H. R. 678 

One Hundred Thirteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE FIRST SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and thirteen 

An Act 

To authorize all Bureau of Reclamation conduit facilities for hydropower development 

under Federal Reclamation law, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs Act’’. 

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION. 

Section 9(c) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 (43 U.S.C. 

485h(c)) is amended— 

(1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary is authorized to enter into 

contracts to furnish water’’ and inserting the following: 

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

to furnish water’’; 

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

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

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

power and leases of power privileges shall be in addition and 

alternative to any authority in existing laws relating to particular projects’’ and inserting ‘‘respecting the sales of electric 

power and leases of power privileges shall be an authorization 

in addition to and alternative to any authority in existing 

laws related to particular projects, including small conduit 

hydropower development’’; and 

(5) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(2)(A) When carrying out this subsection, the Secretary shall first offer the lease of power privilege to an 

irrigation district or water users association operating the 

applicable transferred conduit, or to the irrigation district 

or water users association receiving water from the 

applicable reserved conduit. The Secretary shall determine 

a reasonable time frame for the irrigation district or water 

users association to accept or reject a lease of power privilege offer for a small conduit hydropower project. 

‘‘(B) If the irrigation district or water users association 

elects not accept a lease of power privilege offer under 

subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall offer the lease of 

power privilege to other parties in accordance with this 

subsection. 

‘‘(3) The Bureau of Reclamation shall apply its categorical exclusion process under the National Environmental 

Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) to small conduit 
H. R. 678—2 

hydropower development under this subsection, excluding 

siting of associated transmission facilities on Federal lands. 

‘‘(4) The Power Resources Office of the Bureau of Reclamation shall be the lead office of small conduit hydropower policy and procedure-setting activities conducted 

under this subsection. 

‘‘(5) Nothing in this subsection shall obligate the 

Western Area Power Administration, the Bonneville Power 

Administration, or the Southwestern Power Administration 

to purchase or market any of the power produced by the 

facilities covered under this subsection and none of the 

costs associated with production or delivery of such power 

shall be assigned to project purposes for inclusion in project 

rates. 

‘‘(6) Nothing in this subsection shall alter or impede 

the delivery and management of water by Bureau of Reclamation facilities, as water used for conduit hydropower 

generation shall be deemed incidental to use of water for 

the original project purposes. Lease of power privilege shall 

be made only when, in the judgment of the Secretary, 

the exercise of the lease will not be incompatible with 

the purposes of the project or division involved, nor shall 

it create any unmitigated financial or physical impacts 

to the project or division involved. The Secretary shall 

notify and consult with the irrigation district or water 

users association operating the transferred conduit before 

offering the lease of power privilege and shall prescribe 

terms and conditions that will adequately protect the planning, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and 

other interests of the United States and the project or 

division involved. 

‘‘(7) Nothing in this subsection shall alter or affect 

any existing agreements for the development of conduit 

hydropower projects or disposition of revenues. 

‘‘(8) Nothing in this subsection shall alter or affect 

any existing preliminary permit, license, or exemption 

issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

under Part I of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 792 

et seq.) or any project for which an application has been 

filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as 

of the date of the enactment of the Bureau of Reclamation 

Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs 

Act. 

‘‘(9) In this subsection: 

‘‘(A) CONDUIT.—The term ‘conduit’ means any 

Bureau of Reclamation tunnel, canal, pipeline, aqueduct, flume, ditch, or similar manmade water conveyance that is operated for the distribution of water 

for agricultural, municipal, or industrial consumption 

and not primarily for the generation of electricity. 

‘‘(B) IRRIGATION DISTRICT.—The term ‘irrigation 

district’ means any irrigation, water conservation or 

conservancy, multicounty water conservation or conservancy district, or any separate public entity composed 

of two or more such districts and jointly exercising 

powers of its member districts. 
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‘‘(C) RESERVED CONDUIT.—The term ‘reserved conduit’ means any conduit that is included in project 

works the care, operation, and maintenance of which 

has been reserved by the Secretary, through the 

Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation. 

‘‘(D) TRANSFERRED CONDUIT.—The term ‘transferred conduit’ means any conduit that is included 

in project works the care, operation, and maintenance 

of which has been transferred to a legally organized 

water users association or irrigation district. 

‘‘(E) SMALL CONDUIT HYDROPOWER.—The term 

‘small conduit hydropower’ means a facility capable 

of producing 5 megawatts or less of electric capacity.’’. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.