II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3385 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to use designated funding to 

pay for construction of authorized rural water projects, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 16, 2012 

Mr. BAUCUS (for himself, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. TESTER, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. 

UDALL of New Mexico, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. FRANKEN, Mr. JOHNSON

of South Dakota, and Mr. CONRAD) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to use designated 

funding to pay for construction of authorized rural water 

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 ‘‘Authorized Rural 

5 Water Projects Completion Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Rec2 lamation Rural Water Construction Fund estab3 lished by section 3(a). 

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

5 the Secretary of the Interior. 

6 SEC. 3. RECLAMATION RURAL WATER CONSTRUCTION 

7 FUND. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

9 Treasury of the United States a fund, to be known as the 

10 ‘‘Reclamation Rural Water Construction Fund’’, con11 sisting of— 

12 (1) such amounts as are deposited in the Fund 

13 under subsection (b); and 

14 (2) any interest earned on investment of 

15 amounts in the Fund under subsection (d). 

16 (b) DEPOSITS TO FUND.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years 

18 2013 through 2029, the Secretary of the Treasury 

19 shall deposit in the Fund $80,000,000 of the reve20 nues that would otherwise be deposited for the fiscal 

21 year in the reclamation fund established by the first 

22 section of the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, 

23 chapter 1093). 

24 (2) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts de25 posited in the Fund under paragraph (1) shall— 


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1 (A) be made available in accordance with 

2 this section, without further appropriation; and 

3 (B) be in addition to amounts appropriated 

4 for such purposes under any other provision of 

5 law. 

6 (3) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding paragraphs 

7 (1) and (2), no amounts may be deposited in, or 

8 made available from, the Fund under those para9 graphs if the transfer or availability of the amounts 

10 would increase the deficit. 

11 (c) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

13 (A) EXPENDITURES.—Subject to subpara14 graph (B), for each of fiscal years 2013 

15 through 2034, the Secretary may expend from 

16 the Fund not more than the sum of— 

17 (i) $80,000,000; and 

18 (ii) the amount of interest accrued in 

19 the Fund for the fiscal year in which the 

20 expenditures are made. 

21 (B) ADDITIONAL EXPENDITURES.—Not22 withstanding subparagraph (A), the Secretary 

23 may expend more than $80,000,000 for any fis24 cal year listed in subparagraph (A) if such 

25 amounts are available in the Fund due to exVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:50 Jul 17, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3385.IS S3385

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1 penditures not reaching $80,000,000 in 1 or 

2 more prior fiscal years. 

3 (2) USE.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara5 graph (B), the Secretary may use amounts 

6 from the Fund to complete construction of 

7 rural water projects— 

8 (i) authorized to be carried out by the 

9 Secretary on or before the date of enact10 ment of this Act; or 

11 (ii) for which— 

12 (I) pursuant to section 106(e) of 

13 Rural Water Supply Act of 2006 (43 

14 U.S.C. 2405(e)), the Secretary has 

15 completed a feasibility report by Sep16 tember 30, 2012, that recommends 

17 the construction of a rural water 

18 project; and 

19 (II) an Act of Congress after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act has au21 thorized the construction of the 

22 project. 

23 (B) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may not 

24 use amounts from the Fund to pay for any opVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:50 Jul 17, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3385.IS S3385

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1 eration and maintenance costs of an authorized 

2 rural water project. 

3 (3) CONDITIONS.—The Secretary shall not ex4 pend any amounts from the Fund until the date on 

5 which the Secretary develops— 

6 (A) programmatic goals to carry out this 

7 section that— 

8 (i) would enable the completion of 

9 construction of the authorized rural water 

10 projects as expeditiously as possible; and 

11 (ii) reflect— 

12 (I) the goals and priorities identi13 fied in the laws authorizing the au14 thorized rural water projects; and 

15 (II) the goals of the Reclamation 

16 Rural Water Supply Act of 2006 (43 

17 U.S.C. 2401 et seq.); and 

18 (B) funding prioritization criteria to serve 

19 as a formula for distributing funds under this 

20 section that take into account— 

21 (i) an evaluation of the urgent and 

22 compelling need for potable water supplies 

23 in the affected rural and tribal commu24 nities; 


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1 (ii) the status of the current stages of 

2 completion of the authorized rural water 

3 project; 

4 (iii) the financial needs of the affected 

5 rural and tribal communities; 

6 (iv) the potential economic benefits of 

7 the expenditures on job creation and gen8 eral economic development in the affected 

9 rural and tribal communities; 

10 (v) the ability of the authorized rural 

11 water project to address regional and wa12 tershed level water supply needs; 

13 (vi) the ability of the authorized rural 

14 water project— 

15 (I) to minimize water and energy 

16 consumption; and 

17 (II) to encourage the develop18 ment of renewable energy resources, 

19 such as wind, solar, and hydropower 

20 elements; 

21 (vii) the need for the authorized rural 

22 water project to address— 

23 (I) the needs of Indian tribes and 

24 members of Indian tribes; and 


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1 (II) other community needs or 

2 interests; and 

3 (viii) such other factors as the Sec4 retary determines to be appropriate to 

5 prioritize the use of available funds. 

6 (d) INVESTMENTS OF AMOUNTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall invest 

8 such portion of the Fund as is not, in the judgment 

9 of the Secretary, required to meet current with10 drawals. 

11 (2) CREDITS TO FUND.—The interest on, and 

12 the proceeds from the sale or redemption of, any ob13 ligations held in the Fund shall be credited to, and 

14 form a part of, the Fund. 

15 (e) TRANSFERS OF AMOUNTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amounts required to be 

17 transferred to the Fund under this section shall be 

18 transferred at least monthly from the general fund 

19 of the Treasury to the Fund on the basis of esti20 mates made by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

21 (2) ADJUSTMENTS.—Proper adjustment shall 

22 be made in amounts subsequently transferred to the 

23 extent prior estimates were in excess of or less than 

24 the amounts required to be transferred. 

25 (f) TERMINATION.—On September 30, 2034— 


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1 (1) the Fund shall terminate; and 

2 (2) the unexpended and unobligated balance of 

3 the Fund shall be transferred to the reclamation 

4 fund established by the first section of the Act of 

5 June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, chapter 1093). 

Æ 


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