IB

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1444

[Report No. 106–454, Part I]

To authorize the Secretary of the Army to develop and implement projects

for fish screens, fish passage devices, and other similar measures to

mitigate adverse impacts associated with irrigation system water diversions by local governmental entities in the States of Oregon, Washington,

Montana, and Idaho.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 15, 1999

Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself and Mr. WALDEN of Oregon) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and

Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on 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

NOVEMBER 5, 1999

Reported from the Committee on Resources with amendments

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Army to develop and

implement projects for fish screens, fish passage devices,

and other similar measures to mitigate adverse impacts

associated with irrigation system water diversions by

local governmental entities in the States of Oregon,

Washington, Montana, and Idaho.
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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. AQUATIC RESOURCES RESTORATION IN THE

4 NORTHWEST.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—In cooperation with other Federal

6 agencies, the Secretary of the Army is authorized to de7 velop and implement projects for fish screens, fish passage

8 devices, and other similar measures agreed to by non-Fed9 eral interests and relevant Federal agencies to mitigate

10 adverse impacts associated with irrigation system water

11 diversions by local governmental entities in the States of

12 Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Idaho.

13 (b) PROCEDURE AND PARTICIPATION.—

14 (1) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT; USE OF EX15 ISTING DATA.—In providing assistance under sub16 section (a), the Secretary shall consult with other

17 Federal, State, and local agencies and make max18 imum use of data and studies in existence on the

19 date of enactment of this Act.

20 (2) PARTICIPATION BY NON-FEDERAL INTER21 ESTS.—Participation by non-Federal interests in

22 projects under this section shall be voluntary. The

23 Secretary shall not take any action under this sec24 tion that will result in a non-Federal interest being

25 held financially responsible for an action under a
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1 project unless the non-Federal interest has volun2 tarily agreed to participate in the project.

3 (c) COST SHARING.—Projects carried out under this

4 section on lands owned by the United States shall be car5 ried out at full Federal expense. The non-Federal share

6 of the cost of any such project undertaken on lands not

7 in Federal ownership shall be 35 percent.

8 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

9 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

10 $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and each fiscal year

11 thereafter.

12 SECTION 1. AQUATIC RESOURCES RESTORATION IN THE

13 NORTHWEST AND IN CALIFORNIA.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—In cooperation with other Federal

15 agencies, the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the

16 Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and

17 in consultation with the Bureau of Reclamation, may de18 velop and implement projects for fish screens, fish passage

19 devices, and other facilities agreed to by non-Federal inter20 ests, relevant Federal agencies, and affected States to miti21 gate adverse impacts to fisheries resulting from the con22 struction and operation of water diversions by local govern23 mental entities in the States of Oregon, Washington, Mon24 tana, Idaho, and California. Priority shall be given to any

25 project that has a total cost of less than $2,500,000.
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1 (b) GOALS.—The goals of the program under sub2 section (a) shall be—

3 (1) to decrease the incidence of juvenile and

4 adult fish entering water supply systems; and

5 (2) to decrease fish mortality associated with the

6 withdrawal of water for irrigation and other purposes

7 without impairing the continued withdrawal of water

8 for that purpose.

9 (c) PARTICIPATION BY NON-FEDERAL ENTITIES.—

10 Non-Federal participation in the program under subsection

11 (a) shall be voluntary. The Secretary shall take no action

12 that would result in any non-Federal entity being held fi13 nancially responsible for any action unless the entity ap14 plies to participate in the program.

15 (d) EVALUATION AND PRIORITIZATION OF

16 PROJECTS.—Evaluation and prioritization of projects for

17 development and implementation under this section shall

18 be conducted on the basis of—

19 (1) assisting entities in their compliance with

20 the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531

21 et seq.) and related environmental concerns;

22 (2) cost effectiveness;

23 (3) size of diversion;

24 (4) availability of other funding sources; and
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1 (5) opportunity for biological benefit to be

2 achieved with improved conditions.

3 (e) REQUIREMENTS.—A fish screen, fish passage de4 vice, or other feature shall not be eligible for funding under

5 subsection (a) unless—

6 (1) it meets the requirements of the United

7 States Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Ma8 rine Fisheries Service, as applicable, and any State

9 requirements; and

10 (2) it is agreed to by all interested Federal and

11 non-Federal entities.

12 (f) COST SHARING.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—(A) Development and imple14 mentation of projects under this section on lands

15 owned by the United States shall be at full Federal

16 expense.

17 (B) The non-Federal share of the cost of develop18 ment and implementation of any project under this

19 section on lands that are not owned by the United

20 States shall be 35 percent.

21 (2) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—(A) The non-Fed22 eral participants in any project under this section on

23 lands that are not owned by the United States shall

24 provide all land, easements, rights-of-way, dredged
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1 material disposal areas, and relocations necessary for

2 the project.

3 (B) The value of land, easements, rights-of-way,

4 dredged material disposal areas, and relocations pro5 vided under this paragraph for a project shall be

6 credited toward the non-Federal share of the costs of

7 the project under paragraph (1).

8 (3) OMRR&R.—The non-Federal interests shall

9 be responsible for all costs associated with operating,

10 maintaining, repairing, rehabilitating, and replacing

11 all projects carried out under this section.

12 (g) CONSULTATION AND USE OF EXISTING DATA AND

13 STUDIES.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall

14 consult with other Federal, State, and local agencies and

15 make maximum use of data and studies in existence on the

16 date of enactment of this Act.

17 (h) LIMITATION ON ELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDING.—No

18 project applicant pursuant to this section may obtain funds

19 under this section if they are also receiving funds from an20 other federally funded program for the same purpose.

21 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap23 propriated to carry out this section $25,000,000 for

24 each of fiscal years 2001 through 2005.
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(2) LIMITATIONS.—(A) Not more than 1 1 ⁄3 of the

2 total amount of funds appropriated under this section

3 may be used for projects in any single State.

4 (B) Not more than 6 percent of the amount of

5 funds appropriated under this section for a fiscal

6 year may be used for administration of this section.

7 (3) INTERIM REPORT.—Upon the expiration of

8 the 3d fiscal year for which amounts are available to

9 carry out this section, the Secretary of the Interior

10 shall report to the Congress describing the accomplish11 ments to date under this section and the projects that

12 will be completed with amounts provided under this

13 section for the 4th and 5th fiscal years for which such

14 amounts are available.

Amend the title to read as follows: ‘‘A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to plan, design, and construct fish screens, fish passage devices, and other facilities to mitigate adverse impacts associated with irrigation

system water diversions by local governmental entities in

the States of Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, and

California.’’.