IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 678 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 15, 2013 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

AN ACT 

To authorize all Bureau of Reclamation conduit facilities 

for hydropower development under Federal Reclamation 

law, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bureau of Reclamation 

3 Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs 

4 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION. 

6 Section 9(c) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 

7 (43 U.S.C. 485h(c)) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary is authorized to 

9 enter into contracts to furnish water’’ and inserting 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) The Secretary is authorized to enter into 

12 contracts to furnish water’’; 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘(1) shall’’ and inserting ‘‘(A) 

14 shall’’; 

15 (3) by striking ‘‘(2) shall’’ and inserting ‘‘(B) 

16 shall’’; 

17 (4) by striking ‘‘respecting the terms of sales of 

18 electric power and leases of power privileges shall be 

19 in addition and alternative to any authority in exist20 ing laws relating to particular projects’’ and insert21 ing ‘‘respecting the sales of electric power and leases 

22 of power privileges shall be an authorization in addi23 tion to and alternative to any authority in existing 

24 laws related to particular projects, including small 

25 conduit hydropower development’’; and 

26 (5) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(2)(A) When carrying out this subsection, 

2 the Secretary shall first offer the lease of power 

3 privilege to an irrigation district or water users 

4 association operating the applicable transferred 

5 conduit, or to the irrigation district or water 

6 users association receiving water from the ap7 plicable reserved conduit. The Secretary shall 

8 determine a reasonable time frame for the irri9 gation district or water users association to ac10 cept or reject a lease of power privilege offer for 

11 a small conduit hydropower project. 

12 ‘‘(B) If the irrigation district or water 

13 users association elects not accept a lease of 

14 power privilege offer under subparagraph (A), 

15 the Secretary shall offer the lease of power 

16 privilege to other parties in accordance with 

17 this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(3) The Bureau of Reclamation shall 

19 apply its categorical exclusion process under the 

20 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

21 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to small conduit hydro22 power development under this subsection, ex23 cluding siting of associated transmission facili24 ties on Federal lands. 


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1 ‘‘(4) The Power Resources Office of the 

2 Bureau of Reclamation shall be the lead office 

3 of small conduit hydropower policy and proce4 dure-setting activities conducted under this sub5 section. 

6 ‘‘(5) Nothing in this subsection shall obli7 gate the Western Area Power Administration, 

8 the Bonneville Power Administration, or the 

9 Southwestern Power Administration to pur10 chase or market any of the power produced by 

11 the facilities covered under this subsection and 

12 none of the costs associated with production or 

13 delivery of such power shall be assigned to 

14 project purposes for inclusion in project rates. 

15 ‘‘(6) Nothing in this subsection shall alter 

16 or impede the delivery and management of 

17 water by Bureau of Reclamation facilities, as 

18 water used for conduit hydropower generation 

19 shall be deemed incidental to use of water for 

20 the original project purposes. Lease of power 

21 privilege shall be made only when, in the judg22 ment of the Secretary, the exercise of the lease 

23 will not be incompatible with the purposes of 

24 the project or division involved, nor shall it cre25 ate any unmitigated financial or physical imVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:22 Apr 15, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H678.RFS H678

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1 pacts to the project or division involved. The 

2 Secretary shall notify and consult with the irri3 gation district or water users association oper4 ating the transferred conduit before offering the 

5 lease of power privilege and shall prescribe 

6 terms and conditions that will adequately pro7 tect the planning, design, construction, oper8 ation, maintenance, and other interests of the 

9 United States and the project or division in10 volved. 

11 ‘‘(7) Nothing in this subsection shall alter 

12 or affect any existing agreements for the devel13 opment of conduit hydropower projects or dis14 position of revenues. 

15 ‘‘(8) Nothing in this subsection shall alter 

16 or affect any existing preliminary permit, li17 cense, or exemption issued by the Federal En18 ergy Regulatory Commission under Part I of 

19 the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 792 et seq.) 

20 or any project for which an application has 

21 been filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory 

22 Commission as of the date of the enactment of 

23 the Bureau of Reclamation Small Conduit Hy24 dropower Development and Rural Jobs Act. 

25 ‘‘(9) In this subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(A) CONDUIT.—The term ‘conduit’ 

2 means any Bureau of Reclamation tunnel, 

3 canal, pipeline, aqueduct, flume, ditch, or 

4 similar manmade water conveyance that is 

5 operated for the distribution of water for 

6 agricultural, municipal, or industrial con7 sumption and not primarily for the genera8 tion of electricity. 

9 ‘‘(B) IRRIGATION DISTRICT.—The 

10 term ‘irrigation district’ means any irriga11 tion, water conservation or conservancy, 

12 multicounty water conservation or conser13 vancy district, or any separate public enti14 ty composed of two or more such districts 

15 and jointly exercising powers of its member 

16 districts. 

17 ‘‘(C) RESERVED CONDUIT.—The term 

18 ‘reserved conduit’ means any conduit that 

19 is included in project works the care, oper20 ation, and maintenance of which has been 

21 reserved by the Secretary, through the 

22 Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclama23 tion. 

24 ‘‘(D) TRANSFERRED CONDUIT.—The 

25 term ‘transferred conduit’ means any conVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:22 Apr 15, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H678.RFS H678

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1 duit that is included in project works the 

2 care, operation, and maintenance of which 

3 has been transferred to a legally organized 

4 water users association or irrigation dis5 trict. 

6 ‘‘(E) SMALL CONDUIT HYDRO7 POWER.—The term ‘small conduit hydro8 power’ means a facility capable of pro9 ducing 5 megawatts or less of electric ca10 pacity.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives April 10, 2013. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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