II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 212

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 

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.

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’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 For the purposes of this Act: 

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

4 means the Association of American State Geologists. 

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

6 Western States Water Council. 

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

8 the Director of the United States Geological Survey. 

9 (4) FEDERAL COMPONENT.—The term ‘‘Fed10 eral component’’ means the Federal component of 

11 the High Plains Aquifer Comprehensive 

12 Hydrogeologic Characterization, Mapping, Modeling 

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

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

15 Plains Aquifer’’ is the groundwater reserve depicted 

16 as Figure 1 in the United States Geological Survey 

17 Professional Paper 1400-B, titled ‘‘Geohydrology of 

18 the High Plains Aquifer in Parts of Colorado, Kan19 sas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Da20 kota, Texas, and Wyoming.’’. 

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

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

23 Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Okla24 homa, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming. 

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

26 the Secretary of the Interior. 
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1 (8) STATE COMPONENT.—The term ‘‘State 

2 component’’ means the State component of the High 

3 Plains Aquifer Comprehensive Hydrogeologic Char4 acterization, Mapping, Modeling and Monitoring 

5 Program described in section 3(d). 

6 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT. 

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

8 United States Geological Survey, and in cooperation with 

9 participating State geological surveys and water manage10 ment agencies of the High Plains Aquifer States, shall es11 tablish and carry out the High Plains Aquifer Comprehen12 sive Hydrogeologic Characterization, Mapping, Modeling 

13 and Monitoring Program, for the purposes of the charac14 terization, mapping, modeling, and monitoring of the High 

15 Plains Aquifer. The Program shall undertake on a county16 by-county level or at the largest scales and most detailed 

17 levels determined to be appropriate on a state-by-state and 

18 regional basis—

19 (1) mapping of the hydrogeological configura20 tion of the High Plains Aquifer; and 

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

22 analyses of the current and past rates at which 

23 groundwater is being withdrawn and recharged, the 

24 net rate of decrease or increase in High Plains Aqui25 fer storage, the factors controlling the rate of hori-
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1 zontal and vertical migration of water within the 

2 High Plains Aquifer, and the current and past rate 

3 of change of saturated thickness within the High 

4 Plains Aquifer. 

5 The Program shall also develop, as recommended by the 

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

7 bases and groundwater flow models. 

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

9 fifty percent of the funds available pursuant to this title 

10 for use in carrying out the State component of the Pro11 gram, as provided for by subsection (d). 

12 (c) FEDERAL PROGRAM COMPONENT.— 

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

14 Federal component, developed in consultation with 

15 the Federal Review Panel provided for by subsection 

16 (e), which shall have as its priorities—

17 (A) coordinating Federal, State, and local, 

18 data, maps, and models into an integrated 

19 physical characterization of the High Plains Aq20 uifer;

21 (B) supporting State and local activities 

22 with scientific and technical specialists; and 

23 (C) undertaking activities and providing 

24 technical capabilities not available at the State 

25 and local levels. 
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1 (2) INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES.—The Fed2 eral component shall include interdisciplinary studies 

3 that add value to hydrogeologic characterization, 

4 mapping, modeling and monitoring for the High 

5 Plains Aquifer. 

6 (d) STATE PROGRAM COMPONENT.— 

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

8 Plains Aquifer State, the State may participate in 

9 the State component of the Program which shall 

10 have as its priorities hydrogeologic characterization, 

11 mapping, modeling, and monitoring activities in 

12 areas of the High Plains Aquifer that will assist in 

13 addressing issues relating to groundwater depletion 

14 and resource assessment of the Aquifer. As a condi15 tion of participating in the State component of the 

16 Program, the Governor or Governor’s designee shall 

17 appoint a State panel representing a broad range of 

18 users of, and persons knowledgeable regarding, 

19 hydrogeologic data and information, which shall be 

20 appointed by the Governor of the State or the Gov21 ernor’s designee. Priorities under the State compo22 nent shall be based upon the recommendations of 

23 the State panel. 

24 (2) AWARDS.—
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1 (A) Twenty percent of the Federal funds 

2 available under the State component shall be 

3 equally divided among the State geological sur4 veys of the High Plains Aquifer States to carry 

5 out the purposes of the Program provided for 

6 by this title. In the event that the State geologi7 cal survey is unable to utilize the funding for 

8 such purposes, the Secretary may, upon the pe9 tition of the Governor of the State, direct the 

10 funding to some other agency of the State to 

11 carry out the purposes of the Program. 

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

13 State that has elected to participate in the 

14 State component of the Program, the remaining 

15 funds under the State component shall be com16 petitively awarded to State or local agencies or 

17 entities in the High Plains Aquifer States, in18 cluding State geological surveys, State water 

19 management agencies, institutions of higher 

20 education, or consortia of such agencies or enti21 ties. A State may submit a proposal for the 

22 United States Geological Survey to undertake 

23 activities and provide technical capabilities not 

24 available at the State and local levels. Such 

25 funds shall be awarded by the Director only for 
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1 proposals that have been recommended by the 

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

3 subjected to independent peer review, and given 

4 final prioritization and recommendation by the 

5 Federal Review Panel established under sub6 section (e). Proposals for multistate activities 

7 must be recommended by the State panel of at 

8 least one of the affected States. 

9 (e) FEDERAL REVIEW PANEL.— 

10 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be estab11 lished a Federal Review Panel to evaluate the pro12 posals submitted for funding under the State compo13 nent under subsection (d)(2)(B) and to recommend 

14 approvals and levels of funding. In addition, the 

15 Federal Review Panel shall review and coordinate 

16 the Federal component priorities under subsection 

17 (c)(1), Federal interdisciplinary studies under sub18 section (c)(2), and the State component priorities 

19 under subsection (d)(1). 

20 (2) COMPOSITION AND SUPPORT.—Not later 

21 than 3 months after the date of enactment of this 

22 title, the Secretary shall appoint to the Federal Re23 view Panel: (1) three representatives of the United 

24 States Geological Survey, at least one of which shall 

25 be a hydrologist or hydrogeologist; and (2) four rep-
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1 resentatives of the geological surveys and water 

2 management agencies of the High Plains Aquifer 

3 States from lists of nominees provided by the Asso4 ciation and the Council, so that there are two rep5 resentatives of the State geological surveys and two 

6 representatives of the State water management 

7 agencies. Appointment to the Panel shall be for a 

8 term of 3 years. The Director shall provide technical 

9 and administrative support to the Federal Review 

10 Panel. Expenses for the Federal Review Panel shall 

11 be paid from funds available under the Federal com12 ponent of the Program. 

13 (f) LIMITATION.—The United States Geological Sur14 vey shall not use any of the Federal funds to be made 

15 available under the State component for any fiscal year 

16 to pay indirect, servicing, or Program management 

17 charges. Recipients of awards granted under subsection 

18 (d)(2)(B) shall not use more than 18 percent of the Fed19 eral award amount for any fiscal year for indirect, serv20 icing, or Program management charges. The Federal 

21 share of the costs of an activity funded under subsection 

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

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

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

25 non-Federal share of the costs of the activity. 
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1 SEC. 4. PLAN.

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

3 consultation with the Association, the Council, the Federal 

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

5 the High Plains Aquifer Comprehensive Hydrogeologic 

6 Characterization, Mapping, Modeling and Monitoring Pro7 gram. The plan shall address overall priorities for the Pro8 gram and a management structure and Program oper9 ations, including the role and responsibilities of the United 

10 States Geological Survey and the States in the Program, 

11 and mechanisms for identifying priorities for the Federal 

12 component and the State component. 

13 SEC. 5. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

14 (a) REPORT ON PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION.—One 

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

16 2 years thereafter through fiscal year 2011, the Secretary 

17 shall submit a report on the status of implementation of 

18 the Program established by this Act to the Committee on 

19 Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, the Com20 mittee on Resources of the House of Representatives, and 

21 the Governors of the High Plains Aquifer States. The ini22 tial report submitted by the Secretary shall contain the 

23 plan required by section 4. 

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

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

26 thereafter through fiscal year 2011, the Secretary shall 
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1 submit a report to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

2 Resources of the Senate, the Committee on Resources of 

3 the House of Representatives, and the Governors of the 

4 High Plains Aquifer States on the status of the High 

5 Plains Aquifer, including aquifer recharge rates, extrac6 tion rates, saturated thickness, and water table levels. 

7 (c) ROLE OF FEDERAL REVIEW PANEL.—The Fed8 eral Review Panel shall be given an opportunity to review 

9 and comment on the reports required by this section. 

10 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 

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

13 through 2011 to carry out this Act .

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