In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

October 17, 2000.

Resolved, That the House agree to the amendments of

the Senate to the bill (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’’,

with the following

HOUSE AMENDMENTS TO SENATE AMENDMENTS:

In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the

amendment of the Senate, insert the following:

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fisheries Restoration

3 and Irrigation Mitigation 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, Wash9 ington, Montana, and Idaho from which water drains

10 into the Pacific Ocean.
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1 (2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means the

2 Fisheries Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation Pro3 gram established by section 3(a).

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

5 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Di6 rector of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

7 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PROGRAM.

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Fish9 eries Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation Program with10 in the Department of the Interior.

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

12 (1) to decrease fish mortality associated with the

13 withdrawal of water for irrigation and other purposes

14 without impairing the continued withdrawal of water

15 for those purposes; and

16 (2) to decrease the incidence of juvenile and

17 adult fish entering water supply systems.

18 (c) IMPACTS ON FISHERIES.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under the Program, the Sec20 retary, in consultation with the heads of other appro21 priate agencies, shall develop and implement projects

22 to mitigate impacts to fisheries resulting from the

23 construction and operation of water diversions by

24 local governmental entities (including soil and water
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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—

5 (A) the development, improvement, or in6 stallation of—

7 (i) fish screens;

8 (ii) fish passage devices; and

9 (iii) other related features agreed to by

10 non-Federal interests, relevant Federal and

11 tribal agencies, and affected States; and

12 (B) inventories by the States on the need

13 and priority for projects described in clauses (i)

14 through (iii).

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

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

17 $5,000,000.

18 SEC. 4. PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAM.

19 (a) NON-FEDERAL.—

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

21 the Program shall be voluntary.

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

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

24 being held financially responsible for any action
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1 under the Program, unless the entity applies to par2 ticipate in the Program.

3 (b) FEDERAL.—Development and implementation of

4 projects under the Program on land or facilities owned by

5 the United States shall be nonreimbursable Federal expendi6 tures.

7 SEC. 5. EVALUATION AND PRIORITIZATION OF PROJECTS.

8 Evaluation and prioritization of projects for develop9 ment under the Program shall be conducted on the basis

10 of—

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

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

13 or considered by Federal or State authorities to be,

14 endangered, threatened, or sensitive;

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

16 (3) the availability of other funding sources;

17 (4) cost effectiveness; and

18 (5) additional opportunities for biological or

19 water delivery system benefits.

20 SEC. 6. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.

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

22 Program shall not be eligible for funding unless—

23 (1) the project meets the requirements of the Sec24 retary, as applicable, and any applicable State re25 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.
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Amend the title so as to read ‘‘An Act to authorize

the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to

plan, design, and construct fish screens, fish passage devices, and related features to mitigate impacts on fisheries 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:

Clerk.
106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H.R. 1444

HOUSE AMENDMENTS TO

SENATE AMENDMENTS