II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 277 

To exempt from the Lacey Act and the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 

certain water transfers between any of the States of Texas, Arkansas, 

and Louisiana, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2021 

Mr. CRUZ (for himself and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public 

Works 

A BILL 

To exempt from the Lacey Act and the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 certain water transfers between any of 

the States of Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana, and for 

other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Water Supply 

5 Invasive Species Compliance Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN WATER TRANSFERS FROM 

2 THE LACEY ACT AND THE LACEY ACT AMEND3 MENTS OF 1981. 

4 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

5 (1) COVERED WATER TRANSFER.—The term 

6 ‘‘covered water transfer’’ means a transfer of water 

7 containing a prohibited species between public water 

8 supplies located on, along, or across the State 

9 boundaries between any of the States of Texas, Ar10 kansas, and Louisiana. 

11 (2) PROHIBITED SPECIES.—The term ‘‘prohib12 ited species’’ means any species— 

13 (A) the shipment of which is otherwise 

14 prohibited by section 42 of title 18, United 

15 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Lacey 

16 Act’’); or 

17 (B) the transfer of which is otherwise pro18 hibited by the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 

19 (16 U.S.C. 3371 et seq.). 

20 (3) PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY.—The term ‘‘public 

21 water supply’’ means any body of water, including 

22 any river, lake, or stream, the water of which is 

23 available or made available to the public. 

24 (b) EXEMPTION.—Section 42 of title 18, United 

25 States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Lacey Act’’), and 

26 the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 (16 U.S.C. 3371 et 


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1 seq.) shall not apply with respect to any covered water 

2 transfer, if— 

3 (1)(A) all prohibited species in the water trans4 ferred are located in both of the public water sup5 plies between which the water is transferred; 

6 (B) the water is transferred directly between 

7 those public water supplies; and 

8 (C) the water is subject to effective mitigation 

9 measures that are reviewed and approved by the ap10 propriate State agency of the State to which the 

11 water is being transferred, including— 

12 (i) chemically treating the water for sus13 pected or known prohibited species; 

14 (ii) limiting transfers to certain times; 

15 (iii) withdrawing water only from certain 

16 depths; 

17 (iv) filtration; 

18 (v) enhanced monitoring; and 

19 (vi) other mitigation measures; or 

20 (2) the water is transferred in a closed convey21 ance system directly to treatment facilities where all 

22 prohibited species contained in the water transferred 

23 will be extirpated. 

24 (c) NOTIFICATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Before the first covered 

2 water transfer described in subsection (b)(1) occurs 

3 in a calendar year and subject to paragraph (2), the 

4 controlling authority of the public water supply from 

5 which the water is to be transferred (referred to in 

6 this subsection as the ‘‘donor public water supply’’) 

7 shall submit to the controlling authority of the pub8 lic water supply to which the water is to be trans9 ferred (referred to in this subsection as the ‘‘recipi10 ent public water supply’’) a written notification that 

11 includes— 

12 (A) the expected dates of the covered water 

13 transfer; 

14 (B) the volume of water to be transferred, 

15 which may include a range of possible volumes 

16 of water that may be transferred; 

17 (C) a list of known prohibited species that 

18 are contained in the donor public water supply; 

19 (D) a certification that the known prohib20 ited species described in subparagraph (C) are 

21 present in both the donor public water supply 

22 and the recipient public water supply; and 

23 (E) a notice of other known species 

24 present in the donor public water supply that 

25 may be of concern to the controlling authority 


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1 of the recipient public water supply, including 

2 species that are not prohibited by the laws re3 ferred to in subsection (b). 

4 (2) ADDITIONAL NOTIFICATION.—In addition to 

5 the notification required under paragraph (1), the 

6 controlling authority of the donor public water sup7 ply shall provide to the controlling authority of the 

8 recipient public water supply a notification described 

9 in that paragraph if the controlling authority of the 

10 donor public water supply discovers a new prohibited 

11 species in the donor public water supply. 

12 (d) COSTS OF MITIGATION MEASURES.—The costs of 

13 the mitigation measures described in subparagraph (C) of 

14 subsection (b)(1) for water subject to a covered water 

15 transfer described in that subsection shall be borne by the 

16 entity that sells the water for financial gain. 

Æ 


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