I

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3986

To authorize the construction of the Perkins County Rural Water System

and authorize the appropriation of Federal dollars to assist the Perkins

County Rural Water System, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, in the planning and construction of the water supply system.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 2, 1996

Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota introduced the following bill; which was

referred to the Committee on Resources

A BILL

To authorize the construction of the Perkins County Rural

Water System and authorize the appropriation of Federal

dollars to assist the Perkins County Rural Water System,

Inc., a nonprofit corporation, in the planning and construction of the water supply system.

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 ‘‘Perkins County Rural

5 Water System Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) there are insufficient water supplies of rea2 sonable quality available to the members of the Per3 kins County Rural Water System located in Perkins

4 County, South Dakota, and the water supplies that

5 are available do not meet the minimum health and

6 safety standards, thereby posing a threat to public

7 health and safety;

8 (2) in 1977 the North Dakota State Legislature

9 authorized and directed the State Water Commission

10 to conduct the Southwest Area Water Supply Study,

11 which included water service to a portion of Perkins

12 County, South Dakota;

13 (3) the Garrison Diversion Unit Reformulation

14 Act of 1986 authorized the Southwest Pipeline

15 project as an eligible project for Federal cost share

16 participation;

17 (4) the Perkins County Rural Water System

18 has continued to be recognized by the State of North

19 Dakota, the Southwest Water Authority, the North

20 Dakota Water Commission, the Department of the

21 Interior, and the Congress of the United States as

22 a component of the Southwest Pipeline Project; and

23 (5) the best available, reliable, and safe rural

24 and municipal water supply to serve the needs of the

25 Perkins County Rural Water System, Inc., members
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1 is the Missouri River as delivered by the Southwest

2 Pipeline Project in North Dakota.

3 (b) PURPOSES.—The Congress declares that the pur4 poses of sections 1 through 13 are to—

5 (1) ensure a safe and adequate municipal,

6 rural, and industrial water supply for the members

7 of the Perkins County Rural Water Supply System,

8 Inc., in Perkins County, South Dakota;

9 (2) assist the citizens of the Perkins County

10 Rural Water Supply System, Inc., to develop safe

11 and adequate municipal, rural, and industrial water

12 supplies; and

13 (3) promote the implementation of water con14 servation programs by the Perkins County Rural

15 Water System, Inc.

16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

17 As used in this Act (unless the context clearly re18 quires otherwise):

19 (1) FEASIBILITY STUDY.—The term ‘‘feasibility

20 study’’ means the study entitled ‘‘Feasibility Study

21 for Rural Water System for Perkins County Rural

22 Water System, Inc.’’, as amended in March 1995.

23 (2) PROJECT CONSTRUCTION BUDGET.—The

24 term ‘‘project construction budget’’ means the de25 scription of the total amount of funds that are need-
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1 ed for the construction of the water supply system,

2 as contained in the feasibility study.

3 (3) PUMPING AND INCIDENTAL OPERATIONAL

4 REQUIREMENTS.—The term ‘‘pumping and inciden5 tal operational requirements’’ means all power re6 quirements that are incidental to the operation of in7 take facilities, pumping stations, water treatment fa8 cilities, reservoirs, and pipelines up to the point of

9 delivery of water by the Perkins County Rural

10 Water System to each entity that distributes water

11 at retail to individual users.

12 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

13 the Secretary of the Interior.

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

15 supply system’’ means the Perkins County Rural

16 Water System, Inc., that is established and operated

17 substantially in accordance with the feasibility study.

18 SEC. 4. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR THE WATER SUPPLY

19 SYSTEM.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized to

21 make grants to the Perkins County Rural Water System,

22 Inc., a nonprofit corporation, for the planning and con23 struction of the water supply system.

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

25 provide for safe and adequate municipal, rural, and indus-
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1 trial water supplies, mitigation of wetlands areas, and

2 water conservation in Perkins County, South Dakota.

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

4 under subsection (a) to the Perkins County Rural Water

5 System, Inc., shall not exceed the amount authorized

6 under section 10.

7 (d) LIMITATION ON AVAILABILITY OF CONSTRUC8 TION FUNDS.—The Secretary shall not obligate funds for

9 the construction of the water supply system until—

10 (1) the requirements of the National Environ11 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)

12 have been met;

13 (2) a final engineering report has been prepared

14 and submitted to the Congress for a period of not

15 less than 90 days before the commencement of con16 struction of the system; and

17 (3) a water conservation program has been de18 veloped and implemented.

19 SEC. 5. WATER CONSERVATION.

20 (a) PURPOSE.—The water conservation program re21 quired under this section shall be designed to ensure that

22 users of water from the water supply system will use the

23 best practicable technology and management techniques to

24 conserve water use.
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1 (b) DESCRIPTION.—The water conservation pro2 grams shall include—

3 (1) low consumption performance standards for

4 all newly installed plumbing fixtures;

5 (2) leak detection and repair programs;

6 (3) rate structures that do not include declining

7 block rate schedules for municipal households and

8 special water users (as defined in the feasibility

9 study);

10 (4) public education programs;

11 (5) coordinated operation between the Perkins

12 County Rural Water System and any preexisting

13 water supply facilities within its service area; and

14 (6) coordinated operation between the South15 west Pipeline Project of North Dakota and the Per16 kins County Rural Water System, Inc., of South Da17 kota.

18 (c) REVIEW AND REVISION.—The programs de19 scribed in subsection (b) shall contain provisions for peri20 odic review and revision, in cooperation with the Secretary.

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

22 Mitigation of fish and wildlife losses incurred as a

23 result of the construction and operation of the Perkins

24 County Rural Water Supply System shall be on an acre25 for-acre basis, based on ecological equivalency, concurrent
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1 with project construction, as provided in the feasibility

2 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 River Basin Program, the Western Area Power Ad7 ministration shall make available the capacity and energy

8 required to meet the pumping and incidental operational

9 requirements of the water supply system during the period

10 beginning May 1, and ending October 31, of each year.

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

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

13 conditions:

14 (1) The water supply system shall be operated

15 on a not-for-profit basis.

16 (2) The water supply system shall contract to

17 purchase its entire electric service requirements, in18 cluding the capacity and energy made available

19 under subsection (a), from a qualified preference

20 power supplier that itself purchases power from the

21 Western Area Power Administration.

22 (3) The rate schedule applicable to the capacity

23 and energy made available under subsection (a) shall

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

25 Eastern Division of the Western Area Power Admin-
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1 istration in effect when the power is delivered by the

2 Administration.

3 (4) It shall be agreed by contract among—

4 (A) the Western Area Power Administra5 tion;

6 (B) the power supplier with which the

7 water supply system contracts under paragraph

8 (2);

9 (C) the power supplier of the entity de10 scribed in subparagraph (B); and

11 (D) the Perkins County Rural Water Sys12 tem, Inc.,

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 shall not limit the authorization for water

24 projects in South Dakota and North Dakota under law

25 in effect on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 9. WATER RIGHTS.

2 Nothing in this Act—

3 (1) invalidates or preempts State water law or

4 an interstate compact governing water;

5 (2) alters the rights of any State to any appro6 priated share of the waters of any body of surface

7 or ground water, whether determined by past or fu8 ture interstate compacts or by past or future legisla9 tive or final judicial allocations;

10 (3) preempts or modifies any Federal or State

11 law, or interstate compact, dealing with water qual12 ity or disposal; or

13 (4) confers on any non-Federal entity the abil14 ity to exercise any Federal right to the waters of any

15 stream or to any ground water resource.

16 SEC. 10. FEDERAL COST SHARE.

17 The Secretary is authorized to provide funds equal

18 to 75 percent of—

19 (1) the amount allocated in the total project

20 construction budget for the planning and construc21 tion of the water supply system under section 4; and

22 (2) such sums as are necessary to defray in23 creases in development costs reflected in appropriate

24 engineering cost indices after May 1, 1994.
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1 SEC. 11. NON-FEDERAL COST SHARE.

2 The non-Federal share of the costs allocated to the

3 water supply system shall be 25 percent of—

4 (1) the amount allocated in the total project

5 construction budget for the planning and construc6 tion of the water supply system under section 4; and

7 (2) such sums as are necessary to defray in8 creases in development costs reflected in appropriate

9 engineering cost indices after May 1, 1994.

10 SEC. 12. BUREAU OF RECLAMATION AUTHORIZATION.

11 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary is authorized to

12 allow the Bureau of Reclamation to provide construction

13 oversight to the water supply system for those areas of

14 the water supply system that are described in section 4(b).

15 (b) PROJECT OVERSIGHT ADMINISTRATION.—The

16 amount of funds used by the Bureau of Reclamation for

17 planning and construction of the water supply system may

18 not exceed an amount equal to 3 percent of the amount

19 provided in the total project construction budget for the

20 portion of the project to be constructed in Perkins County,

21 South Dakota.

22 SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

23 There are authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000

24 for the planning and construction of the water system

25 under section 4, plus such sums as are necessary to defray
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1 increases in development costs reflected in appropriate en2 gineering cost indices after May 1, 1994.

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