II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3539 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to carry out watershed pilots, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2022 

Mr. WYDEN 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 carry out 

watershed pilots, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Watershed Results 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ADVANCE WATERSHED ANALYTICS.—The 

9 term ‘‘advance watershed analytics’’ means the tech10 nical analysis that is— 


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1 (A) conducted before making funding 

2 available for a watershed pilot; and 

3 (B) necessary— 

4 (i) to identify specific high-impact 

5 outcome projects across an entire water6 shed; 

7 (ii) to identify project costs and imple8 mentation feasibility constraints; 

9 (iii) to identify how different groups 

10 of projects impact overall watershed tar11 gets; and 

12 (iv) to develop scenarios that— 

13 (I) maximize outcomes; and 

14 (II) are feasible to quickly imple15 ment at scale. 

16 (2) FEDERAL FINANCIAL SOURCE.—The term 

17 ‘‘Federal financial source’’ means an award, grant, 

18 loan, guarantee, incentive, or credit enhancement 

19 funding available to Federal agencies participating 

20 in watershed pilots. 

21 (3) FUND.—The term ‘‘Fund’’ means the Envi22 ronmental Outcomes Fund established by the Sec23 retary under section 4(c)(1). 


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1 (4) MANAGEMENT TEAM.—The term ‘‘manage2 ment team’’ means the management team for a wa3 tershed pilot designated under section 3(b)(2). 

4 (5) OUTCOME.—The term ‘‘outcome’’ means— 

5 (A) a quantifiable increase in surface water 

6 or groundwater; 

7 (B) a measurable increase in aquatic habi8 tat quality or quantity in a watershed affected 

9 by the operation of a Bureau of Reclamation 

10 project; or 

11 (C) any other quantifiable benefit identi12 fied by the management team as being desirable 

13 in the applicable watershed. 

14 (6) PAY-FOR-PERFORMANCE CONTRACT.—The 

15 term ‘‘pay-for-performance contract’’ means a con16 tract to purchase successfully implemented outcomes 

17 at a negotiated per-unit price. 

18 (7) PLAN.—The term ‘‘plan’’ means an action19 able implementation and funding plan developed for 

20 a watershed pilot under section 3(c)(1). 

21 (8) QUALIFYING PROJECT.—The term ‘‘quali22 fying project’’ means a project in a Reclamation 

23 State that efficiently achieves 1 or more outcomes in 

24 pursuit of a plan, as prioritized through advance wa25 tershed analytics. 


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1 (9) RECLAMATION STATE.—The term ‘‘Rec2 lamation State’’ means— 

3 (A) a State or territory described in the 

4 first section of the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 

5 Stat. 388, chapter 1093; 43 U.S.C. 391); 

6 (B) the State of Hawaii; and 

7 (C) the State of Alaska. 

8 (10) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

9 means the Secretary of the Interior. 

10 (11) WATERSHED PILOT.—The term ‘‘water11 shed pilot’’ means a watershed pilot established 

12 under section 3(a). 

13 SEC. 3. WATERSHED PILOTS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act and subject to subsection 

16 (h), the Secretary shall establish a total of not less than 

17 2 and not more than 5 watershed pilots in a Reclamation 

18 State. 

19 (b) MANAGEMENT OF WATERSHED PILOTS.— 

20 (1) MANAGEMENT BY SECRETARY.—Manage21 ment and responsibility for each watershed pilot 

22 shall be led by the Secretary. 

23 (2) MANAGEMENT TEAM.—The Secretary shall 

24 designate a management team for the watershed 


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1 pilot, which shall be composed of representatives ap2 pointed by the Secretary. 

3 (3) CONSULTATION.—In establishing and car4 rying out a watershed pilot, the Secretary and the 

5 management team shall consult with— 

6 (A) State, local, and Tribal representa7 tives; 

8 (B) nongovernmental organizations, includ9 ing water and irrigation districts; 

10 (C) private sector representatives; and 

11 (D) such other individuals or entities as 

12 the Secretary and the management team deter13 mine to be appropriate. 

14 (c) PLAN.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

16 the date on which a watershed pilot is established, 

17 the management team for the applicable watershed 

18 pilot shall develop and implement a 5-year plan for 

19 carrying out the watershed pilot. 

20 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—A plan shall incor21 porate— 

22 (A) advance watershed analytics to estab23 lish milestones, outcome targets, an implemen24 tation plan, and a timeline for achieving the 

25 milestones, targets, and full implementation; 


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1 (B) a coordinated cross-agency funding 

2 strategy that will— 

3 (i) achieve the milestones and outcome 

4 targets established under subparagraph 

5 (A) in an effective and flexible manner by 

6 efficiently and quickly delivering Federal 

7 financial sources to qualifying projects; 

8 (ii) leverage amounts made available 

9 under sections 4(c)(4) and 7 with existing 

10 Federal financial sources; 

11 (iii) use Federal financial sources and 

12 amounts from the Fund to leverage and 

13 attract investments from private or philan14 thropic sources to accelerate greater out15 comes-based results; and 

16 (iv) concentrate Federal financial 

17 source commitments from multiple agen18 cies in a watershed pilot during the period 

19 of the watershed pilot; 

20 (C) annually updated progress tracking 

21 against milestones and targets; and 

22 (D) such other information as the Sec23 retary determines to be relevant to achieve out24 comes on an accelerated timeline. 


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1 (3) REVIEW.—A plan shall be reviewed annu2 ally by the management team. 

3 (d) NOTIFICATION.—On adoption of each plan, the 

4 Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Appropria5 tions of the Senate and the Committee on Appropriations 

6 of the House of Representatives a notification that the wa7 tershed pilot has been established and the plan has been 

8 adopted. 

9 (e) DISBURSEMENT OF FUNDS TO QUALIFYING

10 PROJECTS.—Not later than 30 days after the date on 

11 which the Secretary and the management team for a wa12 tershed pilot verify outcomes from the qualifying project, 

13 the Secretary and the management team for the watershed 

14 pilot shall disburse amounts from Federal financial 

15 sources, including amounts made available under sections 

16 4(c)(4) and 7, to a qualifying project, through pay-for17 performance contracts, at agreed upon outcome prices. 

18 (f) MINIMUM OUTCOME PRICES.—Not later than 1 

19 year after the date on which a watershed pilot is estab20 lished, the Secretary and the management team for the 

21 watershed pilot shall set and publish minimum per-unit 

22 outcome prices. 

23 (g) USE OF ADVANCE WATERSHED ANALYTICS.— 

24 The Secretary and the management team for each water25 shed pilot shall use advance watershed analytics throughVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Feb 02, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3539.IS S3539

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1 out the planning, implementation, measuring, and moni2 toring of outcomes within the watershed pilot. 

3 (h) AUTHORITY FOR ADDITIONAL PILOTS.—The Sec4 retary, following notification of the Committee on Appro5 priations of the Senate and the Committee on Appropria6 tions of the House of Representatives, shall approve the 

7 establishment of more than 5 watershed pilots under this 

8 section. 

9 SEC. 4. FINANCING AND FUNDING OF WATERSHED PILOTS. 

10 (a) USE OF PAY-FOR-PERFORMANCE CONTRACTS.— 

11 In carrying out a watershed pilot, the Secretary shall enter 

12 into a pay-for-performance contract to achieve outcome13 based goals described in the plan developed for the water14 shed pilot. 

15 (b) FLEXIBILITY UNDER EXISTING PROGRAMS.— 

16 The Secretary shall modify, expand, or streamline eligi17 bility and verification criteria for existing Federal finan18 cial sources to maximize flexibility, speed, and use of Fed19 eral funds in the most effective manner to achieve out20 comes under the watershed pilot. 

21 (c) ENVIRONMENTAL OUTCOMES FUND.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

23 an Environmental Outcomes Fund. 


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1 (2) USE OF FUND.—Amounts in the Fund shall 

2 only be expended on pay-for-performance contracts 

3 under a watershed pilot. 

4 (3) CRITERIA.—Amounts in the Fund shall be 

5 expended in accordance with— 

6 (A) this Act, including the plan developed 

7 for the applicable watershed pilot; and 

8 (B) criteria established by the Secretary 

9 and the management team for the applicable 

10 watershed pilot, which shall include criteria 

11 for— 

12 (i) eligibility of qualifying projects; 

13 (ii) types of qualifying projects; 

14 (iii) the timing of the disbursement of 

15 funds; and 

16 (iv) such other matters as the Sec17 retary and the management team deter18 mine to be appropriate. 

19 (4) MANDATORY FUNDING.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Out of any funds in the 

21 Treasury not otherwise appropriated, on Octo22 ber 1, 2022, and on each October 1 thereafter 

23 through October 1, 2027, the Secretary of the 

24 Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary from 

25 the reclamation fund established by the first 


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1 section of the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 

2 388, chapter 1093; 43 U.S.C. 391), 

3 $15,000,000 to be deposited in the Fund. 

4 (B) RECEIPT AND ACCEPTANCE.—The 

5 Secretary shall be entitled to receive, shall ac6 cept, and shall deposit into the Fund for use in 

7 accordance with this subsection the funds trans8 ferred under subparagraph (A), without further 

9 appropriation. 

10 (5) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—If a watershed 

11 pilot is established as a permanent program, the 

12 Secretary may submit to Congress recommendations 

13 for modifications to funding levels and a permanent 

14 authorization of funding for the permanent program. 

15 (d) COST-SHARE WAIVER.—Any otherwise applicable 

16 cost-share requirements for existing Federal financial 

17 sources, including under section 212(a)(1) of the Public 

18 Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 U.S.C. 1729(a)(1)), shall 

19 be waived for watershed pilots carried out using amounts 

20 made available under this Act. 

21 SEC. 5. REPORTS. 

22 (a) DEFINITION OF APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF

23 CONGRESS.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate com24 mittees of Congress’’ means— 

25 (1) of the Senate— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Appropriations; and 

2 (B) the Committee on Energy and Natural 

3 Resources; and 

4 (2) of the House of Representatives— 

5 (A) the Committee on Appropriations; and 

6 (B) the Committee on Natural Resources. 

7 (b) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Secretary shall, not 

8 later than the date on which the budget of the United 

9 States Government is submitted by the President under 

10 section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, for each fis11 cal year for which the watershed pilot is being carried out, 

12 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 

13 describing the status of each watershed pilot, including 

14 progress towards the milestones described in section 

15 3(c)(2)(A). 

16 (c) 5-YEAR REPORT.—Not later than October 1 of 

17 the fifth fiscal year in which a watershed pilot is carried 

18 out under section 3, the Secretary shall submit to the ap19 propriate committees of Congress a report describing, in 

20 accordance with the plan developed for the applicable wa21 tershed pilot— 

22 (1) a summary of— 

23 (A) the projected results of the watershed 

24 pilot in meeting the milestones described in sec25 tion 3(c)(2)(A); 


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1 (B) the projected outcomes of the water2 shed pilot described in that section; 

3 (C) the total amount of funds made avail4 able under the watershed pilot; 

5 (D) the type of funding expended under 

6 the watershed pilot; and 

7 (E) such other information as the Sec8 retary determines to be appropriate; and 

9 (2) recommendations for continuing, termi10 nating, or making permanent the watershed pilot. 

11 (d) ENVIRONMENTAL OUTCOMES FUNDS.— 

12 (1) SECRETARY.—The Secretary, not later than 

13 the date on which the budget of the United States 

14 Government is submitted by the President under 

15 section 1105 of title 31, United States Code, for 

16 each fiscal year for which the watershed pilot is 

17 being carried out, submit to the appropriate commit18 tees of Congress a report describing the outcomes 

19 achieved using amounts made available from, man20 agement of, and expenditures from, the Fund. 

21 (2) INSPECTORS GENERAL.— 

22 (A) AUDIT.—The Inspector General of the 

23 Department of the Interior shall conduct a bi24 annual audit of the management of, and fund25 ing (including expenditures) relating to, the 


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1 Fund for the purpose of ensuring proper and 

2 effective use of Federal funding by evaluating 

3 the effectiveness of the watershed pilot in 

4 achieving the plan developed for the watershed 

5 pilot, including an evaluation of the outcomes 

6 achieved and the Federal financial sources used 

7 to achieve those outcomes. 

8 (B) REPORTS.—The Inspector General of 

9 the Department of the Interior shall, not later 

10 than the date on which the budget of the 

11 United States Government is submitted by the 

12 President under section 1105 of title 31, United 

13 States Code, for each fiscal year for which the 

14 watershed pilot is being carried out, submit to 

15 the appropriate committees of Congress a re16 port describing the 2 audits most recently con17 ducted under subparagraph (A). 

18 SEC. 6. DURATION. 

19 Each watershed pilot shall terminate on the date that 

20 is 5 years after the date on which the notification is sub21 mitted under section 3(d) with respect to that watershed 

22 pilot. 

23 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

24 There are authorized to be appropriated— 


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1 (1) for each watershed pilot, $15,000,000 for 

2 each of fiscal years 2022 through 2027, which shall 

3 be in addition to the amounts made available under 

4 section 4(c)(4); and 

5 (2) to carry out advance watershed analytics for 

6 each watershed pilot, $2,000,000 for each of fiscal 

7 years 2022 through 2024. 

Æ 


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