II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 752 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the implementation 

of the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered 

Species in the Central and Lower Platte River Basin and to modify 

the Pathfinder Dam and Reservoir. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 2, 2007 

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska (for himself, Mr. ALLARD, Mr. SALAZAR, and Mr. 

HAGEL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate 

in the implementation of the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Species in the 

Central and Lower Platte River Basin and to modify 

the Pathfinder Dam and Reservoir. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Platte River Recovery Implementation Program and 

6 Pathfinder Modification Authorization Act of 2007’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Purposes. 

TITLE I—PLATTE RIVER RECOVERY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM 

Sec. 101. Definitions. 

Sec. 102. Implementation of Program. 

Sec. 103. Cost-sharing contributions. 

Sec. 104. Authority to modify Program. 

Sec. 105. Effect. 

Sec. 106. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 107. Termination of authority. 

TITLE II—PATHFINDER MODIFICATION PROJECT 

Sec. 201. Authorization of project. 

Sec. 202. Authorized uses of pathfinder reservoir. 

3 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

4 The purposes of this Act are to authorize— 

5 (1) the Secretary of the Interior, acting through 

6 the Commissioner of Reclamation and in partnership 

7 with the States, other Federal agencies, and other 

8 non-Federal entities, to continue the cooperative ef9 fort among the Federal and non-Federal entities 

10 through the implementation of the Platte River Re11 covery Implementation Program for threatened and 

12 endangered species in the Central and Lower Platte 

13 River Basin without creating Federal water rights or 

14 requiring the grant of water rights to Federal enti15 ties; and 

16 (2) the modification of the Pathfinder Dam and 

17 Reservoir. 


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1 TITLE I—PLATTE RIVER RECOV2 ERY IMPLEMENTATION PRO3 GRAM 

4 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this title: 

6 (1) AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘Agreement’’ 

7 means the Platte River Recovery Implementation 

8 Program Cooperative Agreement entered into by the 

9 Governors of the States and the Secretary. 

10 (2) FIRST INCREMENT.—The term ‘‘First In11 crement’’ means the first 13 years of the Program. 

12 (3) GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE.—The term 

13 ‘‘Governance Committee’’ means the governance 

14 committee established under the Agreement and 

15 composed of members from the States, the Federal 

16 Government, environmental interests, and water 

17 users. 

18 (4) INTEREST IN LAND OR WATER.—The term 

19 ‘‘interest in land or water’’ includes a fee title, 

20 short- or long-term easement, lease, or other con21 tractual arrangement that is determined to be nec22 essary by the Secretary to implement the land and 

23 water components of the Program. 


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1 (5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

2 the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program 

3 established under the Agreement. 

4 (6) PROJECT OR ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘project 

5 or activity’’ means— 

6 (A) the planning, design, permitting or 

7 other compliance activity, preconstruction activ8 ity, construction, construction management, op9 eration, maintenance, and replacement of a fa10 cility; 

11 (B) the acquisition of an interest in land 

12 or water; 

13 (C) habitat restoration; 

14 (D) research and monitoring; 

15 (E) program administration; and 

16 (F) any other activity that is determined to 

17 be necessary by the Secretary to carry out the 

18 Program. 

19 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

20 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 

21 Commissioner of Reclamation. 

22 (8) STATES.—The term ‘‘States’’ means the 

23 States of Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado. 


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1 SEC. 102. IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in cooperation 

3 with the Governance Committee, may— 

4 (1) participate in the Program; and 

5 (2) carry out any projects and activities that 

6 are designated for implementation during the First 

7 Increment. 

8 (b) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—For purposes of 

9 carrying out this title, the Secretary, in cooperation with 

10 the Governance Committee, may— 

11 (1) enter into agreements and contracts with 

12 Federal and non-Federal entities; 

13 (2) acquire interests in land, water, and facili14 ties from willing sellers without the use of eminent 

15 domain; 

16 (3) subsequently transfer any interests acquired 

17 under paragraph (2); and 

18 (4) accept or provide grants. 

19 SEC. 103. COST-SHARING CONTRIBUTIONS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The States shall contribute not 

21 less than 50 percent of the total contributions necessary 

22 to carry out the Program. 

23 (b) NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTIONS.—The following 

24 contributions shall constitute the States’ share of the Pro25 gram: 


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1 (1) $30,000,000 in non-Federal funds, with the 

2 balance of funds remaining to be contributed to be 

3 adjusted for inflation on October 1 of the year after 

4 the date of enactment of this Act and each October 

5 1 thereafter. 

6 (2) Credit for contributions of water or land for 

7 the purposes of implementing the Program, as deter8 mined to be appropriate by the Secretary. 

9 (c) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Secretary or the 

10 States may elect to provide a portion of the Federal share 

11 or non-Federal share, respectively, in the form of in-kind 

12 goods or services, if the contribution of goods or services 

13 is approved by the Governance Committee, as provided in 

14 Attachment 1 of the Agreement. 

15 SEC. 104. AUTHORITY TO MODIFY PROGRAM. 

16 The Program may be modified or amended before the 

17 completion of the First Increment if the Secretary and the 

18 States determines that the modifications are consistent 

19 with the purposes of the Program. 

20 SEC. 105. EFFECT. 

21 (a) EFFECT ON RECLAMATION LAWS.—No action 

22 carried out under this title shall, with respect to the acre23 age limitation provisions of the reclamation laws— 

24 (1) be considered in determining whether a dis25 trict (as the term is defined in section 202 of the 


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1 Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (43 U.S.C. 

2 390bb)) has discharged the obligation of the district 

3 to repay the construction cost of project facilities 

4 used to make irrigation water available for delivery 

5 to land in the district; 

6 (2) serve as the basis for reinstating acreage 

7 limitation provisions in a district that has completed 

8 payment of the construction obligations of the dis9 trict; or 

10 (3) serve as the basis for increasing the con11 struction repayment obligation of the district, which 

12 would extend the period during which the acreage 

13 limitation provisions would apply. 

14 (b) EFFECT ON WATER RIGHTS.—Nothing in this 

15 title — 

16 (1) creates Federal water rights; or 

17 (2) requires the grant of water rights to Fed18 eral entities. 

19 SEC. 106. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro21 priated to carry out projects and activities under this title 

22 $157,140,000, as adjusted under subsection (c). 

23 (b) NONREIMBURSABLE FEDERAL EXPENDI24 TURES.—Any amounts expended under subsection (a) 


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1 shall be considered to be nonreimbursable Federal expend2 itures. 

3 (c) ADJUSTMENT.—The balance of funds remaining 

4 to be appropriated shall be adjusted for inflation on Octo5 ber 1 of the year after the enactment of this Act and each 

6 October 1 thereafter. 

7 (d) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—At the end of each 

8 fiscal year, any unexpended funds for projects and activi9 ties made available under subsection (a) shall be retained 

10 for use in future fiscal years to implement projects and 

11 activities under the Program. 

12 SEC. 107. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY. 

13 The authority for the Secretary to implement the 

14 First Increment shall terminate on September 30, 2020. 

15 TITLE II—PATHFINDER 

16 MODIFICATION PROJECT 

17 SEC. 201. AUTHORIZATION OF PROJECT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior, act19 ing through the Commissioner of Reclamation (referred to 

20 in this title as the ‘‘Secretary’’), may— 

21 (1) modify the Pathfinder Dam and Reservoir; 

22 and 

23 (2) enter into 1 or more agreements with the 

24 State of Wyoming to implement the Pathfinder 

25 Modification Project (referred to in this title as the 


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1 ‘‘Project’’), as described in Appendix F to the Final 

2 Settlement Stipulation in Nebraska v. Wyoming, 534 

3 U.S. 40 (2001). 

4 (b) FEDERAL APPROPRIATIONS.—No Federal appro5 priations are required to modify the Pathfinder Dam 

6 under this section. 

7 SEC. 202. AUTHORIZED USES OF PATHFINDER RESERVOIR. 

8 The approximately 54,000 acre-feet capacity of Path9 finder Reservoir, which has been lost to sediment but will 

10 be recaptured by the Project, may be used for municipal, 

11 environmental, and other purposes, as described in Appen12 dix F to the Final Settlement Stipulation in Nebraska v. 

13 Wyoming, 534 U.S. 40 (2001). 

Æ 


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