H. R. 1444

One Hundred Sixth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE SECOND SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,

the twenty-fourth day of January, two thousand

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.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fisheries Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation Act of 2000’’.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:

(1) PACIFIC OCEAN DRAINAGE AREA.—The term ‘‘Pacific

Ocean drainage area’’ means the area comprised of portions

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

which water drains into the Pacific Ocean.

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

Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation Program established by

section 3(a).

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

of the Interior, acting through the Director of the United States

Fish and Wildlife Service.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PROGRAM.

(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Fisheries Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation Program within the Department

of the Interior.

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

(1) to decrease fish mortality associated with the withdrawal of water for irrigation and other purposes without

impairing the continued withdrawal of water for those purposes;

and

(2) to decrease the incidence of juvenile and adult fish

entering water supply systems.

(c) IMPACTS ON FISHERIES.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Under the Program, the Secretary, in

consultation with the heads of other appropriate agencies, shall

develop and implement projects to mitigate impacts to fisheries

resulting from the construction and operation of water diversions by local governmental entities (including soil and water

conservation districts) in the Pacific Ocean drainage area.

(2) TYPES OF PROJECTS.—Projects eligible under the Program may include—
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(A) the development, improvement, or installation of—

(i) fish screens;

(ii) fish passage devices; and

(iii) other related features agreed to by non-Federal

interests, relevant Federal and tribal agencies, and

affected States; and

(B) inventories by the States on the need and priority

for projects described in clauses (i) through (iii).

(3) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall give priority to any

project that has a total cost of less than $5,000,000.

SEC. 4. PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAM.

(a) NON-FEDERAL.—

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

shall be voluntary.

(2) FEDERAL ACTION.—The Secretary shall take no action

that would result in any non-Federal entity being held financially responsible for any action under the Program, unless

the entity applies to participate in the Program.

(b) FEDERAL.—Development and implementation of projects

under the Program on land or facilities owned by the United States

shall be nonreimbursable Federal expenditures.

SEC. 5. EVALUATION AND PRIORITIZATION OF PROJECTS.

Evaluation and prioritization of projects for development under

the Program shall be conducted on the basis of—

(1) benefits to fish species native to the project area,

particularly to species that are listed as being, or considered

by Federal or State authorities to be, endangered, threatened,

or sensitive;

(2) the size and type of water diversion;

(3) the availability of other funding sources;

(4) cost effectiveness; and

(5) additional opportunities for biological or water delivery

system benefits.

SEC. 6. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.

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

shall not be eligible for funding unless—

(1) the project meets the requirements of the Secretary,

as applicable, and any applicable State requirements; and

(2) the project is agreed to by all Federal and non-Federal

entities with authority and responsibility for the project.

(b) DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—In determining the eligibility of a project under this Act, the Secretary shall—

(1) consult with other Federal, State, tribal, and local agencies; and

(2) make maximum use of all available data.

SEC. 7. COST SHARING.

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

of development and implementation of any project under the Program on land or at a facility that is not owned by the United

States shall be 35 percent.

(b) NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTIONS.—The non-Federal participants in any project under the Program on land or at a facility

that is not owned by the United States shall provide all land,
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easements, rights-of-way, dredged material disposal areas, and

relocations necessary for the project.

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

rights-of-way, dredged material disposal areas, and relocations provided under subsection (b) for a project shall be credited toward

the non-Federal share of the costs of the project.

(d) ADDITIONAL COSTS.—

(1) NON-FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—The non-Federal

participants in any project carried out under the Program on

land or at a facility that is not owned by the United States

shall be responsible for all costs associated with operating,

maintaining, repairing, rehabilitating, and replacing the

project.

(2) FEDERAL RESPONSIBILITY.—The Federal Government

shall be responsible for costs referred to in paragraph (1) for

projects carried out on Federal land or at a Federal facility.

SEC. 8. LIMITATION ON ELIGIBILITY FOR FUNDING.

A project that receives funds under this Act shall be ineligible

to receive Federal funds from any other source for the same purpose.

SEC. 9. REPORT.

On the expiration of the third fiscal year for which amounts

are made available to carry out this Act, the Secretary shall submit

to Congress a report describing—

(1) the projects that have been completed under this Act;

(2) the projects that will be completed with amounts made

available under this Act during the remaining fiscal years

for which amounts are authorized to be appropriated under

section 10; and

(3) recommended changes to the Program as a result of

projects that have been carried out under this Act.

SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appropriated to

carry out this Act $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 through

2005.

(b) LIMITATIONS.—

(1) SINGLE STATE.—

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

(B), not more than 25 percent of the total amount of funds

made available under this section may be used for one

or more projects in any single State.

(B) WAIVER.—On notification to Congress, the Secretary may waive the limitation under subparagraph (A)

if a State is unable to use the entire amount of funding

made available to the State under this Act.

(2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Not more than 6 percent

of the funds authorized under this section for any fiscal year
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may be used for Federal administrative expenses of carrying

out this Act.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.