II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1749

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide funding for the implementation of the endangered fish recovery implementation programs for

the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 12, 1998

Mr. ALLARD (by request) introduced the following bill; which was read twice

and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide funding

for the implementation of the endangered fish recovery

implementation programs for the Upper Colorado and

San Juan River Basins.

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 ‘‘Upper Colorado River

5 and San Juan River Endangered Fish Recovery Act of

6 1998’’.
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S 1749 IS

1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

2 The purpose of the ‘‘Upper Colorado River and the

3 San Juan River Endangered Fish Recovery Act of 1998’’

4 is to authorize and provide funding for the Secretary, act5 ing through the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau

6 of Indian Affairs, to continue implementation of the en7 dangered fish recovery implementation programs for the

8 Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins in order to

9 accomplish the objectives of these programs within a cur10 rently established time schedule.

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

12 As used in this Act—

13 (1) the term ‘‘Recovery Implementation Pro14 grams’’ means the intergovernmental programs es15 tablished pursuant to the 1988 Cooperative Agree16 ment to implement the Recovery Implementation

17 Program for the Endangered Fish Species in the

18 Upper Colorado River dated September 29, 1987,

19 and the 1992 Cooperative Agreement to implement

20 the San Juan River Recovery Implementation Pro21 gram dated October 21, 1992, and as they may be

22 amended by the parties thereto;

23 (2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

24 of the Interior;
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1 (3) the term ‘‘Upper Division States’’ means

2 the States of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wy3 oming;

4 (4) the term ‘‘Endangered Species Act’’ means

5 the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.

6 1531 et seq.) and any Federal regulation implement7 ing the Endangered Species Act;

8 (5) the term ‘‘Reclamation’’ means the U.S.

9 Bureau of Reclamation;

10 (6) the term ‘‘Service’’ means the U.S. Fish

11 and Wildlife Service;

12 (7) the term ‘‘Indian Affairs’’ means the U.S.

13 Bureau of Indian Affairs;

14 (8) the term ‘‘Bureau’’ means the U.S. Bureau

15 of Land Management;

16 (9) the term ‘‘capital projects’’ means planning,

17 design, permitting or other compliance, construction,

18 construction management, and replacement of facili19 ties, and the acquisition of interests in land or

20 water, as necessary to carry out the Recovery Imple21 mentation Programs;

22 (10) the term ‘‘facilities’’ includes facilities for

23 the genetic conservation or propagation of the en24 dangered fishes, those for the restoration of flood25 plain habitat or fish passage, those for regulation or
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1 supply of instream flows, and those for the removal

2 or translocation of nonnative fishes;

3 (11) the term ‘‘interests in land and water’’ in4 cludes long-term leases and easements, and long5 term enforcement or other agreements protecting

6 instream flows;

7 (12) the term ‘‘base funding’’ means funding

8 for operation and maintenance of capital projects,

9 implementation of recovery actions other than cap10 ital projects, monitoring and research to evaluate the

11 need for or effectiveness of any recovery action, and

12 program management, as necessary to carry out the

13 Recovery Implementation Programs. Base funding

14 also includes annual funding provided under the

15 terms of the 1988 Cooperative Agreement and the

16 1992 Cooperative Agreement; and

17 (13) the term ‘‘recovery actions other than cap18 ital projects’’ includes short-term leases and agree19 ments for interests in land, water, and facilities; the

20 reintroduction or augmentation of endangered fish

21 stocks; and the removal, translocation, or other con22 trol of nonnative fishes.
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1 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION TO FUND RECOVERY PROGRAMS.

2 (a) COST OF CAPITAL PROJECTS.—The costs of the

3 capital projects undertaken for the Recovery Implementa4 tion Programs shall not exceed $100,000,000.

5 (1) For the Recovery Implementation Program

6 for Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado

7 River Basin through the year 2003, such costs shall

8 not exceed $82,000,000.

9 (2) For the San Juan River Recovery Imple10 mentation Program through the year 2007, such

11 costs shall not exceed $18,000,000.

12 (3) These costs will be adjusted for inflation.

13 (b) AUTHORIZATION FOR APPROPRIATIONS FOR FED14 ERAL PARTICIPATION IN CAPITAL PROJECTS.—There is

15 hereby authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary, act16 ing through Reclamation, $46,000,000 to undertake cap17 ital projects pursuant to this Act. Such funds shall be con18 sidered a nonreimbursable Federal expenditure.

19 (1) The authority of the Secretary to request

20 appropriations to implement capital projects for the

21 Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered

22 Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin

23 shall expire in the year 2003 unless reauthorized by

24 an Act of Congress.

25 (2) The authority of the Secretary to request

26 appropriations to implement the capital projects for
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1 the San Juan River Basin Recovery Implementation

2 Program shall expire in the year 2007 unless reau3 thorized by an Act of Congress.

4 (c) NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO CAPITAL

5 PROJECTS.—(1) The Secretary, acting through Reclama6 tion, may enter into agreements with the Upper Division

7 States, political subdivisions or organizations within the

8 Upper Division States which contribute to the payment

9 of capital project costs. Such non-Federal contributions

10 shall not exceed $17,000,000.

11 (2) In addition to the contribution described in

12 4(c)(1), the Secretary may utilize power revenues collected

13 pursuant to the Colorado River Storage Project Act to

14 carry out the purposes of this Act. Such funds shall be

15 treated as reimbursable costs assigned to power for repay16 ment under section 5 of the Colorado River Storage

17 Project Act. This additional contribution shall not exceed

18 $17,000,000. Such funds shall be considered a non-Fed19 eral contribution for the purposes of this Act. The addi20 tional funding provided pursuant to this provision may be

21 provided through a loan or loans from the Colorado Water

22 Conservation Board Construction Fund (37–60–121

23 C.R.S.) to the Secretary of Energy to replace revenues

24 which would otherwise be used for project repayments.

25 The Secretary is authorized to repay such loan or loans
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1 from power revenues, subject to an agreement between the

2 Colorado Water Conservation Board and the Secretary of

3 Energy. The agreement shall include provisions designed

4 to minimize future increases in electrical power rates and

5 ensure that a lump-sum repayment, which includes prin6 cipal and interest, is paid to the Colorado Water Conserva7 tion Board no later than October 31, 2057.

8 (3) All contributions made pursuant to subsection

9 (c)(1) and (c)(2) shall be in addition to the cost of replace10 ment power purchased due to modifying the operation of

11 the Colorado River Storage Project and the capital value

12 of water from Wolford Mountain Reservoir in Colorado.

13 Such contributions shall not exceed $20,000,000.

14 (d) BASE FUNDING.—The Secretary may utilize

15 power revenues collected pursuant to the Colorado River

16 Storage Project Act for the annual base funding contribu17 tions to the Recovery Implementation Programs by Rec18 lamation. Such funding will be treated as being non19 reimbursable and as having been repaid and returned to

20 the general fund of the Treasury as costs assigned to

21 power for repayment under section 5 of the Colorado River

22 Storage Project Act.

23 (1) For the Recovery Implementation Program

24 for the Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colo-
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1 rado River Basin, such contributions shall not ex2 ceed $4,000,000 per year.

3 (2) For the San Juan River Recovery Imple4 mentation Program, such contributions shall not ex5 ceed $2,000,000 per year.

6 These limits on the annual contributions to base funding

7 will be adjusted for inflation. Any transfer of funds within

8 these limits to the Service shall not be subject to transfer

9 fees. No later than December 31, 2010, the Secretary

10 shall submit a report on the utilization of power revenues

11 to the Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development

12 for the Senate and House Committee on Appropriations.

13 The Secretary shall also make a recommendation regard14 ing the need for additional funding that may be required

15 to fulfill the goals of the Recovery Implementation Pro16 grams. Nothing in this Act shall otherwise modify or

17 amend existing agreements among participants regarding

18 base funding and depletion fees for the Recovery Imple19 mentation Programs. The Secretary of Energy and Rec20 lamation shall maintain sufficient revenues in the Colo21 rado River Basin Fund to meet their obligations to provide

22 base funding in accordance with this provision.

23 (e) AUTHORITY TO RETAIN APPROPRIATED

24 FUNDS.—At the end of each fiscal year any unexpended

25 appropriated funds for capital projects shall be retained
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1 for use in future fiscal years. Unexpended funds which are

2 carried over shall continue to be used to implement the

3 capital projects needed for the Recovery Implementation

4 Programs.

5 (f) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may

6 enter into agreements and contracts with Federal and

7 non-Federal entities; acquire and transfer interests in

8 land, water and facilities; and accept or give grants in

9 order to carry out the purposes of this Act.

10 (g) INDIAN TRUST ASSETS.—As much of the poten11 tial water development in the San Juan River Basin is

12 for the benefit of Indian tribes and most of the federally

13 designated critical habitat for the endangered fish species

14 in the basin is on Indian trust lands, nothing in this Act

15 shall be construed to restrict the Secretary from funding

16 activities or capital items in accordance with the Federal

17 Government’s Indian trust responsibility.

18 SEC. 5. EFFECT ON RECLAMATION LAW.

19 Construction of facilities and acquisition of land and

20 water interests as contemplated herein shall not render

21 these facilities or land and water interests or associated

22 processes and procedures subject to the Reclamation Act

23 of 1902, as amended.

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