II 

Calendar No. 36

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 212

[Report No. 108–21] 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to cooperate with the High Plains 

States in conducting a hydrogeologic characterization, mapping, modeling 

and monitoring program for the High Plains Aquifer, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 23, 2003

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself, Mr. BROWNBACK, and Mr. DOMENICI) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Natural Resources 

MARCH 19, 2003

Reported by Mr. DOMENICI, with an amendment and an amendment to the 

title 

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

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to cooperate with 

the High Plains States in conducting a hydrogeologic 

characterization, mapping, modeling and monitoring program for the High Plains Aquifer, 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 ‘‘High Plains Aquifer 

5 Hydrogeologic Characterization, Mapping, Modeling and 

6 Monitoring Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

8 For the purposes of this Act: 

9 (1) ASSOCIATION.—The term ‘‘Association’’ 

10 means the Association of American State Geologists. 

11 (2) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 

12 Western States Water Council. 

13 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

14 the Director of the United States Geological Survey. 

15 (4) FEDERAL COMPONENT.—The term ‘‘Fed16 eral component’’ means the Federal component of 

17 the High Plains Aquifer Comprehensive 

18 Hydrogeologic Characterization, Mapping, Modeling 

19 and Monitoring Program described in section 3(c). 

20 (5) HIGH PLAINS AQUIFER.—The term ‘‘High 

21 Plains Aquifer’’ is the groundwater reserve depicted 

22 as Figure 1 in the United States Geological Survey 

23 Professional Paper 1400–B, titled ‘‘Geohydrology of 

24 the High Plains Aquifer in Parts of Colorado, Kan-
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1 sas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Da2 kota, Texas, and Wyoming.’’. 

3 (6) HIGH PLAINS AQUIFER STATES.—The term 

4 ‘‘High Plains Aquifer States’’ means the States of 

5 Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Okla6 homa, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. 

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

8 the Secretary of the Interior. 

9 (8) STATE COMPONENT.—The term ‘‘State 

10 component’’ means the State component of the High 

11 Plains Aquifer Comprehensive Hydrogeologic Char12 acterization, Mapping, Modeling and Monitoring 

13 Program described in section 3(d). 

14 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT. 

15 (a) PROGRAM.—The Secretary, working through the 

16 United States Geological Survey, and in cooperation with 

17 participating State geological surveys and water manage18 ment agencies of the High Plains Aquifer States, shall es19 tablish and carry out the High Plains Aquifer Comprehen20 sive Hydrogeologic Characterization, Mapping, Modeling 

21 and Monitoring Program, for the purposes of the charac22 terization, mapping, modeling, and monitoring of the High 

23 Plains Aquifer. The Program shall undertake on a county24 by-county level or at the largest scales and most detailed 
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1 levels determined to be appropriate on a state-by-state and 

2 regional basis—

3 (1) mapping of the hydrogeological configura4 tion of the High Plains Aquifer; and 

5 (2) with respect to the High Plains Aquifer, 

6 analyses of the current and past rates at which 

7 groundwater is being withdrawn and recharged, the 

8 net rate of decrease or increase in High Plains Aqui9 fer storage, the factors controlling the rate of hori10 zontal and vertical migration of water within the 

11 High Plains Aquifer, and the current and past rate 

12 of change of saturated thickness within the High 

13 Plains Aquifer. 

14 The Program shall also develop, as recommended by the 

15 State panels referred to in subsection (d)(1), regional data 

16 bases and groundwater flow models. 

17 (b) FUNDING.—The Secretary shall make available 

18 fifty percent of the funds available pursuant to this title 

19 for use in carrying out the State component of the Pro20 gram, as provided for by subsection (d). 

21 (c) FEDERAL PROGRAM COMPONENT.— 

22 (1) PRIORITIES.—The Program shall include a 

23 Federal component, developed in consultation with 

24 the Federal Review Panel provided for by subsection 

25 (e), which shall have as its priorities—
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1 (A) coordinating Federal, State, and local, 

2 data, maps, and models into an integrated 

3 physical characterization of the High Plains Aq4 uifer; 

5 (B) supporting State and local activities 

6 with scientific and technical specialists; and 

7 (C) undertaking activities and providing 

8 technical capabilities not available at the State 

9 and local levels. 

10 (2) INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES.—The Fed11 eral component shall include interdisciplinary studies 

12 that add value to hydrogeologic characterization, 

13 mapping, modeling and monitoring for the High 

14 Plains Aquifer. 

15 (d) STATE PROGRAM COMPONENT.— 

16 (1) PRIORITIES.—Upon election by a High 

17 Plains Aquifer State, the State may participate in 

18 the State component of the Program which shall 

19 have as its priorities hydrogeologic characterization, 

20 mapping, modeling, and monitoring activities in 

21 areas of the High Plains Aquifer that will assist in 

22 addressing issues relating to groundwater depletion 

23 and resource assessment of the Aquifer. As a condi24 tion of participating in the State component of the 

25 Program, the Governor or Governor’s designee shall 
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1 appoint a State panel representing a broad range of 

2 users of, and persons knowledgeable regarding, 

3 hydrogeologic data and information, which shall be 

4 appointed by the Governor of the State or the Gov5 ernor’s designee. Priorities under the State compo6 nent shall be based upon the recommendations of 

7 the State panel. 

8 (2) AWARDS.—

9 (A) Twenty percent of the Federal funds 

10 available under the State component shall be 

11 equally divided among the State geological sur12 veys of the High Plains Aquifer States to carry 

13 out the purposes of the Program provided for 

14 by this title. In the event that the State geologi15 cal survey is unable to utilize the funding for 

16 such purposes, the Secretary may, upon the pe17 tition of the Governor of the State, direct the 

18 funding to some other agency of the State to 

19 carry out the purposes of the Program. 

20 (B) In the case of a High Plains Aquifer 

21 State that has elected to participate in the 

22 State component of the Program, the remaining 

23 funds under the State component shall be com24 petitively awarded to State or local agencies or 

25 entities in the High Plains Aquifer States, in-
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1 cluding State geological surveys, State water 

2 management agencies, institutions of higher 

3 education, or consortia of such agencies or enti4 ties. A State may submit a proposal for the 

5 United States Geological Survey to undertake 

6 activities and provide technical capabilities not 

7 available at the State and local levels. Such 

8 funds shall be awarded by the Director only for 

9 proposals that have been recommended by the 

10 State panels referred to in subsection (d)(1), 

11 subjected to independent peer review, and given 

12 final prioritization and recommendation by the 

13 Federal Review Panel established under sub14 section (e). Proposals for multistate activities 

15 must be recommended by the State panel of at 

16 least one of the affected States. 

17 (e) FEDERAL REVIEW PANEL.— 

18 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be estab19 lished a Federal Review Panel to evaluate the pro20 posals submitted for funding under the State compo21 nent under subsection (d)(2)(B) and to recommend 

22 approvals and levels of funding. In addition, the 

23 Federal Review Panel shall review and coordinate 

24 the Federal component priorities under subsection 

25 (c)(1), Federal interdisciplinary studies under sub-
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1 section (c)(2), and the State component priorities 

2 under subsection (d)(1). 

3 (2) COMPOSITION AND SUPPORT.—Not later 

4 than 3 months after the date of enactment of this 

5 title, the Secretary shall appoint to the Federal Re6 view Panel: (1) three representatives of the United 

7 States Geological Survey, at least one of which shall 

8 be a hydrologist or hydrogeologist; and (2) four rep9 resentatives of the geological surveys and water 

10 management agencies of the High Plains Aquifer 

11 States from lists of nominees provided by the Asso12 ciation and the Council, so that there are two rep13 resentatives of the State geological surveys and two 

14 representatives of the State water management 

15 agencies. Appointment to the Panel shall be for a 

16 term of 3 years. The Director shall provide technical 

17 and administrative support to the Federal Review 

18 Panel. Expenses for the Federal Review Panel shall 

19 be paid from funds available under the Federal com20 ponent of the Program. 

21 (f) LIMITATION.—The United States Geological Sur22 vey shall not use any of the Federal funds to be made 

23 available under the State component for any fiscal year 

24 to pay indirect, servicing, or Program management 

25 charges. Recipients of awards granted under subsection 
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1 (d)(2)(B) shall not use more than 18 percent of the Fed2 eral award amount for any fiscal year for indirect, serv3 icing, or Program management charges. The Federal 

4 share of the costs of an activity funded under subsection 

5 (d)(2)(B) shall be no more than 50 percent of the total 

6 cost of that activity. The Secretary may apply the value 

7 of in-kind contributions of property and services to the 

8 non-Federal share of the costs of the activity. 

9 SEC. 4. PLAN. 

10 The Secretary, acting through the Director, shall, in 

11 consultation with the Association, the Council, the Federal 

12 Review Panel, and the State panels, prepare a plan for 

13 the High Plains Aquifer Comprehensive Hydrogeologic 

14 Characterization, Mapping, Modeling and Monitoring Pro15 gram. The plan shall address overall priorities for the Pro16 gram and a management structure and Program oper17 ations, including the role and responsibilities of the United 

18 States Geological Survey and the States in the Program, 

19 and mechanisms for identifying priorities for the Federal 

20 component and the State component. 

21 SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

22 (a) REPORT ON PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION.—One 

23 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 

24 2 years thereafter through fiscal year 2011, the Secretary 

25 shall submit a report on the status of implementation of 
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1 the Program established by this Act to the Committee on 

2 Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, the Com3 mittee on Resources of the House of Representatives, and 

4 the Governors of the High Plains Aquifer States. The ini5 tial report submitted by the Secretary shall contain the 

6 plan required by section 4. 

7 (b) REPORT ON HIGH PLAINS AQUIFER.—One year 

8 after the date of enactment of this Act and every year 

9 thereafter through fiscal year 2011, the Secretary shall 

10 submit a report to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

11 Resources of the Senate, the Committee on Resources of 

12 the House of Representatives, and the Governors of the 

13 High Plains Aquifer States on the status of the High 

14 Plains Aquifer, including aquifer recharge rates, extrac15 tion rates, saturated thickness, and water table levels. 

16 (c) ROLE OF FEDERAL REVIEW PANEL.—The Fed17 eral Review Panel shall be given an opportunity to review 

18 and comment on the reports required by this section. 

19 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

21 as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2003 

22 through 2011 to carry out this Act .
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘High Plains Aquifer 

3 Hydrogeologic Characterization, Mapping, and Modeling 

4 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

6 For the purposes of this Act: 

7 (1) ASSOCIATION.—The term ‘‘Association’’ 

8 means the Association of American State Geologists. 

9 (2) COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Council’’ means the 

10 Western States Water Council. 

11 (3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means the 

12 Director of the United States Geological Survey. 

13 (4) HIGH PLAINS AQUIFER.—The term ‘‘High 

14 Plains Aquifer’’ is the groundwater reserve depicted 

15 as Figure 1 in the United States Geological Survey 

16 Professional Paper 1400–B, titled ‘‘Geohydrology of 

17 the High Plains Aquifer in Parts of Colorado, Kan18 sas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, 

19 Texas, and Wyoming.’’

20 (5) HIGH PLAINS AQUIFER STATES.—The term 

21 ‘‘High Plains Aquifer States’’ means the States of 

22 Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, 

23 South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. 

24 (6) REVIEW PANEL.—The term ‘‘Review Panel’’ 

25 means the panel provided for by section 3(d). 
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1 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of the Interior. 

3 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT. 

4 (a) PROGRAM.—The Secretary, through the United 

5 States Geological Survey, and in cooperation with the High 

6 Plains Aquifer States, shall establish and carry out the 

7 High Plains Aquifer Comprehensive Hydrogeologic Pro8 gram, to characterize, map, and model the High Plains Aq9 uifer. The Program shall undertake at the most detailed lev10 els determined to be appropriate on a state-by-state basis, 

11 characterization, mapping and modeling of the 

12 hydrogeological configuration of the High Plains Aquifer. 

13 (b) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives of the Program are 

14 to: 

15 (1) provide for the hydrogeologic characteriza16 tion, mapping and modeling of the High Plains Aqui17 fer through a cooperative partnership effort between 

18 the U.S. Geological Survey and the High Plains Aq19 uifer States; 

20 (2) coordinate Federal, State, and local data, 

21 maps, and models into an integrated physical charac22 terization of the High Plains Aquifer; 

23 (3) support State and local activities with sci24 entific and technical specialists; and 
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1 (4) undertake activities and provide technical ca2 pabilities not available at the State and local levels 

3 as may be requested by a Governor of a High Plains 

4 Aquifer State within such state. 

5 (c) REQUESTS FROM GOVERNORS.—The Governor of 

6 a High Plains Aquifer State may submit a proposal to the 

7 Secretary requesting the Secretary to undertake activities 

8 and provide financial and technical capabilities not avail9 able at the State and local levels to carry out the purposes 

10 of the Program. 

11 (d) REVIEW PANEL.—Not later than six months after 

12 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall estab13 lish a Review Panel to: (1) evaluate the proposals submitted 

14 for funding under subsection (f); and (2) review and coordi15 nate Program priorities. In performing its functions, the 

16 Review Panel shall consult with the Association and the 

17 Council. 

18 (e) COMPOSITION AND SUPPORT.—The Review Panel 

19 shall be comprised of: (1) five representatives of the United 

20 States Geological Survey, at least two of which shall be hy21 drologists or hydrogeologists; and (2) one representative who 

22 is knowledgeable regarding hydrogeologic data and infor23 mation from each of the High Plains Aquifer States that 

24 elects to participate in the Program. Each representative 

25 of a High Plains Aquifer State shall be recommended by 
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1 the Governor of such State. The Secretary shall provide 

2 technical and administrative support to the Review Panel. 

3 Expenses for the Review Panel shall be paid from Program 

4 funds other than those referred to in subsection (f). 

5 (f) FUNDING.—Fifty percent of the funds appropriated 

6 to carry out this Program shall be allocated equally by the 

7 Secretary for the participation of State and local agencies 

8 and institutions of higher education within each of the High 

9 Plains Aquifer States that elects to participate in the Pro10 gram. Grants may be made by the Secretary from the funds 

11 described in this subsection based on proposals that have 

12 been recommended by the Governor and reviewed by the Re13 view Panel. Proposals for multistate activities must be rec14 ommended by the Governors of all the affected States. 

15 SEC. 4. REPORTS. 

16 (a) REPORT ON PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION.—One 

17 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 3 

18 years thereafter through fiscal year 2011, the Secretary 

19 shall include a report on the Program in the annual budget 

20 documents for the Department of the Interior. The initial 

21 report submitted by the Secretary shall contain a Program 

22 plan developed with the concurrence of the Review Panel. 

23 (b) REPORT ON HIGH PLAINS AQUIFER.—No later 

24 than four years after the date of enactment of this Act and 

25 upon completion of the Program in fiscal year 2011, the 
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1 Secretary shall submit an interim and final report, respec2 tively, to the Governors of the High Plains Aquifer States 

3 on the status of the High Plains Aquifer. 

4 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as 

6 may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2003 through 

7 2011 to carry out this Act.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to authorize 

the Secretary of the Interior to Cooperate with the High 

Plains Aquifer States in Conducting a Hydrogeologic 

Characterization, Mapping, and Modeling Program for 

the High Plains Aquifer, and for other purposes.’’

Æ
Calendar No. 36

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 212

[Report No. 108–21] 

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to cooperate with the High Plains States in conducting a hydrogeologic characterization, mapping, modeling and monitoring program for the 

High Plains Aquifer, and for other purposes. 

MARCH 19, 2003

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the 

title