II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2750

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the

Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary

of the Interior to participate constructively in the implementation of

the Las Vegas Wash Wetland Restoration and Lake Mead Water Quality

Improvement Project, Nevada.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 19, 2000

Mr. REID introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to

the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection

Agency, the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of

Agriculture, and the Secretary of the Interior to participate constructively in the implementation of the Las

Vegas Wash Wetland Restoration and Lake Mead Water

Quality Improvement Project, Nevada.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Las Vegas Wash Wet5 land Restoration and Lake Mead Water Quality Improve6 ment Act of 2000’’.
2

•S 2750 IS

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

3 (1) the Las Vegas Wash is a significant eco4 system of desert wetland created by treated effluent

5 return flows, urban runoff, and flood events from

6 the Las Vegas Valley;

7 (2) a healthy wetland ecosystem in the Las

8 Vegas Wash would improve water quality in the Las

9 Vegas Bay, the Lake Mead National Recreation

10 Area, and the lower Colorado River, which is critical

11 habitat for endangered and threatened fish and wild12 life populations;

13 (3) the Secretary of the Interior delivers munic14 ipal, industrial, and agricultural water from the Col15 orado River to millions of people in Nevada, Arizona,

16 and California;

17 (4) a significant concern relating to water qual18 ity in Lake Mead is the transmission of contami19 nants to the Colorado River through the Las Vegas

20 Wash from shallow ground water seepage originating

21 at an industrial complex located in the southeast

22 part of the Las Vegas Valley, Nevada;

23 (5) the industrial complex was constructed by

24 the Federal Government during World War II to

25 manufacture products required by the Department

26 of Defense, including perchlorate, which is an essen-
3

•S 2750 IS

1 tial component of rocket fuel used exclusively by the

2 Federal Government;

3 (6) over the past 20 years the Las Vegas Wash

4 wetland has been significantly eroded and deterio5 rated by flash floods, increasing treated effluent

6 flows, urban runoff, and polluted shallow ground

7 water seepage;

8 (7) the loss of the Las Vegas Wash wetland is

9 having an adverse impact on wildlife habitat;

10 (8) the Las Vegas Wash wetland offers a

11 unique opportunity to experience a wetland environ12 ment providing educational, cultural, environmental,

13 and recreation benefits to the community of south14 ern Nevada;

15 (9) as recommended by a citizens’ water quality

16 advisory committee in 1998, the Las Vegas Wash

17 Coordination Committee, including Federal, State,

18 and local agencies, was formed to establish a com19 prehensive adaptive management plan for the Las

20 Vegas Wash wetland;

21 (10) from 1998 to 1999, the Committee en22 gaged in an extensive public process to evaluate the

23 multifaceted challenges associated with the restora24 tion of the Las Vegas Wash wetland;
4

•S 2750 IS

1 (11) in October 1999, the Committee completed

2 and initiated public comment on a comprehensive

3 adaptive management plan;

4 (12) in January 2000, the adaptive manage5 ment plan was approved by the Board of the South6 ern Nevada Water Authority, which is the coordi7 nating agency for the Committee; and

8 (13) the adaptive management plan calls for a

9 partnership among Federal, State, and local agen10 cies with an interest in the Las Vegas Wash wet11 land.

12 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

13 (1) to recognize the importance of the restora14 tion of the Las Vegas Wash wetland to water quality

15 in the Colorado River and a desert wetland eco16 system;

17 (2) to direct the affected Federal agencies to

18 participate constructively in the implementation of

19 the Las Vegas Wash Wetland Restoration and Lake

20 Mead Water Quality Improvement Project under the

21 comprehensive adaptive management plan; and

22 (3) to authorize such sums as are necessary for

23 the affected Federal agencies to carry out specific

24 tasks required by the Project in partnership with the
5

•S 2750 IS

1 authority and other State and local agencies involved

2 in the Committee.

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

4 In this Act:

5 (1) AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Authority’’ means

6 the Southern Nevada Water Authority, organized

7 under the law of the State of Nevada.

8 (2) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’

9 means the 28-member Las Vegas Wash Coordina10 tion Committee, including representatives of—

11 (A) the United States Fish and Wildlife

12 Service;

13 (B) the Army Corps of Engineers;

14 (C) the Environmental Protection Agency;

15 (D) the National Park Service;

16 (E) the Bureau of Reclamation;

17 (F) the Natural Resources Conservation

18 Service;

19 (G) the Southern Nevada Water Authority;

20 (H) the Nevada Division of Environmental

21 Protection, Clark County, Nevada (including

22 the Clark County Department of Parks and

23 Recreation);

24 (I) the Clark County Sanitation District;
6

•S 2750 IS

1 (J) the cities of Las Vegas, North Las

2 Vegas, and Henderson, Nevada;

3 (K) the Clark County Regional Flood Con4 trol District;

5 (L) other Federal, State, and local agen6 cies;

7 (M) environmental groups; and

8 (N) private citizens.

9 (3) PROJECT.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Project’’

11 means the Las Vegas Wash Wetlands Restora12 tion and Lake Mead Water Quality Improve13 ment Project.

14 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘Project’’ in15 cludes the programs, features, components,

16 projects, and activities identified in the Com17 prehensive Adaptive Management Plan for the

18 Las Vegas Wash developed by the Committee

19 and dated January 20, 2000.

20 SEC. 4. PARTICIPATION IN THE PROJECT.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the authorities

22 under other Federal law, the Administrator of the Envi23 ronmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of the Army,

24 the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of the In-
7

•S 2750 IS

1 terior may participate in the continued development and

2 implementation of the Project.

3 (b) FEDERAL ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator of

4 the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of the

5 Army, and the Secretary of the Interior shall provide such

6 research, technical assistance, interagency coordination,

7 and funding for—

8 (1) the collection and modeling of scientific and

9 hydrologic data; and

10 (2) the design and construction of—

11 (A) erosion control facilities;

12 (B) wetland restoration features;

13 (C) ground water interdiction facilities;

14 (D) treated effluent transport diffusion

15 and reuse features;

16 (E) water quality improvement facilities;

17 and

18 (F) other project features developed under

19 the Las Vegas Wash Comprehensive Adaptive

20 Management Plan.

21 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

22 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec23 essary to carry out this Act.

Æ