I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 967 

To authorize the construction of the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System 

and study of the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority System in 

the States of Montana and North Dakota, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 5, 2019 

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

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the construction of the Musselshell-Judith 

Rural Water System and study of the Dry-Redwater 

Regional Water Authority System in the States of Montana and 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 ‘‘Clean Water for Rural 

5 Communities Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to ensure a safe and ade3 quate municipal, rural, and industrial water supply for the 

4 citizens of— 

5 (1) Dawson, Garfield, McCone, Prairie, Rich6 land, Judith Basin, Wheatland, Golden Valley, Fer7 gus, Yellowstone, and Musselshell Counties in the 

8 State of Montana; and 

9 (2) McKenzie County, North Dakota. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Authority’’ 

13 means— 

14 (A) the Central Montana Regional Water 

15 Authority, a publicly owned nonprofit water au16 thority formed in accordance with Mont. Code 

17 Ann. § 75–6–302 (2007); and 

18 (B) any nonprofit successor entity to the 

19 Authority described in subparagraph (A). 

20 (2) MUSSELSHELL-JUDITH RURAL WATER SYS21 TEM.—The term ‘‘Musselshell-Judith Rural Water 

22 System’’ means the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water 

23 System authorized under section 4(a), with a project 

24 service area that includes— 

25 (A) Judith Basin, Wheatland, Golden Val26 ley, and Musselshell Counties in the State; 


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1 (B) the portion of Yellowstone County in 

2 the State within 2 miles of State Highway 3 

3 and within 4 miles of the county line between 

4 Golden Valley and Yellowstone Counties in the 

5 State, inclusive of the Town of Broadview, 

6 Montana; and 

7 (C) the portion of Fergus County in the 

8 State within 2 miles of U.S. Highway 87 and 

9 within 4 miles of the county line between Fer10 gus and Judith Basin Counties in the State, in11 clusive of the Town of Moore, Montana. 

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

13 the Secretary of the Interior. 

14 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

15 of Montana. 

16 SEC. 4. MUSSELSHELL-JUDITH RURAL WATER SYSTEM. 

17 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary may carry out 

18 the planning, design, and construction of the Musselshell19 Judith Rural Water System in a manner that is substan20 tially in accordance with the feasibility report entitled 

21 ‘‘Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System Feasibility Re22 port’’ (including any and all revisions of the report). 

23 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—The Secretary shall 

24 enter into a cooperative agreement with the Authority to 

25 provide Federal assistance for the planning, design, and 


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1 construction of the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water Sys2 tem. 

3 (c) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 

4 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

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

6 the costs relating to the planning, design, and 

7 construction of the Musselshell-Judith Rural 

8 Water System shall not exceed 65 percent of 

9 the total cost of the Musselshell-Judith Rural 

10 Water System. 

11 (B) LIMITATION.—Amounts made avail12 able under subparagraph (A) shall not be re13 turnable or reimbursable under the reclamation 

14 laws. 

15 (2) USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.— 

16 (A) GENERAL USES.—Subject to subpara17 graph (B), the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water 

18 System may use Federal funds made available 

19 to carry out this section for— 

20 (i) facilities relating to— 

21 (I) water pumping; 

22 (II) water treatment; 

23 (III) water storage; 

24 (IV) water supply wells; 

25 (V) distribution pipelines; and 


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1 (VI) control systems; 

2 (ii) transmission pipelines; 

3 (iii) pumping stations; 

4 (iv) appurtenant buildings, mainte5 nance equipment, and access roads; 

6 (v) any interconnection facility that 

7 connects a pipeline of the Musselshell-Ju8 dith Rural Water System to a pipeline of 

9 a public water system; 

10 (vi) electrical power transmission and 

11 distribution facilities required for the oper12 ation and maintenance of the Musselshell13 Judith Rural Water System; 

14 (vii) any other facility or service re15 quired for the development of a rural water 

16 distribution system, as determined by the 

17 Secretary; and 

18 (viii) any property or property right 

19 required for the construction or operation 

20 of a facility described in this subsection. 

21 (B) LIMITATION.—Federal funds made 

22 available to carry out this section shall not be 

23 used for the operation, maintenance, or replace24 ment of the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water 

25 System. 


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1 (C) TITLE.—Title to the Musselshell-Ju2 dith Rural Water System shall be held by the 

3 Authority. 

4 SEC. 5. DRY-REDWATER FEASIBILITY STUDY. 

5 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) DRY-REDWATER REGIONAL WATER AU7 THORITY.—The term ‘‘Dry-Redwater Regional 

8 Water Authority’’ means— 

9 (A) the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Au10 thority, a publicly owned nonprofit water au11 thority formed in accordance with Mont. Code 

12 Ann. § 75–6–302 (2007); and 

13 (B) any nonprofit successor entity to the 

14 Authority described in subparagraph (A). 

15 (2) DRY-REDWATER REGIONAL WATER AU16 THORITY SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Dry-Redwater Re17 gional Water Authority System’’ means the project 

18 entitled the ‘‘Dry-Redwater Regional Water Author19 ity System’’, with a project service area that in20 cludes— 

21 (A) Garfield and McCone Counties in the 

22 State; 

23 (B) the area west of the Yellowstone River 

24 in Dawson and Richland Counties in the State; 


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1 (C) T. 15 N. (including the area north of 

2 the Township) in Prairie County in the State; 

3 and 

4 (D) the portion of McKenzie County, 

5 North Dakota, that includes all land that is lo6 cated west of the Yellowstone River in the State 

7 of North Dakota. 

8 (3) RECLAMATION FEASIBILITY STANDARDS.— 

9 The term ‘‘reclamation feasibility standards’’ means 

10 the eligibility criteria and feasibility study require11 ments described in section 106 of the Reclamation 

12 Rural Water Supply Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 2405) 

13 (as in effect on September 29, 2016). 

14 (4) SUBMITTED FEASIBILITY STUDY.—The 

15 term ‘‘submitted feasibility study’’ means the feasi16 bility study entitled ‘‘Dry-Redwater Regional Water 

17 System Feasibility Study’’ (including revisions of the 

18 study), which received funding from the Bureau of 

19 Reclamation on September 1, 2010. 

20 (b) STUDY.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in consulta22 tion with the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Author23 ity, may undertake a study, including a review of the 

24 submitted feasibility study, to determine the feasiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:22 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H967.IH H967

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1 bility of constructing the Dry-Redwater Regional 

2 Water System. 

3 (2) REQUIREMENT.—The study under para4 graph (1) shall comply with the reclamation feasi5 bility standards. 

6 (c) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—If the Secretary de7 termines that the study under subsection (b) does not 

8 comply with the reclamation feasibility standards, the Sec9 retary may enter into a cooperative agreement with the 

10 Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority to complete addi11 tional work to ensure that the study complies with the rec12 lamation feasibility standards. 

13 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

14 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary $5,000,000 

15 to carry out this section. 

16 (e) TERMINATION.—The authority provided by this 

17 section shall expire on the date that is 5 years after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act. 

19 SEC. 6. WATER RIGHTS. 

20 Nothing in this Act— 

21 (1) preempts or affects any State water law; or 

22 (2) affects any authority of a State, as in effect 

23 on the date of enactment of this Act, to manage 

24 water resources within that State. 


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1 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—There is authorized to be ap3 propriated to carry out the planning, design, and construc4 tion of the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System, sub5 stantially in accordance with the cost estimate set forth 

6 in the feasibility report described in section 4(a), 

7 $56,650,000. 

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

9 appropriated under subsection (a) may be increased or de10 creased in accordance with ordinary fluctuations in devel11 opment costs incurred after November 1, 2014, as indi12 cated by any available engineering cost indices applicable 

13 to construction activities that are similar to the construc14 tion of the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System. 

Æ 


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