I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4119 

To authorize the construction of the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority 

System in the State of Montana and a portion of McKenzie County, 

North Dakota, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 19, 2009 

Mr. REHBERG introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the construction of the Dry-Redwater Regional 

Water Authority System in the State of Montana and 

a portion of McKenzie County, North Dakota, 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 ‘‘Dry-Redwater Re5 gional Water Authority System Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) there are insufficient available supplies of 

2 safe water to meet the minimum health and safety 

3 standards of the citizens of— 

4 (A) Dawson, Garfield, McCone, Prairie, 

5 and Richland Counties of the State; and 

6 (B) McKenzie County, North Dakota; 

7 (2) McCone and Garfield Counties of the State 

8 were— 

9 (A) directly and physically impacted when 

10 the Fort Peck Dam was constructed; and 

11 (B) to receive certain impact benefits as a 

12 result of the Pick-Sloan program; and 

13 (3) the water that is contained in the Fort Peck 

14 Dam reservoir is managed for purposes relating to— 

15 (A) flood control; 

16 (B) the production of hydroelectric power; 

17 (C) irrigation; 

18 (D) the maintenance of a public water sup19 ply; 

20 (E) the conservation of fish and wildlife; 

21 (F) recreation; and 

22 (G) the improvement of water quality. 

23 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to ensure 

24 a safe and adequate municipal, rural, and industrial water 

25 supply for the citizens of— 


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1 (1) Dawson, Garfield, McCone, Prairie, and 

2 Richland Counties of the State; and 

3 (2) McKenzie County, North Dakota. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis7 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Western 

8 Area Power Administration. 

9 (2) AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Authority’’ 

10 means— 

11 (A) the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Au12 thority, a publicly owned nonprofit water au13 thority formed in accordance with Mont. Code 

14 Ann. 75–6–302 (2007); and 

15 (B) any nonprofit successor entity. 

16 (3) PICK-SLOAN PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Pick17 Sloan program’’ means the Pick-Sloan Missouri 

18 Basin Program (authorized by section 9 of the Act 

19 of December 22, 1944; commonly known as the 

20 ‘‘Flood Control Act of 1944’’; 58 Stat. 891, chapter 

21 665). 

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

23 the Secretary of the Interior. 

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

25 of Montana. 


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1 (6) WATER SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Water Sys2 tem’’ means the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Au3 thority System authorized under section 4 for— 

4 (A) Dawson, Garfield, McCone, Prairie, 

5 and Richland Counties of the State; and 

6 (B) McKenzie County, North Dakota. 

7 (7) NON-FEDERAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.— 

8 The term ‘‘non-Federal distribution system’’ means 

9 the local electric service facility provider. 

10 (8) INTEGRATED SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘inte11 grated system’’ means the transmission system 

12 owned by Western Area Power Administration, 

13 Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Heartland 

14 Consumers Power District and administered by 

15 Western Area Power Administration. 

16 SEC. 4. DRY-REDWATER REGIONAL WATER AUTHORITY SYS17 TEM. 

18 (a) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter 

20 into a cooperative agreement with the Authority to 

21 provide Federal assistance for the planning, design, 

22 and construction of the Water System. 

23 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—A cooperative agreement 

24 entered into under paragraph (1) shall specify, in a 


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1 manner that is acceptable to the Secretary and the 

2 Authority— 

3 (A) the responsibilities of each party to the 

4 cooperative agreement relating to the Water 

5 System, including— 

6 (i) the final engineering report; 

7 (ii) an environmental and cultural re8 source study; 

9 (iii) engineering and design; 

10 (iv) construction; 

11 (v) water conservation measures; and 

12 (vi) administration of contracts relat13 ing to the performance of the activities de14 scribed in clauses (i) through (v); 

15 (B) any procedure or requirement relating 

16 to— 

17 (i) the carrying out of each activity 

18 described in subparagraph (A); and 

19 (ii) the approval and acceptance of the 

20 design and construction of the Water Sys21 tem; and 

22 (C) the rights, responsibilities, and liabil23 ities of each party to the cooperative agreement. 

24 (b) USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.— 

25 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of 

2 the costs relating to the planning, design, and 

3 construction of the Water System shall not ex4 ceed 75 percent of the total cost of the Water 

5 System. 

6 (B) LIMITATION.—Amounts made avail7 able under subparagraph (A) shall not be re8 turnable or reimbursable under the reclamation 

9 laws. 

10 (2) COMPLIANCE WITH COOPERATIVE AGREE11 MENT.—Federal funds made available to carry out 

12 this section shall be obligated and expended in ac13 cordance with a cooperative agreement entered into 

14 by the Secretary under subsection (a). 

15 (c) COMPONENTS.—Components of the Water Sys16 tem facilities for which Federal funds may be obligated 

17 and expended under this section shall include— 

18 (1) facilities relating to— 

19 (A) water intake; 

20 (B) water pumping; 

21 (C) water treatment; and 

22 (D) water storage; 

23 (2) transmission pipelines and pumping sta24 tions; 


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1 (3) appurtenant buildings, maintenance equip2 ment, and access roads; 

3 (4) any interconnection facility that connects a 

4 pipeline of the Water System to a pipeline of a pub5 lic water system; 

6 (5) distribution, pumping, and storage facilities 

7 that— 

8 (A) serve the needs of citizens who use 

9 public water systems; 

10 (B) are in existence on the date of the en11 actment of this Act; and 

12 (C) may be purchased, improved, and re13 paired in accordance with a cooperative agree14 ment entered into by the Secretary under sub15 section (a)(1); 

16 (6) electrical power transmission and distribu17 tion facilities required for the operation and mainte18 nance of the Water System; 

19 (7) any other facility or service required for the 

20 development of a rural water distribution system, as 

21 determined by the Secretary; and 

22 (8) any property or property right required for 

23 the construction or operation of a facility described 

24 in this subsection. 


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1 (d) SERVICE AREA.—The service area of the Water 

2 System shall be— 

3 (1) the area of Garfield and McCone Counties 

4 in the State; 

5 (2) the area west of the Yellowstone River in 

6 Dawson and Richland Counties in the State; 

7 (3) the area including, and north of, Township 

8 15N in Prairie County in the State; and 

9 (4) the portion of McKenzie County, North Da10 kota, that includes all land that is located west of 

11 the Yellowstone River in the State of North Dakota. 

12 (e) LIMITATION ON AVAILABILITY OF CONSTRUCTION

13 FUNDS.—The Secretary shall not obligate funds for con14 struction of the Water System until the date on which the 

15 last of the following occurs: 

16 (1) The Water System complies with each re17 quirement under the National Environmental Policy 

18 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

19 (2) 90 days after the date of receipt by Con20 gress of the final engineering report described in 

21 subsection (a)(2)(A)(i) that is approved by the Sec22 retary. 

23 (3) The Secretary publishes a written finding 

24 that the water conservation plan developed pursuant 


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1 to section 6 contains water conservation measures 

2 for the operation of the Water System that are— 

3 (A) prudent; 

4 (B) reasonable; and 

5 (C) economically and financially feasible. 

6 (f) LIMITATION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any cost relating to the op8 eration, maintenance, or replacement of the Water 

9 System— 

10 (A) shall not be a Federal responsibility; 

11 and 

12 (B) shall be paid by the Water System. 

13 (2) FEDERAL FUNDS.—The Secretary shall not 

14 obligate or expend Federal funds for the operation, 

15 maintenance, or replacement of the Water System. 

16 (g) TITLE TO THE WATER SYSTEM.—Title to the 

17 Water System shall be held by the Authority. 

18 SEC. 5. USE OF POWER FROM PICK-SLOAN PROGRAM. 

19 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that McCone and 

20 Garfield Counties in the State were designated— 

21 (1) as impact counties during the period in 

22 which the Fort Peck Dam was constructed; and 

23 (2) to receive impact mitigation benefits in ac24 cordance with the Pick-Sloan program. 

25 (b) AVAILABILITY OF POWER.— 


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

2 the Administrator shall make available to the Water 

3 System a quantity of power required, up to one and 

4 one-half megawatt capacity, to meet the pumping 

5 and incidental operation requirements of the Water 

6 System during the period beginning May 1 and end7 ing on October 31 of each year from the following 

8 Water System facilities— 

9 (A) from the water intake facilities; and 

10 (B) through all pumping stations, water 

11 treatment facilities, reservoirs, storage tanks, 

12 and pipelines up to the point of delivery of 

13 water by the water supply system to all storage 

14 reservoirs and tanks and each entity that dis15 tributes water at retail to individual users. 

16 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—The Water System shall be 

17 eligible to receive power under paragraph (1) if the 

18 Water System— 

19 (A) operates on a not-for-profit basis; and 

20 (B) is constructed pursuant to a coopera21 tive agreement entered into by the Secretary 

22 under section 4(a). 

23 (3) RATE.—The Administrator shall make 

24 available the power described in paragraph (1) at 

25 the firm power rate. 


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1 (4) ADDITIONAL POWER.—If power, in addition 

2 to that made available to the Water System in para3 graph (1) is required to meet the pumping require4 ments of the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Author5 ity, the Administrator may purchase the necessary 

6 additional power at the best available rate. The costs 

7 of such purchases shall be reimbursed to the Admin8 istrator by the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Au9 thority. 

10 (5) RESPONSIBILITY FOR POWER CHARGES.— 

11 The Authority shall be responsible for the payment 

12 of the power charge described in paragraph (3) and 

13 non-Federal delivery costs described in paragraph 6. 

14 (6) TRANSMISSION ARRANGEMENTS.—The 

15 Water System shall be responsible for all non-Fed16 eral transmission and distribution system delivery 

17 and service arrangements. The Water System shall 

18 be responsible for funding any transmission up19 grades, if required, to the Integrated System nec20 essary to deliver power to the Water System. 

21 SEC. 6. WATER CONSERVATION PLAN. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Authority shall develop a 

23 water conservation plan containing— 

24 (1) a description of water conservation objec25 tives; 


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1 (2) a description of appropriate water conserva2 tion measures; and 

3 (3) a time schedule for carrying out the meas4 ures described in paragraph (2) and this Act to meet 

5 the water conservation objectives described in para6 graph (1). 

7 (b) DESIGN REQUIREMENT.—The water conservation 

8 plan developed under subsection (a) shall be designed to 

9 ensure that users of water provided by the Water System 

10 will use the best practical technology and management 

11 techniques to conserve water. 

12 (c) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—Section 210(c) of the 

13 Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (43 U.S.C. 390jj(c)) 

14 shall apply to each activity carried out under this Act. 

15 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 (a) WATER SYSTEM.—There is authorized to be ap17 propriated to carry out the planning, design, and construc18 tion of the Water System a total of $115,116,000 for fis19 cal years 2011 through 2021. 

20 (b) COST INDEXING.—The amount authorized to be 

21 appropriated under subsection (a) may be increased or de22 creased in accordance with ordinary fluctuations in devel23 opment costs incurred after January 1, 2008, as indicated 

24 by any available engineering cost indices applicable to conVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:29 Nov 20, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4119.IH H4119

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1 struction activities that are similar to the construction of 

2 the Water System. 

Æ 


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