term 

24 survival to listed species will not alter application of the 

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1 logical opinion under section 7(o)(2) of the Endangered 

2 Species Act of 1973. 

3 (g) CALCULATION OF REVERSE FLOW IN OMR.— 

4 Within 90 days of the enactment of this title, the Sec5 retary is directed, in consultation with the California De6 partment of Water Resources to revise the method used 

7 to calculate reverse flow in Old and Middle River for im8 plementation of the reasonable and prudent alternatives 

9 in the smelt biological opinion and the salmonid biological 

10 opinion, and any succeeding biological opinions, for the 

11 purpose of increasing Central Valley Project and State 

12 Water Project water supplies. The method of calculating 

13 reverse flow in Old and Middle River shall be reevaluated 

14 not less than every five years thereafter to achieve max15 imum export pumping rates within limits established by 

16 the smelt biological opinion, the salmonid biological opin17 ion, and any succeeding biological opinions. 

18 TITLE II—ENSURING SALMONID 

19 MANAGEMENT IS RESPON20 SIVE TO NEW SCIENCE 

21 SEC. 201. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this title: 

23 (1) ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR.—The term 

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1 ministrator of National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

2 Administration for Fisheries. 

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

4 the Secretary of Commerce. 

5 (3) OTHER AFFECTED INTERESTS.—The term 

6 ‘‘other affected interests’’ means the State of Cali7 fornia, Indian tribes, subdivisions of the State of 

8 California, public water agencies and those who ben9 efit directly and indirectly from the operations of the 

10 Central Valley Project and the State Water Project. 

11 (4) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis12 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of the Bureau of 

13 Reclamation. 

14 (5) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

15 the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife 

16 Service. 

17 SEC. 202. PROCESS FOR ENSURING SALMONID MANAGE18 MENT IS RESPONSIVE TO NEW SCIENCE. 

19 (a) GENERAL DIRECTIVE.—The reasonable and pru20 dent alternative described in the salmonid biological opin21 ion allows for and anticipates adjustments in Central Val22 ley Project and State Water Project operation parameters 

23 to reflect the best scientific and commercial data currently 

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1 latory requirements and maximize Central Valley Project 

2 and State Water Project water supplies and reliability. 

3 Implementation of the reasonable and prudent alternative 

4 described in the salmonid biological opinion shall be ad5 justed accordingly as new scientific and commercial data 

6 are developed. The Commissioner and the Assistant Ad7 ministrator shall fully utilize these authorities as described 

8 below. 

9 (b) ANNUAL REVIEWS OF CERTAIN CENTRAL VAL10 LEY PROJECT AND STATE WATER PROJECT OPER11 ATIONS.—No later than December 31, 2016, and at least 

12 annually thereafter: 

13 (1) The Commissioner, with the assistance of 

14 the Assistant Administrator, shall examine and iden15 tify adjustments to the initiation of Action IV.2.3 as 

16 set forth in the Biological Opinion and Conference 

17 Opinion on the Long-Term Operations of the Cen18 tral Valley Project and State Water Project, Endan19 gered Species Act Section 7 Consultation, issued by 

20 the National Marine Fisheries Service on June 4, 

21 2009, pertaining to negative OMR flows, subject to 

22 paragraph (5). 

23 (2) The Commissioner, with the assistance of 

24 the Assistant Administrator, shall examine and iden25 tify adjustments in the timing, triggers or other 


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1 operational details relating to the implementation of 

2 pumping restrictions in Action IV.2.1 pertaining to 

3 the inflow to export ratio, subject to paragraph (5). 

4 (3) Pursuant to the consultation and assess5 ments carried out under paragraphs (1) and (2) of 

6 this subsection, the Commissioner and the Assistant 

7 Administrator shall jointly make recommendations 

8 to the Secretary of the Interior and to the Secretary 

9 of Commerce on adjustments to project operations 

10 that, in the exercise of the adaptive management 

11 provisions of the salmonid biological opinion, will re12 duce water supply impacts of the salmonid biological 

13 opinion on the Central Valley Project and the Cali14 fornia State Water Project and are consistent with 

15 the requirements of applicable law and as further 

16 described in subsection (c). 

17 (4) The Secretary of Commerce and the Sec18 retary of the Interior shall direct the Commissioner 

19 and Assistant Administrator to implement rec20 ommended adjustments to Central Valley Project 

21 and State Water Project operations for which the 

22 conditions under subsection (c) are met. 

23 (5) The Assistant Administrator and the Com24 missioner shall review and identify adjustments to 

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1 erations with water supply restrictions in any suc2 cessor biological opinion to the salmonid biological 

3 opinion, applying the provisions of this section to 

4 those water supply restrictions where there are ref5 erences to Actions IV.2.1 and IV.2.3. 

6 (c) IMPLEMENTATION OF OPERATIONAL ADJUST7 MENTS.—After reviewing the recommendations under sub8 section (b), the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 

9 of Commerce shall direct the Commissioner and the As10 sistant Administrator to implement those operational ad11 justments, or any combination, for which, in aggregate— 

12 (1) the net effect on listed species is equivalent 

13 to those of the underlying project operational param14 eters in the salmonid biological opinion, taking into 

15 account both— 

16 (A) efforts to minimize the adverse effects 

17 of the adjustment to project operations; and 

18 (B) whatever additional actions or meas19 ures may be implemented in conjunction with 

20 the adjustments to operations to offset the ad21 verse effects to listed species, consistent with 

22 (d), that are in excess of the adverse effects of 

23 the underlying operational parameters, if any; 

24 and 


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1 (2) the effects of the adjustment can be reason2 ably expected to fall within the incidental take au3 thorizations. 

4 (d) EVALUATION OF OFFSETTING MEASURES.— 

5 When examining and identifying opportunities to offset 

6 the potential adverse effect of adjustments to operations 

7 under subsection (c)(1)(B), the Commissioner and the As8 sistant Administrator shall take into account the potential 

9 species survival improvements that are likely to result 

10 from other measures which, if implemented in conjunction 

11 with such adjustments, would offset adverse effects, if any, 

12 of the adjustments. When evaluating offsetting measures, 

13 the Commissioner and the Assistant Administrator shall 

14 consider the type, timing and nature of the adverse effects, 

15 if any, to specific species and ensure that the measures 

16 likely provide equivalent overall benefits to the listed spe17 cies in the aggregate, as long as the change will not cause 

18 a significant negative impact on the long-term survival of 

19 a listed salmonid species. 

20 (e) FRAMEWORK FOR EXAMINING OPPORTUNITIES

21 TO MINIMIZE OR OFFSET THE POTENTIAL ADVERSE EF22 FECT OF ADJUSTMENTS TO OPERATIONS.—Not later than 

23 December 31, 2015, and every five years thereafter, the 

24 Assistant Administrator shall, in collaboration with the 

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1 life, based on the best scientific and commercial data avail2 able and for each listed salmonid species, issue estimates 

3 of the increase in through-Delta survival the Secretary ex4 pects to be achieved— 

5 (1) through restrictions on export pumping 

6 rates as specified by Action IV.2.3 as compared to 

7 limiting OMR flow to a fixed rate of ¥5,000 cubic 

8 feet per second within the time period Action IV.2.3 

9 is applicable, based on a given rate of San Joaquin 

10 River inflow to the Delta and holding other relevant 

11 factors constant; 

12 (2) through San Joaquin River inflow to export 

13 restrictions on export pumping rates specified within 

14 Action IV.2.1 as compared to the restrictions in the 

15 April/May period imposed by the State Water Re16 sources Control Board decision D–1641, based on a 

17 given rate of San Joaquin River inflow to the Delta 

18 and holding other relevant factors constant; 

19 (3) through physical habitat restoration im20 provements; 

21 (4) through predation control programs; 

22 (5) through the installation of temporary bar23 riers, the management of Cross Channel Gates oper24 ations, and other projects affecting flow in the 

25 Delta; 


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1 (6) through salvaging fish that have been en2 trained near the entrance to Clifton Court Forebay; 

3 (7) through any other management measures 

4 that may provide equivalent or better protections for 

5 listed species while maximizing export pumping rates 

6 without causing a significant negative impact on the 

7 long-term survival of a listed salmonid species; and 

8 (8) through development and implementation of 

9 conservation hatchery programs for salmon and 

10 steelhead to aid in the recovery of listed salmon and 

11 steelhead species. 

12 (f) SURVIVAL ESTIMATES.— 

13 (1) To the maximum extent practicable, the As14 sistant Administrator shall make quantitative esti15 mates of survival such as a range of percentage in16 creases in through-Delta survival that could result 

17 from the management measures, and if the scientific 

18 information is lacking for quantitative estimates, 

19 shall do so on qualitative terms based upon the best 

20 available science. 

21 (2) If the Assistant Administrator provides 

22 qualitative survival estimates for a species resulting 

23 from one or more management measures, the Sec24 retary shall, to the maximum extent feasible, rank 

25 the management measures described in subsection 


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1 (e) in terms of their most likely expected contribu2 tion to increased through-Delta survival relative to 

3 the other measures. 

4 (3) If at the time the Assistant Administrator 

5 conducts the reviews under subsection (b), the Sec6 retary has not issued an estimate of increased 

7 through-Delta survival from different management 

8 measures pursuant to subsection (e), the Secretary 

9 shall compare the protections to the species from 

10 different management measures based on the best 

11 scientific and commercial data available at the time. 

12 (g) COMPARISON OF ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES FOR

13 ALTERNATIVE MANAGEMENT MEASURES OF EQUIVALENT

14 PROTECTION FOR A SPECIES.— 

15 (1) For the purposes of this subsection and 

16 subsection (c)— 

17 (A) the alternative management measure 

18 or combination of alternative management 

19 measures identified in paragraph (2) shall be 

20 known as the ‘‘equivalent alternative measure’’; 

21 (B) the existing measure or measures iden22 tified in subparagraphs (2) (A), (B), (C), or 

23 (D) shall be known as the ‘‘equivalent existing 

24 measure’’; and 


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1 (C) an ‘‘equivalent increase in through2 Delta survival rates for listed salmonid species’’ 

3 shall mean an increase in through-Delta sur4 vival rates that is equivalent when considering 

5 the change in through-Delta survival rates for 

6 the listed salmonid species in the aggregate, 

7 and not the same change for each individual 

8 species, as long as the change in survival rates 

9 will not cause a significant negative impact on 

10 the long-term survival of a listed salmonid spe11 cies. 

12 (2) As part of the reviews of project operations 

13 pursuant to subsection (b), the Assistant Adminis14 trator shall determine whether any alternative man15 agement measures or combination of alternative 

16 management measures listed in subsection (e) (3) 

17 through (8) would provide an increase in through18 Delta survival rates for listed salmonid species that 

19 is equivalent to the increase in through-Delta sur20 vival rates for listed salmonid species from the fol21 lowing: 

22 (A) Through restrictions on export pump23 ing rates as specified by Action IV.2.3, as com24 pared to limiting OMR flow to a fixed rate of 


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1 ¥5,000 cubic feet per second within the time 

2 period Action IV.2.3 is applicable. 

3 (B) Through restrictions on export pump4 ing rates as specified by Action IV.2.3, as com5 pared to a modification of Action IV.2.3 that 

6 would provide additional water supplies, other 

7 than that described in subparagraph (A). 

8 (C) Through San Joaquin River inflow to 

9 export restrictions on export pumping rates 

10 specified within Action IV.2.1, as compared to 

11 the restrictions in the April/May period imposed 

12 by the State Water Resources Control Board 

13 decision D–1641. 

14 (D) Through San Joaquin River inflow to 

15 export restrictions on export pumping rates 

16 specified within Action IV.2.1, as compared to 

17 a modification of Action IV.2.1 that would re18 duce water supply impacts of the salmonid bio19 logical opinion on the Central Valley Project 

20 and the California State Water Project, other 

21 than that described in subparagraph (C). 

22 (3) If the Assistant Administrator identifies an 

23 equivalent alternative measure pursuant to para24 graph (2), the Assistant Administrator shall deter25 mine whether— 


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1 (A) it is technically feasible and within 

2 Federal jurisdiction to implement the equivalent 

3 alternative measure; 

4 (B) the State of California, or subdivision 

5 thereof, or local agency with jurisdiction has 

6 certified in writing within 10 calendar days to 

7 the Assistant Administrator that it has the au8 thority and capability to implement the perti9 nent equivalent alternative measure; or 

10 (C) the adverse consequences of doing so 

11 are less than the adverse consequences of the 

12 equivalent existing measure, including a concise 

13 evaluation of the adverse consequences to other 

14 affected interests. 

15 (4) If the Assistant Administrator makes the 

16 determinations in subparagraph (3)(A) or (3)(B), 

17 the Commissioner shall adjust project operations to 

18 implement the equivalent alternative measure in 

19 place of the equivalent existing measure in order to 

20 increase export rates of pumping to the greatest ex21 tent possible while maintaining a net combined effect 

22 of equivalent through-Delta survival rates for the 

23 listed salmonid species. 

24 (h) TRACKING ADVERSE EFFECTS BEYOND THE

25 RANGE OF EFFECTS ACCOUNTED FOR IN THE SALMONID


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1 BIOLOGICAL OPINION AND COORDINATED OPERATION

2 WITH THE DELTA SMELT BIOLOGICAL OPINION.— 

3 (1) Among the adjustments to the project oper4 ations considered through the adaptive management 

5 process under this section, the Assistant Adminis6 trator and the Commissioner shall— 

7 (A) evaluate the effects on listed salmonid 

8 species and water supply of the potential ad9 justment to operational criteria described in 

10 subparagraph (B); and 

11 (B) consider requiring that before some or 

12 all of the provisions of Actions IV.2.1. or IV.2.3 

13 are imposed in any specific instance, the Assist14 ant Administrator show that the implementa15 tion of these provisions in that specific instance 

16 is necessary to avoid a significant negative im17 pact on the long-term survival of a listed 

18 salmonid species. 

19 (2) The Assistant Administrator, the Director, 

20 and the Commissioner, in coordination with State of21 ficials as appropriate, shall establish operational cri22 teria to coordinate management of OMR flows under 

23 the smelt and salmonid biological opinions, in order 

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1 tional water supplies from the coordinated imple2 mentation of the biological opinions. 

3 (3) The Assistant Administrator and the Com4 missioner shall document the effects of any adaptive 

5 management decisions related to the coordinated op6 eration of the smelt and salmonid biological opinions 

7 that prioritizes the maintenance of one species at the 

8 expense of the other. 

9 (i) REAL-TIME MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT.— 

10 Notwithstanding the calendar based triggers described in 

11 the salmonid biological opinion Reasonable and Prudent 

12 Alternative (RPA), the Assistant Administrator and the 

13 Commissioner shall not limit OMR reverse flow to ¥5,000 

14 cubic feet per second unless current monitoring data indi15 cate that this OMR flow limitation is reasonably required 

16 to avoid a significant negative impact on the long-term 

17 survival of a listed salmonid species. 

18 (j) EVALUATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF MANAGE19 MENT MEASURES.—If the quantitative estimates of 

20 through-Delta survival established by the Secretary for the 

21 adjustments in subsection (b)(2) exceed the through-Delta 

22 survival established for the RPAs, the Secretary shall 

23 evaluate and implement the management measures in sub24 section (b)(2) as a prerequisite to implementing the RPAs 

25 contained in the Salmonid Biological Opinion. 


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1 (k) ACCORDANCE WITH OTHER LAW.—Consistent 

2 with section 706 of title 5, United States Code, decisions 

3 of the Assistant Administrator and the Commissioner de4 scribed in subsections (b) through (j) shall be made in 

5 writing, on the basis of best scientific and commercial data 

6 currently available, and shall include an explanation of the 

7 data examined at the connection between those data and 

8 the decisions made. 

9 SEC. 203. NON-FEDERAL PROGRAM TO PROTECT NATIVE 

10 ANADROMOUS FISH IN THE STANISLAUS 

11 RIVER. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF NONNATIVE PREDATOR

13 FISH REMOVAL PROGRAM.—The Secretary and the dis14 tricts, in consultation with the Director, shall jointly de15 velop and conduct a nonnative predator fish removal pro16 gram to remove nonnative striped bass, smallmouth bass, 

17 largemouth bass, black bass, and other nonnative predator 

18 fish species from the Stanislaus River. The program 

19 shall— 

20 (1) be scientifically based; 

21 (2) include methods to quantify the number and 

22 size of predator fish removed each year, the impact 

23 of such removal on the overall abundance of pred24 ator fish, and the impact of such removal on the 

25 populations of juvenile anadromous fish found in the 


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1 Stanislaus River by, among other things, evaluating 

2 the number of juvenile anadromous fish that migrate 

3 past the rotary screw trap located at Caswell; 

4 (3) among other methods, use wire fyke trap5 ping, portable resistance board weirs, and boat 

6 electrofishing; and 

7 (4) be implemented as quickly as possible fol8 lowing the issuance of all necessary scientific re9 search. 

10 (b) MANAGEMENT.—The management of the pro11 gram shall be the joint responsibility of the Secretary and 

12 the districts. Such parties shall work collaboratively to en13 sure the performance of the program, and shall discuss 

14 and agree upon, among other things, changes in the struc15 ture, management, personnel, techniques, strategy, data 

16 collection, reporting, and conduct of the program. 

17 (c) CONDUCT.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—By agreement between the 

19 Secretary and the districts, the program may be con20 ducted by their own personnel, qualified private con21 tractors hired by the districts, personnel of, on loan 

22 to, or otherwise assigned to the National Marine 

23 Fisheries Service, or a combination thereof. 

24 (2) PARTICIPATION BY THE NATIONAL MARINE

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1 duct the program using their own personnel or quali2 fied private contractors hired by them in accordance 

3 with paragraph (1), the Secretary may assign an 

4 employee of, on loan to, or otherwise assigned to the 

5 National Marine Fisheries Service, to be present for 

6 all activities performed in the field. Such presence 

7 shall ensure compliance with the agreed-upon ele8 ments specified in subsection (b). The districts shall 

9 pay the cost of such participation in accordance with 

10 subsection (d). 

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

12 notify the Secretary of their election on or before 

13 October 15 of each calendar year of the program. 

14 Such an election shall apply to the work performed 

15 in the subsequent calendar year. 

16 (d) FUNDING.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The districts shall be re18 sponsible for 100 percent of the cost of the program. 

19 (2) CONTRIBUTED FUNDS.—The Secretary may 

20 accept and use contributions of funds from the dis21 tricts to carry out activities under the program. 

22 (3) ESTIMATION OF COST.—On or before De23 cember 1 of each year of the program, the Secretary 

24 shall submit to the districts an estimate of the cost 

25 to be incurred by the National Marine Fisheries 


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1 Service for the program in the following calendar 

2 year, if any, including the cost of any data collection 

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

4 equal to the estimate is not provided through con5 tributions pursuant to paragraph (2) before Decem6 ber 31 of that year— 

7 (A) the Secretary shall have no obligation 

8 to conduct the program activities otherwise 

9 scheduled for such following calendar year until 

10 such amount is contributed by the districts; and 

11 (B) the districts may not conduct any as12 pect of the program until such amount is con13 tributed by the districts. 

14 (4) ACCOUNTING.—On or before September 1 

15 of each year, the Secretary shall provide to the dis16 tricts an accounting of the costs incurred by the Sec17 retary for the program in the preceding calendar 

18 year. If the amount contributed by the districts pur19 suant to paragraph (2) for that year was greater 

20 than the costs incurred by the Secretary, the Sec21 retary shall— 

22 (A) apply the excess contributions to costs 

23 of activities to be performed by the Secretary 

24 under the program, if any, in the next calendar 

25 year; or 


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1 (B) if no such activities are to be per2 formed, repay the excess contribution to the 

3 districts. 

4 (e) POSTING AND EVALUATION.—On or before the 

5 15th day of each month, the Secretary shall post on the 

6 Internet website of the National Marine Fisheries Service 

7 a tabular summary of the raw data collected under the 

8 program in the preceding month. 

9 (f) IMPLEMENTATION.—The program is hereby found 

10 to be consistent with the requirements of the Central Val11 ley Project Improvement Act (Public Law 102–575). No 

12 provision, plan or definition established or required by the 

13 Central Valley Project Improvement Act (Public Law 

14 102–575) shall be used to prohibit the imposition of the 

15 program, or to prevent the accomplishment of its goals. 

16 (g) TREATMENT OF STRIPED BASS.—For purposes 

17 of the application of the Central Valley Project Improve18 ment Act (title XXXIV of Public Law 102–575) with re19 spect to the program, striped bass shall not be treated as 

20 anadromous fish. 

21 (h) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of this section, 

22 the term ‘‘districts’’ means the Oakdale Irrigation District 

23 and the South San Joaquin Irrigation District, California. 


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1 TITLE III—OPERATIONAL FLEXI2 BILITY AND DROUGHT RE3 LIEF 

4 SEC. 301. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this title: 

6 (1) CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT.—The term 

7 ‘‘Central Valley Project’’ has the meaning given the 

8 term in section 3403 of the Central Valley Project 

9 Improvement Act (Public Law 102–575; 106 Stat. 

10 4707). 

11 (2) RECLAMATION PROJECT.—The term ‘‘Rec12 lamation Project’’ means a project constructed pur13 suant to the authorities of the reclamation laws and 

14 whose facilities are wholly or partially located in the 

15 State. 

16 (3) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

17 means— 

18 (A) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

19 (B) the Secretary of Commerce; and 

20 (C) the Secretary of the Interior. 

21 (4) STATE WATER PROJECT.—The term ‘‘State 

22 Water Project’’ means the water project described 

23 by California Water Code section 11550 et seq. and 

24 operated by the California Department of Water Re25 sources. 


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1 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

2 of California. 

3 SEC. 302. OPERATIONAL FLEXIBILITY IN TIMES OF 

4 DROUGHT. 

5 (a) WATER SUPPLIES.—For the period of time such 

6 that in any year that the Sacramento Valley Index is 6.5 

7 or lower, or at the request of the State of California, and 

8 until two succeeding years following either of those events 

9 have been completed where the final Sacramento Valley 

10 Index is 7.8 or greater, the Secretaries shall provide the 

11 maximum quantity of water supplies practicable to all in12 dividuals or district who receive Central Valley Project 

13 water under water service or repayments contracts, water 

14 rights settlement contracts, exchange contracts, or refuge 

15 contracts or agreements entered into prior to or after the 

16 date of enactment of this title; State Water Project con17 tractors, and any other tribe, locality, water agency, or 

18 municipality in the State, by approving, consistent with 

19 applicable laws (including regulations), projects and oper20 ations to provide additional water supplies as quickly as 

21 practicable based on available information to address the 

22 emergency conditions. 

23 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out subsection 

24 (a), the Secretaries shall, consistent with applicable laws 

25 (including regulations)— 


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1 (1) issue all necessary permit decisions under 

2 the authority of the Secretaries not later than 30 

3 days after the date on which the Secretaries receive 

4 a completed application from the State to place and 

5 use temporary barriers or operable gates in Delta 

6 channels to improve water quantity and quality for 

7 the State Water Project and the Central Valley 

8 Project south of Delta water contractors and other 

9 water users, on the condition that the barriers or op10 erable gates— 

11 (A) do not result in a significant negative 

12 impact on the long-term survival of listed spe13 cies within the Delta and provide benefits or 

14 have a neutral impact on in-Delta water user 

15 water quality; and 

16 (B) are designed so that formal consulta17 tions under section 7 of the Endangered Spe18 cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) are not nec19 essary; 

20 (2) require the Director of the United States 

21 Fish and Wildlife Service and the Commissioner of 

22 Reclamation— 

23 (A) to complete, not later than 30 days 

24 after the date on which the Director or the 

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1 quest for water transfer, all requirements under 

2 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

3 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the Endangered 

4 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 

5 necessary to make final permit decisions on the 

6 request; and 

7 (B) to approve any water transfer request 

8 described in subparagraph (A) to maximize the 

9 quantity of water supplies available for non10 habitat uses, on the condition that actions asso11 ciated with the water transfer comply with ap12 plicable Federal laws (including regulations); 

13 (3) adopt a 1:1 inflow to export ratio, as meas14 ured as a 3-day running average at Vernalis during 

15 the period beginning on April 1, and ending on May 

16 31, absent a determination in writing that a more 

17 restrictive inflow to export ratio is required to avoid 

18 a significant negative impact on the long-term sur19 vival of a listed salmonid species under the Endan20 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

21 provided that the 1:1 inflow to export ratio shall 

22 apply for the increment of increased flow of the San 

23 Joaquin River resulting from the voluntary sale, 

24 transfers, or exchanges of water from agencies with 

25 rights to divert water from the San Joaquin River 


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1 or its tributaries and provided that the movement of 

2 the acquired, transferred, or exchanged water 

3 through the Delta consistent with the Central Valley 

4 Project’s and the State Water Project’s permitted 

5 water rights and provided that movement of the 

6 Central Valley Project water is consistent with the 

7 requirements of section 3405(a)(1)(H) of the Cen8 tral Valley Project Improvement Act; and 

9 (4) allow and facilitate, consistent with existing 

10 priorities, water transfers through the C.W. ‘‘Bill’’ 

11 Jones Pumping Plant or the Harvey O. Banks 

12 Pumping Plant from April 1 to November 30 pro13 vided water transfers comply with State law, includ14 ing the California Environmental Quality Act. 

15 (c) ACCELERATED PROJECT DECISION AND ELE16 VATION.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—On request by the Governor 

18 of the State, the Secretaries shall use the expedited 

19 procedures under this subsection to make final deci20 sions relating to a Federal project or operation, or 

21 to local or State projects or operations that require 

22 decisions by the Secretary of the Interior or the Sec23 retary of Commerce to provide additional water sup24 plies if the project’s or operation’s purpose is to proVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Jun 30, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00043 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2898.IH H2898

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1 vide relief for emergency drought conditions pursu2 ant to subsections (a) and (b). 

3 (2) REQUEST FOR RESOLUTION.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—On request by the Gov5 ernor of the State, the Secretaries referenced in 

6 paragraph (1), or the head of another Federal 

7 agency responsible for carrying out a review of 

8 a project, as applicable, the Secretary of the In9 terior shall convene a final project decision 

10 meeting with the heads of all relevant Federal 

11 agencies to decide whether to approve a project 

12 to provide relief for emergency drought condi13 tions. 

14 (B) MEETING.—The Secretary of the Inte15 rior shall convene a meeting requested under 

16 subparagraph (A) not later than 7 days after 

17 the date on which the meeting request is re18 ceived. 

19 (3) NOTIFICATION.—On receipt of a request for 

20 a meeting under paragraph (2), the Secretary of the 

21 Interior shall notify the heads of all relevant Federal 

22 agencies of the request, including information on the 

23 project to be reviewed and the date of the meeting. 

24 (4) DECISION.—Not later than 10 days after 

25 the date on which a meeting is requested under 


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1 paragraph (2), the head of the relevant Federal 

2 agency shall issue a final decision on the project, 

3 subject to subsection (e)(2). 

4 (5) MEETING CONVENED BY SECRETARY.—The 

5 Secretary of the Interior may convene a final project 

6 decision meeting under this subsection at any time, 

7 at the discretion of the Secretary, regardless of 

8 whether a meeting is requested under paragraph (2). 

9 (d) APPLICATION.—To the extent that a Federal 

10 agency, other than the agencies headed by the Secretaries, 

11 has a role in approving projects described in subsections 

12 (a) and (b), this section shall apply to those Federal agen13 cies. 

14 (e) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section authorizes 

15 the Secretaries to approve projects— 

16 (1) that would otherwise require congressional 

17 authorization; or 

18 (2) without following procedures required by 

19 applicable law. 

20 (f) DROUGHT PLAN.—For the period of time such 

21 that in any year that the Sacramento Valley index is 6.5 

22 or lower, or at the request of the State of California, and 

23 until two succeeding years following either of those events 

24 have been completed where the final Sacramento Valley 

25 Index is 7.8 or greater, the Secretaries of Commerce and 


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1 the Interior, in consultation with appropriate State offi2 cials, shall develop a drought operations plan that is con3 sistent with the provisions of this Act including the provi4 sions that are intended to provide additional water sup5 plies that could be of assistance during the current 

6 drought. 

7 SEC. 303. OPERATION OF CROSS-CHANNEL GATES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce and 

9 the Secretary of the Interior shall jointly— 

10 (1) authorize and implement activities to ensure 

11 that the Delta Cross Channel Gates remain open to 

12 the maximum extent practicable using findings from 

13 the United States Geological Survey on diurnal be14 havior of juvenile salmonids, timed to maximize the 

15 peak flood tide period and provide water supply and 

16 water quality benefits for the duration of the 

17 drought emergency declaration of the State, and for 

18 the period of time such that in any year that the 

19 Sacramento Valley index is 6.5 or lower, or at the 

20 request of the State of California, and until two suc21 ceeding years following either of those events have 

22 been completed where the final Sacramento Valley 

23 Index is 7.8 or greater, consistent with operational 

24 criteria and monitoring criteria set forth into the 

25 Order Approving a Temporary Urgency Change in 


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1 License and Permit Terms in Response to Drought 

2 Conditions of the California State Water Resources 

3 Control Board, effective January 31, 2014 (or a suc4 cessor order) and other authorizations associated 

5 with it; 

6 (2) with respect to the operation of the Delta 

7 Cross Channel Gates described in paragraph (1), 

8 collect data on the impact of that operation on— 

9 (A) species listed as threatened or endan10 gered under the Endangered Species Act of 

11 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

12 (B) water quality; and 

13 (C) water supply; 

14 (3) collaborate with the California Department 

15 of Water Resources to install a deflection barrier at 

16 Georgiana Slough in coordination with Delta Cross 

17 Channel Gate diurnal operations to protect migrat18 ing salmonids, consistent with knowledge gained 

19 from activities carried out during 2014 and 2015; 

20 (4) evaluate the combined salmonid survival in 

21 light of activities carried out pursuant to paragraphs 

22 (1) through (3) in deciding how to operate the Delta 

23 Cross Channel gates to enhance salmonid survival 

24 and water supply benefits; and 


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1 (5) not later than May 15, 2016, submit to the 

2 appropriate committees of the House of Representa3 tives and the Senate a notice and explanation on the 

4 extent to which the gates are able to remain open. 

5 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—After assessing the infor6 mation collected under subsection (a), the Secretary of the 

7 Interior shall recommend revisions to the operation of the 

8 Delta Cross-Channel Gates, to the Central Valley Project, 

9 and to the State Water Project, including, if appropriate, 

10 any reasonable and prudent alternative contained in the 

11 biological opinion issued by the National Marine Fisheries 

12 Service on June 4, 2009, that are likely to produce water 

13 supply benefits without causing a significant negative im14 pact on the long-term survival of the listed fish species 

15 within the Delta or on water quality. 

16 SEC. 304. FLEXIBILITY FOR EXPORT/INFLOW RATIO. 

17 For the period of time such that in any year that 

18 the Sacramento Valley index is 6.5 or lower, or at the re19 quest of the State of California, and until two succeeding 

20 years following either of those events have been completed 

21 where the final Sacramento Valley Index is 7.8 or greater, 

22 the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation shall con23 tinue to vary the averaging period of the Delta Export/ 

24 Inflow ratio pursuant to the California State Water Re25 sources Control Board decision D1641— 


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1 (1) to operate to a 35-percent Export/Inflow 

2 ratio with a 3-day averaging period on the rising 

3 limb of a Delta inflow hydrograph; and 

4 (2) to operate to a 14-day averaging period on 

5 the falling limb of the Delta inflow hydrograph. 

6 SEC. 305. EMERGENCY ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS. 

7 (a) NEPA COMPLIANCE.—To minimize the time 

8 spent carrying out environmental reviews and to deliver 

9 water quickly that is needed to address emergency drought 

10 conditions in the State during the duration of an emer11 gency drought declaration, the Secretaries shall, in car12 rying out this Act, consult with the Council on Environ13 mental Quality in accordance with section 1506.11 of title 

14 40, Code of Federal Regulations (including successor reg15 ulations), to develop alternative arrangements to comply 

16 with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

17 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) during the emergency. 

18 (b) DETERMINATIONS.—For the purposes of this sec19 tion, a Secretary may deem a project to be in compliance 

20 with all necessary environmental regulations and reviews 

21 if the Secretary determines that the immediate implemen22 tation of the project is necessary to address— 

23 (1) human health and safety; or 

24 (2) a specific and imminent loss of agriculture 

25 production upon which an identifiable region deVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Jun 30, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2898.IH H2898

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1 pends for 25 percent or more of its tax revenue used 

2 to support public services including schools, fire or 

3 police services, city or county health facilities, unem4 ployment services or other associated social services. 

5 SEC. 306. INCREASED FLEXIBILITY FOR REGULAR PROJECT 

6 OPERATIONS. 

7 The Secretaries shall, consistent with applicable laws 

8 (including regulations)— 

9 (1) help meet the contract water supply needs 

10 of Central Valley Project refuges through the im11 provement or installation of water conservation 

12 measures, water conveyance facilities, and wells to 

13 use groundwater resources, on the condition that 

14 those activities may only be accomplished by using 

15 funding made available under Reclamation programs 

16 of the Department of the Interior; 

17 (2) make available to individuals or districts 

18 who receive water from the United States under 

19 water rights settlement contracts, exchange con20 tracts, water service or repayment contracts the ad21 ditional water obtained from the activities carried 

22 out under subparagraph (1); 

23 (3) in coordination with the California Depart24 ment of Water Resources and the California Depart25 ment of Fish and Wildlife, implement offsite upVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Jun 30, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2898.IH H2898

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1 stream projects in the Delta and upstream of the 

2 Sacramento River and San Joaquin basins that off3 set the effects on species listed as threatened or en4 dangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

5 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) due to activities carried out 

6 pursuant this Act, as determined by the Secretaries; 

7 (4) manage reverse flow in the Old and Middle 

8 Rivers at ¥6,100 cubic feet per second if real-time 

9 monitoring indicates that flows of ¥6,100 cubic feet 

10 per second or more negative can be established for 

11 specific periods without causing a significant nega12 tive impact on the long-term survival of the Delta 

13 smelt, or if real-time monitoring does not support 

14 flows of ¥6,100 cubic feet per second than manage 

15 OMR flows at ¥5,000 cubic feet per second subject 

16 to section 103(e) (3) and (4); and 

17 (5) use all available scientific tools to identify 

18 any changes to real-time operations of the Bureau of 

19 Reclamation, State, and local water projects that 

20 could result in the availability of additional water 

21 supplies. 

22 SEC. 307. TEMPORARY OPERATIONAL FLEXIBILITY FOR 

23 FIRST FEW STORMS OF THE WATER YEAR. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Consistent with avoiding a signifi25 cant negative impact on the long-term survival in the short 


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1 term upon listed fish species beyond the range of those 

2 authorized under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and 

3 other environmental protections under subsection (e), the 

4 Secretaries shall authorize the Central Valley Project and 

5 the State Water Project, combined, to operate at levels 

6 that result in negative OMR flows at ¥7,500 cubic feet 

7 per second (based on United States Geological Survey 

8 gauges on Old and Middle Rivers) daily average for 56 

9 cumulative days after October 1 as described in subsection 

10 (c). 

11 (b) DAYS OF TEMPORARY OPERATIONAL FLEXI12 BILITY.—The temporary operational flexibility described 

13 in subsection (a) shall be authorized on days that the Cali14 fornia Department of Water Resources determines the 

15 daily average river flow of the Sacramento River is at, or 

16 above, 17,000 cubic feet per second as measured at the 

17 Sacramento River at Freeport gauge maintained by the 

18 United States Geologic Survey. 

19 (c) COMPLIANCE WITH ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT

20 AUTHORIZATIONS.—In carrying out this section, the Sec21 retaries may continue to impose any requirements under 

22 the smelt and salmonid biological opinions during any pe23 riod of temporary operational flexibility as they determine 

24 are reasonably necessary to avoid an additional significant 

25 negative impacts on the long-term survival of a listed fish 


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1 species beyond the range of those authorized under the 

2 Endangered Species Act of 1973, provided that the re3 quirements imposed do not reduce water supplies available 

4 for the Central Valley Project and the State Water 

5 Project. 

6 (d) OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS.— 

7 (1) STATE LAW.—The Secretaries’ actions 

8 under this section shall be consistent with applicable 

9 regulatory requirements under State law. 

10 (2) FIRST SEDIMENT FLUSH.—During the first 

11 flush of sediment out of the Delta in each water 

12 year, and provided that such determination is based 

13 upon objective evidence, OMR flow may be managed 

14 at rates less negative than ¥5,000 cubic feet per 

15 second for a minimum duration to avoid movement 

16 of adult Delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) to 

17 areas in the southern Delta that would be likely to 

18 increase entrainment at Central Valley Project and 

19 State Water Project pumping plants. 

20 (3) APPLICABILITY OF OPINION.—This section 

21 shall not affect the application of the salmonid bio22 logical opinion from April 1 to May 31, unless the 

23 Secretary of Commerce finds that some or all of 

24 such applicable requirements may be adjusted dur25 ing this time period to provide emergency water supVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Jun 30, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00053 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2898.IH H2898

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1 ply relief without resulting in additional adverse ef2 fects beyond those authorized under the Endangered 

3 Species Act of 1973. In addition to any other ac4 tions to benefit water supply, the Secretary of the 

5 Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall con6 sider allowing through-Delta water transfers to 

7 occur during this period if they can be accomplished 

8 consistent with section 3405(a)(1)(H) of the Central 

9 Valley Project Improvement Act. Water transfers 

10 solely or exclusively through the State Water Project 

11 are not required to be consistent with section 

12 3405(a)(1)(H) of the Central Valley Project Im13 provement Act. 

14 (4) MONITORING.—During operations under 

15 this section, the Commissioner of Reclamation, in 

16 coordination with the Fish and Wildlife Service, Na17 tional Marine Fisheries Service, and California De18 partment of Fish and Wildlife, shall undertake a 

19 monitoring program and other data gathering to en20 sure incidental take levels are not exceeded, and to 

21 identify potential negative impacts and actions, if 

22 any, necessary to mitigate impacts of the temporary 

23 operational flexibility to species listed under the En24 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531– 

25 1544). 


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1 (e) TECHNICAL ADJUSTMENTS TO TARGET PE2 RIOD.—If, before temporary operational flexibility has 

3 been implemented on 56 cumulative days, the Secretaries 

4 operate the Central Valley Project and the State Water 

5 Project combined at levels that result in OMR flows less 

6 negative than ¥7,500 cubic feet per second during days 

7 of temporary operational flexibility as defined in sub8 section (c), the duration of such operation shall not be 

9 counted toward the 56 cumulative days specified in sub10 section (a). 

11 (f) EMERGENCY CONSULTATION; EFFECT ON RUN12 NING AVERAGES.— 

13 (1) If necessary to implement the provisions of 

14 this section, the Commissioner is authorized to take 

15 any action necessary to implement this section for 

16 up to 56 cumulative days. If during the 56 cumu17 lative days the Commissioner determines that ac18 tions necessary to implement this section will exceed 

19 56 days, the Commissioner shall use the emergency 

20 consultation procedures under the Endangered Spe21 cies Act of 1973 and its implementing regulation at 

22 section 402.05 of title 50, Code of Federal Regula23 tions, to temporarily adjust the operating criteria 

24 under the biological opinions— 


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1 (A) solely for extending beyond the 56 cu2 mulative days for additional days of temporary 

3 operational flexibility— 

4 (i) no more than necessary to achieve 

5 the purposes of this section consistent with 

6 the environmental protections in sub7 sections (d) and (e); and 

8 (ii) including, as appropriate, adjust9 ments to ensure that the actual flow rates 

10 during the periods of temporary oper11 ational flexibility do not count toward the 

12 5-day and 14-day running averages of 

13 tidally filtered daily OMR flow require14 ments under the biological opinions, or 

15 (B) for other adjustments to operating cri16 teria or to take other urgent actions to address 

17 water supply shortages for the least amount of 

18 time or volume of diversion necessary as deter19 mined by the Commissioner. 

20 (2) Following the conclusion of the 56 cumu21 lative days of temporary operational flexibility, or 

22 the extended number of days covered by the emer23 gency consultation procedures, the Commissioner 

24 shall not reinitiate consultation on these adjusted 

25 operations, and no mitigation shall be required, if 


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1 the effects on listed fish species of these operations 

2 under this section remain within the range of those 

3 authorized under the Endangered Species Act of 

4 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). If the Commissioner 

5 reinitiates consultation, no mitigation measures shall 

6 be required. 

7 (g) LEVEL OF DETAIL REQUIRED FOR ANALYSIS.— 

8 In articulating the determinations required under this sec9 tion, the Secretaries shall fully satisfy the requirements 

10 herein but shall not be expected to provide a greater level 

11 of supporting detail for the analysis than feasible to pro12 vide within the short timeframe permitted for timely deci13 sionmaking in response to changing conditions in the 

14 Delta. 

15 SEC. 308. EXPEDITING WATER TRANSFERS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3405(a) of the Central 

17 Valley Project Improvement Act (Public Law 102–575; 

18 106 Stat. 4709(a)) is amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) through 

20 (3) as paragraphs (4) through (6), respectively; 

21 (2) in the matter preceding paragraph (4) (as 

22 so designated)— 

23 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘In 

24 order to’’ and inserting the following: 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to’’; and 


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1 (B) in the second sentence, by striking 

2 ‘‘Except as provided herein’’ and inserting the 

3 following: 

4 ‘‘(3) TERMS.—Except as otherwise provided in 

5 this section’’; 

6 (3) by inserting before paragraph (3) (as so 

7 designated) the following: 

8 ‘‘(2) EXPEDITED TRANSFER OF WATER.—The 

9 Secretary shall take all necessary actions to facilitate 

10 and expedite transfers of Central Valley Project 

11 water in accordance with— 

12 ‘‘(A) this Act; 

13 ‘‘(B) any other applicable provision of the 

14 reclamation laws; and 

15 ‘‘(C) the National Environmental Policy 

16 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.).’’; 

17 (4) in paragraph (4) (as so designated)— 

18 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘to 

19 combination’’ and inserting ‘‘or combination’’; 

20 and 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘3405(a)(2) of this title’’ 

22 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘(5)’’; 

23 (5) in paragraph (5) (as so designated), by add24 ing at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(E) The contracting district from which 

2 the water is coming, the agency, or the Sec3 retary shall determine if a written transfer pro4 posal is complete within 45 days after the date 

5 of submission of the proposal. If the contracting 

6 district or agency or the Secretary determines 

7 that the proposal is incomplete, the district or 

8 agency or the Secretary shall state with speci9 ficity what must be added to or revised for the 

10 proposal to be complete.’’; and 

11 (6) in paragraph (6) (as so designated), by 

12 striking ‘‘3405(a)(1)(A)–(C), (E), (G), (H), (I), (L), 

13 and (M) of this title’’ and inserting ‘‘(A) through 

14 (C), (E), (G), (H), (I), (L), and (M) of paragraph 

15 (4)’’. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Central Val17 ley Project Improvement Act (Public Law 102–575) is 

18 amended— 

19 (1) in section 3407(c)(1) (106 Stat. 4726), by 

20 striking ‘‘3405(a)(1)(C)’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘3405(a)(4)(C)’’; and 

22 (2) in section 3408(i)(1) (106 Stat. 4729), by 

23 striking ‘‘3405(a)(1) (A) and (J) of this title’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A) and (J) of section 

25 3405(a)(4)’’. 


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1 SEC. 309. ADDITIONAL EMERGENCY CONSULTATION. 

2 For adjustments to operating criteria other than 

3 under section 308 of this Act or to take urgent actions 

4 to address water supply shortages for the least amount 

5 of time or volume of diversion necessary as determined 

6 by the Commissioner, no mitigation measures shall be re7 quired during any year that the Sacramento Valley index 

8 is 6.5 or lower, or at the request of the State of California, 

9 and until two succeeding years following either of those 

10 events have been completed where the final Sacramento 

11 Valley Index is 7.8 or greater, and any mitigation meas12 ures imposed must be based on quantitative data and re13 quired only to the extent that such data demonstrates ac14 tual harm to species. 

15 SEC. 310. ADDITIONAL STORAGE AT NEW MELONES. 

16 The Commissioner of Reclamation is directed to work 

17 with local water and irrigation districts in the Stanislaus 

18 River Basin to ascertain the water storage made available 

19 by the Draft Plan of Operations in New Melones Reservoir 

20 (DRPO) for water conservation programs, conjunctive use 

21 projects, water transfers, rescheduled project water and 

22 other projects to maximize water storage and ensure the 

23 beneficial use of the water resources in the Stanislaus 

24 River Basin. All such programs and projects shall be im25 plemented according to all applicable laws and regulations. 

26 The source of water for any such storage program at New 


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1 Melones Reservoir shall be made available under a valid 

2 water right, consistent with the State of California water 

3 transfer guidelines and any other applicable State water 

4 law. The Commissioner shall inform the Congress within 

5 18 months setting forth the amount of storage made avail6 able by the DRPO that has been put to use under this 

7 program, including proposals received by Reclamation 

8 from interested parties for the purpose of this section. 

9 SEC. 311. REGARDING THE OPERATION OF FOLSOM RES10 ERVOIR. 

11 The Secretary of the Interior, in collaboration with 

12 the Sacramento Water Forum, shall expedite evaluation, 

13 completion and implementation of the Modified Lower 

14 American River Flow Management Standard developed by 

15 the Water Forum in 2015 to improve water supply reli16 ability for Central Valley Project American River water 

17 contractors and resource protection in the lower American 

18 River during consecutive dry-years under current and fu19 ture demand and climate change conditions. 

20 SEC. 312. APPLICANTS. 

21 In the event that the Bureau of Reclamation or an22 other Federal agency initiates or reinitiates consultation 

23 with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National 

24 Marine Fisheries Service under section 7(a)(2) of the En25 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(2)), 


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1 with respect to construction or operation of the Central 

2 Valley Project and State Water Project, or any part there3 of, the State Water Project contractors and the Central 

4 Valley Project contractors will be accorded all the rights 

5 and responsibilities extended to applicants in the consulta6 tion process. 

7 SEC. 313. SAN JOAQUIN RIVER SETTLEMENT. 

8 (a) CALIFORNIA STATE LAW SATISFIED BY WARM

9 WATER FISHERY.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Sections 5930 through 5948 

11 of the California Fish and Game Code, and all appli12 cable Federal laws, including the San Joaquin River 

13 Restoration Settlement Act (Public Law 111–11) 

14 and the Stipulation of Settlement (Natural Re15 sources Defense Council, et al. v. Kirk Rodgers, et 

16 al., Eastern District of California, No. Civ. S–88– 

17 1658–LKK/GGH), shall be satisfied by the existence 

18 of a warm water fishery in the San Joaquin River 

19 below Friant Dam, but upstream of Gravelly Ford. 

20 (2) DEFINITION OF WARM WATER FISHERY.— 

21 For the purposes of this section, the term ‘‘warm 

22 water fishery’’ means a water system that has an 

23 environment suitable for species of fish other than 

24 salmon (including all subspecies) and trout (includ25 ing all subspecies). 


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1 (b) REPEAL OF THE SAN JOAQUIN RIVER SETTLE2 MENT.—As of the date of enactment of this section, the 

3 Secretary of the Interior shall cease any action to imple4 ment the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act 

5 (subtitle A of title X of Public Law 111–11) and the Stip6 ulation of Settlement (Natural Resources Defense Council, 

7 et al. v. Kirk Rodgers, et al., Eastern District of Cali8 fornia, No. Civ. S–88–1658 LKK/GGH). 

9 SEC. 314. PROGRAM FOR WATER RESCHEDULING. 

10 By December 31, 2015, the Secretary of the Interior 

11 shall develop and implement a program, including resched12 uling guidelines for Shasta and Folsom Reservoirs, to 

13 allow existing Central Valley Project agricultural water 

14 service contractors within the Sacramento River Water15 shed, and refuge service and municipal and industrial 

16 water service contractors within the Sacramento River 

17 Watershed and the American River Watershed to resched18 ule water, provided for under their Central Valley Project 

19 contracts, from one year to the next; provided, that the 

20 program is consistent with existing rescheduling guidelines 

21 as utilized by the Bureau of Reclamation for rescheduling 

22 water for Central Valley Project water service contractors 

23 that are located South of the Delta. 


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1 TITLE IV—CALFED STORAGE 

2 FEASIBILITY STUDIES 

3 SEC. 401. STUDIES. 

4 The Secretary of the Interior, through the Commis5 sioner of Reclamation, shall— 

6 (1) complete the feasibility studies described in 

7 clauses (i)(I) and (ii)(II) of section 103(d)(1)(A) of 

8 Public Law 108–361 (118 Stat. 1684) and submit 

9 such studies to the appropriate committees of the 

10 House of Representatives and the Senate not later 

11 than December 31, 2015; 

12 (2) complete the feasibility studies described in 

13 clauses (i)(II) and (ii)(I) of section 103(d)(1)(A) of 

14 Public Law 108–361 and submit such studies to the 

15 appropriate committees of the House of Representa16 tives and the Senate not later than November 30, 

17 2016; 

18 (3) complete the feasibility study described in 

19 section 103(f)(1)(A) of Public Law 108–361 (118 

20 Stat. 1694) and submit such study to the appro21 priate Committees of the House of Representatives 

22 and the Senate not later than December 31, 2017; 

23 (4) provide a progress report on the status of 

24 the feasibility studies referred to in paragraphs (1) 

25 through (3) to the appropriate committees of the 


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1 House of Representatives and the Senate not later 

2 than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 

3 Act and each 180 days thereafter until December 

4 31, 2017, as applicable. The report shall include 

5 timelines for study completion, draft environmental 

6 impact statements, final environmental impact state7 ments, and Records of Decision; and 

8 (5) in conducting any feasibility study under 

9 this Act, the reclamation laws, the Central Valley 

10 Project Improvement Act (title XXXIV of Public 

11 Law 102–575; 106 Stat. 4706), the Fish and Wild12 life Coordination Act (16 U.S.C. 661 et seq.), the 

13 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

14 seq.), and other applicable law, for the purposes any 

15 determining feasibility the Secretary shall document, 

16 delineate, and publish costs directly relating to the 

17 engineering and construction of a water storage 

18 project separately from the costs resulting from reg19 ulatory compliance or the construction of auxiliary 

20 facilities necessary to achieve regulatory compliance. 

21 SEC. 402. TEMPERANCE FLAT. 

22 (a) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this section: 

23 (1) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘Project’’ means the 

24 Temperance Flat Reservoir Project on the Upper 

25 San Joaquin River. 


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1 (2) RMP.—The term ‘‘RMP’’ means the docu2 ment titled ‘‘Bakersfield Field Office, Record of De3 cision and Approved Resource Management Plan,’’ 

4 dated December 2014. 

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

6 the Secretary of the Interior. 

7 (b) APPLICABILITY OF RMP.—The RMP and find8 ings related thereto shall have no effect on or applicability 

9 to the Secretary’s determination of feasibility of, or on any 

10 findings or environmental review documents related to— 

11 (1) the Project; or 

12 (2) actions taken by the Secretary pursuant to 

13 section 103(d)(1)(A)(ii)(II) of the Bay-Delta Au14 thorization Act (title I of Public Law 108–361). 

15 (c) DUTIES OF SECRETARY UPON DETERMINATION

16 OF FEASIBILITY.—If the Secretary finds the Project to 

17 be feasible, the Secretary shall manage the land rec18 ommended in the RMP for designation under the Wild and 

19 Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1271 et seq.) in a manner 

20 that does not impede any environmental reviews, 

21 preconstruction, construction, or other activities of the 

22 Project, regardless of whether or not the Secretary sub23 mits any official recommendation to Congress under the 

24 Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. 


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1 (d) RESERVED WATER RIGHTS.—Effective Decem2 ber 22, 2014, there shall be no Federal reserved water 

3 rights to any segment of the San Joaquin River related 

4 to the Project as a result of any designation made under 

5 the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (16 U.S.C. 1271 et seq.). 

6 SEC. 403. CALFED STORAGE ACCOUNTABILITY. 

7 If the Secretary of the Interior fails to provide the 

8 feasibility studies described in section 401 to the appro9 priate committees of the House of Representatives and the 

10 Senate by the times prescribed, the amount made available 

11 to the Policy and Administration Account of the Bureau 

12 of Reclamation for the operation of the Washington, DC, 

13 office shall be reduced by an amount of $20,000 per day 

14 and transferred to the Treasury for deficit reduction until 

15 the feasibility reports are provided to Congress. 

16 SEC. 404. WATER STORAGE PROJECT CONSTRUCTION. 

17 (a) PARTNERSHIP AND AGREEMENTS.—The Sec18 retary, acting through the Commissioner of the Bureau 

19 of Reclamation, may partner or enter into an agreement 

20 on the water storage projects identified in section 

21 103(d)(1) of the Water Supply Reliability and Environ22 mental Improvement Act (Public Law 108–361) (and Acts 

23 supplemental and amendatory to the Act) with local joint 

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1 ernments within the applicable hydrologic region, to ad2 vance those projects. 

3 (b) AUTHORIZATION FOR PROJECT.—If the Secretary 

4 determines a project described in section 402(a)(1) and 

5 (2) is feasible, the Secretary is authorized to carry out 

6 the project in a manner that is substantially in accordance 

7 with the recommended plan, and subject to the conditions 

8 described in the feasibility study, provided that no Federal 

9 funding shall be used to construct the project. 

10 TITLE V—WATER RIGHTS 

11 PROTECTIONS 

12 SEC. 501. PROTECTION FOR STATE WATER PROJECT CON13 TRACTORS. 

14 (a) IMPLEMENTATION IMPACTS.—The Secretary of 

15 the Interior shall confer with the California Department 

16 of Fish and Wildlife in connection with the implementa17 tion of this Act on potential impacts to any consistency 

18 determination for operations of the State Water Project 

19 issued pursuant to California Fish and Game Code section 

20 2080.1. 

21 (b) ADDITIONAL YIELD.—If, as a result of the appli22 cation of this Act, the California Department of Fish and 

23 Wildlife— 

24 (1) revokes the consistency determinations pur25 suant to California Fish and Game Code section 


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1 2080.1 that are applicable to the State Water 

2 Project; 

3 (2) amends or issues one or more new consist4 ency determinations pursuant to California Fish and 

5 Game Code section 2080.1 in a manner that directly 

6 or indirectly results in reduced water supply to the 

7 State Water Project as compared with the water 

8 supply available under the smelt biological opinion 

9 and the salmonid biological opinion; or 

10 (3) requires take authorization under section 

11 2081 for operation of the State Water Project in a 

12 manner that directly or indirectly results in reduced 

13 water supply to the State Water Project as com14 pared with the water supply available under the 

15 smelt biological opinion and the salmonid biological 

16 opinion, and as a consequence of the Department’s 

17 action, Central Valley Project yield is greater than 

18 it would have been absent the Department’s actions, 

19 then that additional yield shall be made available to 

20 the State Water Project for delivery to State Water 

21 Project contractors to offset losses resulting from 

22 the Department’s action. 

23 (c) NOTIFICATION RELATED TO ENVIRONMENTAL

24 PROTECTIONS.—The Secretary of the Interior shall imme25 diately notify the Director of the California Department 


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1 of Fish and Wildlife in writing if the Secretary of the Inte2 rior determines that implementation of the smelt biological 

3 opinion and the salmonid biological opinion consistent with 

4 this Act reduces environmental protections for any species 

5 covered by the opinions. 

6 SEC. 502. AREA OF ORIGIN PROTECTIONS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior is 

8 directed, in the operation of the Central Valley Project, 

9 to adhere to California’s water rights laws governing water 

10 rights priorities and to honor water rights senior to those 

11 held by the United States for operation of the Central Val12 ley Project, regardless of the source of priority, including 

13 any appropriative water rights initiated prior to December 

14 19, 1914, as well as water rights and other priorities per15 fected or to be perfected pursuant to California Water 

16 Code Part 2 of Division 2. Article 1.7 (commencing with 

17 section 1215 of chapter 1 of part 2 of division 2, sections 

18 10505, 10505.5, 11128, 11460, 11461, 11462, and 

19 11463, and sections 12200 to 12220, inclusive). 

20 (b) DIVERSIONS.—Any action undertaken by the Sec21 retaries pursuant to both this Act and section 7 of the 

22 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 

23 that requires that diversions from the Sacramento River 

24 or the San Joaquin River watersheds upstream of the 

25 Delta be bypassed shall not be undertaken in a manner 


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1 that alters the water rights priorities established by Cali2 fornia law. 

3 (c) ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT.—Nothing in this 

4 title alters the existing authorities provided to and obliga5 tions placed upon the Federal Government under the En6 dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), 

7 as amended. 

8 (d) CONTRACTS.—With respect to individuals and en9 tities with water rights on the Sacramento River, the man10 dates of this section may be met, in whole or in part, 

11 through a contract with the Secretary executed pursuant 

12 to section 14 of Public Law 76–260; 53 Stat. 1187 (43 

13 U.S.C. 389) that is in conformance with the Sacramento 

14 River Settlement Contracts renewed by the Secretary in 

15 2005. 

16 SEC. 503. NO REDIRECTED ADVERSE IMPACTS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall 

18 ensure that, except as otherwise provided for in a water 

19 service or repayment contract, actions taken in compliance 

20 with legal obligations imposed pursuant to or as a result 

21 of this Act, including such actions under section 7 of the 

22 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 

23 and other applicable Federal and State laws, shall not di24 rectly or indirectly— 


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1 (1) result in the involuntary reduction of water 

2 supply or fiscal impacts to individuals or districts 

3 who receive water from either the State Water 

4 Project or the United States under water rights set5 tlement contracts, exchange contracts, water service 

6 contracts, repayment contracts, or water supply con7 tracts; or 

8 (2) cause redirected adverse water supply or fis9 cal impacts to those within the Sacramento River 

10 watershed, the San Joaquin River watershed or the 

11 State Water Project service area. 

12 (b) COSTS.—To the extent that costs are incurred 

13 solely pursuant to or as a result of this Act and would 

14 not otherwise have been incurred by any entity or public 

15 or local agency or subdivision of the State of California, 

16 such costs shall not be borne by any such entity, agency, 

17 or subdivision of the State of California, unless such costs 

18 are incurred on a voluntary basis. 

19 (c) RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS NOT MODIFIED OR

20 AMENDED.—Nothing in this Act shall modify or amend 

21 the rights and obligations of the parties to any existing— 

22 (1) water service, repayment, settlement, pur23 chase, or exchange contract with the United States, 

24 including the obligation to satisfy exchange contracts 


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1 and settlement contracts prior to the allocation of 

2 any other Central Valley Project water; or 

3 (2) State Water Project water supply or settle4 ment contract with the State. 

5 SEC. 504. ALLOCATIONS FOR SACRAMENTO VALLEY CON6 TRACTORS. 

7 (a) ALLOCATIONS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2) 

9 and subsection (b), the Secretary of the Interior is 

10 directed, in the operation of the Central Valley 

11 Project, to allocate water provided for irrigation pur12 poses to existing Central Valley Project agricultural 

13 water service contractors within the Sacramento 

14 River Watershed in compliance with the following: 

15 (A) Not less than 100 percent of their con16 tract quantities in a ‘‘Wet’’ year. 

17 (B) Not less than 100 percent of their con18 tract quantities in an ‘‘Above Normal’’ year. 

19 (C) Not less than 100 percent of their con20 tract quantities in a ‘‘Below Normal’’ year that 

21 is preceded by an ‘‘Above Normal’’ or a ‘‘Wet’’ 

22 year. 

23 (D) Not less than 50 percent of their con24 tract quantities in a ‘‘Dry’’ year that is preVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Jun 30, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00073 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2898.IH H2898

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1 ceded by a ‘‘Below Normal,’’ an ‘‘Above Nor2 mal,’’ or a ‘‘Wet’’ year. 

3 (E) In all other years not identified herein, 

4 the allocation percentage for existing Central 

5 Valley Project agricultural water service con6 tractors within the Sacramento River Water7 shed shall not be less than twice the allocation 

8 percentage to south-of-Delta Central Valley 

9 Project agricultural water service contractors, 

10 up to 100 percent; provided, that nothing here11 in shall preclude an allocation to existing Cen12 tral Valley Project agricultural water service 

13 contractors within the Sacramento River Water14 shed that is greater than twice the allocation 

15 percentage to south-of-Delta Central Valley 

16 Project agricultural water service contractors. 

17 (2) CONDITIONS.—The Secretary’s actions 

18 under paragraph (a) shall be subject to— 

19 (A) the priority of individuals or entities 

20 with Sacramento River water rights, including 

21 those with Sacramento River Settlement Con22 tracts, that have priority to the diversion and 

23 use of Sacramento River water over water 

24 rights held by the United States for operations 

25 of the Central Valley Project; 


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1 (B) the United States obligation to make 

2 a substitute supply of water available to the 

3 San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors; and 

4 (C) the Secretary’s obligation to make 

5 water available to managed wetlands pursuant 

6 to section 3406(d) of the Central Valley Project 

7 Improvement Act (Public Law 102–575). 

8 (b) PROTECTION OF MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL

9 SUPPLIES.—Nothing in subsection (a) shall be deemed 

10 to— 

11 (1) modify any provision of a water service con12 tract that addresses municipal and industrial water 

13 shortage policies of the Secretary; 

14 (2) affect or limit the authority of the Secretary 

15 to adopt or modify municipal and industrial water 

16 shortage policies; 

17 (3) affect or limit the authority of the Secretary 

18 to implement municipal and industrial water short19 age policies; or 

20 (4) affect allocations to Central Valley Project 

21 municipal and industrial contractors pursuant to 

22 such policies, including the utilization of such alloca23 tions as primary water sources for these contractors 

24 for purposes of calculating municipal and industrial 

25 water shortages. 


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1 (c) NO EFFECT ON ALLOCATIONS.—This section 

2 shall not result in the involuntary reduction in contract 

3 water allocations to individuals or entities with contracts 

4 to receive water from the Friant Division. 

5 (d) PROGRAM FOR WATER RESCHEDULING.—The 

6 Secretary of the Interior shall develop and implement a 

7 program, not later than 1 year after the date of the enact8 ment of this Act, to provide for the opportunity for exist9 ing Central Valley Project agricultural water service con10 tractors within the Sacramento River Watershed to re11 schedule water, provided for under their Central Valley 

12 Project water service contracts, from one year to the next. 

13 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) The term ‘‘existing Central Valley Project 

15 agricultural water service contractors within the 

16 Sacramento River Watershed’’ means water service 

17 contractors within the Shasta, Trinity, and Sac18 ramento River Divisions of the Central Valley 

19 Project, that have a water service contract in effect, 

20 on the date of the enactment of this section, that 

21 provides water for irrigation. 

22 (2) The year type terms used in subsection (a) 

23 have the meaning given those year types in the Sac24 ramento Valley Water Year Type (40–30–30) Index. 


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1 SEC. 505. EFFECT ON EXISTING OBLIGATIONS. 

2 Nothing in this Act preempts or modifies any existing 

3 obligation of the United States under Federal reclamation 

4 law to operate the Central Valley Project in conformity 

5 with State law, including established water rights prior6 ities. 

7 TITLE VI—MISCELLANEOUS 

8 SEC. 601. AUTHORIZED SERVICE AREA. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The authorized service area of the 

10 Central Valley Project authorized under the Central Valley 

11 Project Improvement Act (Public Law 102–575; 106 Stat. 

12 4706) shall include the area within the boundaries of the 

13 Kettleman City Community Services District, California, 

14 as in existence on the date of enactment of this Act. 

15 (b) LONG-TERM CONTRACT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the Central 

17 Valley Project Improvement Act (Public Law 102– 

18 575; 106 Stat. 4706) and subject to paragraph (2), 

19 the Secretary of the Interior, in accordance with the 

20 Federal reclamation laws, shall enter into a long21 term contract with the Kettleman City Community 

22 Services District, California, under terms and condi23 tions mutually agreeable to the parties, for the deliv24 ery of up to 900 acre-feet of Central Valley Project 

25 water for municipal and industrial use. 


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1 (2) LIMITATION.—Central Valley Project water 

2 deliveries authorized under the contract entered into 

3 under paragraph (1) shall be limited to the minimal 

4 quantity necessary to meet the immediate needs of 

5 the Kettleman City Community Services District, 

6 California, in the event that local supplies or State 

7 Water Project allocations are insufficient to meet 

8 those needs. 

9 (c) PERMIT.—The Secretary shall apply for a permit 

10 with the State for a joint place of use for water deliveries 

11 authorized under the contract entered into under sub12 section (b) with respect to the expanded service area under 

13 subsection (a), consistent with State law. 

14 (d) ADDITIONAL COSTS.—If any additional infra15 structure, water treatment, or related costs are needed to 

16 implement this section, those costs shall be the responsi17 bility of the non-Federal entity. 

18 SEC. 602. OVERSIGHT BOARD FOR RESTORATION FUND. 

19 (a) PLAN; ADVISORY BOARD.—Section 3407 of the 

20 Central Valley Project Improvement Act (Public Law 

21 102–575; 106 Stat. 4726) is amended by adding at the 

22 end the following: 

23 ‘‘(g) PLAN ON EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each fiscal year, the 

25 Secretary, in consultation with the Advisory Board, 


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1 shall submit to Congress a plan for the expenditure 

2 of all of the funds deposited into the Restoration 

3 Fund during the preceding fiscal year. 

4 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The plan shall include an 

5 analysis of the cost-effectiveness of each expenditure. 

6 ‘‘(h) ADVISORY BOARD.— 

7 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 

8 the Restoration Fund Advisory Board (referred to in 

9 this section as the ‘Advisory Board’), which shall be 

10 composed of 11 members appointed by the Sec11 retary. 

12 ‘‘(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

14 appoint members to the Advisory Board that 

15 represent the various Central Valley Project 

16 stakeholders, of whom— 

17 ‘‘(i) 4 members shall be agricultural 

18 users of the Central Valley Project, includ19 ing at least one agricultural user from 

20 north-of-the-Delta and one agricultural 

21 user from south-of-the-Delta; 

22 ‘‘(ii) 2 members shall be municipal 

23 and industrial users of the Central Valley 

24 Project, including one municipal and in25 dustrial user from north-of-the-Delta and 


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1 one municipal and industrial user from 

2 south-of-the-Delta; 

3 ‘‘(iii) 3 members shall be power con4 tractors of the Central Valley Project, in5 cluding at least one power contractor from 

6 north-of-the-Delta and from south-of-the7 Delta; 

8 ‘‘(iv) 1 member shall be a representa9 tive of a Federal national wildlife refuge 

10 that contracts for Central Valley Project 

11 water supplies with the Bureau of Rec12 lamation; and 

13 ‘‘(v) 1 member shall have expertise in 

14 the economic impacts of the changes to 

15 water operations. 

16 ‘‘(B) OBSERVER.—The Secretary and the 

17 Secretary of Commerce may each designate a 

18 representative to act as an observer of the Advi19 sory Board. 

20 ‘‘(C) CHAIRMAN.—The Secretary shall ap21 point 1 of the members described in subpara22 graph (A) to serve as Chairman of the Advisory 

23 Board. 

24 ‘‘(3) TERMS.—The term of each member of the 

25 Advisory Board shall be 4 years. 


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1 ‘‘(4) DATE OF APPOINTMENTS.—The appoint2 ment of a member of the Panel shall be made not 

3 later than— 

4 ‘‘(A) the date that is 120 days after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act; or 

6 ‘‘(B) in the case of a vacancy on the Panel 

7 described in subsection (c)(2), the date that is 

8 120 days after the date on which the vacancy 

9 occurs. 

10 ‘‘(5) VACANCIES.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A vacancy on the 

12 Panel shall be filled in the manner in which the 

13 original appointment was made and shall be 

14 subject to any conditions that applied with re15 spect to the original appointment. 

16 ‘‘(B) FILLING UNEXPIRED TERM.—An in17 dividual chosen to fill a vacancy shall be ap18 pointed for the unexpired term of the member 

19 replaced. 

20 ‘‘(C) EXPIRATION OF TERMS.—The term 

21 of any member shall not expire before the date 

22 on which the successor of the member takes of23 fice. 


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1 ‘‘(6) REMOVAL.—A member of the Panel may 

2 be removed from office by the Secretary of the Inte3 rior. 

4 ‘‘(7) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.— 

5 The Panel shall not be subject to the requirements 

6 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. 

7 ‘‘(8) DUTIES.—The duties of the Advisory 

8 Board are— 

9 ‘‘(A) to meet not less frequently than semi10 annually to develop and make recommendations 

11 to the Secretary regarding priorities and spend12 ing levels on projects and programs carried out 

13 under this title; 

14 ‘‘(B) to ensure that any advice given or 

15 recommendation made by the Advisory Board 

16 reflects the independent judgment of the Advi17 sory Board; 

18 ‘‘(C) not later than December 31, 2015, 

19 and annually thereafter, to submit to the Sec20 retary and Congress the recommendations 

21 under subparagraph (A); and 

22 ‘‘(D) not later than December 31, 2015, 

23 and biennially thereafter, to submit to Congress 

24 details of the progress made in achieving the 

25 actions required under section 3406. 


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1 ‘‘(9) ADMINISTRATION.—With the consent of 

2 the appropriate agency head, the Advisory Board 

3 may use the facilities and services of any Federal 

4 agency. 

5 ‘‘(10) COOPERATION AND ASSISTANCE.— 

6 ‘‘(A) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Upon 

7 request of the Panel Chair for information or 

8 assistance to facilitate carrying out this section, 

9 the Secretary of the Interior shall promptly pro10 vide such information, unless otherwise prohib11 ited by law. 

12 ‘‘(B) SPACE AND ASSISTANCE.—The Sec13 retary of the Interior shall provide the Panel 

14 with appropriate and adequate office space, to15 gether with such equipment, office supplies, and 

16 communications facilities and services as may 

17 be necessary for the operation of the Panel, and 

18 shall provide necessary maintenance services for 

19 such offices and the equipment and facilities lo20 cated therein.’’. 

21 SEC. 603. WATER SUPPLY ACCOUNTING. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—All Central Valley Project water, 

23 except Central Valley Project water released pursuant to 

24 U.S. Department of the Interior Record of Decision, Trin25 ity River Mainstem Fishery Restoration Final EnvironVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Jun 30, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00083 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2898.IH H2898

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1 mental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report 

2 dated the December 2000 used to implement an action 

3 undertaken for a fishery beneficial purpose that was not 

4 imposed by terms and conditions existing in licenses, per5 mits, and other agreements pertaining to the Central Val6 ley Project under applicable State or Federal law existing 

7 on October 30, 1992, shall be credited to the quantity of 

8 Central Valley Project yield dedicated and managed under 

9 this section; provided, that nothing herein shall affect the 

10 Secretary of the Interior’s duty to comply with any other11 wise lawful requirement imposed on operations of the Cen12 tral Valley Project under any provision of Federal or State 

13 law. 

14 (b) RECLAMATION POLICIES AND ALLOCATIONS.— 

15 Reclamation policies and allocations shall not be based 

16 upon any premise or assumption that Central Valley 

17 Project contract supplies are supplemental or secondary 

18 to any other contractor source of supply. 

19 SEC. 604. IMPLEMENTATION OF WATER REPLACEMENT 

20 PLAN. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than October 1, 2016, 

22 the Secretary of the Interior shall update and implement 

23 the plan required by section 3408(j) of title XXXIV of 

24 Public Law 102–575. The Secretary shall provide reports 

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1 menting the plan required by section 3408(j) of title 

2 XXXIV of Public Law 102–575. 

3 (b) FAILURE TO UPDATE AND IMPLEMENT PLAN.— 

4 If the Secretary fails to update and implement the plan 

5 required in subsection (a) within 180 days of enactment 

6 of this Act, the amount made available to the Policy and 

7 Administration Account of the Bureau of Reclamation for 

8 the operation of the Washington, DC, office shall be re9 duced by an amount of $20,000 per day and transferred 

10 to the Treasury for deficit reduction until the feasibility 

11 reports are provided to Congress. 

12 (c) POTENTIAL AMENDMENT.—If the plan required 

13 in subsection (a) has not increased the Central Valley 

14 Project yield by 800,000 acre-feet within 5 years after the 

15 enactment of this Act, then section 3406 of the Central 

16 Valley Project Improvement Act (title XXXIV of Public 

17 Law 102–575) is amended as follows: 

18 (1) In subsection (b)— 

19 (A) by amending paragraph (2)(C) to read: 

20 ‘‘(C) If by March 15, 2018, and any year 

21 thereafter the quantity of Central Valley 

22 Project water forecasted to be made available to 

23 all water service or repayment contractors of 

24 the Central Valley Project is below 50 percent 

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1 able under said contracts, the quantity of Cen2 tral Valley Project yield dedicated and managed 

3 for that year under this paragraph shall be re4 duced by 25 percent.’’. 

5 SEC. 605. NATURAL AND ARTIFICIALLY SPAWNED SPECIES. 

6 After the date of the enactment of this title, and re7 gardless of the date of listing, the Secretaries of the Inte8 rior and Commerce shall not distinguish between natural9 spawned and hatchery-spawned or otherwise artificially 

10 propagated strains of a species in making any determina11 tion under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

12 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) that relates to any anadromous or 

13 pelagic fish species that resides for all or a portion of its 

14 life in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta or rivers tribu15 tary thereto. 

16 SEC. 606. TRANSFER THE NEW MELONES UNIT, CENTRAL 

17 VALLEY PROJECT TO INTERESTED PRO18 VIDERS. 

19 (a) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this Act, the 

20 following terms apply: 

21 (1) INTERESTED LOCAL WATER AND POWER

22 PROVIDERS.—The term ‘‘interested local water and 

23 power providers’’ includes the Calaveras County 

24 Water District, Calaveras Public Power Agency, 

25 Central San Joaquin Water Conservation District, 


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1 Oakdale Irrigation District, Stockton East Water 

2 District, South San Joaquin Irrigation District, 

3 Tuolumne Utilities District, Tuolumne Public Power 

4 Agency, and Union Public Utilities District. 

5 (2) NEW MELONES UNIT, CENTRAL VALLEY

6 PROJECT.—The term ‘‘New Melones Unit, Central 

7 Valley Project’’ means all Federal reclamation 

8 projects located within or diverting water from or to 

9 the watershed of the Stanislaus and San Joaquin 

10 rivers and their tributaries as authorized by the Act 

11 of August 26, 1937 (50 Stat. 850), and all Acts 

12 amendatory or supplemental thereto, including the 

13 Act of October 23, 1962 (76 Stat. 1173). 

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

15 the Secretary of the Interior. 

16 (b) NEGOTIATIONS.—Notwithstanding any other pro17 vision of law, not later than 180 days after the date of 

18 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall enter into 

19 negotiations with interested local water and power pro20 viders for the transfer ownership, control, and operation 

21 of the New Melones Unit, Central Valley Project to inter22 ested local water and power providers within the State of 

23 California. 

24 (c) TRANSFER.—The Secretary shall transfer the 

25 New Melones Unit, Central Valley Project in accordance 


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1 with an agreement reached pursuant to negotiations con2 ducted under subsection (b). 

3 (d) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 360 days after 

4 the date of the enactment of this Act, and every 6 months 

5 thereafter, the Secretary shall notify the appropriate com6 mittees of the House of Representatives and the Senate— 

7 (1) if an agreement is reached pursuant to ne8 gotiations conducted under section 1(b), the terms of 

9 that agreement; 

10 (2) of the status of formal discussions with in11 terested local water and power providers for the 

12 transfer of ownership, control, and operation of the 

13 New Melones Unit, Central Valley Project to inter14 ested local water and power providers; 

15 (3) of all unresolved issues that are preventing 

16 execution of an agreement for the transfer of owner17 ship, control, and operation of the New Melones 

18 Unit, Central Valley Project to interested local water 

19 and power providers; 

20 (4) on analysis and review of studies, reports, 

21 discussions, hearing transcripts, negotiations, and 

22 other information about past and present formal dis23 cussions that— 

24 (A) have a serious impact on the progress 

25 of the formal discussions; 


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1 (B) explain or provide information about 

2 the issues that prevent progress or finalization 

3 of formal discussions; or 

4 (C) are, in whole or in part, preventing 

5 execution of an agreement for the transfer; and 

6 (5) of any actions the Secretary recommends 

7 that the United States should take to finalize an 

8 agreement for that transfer. 

9 SEC. 607. BASIN STUDIES. 

10 (a) AUTHORIZED STUDIES.—The Secretary is au11 thorized and directed to expand opportunities and expedite 

12 completion of assessments under section 9503(b) of the 

13 SECURE Water Act, with non-Federal partners, of indi14 vidual sub-basins and watersheds within major Reclama15 tion river basins; and shall ensure timely decision and ex16 pedited implementation of adaptation and mitigation 

17 strategies developed through the special study process. 

18 (b) FUNDING.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The non-Federal partners 

20 shall be responsible for 100 percent of the cost of 

21 the special studies. 

22 (2) CONTRIBUTED FUNDS.—The Secretary may 

23 accept and use contributions of funds from the non24 Federal partners to carry out activities under the 

25 special studies. 


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1 SEC. 608. OPERATIONS OF THE TRINITY RIVER DIVISION. 

2 The Secretary of the Interior, in the operation of the 

3 Trinity River Division of the Central Valley Project, shall 

4 not make releases from Lewiston Dam in excess of the 

5 volume for each water-year type required by the U.S. De6 partment of the Interior Record of Decision, Trinity River 

7 Mainstem Fishery Restoration Final Environmental Im8 pact Statement/Environmental Impact Report dated De9 cember 2000. 

10 (1) A maximum of 369,000 acre-feet in a 

11 ‘‘critically dry’’ year. 

12 (2) A maximum of 453,000 acre-feet in a ‘‘dry’’ 

13 year. 

14 (3) A maximum of 647,000 acre-feet in a ‘‘nor15 mal’’ year. 

16 (4) A maximum of 701,000 acre-feet in a ‘‘wet’’ 

17 year. 

18 (5) A maximum of 815,000 acre-feet in an ‘‘ex19 tremely wet’’ year. 

20 SEC. 609. AMENDMENT TO PURPOSES. 

21 Section 3402 of the Central Valley Project Improve22 ment Act (106 Stat. 4706) is amended— 

23 (1) in subsection (f), by striking the period at 

24 the end; and 

25 (2) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(g) to ensure that water dedicated to fish and wild2 life purposes by this title is replaced and provided to Cen3 tral Valley Project water contractors by December 31, 

4 2018, at the lowest cost reasonably achievable; and 

5 ‘‘(h) to facilitate and expedite water transfers in ac6 cordance with this Act.’’. 

7 SEC. 610. AMENDMENT TO DEFINITION. 

8 Section 3403 of the Central Valley Project Improve9 ment Act (106 Stat. 4707) is amended— 

10 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol11 lows: 

12 ‘‘(a) the term ‘anadromous fish’ means those native 

13 stocks of salmon (including steelhead) and sturgeon that, 

14 as of October 30, 1992, were present in the Sacramento 

15 and San Joaquin Rivers and their tributaries and ascend 

16 those rivers and their tributaries to reproduce after matur17 ing in San Francisco Bay or the Pacific Ocean;’’; 

18 (2) in subsection (l), by striking ‘‘and,’’; 

19 (3) in subsection (m), by striking the period 

20 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

21 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(n) the term ‘reasonable flow’ means water flows ca23 pable of being maintained taking into account competing 

24 consumptive uses of water and economic, environmental, 

25 and social factors.’’. 


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1 TITLE VII—WATER SUPPLY 

2 PERMITTING ACT 

3 SEC. 701. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Water Supply Permit5 ting Coordination Act’’. 

6 SEC. 702. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this title: 

8 (1) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

9 the Secretary of the Interior. 

10 (2) BUREAU.—The term ‘‘Bureau’’ means the 

11 Bureau of Reclamation. 

12 (3) QUALIFYING PROJECTS.—The term ‘‘quali13 fying projects’’ means new surface water storage 

14 projects in the States covered under the Act of June 

15 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, chapter 1093), and Acts 

16 supplemental to and amendatory of that Act (43 

17 U.S.C. 371 et seq.) constructed on lands adminis18 tered by the Department of the Interior or the De19 partment of Agriculture, exclusive of any easement, 

20 right-of-way, lease, or any private holding. 

21 (4) COOPERATING AGENCIES.—The term ‘‘co22 operating agency’’ means a Federal agency with ju23 risdiction over a review, analysis, opinion, statement, 

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1 eral laws and regulations, or a State agency subject 

2 to section 703(c). 

3 SEC. 703. ESTABLISHMENT OF LEAD AGENCY AND COOPER4 ATING AGENCIES. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF LEAD AGENCY.—The Bu6 reau of Reclamation is established as the lead agency for 

7 purposes of coordinating all reviews, analyses, opinions, 

8 statements, permits, licenses, or other approvals or deci9 sions required under Federal law to construct qualifying 

10 projects. 

11 (b) IDENTIFICATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF CO12 OPERATING AGENCIES.—The Commissioner of the Bureau 

13 shall— 

14 (1) identify, as early as practicable upon receipt 

15 of an application for a qualifying project, any Fed16 eral agency that may have jurisdiction over a review, 

17 analysis, opinion, statement, permit, license, ap18 proval, or decision required for a qualifying project 

19 under applicable Federal laws and regulations; and 

20 (2) notify any such agency, within a reasonable 

21 timeframe, that the agency has been designated as 

22 a cooperating agency in regards to the qualifying 

23 project unless that agency responds to the Bureau in 

24 writing, within a timeframe set forth by the Bureau, 

25 notifying the Bureau that the agency— 


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1 (A) has no jurisdiction or authority with 

2 respect to the qualifying project; 

3 (B) has no expertise or information rel4 evant to the qualifying project or any review, 

5 analysis, opinion, statement, permit, license, or 

6 other approval or decision associated therewith; 

7 or 

8 (C) does not intend to submit comments 

9 on the qualifying project or conduct any review 

10 of such a project or make any decision with re11 spect to such project in a manner other than in 

12 cooperation with the Bureau. 

13 (c) STATE AUTHORITY.—A State in which a quali14 fying project is being considered may choose, consistent 

15 with State law— 

16 (1) to participate as a cooperating agency; and 

17 (2) to make subject to the processes of this title 

18 all State agencies that— 

19 (A) have jurisdiction over the qualifying 

20 project; 

21 (B) are required to conduct or issue a re22 view, analysis, or opinion for the qualifying 

23 project; or 


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1 (C) are required to make a determination 

2 on issuing a permit, license, or approval for the 

3 qualifying project. 

4 SEC. 704. BUREAU RESPONSIBILITIES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The principal responsibilities of 

6 the Bureau under this title are to— 

7 (1) serve as the point of contact for applicants, 

8 State agencies, Indian tribes, and others regarding 

9 proposed qualifying projects; 

10 (2) coordinate preparation of unified environ11 mental documentation that will serve as the basis for 

12 all Federal decisions necessary to authorize the use 

13 of Federal lands for qualifying projects; and 

14 (3) coordinate all Federal agency reviews nec15 essary for project development and construction of 

16 qualifying projects. 

17 (b) COORDINATION PROCESS.—The Bureau shall 

18 have the following coordination responsibilities: 

19 (1) PRE-APPLICATION COORDINATION.—Notify 

20 cooperating agencies of proposed qualifying projects 

21 not later than 30 days after receipt of a proposal 

22 and facilitate a preapplication meeting for prospec23 tive applicants, relevant Federal and State agencies, 

24 and Indian tribes to— 


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1 (A) explain applicable processes, data re2 quirements, and applicant submissions nec3 essary to complete the required Federal agency 

4 reviews within the timeframe established; and 

5 (B) establish the schedule for the quali6 fying project. 

7 (2) CONSULTATION WITH COOPERATING AGEN8 CIES.—Consult with the cooperating agencies 

9 throughout the Federal agency review process, iden10 tify and obtain relevant data in a timely manner, 

11 and set necessary deadlines for cooperating agencies. 

12 (3) SCHEDULE.—Work with the qualifying 

13 project applicant and cooperating agencies to estab14 lish a project schedule. In establishing the schedule, 

15 the Bureau shall consider, among other factors— 

16 (A) the responsibilities of cooperating 

17 agencies under applicable laws and regulations; 

18 (B) the resources available to the cooper19 ating agencies and the non-Federal qualifying 

20 project sponsor, as applicable; 

21 (C) the overall size and complexity of the 

22 qualifying project; 

23 (D) the overall schedule for and cost of the 

24 qualifying project; and 


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1 (E) the sensitivity of the natural and his2 toric resources that may be affected by the 

3 qualifying project. 

4 (4) ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE.—Prepare a 

5 unified environmental review document for each 

6 qualifying project application, incorporating a single 

7 environmental record on which all cooperating agen8 cies with authority to issue approvals for a given 

9 qualifying project shall base project approval deci10 sions. Help ensure that cooperating agencies make 

11 necessary decisions, within their respective authori12 ties, regarding Federal approvals in accordance with 

13 the following timelines: 

14 (A) Not later than one year after accept15 ance of a completed project application when an 

16 environmental assessment and finding of no sig17 nificant impact is determined to be the appro18 priate level of review under the National Envi19 ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 

20 et seq.). 

21 (B) Not later than one year and 30 days 

22 after the close of the public comment period for 

23 a draft environmental impact statement under 

24 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

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1 mental impact statement is required under the 

2 same. 

3 (5) CONSOLIDATED ADMINISTRATIVE

4 RECORD.—Maintain a consolidated administrative 

5 record of the information assembled and used by the 

6 cooperating agencies as the basis for agency deci7 sions. 

8 (6) PROJECT DATA RECORDS.—To the extent 

9 practicable and consistent with Federal law, ensure 

10 that all project data is submitted and maintained in 

11 generally accessible electronic format, compile, and 

12 where authorized under existing law, make available 

13 such project data to cooperating agencies, the quali14 fying project applicant, and to the public. 

15 (7) PROJECT MANAGER.—Appoint a project 

16 manager for each qualifying project. The project 

17 manager shall have authority to oversee the project 

18 and to facilitate the issuance of the relevant final 

19 authorizing documents, and shall be responsible for 

20 ensuring fulfillment of all Bureau responsibilities set 

21 forth in this section and all cooperating agency re22 sponsibilities under section 705. 

23 SEC. 705. COOPERATING AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES. 

24 (a) ADHERENCE TO BUREAU SCHEDULE.—Upon no25 tification of an application for a qualifying project, all coVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Jun 30, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00098 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2898.IH H2898

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1 operating agencies shall submit to the Bureau a timeframe 

2 under which the cooperating agency reasonably considers 

3 it will be able to complete its authorizing responsibilities. 

4 The Bureau shall use the timeframe submitted under this 

5 subsection to establish the project schedule under section 

6 704, and the cooperating agencies shall adhere to the 

7 project schedule established by the Bureau. 

8 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL RECORD.—Cooperating agen9 cies shall submit to the Bureau all environmental review 

10 material produced or compiled in the course of carrying 

11 out activities required under Federal law consistent with 

12 the project schedule established by the Bureau. 

13 (c) DATA SUBMISSION.—To the extent practicable 

14 and consistent with Federal law, the cooperating agencies 

15 shall submit all relevant project data to the Bureau in a 

16 generally accessible electronic format subject to the project 

17 schedule set forth by the Bureau. 

18 SEC. 706. FUNDING TO PROCESS PERMITS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, after public notice 

20 in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act (5 

21 U.S.C. 553), may accept and expend funds contributed by 

22 a non-Federal public entity to expedite the evaluation of 

23 a permit of that entity related to a qualifying project. 

24 (b) EFFECT ON PERMITTING.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this section, 

2 the Secretary shall ensure that the use of funds ac3 cepted under subsection (a) will not impact impartial 

4 decisionmaking with respect to permits, either sub5 stantively or procedurally. 

6 (2) EVALUATION OF PERMITS.—In carrying out 

7 this section, the Secretary shall ensure that the eval8 uation of permits carried out using funds accepted 

9 under this section shall— 

10 (A) be reviewed by the Regional Director 

11 of the Bureau of Reclamation, or the Regional 

12 Director’s designee, of the region in which the 

13 qualifying project or activity is located; and 

14 (B) use the same procedures for decisions 

15 that would otherwise be required for the evalua16 tion of permits for similar projects or activities 

17 not carried out using funds authorized under 

18 this section. 

19 (3) IMPARTIAL DECISIONMAKING.—In carrying 

20 out this section, the Secretary and the cooperating 

21 agencies receiving funds under this section for quali22 fying projects shall ensure that the use of the funds 

23 accepted under this section for such projects shall 

24 not— 


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1 (A) impact impartial decisionmaking with 

2 respect to the issuance of permits, either sub3 stantively or procedurally; or 

4 (B) diminish, modify, or otherwise affect 

5 the statutory or regulatory authorities of such 

6 agencies. 

7 (c) LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS.—None of the 

8 funds accepted under this section shall be used to carry 

9 out a review of the evaluation of permits required under 

10 subsection (b)(2)(A). 

11 (d) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary shall en12 sure that all final permit decisions carried out using funds 

13 authorized under this section are made available to the 

14 public, including on the Internet. 

15 TITLE VIII—BUREAU OF REC16 LAMATION PROJECT STREAM17 LINING 

18 SEC. 801. SHORT TITLE. 

19 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Bureau of Reclama20 tion Project Streamlining Act’’. 

21 SEC. 802. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this title: 

23 (1) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT.— 

24 The term ‘‘environmental impact statement’’ means 

25 the detailed statement of environmental impacts of 


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1 a project required to be prepared pursuant to the 

2 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

3 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

4 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW PROCESS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘environ6 mental review process’’ means the process of 

7 preparing an environmental impact statement, 

8 environmental assessment, categorical exclusion, 

9 or other document under the National Environ10 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

11 seq.) for a project study. 

12 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘environ13 mental review process’’ includes the process for 

14 and completion of any environmental permit, 

15 approval, review, or study required for a project 

16 study under any Federal law other than the 

17 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

18 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

19 (3) FEDERAL JURISDICTIONAL AGENCY.—The 

20 term ‘‘Federal jurisdictional agency’’ means a Fed21 eral agency with jurisdiction delegated by law, regu22 lation, order, or otherwise over a review, analysis, 

23 opinion, statement, permit, license, or other approval 

24 or decision required for a project study under appli25 cable Federal laws (including regulations). 


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1 (4) FEDERAL LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Fed2 eral lead agency’’ means the Bureau of Reclamation. 

3 (5) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘project’’ means a 

4 surface water project, a project under the purview of 

5 title XVI of Public Law 102–575, or a rural water 

6 supply project investigated under Public Law 109– 

7 451 to be carried out, funded or operated in whole 

8 or in party by the Secretary pursuant to the Act of 

9 June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, chapter 1093), and 

10 Acts supplemental to and amendatory of that Act 

11 (43 U.S.C. 371 et seq.). 

12 (6) PROJECT SPONSOR.—The term ‘‘project 

13 sponsor’’ means a State, regional, or local authority 

14 or instrumentality or other qualifying entity, such as 

15 a water conservation district, irrigation district, 

16 water conservancy district, joint powers authority, 

17 mutual water company, canal company, rural water 

18 district or association, or any other entity that has 

19 the capacity to contract with the United States 

20 under Federal reclamation law. 

21 (7) PROJECT STUDY.—The term ‘‘project 

22 study’’ means a feasibility study for a project carried 

23 out pursuant to the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 

24 388, chapter 1093), and Acts supplemental to and 

25 amendatory of that Act (43 U.S.C. 371 et seq.). 


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1 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of the Interior. 

3 (9) SURFACE WATER STORAGE.—The term 

4 ‘‘surface water storage’’ means any surface water 

5 reservoir or impoundment that would be owned, 

6 funded or operated in whole or in part by the Bu7 reau of Reclamation or that would be integrated into 

8 a larger system owned, operated or administered in 

9 whole or in part by the Bureau of Reclamation. 

10 SEC. 803. ACCELERATION OF STUDIES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—To the extent practicable, a 

12 project study initiated by the Secretary, after the date of 

13 enactment of this Act, under the Reclamation Act of 1902 

14 (32 Stat. 388), and all Acts amendatory thereof or supple15 mentary thereto, shall— 

16 (1) result in the completion of a final feasibility 

17 report not later than 3 years after the date of initi18 ation; 

19 (2) have a maximum Federal cost of 

20 $3,000,000; and 

21 (3) ensure that personnel from the local project 

22 area, region, and headquarters levels of the Bureau 

23 of Reclamation concurrently conduct the review re24 quired under this section. 


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1 (b) EXTENSION.—If the Secretary determines that a 

2 project study described in subsection (a) will not be con3 ducted in accordance with subsection (a), the Secretary, 

4 not later than 30 days after the date of making the deter5 mination, shall— 

6 (1) prepare an updated project study schedule 

7 and cost estimate; 

8 (2) notify the non-Federal project cost-sharing 

9 partner that the project study has been delayed; and 

10 (3) provide written notice to the Committee on 

11 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives 

12 and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re13 sources of the Senate as to the reasons the require14 ments of subsection (a) are not attainable. 

15 (c) EXCEPTION.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the re17 quirements of subsection (a), the Secretary may ex18 tend the timeline of a project study by a period not 

19 to exceed 3 years, if the Secretary determines that 

20 the project study is too complex to comply with the 

21 requirements of subsection (a). 

22 (2) FACTORS.—In making a determination that 

23 a study is too complex to comply with the require24 ments of subsection (a), the Secretary shall con25 sider— 


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1 (A) the type, size, location, scope, and 

2 overall cost of the project; 

3 (B) whether the project will use any inno4 vative design or construction techniques; 

5 (C) whether the project will require signifi6 cant action by other Federal, State, or local 

7 agencies; 

8 (D) whether there is significant public dis9 pute as to the nature or effects of the project; 

10 and 

11 (E) whether there is significant public dis12 pute as to the economic or environmental costs 

13 or benefits of the project. 

14 (3) NOTIFICATION.—Each time the Secretary 

15 makes a determination under this subsection, the 

16 Secretary shall provide written notice to the Com17 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep18 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat19 ural Resources of the Senate as to the results of 

20 that determination, including an identification of the 

21 specific one or more factors used in making the de22 termination that the project is complex. 

23 (4) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not ex24 tend the timeline for a project study for a period of 

25 more than 7 years, and any project study that is not 


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1 completed before that date shall no longer be au2 thorized. 

3 (d) REVIEWS.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

4 of the initiation of a project study described in subsection 

5 (a), the Secretary shall— 

6 (1) take all steps necessary to initiate the proc7 ess for completing federally mandated reviews that 

8 the Secretary is required to complete as part of the 

9 study, including the environmental review process 

10 under section 805; 

11 (2) convene a meeting of all Federal, tribal, and 

12 State agencies identified under section 805(d) that 

13 may— 

14 (A) have jurisdiction over the project; 

15 (B) be required by law to conduct or issue 

16 a review, analysis, opinion, or statement for the 

17 project study; or 

18 (C) be required to make a determination 

19 on issuing a permit, license, or other approval 

20 or decision for the project study; and 

21 (3) take all steps necessary to provide informa22 tion that will enable required reviews and analyses 

23 related to the project to be conducted by other agen24 cies in a thorough and timely manner. 


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1 (e) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 18 months 

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

3 submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

4 House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 

5 and Natural Resources of the Senate and make publicly 

6 available a report that describes— 

7 (1) the status of the implementation of the 

8 planning process under this section, including the 

9 number of participating projects; 

10 (2) a review of project delivery schedules, in11 cluding a description of any delays on those studies 

12 initiated prior to the date of the enactment of this 

13 Act; and 

14 (3) any recommendations for additional author15 ity necessary to support efforts to expedite the 

16 project. 

17 (f) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 4 years after the 

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

19 to the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of 

20 Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat21 ural Resources of the Senate and make publicly available 

22 a report that describes— 

23 (1) the status of the implementation of this sec24 tion, including a description of each project study 

25 subject to the requirements of this section; 


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1 (2) the amount of time taken to complete each 

2 project study; and 

3 (3) any recommendations for additional author4 ity necessary to support efforts to expedite the 

5 project study process, including an analysis of 

6 whether the limitation established by subsection 

7 (a)(2) needs to be adjusted to address the impacts 

8 of inflation. 

9 SEC. 804. EXPEDITED COMPLETION OF REPORTS. 

10 The Secretary shall— 

11 (1) expedite the completion of any ongoing 

12 project study initiated before the date of enactment 

13 of this Act; and 

14 (2) if the Secretary determines that the project 

15 is justified in a completed report, proceed directly to 

16 preconstruction planning, engineering, and design of 

17 the project in accordance with the Reclamation Act 

18 of 1902 (32 Stat. 388), and all Acts amendatory 

19 thereof or supplementary thereto. 

20 SEC. 805. PROJECT ACCELERATION. 

21 (a) APPLICABILITY.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—This section shall apply to— 

23 (A) each project study that is initiated 

24 after the date of enactment of this Act and for 

25 which an environmental impact statement is 


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1 prepared under the National Environmental 

2 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

3 (B) the extent determined appropriate by 

4 the Secretary, to other project studies initiated 

5 before the date of enactment of this Act and for 

6 which an environmental review process docu7 ment is prepared under the National Environ8 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

9 seq.); and 

10 (C) any project study for the development 

11 of a non-federally owned and operated surface 

12 water storage project for which the Secretary 

13 determines there is a demonstrable Federal in14 terest and the project— 

15 (i) is located in a river basin where 

16 other Bureau of Reclamation water 

17 projects are located; 

18 (ii) will create additional water sup19 plies that support Bureau of Reclamation 

20 water projects; or 

21 (iii) will become integrated into the 

22 operation of Bureau of Reclamation water 

23 projects. 

24 (2) FLEXIBILITY.—Any authority granted 

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1 quirement established under this section may be sat2 isfied, for the conduct of an environmental review 

3 process for a project study, a class of project stud4 ies, or a program of project studies. 

5 (3) LIST OF PROJECT STUDIES.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall an7 nually prepare, and make publicly available, a 

8 list of all project studies that the Secretary has 

9 determined— 

10 (i) meets the standards described in 

11 paragraph (1); and 

12 (ii) does not have adequate funding to 

13 make substantial progress toward the com14 pletion of the project study. 

15 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The Secretary shall in16 clude for each project study on the list under 

17 subparagraph (A) a description of the estimated 

18 amounts necessary to make substantial progress 

19 on the project study. 

20 (b) PROJECT REVIEW PROCESS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 

22 and implement a coordinated environmental review 

23 process for the development of project studies. 

24 (2) COORDINATED REVIEW.—The coordinated 

25 environmental review process described in paragraph 


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1 (1) shall require that any review, analysis, opinion, 

2 statement, permit, license, or other approval or deci3 sion issued or made by a Federal, State, or local 

4 governmental agency or an Indian tribe for a project 

5 study described in subsection (b) be conducted, to 

6 the maximum extent practicable, concurrently with 

7 any other applicable governmental agency or Indian 

8 tribe. 

9 (3) TIMING.—The coordinated environmental 

10 review process under this subsection shall be com11 pleted not later than the date on which the Sec12 retary, in consultation and concurrence with the 

13 agencies identified under section 805(d), establishes 

14 with respect to the project study. 

15 (c) LEAD AGENCIES.— 

16 (1) JOINT LEAD AGENCIES.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the require18 ments of the National Environmental Policy 

19 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the 

20 requirements of section 1506.8 of title 40, Code 

21 of Federal Regulations (or successor regula22 tions), including the concurrence of the pro23 posed joint lead agency, a project sponsor may 

24 serve as the joint lead agency. 


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1 (B) PROJECT SPONSOR AS JOINT LEAD

2 AGENCY.—A project sponsor that is a State or 

3 local governmental entity may— 

4 (i) with the concurrence of the Sec5 retary, serve as a joint lead agency with 

6 the Federal lead agency for purposes of 

7 preparing any environmental document 

8 under the National Environmental Policy 

9 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); and 

10 (ii) prepare any environmental review 

11 process document under the National En12 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

13 4321 et seq.) required in support of any 

14 action or approval by the Secretary if— 

15 (I) the Secretary provides guid16 ance in the preparation process and 

17 independently evaluates that docu18 ment; 

19 (II) the project sponsor complies 

20 with all requirements applicable to the 

21 Secretary under— 

22 (aa) the National Environ23 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

24 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 


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1 (bb) any regulation imple2 menting that Act; and 

3 (cc) any other applicable 

4 Federal law; and 

5 (III) the Secretary approves and 

6 adopts the document before the Sec7 retary takes any subsequent action or 

8 makes any approval based on that 

9 document, regardless of whether the 

10 action or approval of the Secretary re11 sults in Federal funding. 

12 (2) DUTIES.—The Secretary shall ensure 

13 that— 

14 (A) the project sponsor complies with all 

15 design and mitigation commitments made joint16 ly by the Secretary and the project sponsor in 

17 any environmental document prepared by the 

18 project sponsor in accordance with this sub19 section; and 

20 (B) any environmental document prepared 

21 by the project sponsor is appropriately supple22 mented to address any changes to the project 

23 the Secretary determines are necessary. 

24 (3) ADOPTION AND USE OF DOCUMENTS.—Any 

25 environmental document prepared in accordance 


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1 with this subsection shall be adopted and used by 

2 any Federal agency making any determination re3 lated to the project study to the same extent that 

4 the Federal agency could adopt or use a document 

5 prepared by another Federal agency under— 

6 (A) the National Environmental Policy Act 

7 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); and 

8 (B) parts 1500 through 1508 of title 40, 

9 Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regu10 lations). 

11 (4) ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITY OF LEAD

12 AGENCY.—With respect to the environmental review 

13 process for any project study, the Federal lead agen14 cy shall have authority and responsibility— 

15 (A) to take such actions as are necessary 

16 and proper and within the authority of the Fed17 eral lead agency to facilitate the expeditious 

18 resolution of the environmental review process 

19 for the project study; and 

20 (B) to prepare or ensure that any required 

21 environmental impact statement or other envi22 ronmental review document for a project study 

23 required to be completed under the National 

24 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 


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1 4321 et seq.) is completed in accordance with 

2 this section and applicable Federal law. 

3 (d) PARTICIPATING AND COOPERATING AGENCIES.— 

4 (1) IDENTIFICATION OF JURISDICTIONAL AGEN5 CIES.—With respect to carrying out the environ6 mental review process for a project study, the Sec7 retary shall identify, as early as practicable in the 

8 environmental review process, all Federal, State, and 

9 local government agencies and Indian tribes that 

10 may— 

11 (A) have jurisdiction over the project; 

12 (B) be required by law to conduct or issue 

13 a review, analysis, opinion, or statement for the 

14 project study; or 

15 (C) be required to make a determination 

16 on issuing a permit, license, or other approval 

17 or decision for the project study. 

18 (2) STATE AUTHORITY.—If the environmental 

19 review process is being implemented by the Sec20 retary for a project study within the boundaries of 

21 a State, the State, consistent with State law, may 

22 choose to participate in the process and to make 

23 subject to the process all State agencies that— 

24 (A) have jurisdiction over the project; 


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1 (B) are required to conduct or issue a re2 view, analysis, opinion, or statement for the 

3 project study; or 

4 (C) are required to make a determination 

5 on issuing a permit, license, or other approval 

6 or decision for the project study. 

7 (3) INVITATION.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal lead agen9 cy shall invite, as early as practicable in the en10 vironmental review process, any agency identi11 fied under paragraph (1) to become a partici12 pating or cooperating agency, as applicable, in 

13 the environmental review process for the project 

14 study. 

15 (B) DEADLINE.—An invitation to partici16 pate issued under subparagraph (A) shall set a 

17 deadline by which a response to the invitation 

18 shall be submitted, which may be extended by 

19 the Federal lead agency for good cause. 

20 (4) PROCEDURES.—Section 1501.6 of title 40, 

21 Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the 

22 date of enactment of the Bureau of Reclamation 

23 Surface Water Storage Streamlining Act) shall gov24 ern the identification and the participation of a co25 operating agency. 


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1 (5) FEDERAL COOPERATING AGENCIES.—Any 

2 Federal agency that is invited by the Federal lead 

3 agency to participate in the environmental review 

4 process for a project study shall be designated as a 

5 cooperating agency by the Federal lead agency un6 less the invited agency informs the Federal lead 

7 agency, in writing, by the deadline specified in the 

8 invitation that the invited agency— 

9 (A)(i) has no jurisdiction or authority with 

10 respect to the project; 

11 (ii) has no expertise or information rel12 evant to the project; or 

13 (iii) does not have adequate funds to par14 ticipate in the project; and 

15 (B) does not intend to submit comments 

16 on the project. 

17 (6) ADMINISTRATION.—A participating or co18 operating agency shall comply with this section and 

19 any schedule established under this section. 

20 (7) EFFECT OF DESIGNATION.—Designation as 

21 a participating or cooperating agency under this 

22 subsection shall not imply that the participating or 

23 cooperating agency— 

24 (A) supports a proposed project; or 


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1 (B) has any jurisdiction over, or special ex2 pertise with respect to evaluation of, the 

3 project. 

4 (8) CONCURRENT REVIEWS.—Each partici5 pating or cooperating agency shall— 

6 (A) carry out the obligations of that agen7 cy under other applicable law concurrently and 

8 in conjunction with the required environmental 

9 review process, unless doing so would prevent 

10 the participating or cooperating agency from 

11 conducting needed analysis or otherwise car12 rying out those obligations; and 

13 (B) formulate and implement administra14 tive, policy, and procedural mechanisms to en15 able the agency to ensure completion of the en16 vironmental review process in a timely, coordi17 nated, and environmentally responsible manner. 

18 (e) NON-FEDERAL PROJECTS INTEGRATED INTO

19 RECLAMATION SYSTEMS.—The Federal lead agency shall 

20 serve in that capacity for the entirety of all non-Federal 

21 projects that will be integrated into a larger system owned, 

22 operated or administered in whole or in part by the Bu23 reau of Reclamation. 

24 (f) NON-FEDERAL PROJECT.—If the Secretary deter25 mines that a project can be expedited by a non-Federal 


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1 sponsor and that there is a demonstrable Federal interest 

2 in expediting that project, the Secretary shall take such 

3 actions as are necessary to advance such a project as a 

4 non-Federal project, including, but not limited to, entering 

5 into agreements with the non-Federal sponsor of such 

6 project to support the planning, design and permitting of 

7 such project as a non-Federal project. 

8 (g) PROGRAMMATIC COMPLIANCE.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall issue 

10 guidance regarding the use of programmatic ap11 proaches to carry out the environmental review proc12 ess that— 

13 (A) eliminates repetitive discussions of the 

14 same issues; 

15 (B) focuses on the actual issues ripe for 

16 analyses at each level of review; 

17 (C) establishes a formal process for coordi18 nating with participating and cooperating agen19 cies, including the creation of a list of all data 

20 that are needed to carry out an environmental 

21 review process; and 

22 (D) complies with— 

23 (i) the National Environmental Policy 

24 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); and 

25 (ii) all other applicable laws. 


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1 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out para2 graph (1), the Secretary shall— 

3 (A) as the first step in drafting guidance 

4 under that paragraph, consult with relevant 

5 Federal, State, and local governmental agen6 cies, Indian tribes, and the public on the appro7 priate use and scope of the programmatic ap8 proaches; 

9 (B) emphasize the importance of collabora10 tion among relevant Federal, State, and local 

11 governmental agencies, and Indian tribes in un12 dertaking programmatic reviews, especially with 

13 respect to including reviews with a broad geo14 graphical scope; 

15 (C) ensure that the programmatic re16 views— 

17 (i) promote transparency, including of 

18 the analyses and data used in the environ19 mental review process, the treatment of 

20 any deferred issues raised by Federal, 

21 State, and local governmental agencies, In22 dian tribes, or the public, and the temporal 

23 and special scales to be used to analyze 

24 those issues; 


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1 (ii) use accurate and timely informa2 tion in the environmental review process, 

3 including— 

4 (I) criteria for determining the 

5 general duration of the usefulness of 

6 the review; and 

7 (II) the timeline for updating any 

8 out-of-date review; 

9 (iii) describe— 

10 (I) the relationship between pro11 grammatic analysis and future tiered 

12 analysis; and 

13 (II) the role of the public in the 

14 creation of future tiered analysis; and 

15 (iv) are available to other relevant 

16 Federal, State, and local governmental 

17 agencies, Indian tribes, and the public; 

18 (D) allow not fewer than 60 days of public 

19 notice and comment on any proposed guidance; 

20 and 

21 (E) address any comments received under 

22 subparagraph (D). 

23 (h) COORDINATED REVIEWS.— 

24 (1) COORDINATION PLAN.— 


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1 (A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Federal lead 

2 agency shall, after consultation with and with 

3 the concurrence of each participating and co4 operating agency and the project sponsor or 

5 joint lead agency, as applicable, establish a plan 

6 for coordinating public and agency participation 

7 in, and comment on, the environmental review 

8 process for a project study or a category of 

9 project studies. 

10 (B) SCHEDULE.— 

11 (i) IN GENERAL.—As soon as prac12 ticable but not later than 45 days after the 

13 close of the public comment period on a 

14 draft environmental impact statement, the 

15 Federal lead agency, after consultation 

16 with and the concurrence of each partici17 pating and cooperating agency and the 

18 project sponsor or joint lead agency, as ap19 plicable, shall establish, as part of the co20 ordination plan established in subpara21 graph (A), a schedule for completion of the 

22 environmental review process for the 

23 project study. 


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1 (ii) FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION.— 

2 In establishing a schedule, the Secretary 

3 shall consider factors such as— 

4 (I) the responsibilities of partici5 pating and cooperating agencies under 

6 applicable laws; 

7 (II) the resources available to the 

8 project sponsor, joint lead agency, and 

9 other relevant Federal and State 

10 agencies, as applicable; 

11 (III) the overall size and com12 plexity of the project; 

13 (IV) the overall schedule for and 

14 cost of the project; and 

15 (V) the sensitivity of the natural 

16 and historical resources that could be 

17 affected by the project. 

18 (iii) MODIFICATIONS.—The Secretary 

19 may— 

20 (I) lengthen a schedule estab21 lished under clause (i) for good cause; 

22 and 

23 (II) shorten a schedule only with 

24 concurrence of the affected partici25 pating and cooperating agencies and 


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1 the project sponsor or joint lead agen2 cy, as applicable. 

3 (iv) DISSEMINATION.—A copy of a 

4 schedule established under clause (i) shall 

5 be— 

6 (I) provided to each participating 

7 and cooperating agency and the 

8 project sponsor or joint lead agency, 

9 as applicable; and 

10 (II) made available to the public. 

11 (2) COMMENT DEADLINES.—The Federal lead 

12 agency shall establish the following deadlines for 

13 comment during the environmental review process 

14 for a project study: 

15 (A) DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

16 STATEMENTS.—For comments by Federal and 

17 State agencies and the public on a draft envi18 ronmental impact statement, a period of not 

19 more than 60 days after publication in the Fed20 eral Register of notice of the date of public 

21 availability of the draft environmental impact 

22 statement, unless— 

23 (i) a different deadline is established 

24 by agreement of the Federal lead agency, 

25 the project sponsor or joint lead agency, as 


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1 applicable, and all participating and co2 operating agencies; or 

3 (ii) the deadline is extended by the 

4 Federal lead agency for good cause. 

5 (B) OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

6 PROCESSES.—For all other comment periods es7 tablished by the Federal lead agency for agency 

8 or public comments in the environmental review 

9 process, a period of not more than 30 days 

10 after the date on which the materials on which 

11 comment is requested are made available, un12 less— 

13 (i) a different deadline is established 

14 by agreement of the Federal lead agency, 

15 the project sponsor, or joint lead agency, 

16 as applicable, and all participating and co17 operating agencies; or 

18 (ii) the deadline is extended by the 

19 Federal lead agency for good cause. 

20 (3) DEADLINES FOR DECISIONS UNDER OTHER

21 LAWS.—In any case in which a decision under any 

22 Federal law relating to a project study, including the 

23 issuance or denial of a permit or license, is required 

24 to be made by the date described in subsection 

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1 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep2 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Nat3 ural Resources of the Senate— 

4 (A) as soon as practicable after the 180- 

5 day period described in subsection (i)(5)(B), an 

6 initial notice of the failure of the Federal agen7 cy to make the decision; and 

8 (B) every 60 days thereafter until such 

9 date as all decisions of the Federal agency re10 lating to the project study have been made by 

11 the Federal agency, an additional notice that 

12 describes the number of decisions of the Fed13 eral agency that remain outstanding as of the 

14 date of the additional notice. 

15 (4) INVOLVEMENT OF THE PUBLIC.—Nothing 

16 in this subsection reduces any time period provided 

17 for public comment in the environmental review 

18 process under applicable Federal law (including reg19 ulations). 

20 (5) TRANSPARENCY REPORTING.— 

21 (A) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Not 

22 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 

23 this Act, the Secretary shall establish and main24 tain an electronic database and, in coordination 

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1 porting requirements to make publicly available 

2 the status and progress with respect to compli3 ance with applicable requirements of the Na4 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

5 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and any other Federal, 

6 State, or local approval or action required for a 

7 project study for which this section is applica8 ble. 

9 (B) PROJECT STUDY TRANSPARENCY.— 

10 Consistent with the requirements established 

11 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 

12 make publicly available the status and progress 

13 of any Federal, State, or local decision, action, 

14 or approval required under applicable laws for 

15 each project study for which this section is ap16 plicable. 

17 (i) ISSUE IDENTIFICATION AND RESOLUTION.— 

18 (1) COOPERATION.—The Federal lead agency, 

19 the cooperating agencies, and any participating 

20 agencies shall work cooperatively in accordance with 

21 this section to identify and resolve issues that could 

22 delay completion of the environmental review process 

23 or result in the denial of any approval required for 

24 the project study under applicable laws. 


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1 (2) FEDERAL LEAD AGENCY RESPONSIBIL2 ITIES.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal lead agen4 cy shall make information available to the co5 operating agencies and participating agencies as 

6 early as practicable in the environmental review 

7 process regarding the environmental and socio8 economic resources located within the project 

9 area and the general locations of the alter10 natives under consideration. 

11 (B) DATA SOURCES.—The information 

12 under subparagraph (A) may be based on exist13 ing data sources, including geographic informa14 tion systems mapping. 

15 (3) COOPERATING AND PARTICIPATING AGENCY

16 RESPONSIBILITIES.—Based on information received 

17 from the Federal lead agency, cooperating and par18 ticipating agencies shall identify, as early as prac19 ticable, any issues of concern regarding the potential 

20 environmental or socioeconomic impacts of the 

21 project, including any issues that could substantially 

22 delay or prevent an agency from granting a permit 

23 or other approval that is needed for the project 

24 study. 


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1 (4) ACCELERATED ISSUE RESOLUTION AND

2 ELEVATION.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—On the request of a 

4 participating or cooperating agency or project 

5 sponsor, the Secretary shall convene an issue 

6 resolution meeting with the relevant partici7 pating and cooperating agencies and the project 

8 sponsor or joint lead agency, as applicable, to 

9 resolve issues that may— 

10 (i) delay completion of the environ11 mental review process; or 

12 (ii) result in denial of any approval re13 quired for the project study under applica14 ble laws. 

15 (B) MEETING DATE.—A meeting requested 

16 under this paragraph shall be held not later 

17 than 21 days after the date on which the Sec18 retary receives the request for the meeting, un19 less the Secretary determines that there is good 

20 cause to extend that deadline. 

21 (C) NOTIFICATION.—On receipt of a re22 quest for a meeting under this paragraph, the 

23 Secretary shall notify all relevant participating 

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1 ing the issue to be resolved and the date for the 

2 meeting. 

3 (D) ELEVATION OF ISSUE RESOLUTION.— 

4 If a resolution cannot be achieved within the 

5 30-day period beginning on the date of a meet6 ing under this paragraph and a determination 

7 is made by the Secretary that all information 

8 necessary to resolve the issue has been ob9 tained, the Secretary shall forward the dispute 

10 to the heads of the relevant agencies for resolu11 tion. 

12 (E) CONVENTION BY SECRETARY.—The 

13 Secretary may convene an issue resolution 

14 meeting under this paragraph at any time, at 

15 the discretion of the Secretary, regardless of 

16 whether a meeting is requested under subpara17 graph (A). 

18 (5) FINANCIAL PENALTY PROVISIONS.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—A Federal jurisdictional 

20 agency shall complete any required approval or 

21 decision for the environmental review process 

22 on an expeditious basis using the shortest exist23 ing applicable process. 

24 (B) FAILURE TO DECIDE.— 

25 (i) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 (I) TRANSFER OF FUNDS.—If a 

2 Federal jurisdictional agency fails to 

3 render a decision required under any 

4 Federal law relating to a project study 

5 that requires the preparation of an 

6 environmental impact statement or 

7 environmental assessment, including 

8 the issuance or denial of a permit, li9 cense, statement, opinion, or other ap10 proval by the date described in clause 

11 (ii), the amount of funds made avail12 able to support the office of the head 

13 of the Federal jurisdictional agency 

14 shall be reduced by an amount of 

15 funding equal to the amount specified 

16 in item (aa) or (bb) of subclause (II), 

17 and those funds shall be made avail18 able to the division of the Federal ju19 risdictional agency charged with ren20 dering the decision by not later than 

21 1 day after the applicable date under 

22 clause (ii), and once each week there23 after until a final decision is rendered, 

24 subject to subparagraph (C). 


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1 (II) AMOUNT TO BE TRANS2 FERRED.—The amount referred to in 

3 subclause (I) is— 

4 (aa) $20,000 for any project 

5 study requiring the preparation 

6 of an environmental assessment 

7 or environmental impact state8 ment; or 

9 (bb) $10,000 for any project 

10 study requiring any type of re11 view under the National Environ12 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

13 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) other than 

14 an environmental assessment or 

15 environmental impact statement. 

16 (ii) DESCRIPTION OF DATE.—The 

17 date referred to in clause (i) is the later 

18 of— 

19 (I) the date that is 180 days 

20 after the date on which an application 

21 for the permit, license, or approval is 

22 complete; and 

23 (II) the date that is 180 days 

24 after the date on which the Federal 

25 lead agency issues a decision on the 


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1 project under the National Environ2 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

3 4321 et seq.). 

4 (C) LIMITATIONS.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—No transfer of 

6 funds under subparagraph (B) relating to 

7 an individual project study shall exceed, in 

8 any fiscal year, an amount equal to 1 per9 cent of the funds made available for the 

10 applicable agency office. 

11 (ii) FAILURE TO DECIDE.—The total 

12 amount transferred in a fiscal year as a re13 sult of a failure by an agency to make a 

14 decision by an applicable deadline shall not 

15 exceed an amount equal to 5 percent of the 

16 funds made available for the applicable 

17 agency office for that fiscal year. 

18 (iii) AGGREGATE.—Notwithstanding 

19 any other provision of law, for each fiscal 

20 year, the aggregate amount of financial 

21 penalties assessed against each applicable 

22 agency office under this Act and any other 

23 Federal law as a result of a failure of the 

24 agency to make a decision by an applicable 

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1 ing the total amount transferred under this 

2 paragraph, shall not exceed an amount 

3 equal to 9.5 percent of the funds made 

4 available for the agency office for that fis5 cal year. 

6 (D) NO FAULT OF AGENCY.— 

7 (i) IN GENERAL.—A transfer of funds 

8 under this paragraph shall not be made if 

9 the applicable agency described in subpara10 graph (A) notifies, with a supporting ex11 planation, the Federal lead agency, cooper12 ating agencies, and project sponsor, as ap13 plicable, that— 

14 (I) the agency has not received 

15 necessary information or approvals 

16 from another entity in a manner that 

17 affects the ability of the agency to 

18 meet any requirements under Federal, 

19 State, or local law; 

20 (II) significant new information, 

21 including from public comments, or 

22 circumstances, including a major 

23 modification to an aspect of the 

24 project, requires additional analysis 


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1 for the agency to make a decision on 

2 the project application; or 

3 (III) the agency lacks the finan4 cial resources to complete the review 

5 under the scheduled timeframe, in6 cluding a description of the number of 

7 full-time employees required to com8 plete the review, the amount of fund9 ing required to complete the review, 

10 and a justification as to why not 

11 enough funding is available to com12 plete the review by the deadline. 

13 (ii) LACK OF FINANCIAL RE14 SOURCES.—If the agency provides notice 

15 under clause (i)(III), the Inspector General 

16 of the agency shall— 

17 (I) conduct a financial audit to 

18 review the notice; and 

19 (II) not later than 90 days after 

20 the date on which the review described 

21 in subclause (I) is completed, submit 

22 to the Committee on Natural Re23 sources of the House of Representa24 tives and the Committee on Energy 


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1 and Natural Resources of the Senate 

2 a notification on the notice. 

3 (E) LIMITATION.—The Federal agency 

4 from which funds are transferred pursuant to 

5 this paragraph shall not reprogram funds to the 

6 office of the head of the agency, or equivalent 

7 office, to reimburse that office for the loss of 

8 the funds. 

9 (F) EFFECT OF PARAGRAPH.—Nothing in 

10 this paragraph affects or limits the application 

11 of, or obligation to comply with, any Federal, 

12 State, local, or tribal law. 

13 (j) MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENTS FOR EARLY CO14 ORDINATION.— 

15 (1) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

16 Congress that— 

17 (A) the Secretary and other Federal agen18 cies with relevant jurisdiction in the environ19 mental review process should cooperate with 

20 each other, State and local agencies, and Indian 

21 tribes on environmental review and Bureau of 

22 Reclamation project delivery activities at the 

23 earliest practicable time to avoid delays and du24 plication of effort later in the process, prevent 

25 potential conflicts, and ensure that planning 


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1 and project development decisions reflect envi2 ronmental values; and 

3 (B) the cooperation referred to in subpara4 graph (A) should include the development of 

5 policies and the designation of staff that advise 

6 planning agencies and project sponsors of stud7 ies or other information foreseeably required for 

8 later Federal action and early consultation with 

9 appropriate State and local agencies and Indian 

10 tribes. 

11 (2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—If requested at 

12 any time by a State or project sponsor, the Sec13 retary and other Federal agencies with relevant ju14 risdiction in the environmental review process, shall, 

15 to the maximum extent practicable and appropriate, 

16 as determined by the agencies, provide technical as17 sistance to the State or project sponsor in carrying 

18 out early coordination activities. 

19 (3) MEMORANDUM OF AGENCY AGREEMENT.— 

20 If requested at any time by a State or project spon21 sor, the Federal lead agency, in consultation with 

22 other Federal agencies with relevant jurisdiction in 

23 the environmental review process, may establish 

24 memoranda of agreement with the project sponsor, 

25 Indian tribes, State and local governments, and 


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1 other appropriate entities to carry out the early co2 ordination activities, including providing technical 

3 assistance in identifying potential impacts and miti4 gation issues in an integrated fashion. 

5 (k) LIMITATIONS.—Nothing in this section preempts 

6 or interferes with— 

7 (1) any obligation to comply with the provisions 

8 of any Federal law, including— 

9 (A) the National Environmental Policy Act 

10 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); and 

11 (B) any other Federal environmental law; 

12 (2) the reviewability of any final Federal agency 

13 action in a court of the United States or in the court 

14 of any State; 

15 (3) any requirement for seeking, considering, or 

16 responding to public comment; or 

17 (4) any power, jurisdiction, responsibility, duty, 

18 or authority that a Federal, State, or local govern19 mental agency, Indian tribe, or project sponsor has 

20 with respect to carrying out a project or any other 

21 provision of law applicable to projects. 

22 (l) TIMING OF CLAIMS.— 

23 (1) TIMING.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

25 other provision of law, a claim arising under 


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1 Federal law seeking judicial review of a permit, 

2 license, or other approval issued by a Federal 

3 agency for a project study shall be barred un4 less the claim is filed not later than 3 years 

5 after publication of a notice in the Federal Reg6 ister announcing that the permit, license, or 

7 other approval is final pursuant to the law 

8 under which the agency action is taken, unless 

9 a shorter time is specified in the Federal law 

10 that allows judicial review. 

11 (B) APPLICABILITY.—Nothing in this sub12 section creates a right to judicial review or 

13 places any limit on filing a claim that a person 

14 has violated the terms of a permit, license, or 

15 other approval. 

16 (2) NEW INFORMATION.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

18 consider new information received after the 

19 close of a comment period if the information 

20 satisfies the requirements for a supplemental 

21 environmental impact statement under title 40, 

22 Code of Federal Regulations (including suc23 cessor regulations). 

24 (B) SEPARATE ACTION.—The preparation 

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1 ment or other environmental document, if re2 quired under this section, shall be considered a 

3 separate final agency action and the deadline 

4 for filing a claim for judicial review of the ac5 tion shall be 3 years after the date of publica6 tion of a notice in the Federal Register an7 nouncing the action relating to such supple8 mental environmental impact statement or 

9 other environmental document. 

10 (m) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

12 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec13 retary shall— 

14 (A) survey the use by the Bureau of Rec15 lamation of categorical exclusions in projects 

16 since 2005; 

17 (B) publish a review of the survey that in18 cludes a description of— 

19 (i) the types of actions that were cat20 egorically excluded or could be the basis 

21 for developing a new categorical exclusion; 

22 and 

23 (ii) any requests previously received 

24 by the Secretary for new categorical exclu25 sions; and 


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1 (C) solicit requests from other Federal 

2 agencies and project sponsors for new categor3 ical exclusions. 

4 (2) NEW CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS.—Not 

5 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

6 Act, if the Secretary has identified a category of ac7 tivities that merit establishing a categorical exclusion 

8 that did not exist on the day before the date of en9 actment this Act based on the review under para10 graph (1), the Secretary shall publish a notice of 

11 proposed rulemaking to propose that new categorical 

12 exclusion, to the extent that the categorical exclusion 

13 meets the criteria for a categorical exclusion under 

14 section 1508.4 of title 40, Code of Federal Regula15 tions (or successor regulation). 

16 (n) REVIEW OF PROJECT ACCELERATION RE17 FORMS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

19 the United States shall— 

20 (A) assess the reforms carried out under 

21 this section; and 

22 (B) not later than 5 years and not later 

23 than 10 years after the date of enactment of 

24 this Act, submit to the Committee on Natural 

25 Resources of the House of Representatives and 


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1 the Committee on Energy and Natural Re2 sources of the Senate a report that describes 

3 the results of the assessment. 

4 (2) CONTENTS.—The reports under paragraph 

5 (1) shall include an evaluation of impacts of the re6 forms carried out under this section on— 

7 (A) project delivery; 

8 (B) compliance with environmental laws; 

9 and 

10 (C) the environmental impact of projects. 

11 (o) PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT.—The Secretary 

12 shall establish a program to measure and report on 

13 progress made toward improving and expediting the plan14 ning and environmental review process. 

15 (p) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSIONS IN EMERGENCIES.— 

16 For the repair, reconstruction, or rehabilitation of a Bu17 reau of Reclamation surface water storage project that is 

18 in operation or under construction when damaged by an 

19 event or incident that results in a declaration by the Presi20 dent of a major disaster or emergency pursuant to the 

21 Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assist22 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), the Secretary shall 

23 treat such repair, reconstruction, or rehabilitation activity 

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1 ronmental impact statements under section 1508.4 of title 

2 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regula3 tions), if the repair or reconstruction activity is— 

4 (1) in the same location with the same capacity, 

5 dimensions, and design as the original Bureau of 

6 Reclamation surface water storage project as before 

7 the declaration described in this section; and 

8 (2) commenced within a 2-year period begin9 ning on the date of a declaration described in this 

10 subsection. 

11 SEC. 806. ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than February 1 of each 

13 year, the Secretary shall develop and submit to the Com14 mittee on Natural Resources of the House of Representa15 tives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Re16 sources of the Senate an annual report, to be entitled ‘‘Re17 port to Congress on Future Water Project Development’’, 

18 that identifies the following: 

19 (1) PROJECT REPORTS.—Each project report 

20 that meets the criteria established in subsection 

21 (c)(1)(A). 

22 (2) PROPOSED PROJECT STUDIES.—Any pro23 posed project study submitted to the Secretary by a 

24 non-Federal interest pursuant to subsection (b) that 


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1 meets the criteria established in subsection 

2 (c)(1)(A). 

3 (3) PROPOSED MODIFICATIONS.—Any proposed 

4 modification to an authorized water project or 

5 project study that meets the criteria established in 

6 subsection (c)(1)(A) that— 

7 (A) is submitted to the Secretary by a non8 Federal interest pursuant to subsection (b); or 

9 (B) is identified by the Secretary for au10 thorization. 

11 (4) EXPEDITED COMPLETION OF REPORT AND

12 DETERMINATIONS.—Any project study that was ex13 pedited and any Secretarial determinations under 

14 section 804. 

15 (b) REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS.— 

16 (1) PUBLICATION.—Not later than May 1 of 

17 each year, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal 

18 Register a notice requesting proposals from non19 Federal interests for proposed project studies and 

20 proposed modifications to authorized projects and 

21 project studies to be included in the annual report. 

22 (2) DEADLINE FOR REQUESTS.—The Secretary 

23 shall include in each notice required by this sub24 section a requirement that non-Federal interests 

25 submit to the Secretary any proposals described in 


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1 paragraph (1) by not later than 120 days after the 

2 date of publication of the notice in the Federal Reg3 ister in order for the proposals to be considered for 

4 inclusion in the annual report. 

5 (3) NOTIFICATION.—On the date of publication 

6 of each notice required by this subsection, the Sec7 retary shall— 

8 (A) make the notice publicly available, in9 cluding on the Internet; and 

10 (B) provide written notification of the pub11 lication to the Committee on Natural Resources 

12 of the House of Representatives and the Com13 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

14 Senate. 

15 (c) CONTENTS.— 

16 (1) PROJECT REPORTS, PROPOSED PROJECT

17 STUDIES, AND PROPOSED MODIFICATIONS.— 

18 (A) CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION IN RE19 PORT.—The Secretary shall include in the an20 nual report only those project reports, proposed 

21 project studies, and proposed modifications to 

22 authorized projects and project studies that— 

23 (i) are related to the missions and au24 thorities of the Bureau of Reclamation; 


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1 (ii) require specific congressional au2 thorization, including by an Act of Con3 gress; 

4 (iii) have not been congressionally au5 thorized; 

6 (iv) have not been included in any 

7 previous annual report; and 

8 (v) if authorized, could be carried out 

9 by the Bureau of Reclamation. 

10 (B) DESCRIPTION OF BENEFITS.— 

11 (i) DESCRIPTION.—The Secretary 

12 shall describe in the annual report, to the 

13 extent applicable and practicable, for each 

14 proposed project study and proposed modi15 fication to an authorized water resources 

16 development project or project study in17 cluded in the annual report, the benefits, 

18 as described in clause (ii), of each such 

19 study or proposed modification. 

20 (ii) BENEFITS.—The benefits (or ex21 pected benefits, in the case of a proposed 

22 project study) described in this clause are 

23 benefits to— 

24 (I) the protection of human life 

25 and property; 


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1 (II) improvement to domestic ir2 rigated water and power supplies; 

3 (III) the national economy; 

4 (IV) the environment; or 

5 (V) the national security inter6 ests of the United States. 

7 (C) IDENTIFICATION OF OTHER FAC8 TORS.—The Secretary shall identify in the an9 nual report, to the extent practicable— 

10 (i) for each proposed project study in11 cluded in the annual report, the non-Fed12 eral interest that submitted the proposed 

13 project study pursuant to subsection (b); 

14 and 

15 (ii) for each proposed project study 

16 and proposed modification to a project or 

17 project study included in the annual re18 port, whether the non-Federal interest has 

19 demonstrated— 

20 (I) that local support exists for 

21 the proposed project study or pro22 posed modification to an authorized 

23 project or project study (including the 

24 surface water storage development 

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1 posed feasibility study or the proposed 

2 modification to an authorized project 

3 study); and 

4 (II) the financial ability to pro5 vide the required non-Federal cost 

6 share. 

7 (2) TRANSPARENCY.—The Secretary shall in8 clude in the annual report, for each project report, 

9 proposed project study, and proposed modification to 

10 a project or project study included under paragraph 

11 (1)(A)— 

12 (A) the name of the associated non-Fed13 eral interest, including the name of any non14 Federal interest that has contributed, or is ex15 pected to contribute, a non-Federal share of the 

16 cost of— 

17 (i) the project report; 

18 (ii) the proposed project study; 

19 (iii) the authorized project study for 

20 which the modification is proposed; or 

21 (iv) construction of— 

22 (I) the project that is the subject 

23 of— 

24 (aa) the water report; 


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1 (bb) the proposed project 

2 study; or 

3 (cc) the authorized project 

4 study for which a modification is 

5 proposed; or 

6 (II) the proposed modification to 

7 a project; 

8 (B) a letter or statement of support for the 

9 water report, proposed project study, or pro10 posed modification to a project or project study 

11 from each associated non-Federal interest; 

12 (C) the purpose of the feasibility report, 

13 proposed feasibility study, or proposed modi14 fication to a project or project study; 

15 (D) an estimate, to the extent practicable, 

16 of the Federal, non-Federal, and total costs 

17 of— 

18 (i) the proposed modification to an 

19 authorized project study; and 

20 (ii) construction of— 

21 (I) the project that is the subject 

22 of— 

23 (aa) the project report; or 

24 (bb) the authorized project 

25 study for which a modification is 


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1 proposed, with respect to the 

2 change in costs resulting from 

3 such modification; or 

4 (II) the proposed modification to 

5 an authorized project; and 

6 (E) an estimate, to the extent practicable, 

7 of the monetary and nonmonetary benefits of— 

8 (i) the project that is the subject of— 

9 (I) the project report; or 

10 (II) the authorized project study 

11 for which a modification is proposed, 

12 with respect to the benefits of such 

13 modification; or 

14 (ii) the proposed modification to an 

15 authorized project. 

16 (3) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall in17 clude in the annual report a certification stating 

18 that each feasibility report, proposed feasibility 

19 study, and proposed modification to a project or 

20 project study included in the annual report meets 

21 the criteria established in paragraph (1)(A). 

22 (4) APPENDIX.—The Secretary shall include in 

23 the annual report an appendix listing the proposals 

24 submitted under subsection (b) that were not in25 cluded in the annual report under paragraph (1)(A) 


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1 and a description of why the Secretary determined 

2 that those proposals did not meet the criteria for in3 clusion under such paragraph. 

4 (d) SPECIAL RULE FOR INITIAL ANNUAL REPORT.— 

5 Notwithstanding any other deadlines required by this sec6 tion, the Secretary shall— 

7 (1) not later than 60 days after the date of en8 actment of this Act, publish in the Federal Register 

9 a notice required by subsection (b)(1); and 

10 (2) include in such notice a requirement that 

11 non-Federal interests submit to the Secretary any 

12 proposals described in subsection (b)(1) by not later 

13 than 120 days after the date of publication of such 

14 notice in the Federal Register in order for such pro15 posals to be considered for inclusion in the first an16 nual report developed by the Secretary under this 

17 section. 

18 (e) PUBLICATION.—Upon submission of an annual 

19 report to Congress, the Secretary shall make the annual 

20 report publicly available, including through publication on 

21 the Internet. 

22 (f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘project 

23 report’’ means a final feasibility report developed under 

24 the Reclamation Act of 1902 (32 Stat. 388), and all Acts 

25 amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto. 


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1 TITLE IX—ACCELERATED REV2 ENUE, REPAYMENT, AND SUR3 FACE WATER STORAGE EN4 HANCEMENT 

5 SEC. 901. SHORT TITLE. 

6 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Accelerated Revenue, 

7 Repayment, and Surface Water Storage Enhancement 

8 Act’’. 

9 SEC. 902. PREPAYMENT OF CERTAIN REPAYMENT CON10 TRACTS BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND 

11 CONTRACTORS OF FEDERALLY DEVELOPED 

12 WATER SUPPLIES. 

13 (a) CONVERSION AND PREPAYMENT OF CON14 TRACTS.— 

15 (1) CONVERSION.—Upon request of the con16 tractor, the Secretary of the Interior shall convert 

17 any water service contract in effect on the date of 

18 enactment of this Act and between the United 

19 States and a water users’ association to allow for 

20 prepayment of the repayment contract pursuant to 

21 paragraph (2) under mutually agreeable terms and 

22 conditions. The manner of conversion under this 

23 paragraph shall be as follows: 

24 (A) Water service contracts that were en25 tered into under section 9(e) of the Act of AuVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Jun 30, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00153 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2898.IH H2898

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1 gust 4, 1939 (53 Stat. 1196), to be converted 

2 under this section shall be converted to repay3 ment contracts under section 9(d) of that Act 

4 (53 Stat. 1195). 

5 (B) Water service contracts that were en6 tered under subsection (c)(2) of section 9 of the 

7 Act of August 4, 1939 (53 Stat. 1194), to be 

8 converted under this section shall be converted 

9 to a contract under subsection (c)(1) of section 

10 9 of that Act (53 Stat. 1195). 

11 (2) PREPAYMENT.—All repayment contracts 

12 under section 9(d) of that Act (53 Stat. 1195) in ef13 fect on the date of enactment of this Act and all 

14 contracts converted pursuant to paragraph (1)(A) 

15 shall— 

16 (A) upon request of the contractor, provide 

17 for the repayment, either in lump sum or by ac18 celerated prepayment, of the remaining con19 struction costs identified in water project spe20 cific irrigation rate repayment schedules, as ad21 justed to reflect payment not reflected in such 

22 schedule, and properly assignable for ultimate 

23 return by the contractor, or if made in approxi24 mately equal installments, no later than 3 years 

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tract; such amount to be discounted by 1 1 ⁄2 the 

2 Treasury rate. An estimate of the remaining 

3 construction costs, as adjusted, shall be pro4 vided by the Secretary to the contractor no 

5 later than 90 days following receipt of request 

6 of the contractor; 

7 (B) require that construction costs or 

8 other capitalized costs incurred after the effec9 tive date of the contract or not reflected in the 

10 rate schedule referenced in subparagraph (A), 

11 and properly assignable to such contractor shall 

12 be repaid in not more than 5 years after notifi13 cation of the allocation if such amount is a re14 sult of a collective annual allocation of capital 

15 costs to the contractors exercising contract con16 versation under this subsection of less than 

17 $5,000,000. If such amount is $5,000,000 or 

18 greater, such cost shall be repaid as provided by 

19 applicable reclamation law; 

20 (C) provide that power revenues will not be 

21 available to aid in repayment of construction 

22 costs allocated to irrigation under the contract; 

23 and 

24 (D) continue so long as the contractor 

25 pays applicable charges, consistent with section 


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1 9(d) of the Act of August 4, 1939 (53 Stat. 

2 1195), and applicable law. 

3 (3) CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.—The following 

4 shall apply with regard to all repayment contracts 

5 under subsection (c)(1) of section 9 of that Act (53 

6 Stat. 1195) in effect on the date of enactment of 

7 this Act and all contracts converted pursuant to 

8 paragraph (1)(B): 

9 (A) Upon request of the contractor, pro10 vide for the repayment in lump sum of the re11 maining construction costs identified in water 

12 project specific municipal and industrial rate re13 payment schedules, as adjusted to reflect pay14 ments not reflected in such schedule, and prop15 erly assignable for ultimate return by the con16 tractor. An estimate of the remaining construc17 tion costs, as adjusted, shall be provided by the 

18 Secretary to the contractor no later than 90 

19 days after receipt of request of contractor. 

20 (B) The contract shall require that con21 struction costs or other capitalized costs in22 curred after the effective date of the contract or 

23 not reflected in the rate schedule referenced in 

24 subparagraph (A), and properly assignable to 

25 such contractor, shall be repaid in not more 


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1 than 5 years after notification of the allocation 

2 if such amount is a result of a collective annual 

3 allocation of capital costs to the contractors ex4 ercising contract conversation under this sub5 section of less than $5,000,000. If such amount 

6 is $5,000,000 or greater, such cost shall be re7 paid as provided by applicable reclamation law. 

8 (C) Continue so long as the contractor 

9 pays applicable charges, consistent with section 

10 9(c)(1) of the Act of August 4, 1939 (53 Stat. 

11 1195), and applicable law. 

12 (4) CONDITIONS.—All contracts entered into 

13 pursuant to paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) shall— 

14 (A) not be adjusted on the basis of the 

15 type of prepayment financing used by the water 

16 users’ association; 

17 (B) conform to any other agreements, such 

18 as applicable settlement agreements and new 

19 constructed appurtenant facilities; and 

20 (C) not modify other water service, repay21 ment, exchange and transfer contractual rights 

22 between the water users’ association, and the 

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1 ciation and their landowners as provided under 

2 State law. 

3 (b) ACCOUNTING.—The amounts paid pursuant to 

4 subsection (a) shall be subject to adjustment following a 

5 final cost allocation by the Secretary of the Interior. In 

6 the event that the final cost allocation indicates that the 

7 costs properly assignable to the contractor are greater 

8 than what has been paid by the contractor, the contractor 

9 shall be obligated to pay the remaining allocated costs. 

10 The term of such additional repayment contract shall be 

11 not less than one year and not more than 10 years, how12 ever, mutually agreeable provisions regarding the rate of 

13 repayment of such amount may be developed by the par14 ties. In the event that the final cost allocation indicates 

15 that the costs properly assignable to the contractor are 

16 less than what the contractor has paid, the Secretary shall 

17 credit such overpayment as an offset against any out18 standing or future obligation of the contractor. 

19 (c) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS.— 

20 (1) EFFECT OF EXISTING LAW.—Upon a con21 tractor’s compliance with and discharge of the obli22 gation of repayment of the construction costs pursu23 ant to a contract entered into pursuant to subsection 

24 (a)(2)(A), subsections (a) and (b) of section 213 of 


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1 the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (96 Stat. 

2 1269) shall apply to affected lands. 

3 (2) EFFECT OF OTHER OBLIGATIONS.—The ob4 ligation of a contractor to repay construction costs 

5 or other capitalized costs described in subsection 

6 (a)(2)(B), (a)(3)(B), or (b) shall not affect a con7 tractor’s status as having repaid all of the construc8 tion costs assignable to the contractor or the appli9 cability of subsections (a) and (b) of section 213 of 

10 the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (96 Stat. 

11 1269) once the amount required to be paid by the 

12 contractor under the repayment contract entered 

13 into pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(A) have been 

14 paid. 

15 (d) EFFECT ON EXISTING LAW NOT ALTERED.—Im16 plementation of the provisions of this title shall not alter— 

17 (1) the repayment obligation of any water serv18 ice or repayment contractor receiving water from the 

19 same water project, or shift any costs that would 

20 otherwise have been properly assignable to the water 

21 users’ association identified in subsections (a)(1), 

22 (a)(2), and (a)(3) absent this section, including op23 eration and maintenance costs, construction costs, or 

24 other capitalized costs incurred after the date of the 

25 enactment of this Act, or to other contractors; and 


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1 (2) specific requirements for the disposition of 

2 amounts received as repayments by the Secretary 

3 under the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, chap4 ter 1093), and Acts supplemental to and amend5 atory of that Act (43 U.S.C. 371 et seq.). 

6 (e) SURFACE WATER STORAGE ENHANCEMENT PRO7 GRAM.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub9 section (d)(2), three years following the date of en10 actment of this Act, no less than ll percent of re11 ceipts generated from prepayment of contracts under 

12 this section beyond amounts necessary to cover the 

13 amount of receipts forgone from scheduled payments 

14 under current law for the 10-year period following 

15 the date of enactment of this Act shall be directed 

16 to the Reclamation Surface Water Storage Account 

17 under paragraph (2). 

18 (2) SURFACE STORAGE ACCOUNT.—The Sec19 retary shall allocate amounts collected under para20 graph (1) into the ‘‘Reclamation Surface Storage 

21 Account’’ to fund the construction of surface water 

22 storage. The Secretary may also enter into coopera23 tive agreements with water users’ associations for 

24 the construction of surface water storage and 

25 amounts within the Surface Storage Account may be 


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1 used to fund such construction. Surface water stor2 age projects that are otherwise not federally author3 ized shall not be considered Federal facilities as a 

4 result of any amounts allocated from the Surface 

5 Storage Account for part or all of such facilities. 

6 (3) REPAYMENT.—Amounts used for surface 

7 water storage construction from the Account shall be 

8 fully reimbursed to the Account consistent with the 

9 requirements under Federal reclamation law (the 

10 law (the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, chap11 ter 1093))), and Acts supplemental to and amend12 atory of that Act (43 U.S.C. 371 et seq.) except that 

13 all funds reimbursed shall be deposited in the Ac14 count established under paragraph (1). 

15 (4) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts de16 posited in the Account under this subsection shall— 

17 (A) be made available in accordance with 

18 this section, subject to appropriation; and 

19 (B) be in addition to amounts appropriated 

20 for such purposes under any other provision of 

21 law. 

22 (5) PURPOSES OF SURFACE WATER STORAGE.— 

23 Construction of surface water storage under this sec24 tion shall be made for the following purposes: 


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1 (A) Increased municipal and industrial 

2 water supply. 

3 (B) Agricultural floodwater, erosion, and 

4 sedimentation reduction. 

5 (C) Agricultural drainage improvements. 

6 (D) Agricultural irrigation. 

7 (E) Increased recreation opportunities. 

8 (F) Reduced adverse impacts to fish and 

9 wildlife from water storage or diversion projects 

10 within watersheds associated with water storage 

11 projects funded under this section. 

12 (G) Any other purposes consistent with 

13 reclamation laws or other Federal law. 

14 (f) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this title, the 

15 following definitions apply: 

16 (1) ACCOUNT.—The term ‘‘Account’’ means the 

17 Reclamation Surface Water Storage Account estab18 lished under subsection (e)(2). 

19 (2) CONSTRUCTION.—The term ‘‘construction’’ 

20 means the designing, materials engineering and test21 ing, surveying, and building of surface water storage 

22 including additions to existing surface water storage 

23 and construction of new surface water storage facili24 ties, exclusive of any Federal statutory or regulatory 


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1 obligations relating to any permit, review, approval, 

2 or other such requirement. 

3 (3) SURFACE WATER STORAGE.—The term 

4 ‘‘surface water storage’’ means any federally owned 

5 facility under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Rec6 lamation or any non-Federal facility used for the 

7 surface storage and supply of water resources. 

8 (4) TREASURY RATE.—The term ‘‘Treasury 

9 rate’’ means the 20-year Constant Maturity Treas10 ury (CMT) rate published by the United States De11 partment of the Treasury existing on the effective 

12 date of the contract. 

13 (5) WATER USERS’ ASSOCIATION.—The term 

14 ‘‘water users’ association’’ means— 

15 (A) an entity organized and recognized 

16 under State laws that is eligible to enter into 

17 contracts with reclamation to receive contract 

18 water for delivery to and users of the water and 

19 to pay applicable charges; and 

20 (B) includes a variety of entities with dif21 ferent names and differing functions, such as 

22 associations, conservatory district, irrigation 

23 district, municipality, and water project con24 tract unit. 


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1 TITLE X—SAFETY OF DAMS 

2 SEC. 1001. AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL PROJECT BEN3 EFITS. 

4 The Reclamation Safety of Dams Act of 1978 is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in section 3, by striking ‘‘Construction’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘Except as provided in section 5B, con8 struction’’; and 

9 (2) by inserting after section 5A (43 U.S.C. 

10 509) the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 5B. AUTHORIZATION OF ADDITIONAL PROJECT BEN12 EFITS. 

13 ‘‘Notwithstanding section 3, if the Secretary deter14 mines that additional project benefits, including but not 

15 limited to additional conservation storage capacity, are 

16 feasible and not inconsistent with the purposes of this Act, 

17 the Secretary is authorized to develop additional project 

18 benefits through the construction of new or supplementary 

19 works on a project in conjunction with the Secretary’s ac20 tivities under section 2 of this Act and subject to the con21 ditions described in the feasibility study, provided— 

22 ‘‘(1) the Secretary determines that developing 

23 additional project benefits through the construction 

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1 mote more efficient management of water and 

2 water-related facilities; 

3 ‘‘(2) the feasibility study pertaining to addi4 tional project benefits has been authorized pursuant 

5 to section 8 of the Federal Water Project Recreation 

6 Act of 1965 (16 U.S.C. 4601–18); and 

7 ‘‘(3) the costs associated with developing the 

8 additional project benefits are allocated to the au9 thorized purposes of the structure and repaid con10 sistent with all provisions of Federal Reclamation 

11 law (the Act of June 17, 1902, 43 U.S.C. 371 et 

12 seq.) and Acts supplemental to and amendatory of 

13 that Act.’’. 

14 TITLE XI—WATER RIGHTS 

15 PROTECTION 

16 SEC. 1101. SHORT TITLE. 

17 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Water Rights Protec18 tion Act’’. 

19 SEC. 1102. DEFINITION OF WATER RIGHT. 

20 In this title, the term ‘‘water right’’ means any sur21 face or groundwater right filed, permitted, certified, con22 firmed, decreed, adjudicated, or otherwise recognized by 

23 a judicial proceeding or by the State in which the user 

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1 ficial use, including water rights for federally recognized 

2 Indian tribes. 

3 SEC. 1103. TREATMENT OF WATER RIGHTS. 

4 The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of 

5 Agriculture shall not— 

6 (1) condition or withhold, in whole or in part, 

7 the issuance, renewal, amendment, or extension of 

8 any permit, approval, license, lease, allotment, ease9 ment, right-of-way, or other land use or occupancy 

10 agreement on— 

11 (A) limitation or encumbrance of any 

12 water right, or the transfer of any water right 

13 (including joint and sole ownership), directly or 

14 indirectly to the United States or any other des15 ignee; or 

16 (B) any other impairment of any water 

17 right, in whole or in part, granted or otherwise 

18 recognized under State law, by Federal or State 

19 adjudication, decree, or other judgment, or pur20 suant to any interstate water compact; 

21 (2) require any water user (including any feder22 ally recognized Indian tribe) to apply for or acquire 

23 a water right in the name of the United States 

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1 proval, license, lease, allotment, easement, right-of2 way, or other land use or occupancy agreement; 

3 (3) assert jurisdiction over groundwater with4 drawals or impacts on groundwater resources, unless 

5 jurisdiction is asserted, and any regulatory or policy 

6 actions taken pursuant to such assertion are, con7 sistent with, and impose no greater restrictions or 

8 regulatory requirements than, applicable State laws 

9 (including regulations) and policies governing the 

10 protection and use of groundwater resources; or 

11 (4) infringe on the rights and obligations of a 

12 State in evaluating, allocating, and adjudicating the 

13 waters of the State originating on or under, or flow14 ing from, land owned or managed by the Federal 

15 Government. 

16 SEC. 1104. RECOGNITION OF STATE AUTHORITY. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out section 3, the Sec18 retary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture 

19 shall— 

20 (1) recognize the longstanding authority of the 

21 States relating to evaluating, protecting, allocating, 

22 regulating, and adjudicating groundwater by any 

23 means, including a rulemaking, permitting, directive, 

24 water court adjudication, resource management 

25 planning, regional authority, or other policy; and 


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1 (2) coordinate with the States in the adoption 

2 and implementation by the Secretary of the Interior 

3 or the Secretary of Agriculture of any rulemaking, 

4 policy, directive, management plan, or other similar 

5 Federal action so as to ensure that such actions are 

6 consistent with, and impose no greater restrictions 

7 or regulatory requirements than, State groundwater 

8 laws and programs. 

9 (b) EFFECT ON STATE WATER RIGHTS.—In carrying 

10 out this Act, the Secretary of the Interior and the Sec11 retary of Agriculture shall not take any action that ad12 versely affects— 

13 (1) any water rights granted by a State; 

14 (2) the authority of a State in adjudicating 

15 water rights; 

16 (3) definitions established by a State with re17 spect to the term ‘‘beneficial use’’, ‘‘priority of water 

18 rights’’, or ‘‘terms of use’’; 

19 (4) terms and conditions of groundwater with20 drawal, guidance and reporting procedures, and con21 servation and source protection measures established 

22 by a State; 

23 (5) the use of groundwater in accordance with 

24 State law; or 


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1 (6) any other rights and obligations of a State 

2 established under State law. 

3 SEC. 1105. EFFECT OF TITLE. 

4 (a) EFFECT ON EXISTING AUTHORITY.—Nothing in 

5 this title limits or expands any existing legally recognized 

6 authority of the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary 

7 of Agriculture to issue, grant, or condition any permit, ap8 proval, license, lease, allotment, easement, right-of-way, or 

9 other land use or occupancy agreement on Federal land 

10 subject to the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior 

11 or the Secretary of Agriculture, respectively. 

12 (b) EFFECT ON RECLAMATION CONTRACTS.—Noth13 ing in this title interferes with Bureau of Reclamation con14 tracts entered into pursuant to the reclamation laws. 

15 (c) EFFECT ON ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT.—Noth16 ing in this title affects the implementation of the Endan17 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

18 (d) EFFECT ON FEDERAL RESERVED WATER

19 RIGHTS.—Nothing in this title limits or expands any exist20 ing or claimed reserved water rights of the Federal Gov21 ernment on land administered by the Secretary of the In22 terior or the Secretary of Agriculture. 

23 (e) EFFECT ON FEDERAL POWER ACT.—Nothing in 

24 this title limits or expands authorities under sections 4(e), 


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1 10(j), or 18 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 797(e), 

2 803(j), 811). 

3 (f) EFFECT ON INDIAN WATER RIGHTS.—Nothing in 

4 this title limits or expands any water right or treaty right 

5 of any federally recognized Indian tribe. 

Æ 


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