II 

Calendar No. 344 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2198 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Commerce, and 

the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to take actions to provide additional water supplies and disaster assistance to 

the State of California and other Western States due to drought, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 1, 2014 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. 

REID, Mr. HELLER, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. STABENOW, 

and Mr. CASEY) introduced the following bill; which was read the first 

time 

APRIL 2, 2014 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of 

Commerce, and the Administrator of the Environmental 

Protection Agency to take actions to provide additional 

water supplies and disaster assistance to the State of 

California and other Western States due to drought, 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Drought 

3 Relief Act of 2014’’. 

4 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

5 The table of contents of this Act are as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

TITLE I—EMERGENCY DROUGHT RELIEF 

Sec. 101. Findings. 

Sec. 102. Definitions. 

Sec. 103. Emergency projects. 

Sec. 104. Emergency funding. 

Sec. 105. Emergency environmental reviews. 

Sec. 106. State revolving funds. 

Sec. 107. Drought planning assistance. 

Sec. 108. Calfed Bay-Delta Act reauthorization. 

Sec. 109. Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act reauthorization. 

Sec. 110. Secure Water Act reauthorization. 

Sec. 111. Colorado River Basin System water. 

Sec. 112. Effect on State laws. 

Sec. 113. Klamath Basin water supply. 

Sec. 114. Termination of authorities. 

TITLE II—FEDERAL DISASTER ASSISTANCE 

Sec. 201. Treatment of drought under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

and Emergency Assistance Act. 

6 TITLE I—EMERGENCY DROUGHT 

7 RELIEF 

8 SEC. 101. FINDINGS. 

9 Congress finds that— 

10 (1) as established in the Proclamation of a 

11 State of Emergency issued by the Governor of the 

12 State on January 17, 2014, the State is experi13 encing record dry conditions; 


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1 (2) extremely dry conditions have persisted in 

2 the State since 2012, and the current drought condi3 tions are likely to persist into the future; 

4 (3) the water supplies of the State are at 

5 record-low levels, as indicated by a statewide average 

6 snowpack of 12 percent of the normal average for 

7 winter as of February 1, 2014, and the fact that all 

8 major Central Valley Project reservoir levels are 

9 below 50 percent of the capacity of the reservoirs as 

10 of the date of enactment of this Act; 

11 (4) the 2013–2014 drought constitutes a seri12 ous emergency posing immediate and severe risks to 

13 human life and safety and to the environment 

14 throughout the State; 

15 (5) the emergency requires— 

16 (A) immediate and credible action that re17 spects the complexity of the State of Califor18 nia’s water system and its importance to the 

19 entire State; and 

20 (B) policies that do not pit stakeholders 

21 against one another, which history has shown 

22 only leads to costly litigation that benefits no 

23 one and prevents any real solutions; 

24 (6) Federal law (including regulations) directly 

25 authorizes expedited decisionmaking procedures and 


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1 environmental and public review procedures to en2 able timely and appropriate implementation of ac3 tions to respond to such a type and severity of emer4 gency; and 

5 (7) the serious emergency posed by the 2013– 

6 2014 drought in the State fully satisfies the condi7 tions necessary for the exercise of emergency deci8 sion making, analytical, and public review require9 ments under— 

10 (A) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

11 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

12 (B) the National Environmental Policy Act 

13 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

14 (C) water control management procedures 

15 of the Corps of Engineers described in section 

16 222.5 of title 33, Code of Federal Regulations 

17 (including successor regulations); and 

18 (D) the Reclamation States Emergency 

19 Drought Relief Act of 1991 (Public Law 102– 

20 250; 106 Stat. 53). 

21 SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this title: 

23 (1) CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT.—The term 

24 ‘‘Central Valley Project’’ has the meaning given the 


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1 term in section 3403 of the Central Valley Project 

2 Improvement Act (106 Stat. 4707). 

3 (2) KLAMATH PROJECT.—The term ‘‘Klamath 

4 Project’’ means the Bureau of Reclamation project 

5 in the States of California and Oregon— 

6 (A) as authorized under the Act of June 

7 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, chapter 1093); and 

8 (B) as described in— 

9 (i) title II of the Oregon Resource 

10 Conservation Act of 1996 (Public Law 

11 104–208; 110 Stat. 3009–532); and 

12 (ii) the Klamath Basin Water Supply 

13 Enhancement Act of 2000 (Public Law 

14 106–498; 114 Stat. 2221). 

15 (3) RECLAMATION PROJECT.—The term ‘‘Rec16 lamation Project’’ means a project constructed pur17 suant to the authorities of the reclamation laws and 

18 whose facilities are wholly or partially located in the 

19 State. 

20 (4) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 

21 means— 

22 (A) the Administrator of the Environ23 mental Protection Agency; 

24 (B) the Secretary of Commerce; and 

25 (C) the Secretary of the Interior. 


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1 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

2 of California. 

3 (6) STATE WATER PROJECT.—The term ‘‘State 

4 Water Project’’ means the water project described 

5 by California Water Code section 11550 et seq., and 

6 operated by the California Department of Water Re7 sources. 

8 SEC. 103. EMERGENCY PROJECTS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—In response to the declaration of 

10 a state of drought emergency by the Governor of the 

11 State, the Secretaries shall provide the maximum quantity 

12 of water supplies possible to Central Valley Project and 

13 Klamath Project agricultural, municipal and industrial, 

14 and refuge service and repayment contractors, State 

15 Water Project contractors, and any other locality or mu16 nicipality in the State, by approving, consistent with appli17 cable laws (including regulations)— 

18 (1) any project or operations to provide addi19 tional water supplies if there is any possible way 

20 whatsoever that the Secretaries can do so unless the 

21 project or operations constitute a highly inefficient 

22 way of providing additional water supplies; and 

23 (2) any projects or operations as quickly as pos24 sible based on available information to address the 

25 emergency conditions. 


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1 (b) MANDATE.—In carrying out subsection (a), the 

2 applicable agency heads described in that subsection shall, 

3 consistent with applicable laws (including regulations)— 

4 (1) authorize and implement actions to ensure 

5 that the Delta Cross Channel Gates shall remain 

6 open to the greatest extent possible, timed to maxi7 mize the peak flood tide period and provide water 

8 supply and water quality benefits for the duration of 

9 the State’s drought emergency declaration, con10 sistent with operational criteria and monitoring cri11 teria developed pursuant to the California State 

12 Water Resources Control Board’s Order Approving a 

13 Temporary Urgency Change in License and Permit 

14 Terms in Response to Drought Conditions, effective 

15 January 31, 2014, or a successor order; 

16 (2)(A) collect data associated with the operation 

17 of the Delta Cross Channel Gates described in para18 graph (1) and its impact on species listed as threat19 ened or endangered under the Endangered Species 

20 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), water quality, 

21 and water supply; and 

22 (B) after assessing the data described in sub23 paragraph (A), require the Director of the National 

24 Marine Fisheries Service to recommend revisions to 

25 operations of the Central Valley Project and the 


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1 California State Water Project, including, if appro2 priate, the reasonable and prudent alternatives con3 tained in the biological opinion issued by the Na4 tional Marine Fisheries Service on June 4, 2009, 

5 that are likely to produce fishery, water quality, and 

6 water supply benefits; 

7 (3)(A) implement turbidity control strategies 

8 that allow for increased water deliveries while avoid9 ing jeopardy to adult delta smelt (Hypomesus 

10 transpacificus) due to entrainment at Central Valley 

11 Project and State Water Project pumping plants; 

12 and 

13 (B) manage reverse flow in Old and Middle Riv14 ers as prescribed by the biological opinion issued by 

15 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and 

16 dated December 15, 2008, to minimize water supply 

17 reductions for the Central Valley Project and the 

18 State Water Project; 

19 (4) adopt a 1:1 inflow to export ratio for the in20 creased flow of the San Joaquin River, as measured 

21 as a 3-day running average at Vernalis during the 

22 period from April 1 through May 31, resulting from 

23 voluntary transfers and exchanges of water supplies, 

24 among other purposes; 


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1 (5) issue all necessary permit decisions under 

2 the authority of the Secretaries within 30 days of re3 ceiving a completed application by the State to place 

4 and use temporary barriers or operable gates in 

5 Delta channels to improve water quantity and qual6 ity for State Water Project and Central Valley 

7 Project South of Delta water contractors and other 

8 water users, which barriers or gates should provide 

9 benefits for species protection and in-Delta water 

10 user water quality and shall be designed such that 

11 formal consultations under section 7 of the Endan12 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1536) would 

13 not be necessary; 

14 (6)(A) require the Director of the United States 

15 Fish and Wildlife Service and the Commissioner of 

16 the Bureau of Reclamation to complete all require17 ments under the National Environmental Policy Act 

18 of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the Endan19 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 

20 necessary to make final permit decisions on water 

21 transfer requests associated with voluntarily 

22 fallowing nonpermanent crops in the State, within 

23 30 days of receiving such a request; and 

24 (B) require the Director of the United States 

25 Fish and Wildlife Service to allow any water transfer 


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1 request associated with fallowing to maximize the 

2 quantity of water supplies available for nonhabitat 

3 uses as long as the fallowing and associated water 

4 transfer are in compliance with applicable Federal 

5 laws (including regulations); 

6 (7) allow North of Delta water service contrac7 tors with unused 2013 Central Valley Project con8 tract supplies to take delivery of those unused sup9 plies through April 15, 2014, if— 

10 (A) the contractor requests the extension; 

11 and 

12 (B) the requesting contractor certifies 

13 that, without the extension, the contractor 

14 would have insufficient supplies to adequately 

15 meet water delivery obligations; 

16 (8) maintain all rescheduled water supplies held 

17 in the San Luis Reservoir and Millerton Reservoir 

18 for all water users for delivery in the immediately 

19 following contract water year unless precluded by 

20 reservoir storage capacity limitations; 

21 (9) to the maximum extent possible based on 

22 the availability of water and without causing land 

23 subsidence— 

24 (A) meet the contract water supply needs 

25 of Central Valley Project refuges through the 


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1 improvement or installation of wells to use 

2 groundwater resources and the purchase of 

3 water from willing sellers, which activities may 

4 be accomplished by using funding made avail5 able under section 104 or the Water Assistance 

6 Program or the WaterSMART program of the 

7 Department of the Interior; and 

8 (B) make a quantity of Central Valley 

9 Project surface water obtained from the meas10 ures implemented under subparagraph (A) 

11 available to Central Valley Project contractors; 

12 (10) make any WaterSMART grant funding al13 located to the State available on a priority and expe14 dited basis for projects in the State that— 

15 (A) provide emergency drinking and mu16 nicipal water supplies to localities in a quantity 

17 necessary to meet minimum public health and 

18 safety needs; 

19 (B) prevent the loss of permanent crops; 

20 (C) minimize economic losses resulting 

21 from drought conditions; or 

22 (D) provide innovative water conservation 

23 tools and technology for agriculture and urban 

24 water use that can have immediate water sup25 ply benefits; 


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1 (11) implement offsite upstream projects in the 

2 Delta and upstream Sacramento River and San Joa3 quin basins, in coordination with the California De4 partment of Water Resources and the California De5 partment of Fish and Wildlife, that offset the effects 

6 on species listed as threatened or endangered under 

7 the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 

8 1531 et seq.) due to actions taken under this Act; 

9 and 

10 (12) use all available scientific tools to identify 

11 and implement any changes to real-time operations 

12 of Bureau of Reclamation, State, and local water 

13 projects that could result in the availability of addi14 tional water supplies. 

15 (c) OTHER AGENCIES.—To the extent that a Federal 

16 agency other than agencies headed by the Secretaries has 

17 a role in approving projects described in subsections (a) 

18 and (b), the provisions of this section shall apply to those 

19 Federal agencies. 

20 (d) ACCELERATED PROJECT DECISION AND ELE21 VATION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the request of the 

23 State, the heads of Federal agencies shall use the 

24 expedited procedures under this subsection to make 

25 final decisions relating to a Federal project or operVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:43 Apr 02, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2198.PCS S2198

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1 ation to provide additional water supplies or address 

2 emergency drought conditions pursuant to sub3 sections (a) and (b). 

4 (2) REQUEST FOR RESOLUTION.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—Upon the request of 

6 the State, the head of an agency referred to in 

7 subsection (a), or the head of another Federal 

8 agency responsible for carrying out a review of 

9 a project, as applicable, the Secretary of the In10 terior shall convene a final project decision 

11 meeting with the heads of all relevant Federal 

12 agencies to decide whether to approve a project 

13 to provide emergency water supplies. 

14 (B) MEETING.—The Secretary of the Inte15 rior shall convene a meeting requested under 

16 subparagraph (A) not later than 7 days after 

17 receiving the meeting request. 

18 (3) NOTIFICATION.—Upon receipt of a request 

19 for a meeting under this subsection, the Secretary of 

20 the Interior shall notify the heads of all relevant 

21 Federal agencies of the request, including the 

22 project to be reviewed and the date for the meeting. 

23 (4) DECISION.—Not later than 10 days after 

24 the date on which a meeting is requested under 


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1 paragraph (2), the head of the relevant Federal 

2 agency shall issue a final decision on the project. 

3 (5) MEETING CONVENED BY SECRETARY.—The 

4 Secretary may convene a final project decision meet5 ing under this subsection at any time, at the discre6 tion of the Secretary, regardless of whether a meet7 ing is requested under paragraph (2). 

8 SEC. 104. EMERGENCY FUNDING. 

9 (a) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Financial assistance may be 

11 made available under the Reclamation States Emer12 gency Drought Relief Act of 1991 (43 U.S.C. 2201 

13 et seq.), subtitle F of title IX of the Omnibus Public 

14 Land Management Act of 2009 (42 U.S.C. 10361 et 

15 seq.) (commonly known as the ‘‘Secure Water Act of 

16 2009’’), and any other applicable Federal law (in17 cluding regulations), to be divided among each appli18 cable program at the discretion of the Secretary for 

19 eligible water projects to assist drought-plagued 

20 areas of the State and the West. 

21 (2) ADDITIONAL AVAILABILITY.—Financial as22 sistance may be made available under this section to 

23 organizations and entities, including tribal govern24 ments, that are engaged in collaborative processes to 

25 restore the environment while settling water rights 


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1 claims that are part of an active water rights adju2 dication or a broader settlement of claims that are 

3 part of a basin-wide solution for restoration. 

4 (b) TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance under sub5 section (a) shall include a range of projects, including— 

6 (1) the installation of pumps, temporary bar7 riers, or operable gates for water diversion and fish 

8 protection; 

9 (2) the installation of groundwater wells in 

10 wildlife refuges and other areas; 

11 (3) the purchase or assistance in the purchase 

12 of water from willing sellers; 

13 (4) conservation projects providing water supply 

14 benefits in the short-term; 

15 (5) exchanges with any water district willing to 

16 provide water to meet the emergency water needs of 

17 other water districts in return for the delivery of 

18 equivalent quantities of water later that year or in 

19 future years; 

20 (6) maintenance of cover crops to prevent pub21 lic health impacts from severe dust storms; 

22 (7) emergency pumping projects for critical 

23 health and safety purposes; 


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1 (8) activities to reduce water demand consistent 

2 with a comprehensive program for environmental 

3 restoration and settlement of water rights claims; 

4 (9) the use of new or innovative water on-farm 

5 water conservation technologies or methods that may 

6 assist in sustaining permanent crops in areas with 

7 severe water shortages; 

8 (10) technical assistance to improve existing ir9 rigation practices to provide water supply benefits in 

10 the short-term; and 

11 (11) any other assistance the Secretary deter12 mines to be necessary to increase available water 

13 supplies or mitigate drought impacts. 

14 SEC. 105. EMERGENCY ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS. 

15 To minimize the time spent carrying out environ16 mental reviews and to deliver water quickly that is needed 

17 to address emergency drought conditions, the head of each 

18 applicable Federal agency shall, in carrying out this Act, 

19 consult with the Council on Environmental Quality in ac20 cordance with section 1506.11 of title 40, Code of Federal 

21 Regulations (including successor regulations) to develop 

22 alternative arrangements to comply with the National En23 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 

24 during the emergency. 


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1 SEC. 106. STATE REVOLVING FUNDS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Envi3 ronmental Protection Agency, in allocating amounts for 

4 each of the fiscal years during which the State’s emer5 gency drought declaration is in force to State water pollu6 tion control revolving funds established under title VI of 

7 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1381 

8 et seq.) and the State drinking water treatment revolving 

9 loan funds established under section 1452 of the Safe 

10 Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12), shall, for those 

11 projects that are eligible to receive assistance under sec12 tion 603 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 

13 U.S.C. 1383) or section 1452(a)(2) of the Safe Drinking 

14 Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12(a)(2)), respectively, that 

15 the State determines will provide additional water supplies 

16 most expeditiously to areas that are at risk of having an 

17 inadequate supply of water for public health and safety 

18 purposes or to improve resiliency to drought— 

19 (1) require the State to review and prioritize 

20 funding for such projects; 

21 (2) issue a determination of waivers within 30 

22 days of the conclusion of the informal public com23 ment period pursuant to section 436(c) of title IV of 

24 division G of Public Law 113–76; and 

25 (3) authorize, at the request of the State, 40- 

26 year financing for assistance under section 


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1 603(d)(2) of the Federal Water Pollution Control 

2 Act (33 U.S.C. 1383(d)(2)) or section 1452(f)(2) of 

3 the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j– 

4 12(f)(2)). 

5 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Paragraphs (2) and (3) of sub6 section (a) shall apply to any other State— 

7 (1) that has a State-declared drought declara8 tion in force; or 

9 (2) for which a natural disaster has been de10 clared by the Secretary of Agriculture under section 

11 321(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Devel12 opment Act (7 U.S.C. 1961(a)) for drought or agri13 cultural disaster. 

14 (c) EFFECT OF SECTION.—Nothing in this section 

15 authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Pro16 tection Agency to modify any funding allocation, funding 

17 criteria, or other requirement relating to State water pol18 lution control revolving funds established under title VI 

19 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

20 1381 et seq.) and the State drinking water treatment re21 volving loan funds established under section 1452 of the 

22 Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300j–12) for any 

23 State other than as described in subsections (a) and (b). 


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1 SEC. 107. DROUGHT PLANNING ASSISTANCE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Upon the request of Central Val3 ley Project or Klamath Project contractors or other Rec4 lamation Project contractors in the State, the Secretary 

5 of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Rec6 lamation, shall provide water supply planning assistance 

7 in preparation for and in response to dry, critically dry, 

8 and below normal water year types to those Central Valley 

9 Project or Klamath Project contractors or other Reclama10 tion Project contractors making those requests, including 

11 contractors who possess contracts for refuge water sup12 plies or deliver refuge water supplies. 

13 (b) TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.—Assistance under sub14 section (a) shall include— 

15 (1) hydrological forecasting; 

16 (2) assessment of water supply sources under 

17 different water year classification types; 

18 (3) identification of alternative water supply 

19 sources; 

20 (4) guidance on potential water transfer part21 ners; 

22 (5) technical assistance regarding Federal and 

23 State permits and contracts under the Act of Feb24 ruary 21, 1911 (36 Stat. 925, chapter 141) (com25 monly known as the ‘‘Warren Act’’); 


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1 (6) technical assistance regarding emergency 

2 provision of water supplies for critical health and 

3 safety purposes; 

4 (7) activities carried out in conjunction with the 

5 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

6 the National Integrated Drought Information Sys7 tem, and the State partners of the National Inte8 grated Drought Information System under the Na9 tional Integrated Drought Information System Act 

10 of 2006 (15 U.S.C. 313d)— 

11 (A) to collect and integrate key indicators 

12 of drought severity and impacts; and 

13 (B) to produce and communicate timely 

14 monitoring and forecast information to local 

15 and regional communities, including the San 

16 Joaquin Valley, the Delta, and the Central 

17 Coast; and 

18 (8) any other assistance the Secretary deter19 mines to be necessary. 

20 SEC. 108. CALFED BAY-DELTA ACT REAUTHORIZATION. 

21 Title I of the Water Supply, Reliability, and Environ22 mental Improvement Act (118 Stat. 1681; 123 Stat. 

23 2860) (as amended by section 207 of title II of division 

24 D of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014) is 


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1 amended by striking ‘‘2015’’ each place it appears and 

2 inserting ‘‘2018’’. 

3 SEC. 109. RECLAMATION STATES EMERGENCY DROUGHT 

4 RELIEF ACT REAUTHORIZATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301 of the Reclamation 

6 States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991 (43 U.S.C. 

7 2241) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking ‘‘$90,000,000’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘$190,000,000’’; and 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘2012’’ and inserting ‘‘2019’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 104(c) of 

12 the Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 

13 1991 (43 U.S.C. 2214(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘2017’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘2019’’. 

15 SEC. 110. SECURE WATER ACT REAUTHORIZATION. 

16 Section 9504 of the Omnibus Public Land Manage17 ment Act of 2009 (42 U.S.C. 10364) is amended— 

18 (1) in subsection (a)— 

19 (A) in paragraph (2)(A)— 

20 (i) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘; or’’; 

22 (ii) by striking ‘‘(A) be located within 

23 the States’’ and inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) be located within— 

25 ‘‘(i) the States’’; and 


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1 (iii) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(ii) the State of Hawaii; and’’; and 

4 (B) in paragraph (3)(E), by adding at the 

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘(v) AUTHORITY OF COMMIS7 SIONER.—The Commissioner of Reclama8 tion may, at the discretion of the Commis9 sioner— 

10 ‘‘(I) waive any cost-share require11 ments to address emergency situa12 tions; and 

13 ‘‘(II) prioritize projects based on 

14 the ability of the projects to expedi15 tiously yield water supply benefits 

16 during periods of drought.’’; and 

17 (2) in subsection (e), by striking 

18 ‘‘$200,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$300,000,000’’. 

19 SEC. 111. COLORADO RIVER BASIN SYSTEM WATER. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after the 

21 date of enactment of this Act, consistent with the purposes 

22 of section 9504 of the Omnibus Public Land Management 

23 Act of 2009 (42 U.S.C. 10364), the Secretary of the Inte24 rior (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 

25 fund or participate in pilot projects to increase Colorado 


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1 River System water in Lake Mead and the initial units 

2 of Colorado River Storage Project reservoirs, as author3 ized by the first section of the Act of April 11, 1956 (43 

4 U.S.C. 620), to address the effects of historic drought con5 ditions. 

6 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—Pilot projects under this sec7 tion shall be funded through— 

8 (1) grants by the Secretary to public entities 

9 that use water from the Colorado River Basin for 

10 municipal purposes, for projects that are imple11 mented by 1 or more non-Federal entities; or 

12 (2) grants or other appropriate financial agree13 ments to provide additional funds for renewing or 

14 implementing water conservation agreements that 

15 are in existence on the date of enactment of this 

16 Act. 

17 (c) UPPER COLORADO RIVER BASIN FUND.—Funds 

18 in the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund established by 

19 section 5 of the Colorado River Storage Project Act (43 

20 U.S.C. 620d) shall not be used to carry out this section. 

21 SEC. 112. EFFECT ON STATE LAWS. 

22 Nothing in this Act preempts any State law in effect 

23 on the date of enactment of this Act, including area of 

24 origin and other water rights protections. 


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1 SEC. 113. KLAMATH BASIN WATER SUPPLY. 

2 The Klamath Basin Water Supply Enhancement Act 

3 of 2000 (Public Law 106–498; 114 Stat. 2221) is amend4 ed— 

5 (1) by redesignating sections 4 through 6 as 

6 sections 5 through 7, respectively; and 

7 (2) by inserting after section 3 the following: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 4. WATER MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING ACTIVITIES. 

9 ‘‘The Secretary is authorized to engage in activities, 

10 including entering into agreements and contracts, or oth11 erwise making financial assistance available, to reduce 

12 water consumption or demand, or to restore ecosystems 

13 (including tribal fishery resources held in trust) in the 

14 Klamath Basin watershed, consistent with collaborative 

15 agreements for environmental restoration and settlements 

16 of water rights claims.’’. 

17 SEC. 114. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITIES. 

18 (a) EMERGENCY PROJECTS.—The authority under 

19 section 103 expires on the date on which the Governor 

20 of the State suspends the state of drought emergency dec21 laration. 

22 (b) OTHER AUTHORITY.—The authority under sec23 tions 104, 105, and 106 shall expire in a State or area 

24 on the earlier of— 

25 (1) the date on which the emergency drought 

26 declaration for the State or area is withdrawn; or 


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•S 2198 PCS

1 (2) the date on which the Secretary of Agri2 culture suspends the natural disaster declaration 

3 issued under section 321(a) of the Consolidated 

4 Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 

5 1961(a)) for drought or an agricultural disaster for 

6 the State or area. 

7 TITLE II—FEDERAL DISASTER 

8 ASSISTANCE 

9 SEC. 201. TREATMENT OF DROUGHT UNDER THE ROBERT 

10 T. STAFFORD DISASTER RELIEF AND EMER11 GENCY ASSISTANCE ACT. 

12 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

13 (1) the term ‘‘major disaster’’ (as defined in 

14 section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

15 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122)) 

16 includes drought, yet no drought in the 30 years 

17 preceding the date of enactment of this Act has been 

18 declared by the President to be a major disaster in 

19 any of the States in accordance with section 401 of 

20 that Act (42 U.S.C. 5170); 

21 (2) a major drought shall be eligible to be de22 clared a major disaster or state of emergency by the 

23 President on the request of the Governor of any 

24 State; 


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1 (3) droughts are natural disasters that do 

2 occur, and while of a different type of impact, the 

3 scale of the impact of a major drought can be equiv4 alent to other disasters that have been declared by 

5 the President to be a major disaster under the Rob6 ert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As7 sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.); and 

8 (4) droughts have wide-ranging and long-term 

9 impacts on ecosystem health, agriculture production, 

10 permanent crops, forests, waterways, air quality, 

11 public health, wildlife, employment, communities, 

12 State and national parks, and other natural re13 sources of a State and the people of that State that 

14 have significant value. 

15 (b) FEDERAL EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE.—Section 

16 502(a) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

17 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5192(a)) is amend18 ed— 

19 (1) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 

20 the semicolon at the end; 

21 (2) in paragraph (8), by striking the period at 

22 the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

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

24 ‘‘(9) provide disaster unemployment assistance 

25 in accordance with section 410; 


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1 ‘‘(10) provide emergency nutrition and other as2 sistance in accordance with section 412; and 

3 ‘‘(11) provide crisis counseling assistance in ac4 cordance with section 416.’’. 


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Calendar No. 344 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2198 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Interior, the Secother purposes. other Western States due to drought, and for disaster assistance to the State of California and tions to provide additional water supplies and the Environmental Protection Agency to take ac- retary of Commerce, and the Administrator of 

APRIL 2, 2014 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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