Calendar No. 242

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 244

[Report No. 106–130]

A BILL

To authorize the construction of the Lewis and

system, and for other purposes.planning and construction of the water supplySystem, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, for thesistance to the Lewis and Clark Rural WaterClark Rural Water System and to authorize asJULY 30, 1999

Reported with an amendment
II

Calendar No. 242

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 244

[Report No. 106–130]

To authorize the construction of the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System

and to authorize assistance to the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System,

Inc., a nonprofit corporation, for the planning and construction of the

water supply system, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 19, 1999

Mr. JOHNSON (for himself, Mr. DASCHLE, Mr. GRAMS, Mr. WELLSTONE, Mr.

GRASSLEY, and Mr. HARKIN) introduced the following bill; which was

read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

JULY 30, 1999

Reported by Mr. MURKOWSKI, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To authorize the construction of the Lewis and Clark Rural

Water System and to authorize assistance to the Lewis

and Clark Rural Water System, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, for the planning and construction of the water

supply system, and for other purposes.
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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 ‘‘Lewis and Clark Rural

5 Water System Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) ENVIRONMENTAL ENHANCEMENT.—The

9 term ‘‘environmental enhancement’’ means the wet10 land and wildlife enhancement activities that are

11 carried out substantially in accordance with the envi12 ronmental enhancement component of the feasibility

13 study.

14 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL ENHANCEMENT COMPO15 NENT.—The term ‘‘environmental enhancement

16 component’’ means the component described in the

17 report entitled ‘‘Wetlands and Wildlife Enhancement

18 for the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System’’,

19 dated April 1991, that is included in the feasibility

20 study.

21 (3) FEASIBILITY STUDY.—The term ‘‘feasibility

22 study’’ means the study entitled ‘‘Feasibility Level

23 Evaluation of a Missouri River Regional Water Sup24 ply for South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota’’, dated

25 September 1993, that includes a water conservation
3

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1 plan, environmental report, and environmental en2 hancement component.

3 (4) MEMBER ENTITY.—The term ‘‘member en4 tity’’ means a rural water system or municipality

5 that signed a Letter of Commitment to participate

6 in the water supply system.

7 (5) PROJECT CONSTRUCTION BUDGET.—The

8 term ‘‘project construction budget’’ means the de9 scription of the total amount of funds needed for the

10 construction of the water supply system, as con11 tained in the feasibility study.

12 (6) PUMPING AND INCIDENTAL OPERATIONAL

13 REQUIREMENTS.—The term ‘‘pumping and inci14 dental operational requirements’’ means all power

15 requirements that are incidental to the operation of

16 intake facilities, pumping stations, water treatment

17 facilities, reservoirs, and pipelines up to the point of

18 delivery of water by the water supply system to each

19 member entity that distributes water at retail to in20 dividual users.

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

22 the Secretary of the Interior.

23 (8) WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘water

24 supply system’’ means the Lewis and Clark Rural

25 Water System, Inc., a nonprofit corporation estab-
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1 lished and operated substantially in accordance with

2 the feasibility study.

3 SEC. 3. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR THE WATER SUPPLY

4 SYSTEM.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make grants

6 to the water supply system for the planning and construc7 tion of the water supply system.

8 (b) SERVICE AREA.—The water supply system shall

9 provide for safe and adequate municipal, rural, and indus10 trial water supplies, environmental enhancement, mitiga11 tion of wetland areas, and water conservation in—

12 (1) Lake County, McCook County, Minnehaha

13 County, Turner County, Lincoln County, Clay Coun14 ty, and Union County, in southeastern South Da15 kota;

16 (2) Rock County and Nobles County, in south17 western Minnesota; and

18 (3) Lyon County, Sioux County, Osceola Coun19 ty, O’Brien County, Dickinson County, and Clay

20 County, in northwestern Iowa.

21 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—Grants made available

22 under subsection (a) to the water supply system shall not

23 exceed the amount of funds authorized under section 10.
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1 (d) LIMITATION ON AVAILABILITY OF CONSTRUC2 TION FUNDS.—The Secretary shall not obligate funds for

3 the construction of the water supply system until—

4 (1) the requirements of the National Environ5 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)

6 are met;

7 (2) a final engineering report is prepared and

8 submitted to Congress not less than 90 days before

9 the commencement of construction of the water sup10 ply system; and

11 (3) a water conservation program is developed

12 and implemented.

13 SEC. 4. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL

14 ENHANCEMENT COMPONENT.

15 (a) INITIAL DEVELOPMENT.—The Secretary shall

16 make grants and other funds available to the water supply

17 system and other private, State, and Federal entities, for

18 the initial development of the environmental enhancement

19 component.

20 (b) NONREIMBURSEMENT.—Funds provided under

21 subsection (a) shall be nonreimbursable and nonreturn22 able.

23 SEC. 5. WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAM.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The water supply system shall es25 tablish a water conservation program that ensures that
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1 users of water from the water supply system use the best

2 practicable technology and management techniques to con3 serve water use.

4 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The water conservation pro5 grams shall include—

6 (1) low consumption performance standards for

7 all newly installed plumbing fixtures;

8 (2) leak detection and repair programs;

9 (3) rate schedules that do not include declining

10 block rate schedules for municipal households and

11 special water users (as defined in the feasibility

12 study);

13 (4) public education programs and technical as14 sistance to member entities; and

15 (5) coordinated operation among each rural

16 water system, and each water supply facility in exist17 ence on the date of enactment of this Act, in the

18 service area of the system.

19 (c) REVIEW AND REVISION.—The programs de20 scribed in subsection (b) shall contain provisions for peri21 odic review and revision, in cooperation with the Secretary.

22 SEC. 6. MITIGATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE LOSSES.

23 Mitigation for fish and wildlife losses incurred as a

24 result of the construction and operation of the water sup25 ply system shall be on an acre-for-acre basis, based on eco-
7

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1 logical equivalency, concurrent with project construction,

2 as provided in the feasibility study.

3 SEC. 7. USE OF PICK–SLOAN POWER.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—From power designated for future

5 irrigation and drainage pumping for the Pick-Sloan Mis6 souri Basin program, the Western Area Power Adminis7 tration shall make available the capacity and energy re8 quired to meet the pumping and incidental operational re9 quirements of the water supply system during the period

10 beginning on May 1 and ending on October 31 of each

11 year.

12 (b) CONDITIONS.—The capacity and energy described

13 in subsection (a) shall be made available on the following

14 conditions:

15 (1) The water supply system shall be operated

16 on a not-for-profit basis.

17 (2) The water supply system shall contract to

18 purchase the entire electric service requirements of

19 the system, including the capacity and energy made

20 available under subsection (a), from a qualified pref21 erence power supplier that itself purchases power

22 from the Western Area Power Administration.

23 (3) The rate schedule applicable to the capacity

24 and energy made available under subsection (a) shall

25 be the firm power rate schedule of the Pick-Sloan
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1 Eastern Division of the Western Area Power Admin2 istration in effect when the power is delivered by the

3 Administration.

4 (4) It is agreed by contract among—

5 (A) the Western Area Power Administra6 tion;

7 (B) the power supplier with which the

8 water supply system contracts under paragraph

9 (2);

10 (C) the power supplier of the entity de11 scribed in subparagraph (B); and

12 (D) the water supply system;

13 that in the case of the capacity and energy made

14 available under subsection (a), the benefit of the

15 rate schedule described in paragraph (3) shall be

16 passed through to the water supply system, except

17 that the power supplier of the water supply system

18 shall not be precluded from including, in the charges

19 of the supplier to the water system for the electric

20 service, the other usual and customary charges of

21 the supplier.

22 SEC. 8. NO LIMITATION ON WATER PROJECTS IN STATES.

23 This Act does not limit the authorization for water

24 projects in the States of South Dakota, Iowa, and Min-
9

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1 nesota under law in effect on or after the date of enact2 ment of this Act.

3 SEC. 9. WATER RIGHTS.

4 Nothing in this Act—

5 (1) invalidates or preempts State water law or

6 an interstate compact governing water;

7 (2) alters the rights of any State to any appro8 priated share of the waters of any body of surface

9 or ground water, whether determined by past or fu10 ture interstate compacts or by past or future legisla11 tive or final judicial allocations;

12 (3) preempts or modifies any Federal or State

13 law, or interstate compact, governing water quality

14 or disposal; or

15 (4) confers on any non-Federal entity the abil16 ity to exercise any Federal right to the waters of any

17 stream or to any ground water resource.

18 SEC. 10. COST SHARING.

19 (a) FEDERAL COST SHARE.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para21 graph (2), the Secretary shall provide funds equal to

22 80 percent of—

23 (A) the amount allocated in the total

24 project construction budget for planning and
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1 construction of the water supply system under

2 section 3;

3 (B) such amounts as are necessary to de4 fray increases in the budget for planning and

5 construction of the water supply system under

6 section 3; and

7 (C) such amounts as are necessary to de8 fray increases in development costs reflected in

9 appropriate engineering cost indices after Sep10 tember 1, 1993.

11 (2) SIOUX FALLS.—The Secretary shall provide

12 funds for the city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in

13 an amount equal to 50 percent of the incremental

14 cost to the city of participation in the project.

15 (b) NON-FEDERAL COST SHARE.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para17 graph (2), the non-Federal share of the costs allo18 cated to the water supply system shall be 20 percent

19 of the amounts described in subsection (a)(1).

20 (2) SIOUX FALLS.—The non-Federal cost-share

21 for the city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, shall be

22 50 percent of the incremental cost to the city of par23 ticipation in the project.
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1 SEC. 11. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION.

2 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary may allow the

3 Director of the Bureau of Reclamation to provide project

4 construction oversight to the water supply system and en5 vironmental enhancement component for the service area

6 of the water supply system described in section 3(b).

7 (b) PROJECT OVERSIGHT ADMINISTRATION.—The

8 amount of funds used by the Director of the Bureau of

9 Reclamation for planning and construction of the water

10 supply system shall not exceed the amount that is equal

11 to 1 percent of the amount provided in the total project

12 construction budget for the entire project construction pe13 riod.

14 SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

15 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

16 this Act $226,320,000, of which not less than $8,487,000

17 shall be used for the initial development of the environ18 mental enhancement component under section 4, to re19 main available until expended.

20 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

21 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lewis and Clark Rural

22 Water System Act of 1999’’.

23 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

24 In this Act:

25 (1) ENVIRONMENTAL ENHANCEMENT.—The term

26 ‘‘environmental enhancement’’ means the wetland and
12

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1 wildlife enhancement activities that are carried out

2 substantially in accordance with the environmental

3 enhancement component of the feasibility study.

4 (2) ENVIRONMENTAL ENHANCEMENT COMPO5 NENT.—The term ‘‘environmental enhancement com6 ponent’’ means the proposals described in the report

7 entitled ‘‘Wetlands and Wildlife Enhancement for the

8 Lewis and Clark Rural Water System’’, dated Decem9 ber 1994.

10 (3) FEASIBILITY STUDY.—The term ‘‘feasibility

11 study’’ means the study entitled ‘‘Feasibility Level

12 Evaluation of a Missouri River Regional Water Sup13 ply for South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota’’, dated

14 September 1993, that includes a water conservation

15 plan, environmental report, and environmental en16 hancement component.

17 (4) INCREMENTAL COST.—The term ‘‘incre18 mental cost’’ means the cost of the savings to the

19 project were the city of Sioux Falls not to participate

20 in the water supply system.

21 (5) MEMBER ENTITY.—The term ‘‘member enti22 ty’’ means a rural water system or municipality that

23 meets the requirements for membership as defined by

24 the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System, Inc. by25 laws, dated September 6, 1990.
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1 (6) PROJECT CONSTRUCTION BUDGET.—The term

2 ‘‘project construction budget’’ means the description of

3 the total amount of funds needed for the construction

4 of the water supply project, as contained in the feasi5 bility study.

6 (7) PUMPING AND INCIDENTAL OPERATIONAL RE7 QUIREMENTS.—The term ‘‘pumping and incidental

8 operational requirements’’ means all power require9 ments that are necessary for the operation of intake

10 facilities, pumping stations, water treatment facili11 ties, reservoirs, and pipelines up to the point of deliv12 ery of water by the water supply system to each mem13 ber entity that distributes water at retail to indi14 vidual users.

15 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

16 the Secretary of the Interior.

17 (9) WATER SUPPLY PROJECT.—

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘water supply

19 project’’ means the physical components of the

20 Lewis and Clark Rural Water Project.

21 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘water supply

22 project’’ includes—

23 (i) necessary pumping, treatment, and

24 distribution facilities;

25 (ii) pipelines;
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1 (iii) appurtenant buildings and prop2 erty rights;

3 (iv) electrical power transmission and

4 distribution facilities necessary for services

5 to water systems facilities; and

6 (v) such other pipelines, pumping

7 plants, and facilities as the Secretary con8 siders necessary and appropriate to meet

9 the water supply, economic, public health,

10 and environment needs of the member enti11 ties (including water storage tanks, water

12 lines, and other facilities for the member en13 tities).

14 (10) WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘water

15 supply system’’ means the Lewis and Clark Rural

16 Water System, Inc., a nonprofit corporation estab17 lished and operated substantially in accordance with

18 the feasibility study.

19 SEC. 3. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR THE WATER SUPPLY

20 SYSTEM.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make grants to

22 the water supply system for the planning and construction

23 of the water supply project.

24 (b) SERVICE AREA.—The water supply system shall

25 provide for the member entities safe and adequate munic-
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1 ipal, rural, and industrial water supplies, environmental

2 enhancement, mitigation of wetland areas, and water con3 servation in—

4 (1) Lake County, McCook County, Minnehaha

5 County, Turner County, Lincoln County, Clay Coun6 ty, and Union County, in southeastern South Dakota;

7 (2) Rock County and Nobles County, in south8 western Minnesota; and

9 (3) Lyon County, Sioux County, Osceola County,

10 O’Brien County, Dickinson County, and Clay Coun11 ty, in northwestern Iowa.

12 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—Grants made available

13 under subsection (a) to the water supply system shall not

14 exceed the amount of funds authorized under section 9.

15 (d) LIMITATION ON AVAILABILITY OF CONSTRUCTION

16 FUNDS.—The Secretary shall not obligate funds for the con17 struction of the water supply project until—

18 (1) the requirements of the National Environ19 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)

20 are met; and

21 (2) a final engineering report and a plan for a

22 water conservation program are prepared and sub23 mitted to Congress not less than 90 days before the

24 commencement of construction of the water supply

25 project.
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1 SEC. 4. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL

2 ENHANCEMENT COMPONENT.

3 (a) INITIAL DEVELOPMENT.—The Secretary shall

4 make grants and other funds available to the water supply

5 system and other private, State, and Federal entities, for

6 the initial development of the environmental enhancement

7 component.

8 (b) NONREIMBURSEMENT.—Funds provided under

9 subsection (a) shall be nonreimbursable and nonreturnable.

10 SEC. 5. MITIGATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE LOSSES.

11 Mitigation for fish and wildlife losses incurred as a

12 result of the construction and operation of the water supply

13 project shall be on an acre-for-acre basis, based on ecological

14 equivalency, concurrent with project construction, as pro15 vided in the feasibility study.

16 SEC. 6. USE OF PICK–SLOAN POWER.

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—From power designated for future

18 irrigation and drainage pumping for the Pick-Sloan Mis19 souri River Basin Program, the Western Area Power Ad20 ministration shall make available the capacity and energy

21 required to meet the pumping and incidental operational

22 requirements of the water supply project during the period

23 beginning May 1 and ending October 31 of each year.

24 (b) CONDITIONS.—The capacity and energy described

25 in subsection (a) shall be made available on the following

26 conditions:
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1 (1) The water supply system shall be operated on

2 a not-for-profit basis.

3 (2) The water supply system shall contract to

4 purchase the entire electric service requirements of the

5 project, including the capacity and energy made

6 available under subsection (a), from a qualified pref7 erence power supplier that itself purchases power

8 from the Western Area Power Administration.

9 (3) The rate schedule applicable to the capacity

10 and energy made available under subsection (a) shall

11 be the firm power rate schedule of the Pick-Sloan

12 Eastern Division of the Western Area Power Admin13 istration in effect when the power is delivered by the

14 Administration to the qualified preference power sup15 plier.

16 (4) It is agreed by contract among—

17 (A) the Western Area Power Administra18 tion;

19 (B) the power supplier with which the

20 water supply system contracts under paragraph

21 (2);

22 (C) the power supplier of the entity de23 scribed in subparagraph (B); and

24 (D) the water supply system;
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1 that in the case of the capacity and energy made

2 available under subsection (a), the benefit of the rate

3 schedule described in paragraph (3) shall be passed

4 through to the water supply system, except that the

5 power supplier of the water supply system shall not

6 be precluded from including, in the charges of the

7 supplier to the water system for the electric service,

8 the other usual and customary charges of the supplier.

9 SEC. 7. NO LIMITATION ON WATER PROJECTS IN STATES.

10 This Act does not limit the authorization for water

11 projects in the States of South Dakota, Iowa, and Min12 nesota under law in effect on or after the date of enactment

13 of this Act.

14 SEC. 8. WATER RIGHTS.

15 Nothing in this Act—

16 (1) invalidates or preempts State water law or

17 an interstate compact governing water;

18 (2) alters the rights of any State to any appro19 priated share of the waters of any body of surface or

20 ground water, whether determined by past or future

21 interstate compacts or by past or future legislative or

22 final judicial allocations;

23 (3) preempts or modifies any Federal or State

24 law, or interstate compact, governing water quality or

25 disposal; or
19

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1 (4) confers on any non-Federal entity the ability

2 to exercise any Federal right to the waters of any

3 stream or to any ground water resource.

4 SEC. 9. COST SHARING.

5 (a) FEDERAL COST SHARE.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para7 graph (2), the Secretary shall provide funds equal to

8 80 percent of—

9 (A) the amount allocated in the total project

10 construction budget for planning and construc11 tion of the water supply project under section 3;

12 and

13 (B) such amounts as are necessary to defray

14 increases in development costs reflected in appro15 priate engineering cost indices after September

16 1, 1993.

17 (2) SIOUX FALLS.—The Secretary shall provide

18 funds for the city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in

19 an amount equal to 50 percent of the incremental cost

20 to the city of participation in the project.

21 (b) NON-FEDERAL COST SHARE.—

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para23 graph (2), the non-Federal share of the costs allocated

24 to the water supply system shall be 20 percent of the

25 amounts described in subsection (a)(1).
20

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1 (2) SIOUX FALLS.—The non-Federal cost-share

2 for the city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, shall be 50

3 percent of the incremental cost to the city of partici4 pation in the project.

5 SEC. 10. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION.

6 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—At the request of the water sup7 ply system, the Secretary may allow the Commissioner of

8 Reclamation to provide project construction oversight to the

9 water supply project and environmental enhancement com10 ponent for the service area of the water supply system de11 scribed in section 3(b).

12 (b) PROJECT OVERSIGHT ADMINISTRATION.—The

13 amount of funds used by the Commissioner of Reclamation

14 for oversight described in subsection (a) shall not exceed the

15 amount that is equal to 1 percent of the amount provided

16 in the total project construction budget for the entire project

17 construction period.

18 (c) OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE.—The water sup19 ply system shall be responsible for annual operation and

20 maintenance of the project.

21 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

22 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out

23 this Act $223,987,700, to remain available until expended,

24 of which not more than $10,100,000 shall be used for the
21

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1 initial development of the environmental enhancement com2 ponent under section 4.