II 

Calendar No. 208 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 593 

[Report No. 114–128] 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to submit to Congress a report 

on the efforts of the Bureau of Reclamation to manage its infrastructure 

assets. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2015 

Mr. BARRASSO (for himself and Mr. SCHATZ) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 

Reported by Ms. MURKOWSKI, with amendments 

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

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to submit to Congress a report on the efforts of the Bureau of Reclamation to manage its infrastructure assets. 

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 ‘‘Bureau of Reclamation 

3 Transparency Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds that— 

6 (1) the water resources infrastructure of the 

7 Bureau of Reclamation provides important benefits 

8 related to irrigated agriculture, municipal and indus9 trial water, hydropower, flood control, fish and wild10 life, and recreation in the 17 Reclamation States; 

11 (2) as of 2013, the combined replacement value 

12 of the infrastructure assets of the Bureau of Rec13 lamation was $94,500,000,000; 

14 (3) the majority of the water resources infra15 structure facilities of the Bureau of Reclamation are 

16 at least 60 years old; 

17 (4) the Bureau of Reclamation has previously 

18 undertaken efforts to better manage the assets of 

19 the Bureau of Reclamation, including an annual re20 view of asset maintenance activities of the Bureau of 

21 Reclamation known as the ‘‘Asset Management 

22 Plan’’; and 

23 (5) actionable information on infrastructure 

24 conditions at the asset level, including information 

25 on maintenance needs at individual assets due to 

26 aging infrastructure, is needed for Congress to conVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Sep 10, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S593.RS S593

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1 duct oversight of Reclamation facilities and meet the 

2 needs of the public. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this Act: 

5 (1) ASSET.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘asset’’ 

7 means any of the following assets that are used 

8 to achieve the mission of the Bureau of Rec9 lamation to manage, develop, and protect water 

10 and related resources in an environmentally and 

11 economically sound manner in the interest of 

12 the people of the United States: 

13 (i) Capitalized facilities, buildings, 

14 structures, project features, power produc15 tion equipment, recreation facilities, or 

16 quarters. 

17 (ii) Capitalized and noncapitalized 

18 heavy equipment and other installed equip19 ment. 

20 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘asset’’ in21 cludes assets described in subparagraph (A) 

22 that are considered to be mission critical. 

23 (2) ASSET MANAGEMENT REPORT.—The term 

24 ‘‘Asset Management Report’’ means— 


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1 (A) the annual plan prepared by the Bu2 reau of Reclamation known as the ‘‘Asset Man3 agement Plan’’; and 

4 (B) any publicly available information re5 lating to the plan described in subparagraph 

6 (A) that summarizes the efforts of the Bureau 

7 of Reclamation to evaluate and manage infra8 structure assets of the Bureau of Reclamation. 

9 (3) MAJOR REPAIR AND REHABILITATION

10 NEED.—The term ‘‘major repair and rehabilitation 

11 need’’ means major nonrecurring maintenance at a 

12 Reclamation facility, including maintenance related 

13 to the safety of dams, extraordinary maintenance of 

14 dams, deferred major maintenance activities, and all 

15 other significant repairs and extraordinary mainte16 nance. 

17 (4) RECLAMATION FACILITY.—The term ‘‘Rec18 lamation facility’’ means each of the infrastructure 

19 assets that are owned by the Bureau of Reclamation 

20 at a Reclamation project. 

21 (5) RECLAMATION PROJECT.—The term ‘‘Rec22 lamation project’’ means a project that is owned by 

23 the Bureau of Reclamation, including all reserved 

24 works and transferred works owned by the Bureau 

25 of Reclamation. 


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1 (6) RESERVED WORKS.—The term ‘‘reserved 

2 works’’ means buildings, structures, facilities, or 

3 equipment that are owned by the Bureau of Rec4 lamation for which operations and maintenance are 

5 performed by employees of the Bureau of Reclama6 tion or through a contract entered into by the Bu7 reau of Reclamation, regardless of the source of 

8 funding for the operations and maintenance. 

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

10 the Secretary of the Interior. 

11 (8) TRANSFERRED WORKS.—The term ‘‘trans12 ferred works’’ means a Reclamation facility at which 

13 operations and maintenance of the facility is carried 

14 out by a non-Federal entity under the provisions of 

15 a formal operations and maintenance transfer con16 tract or other legal agreement with the Bureau of 

17 Reclamation. 

18 SEC. 4. ASSET MANAGEMENT REPORT ENHANCEMENTS 

19 FOR RESERVED WORKS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

21 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

22 to Congress an Asset Management Report that— 

23 (1) describes the efforts of the Bureau of Rec24 lamation— 


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1 (A) to maintain in a reliable manner all re2 served works at Reclamation facilities; and 

3 (B) to standardize and streamline data re4 porting and processes across regions and areas 

5 for the purpose of maintaining reserved works 

6 at Reclamation facilities; and 

7 (2) expands on the information otherwise pro8 vided in an Asset Management Report, in accord9 ance with subsection (b). 

10 (b) INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE NEEDS AS11 SESSMENT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Asset Management Re13 port submitted under subsection (a) shall include— 

14 (A) a detailed assessment of major repair 

15 and rehabilitation needs for all reserved works 

16 at all Reclamation projects; and 

17 (B) to the extent practicable, an itemized 

18 list of major repair and rehabilitation needs of 

19 individual Reclamation facilities at each Rec20 lamation project. 

21 (2) INCLUSIONS.—To the extent practicable, 

22 the itemized list of major repair and rehabilitation 

23 needs under paragraph (1)(B) shall include— 

24 (A) a budget level cost estimate of the ap25 propriations needed to complete each item; and 


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1 (B) an assignment of a categorical rating 

2 for each item, consistent with paragraph (3). 

3 (3) RATING REQUIREMENTS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—The system for assign5 ing ratings under paragraph (2)(B) shall be— 

6 (i) consistent with existing uniform 

7 categorization systems to inform the an8 nual budget process and agency require9 ments; and 

10 (ii) subject to the guidance and in11 structions issued under subparagraph (B). 

12 (B) GUIDANCE.—As soon as practicable 

13 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec14 retary shall issue guidance that describes the 

15 applicability of the rating system applicable 

16 under paragraph (2)(B) to Reclamation facili17 ties. 

18 (4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Except as provided 

19 in paragraph (5), the Secretary shall make publicly 

20 available, including on the Internet, the Asset Man21 agement Report required under subsection (a). 

22 (5) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Secretary may ex23 clude from the public version of the Asset Manage24 ment Report made available under paragraph (4) 

25 any information that the Secretary identifies as senVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Sep 10, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S593.RS S593

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1 sitive or classified, but shall make available to the 

2 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

3 Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources of 

4 the House of Representatives a version of the report 

5 containing the sensitive or classified information. 

6 (c) UPDATES.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

7 on which the Asset Management Report is submitted 

8 under subsection (a) and biennially thereafter, the Sec9 retary shall update the Asset Management Report, subject 

10 to the requirements of section 5(b)(2). 

11 (d) CONSULTATION.—To the extent that such con12 sultation would assist the Secretary in preparing the Asset 

13 Management Report under subsection (a) and updates to 

14 the Asset Management Report under subsection (c), the 

15 Secretary shall consult with— 

16 (1) the Secretary of the Army (acting through 

17 the Chief of Engineers); and 

18 (2) water and power contractors. 

19 SEC. 5. ASSET MANAGEMENT REPORT ENHANCEMENTS 

20 FOR TRANSFERRED WORKS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall coordinate 

22 with the non-Federal entities responsible for the operation 

23 and maintenance of transferred works in developing re24 porting requirements for Asset Management Reports with 

25 respect to the condition of, and planned maintenance for, 


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1 major repair and rehabilitation needs for transferred 

2 works that are similar to the reporting requirements de3 scribed in section 4(b). 

4 (b) GUIDANCE.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—After considering input from 

6 water and power contractors of the Bureau of Rec7 lamation, the Secretary shall develop and implement 

8 a rating system for transferred works that incor9 porates, to the maximum extent practicable, the rat10 ing system for major repair and rehabilitation needs 

11 for reserved works developed under section 4(b)(3). 

12 (2) UPDATES.—The ratings system developed 

13 under paragraph (1) shall be included in the up14 dated Asset Management Reports under section 

15 4(c). 

16 SEC. 6. OFFSET. 

17 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in the 

18 case of the project authorized by section 1617 of the Rec19 lamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 

20 1992 (43 U.S.C. 390h–12c), the maximum amount of the 

21 Federal share of the cost of the project under section 

22 1631(d)(1) of that Act (43 U.S.C. 390h–13(d)(1)) other23 wise available as of the date of enactment of this Act shall 

24 be reduced by $2,000,000. 


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Calendar No. 208 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 593 

[Report No. 114–128] 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to submit 

sets. of Reclamation to manage its infrastructure asto Congress a report on the efforts of the Bureau 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 

Reported with amendments 


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