II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1215 

To require assessments of opportunities to install and maintain floating photovoltaic solar panels at Bureau of Reclamation and Corps of Engineers 

projects, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 19, 2023 

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

the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require assessments of opportunities to install and maintain floating photovoltaic solar panels at Bureau of Reclamation and Corps of Engineers projects, 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 ‘‘Protect Our Waters 

5 and Expand Renewables on Our Reservoirs Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘POWER Our Reservoirs Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FLOATING SOLAR ENERGY AT RECLAMATION 

2 PROJECTS. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis5 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of Reclamation. 

6 (2) RECLAMATION PROJECT.—The term ‘‘Rec7 lamation project’’ means— 

8 (A) any reclamation or irrigation project, 

9 including incidental features of the project— 

10 (i) that is authorized by the reclama11 tion laws; 

12 (ii) that is constructed by the United 

13 States pursuant to the reclamation laws; or 

14 (iii) in connection with which there is 

15 a repayment or water service contract exe16 cuted by the United States pursuant to the 

17 reclamation laws; or 

18 (B) any project constructed by the Sec19 retary of the Interior for the reclamation of 

20 land. 

21 (b) ASSESSMENT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner, in con23 sultation with the Secretary of Energy and the rel24 evant National Laboratories of the Department of 

25 Energy, shall conduct an assessment of opportuniVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1215.IS S1215

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1 ties to install and maintain floating photovoltaic 

2 solar panels at Reclamation projects. 

3 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—In conducting the assess4 ment under paragraph (1), the Commissioner 

5 shall— 

6 (A) determine the economic, environ7 mental, and technical feasibility of installing 

8 and maintaining, or contracting with third par9 ties to install and maintain, photovoltaic solar 

10 panels at Reclamation projects; 

11 (B)(i) identify Reclamation projects with a 

12 high potential for the installation and mainte13 nance of floating photovoltaic solar panels, in14 cluding which Reclamation projects are likely to 

15 have high cobenefits; and 

16 (ii) determine whether the installation and 

17 maintenance at Reclamation projects identified 

18 under clause (i) would require additional au19 thorization; 

20 (C) account for potential effects and bene21 fits on Reclamation projects and the authorized 

22 purposes of the Reclamation projects of install23 ing and maintaining floating photovoltaic solar 

24 panels at the Reclamation projects, including— 

25 (i) evaporation suppression; 


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1 (ii) energy yield; 

2 (iii) dam safety; 

3 (iv) recreation; 

4 (v) water quality; and 

5 (vi) fish and wildlife; 

6 (D) account for potential damage to float7 ing photovoltaic solar panels from— 

8 (i) weather; 

9 (ii) water-level fluctuations; and 

10 (iii) recreational and other uses of the 

11 Reclamation projects; 

12 (E)(i) identify methods to monetarily 

13 quantify cobenefits of floating photovoltaic solar 

14 panel projects; and 

15 (ii) identify mechanisms to pass those ben16 efits to project developers, and assess whether 

17 the use of such mechanisms may increase the 

18 viability of floating photovoltaic solar panel 

19 projects; and 

20 (F) account for the availability of electric 

21 grid infrastructure close to Reclamation 

22 projects, including underutilized transmission 

23 infrastructure. 

24 (3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 

25 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 


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1 Commissioner shall submit to Congress and make 

2 publicly available (including on a publicly available 

3 website) a report describing the results of the assess4 ment conducted under paragraph (1). 

5 (c) PILOT PROGRAM.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

7 the date of enactment of this Act, if the Commis8 sioner determines, based on the results of the assess9 ment conducted under subsection (b), that estab10 lishing a pilot program is advisable, the Commis11 sioner shall establish a pilot program under which 

12 the Commissioner, or an applicable non-Federal en13 tity that is acting in partnership with the Commis14 sioner, subject to paragraph (2), shall carry out 

15 projects to deploy floating photovoltaic solar panels 

16 at Reclamation projects identified under subsection 

17 (b)(2)(B). 

18 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—To be eligible to carry 

19 out a project under paragraph (1), a non-Federal 

20 entity shall— 

21 (A) agree to invest in and deploy floating 

22 photovoltaic solar panels at the applicable Rec23 lamation project; and 

24 (B) have the authority to enter into agree25 ments, including through public-private partnerVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1215.IS S1215

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1 ships, for the purpose of carrying out the appli2 cable project under that paragraph. 

3 (3) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

4 the cost of carrying out a project under paragraph 

5 (1)— 

6 (A) shall not exceed 100 percent, in the 

7 case of a project carried out by the Commis8 sioner; and 

9 (B) shall not exceed 50 percent, in the 

10 case of a project carried out by a non-Federal 

11 entity, acting in partnership with the Commis12 sioner. 

13 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

14 authorized to be appropriated to the Commissioner to 

15 carry out this section $12,000,000 for fiscal year 2024, 

16 to remain available until expended. 

17 (e) NO EFFECT ON PROJECT PURPOSES.—Nothing 

18 in this section affects the authorized purposes of a Rec19 lamation project. 

20 SEC. 3. FLOATING SOLAR ENERGY AT CORPS OF ENGI21 NEERS PROJECTS. 

22 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) CORPS OF ENGINEERS PROJECT.—The term 

24 ‘‘Corps of Engineers project’’ means any water re25 sources development project— 


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1 (A) constructed by the Secretary; or 

2 (B) for which the Secretary has financial 

3 or operational responsibility. 

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

5 the Secretary of the Army. 

6 (b) SUSTAINABILITY REPORTS.—Beginning not later 

7 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

8 Secretary shall include renewable energy from floating 

9 photovoltaic solar panels as part of any sustainability re10 port and implementation plan of the Corps of Engineers. 

11 (c) PILOT PROGRAM.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, if supported by 

14 the results of the assessment conducted under sub15 section (a) of section 8232 of the Water Resources 

16 Development Act of 2022 (Public Law 117–263), 

17 the Secretary shall establish a pilot program for the 

18 deployment of floating photovoltaic solar panels at 

19 Corps of Engineers projects identified under para20 graph (2)(B) of that subsection under which the 

21 Secretary or an applicable non-Federal interest— 

22 (A) agrees to invest in and deploy floating 

23 photovoltaic solar panels; and 


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1 (B) may enter into agreements, including 

2 through public-private partnerships, for the 

3 purpose of carrying out such activities. 

4 (2) COST SHARE.—The Federal share of the 

5 cost of a project carried out under this subsection 

6 shall be— 

7 (A) not more than 100 percent, in the case 

8 of a project carried out by the Secretary; and 

9 (B) not more than 50 percent, in the case 

10 of a project carried out by a non-Federal inter11 est. 

12 (d) FUNDING.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

14 out this section using amounts made available to the 

15 Secretary to carry out section 8232 of the Water 

16 Resources Development Act of 2022 (Public Law 

17 117–263) that are not otherwise obligated. 

18 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In 

19 addition to amounts made available under paragraph 

20 (1), there is authorized to be appropriated to the 

21 Secretary to carry out this section $2,000,000 for 

22 fiscal year 2024, to remain available until expended. 


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1 (e) NO EFFECT ON PROJECT PURPOSES.—Nothing 

2 in this section affects the authorized purposes of a Corps 

3 of Engineers project. 

Æ 


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