II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 188

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize the use

of State revolving loan funds for construction of water conservation

and quality improvements.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 19, 1999

Mr. WYDEN (for himself and Mr. BURNS) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public

Works

A BILL

To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize the use of State revolving loan funds for construction of water conservation and quality improvements.

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.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Water Conservation

5 and Quality Incentives Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) in many parts of the United States, water

2 supplies are insufficient to meet current or expected

3 future demand during certain times of the year;

4 (2) a number of factors (including growing pop5 ulations, increased demands for food and fiber pro6 duction, and new environmental demands for water)

7 are placing increased demands on existing water

8 supply sources;

9 (3) increased water conservation, water quality

10 enhancement, and more efficient use of water sup11 plies could help meet increased demands on water

12 sources;

13 (4) in States that recognize rights to conserved

14 water for persons who conserve it, irrigation suppli15 ers, farmers, ranchers, and other users could gain

16 rights to use conserved water while also increasing

17 the quantity of water available for other beneficial

18 uses by implementing measures to reduce water loss

19 during transport to, or application on, the fields;

20 (5) reducing the quantity of water lost during

21 transport to the fields and improving water quality

22 can help areas better meet changing population and

23 economic needs; and

24 (6) the role of the Federal Government in help25 ing meet those changing water needs should be to
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1 provide financial assistance to help irrigators, farm2 ers, and ranchers implement practical, cost-effective

3 water quality and conservation measures.

4 SEC. 3. USE OF STATE REVOLVING LOAN FUNDS FOR

5 WATER CONSERVATION IMPROVEMENTS.

6 Section 603 of the Federal Water Pollution Control

7 Act (33 U.S.C. 1383) is amended—

8 (1) in the first sentence of subsection (c)—

9 (A) by striking ‘‘and (3)’’ and inserting

10 ‘‘(3)’’; and

11 (B) by inserting before the period at the

12 end the following: ‘‘, (4) for construction of

13 water conservation improvements by eligible re14 cipients under subsection (i)’’; and

15 (2) by adding at the end the following:

16 ‘‘(i) WATER CONSERVATION IMPROVEMENTS.—

17 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—In

18 this subsection, the term ‘eligible recipient’ means a

19 municipality, quasi-municipality, municipal corpora20 tion, special district, conservancy district, irrigation

21 district, water users’ association, tribal authority,

22 intermunicipal, interstate, or State agency, nonprofit

23 private organization, a member of such an associa24 tion, authority, agency, or organization, or a lending
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1 institution, located in a State that has enacted laws

2 that—

3 ‘‘(A) provide a water user who invests in a

4 water conservation improvement with a right to

5 use water conserved by the improvement, as al6 lowed by State law;

7 ‘‘(B) provide authority to reserve minimum

8 flows of streams in the State; and

9 ‘‘(C) prohibit transactions that adversely

10 affect existing water rights.

11 ‘‘(2) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—A State may

12 provide financial assistance from its water pollution

13 control revolving fund to an eligible recipient to con14 struct a water conservation improvement,

15 including—

16 ‘‘(A) piping or lining of an irrigation canal;

17 ‘‘(B) wastewater and tailwater recovery or

18 recycling;

19 ‘‘(C) irrigation scheduling;

20 ‘‘(D) water use measurement or metering;

21 ‘‘(E) on-field irrigation efficiency improve22 ments; and

23 ‘‘(F) any other improvement that the State

24 determines will provide water conservation ben25 efits.
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1 ‘‘(3) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION.—The partici2 pation of an eligible recipient in the water conserva3 tion improvement shall be voluntary.

4 ‘‘(4) USE OF CONSERVED WATER.—The quan5 tity of water conserved through the water conserva6 tion improvement shall be allocated in accordance

7 with applicable State law, including any applicable

8 State law requiring a portion of the conserved water

9 to be used for instream flow enhancement or other

10 conservation purposes.

11 ‘‘(5) LIMITATION ON USE FOR IRRIGATED AGRI12 CULTURE.—Conserved water made available under

13 paragraph (4) shall not be used to irrigate land that

14 has not previously been irrigated unless the use is

15 authorized by State law and will not diminish water

16 quality.’’.

17 SEC. 4. USE OF STATE REVOLVING LOAN FUNDS FOR

18 WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS.

19 Section 603 of the Federal Water Pollution Control

20 Act (33 U.S.C. 1383) (as amended by section 3) is

21 amended—

22 (1) in the first sentence of subsection (c), by in23 serting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘,

24 and (5) for construction of water quality improve-
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1 ments or practices by eligible recipients under sub2 section (j)’’; and

3 (2) by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(j) WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS.—

5 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.—In

6 this subsection, the term ‘eligible recipient’ means a

7 municipality, quasi-municipality, municipal corpora8 tion, special district, conservancy district, irrigation

9 district, water users’ association or member of such

10 an association, tribal authority, intermunicipal,

11 interstate, or State agency, nonprofit private organi12 zation, or lending institution.

13 ‘‘(2) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—A State may

14 provide financial assistance from its water pollution

15 control revolving fund to an eligible recipient to con16 struct or establish water quality improvements or

17 practices that the State determines will provide

18 water quality benefits.

19 ‘‘(3) VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION.—The partici20 pation of an eligible recipient in the water quality

21 improvements or practices shall be voluntary.’’.

22 SEC. 5. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

23 Section 601(a) of the Federal Water Pollution Con24 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1381(a)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘and (3)’’ and inserting ‘‘(3)’’;

2 and

3 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the

4 following: ‘‘, and (4) for construction of water con5 servation and quality improvements by eligible re6 cipients under subsections (i) and (j) of section

7 603’’.

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