I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5629 

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a California New River restoration program to build on, and help 

coordinate funding for, restoration and protection efforts relating to 

the New River, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 6, 2016 

Mr. VARGAS (for himself and Mr. HUNTER) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period 

to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 

concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

Agency to establish a California New River restoration 

program to build on, and help coordinate funding for, 

restoration and protection efforts relating to the New 

River, 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 ‘‘California New River 

5 Restoration Act of 2016’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) the New River was born out of the Colorado 

4 River’s occasional flows into the Salton Sink and the 

5 erosion of the New River channel which formed the 

6 deep river canyon between 1905 and 1907; 

7 (2) the New River starts in Mexicali, Mexico, 

8 flows north into the United States through Calexico, 

9 passes through the Imperial Valley and drains into 

10 the Salton Sea, roughly 66 miles north of the inter11 national boundary, and the sub-watershed covers ap12 proximately 750 square miles, with 63 percent of 

13 that in Mexico and 37 percent in the United States; 

14 (3) the New River has been widely recognized 

15 for its significant water pollution problems, pri16 marily because of agricultural runoff, raw sewage, 

17 pesticides, and discharges of wastes from domestic, 

18 agricultural, and industrial sources in Mexico and 

19 the Imperial Valley; 

20 (4) by the 1980s, the New River acquired the 

21 reputation of being one of the most polluted rivers 

22 in the United States, with many of the pollutants 

23 posing serious human health hazards to local popu24 lations, particularly those in Calexico and Mexicali; 

25 (5) in 1992, the International Boundary Water 

26 Commission’s Treaty Minute No. 288 established a 


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1 sanitation strategy for the New River water quality 

2 problems at the international boundary and divided 

3 the sanitation projects into two immediate repairs 

4 projects, the Mexicali I and the Mexicali II, which 

5 totaled about $50 million dollars and were funded by 

6 both countries through the North American Develop7 ment Bank; 

8 (6) in 1995, the Environmental Protection 

9 Agency provided funds to the California Regional 

10 Water Quality Control Board to monitor and docu11 ment the water quality at the international boundary 

12 on a monthly basis; 

13 (7) in the late 1990s, the United States and 

14 Mexico spent $100 million (45 percent paid by Mex15 ico and 55 percent paid by the United States) to 

16 build the Las Arenitas and Zaragoza Wastewater 

17 Treatment plants, and untreated New River water 

18 passing through four microbial treatment cells at 

19 Las Arenitas was then chlorinated and fed into a re20 forestation project along the desiccated Rio Hardy 

21 which stretches to the Sea of Cortez; 

22 (8) a 10-year effort by community groups, law23 yers, regulatory agencies, and politicians addressed 

24 the problem at the source by federally funding a new 


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1 sewage treatment plant in Mexicali and developing a 

2 site plan for the river on the United States side; 

3 (9) in 2009, the State of California required the 

4 California-Mexico Border Relations Council to create 

5 a strategic plan to study, monitor, remediate, and 

6 enhance the New River’s water quality to protect 

7 human health and develop a river parkway suitable 

8 for public use; 

9 (10) flows in the New River at the Inter10 national Boundary with Mexico have been reduced 

11 by as much as 40 percent during the last 10 years 

12 due to a number of factors which include reduction 

13 of agricultural runoff and municipal wastewater dis14 charged into the New River and its tributaries in 

15 Mexico; and 

16 (11) the existing and ongoing voluntary con17 servation efforts at the New River necessitate im18 proved efficiency and cost effectiveness, as well as 

19 increased private-sector investments and coordina20 tion of Federal and non-Federal resources, including 

21 through installation of a large trash screen, a new 

22 pump station, aeration devices, a disinfection facil23 ity, and managed wetlands. 

24 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


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1 (1) NEW RIVER.—The term ‘‘New River’’ 

2 means the river that starts in Mexicali, Mexico, 

3 flows north into the United States through Calexico, 

4 passes through the Imperial Valley, and drains into 

5 the Salton Sea. 

6 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis7 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ8 mental Protection Agency. 

9 (3) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

10 the California New River restoration program estab11 lished under section 4. 

12 (4) RESTORATION AND PROTECTION.—The 

13 term ‘‘restoration and protection’’ means the con14 servation, stewardship, and enhancement of habitat 

15 for fish and wildlife to preserve and improve eco16 systems and ecological processes on which they de17 pend. 

18 (5) MEXICAN.—The term ‘‘Mexican’’ refers to 

19 the Federal, State, and local governments of the 

20 United Mexican States. 

21 SEC. 4. CALIFORNIA NEW RIVER RESTORATION PROGRAM 

22 ESTABLISHMENT. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 

24 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 


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1 establish a program to be known as the ‘‘California New 

2 River restoration program’’. 

3 (b) DUTIES.—In carrying out the program, the Ad4 ministrator shall— 

5 (1) draw on existing and new management 

6 plans for the New River, or portions of the New 

7 River, and work in consultation with applicable man8 agement entities, including representatives of the 

9 Calexico New River Committee, the California-Mex10 ico Border Relations Council, the New River Im11 provement Project Technical Advisory Committee, 

12 the Federal Government, State and local govern13 ments, and regional and nonprofit organizations, as 

14 appropriate, to identify, prioritize, and implement 

15 restoration and protection activities relating to the 

16 New River; 

17 (2) adopt a New River-wide strategy that— 

18 (A) supports the implementation of a 

19 shared set of science-based restoration and pro20 tection activities identified in accordance with 

21 paragraph (1); 

22 (B) targets cost-effective projects with 

23 measurable results; and 


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1 (C) maximizes conservation outcomes with 

2 no net gain of Federal full-time equivalent em3 ployees; and 

4 (3) provide grants and technical assistance in 

5 accordance with section 5. 

6 (c) COORDINATION.—In establishing the program, 

7 the Administrator shall consult, as appropriate, with— 

8 (1) the heads of Federal agencies, including— 

9 (A) the Secretary of the Interior; 

10 (B) the Secretary of Agriculture; 

11 (C) the Administrator of General Services; 

12 (D) the Commissioner of the International 

13 Boundary Water Commission; and 

14 (E) the head of any other applicable agen15 cy; 

16 (2) the Governor of California; 

17 (3) the Imperial Irrigation District; 

18 (4) the Colorado River Basin Regional Water 

19 Quality Control Board; and 

20 (5) other public agencies and organizations with 

21 authority for the planning and implementation of 

22 conservation strategies relating to the New River in 

23 both the United States and Mexico. 

24 (d) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the program in25 clude— 


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1 (1) coordinating restoration and protection ac2 tivities, among Mexican, Federal, State, local, and 

3 regional entities and conservation partners, relating 

4 to the New River; and 

5 (2) carrying out coordinated restoration and 

6 protection activities, and providing for technical as7 sistance relating to the New River— 

8 (A) to sustain and enhance fish and wild9 life habitat restoration and protection activities; 

10 (B) to improve and maintain water quality 

11 to support fish and wildlife, as well as the habi12 tats of fish and wildlife; 

13 (C) to sustain and enhance water manage14 ment for volume and flood damage mitigation 

15 improvements to benefit fish and wildlife habi16 tat; 

17 (D) to improve opportunities for public ac18 cess to, and recreation in and along, the New 

19 River consistent with the ecological needs of 

20 fish and wildlife habitat; 

21 (E) to facilitate strategic planning to maxi22 mize the resilience of natural systems and habi23 tats under changing watershed conditions; 

24 (F) to engage the public through outreach, 

25 education, and citizen involvement, to increase 


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1 capacity and support for coordinated restora2 tion and protection activities relating to the 

3 New River; 

4 (G) to increase scientific capacity to sup5 port the planning, monitoring, and research ac6 tivities necessary to carry out coordinated res7 toration and protection activities; and 

8 (H) to provide technical assistance to carry 

9 out restoration and protection activities relating 

10 to the New River. 

11 SEC. 5. GRANTS AND ASSISTANCE. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program, the 

13 Administrator shall provide grants and technical assist14 ance to State and local governments, nonprofit organiza15 tions, and institutions of higher education, in both the 

16 United States and Mexico, to carry out the purposes of 

17 the program. 

18 (b) CRITERIA.—The Administrator, in consultation 

19 with the organizations described in section 4(c), shall de20 velop criteria for providing grants and technical assistance 

21 under this section to ensure that such activities accomplish 

22 one or more of the purposes identified in section 4(d)(2) 

23 and advance the implementation of priority actions or 

24 needs identified in the New River-wide strategy adopted 

25 under section 4(b)(2). 


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1 (c) COST SHARING.— 

2 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

3 the cost of a project for which a grant is provided 

4 under this section shall not exceed 55 percent of the 

5 total cost of the activity, as determined by the Ad6 ministrator. 

7 (2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal 

8 share of the cost of a project for which a grant is 

9 provided under this section may be provided in the 

10 form of an in-kind contribution of services or mate11 rials. 

12 (d) ADMINISTRATION.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may 

14 enter into an agreement to manage the implementa15 tion of this section with the North American Devel16 opment Bank or a similar organization that offers 

17 grant management services. 

18 (2) FUNDING.—If the Administrator enters into 

19 an agreement under paragraph (1), the organization 

20 selected shall— 

21 (A) for each fiscal year, receive amounts to 

22 carry out this section in an advance payment of 

23 the entire amount on October 1, or as soon as 

24 practicable thereafter, of that fiscal year; 


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1 (B) invest and reinvest those amounts for 

2 the benefit of the program; and 

3 (C) otherwise administer the implementa4 tion of this section to support partnerships be5 tween the public and private sectors in accord6 ance with this Act. 

7 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORTS. 

8 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

9 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Administrator 

10 shall submit to Congress a report on the implementation 

11 of this Act, including a description of each project that 

12 has received funding under this Act, goals established by 

13 New River-wide strategy, and the status of all such 

14 projects that are in progress on the date of submission 

15 of the report. 

Æ 


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