II 

Calendar No. 673 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1462 

[Report No. 110–321] 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 23, 2007 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

APRIL 10, 2008 

Reported by Mr. BINGAMAN, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

AN ACT 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate 

in the implementation of the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered Species in the 

Central and Lower Platte River Basin and to modify 

the Pathfinder Dam and Reservoir. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Platte River Recovery Implementation Program and 

4 Pathfinder Modification Authorization Act’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

6 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Purposes. 

TITLE I—PLATTE RIVER RECOVERY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRAM 

Sec. 101. Definitions. 

Sec. 102. Implementation of Program. 

Sec. 103. Cost-sharing contributions. 

Sec. 104. Authority to modify Program. 

Sec. 105. Effect. 

Sec. 106. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 107. Termination of authority. 

TITLE II—PATHFINDER MODIFICATION PROJECT 

Sec. 201. Authorization of project. 

Sec. 202. Authorized uses of pathfinder reservoir. 

7 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

8 The purposes of this Act are to authorize— 

9 (1) the Secretary of the Interior, acting through 

10 the Commissioner of Reclamation and in partnership 

11 with the States, other Federal agencies, and other 

12 non-Federal entities, to continue the cooperative ef13 fort among the Federal and non-Federal entities 

14 through the implementation of the Platte River Re15 covery Implementation Program for threatened and 

16 endangered species in the Central and Lower Platte 

17 River Basin without creating Federal water rights or 


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1 requiring the grant of water rights to Federal enti2 ties; and 

3 (2) the modification of the Pathfinder Dam and 

4 Reservoir Reservoir, in accordance with the require5 ments described in title II. 

6 TITLE I—PLATTE RIVER RECOV7 ERY IMPLEMENTATION PRO8 GRAM 

9 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 

10 In this title: 

11 (1) AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘Agreement’’ 

12 means the Platte River Recovery Implementation 

13 Program Cooperative Agreement entered into by the 

14 Governors of the States and the Secretary. 

15 (2) FIRST INCREMENT.—The term ‘‘First In16 crement’’ means the first 13 years of the Program. 

17 (3) GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE.—The term 

18 ‘‘Governance Committee’’ means the governance 

19 committee established under the Agreement and 

20 composed of members from the States, the Federal 

21 Government, environmental interests, and water 

22 users. 

23 (4) INTEREST IN LAND OR WATER.—The term 

24 ‘‘interest in land or water’’ includes a fee title, 

25 short- or long-term easement, lease, or other conVerDate Aug 31 2005 06:12 Apr 11, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1462.RS H1462

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1 tractual arrangement that is determined to be nec2 essary by the Secretary to implement the land and 

3 water components of the Program. 

4 (5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 

5 the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program 

6 established under the Agreement. 

7 (6) PROJECT OR ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘project 

8 or activity’’ means— 

9 (A) the planning, design, permitting or 

10 other compliance activity, preconstruction activ11 ity, construction, construction management, op12 eration, maintenance, and replacement of a fa13 cility; 

14 (B) the acquisition of an interest in land 

15 or water; 

16 (C) habitat restoration; 

17 (D) research and monitoring; 

18 (E) program administration; and 

19 (F) any other activity that is determined to 

20 be necessary by the Secretary to carry out the 

21 Program. 

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

23 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 

24 Commissioner of Reclamation. 


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1 (8) STATES.—The term ‘‘States’’ means the 

2 States of Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado. 

3 SEC. 102. IMPLEMENTATION OF PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in cooperation 

5 with the Governance Committee, may— 

6 (1) participate in the Program; and 

7 (2) carry out any projects and activities that 

8 are designated for implementation during the First 

9 Increment. 

10 (b) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—For purposes of 

11 carrying out this title Act, the Secretary, in cooperation 

12 with the Governance Committee, may— 

13 (1) enter into agreements and contracts with 

14 Federal and non-Federal entities; 

15 (2) acquire interests in land, water, and facili16 ties from willing sellers without the use of eminent 

17 domain; 

18 (3) subsequently transfer any interests acquired 

19 under paragraph (2); and 

20 (4) accept or provide grants. 

21 SEC. 103. COST-SHARING CONTRIBUTIONS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—As provided in the Agreement, the 

23 participating States shall contribute not less than 50 per24 cent of the total contributions necessary to carry out the 

25 Program. 


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1 (b) NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTIONS.—The following 

2 contributions shall constitute the States’ share of the Pro3 gram: 

4 (1) $30,000,000 in non-Federal funds, with the 

5 balance of funds remaining to be contributed to be 

6 adjusted for inflation on October 1 of the year after 

7 the date of enactment of this Act and each October 

8 1 thereafter. 

9 (2) Credit for contributions of water or land for 

10 the purposes of implementing the Program, as deter11 mined to be appropriate by the Secretary. 

12 (c) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—The Secretary or the 

13 States may elect to provide a portion of the Federal share 

14 or non-Federal share, respectively, in the form of in-kind 

15 goods or services, if the contribution of goods or services 

16 is approved by the Governance Committee, as provided in 

17 Attachment 1 of the Agreement. 

18 SEC. 104. AUTHORITY TO MODIFY PROGRAM. 

19 The Program may be modified or amended before the 

20 completion of the First Increment if the Secretary and the 

21 States determine that the modifications are consistent 

22 with the purposes of the Program. 


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1 SEC. 105. EFFECT. 

2 (a) EFFECT ON RECLAMATION LAWS.—No action 

3 carried out under this title shall, with respect to the acre4 age limitation provisions of the reclamation laws— 

5 (1) be considered in determining whether a dis6 trict (as the term is defined in section 202 of the 

7 Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (43 U.S.C. 

8 390bb)) has discharged the obligation of the district 

9 to repay the construction cost of project facilities 

10 used to make irrigation water available for delivery 

11 to land in the district; 

12 (2) serve as the basis for reinstating acreage 

13 limitation provisions in a district that has completed 

14 payment of the construction obligations of the dis15 trict; or 

16 (3) serve as the basis for increasing the con17 struction repayment obligation of the district, which 

18 would extend the period during which the acreage 

19 limitation provisions would apply. 

20 (b) EFFECT ON WATER RIGHTS.—Nothing in this 

21 title Act— 

22 (1) creates Federal water rights; or 

23 (2) requires the grant of water rights to Fed24 eral entities. 


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1 SEC. 106. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro3 priated to carry out projects and activities under this title 

4 $157,140,000, as adjusted under subsection (c). 

5 (b) NONREIMBURSABLE FEDERAL EXPENDI6 TURES.—Any amounts expended under subsection (a) 

7 shall be considered to be nonreimbursable Federal expend8 itures. 

9 (c) ADJUSTMENT.—The balance of funds remaining 

10 to be appropriated shall be adjusted for inflation on Octo11 ber 1 of the year after the enactment of this Act and each 

12 October 1 thereafter. 

13 (d) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—At the end of each 

14 fiscal year, any unexpended funds for projects and activi15 ties made available under subsection (a) shall be retained 

16 for use in future fiscal years to implement projects and 

17 activities under the Program. 

18 SEC. 107. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY. 

19 The authority for the Secretary to implement the 

20 First Increment shall terminate on September 30, 2020. 

21 TITLE II—PATHFINDER 

22 MODIFICATION PROJECT 

23 SEC. 201. AUTHORIZATION OF PROJECT. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior, act25 ing through the Commissioner of Reclamation (referred to 

26 in this title as the ‘‘Secretary’’), may— 


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1 (1) modify the Pathfinder Dam and Reservoir; 

2 and 

3 (2) enter into 1 or more agreements with the 

4 State of Wyoming to implement the Pathfinder 

5 Modification Project (referred to in this title as the 

6 ‘‘Project’’), as described in Appendix F to the Final 

7 Settlement Stipulation in Nebraska v. Wyoming, 534 

8 U.S. 40 (2001). 

9 (b) FEDERAL APPROPRIATIONS.—No Federal appro10 priations are required to modify the Pathfinder Dam 

11 under this section. 

12 SEC. 202. AUTHORIZED USES OF PATHFINDER RESERVOIR. 

13 The approximately Provided that all of the conditions 

14 described in section 203 are first met, the approximately 

15 54,000 acre-feet capacity of Pathfinder Reservoir, which 

16 has been lost to sediment but will be recaptured by the 

17 Project, may be used for municipal, environmental, and 

18 other purposes, as described in Appendix F to the Final 

19 Settlement Stipulation in Nebraska v. Wyoming, 534 U.S. 

20 40 (2001). 

21 SEC. 203. CONDITIONS PRECEDENT. 

22 The actions and water uses authorized in sections 

23 201(a)(1) and 202 shall not occur until each of the following 

24 actions have been completed: 


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1 (1) Final approval from the Wyoming legislature 

2 for the export of Project water to the State of Ne3 braska under the laws (including regulations) of the 

4 State of Wyoming. 

5 (2) Final approval in a change of water use pro6 ceeding under the laws (including regulations) of the 

7 State of Wyoming for all new uses planned for Project 

8 water. Final approval, as used in this paragraph, in9 cludes exhaustion of any available review under State 

10 law of any administrative action authorizing the 

11 change of the Pathfinder Reservoir water right. 


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Calendar No. 673 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1462 

[Report No. 110

–321] 

AN ACT 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to parand Reservoir. River Basin and to modify the Pathfinder Dam gered Species in the Central and Lower Platte Recovery Implementation Program for Endan- ticipate in the implementation of the Platte River 

APRIL 10, 2008 

Reported with amendments 


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