I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1600 

To require that certain funds provided by the Department of Transportation 

for high-speed rail development in the State of California that are rescinded or otherwise reimbursed be made available to the Secretary 

of the Interior for water storage projects, and to the Secretary of Agriculture for nitrate contamination reduction grants and new well construction grants. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2019 

Mr. MCCARTHY (for himself, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. COOK, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. 

LAMALFA, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, and Mr. NUNES) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition 

to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and Natural 

Resources, 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 require that certain funds provided by the Department 

of Transportation for high-speed rail development in the 

State of California that are rescinded or otherwise reimbursed be made available to the Secretary of the Interior 

for water storage projects, and to the Secretary of Agriculture for nitrate contamination reduction grants and 

new well construction grants. 

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 ‘‘Repurposing Assets 

3 to Increase Long-term Water Availability and Yield Act’’ 

4 or the ‘‘RAILWAY Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN FUNDS DEDICATED FOR 

6 HIGH-SPEED RAIL DEVELOPMENT IN THE 

7 STATE OF CALIFORNIA. 

8 (a) TREATMENT OF FUNDS.—Notwithstanding any 

9 other law, the covered funds described in subsection (b) 

10 shall be immediately deposited as follows: 

11 (1) 90 percent of funds in the Reclamation 

12 Water Storage Account which shall be made avail13 able to the Secretary of the Interior for water stor14 age projects authorized pursuant to section 4007 of 

15 the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Na16 tion Act (Public Law 114–322) (43 U.S.C. 390b 

17 note). 

18 (2) 5 percent of funds in the Rural Water and 

19 Waste Disposal Program Account which shall be 

20 made available to the Secretary of Agriculture for 

21 grants under section 306F of the Consolidated Farm 

22 and Rural Development Act. 

23 (3) 5 percent of funds in the Rural Water and 

24 Waste Disposal Program Account which shall be 

25 made available to the Secretary of Agriculture for 


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1 grants under section 306G of the Consolidated Farm 

2 and Rural Development Act. 

3 (b) COVERED FUNDS.—The covered funds are the 

4 following: 

5 (1) The Federal funds received by the Depart6 ment of Transportation as a result of the Depart7 ment of Transportation’s termination and de-obliga8 tion of Cooperative Agreement No. FR–HSR–0118– 

9 12–01–01 between the Federal Railroad Administra10 tion and the California High-Speed Rail Authority, 

11 notwithstanding the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 

12 2010 (Public Law 111–117). 

13 (2) The Federal funds that are recovered by the 

14 Department of Transportation relating to Coopera15 tive Agreement No. FR–HSR–0009–10–01–06 be16 tween the Federal Railroad Administration and the 

17 California High-Speed Rail Authority, notwith18 standing the American Recovery and Reinvestment 

19 Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5). 

20 (3) Any funds determined to be offsets by the 

21 Federal Railroad Administration or the Department 

22 of Transportation, consistent with Cooperative 

23 Agreement No. FRA–HSR–0009–10–01–06. 

24 (c) COST SHARE FOR WATER STORAGE PROJECTS.— 

25 Funds made available pursuant this Act shall not count 


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1 toward the cost-share provisions of section 4007 of the 

2 Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act. 

3 SEC. 3. NITRATE CONTAMINATION REDUCTION GRANTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of the Consolidated 

5 Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1922–1936c) 

6 is amended by inserting after section 306E the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 306F. NITRATE CONTAMINATION REDUCTION 

8 GRANTS. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

10 grants in accordance with this section to public or private 

11 nonprofit entities for projects designed to reduce the level 

12 of nitrates in, or remove nitrates from, drinking water in 

13 a rural community where the level of nitrates in drinking 

14 water exceeds applicable Federal or State standards. 

15 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants made under this sec16 tion may be used— 

17 ‘‘(1) for waterline extensions from existing sys18 tems, laying of new waterlines, repairs or mainte19 nance to an existing system, digging of new wells or 

20 development of other sources of water designed to 

21 replace sources of drinking water with high levels of 

22 nitrates, equipment replacement, and hook-up fees; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(2) in the case of a project designed to benefit 

25 a rural community outside the jurisdiction of the 


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1 grantee, to maintain existing water supplies of the 

2 grantee that will be reduced as a result of the 

3 project. 

4 ‘‘(c) RURAL COMMUNITY.—In this section, the term 

5 ‘rural community’ does not include— 

6 ‘‘(1) any area in any city or town with a popu7 lation in excess of 10,000 inhabitants according to 

8 the most recent decennial census of the United 

9 States; or 

10 ‘‘(2) any area with a median household income 

11 in excess of the State nonmetropolitan median 

12 household income. 

13 ‘‘(d) FULL FUNDING.—Grants under this section 

14 shall be made in an amount equal to 100 percent of the 

15 costs of the projects conducted under this section. 

16 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION.—Subsection (h) of section 306A 

17 shall apply with respect to the administration of applica18 tions for grants under this section.’’. 

19 (b) REPEAL.—Effective 5 years after the date of the 

20 enactment of this Act, section 306F of the Consolidated 

21 Farm and Rural Development Act, as added by the 

22 amendment made by subsection (a), is repealed. 

23 SEC. 4. NEW WELL CONSTRUCTION GRANTS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of the Consolidated 

25 Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1922–1936c) 


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1 is further amended by inserting after section 306F the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 306G. NEW WELL CONSTRUCTION GRANTS. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

5 grants in accordance with this section to public or private 

6 nonprofit entities for projects designed to supply drinking 

7 water to rural communities in which a significant number 

8 of dwellings with private drinking water wells have wells 

9 that are not producing water. 

10 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants made under this sec11 tion may be used— 

12 ‘‘(1) for waterline extensions from existing sys13 tems, laying of new waterlines, repairs or mainte14 nance to an existing system, digging of new wells or 

15 development of other sources of water designed to 

16 replace sources of drinking water with high levels of 

17 nitrates, equipment replacement, and hook-up fees; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(2) in the case of a project designed to benefit 

20 a rural community outside the jurisdiction of the 

21 grantee, to maintain existing water supplies of the 

22 grantee that will be reduced as a result of the 

23 project. 

24 ‘‘(c) RURAL COMMUNITY.—In this section, the term 

25 ‘rural community’ does not include— 


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1 ‘‘(1) any area in any city or town with a popu2 lation in excess of 10,000 inhabitants according to 

3 the most recent decennial census of the United 

4 States; or 

5 ‘‘(2) any area with a median household income 

6 in excess of the State nonmetropolitan median 

7 household income. 

8 ‘‘(d) FULL FUNDING.—Grants under this section 

9 shall be made in an amount equal to 100 percent of the 

10 costs of the projects conducted under this section. 

11 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION.—Subsection (h) of section 306A 

12 shall apply with respect to the administration of applica13 tions for grants under this section.’’. 

14 (b) REPEAL.—Effective 5 years after the date of the 

15 enactment of this Act, section 306G of the Consolidated 

16 Farm and Rural Development Act, as added by the 

17 amendment made by subsection (a), is repealed. 

Æ 


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