IB 

Union Calendar No. 201 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2842 

[Report No. 112–301] 

To authorize all Bureau of Reclamation conduit facilities for hydropower 

development under Federal Reclamation law, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2011 

Mr. TIPTON (for himself and Mr. GOSAR) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

DECEMBER 1, 2011 

Additional sponsors: Mr. SMITH of Nebraska, Mr. COFFMAN of Colorado, Mr. 

MCCLINTOCK, and Mr. COSTA

DECEMBER 1, 2011 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

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

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on September 6, 2011] 


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•HR 2842 RH

A BILL 

To authorize all Bureau of Reclamation conduit facilities 

for hydropower development under Federal Reclamation 

law, and for other purposes. 


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•HR 2842 RH

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 ‘‘Bureau of Reclamation 

5 Small Conduit Hydropower Development and Rural Jobs 

6 Act of 2011’’. 

7 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION. 

8 Section 9(c) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 

9 (43 U.S.C. 485h(c)) is amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary is authorized to 

11 enter into contracts to furnish water’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘(1) The Secretary is authorized to enter into con13 tracts to furnish water’’; 

14 (2) by striking ‘‘(1) shall’’ and inserting ‘‘(A) 

15 shall’’; 

16 (3) by striking ‘‘(2) shall’’ and inserting ‘‘(B) 

17 shall’’; 

18 (4) by striking ‘‘respecting the terms of sales of 

19 electric power and leases of power privileges shall be 

20 in addition and alternative to any authority in exist21 ing laws relating to particular projects’’ and insert22 ing ‘‘respecting the sales of electric power and leases 

23 of power privileges shall be an authorization in addi24 tion to and alternative to any authority in existing 


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1 laws related to particular projects, including small 

2 conduit hydropower development’’; and 

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

4 ‘‘(2) When carrying out this subsection, the Secretary 

5 shall first offer the lease of power privilege to an irrigation 

6 district or water users association operating the applicable 

7 transferred work, or to the irrigation district or water users 

8 association receiving water from the applicable reserved 

9 work. The Secretary shall determine a reasonable time 

10 frame for the irrigation district or water users association 

11 to accept or reject a lease of power privilege offer. 

12 ‘‘(3) The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

13 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) shall not apply to small conduit 

14 hydropower development, excluding siting of associated 

15 transmission on Federal lands, under this subsection. 

16 ‘‘(4) The Power Resources Office of the Bureau of Rec17 lamation shall be the lead office of small conduit hydro18 power policy and procedure-setting activities conducted 

19 under this subsection. 

20 ‘‘(5) Nothing in this subsection shall obligate the West21 ern Area Power Administration, the Bonneville Power Ad22 ministration, or the Southwestern Power Administration to 

23 purchase or market any of the power produced by the facili24 ties covered under this subsection and none of the costs assoVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:16 Dec 01, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2842.RH H2842

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1 ciated with production or delivery of such power shall be 

2 assigned to project purposes for inclusion in project rates. 

3 ‘‘(6) Nothing in this subsection shall alter or impede 

4 the delivery and management of water by Bureau of Rec5 lamation facilities, as water used for conduit hydropower 

6 generation shall be deemed incidental to use of water for 

7 the original project purposes. Lease of power privilege shall 

8 be made only when, in the judgment of the Secretary, the 

9 exercise of the lease will not be incompatible with the pur10 poses of the project or division involved, nor shall it create 

11 any unmitigated financial or physical impacts to the 

12 project or division involved. The Secretary shall notify and 

13 consult with the irrigation district or legally organized 

14 water users association operating the transferred work in 

15 advance of offering the lease of power privilege and shall 

16 prescribe such terms and conditions that will adequately 

17 protect the planning, design, construction, operation, main18 tenance, and other interests of the United States and the 

19 project or division involved. 

20 ‘‘(7) Nothing in this subsection shall alter or affect any 

21 existing agreements for the development of conduit hydro22 power projects or disposition of revenues. 

23 ‘‘(8) In this subsection: 

24 ‘‘(A) CONDUIT.—The term ‘conduit’ means any 

25 Bureau of Reclamation tunnel, canal, pipeline, aqueVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:16 Dec 01, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2842.RH H2842

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1 duct, flume, ditch, or similar manmade water convey2 ance that is operated for the distribution of water for 

3 agricultural, municipal, or industrial consumption 

4 and not primarily for the generation of electricity. 

5 ‘‘(B) IRRIGATION DISTRICT.—The term ‘irriga6 tion district’ means any irrigation, water conserva7 tion or conservancy district, multicounty water con8 servation or conservancy district, or any separate 

9 public entity composed of two or more such districts 

10 and jointly exercising powers of its member districts. 

11 ‘‘(C) RESERVED WORK.—The term ‘reserved 

12 work’ means any conduit that is included in project 

13 works the care, operation, and maintenance of which 

14 has been reserved by the Secretary, through the Com15 missioner of the Bureau of Reclamation. 

16 ‘‘(D) TRANSFERRED WORK.—The term ‘trans17 ferred work’ means any conduit that is included in 

18 project works the care, operation, and maintenance of 

19 which has been transferred to a legally organized 

20 water users association or irrigation district. 

21 ‘‘(E) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

22 the Secretary of the Interior. 

23 ‘‘(F) SMALL CONDUIT HYDROPOWER.—The term 

24 ‘small conduit hydropower’ means a facility capable 


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1 of producing 1.5 megawatts or less of electric capac2 ity.’’. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 201 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2842 

[Report No. 112–301] 

A BILL 

To authorize all Bureau of Reclamation conduit faeral Reclamation law, and for other purposes. cilities for hydropower development under FedDECEMBER 1, 2011 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS