In the Senate of the United States,

April 13, 2000.

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 1444) entitled ‘‘An Act to authorize the Secretary

of the Interior to plan, design, and construct fish screens,

fish passage devices, and related features to mitigate adverse

impacts associated with irrigation system water diversions by

local governmental entities in the States of Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, and California.’’, do pass with the

following

AMENDMENTS:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

1 SECTION. 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Irrigation Mitigation

3 and Restoration Partnership Act of 2000’’.

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

5 In this Act:

6 (1) PACIFIC OCEAN DRAINAGE AREA.—The term

7 ‘‘Pacific Ocean drainage area’’ means the area com8 prised of portions of the States of Oregon, Wash-
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1 ington, Montana, and Idaho from which water drains

2 into the Pacific Ocean.

3 (2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means the

4 Irrigation Mitigation and Restoration Partnership

5 Program established by section 3(a).

6 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

7 the Secretary of the Interior.

8 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM.

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Irriga10 tion Mitigation and Restoration Partnership Program

11 within the Department of the Interior.

12 (b) GOALS.—The goals of the Program are—

13 (1) to decrease fish mortality associated with the

14 withdrawal of water for irrigation and other purposes

15 without impairing the continued withdrawal of water

16 for those purposes; and

17 (2) to decrease the incidence of juvenile and

18 adult fish entering water supply systems.

19 (c) IMPACTS ON FISHERIES.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under the Program, the Sec21 retary, in consultation with the heads of other appro22 priate agencies, shall develop and implement projects

23 to mitigate impacts to fisheries resulting from the

24 construction and operation of water diversions by

25 local governmental entities, including water and soil
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1 conservation districts, in the Pacific Ocean drainage

2 area.

3 (2) TYPES OF PROJECTS.—Projects eligible under

4 the Program may include the development, improve5 ment, or installation of—

6 (A) fish screens;

7 (B) fish passage devices;

8 (C) other facilities agreed to by non-Federal

9 interests, relevant Federal and tribal agencies,

10 and affected States; and

11 (D) inventories by the States on the need

12 and priority for projects described in subpara13 graphs (A) through (C).

14 (3) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give priority

15 to any project that has a total cost of less than

16 $5,000,000.

17 SEC. 4. PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAM.

18 (a) NON-FEDERAL.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Non-Federal participation in

20 the Program shall be voluntary.

21 (2) FEDERAL ACTION.—The Secretary shall take

22 no action that would result in any non-Federal entity

23 being held financially responsible for any action

24 under the Program, unless the entity applies to par25 ticipate in the Program.
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1 (b) FEDERAL.—Development and implementation of

2 projects under the Program on land or facilities owned by

3 the United States shall be nonreimbursable Federal expendi4 tures.

5 SEC. 5. EVALUATION AND PRIORITIZATION OF PROJECTS.

6 Evaluation and prioritization of projects for develop7 ment under the Program shall be conducted on the basis

8 of—

9 (1) benefits to fish species native to the project

10 area, particularly to species that are listed as being,

11 or considered by Federal or State authorities to be,

12 endangered, threatened, or sensitive;

13 (2) the size and type of water diversion;

14 (3) the availability of other funding sources;

15 (4) cost effectiveness; and

16 (5) additional opportunities for biological or

17 water delivery system benefits.

18 SEC. 6. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—A project carried out under the

20 Program shall not be eligible for funding unless—

21 (1) the project meets the requirements of the Sec22 retary, as applicable, and any applicable State re23 quirements; and
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1 (2) the project is agreed to by all Federal and

2 non-Federal entities with authority and responsibility

3 for the project.

4 (b) DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—In determining

5 the eligibility of a project under this Act, the Secretary

6 shall—

7 (1) consult with other Federal, State, tribal, and

8 local agencies; and

9 (2) make maximum use of all available data.

10 SEC. 7. COST SHARING.

11 (a) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal share of

12 the cost of development and implementation of any project

13 under the Program on land or at a facility that is not

14 owned by the United States shall be 35 percent.

15 (b) NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTIONS.—The non-Federal

16 participants in any project under the Program on land or

17 at a facility that is not owned by the United States shall

18 provide all land, easements, rights-of-way, dredged material

19 disposal areas, and relocations necessary for the project.

20 (c) CREDIT FOR CONTRIBUTIONS.—The value of land,

21 easements, rights-of-way, dredged material disposal areas,

22 and relocations provided under subsection (b) for a project

23 shall be credited toward the non-Federal share of the costs

24 of the project.

25 (d) ADDITIONAL COSTS.—
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1 (1) NON-FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—The non2 Federal participants in any project carried out under

3 the Program on land or at a facility that is not

4 owned by the United States shall be responsible for all

5 costs associated with operating, maintaining, repair6 ing, rehabilitating, and replacing the project.

7 (2) FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITY.—The Federal

8 Government shall be responsible for costs referred to

9 in paragraph (1) for projects carried out on Federal

10 land or at a Federal facility.

11 SEC. 8. LIMITATION ON ELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDING.

12 A project that receives funds under this Act shall be

13 ineligible to receive Federal funds from any other source

14 for the same purpose.

15 SEC. 9. REPORT.

16 On the expiration of the third fiscal year for which

17 amounts are made available to carry out this Act, the Sec18 retary shall submit to Congress a report describing—

19 (1) the projects that have been completed under

20 this Act;

21 (2) the projects that will be completed with

22 amounts made available under this Act during the re23 maining fiscal years for which amounts are author24 ized to be appropriated under section 10; and
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1 (3) recommended changes to the Program as a

2 result of projects that have been carried out under this

3 Act.

4 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro6 priated to carry out this Act $25,000,000 for each of fiscal

7 years 2001 through 2005.

8 (b) LIMITATIONS.—

9 (1) SINGLE STATE.—

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

11 subparagraph (B), not more than 25 percent of

12 the total amount of funds made available under

13 this section may be used for 1 or more projects

14 in any single State.

15 (B) WAIVER.—On notification to Congress,

16 the Secretary may waive the limitation under

17 subparagraph (A) if a State is unable to use the

18 entire amount of funding made available to the

19 State under this Act.

20 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Not more than

21 6 percent of the funds authorized under this section

22 for any fiscal year may be used for Federal adminis23 trative expenses of carrying out this Act.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘An Act to authorize

the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to
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plan, design, and construct facilities to mitigate impacts

associated with irrigation system water diversions by local

governmental entities in the Pacific Ocean drainage of

the States of Oregon, Washington, Montana, and

Idaho.’’.

Attest:

Secretary.
106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1444

AMENDMENTS