I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3404 

To provide drought preparedness and improved water supply reliability to 

the Nation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 20, 2021 

Mr. HUFFMAN (for himself, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. LEVIN of California, Mr. 

DESAULNIER, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. DEGETTE, and Mr. GRIJALVA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 

Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Science, Space, and 

Technology, Ways and Means, Transportation and Infrastructure, the Judiciary, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide drought preparedness and improved water supply 

reliability to the Nation. 

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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

5 ‘‘Furthering Underutilized Technologies and Unleashing 

6 Responsible Expenditures for Western Water Infrastruc7 ture and Drought Resiliency Act’’ or the ‘‘FUTURE 


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1 Western Water Infrastructure and Drought Resiliency 

2 Act’’. 

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

4 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

TITLE I—INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT 

Sec. 101. Competitive grant program for the funding of water recycling and 

reuse projects. 

Sec. 102. Storage project development reports to Congress. 

Sec. 103. Funding for storage and supporting projects. 

Sec. 104. Extension of existing requirements for grandfathered storage 

projects. 

Sec. 105. Desalination project development. 

Sec. 106. Assistance for disadvantaged communities without adequate drinking 

water. 

Sec. 107. Water infrastructure fund. 

TITLE II—IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY AND DATA 

Sec. 201. Reauthorization of water availability and use assessment program. 

Sec. 202. Modifications to income exclusion for conservation subsidies. 

Sec. 203. X-prize for water technology breakthroughs. 

Sec. 204. Study examining sediment transport. 

Sec. 205. Federal priority streamgages. 

Sec. 206. Study examining climate vulnerabilities at Federal dams. 

Sec. 207. Innovative technology adoption. 

Sec. 208. Forecast-informed water control manual updates. 

TITLE III—ECOSYSTEM PROTECTION AND RESTORATION 

Sec. 301. Waterbird habitat creation program. 

Sec. 302. Competitive grant program for the funding of watershed health 

projects. 

Sec. 303. Support for refuge water deliveries. 

Sec. 304. Drought planning and preparedness for critically important fisheries. 

Sec. 305. Reauthorization of the Fisheries Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation Act of 2000. 

Sec. 306. Combating water theft for illegal marijuana cultivation. 

Sec. 307. Sustaining biodiversity during droughts. 

TITLE IV—WATER JOB TRAINING AND EDUCATION 

Sec. 401. Water resource education. 

Sec. 402. Water sector career grant programs. 

TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS 

Sec. 501. Offset. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) As expressed in the Water Supply Act of 

4 1958, Congress has recognized the primary respon5 sibilities of the States and local interests in devel6 oping water supplies for domestic, municipal, indus7 trial, and other purposes, and that the Federal Gov8 ernment should participate and cooperate in these 

9 projects. 

10 (2) There is a long and robust legal precedent 

11 of Federal deference to State primacy in water law 

12 and the legal system that States establish for resolv13 ing disputes over water use, with the Supreme Court 

14 finding in Kansas v. Colorado that ‘‘Congress cannot 

15 enforce either rule upon any State’’ in matters of 

16 the right regulation of water rights. 

17 (3) The entire American West and Southwest 

18 are facing forecasts of prolonged droughts that will 

19 leave States facing major water shortages and cata20 strophic wildfires. 

21 (4) Recent periods of drought in the American 

22 West have also occurred with higher temperatures 

23 and reduced snowpack and led to what climate sci24 entists recently concluded was possibly the most se25 vere drought in California in over 1,200 years. 


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1 (5) The Colorado River has been under drought 

2 conditions since 2000, and the chances of a 

3 ‘‘megadrought’’ striking the Southwest and central 

4 Great Plains are on the rise according to forecasts 

5 from climate scientists. 

6 (6) Addressing water shortages today and in 

7 the future will require action from the Federal Gov8 ernment that respects State, local, and Tribal law, 

9 and that the policies that respond to droughts 

10 should not pit State against State, region against re11 gion, or stakeholders against one another. 

12 (7) Congress recognizes the range of separate, 

13 distinct Federal agencies with authorities and re14 sources that play a role in water supply, including 

15 treatment and remediation of groundwater, surface 

16 water storage, water recycling and reuse, and other 

17 clean water infrastructure, and to avoid duplication 

18 and ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of these 

19 various Federal roles, there is a need for improved 

20 coordination, streamlining, and collaboration, both 

21 among Federal agencies and with drought-impacted 

22 States and localities. 

23 (8) It is the policy of the United States to re24 spect California’s coequal goals, established by the 

25 Delta Reform Act of 2009, of providing a more reliVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3404.IH H3404

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1 able water supply for California and protecting, re2 storing, and enhancing the Delta ecosystem, and 

3 these coequal goals shall be achieved in a manner 

4 that protects and enhances the unique cultural, rec5 reational, natural resource, and agricultural values 

6 of the Delta as an evolving place. 

7 (9) The State of California, in CA Water Code 

8 section 85021, has established a policy to reduce re9 liance on the Delta in meeting California’s future 

10 water supply needs through a statewide strategy of 

11 investing in improved regional supplies, conservation, 

12 and water use efficiency; California law directs each 

13 region that depends on water from the Delta water14 shed to improve its regional self-reliance for water 

15 through investment in water use efficiency, water re16 cycling, advanced water technologies, local and re17 gional water supply projects, and improved regional 

18 coordination of local and regional water supply ef19 forts; and it is the intent of Congress to ensure that 

20 Federal programs, policies, and investments respect 

21 and compliment, and do not undermine or conflict 

22 with, California’s policy of reducing reliance on 

23 Delta diversions. 

24 (10) Federal agencies should operate the Bu25 reau of Reclamation’s Central Valley Project in CaliVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3404.IH H3404

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1 fornia in compliance with all Federal and State laws, 

2 including biological opinions, while working with the 

3 State to maximize operational flexibility in order to 

4 deliver as much water as reasonably possible to 

5 drought-impacted areas and minimize the harm suf6 fered by fish and wildlife as a result of drought. 

7 (11) The Reclamation Fund was established in 

8 1902 with the express purpose of providing for the 

9 construction and maintenance of water infrastruc10 ture for the economic development of the Western 

11 States and territories, with revenues deposited into 

12 the fund out of public land sales within these West13 ern States and territories. 

14 (12) Since 1902, the Reclamation Fund has 

15 been supplemented with additional revenues from 

16 Federal water resources development and mineral 

17 and natural resource leases on Federal lands, such 

18 that the surplus within the Reclamation Fund now 

19 exceeds $17,000,000,000. 

20 (13) The Reclamation Fund represents a trans21 fer of a portion of receipts from Federal lands and 

22 Federal natural resources in the West back to the 

23 West for water development, and the Reclamation 

24 Fund’s surplus should be used to assist the West in 

25 meeting its water needs for public health and safety, 


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1 for expanding water recycling, reuse, and reclama2 tion, and for meeting the emergency needs of com3 munities impacted by drought. 

4 (14) The Federal funding provided in this Act 

5 will support near-term and long-term water supply 

6 reliability for the Western States, including through 

7 the use of the Reclamation Fund surplus to support 

8 long-term water infrastructure investment. 

9 (15) The Federal funding authorized in title I 

10 of this Act can help provide additional water sup11 plies to the Western States in the near-term, includ12 ing 650,000 acre-feet per year in additional average 

13 yield through water reuse projects, 350,000 acre-feet 

14 per year in additional average yield through water 

15 storage projects, and 100,000 acre-feet per year in 

16 additional average yield through water desalination 

17 projects. 

18 (16) Robust Federal investment and support is 

19 needed to assist the Western States in developing fu20 ture drought resiliency in the face of climate change, 

21 which will continue to exacerbate existing water sup22 ply challenges in an already arid region of the coun23 try. 

24 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


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1 (1) RELEVANT COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS.— 

2 The term ‘‘relevant committees of Congress’’ 

3 means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Natural Resources 

5 of the House of Representatives; and 

6 (B) the Committee on Energy and Natural 

7 Resources of the Senate. 

8 (2) RECLAMATION STATE.—The term ‘‘Rec9 lamation State’’ means a State or territory described 

10 in the first section of the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 

11 Stat. 388, chapter 1093; 43 U.S.C. 391). 

12 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of the Interior, unless otherwise de14 fined in a particular provision. 

15 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

16 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

17 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

18 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)). 

19 TITLE I—INFRASTRUCTURE 

20 DEVELOPMENT 

21 SEC. 101. COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM FOR THE FUND22 ING OF WATER RECYCLING AND REUSE 

23 PROJECTS. 

24 (a) COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM FOR THE FUND25 ING OF WATER RECYCLING AND REUSE PROJECTS.—SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3404.IH H3404

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1 tion 1602(f) of the Reclamation Wastewater and Ground2 water Study and Facilities Act (title XVI of Public Law 

3 102–575; 43 U.S.C. 390h et seq.) is amended by striking 

4 paragraphs (2) and (3) and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—When funding projects under 

6 paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give funding pri7 ority to projects that meet one or more of the fol8 lowing criteria: 

9 ‘‘(A) Projects that are likely to provide a 

10 more reliable water supply for States and local 

11 governments. 

12 ‘‘(B) Projects that are likely to increase 

13 the water management flexibility and reduce 

14 impacts on environmental resources from 

15 projects operated by Federal and State agen16 cies. 

17 ‘‘(C) Projects that are regional in nature. 

18 ‘‘(D) Projects with multiple stakeholders. 

19 ‘‘(E) Projects that provide multiple bene20 fits, including water supply reliability, eco-sys21 tem benefits, groundwater management and en22 hancements, and water quality improvements.’’. 

23 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 

24 1602(g) of the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater 


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1 Study and Facilities Act (title XVI of Public Law 102– 

2 575; 43 U.S.C. 390h et seq.) is amended— 

3 (1) by striking ‘‘$50,000,000’’ and inserting 

4 ‘‘$500,000,000 through fiscal year 2025’’; and 

5 (2) by striking ‘‘if enacted appropriations legis6 lation designates funding to them by name,’’. 

7 (c) DURATION.—Section 4013 of the WIIN Act (43 

8 U.S.C. 390b(2)) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’; 

10 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period and 

11 inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

13 ‘‘(3) section 4009(c).’’. 

14 (d) LIMITATION ON FUNDING.—Section 1631(d) of 

15 the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and 

16 Facilities Act (43 U.S.C. 390h–13(d)) is amended by 

17 striking ‘‘$20,000,000 (October 1996 prices)’’ and insert18 ing ‘‘$30,000,000 (January 2019 prices)’’. 

19 SEC. 102. STORAGE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT REPORTS TO 

20 CONGRESS. 

21 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) NON-FEDERAL INTEREST.—The term 

23 ‘‘Non-Federal interest’’ means an eligible entity or a 

24 qualified partner (as defined in section 103(a)). 


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1 (2) PROJECT REPORT.—The term ‘‘project re2 port’’ means the following documents prepared for a 

3 Federal storage project or major federally assisted 

4 storage project (as defined in section 103(a)): 

5 (A) A feasibility study carried out pursu6 ant to the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, 

7 chapter 1093), and Acts supplemental to and 

8 amendatory of that Act (43 U.S.C. 371 et seq.) 

9 including any feasibility or equivalent studies 

10 prepared for a project pursuant to section 

11 103(c)(7)(B) or section 103(d)(7)(B)(i) of this 

12 Act. 

13 (B) The Fish and Wildlife Coordination 

14 Act report described in section 103(g) of this 

15 Act prepared for a project. 

16 (C) Any final document prepared for a 

17 project pursuant to the National Environmental 

18 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

19 (D) A brief description of any completed 

20 environmental permits, approvals, reviews, or 

21 studies required for a project under any Fed22 eral law other than the National Environmental 

23 Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

24 (E) A description of any determinations 

25 made by the Secretary under section 


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1 103(d)(7)(A)(ii) for each project and the basis 

2 for such determinations. 

3 (3) PROJECT STUDY.— 

4 (A) FEDERAL STORAGE PROJECT.—With 

5 respect to a Federal storage project (as defined 

6 in section 103(a)), the term ‘‘project study’’ 

7 means a feasibility study carried out pursuant 

8 to the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, 

9 chapter 1093), and Acts supplemental to and 

10 amendatory of that Act (43 U.S.C. 371 et seq.) 

11 including a feasibility study prepared pursuant 

12 to section 103(c)(7)(B) of this Act. 

13 (B) MAJOR FEDERALLY ASSISTED STOR14 AGE PROJECT.—With respect to a major feder15 ally assisted storage project (as defined in sec16 tion 103(a)), the term ‘‘project study’’ means 

17 the feasibility or equivalent studies prepared 

18 pursuant to section 103(d)(7)(B)(i) of this Act. 

19 (b) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than February 1 

20 of each year, the Secretary shall develop and submit to 

21 the relevant committees of Congress an annual report, to 

22 be entitled ‘‘Report to Congress on Future Storage Project 

23 Development’’, that identifies the following: 


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1 (1) PROJECT REPORTS.—Each project report 

2 that meets the criteria established in subsection 

3 (d)(1)(A). 

4 (2) PROPOSED PROJECT STUDIES.—Any pro5 posed project study submitted to the Secretary by a 

6 non-Federal interest pursuant to subsection (c) that 

7 meets the criteria established in subsection 

8 (d)(1)(A). 

9 (3) PROPOSED MODIFICATIONS.—Any proposed 

10 modification to an authorized project or project 

11 study that meets the criteria established in sub12 section (d)(1)(A) that— 

13 (A) is submitted to the Secretary by a non14 Federal interest pursuant to subsection (c); or 

15 (B) is identified by the Secretary for au16 thorization. 

17 (c) REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS.— 

18 (1) PUBLICATION.—Not later than May 1 of 

19 each year, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal 

20 Register a notice requesting proposals from non21 Federal interests for project reports, proposed 

22 project studies, and proposed modifications to au23 thorized projects and project studies to be included 

24 in the annual report. 


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1 (2) DEADLINE FOR REQUESTS.—The Secretary 

2 shall include in each notice required by this sub3 section a requirement that non-Federal interests 

4 submit to the Secretary any proposals described in 

5 paragraph (1) by not later than 120 days after the 

6 date of publication of the notice in the Federal Reg7 ister in order for the proposals to be considered for 

8 inclusion in the annual report. 

9 (3) NOTIFICATION.—On the date of publication 

10 of each notice required by this subsection, the Sec11 retary shall— 

12 (A) make the notice publicly available, in13 cluding on the internet; and 

14 (B) provide written notification of the pub15 lication to the relevant committees of Congress. 

16 (d) CONTENTS.— 

17 (1) PROJECT REPORTS, PROPOSED PROJECT

18 STUDIES, AND PROPOSED MODIFICATIONS.— 

19 (A) CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION IN RE20 PORT.—The Secretary shall include in the an21 nual report only those project reports, proposed 

22 project studies, and proposed modifications to 

23 authorized projects and project studies that— 

24 (i) are related to the missions and au25 thorities of the Department of the Interior; 


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1 (ii) require specific congressional au2 thorization, including by an Act of Con3 gress; 

4 (iii) have not been congressionally au5 thorized; 

6 (iv) have not been included in any 

7 previous annual report; and 

8 (v) if authorized, could be carried out 

9 by the Department of the Interior or a 

10 non-Federal entity eligible to carry out a 

11 major federally assisted storage project 

12 under section 103. 

13 (B) DESCRIPTION OF BENEFITS.— 

14 (i) DESCRIPTION.—The Secretary 

15 shall describe in the annual report, to the 

16 extent applicable and practicable, for each 

17 proposed project study and proposed modi18 fication to an authorized project or project 

19 study included in the annual report, the 

20 benefits, as described in clause (ii), of each 

21 such study or proposed modification. 

22 (ii) BENEFITS.—The benefits (or ex23 pected benefits, in the case of a proposed 

24 project study) described in this clause are 

25 benefits to— 


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1 (I) water supply and water man2 agement; 

3 (II) the environment, including 

4 fish and wildlife benefits estimated 

5 under section 103(g) for a project re6 port or proposed modification to an 

7 authorized project; 

8 (III) the protection of human life 

9 and property; 

10 (IV) the national economy; or 

11 (V) the national security inter12 ests of the United States. 

13 (C) IDENTIFICATION OF OTHER FAC14 TORS.—The Secretary shall identify in the an15 nual report, to the extent practicable— 

16 (i) for each proposed project study in17 cluded in the annual report, the non-Fed18 eral interest that submitted the proposed 

19 project study pursuant to subsection (c); 

20 and 

21 (ii) for each proposed project study 

22 and proposed modification to a project or 

23 project study included in the annual re24 port, whether the non-Federal interest has 

25 demonstrated— 


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1 (I) that local support exists for 

2 the proposed project study or pro3 posed modification to an authorized 

4 project or project study (including the 

5 project that is the subject of the pro6 posed project study or the proposed 

7 modification to an authorized project 

8 study); and 

9 (II) the financial ability to pro10 vide the required non-Federal cost 

11 share. 

12 (2) TRANSPARENCY.—The Secretary shall in13 clude in the annual report, for each project report, 

14 proposed project study, and proposed modification to 

15 a project or project study included under paragraph 

16 (1)(A)— 

17 (A) the name of the associated non-Fed18 eral interest, including the name of any non19 Federal interest that has contributed, or is ex20 pected to contribute, a non-Federal share of the 

21 cost of— 

22 (i) the project report; 

23 (ii) the proposed project study; 

24 (iii) the authorized project study for 

25 which the modification is proposed; or 


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1 (iv) construction of— 

2 (I) the project that is the subject 

3 of— 

4 (aa) the project report; 

5 (bb) the proposed project 

6 study; or 

7 (cc) the authorized project 

8 study for which a modification is 

9 proposed; or 

10 (II) the proposed modification to 

11 a project; 

12 (B) a letter or statement of support for the 

13 project report, proposed project study, or pro14 posed modification to a project or project study 

15 from each associated non-Federal interest; 

16 (C) the purpose of the project report, pro17 posed project study, or proposed modification to 

18 a project or project study; 

19 (D) an estimate, to the extent practicable, 

20 of the Federal, non-Federal, and total costs 

21 of— 

22 (i) the proposed modification to an 

23 authorized project study; and 

24 (ii) construction of— 


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1 (I) the project that is the subject 

2 of— 

3 (aa) the project report; or 

4 (bb) the authorized project 

5 study for which a modification is 

6 proposed, with respect to the 

7 change in costs resulting from 

8 such modification; or 

9 (II) the proposed modification to 

10 an authorized project; and 

11 (E) an estimate, to the extent practicable, 

12 of the monetary and nonmonetary benefits of— 

13 (i) the project that is the subject of— 

14 (I) the project report; or 

15 (II) the authorized project study 

16 for which a modification is proposed, 

17 with respect to the benefits of such 

18 modification; or 

19 (ii) the proposed modification to an 

20 authorized project. 

21 (3) CERTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall in22 clude in the annual report a certification stating 

23 that each project report, proposed project study, and 

24 proposed modification to a project or project study 


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1 included in the annual report meets the criteria es2 tablished in paragraph (1)(A). 

3 (4) APPENDIX.—The Secretary shall include in 

4 the annual report an appendix listing the proposals 

5 submitted under subsection (c) that were not in6 cluded in the annual report under paragraph (1)(A) 

7 and a description of why the Secretary determined 

8 that those proposals did not meet the criteria for in9 clusion under such paragraph. 

10 (e) SPECIAL RULE FOR INITIAL ANNUAL REPORT.— 

11 Notwithstanding any other deadlines required by this sec12 tion, the Secretary shall— 

13 (1) not later than 60 days after the date of the 

14 enactment of this Act, publish in the Federal Reg15 ister a notice required by subsection (c)(1); and 

16 (2) include in such notice a requirement that 

17 non-Federal interests submit to the Secretary any 

18 proposals described in subsection (c)(1) by not later 

19 than 120 days after the date of publication of such 

20 notice in the Federal Register in order for such pro21 posals to be considered for inclusion in the first an22 nual report developed by the Secretary under this 

23 section. 

24 (f) PUBLICATION.—Upon submission of an annual 

25 report to Congress, the Secretary shall make the annual 


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1 report publicly available, including through publication on 

2 the Internet. 

3 (g) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary, acting through 

4 the Commissioner of Reclamation, shall confer with the 

5 relevant committees of Congress before submitting each 

6 annual report prepared under subsection (b). 

7 (h) SUBMISSION OF INDIVIDUAL PROJECT RE8 PORTS.—Upon completion, project reports, including all 

9 required documents and reports under subsection (b), 

10 shall— 

11 (1) be submitted to the relevant committees of 

12 Congress; and 

13 (2) include discussion of the following findings 

14 by the Secretary— 

15 (A) whether the project is deemed to be 

16 feasible in accordance with the applicable feasi17 bility standards under section 103 and the rec18 lamation laws; 

19 (B) the degree to which the project will 

20 provide benefits (or expected benefits, in the 

21 case of a proposed project study) as described 

22 in subsection (d)(1)(B)(ii) and other benefits 

23 under the reclamation laws; and 

24 (C) whether the project complies with Fed25 eral, State, and local laws. 


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1 SEC. 103. FUNDING FOR STORAGE AND SUPPORTING 

2 PROJECTS. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) DESIGN; STUDY.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The terms ‘‘design’’ 

6 and ‘‘study’’ include any design, permitting, 

7 study (including a feasibility study), materials 

8 engineering or testing, surveying, or 

9 preconstruction activity relating to a Federal 

10 storage project, a major federally assisted stor11 age project, a natural water storage project, or 

12 a standard federally assisted storage project as 

13 defined in this subsection. 

14 (B) EXCLUSIONS.—The terms ‘‘design’’ 

15 and ‘‘study’’ do not include an appraisal study 

16 or other preliminary review intended to deter17 mine whether further study is appropriate for a 

18 Federal storage project, a major federally as19 sisted storage project, a natural water storage 

20 project, or a standard federally assisted storage 

21 project as defined in this subsection. 

22 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti23 ty’’ means— 

24 (A) any State, political subdivision of a 

25 State, department of a State, or public agency 

26 organized pursuant to State law; 


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1 (B) an Indian Tribe or an entity controlled 

2 by an Indian Tribe; 

3 (C) a water users’ association; 

4 (D) an agency established by an interstate 

5 compact; and 

6 (E) an agency established under State law 

7 for the joint exercise of powers. 

8 (3) FEDERAL STORAGE PROJECT.—The term 

9 ‘‘Federal storage project’’ means— 

10 (A) any project in a Reclamation State 

11 that involves the construction, expansion, up12 grade, or capital repair of a water storage facil13 ity or a facility conveying water to or from a 

14 surface or groundwater storage facility— 

15 (i) to which the United States holds 

16 title; and 

17 (ii) that was authorized to be con18 structed, operated, and maintained pursu19 ant to— 

20 (I) the reclamation laws; or 

21 (II) the Act of August 11, 1939 

22 (commonly known as the Water Con23 servation and Utilization Act (16 

24 U.S.C. 590y et seq.)); or 


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1 (B) an ecosystem restoration project for 

2 watershed function, including a forest or water3 shed restoration project, that, consistent with 

4 maintaining and enhancing long-term ecological 

5 and hydrological function and resilience, bene6 fits the quality, timing, and other qualities of 

7 water available for release on a long-term basis 

8 from a water storage facility in a Reclamation 

9 State— 

10 (i) to which the United States holds 

11 title; and 

12 (ii) that was authorized to be con13 structed, operated, and maintained pursu14 ant to— 

15 (I) the reclamation laws; or 

16 (II) the Act of August 11, 1939 

17 (commonly known as the Water Con18 servation and Utilization Act (16 

19 U.S.C. 590y et seq.)). 

20 (4) FISH AND WILDLIFE BENEFITS.—The term 

21 ‘‘fish and wildlife benefits’’ means overall benefits or 

22 improvements to aquatic ecosystems and native fish 

23 and wildlife within a Reclamation State, including 

24 benefits for a wildlife refuge, that are in excess of— 


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1 (A) existing fish and wildlife mitigation or 

2 compliance obligations under— 

3 (i) the Federal Water Pollution Con4 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); 

5 (ii) the Fish and Wildlife Coordina6 tion Act (16 U.S.C. 661 et seq.); 

7 (iii) the Water Resources Develop8 ment Act of 1986 (Public Law 99–662; 

9 100 Stat. 4082); 

10 (iv) the Endangered Species Act of 

11 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

12 (v) the National Environmental Policy 

13 Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); and 

14 (vi) any other Federal law, State law 

15 or other existing requirement in regula16 tions, permits, contracts, licenses, grants, 

17 or orders and decisions from courts or 

18 State or Federal agencies; or 

19 (B) existing environmental mitigation or 

20 compliance obligations as defined in section 

21 6001(a)(32) of title 23 of the California Code 

22 of Regulations, with respect to benefits and im23 provements to aquatic ecosystems and native 

24 fish and wildlife within the State of California, 

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1 ing prohibitions against the use of public funds 

2 for environmental mitigation required under 

3 Federal and State law. 

4 (5) MAJOR FEDERALLY ASSISTED STORAGE

5 PROJECT.—The term ‘‘major federally assisted stor6 age project’’ means any project in a Reclamation 

7 State that— 

8 (A) involves the construction, expansion, 

9 upgrade, or capital repair by an eligible entity 

10 or qualified partner of— 

11 (i) a surface or groundwater storage 

12 facility that is not federally owned; or 

13 (ii) a facility that is not federally 

14 owned conveying water to or from a sur15 face or groundwater storage facility; 

16 (B) is an ecosystem restoration project for 

17 watershed function, including a forest or water18 shed restoration project, that, on a long-term 

19 basis, benefits the quality, timing, and other 

20 qualities of water available for release from a 

21 project described in subparagraph (A) con22 sistent with maintaining and enhancing long23 term ecological and hydrological function and 

24 resilience in a Reclamation State; 


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1 (C) provides benefits described in section 

2 102(d)(1)(B)(ii); and 

3 (D) has a total estimated cost of more 

4 than $250,000,000. 

5 (6) NATURAL WATER STORAGE PROJECT.—The 

6 term ‘‘natural water storage project’’ means a single 

7 project, a number of distributed projects across a 

8 watershed, or the redesign and replacement, or re9 moval, of built infrastructure to incorporate ele10 ments, where the project or elements have the fol11 lowing characteristics: 

12 (A) Uses primarily natural materials ap13 propriate to the specific site and landscape set14 ting. 

15 (B) Largely relies on natural riverine, wet16 land, hydrologic, or ecological processes. 

17 (C) Results in aquifer recharge, transient 

18 floodplain water retention, reconnection of his19 toric floodplains to their stream channels with 

20 water retention benefits within a Reclamation 

21 State, or results in improved ecological forest 

22 watershed condition if it is a project located 

23 within the State of California. 

24 (D) Is designed to produce two or more of 

25 the following environmental benefits: 


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1 (i) Stream flow changes beneficial to 

2 watershed health. 

3 (ii) Fish and wildlife habitat or migra4 tion corridor restoration. 

5 (iii) Floodplain reconnection and inun6 dation. 

7 (iv) Riparian or wetland restoration 

8 and improvement. 

9 (7) STANDARD FEDERALLY ASSISTED STORAGE

10 PROJECT.—The term ‘‘standard federally assisted 

11 storage project’’ means any project in a Reclamation 

12 State that— 

13 (A) involves the construction, expansion, 

14 upgrade, or capital repair by an eligible entity 

15 or qualified partner of— 

16 (i) a surface or groundwater storage 

17 facility that is not federally owned; or 

18 (ii) a facility that is not federally 

19 owned conveying water to or from a sur20 face or groundwater storage facility; 

21 (B) is an ecosystem restoration project for 

22 watershed function, including a forest or water23 shed restoration project, that, on a long-term 

24 basis, benefits the quality, timing, and other 

25 qualities of water available for release from a 


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1 project described in subparagraph (A) con2 sistent with maintaining and enhancing long3 term ecological and hydrological function and 

4 resilience in a Reclamation State; 

5 (C) provides benefits described in section 

6 102(d)(1)(B)(ii); and 

7 (D) has a total estimated cost of 

8 $250,000,000 or less. 

9 (8) QUALIFIED PARTNER.—The term ‘‘qualified 

10 partner’’ means a non-profit organization operating 

11 in a Reclamation State. 

12 (9) RECLAMATION LAWS.—The term ‘‘reclama13 tion laws’’ means Federal reclamation law (the Act 

14 of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388; chapter 1093)), and 

15 Acts supplemental to and amendatory of that Act. 

16 (b) STORAGE PROJECT FUNDING.—There is author17 ized to be appropriated a total of $750 million for use 

18 by the Secretary through fiscal year 2026 to advance— 

19 (1) Federal storage projects within a Reclama20 tion State in accordance with subsection (c); 

21 (2) major federally assisted storage projects 

22 within a Reclamation State in accordance with sub23 section (d); 

24 (3) natural water storage projects within a Rec25 lamation State in accordance with subsection (e); 


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1 (4) standard federally assisted storage projects 

2 within a Reclamation State in accordance with sub3 section (f); or 

4 (5) grandfathered storage projects in accord5 ance with section 104. 

6 (c) FEDERAL STORAGE PROJECTS.— 

7 (1) AGREEMENTS.—On request of an eligible 

8 entity or qualified partner and in accordance with 

9 this subsection, the Secretary may negotiate and 

10 enter into an agreement on behalf of the United 

11 States for the design, study, construction, expansion, 

12 upgrade, or capital repair of a Federal storage 

13 project located in a Reclamation State. 

14 (2) FEDERAL SHARE.—Subject to the require15 ments of this subsection, the Secretary may fund up 

16 to 50 percent of the design and study costs of a 

17 Federal storage project and up to 50 percent of the 

18 construction costs of a Federal storage project. 

19 (3) CONDITIONS FOR FEDERAL DESIGN AND

20 STUDY FUNDING.—Funding provided under this 

21 subsection may be made available for the design and 

22 study of a Federal storage project if— 

23 (A) the Secretary secures a cost share 

24 agreement for design and study costs providing 

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1 eral share of the design and study costs of the 

2 Federal storage project; and 

3 (B) the feasibility study for the Federal 

4 storage project is congressionally authorized by 

5 reference to the annual Report to Congress on 

6 Future Storage Project Development prepared 

7 under section 102. 

8 (4) CONDITIONS FOR FEDERAL CONSTRUCTION

9 FUNDING.—Funding provided under this subsection 

10 for the construction of a Federal storage project 

11 may be made available to a project if— 

12 (A) the project has been authorized by 

13 name in a Federal statute; 

14 (B) the project is a multi-benefit project 

15 that would, at a minimum, provide water supply 

16 reliability benefits (including additional storage, 

17 conveyance, or new firm yield) and fish and 

18 wildlife benefits as determined by the final esti19 mate prepared pursuant to subsection (g); 

20 (C) construction funding for the project is 

21 congressionally approved by reference to the an22 nual Report to Congress on Future Storage 

23 Project Development prepared under section 

24 102; 


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1 (D) the Secretary secures an agreement 

2 providing sufficient upfront funding to pay the 

3 non-Federal share of the construction costs of 

4 the Federal storage project; and 

5 (E) The Secretary determines— 

6 (i) the project is technically and finan7 cially feasible; 

8 (ii) the project provides water supply 

9 reliability benefits for a State or local gov10 ernment and fish and wildlife benefits; and 

11 (iii) in return for the Federal cost12 share investment in the project, at least a 

13 proportionate share of the project benefits 

14 are for— 

15 (I) fish and wildlife benefits as 

16 determined under subsection (g); or 

17 (II) non-reimbursable expenses 

18 authorized under the reclamation laws 

19 other than fish and wildlife expenses. 

20 (5) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall sub21 mit to the relevant committees of Congress and 

22 make publicly available on the internet a written no23 tification of the Secretary’s determinations regarding 

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1 graphs (3) and (4) by not later than 30 days after 

2 the date of the determinations. 

3 (6) ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.—In participating 

4 in a Federal storage project under this subsection, 

5 the Secretary shall comply with all applicable Fed6 eral environmental laws, including the National En7 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

8 seq.), and all State environmental laws of the Rec9 lamation State in which the project is located involv10 ing the construction, expansion or operation of a 

11 water storage project or fish and wildlife protection, 

12 provided that no law or regulation of a State or po13 litical subdivision of a State relieve the Secretary of 

14 any Federal requirement otherwise applicable under 

15 this section. 

16 (7) ADDITIONAL GUIDELINES FOR RESTORA17 TION PROJECTS THAT REDUCE THE RISK OF WATER

18 STORAGE LOSSES.— 

19 (A) REQUIREMENTS.—A restoration 

20 project described in section 103(a)(3)(B) that 

21 receives funding under this subsection must— 

22 (i) have the potential to reduce the 

23 risk of water storage losses for a Federal 

24 storage project described in subsection 


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1 (a)(3)(A) by reducing the risk of erosion or 

2 sediment loading; and 

3 (ii) be designed to result in fish and 

4 wildlife benefits. 

5 (B) DRAFT FEASIBILITY STUDY.—Not 

6 later than 180 days after the date of the enact7 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue draft 

8 requirements for feasibility studies for Federal 

9 storage projects described in section 

10 103(a)(3)(B). 

11 (C) FEASIBILITY STUDY REQUIRE12 MENTS.—The draft feasibility study require13 ments issued under subparagraph (B) shall be 

14 consistent with requirements for a title XVI 

15 Feasibility Study Report, including the eco16 nomic analysis, contained in the Reclamation 

17 Manual Directives and Standards numbered 

18 WTR 11–01, subject to any additional require19 ments necessary to provide sufficient informa20 tion for making determinations under this sec21 tion. 

22 (D) FINAL FEASIBILITY STUDY REQUIRE23 MENTS.—The Secretary shall finalize the feasi24 bility study requirements under subparagraph 


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1 (C) by not later than 1 year after the date of 

2 the enactment of this Act. 

3 (E) ELIGIBLE PARTNER.—The Secretary 

4 is authorized to participate in a restoration 

5 project described in subsection (a)(3)(B) with a 

6 partner that is— 

7 (i) an eligible entity as defined in sub8 section (a)(2); or 

9 (ii) a qualified partner as defined in 

10 subsection (a)(8). 

11 (d) MAJOR FEDERALLY ASSISTED STORAGE

12 PROJECTS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this sub14 section, the Secretary shall establish a competitive 

15 grant program to participate in the design, study, 

16 construction, expansion, upgrade, or capital repair of 

17 a major federally assisted storage project on request 

18 of an eligible entity or qualified partner. The com19 petitive grant program established under this para20 graph shall— 

21 (A) allow any project sponsor of a major 

22 federally assisted storage project to apply for 

23 funding for the design, study, construction, ex24 pansion, upgrade, or capital repair of a major 

25 federally assisted storage project; 


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1 (B) include the issuance of annual solicita2 tions for major federally assisted storage 

3 project sponsors to apply for funding for the 

4 design, study, construction, expansion, upgrade, 

5 or capital repair of a major federally assisted 

6 storage project; and 

7 (C) permit the Secretary to fund up to 25 

8 percent of the design and study costs of a 

9 major federally assisted storage project and up 

10 to 25 percent of the construction costs of a 

11 major federally assisted storage project. 

12 (2) FUNDING PRIORITY FOR MULTI-BENEFIT

13 PROJECTS.—In making grants under this subsection, 

14 the Secretary shall give funding priority to multi15 benefit projects that provide greater— 

16 (A) water supply reliability benefits for 

17 States and local governments; and 

18 (B) fish and wildlife benefits. 

19 (3) CONDITIONS FOR FEDERAL DESIGN AND

20 STUDY FUNDING.—The Secretary may fund a design 

21 or study activity for a major federally assisted stor22 age project under this subsection if— 

23 (A) the Governor of the State in which the 

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1 cated provides written concurrence for the de2 sign and study activities; 

3 (B) the Secretary secures an agreement for 

4 design and study costs providing sufficient up5 front funding to pay the non-Federal share of 

6 the design and study costs of the major feder7 ally assisted storage project; and 

8 (C) the feasibility study for the major fed9 erally assisted storage project is congressionally 

10 authorized by reference to the annual Report to 

11 Congress on Future Storage Project Develop12 ment prepared under section 102. 

13 (4) CONDITIONS FOR FEDERAL CONSTRUCTION

14 FUNDING.—Funding provided under this subsection 

15 for the construction of a major federally assisted 

16 storage project may be made available to a project 

17 if— 

18 (A) the project has been authorized by 

19 name in a Federal statute; 

20 (B) the project is a multi-benefit project 

21 that would, at a minimum, provide water supply 

22 reliability benefits (including additional storage, 

23 conveyance, or new firm yield) and fish and 

24 wildlife benefits as determined by the estimate 

25 prepared pursuant to subsection (g); 


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1 (C) the Governor of the State in which the 

2 major federally assisted storage project is lo3 cated has requested Federal participation at the 

4 time construction is initiated; 

5 (D) the Secretary secures an agreement 

6 committing to pay the non-Federal share of the 

7 capital costs of the major federally assisted 

8 storage project; and 

9 (E) the Secretary determines— 

10 (i) the project is technically and finan11 cially feasible; 

12 (ii) the project provides water supply 

13 reliability benefits for a State or local gov14 ernment and fish and wildlife benefits; and 

15 (iii) in return for the Federal cost16 share investment in the project, at least a 

17 proportionate share of the project benefits 

18 are for— 

19 (I) fish and wildlife benefits as 

20 determined under subsection (g); or 

21 (II) other non-reimbursable ex22 penses authorized under the reclama23 tion laws other than fish and wildlife 

24 expenses. 


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1 (5) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall sub2 mit to the relevant committees of Congress and 

3 make publicly available on the internet a written no4 tification of the Secretary’s determinations regarding 

5 the satisfaction of the requirements under para6 graphs (3) and (4) by not later than 30 days after 

7 the date of the determinations. 

8 (6) ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.—In participating 

9 in a major federally assisted storage project under 

10 this subsection, the Secretary shall comply with all 

11 applicable Federal environmental laws, including the 

12 National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 

13 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and all State environmental 

14 laws of the Reclamation State in which the project 

15 is located involving the construction, expansion or 

16 operation of a water storage project or fish and wild17 life protection, provided that no law or regulation of 

18 a State or political subdivision of a State relieve the 

19 Secretary of any Federal requirement otherwise ap20 plicable under this section. 

21 (7) INFORMATION.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—In participating in a 

23 major federally assisted storage project under 

24 this subsection, the Secretary— 


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1 (i) may consider the use of feasibility 

2 or equivalent studies prepared by the spon3 sor of the major federally assisted storage 

4 project; but 

5 (ii) shall retain responsibility for de6 termining whether the feasibility or equiva7 lent studies satisfy the requirements of re8 ports prepared by the Secretary. 

9 (B) GUIDELINES.— 

10 (i) DRAFT.—Not later than 180 days 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

12 the Secretary shall issue draft guidelines 

13 for feasibility or equivalent studies for 

14 major federally assisted storage projects 

15 prepared by a project sponsor that shall be 

16 consistent with requirements for a title 

17 XVI Feasibility Study Report, including 

18 the economic analysis, contained in the 

19 Reclamation Manual Directives and Stand20 ards numbered WTR 11–01, subject to— 

21 (I) any additional requirements 

22 necessary to provide sufficient infor23 mation for making any determinations 

24 or assessments under paragraphs (2), 

25 (3), and (4); and 


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1 (II) the condition that the Bu2 reau of Reclamation shall not bear re3 sponsibility for the technical adequacy 

4 of any design, cost estimate, or con5 struction relating to a major federally 

6 assisted storage project. 

7 (ii) FINAL.—The Secretary shall final8 ize the guidelines under clause (i) by not 

9 later than 1 year after the date of the en10 actment of this Act. 

11 (C) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR FEASI12 BILITY STUDIES.— 

13 (i) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—At the 

14 request of an eligible entity or qualified 

15 partner, the Secretary shall provide to the 

16 eligible entity or qualified partner technical 

17 assistance relating to any aspect of a feasi18 bility study carried out by the eligible enti19 ty or qualified partner under this sub20 section if the eligible entity or qualified 

21 partner contracts with the Secretary to pay 

22 all costs of providing the technical assist23 ance. 

24 (ii) IMPARTIAL DECISIONMAKING.—In 

25 providing technical assistance under clause 


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1 (i), the Secretary shall ensure that the use 

2 of funds accepted from an eligible entity or 

3 qualified partner will not affect the impar4 tial decisionmaking responsibilities of the 

5 Secretary, either substantively or proce6 durally. 

7 (iii) EFFECT OF TECHNICAL ASSIST8 ANCE.—The provision of technical assist9 ance by the Secretary under clause (i) shall 

10 not be considered to be an approval or en11 dorsement of a feasibility study. 

12 (8) ELIGIBLE PARTNER.—The Secretary is au13 thorized to participate in a restoration project de14 scribed in subsection (a)(4)(B) with a partner that 

15 is— 

16 (A) an eligible entity as defined in sub17 section (a)(2); or 

18 (B) a qualified partner as defined in sub19 section (a)(8). 

20 (e) NATURAL WATER STORAGE PROJECTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this sub22 section, the Secretary shall establish a competitive 

23 grant program to participate in the design, study, 

24 construction, expansion, upgrade, or capital repair of 

25 a natural water storage project in a Reclamation 


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1 State on request of an eligible entity or qualified 

2 partner. The competitive grant program established 

3 under this paragraph shall— 

4 (A) allow any project sponsor of a natural 

5 water storage project to apply for funding for 

6 the design, study, construction, expansion, up7 grade, or capital repair of a natural water stor8 age project; and 

9 (B) include the issuance of annual solicita10 tions for natural water storage project sponsors 

11 to apply for funding for the design, study, con12 struction, expansion, upgrade, or capital repair 

13 of a natural water storage project. 

14 (2) FUNDING PRIORITY FOR MULTI-BENEFIT

15 PROJECTS.—In making grants under this subsection, 

16 the Secretary shall give funding priority to multi17 benefit projects that provide greater— 

18 (A) water supply reliability benefits for 

19 States and local governments; and 

20 (B) fish and wildlife benefits. 

21 (3) FEDERAL SHARE.—Subject to the require22 ments of this subsection, the Secretary may provide 

23 funding to an eligible entity or qualified partner for 

24 the design, study, construction, expansion, upgrade, 

25 or capital repair of a natural water storage project 


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1 in an amount equal to not more than 80 percent of 

2 the total cost of the natural water storage project. 

3 (4) CONDITIONS FOR FEDERAL DESIGN AND

4 STUDY FUNDING.—The Secretary may fund a design 

5 or study activity for a natural water storage project 

6 under this subsection if the Governor of the State in 

7 which the natural water storage project is located 

8 provides written concurrence for design and study 

9 activities. 

10 (5) CONDITIONS FOR FEDERAL CONSTRUCTION

11 FUNDING.—Funding provided under this subsection 

12 for the construction of a natural water storage 

13 project may be made available to a project if— 

14 (A) the Governor of the State in which the 

15 natural water storage project is located has re16 quested Federal participation at the time con17 struction was initiated; 

18 (B) the Secretary determines or the appli19 cable non-Federal sponsor determines through 

20 the preparation of a feasibility or equivalent 

21 study prepared in accordance to paragraph (9), 

22 and the Secretary concurs, that— 

23 (i) the project is technically and finan24 cially feasible; 


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1 (ii) the project provides water supply 

2 reliability benefits for a State or local gov3 ernment and fish and wildlife benefits; and 

4 (iii) in return for the Federal cost5 share investment in the project, at least a 

6 proportionate share of the project benefits 

7 are for non-reimbursable expenses author8 ized under the reclamation laws or for fish 

9 and wildlife benefits as defined in this sec10 tion, which shall be considered a fully non11 reimbursable Federal expenditure; and 

12 (C) the Secretary secures an agreement 

13 committing to pay the non-Federal share of the 

14 construction costs of the project. 

15 (6) ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.—In participating 

16 in a natural water storage project under this sub17 section, the Secretary shall comply with all applica18 ble Federal environmental laws, including the Na19 tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

20 4321 et seq.), and all State environmental laws of 

21 the Reclamation State in which the project is located 

22 involving the construction, expansion or operation of 

23 a water storage project or fish and wildlife protec24 tion, provided that no law or regulation of a State 

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1 retary of any Federal requirement otherwise applica2 ble under this section. 

3 (7) INFORMATION.—In participating in a nat4 ural water storage project under this subsection, the 

5 Secretary— 

6 (A) may consider the use of feasibility or 

7 equivalent studies prepared by the sponsor of 

8 the natural water storage project if the sponsor 

9 elects to prepare such reports; but 

10 (B) shall retain responsibility for deter11 mining whether the feasibility or equivalent 

12 studies satisfy the requirements of studies pre13 pared by the Secretary. 

14 (8) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall sub15 mit to the relevant committees of Congress and 

16 make publicly available on the internet a written no17 tification of the Secretary’s determinations regarding 

18 the satisfaction of the requirements under para19 graphs (4) and (5) by not later than 30 days after 

20 the date of the determinations. 

21 (9) GUIDELINES.— 

22 (A) DRAFT.—Not later than 180 days 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

24 Secretary shall issue draft guidelines for feasi25 bility or equivalent studies for natural water 


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1 storage projects prepared by a project sponsor 

2 that shall be consistent with this subsection, 

3 provided that the Department of the Interior 

4 shall not bear responsibility for the technical 

5 adequacy of any design, cost estimate, or con6 struction relating to a natural water storage 

7 project. 

8 (B) FINAL.—The Secretary shall finalize 

9 the guidelines under subparagraph (A) by not 

10 later than 1 year after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act. 

12 (C) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR FEASI13 BILITY STUDIES.— 

14 (i) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—At the 

15 request of an eligible entity or qualified 

16 partner, the Secretary shall provide to the 

17 eligible entity or qualified partner technical 

18 assistance relating to any aspect of a feasi19 bility study carried out by an eligible entity 

20 or qualified partner under this subsection 

21 if the eligible entity or qualified partner 

22 contracts with the Secretary to pay all 

23 costs of providing the technical assistance. 

24 (ii) IMPARTIAL DECISIONMAKING.—In 

25 providing technical assistance under clause 


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1 (i), the Secretary shall ensure that the use 

2 of funds accepted from an eligible entity or 

3 qualified partner will not affect the impar4 tial decisionmaking responsibilities of the 

5 Secretary, either substantively or proce6 durally. 

7 (iii) EFFECT OF TECHNICAL ASSIST8 ANCE.—The provision of technical assist9 ance by the Secretary under clause (i) shall 

10 not be considered to be an approval or en11 dorsement of a feasibility study. 

12 (f) STANDARD FEDERALLY ASSISTED STORAGE

13 PROJECTS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this sub15 section, the Secretary shall establish a competitive 

16 grant program to participate in the design, study, 

17 construction, expansion, upgrade, or capital repair of 

18 a standard federally assisted storage project on re19 quest of an eligible entity or qualified partner. The 

20 competitive grant program established under this 

21 paragraph shall— 

22 (A) allow any project sponsor of a stand23 ard federally assisted storage project to apply 

24 for funding for the design, study, construction, 


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1 expansion, upgrade, or capital repair of a feder2 ally assisted storage project; 

3 (B) include the issuance of annual solicita4 tions for standard federally assisted storage 

5 project sponsors to apply for funding for the 

6 design, study, construction, expansion, upgrade 

7 or capital repair of a standard federally assisted 

8 storage project; and 

9 (C) permit the Secretary to fund up to 25 

10 percent of the total cost of a federally assisted 

11 storage project. 

12 (2) SELECTION OF PROJECTS.—In making 

13 grants under this subsection, the Secretary shall give 

14 funding priority to projects that— 

15 (A) provide greater water supply reliability 

16 benefits for States and local governments, in17 cluding through aquifer storage and recovery 

18 wells, in-lieu recharge activities that could be 

19 effectuated or expanded through additional in20 frastructure investments including interties, 

21 and the establishment and use of recharge 

22 ponds, including in an urban environment; 

23 (B) provide greater fish and wildlife bene24 fits; and 


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1 (C) cost not more than $30,000,000 to 

2 allow greater participation and wider distribu3 tion of funds and program benefits. 

4 (3) CONDITIONS FOR FEDERAL DESIGN AND

5 STUDY FUNDING.—The Secretary may fund a design 

6 or study activity for a standard federally assisted 

7 storage project under this subsection if the Governor 

8 of the State in which the federally assisted storage 

9 project is located provides written concurrence for 

10 design and study activities. 

11 (4) CONDITIONS FOR FEDERAL CONSTRUCTION

12 FUNDING.—Funding provided under this subsection 

13 for the construction of a standard federally assisted 

14 storage project may be made available to a project 

15 if— 

16 (A) the Governor of the State in which the 

17 federally assisted storage project is located has 

18 requested Federal participation at the time con19 struction was initiated; and 

20 (B) the Secretary determines or the appli21 cable non-Federal sponsor determines through 

22 the preparation of a feasibility or equivalent 

23 study prepared in accordance with paragraph 

24 (7), and the Secretary concurs, that— 


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1 (i) the standard federally assisted 

2 storage project is technically and finan3 cially feasible; 

4 (ii) the standard federally assisted 

5 storage project provides water supply reli6 ability benefits for a State or local govern7 ment and fish and wildlife benefits; and 

8 (iii) in return for the Federal cost9 share investment in the project, at least a 

10 proportionate share of the project benefits 

11 are for non-reimbursable expenses author12 ized under the reclamation laws or for fish 

13 and wildlife benefits as defined in this sec14 tion, which shall be considered a fully non15 reimbursable Federal expenditure; and 

16 (C) the Secretary secures an agreement 

17 committing to pay the non-Federal share of the 

18 construction costs of the project. 

19 (5) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall sub20 mit to the relevant committees of Congress and 

21 make publicly available on the internet a written no22 tification of the Secretary’s determinations regarding 

23 the satisfaction of the requirements under para24 graphs (3) and (4) by not later than 30 days after 

25 the date of the determinations. 


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1 (6) ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.—In participating 

2 in a standard federally assisted storage project 

3 under this subsection, the Secretary shall comply 

4 with all applicable Federal environmental laws, in5 cluding the National Environmental Policy Act of 

6 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and all State envi7 ronmental laws of the Reclamation State in which 

8 the project is located involving the construction, ex9 pansion or operation of a water storage project or 

10 fish and wildlife protection, provided that no law or 

11 regulation of a State or political subdivision of a 

12 State relieve the Secretary of any Federal require13 ment otherwise applicable under this section. 

14 (7) INFORMATION.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—In participating in a 

16 standard federally assisted storage project 

17 under this subsection, the Secretary— 

18 (i) may consider the use of feasibility 

19 or equivalent studies prepared by the spon20 sor of the standard federally assisted stor21 age project; but 

22 (ii) shall retain responsibility for de23 termining whether the feasibility or equiva24 lent studies satisfy the requirements of re25 ports prepared by the Secretary. 


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1 (B) GUIDELINES.— 

2 (i) DRAFT.—Not later than 180 days 

3 after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

4 the Secretary shall issue draft guidelines 

5 for feasibility or equivalent studies for 

6 standard federally assisted storage projects 

7 prepared by a project sponsor that shall be 

8 consistent with requirements for a title 

9 XVI Feasibility Study Report, including 

10 the economic analysis, contained in the 

11 Reclamation Manual Directives and Stand12 ards numbered WTR 11–01, subject to— 

13 (I) any additional requirements 

14 necessary to provide sufficient infor15 mation for making any determinations 

16 or assessments under paragraphs (2), 

17 (3) and (4); and 

18 (II) the condition that the De19 partment of the Interior shall not 

20 bear responsibility for the technical 

21 adequacy of any design, cost estimate, 

22 or construction relating to a standard 

23 federally assisted storage project. 

24 (ii) FINAL.—The Secretary shall final25 ize the guidelines under clause (i) by not 


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1 later than 1 year after the date of the en2 actment of this Act. 

3 (C) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR FEASI4 BILITY STUDIES.— 

5 (i) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—At the 

6 request of an eligible entity or qualified 

7 partner, the Secretary shall provide to the 

8 eligible entity or qualified partner technical 

9 assistance relating to any aspect of a feasi10 bility study carried out by an eligible entity 

11 or qualified partner under this subsection 

12 if the eligible entity or qualified partner 

13 contracts with the Secretary to pay all 

14 costs of providing the technical assistance. 

15 (ii) IMPARTIAL DECISIONMAKING.—In 

16 providing technical assistance under clause 

17 (i), the Secretary shall ensure that the use 

18 of funds accepted from an eligible entity or 

19 qualified partner will not affect the impar20 tial decisionmaking responsibilities of the 

21 Secretary, either substantively or proce22 durally. 

23 (iii) EFFECT OF TECHNICAL ASSIST24 ANCE.—The provision of technical assist25 ance by the Secretary under clause (i) shall 


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1 not be considered to be an approval or en2 dorsement of a feasibility study. 

3 (8) COMMITTEE RESOLUTION PROCEDURE.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—No appropriation shall 

5 be made for a standard federally assisted stor6 age project under this subsection, the total esti7 mated cost of which exceeds $100,000,000, if 

8 such project has not been approved by a resolu9 tion adopted by the Committee on Natural Re10 sources of the House of Representatives and the 

11 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 

12 the Senate. 

13 (B) REQUIREMENTS FOR SECURING CON14 SIDERATION.—For the purposes of securing 

15 consideration of approval under subparagraph 

16 (A), the Secretary shall provide to a committee 

17 referred to in subparagraph (A) such informa18 tion as the committee requests and the non19 Federal sponsor shall provide to the committee 

20 information on the costs and relative needs for 

21 the federally assisted storage project. 

22 (9) ELIGIBLE PARTNER.—The Secretary is au23 thorized to participate in a restoration project de24 scribed in subsection (a)(7)(B) with a partner that 

25 is— 


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1 (A) an eligible entity as defined in sub2 section (a)(2); or 

3 (B) a qualified partner as defined in sub4 section (a)(8). 

5 (g) FISH AND WILDLIFE LOSSES AND BENEFITS.— 

6 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

7 (A) The term ‘‘Best available scientific in8 formation and data’’ means the use of the high9 value information and data, specific to the deci10 sion being made and the time frame available 

11 for making that decision, to inform and assist 

12 management and policy decisions; 

13 (B) The term ‘‘Director’’ means— 

14 (i) the Director of the United States 

15 Fish and Wildlife Service; or 

16 (ii) the United States Secretary of 

17 Commerce, acting through the Assistant 

18 Administrator of the National Marine 

19 Fisheries Service, if a determination or 

20 fish and wildlife estimate made under this 

21 subsection is for an anadromous species or 

22 catadromous species. 

23 (C) The term ‘‘major water storage 

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1 age project or Federal storage project as de2 fined under section 102. 

3 (2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this sub4 section are the following: 

5 (A) To reverse widespread fish and wildlife 

6 species decline in the Reclamation States. 

7 (B) To help fund and assist in the prepa8 ration of reports required under the Fish and 

9 Wildlife Coordination Act for proposed water 

10 development projects. 

11 (C) To instruct the Director to prepare a 

12 report described in section 2(b) of the Fish and 

13 Wildlife Coordination Act (16 U.S.C. 662(b)) 

14 for each major water storage project that in15 cludes an estimate of fish and wildlife losses 

16 and fish and wildlife benefits derived from each 

17 such project, based on the best available sci18 entific information and data. 

19 (D) To direct Federal funds to major 

20 water storage projects that provide demon21 strable, measurable fish and wildlife benefits 

22 and associated ecosystem services benefits for 

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1 risdiction over the management of fish and 

2 wildlife resources. 

3 (E) To ensure that Federal funds provided 

4 for fish and wildlife purposes under this section 

5 are used effectively in a manner that maximizes 

6 positive outcomes for fish and wildlife and asso7 ciated ecosystem services benefits for taxpayers, 

8 including benefits related to the domestic sea9 food supply and the enhancement and expan10 sion of hunting, fishing, and other fish and 

11 wildlife related outdoor recreation opportunities 

12 within the Reclamation States. 

13 (3) ESTIMATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE BENE14 FITS AND LOSSES UNDER THE FISH AND WILDLIFE

15 COORDINATION ACT.—The Director shall prepare a 

16 report described in section 2(b) of the Fish and 

17 Wildlife Coordination Act (16 U.S.C. 662(b)), for 

18 each major water storage project that— 

19 (A) is based on the best available scientific 

20 information and data available; and 

21 (B) includes an estimate of fish and wild22 life losses and fish and wildlife benefits derived 

23 from a major water storage project determined 

24 in accordance with this subsection. 

25 (4) DRAFT ESTIMATE.— 


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1 (A) USE OF BEST AVAILABLE SCIENTIFIC

2 INFORMATION AND DATA AVAILABLE.—The Di3 rector shall include in the Fish and Wildlife Co4 ordination Act report prepared under paragraph 

5 (3) a draft estimate of fish and wildlife losses 

6 and fish and wildlife benefits derived from a 

7 major water storage project. 

8 (B) COORDINATION.—A draft estimate re9 quired under subparagraph (A) shall be pre10 pared in coordination with the head of the State 

11 agency with jurisdiction over the fish and wild12 life resources of the State in which the major 

13 water storage project is proposed to be carried 

14 out. 

15 (C) APPLICABLE LAW; REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 The draft estimate prepared under this para17 graph shall— 

18 (i) meet all the evaluation require19 ments of section 2(b) of the Fish and 

20 Wildlife Coordination Act (16 U.S.C. 

21 662(b)) unless otherwise specified in this 

22 subsection; 

23 (ii) quantify and estimate the fish and 

24 wildlife benefits and any losses to native 


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1 fish and wildlife from the proposed major 

2 water storage project; and 

3 (iii) estimate whether the fish and 

4 wildlife benefits derived from the proposed 

5 major water storage project are likely to 

6 exceed the adverse fish and wildlife im7 pacts. 

8 (D) REVIEW; AVAILABILITY.—The Direc9 tor shall ensure that any draft estimate pre10 pared under this paragraph is— 

11 (i) made available for peer review by 

12 an independent group of scientific experts; 

13 and 

14 (ii) made available for a public review 

15 and comment period of not less than 30 

16 days. 

17 (5) FINAL ESTIMATE.—Using the best available 

18 scientific information and data, the Director shall 

19 prepare a final estimate of fish and wildlife benefits 

20 for each proposed major water storage project based 

21 on the applicable draft estimate prepared under 

22 paragraph (4), after considering the results of the 

23 independent scientific peer review and public com24 ment processes under paragraph (4)(D). 


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1 (6) TRANSMISSION; AVAILABILITY.—A final es2 timate prepared under paragraph (5) shall be— 

3 (A) transmitted to— 

4 (i) the project applicant; and 

5 (ii) the relevant State agency; and 

6 (B) made available to the public. 

7 (7) RECOMMENDATIONS.—If a final estimate 

8 under paragraph (5) determines that the proposed 

9 major water storage project fails to provide fish and 

10 wildlife benefits, the final estimate may identify po11 tential recommendations to enable the project to 

12 provide fish and wildlife benefits or to reduce the 

13 project’s adverse fish and wildlife impacts. 

14 (8) IMPORTATION OF REVIEW STANDARDS.— 

15 Sections 207(i) and 207(j) of the Reclamation 

16 Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 

17 (Public Law 102–575; 106 Stat. 4709) shall apply 

18 to a final estimate prepared under paragraph (5), 

19 except that— 

20 (A) any reference contained in those sec21 tions to the Secretary shall be considered to be 

22 a reference to the Director as defined in this 

23 subsection; 

24 (B) any reference contained in those sec25 tions to determination or determinations shall 


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1 be considered to be a reference to estimate or 

2 estimates described in this subsection; 

3 (C) any reference contained in those sec4 tions to subsection (b), (f)(1), or (g) shall be 

5 considered to be a reference to paragraph (5) of 

6 this subsection; and 

7 (D) any reference contained in those sec8 tions to ‘‘this subsection’’ shall be considered to 

9 be a reference to section 103(g) of the FU10 TURE Western Water Infrastructure and 

11 Drought Resiliency Act. 

12 (9) FUNDING FOR ESTIMATES.—There is au13 thorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 through fis14 cal year 2026 for the United States Fish and Wild15 life Service to prepare draft estimates under para16 graph (4) and final estimates under paragraph (5). 

17 (10) ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR ESTIMATES.— 

18 The authority under section 662(e) of the Fish and 

19 Wildlife Coordination Act (16 U.S.C. 662(b)) to 

20 transfer funds from the Bureau of Reclamation to 

21 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service for Fish 

22 and Wildlife Coordination Act reports for proposed 

23 water development projects shall be deemed to ex24 tend to the preparation of a draft or final estimate 

25 prepared under paragraph (4) or (5), provided that 


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1 any transfer of funds generally adheres to the 1981 

2 Transfer Funding Agreement between the United 

3 States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of 

4 Reclamation or any successor agreement, to the ex5 tent that any such agreement is consistent with the 

6 requirements of this subsection. 

7 (11) AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES.—The respon8 sibility for preparing a draft and final estimate 

9 under this subsection shall reside with the United 

10 States Fish and Wildlife Service and may not be del11 egated to another entity, including another Federal 

12 agency or bureau, except for the United States Sec13 retary of Commerce, acting through the Assistant 

14 Administrator of the National Marine Fisheries 

15 Service, for the preparation of a draft or final esti16 mate for anadromous species or catadromous spe17 cies. 

18 (12) USE OF FISH AND WILDLIFE ESTIMATES

19 TO INFORM FEDERAL SPENDING FOR FISH AND

20 WILDLIFE PURPOSES.—With respect to a major 

21 water storage project considered for Federal funding 

22 under this section, the Director shall determine costs 

23 allocated to the specific purpose of providing fish 

24 and wildlife benefits, based on the fish and wildlife 

25 benefits estimate for the applicable project or the 


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1 best available scientific information and data avail2 able at the time a cost allocation determination is 

3 made. In determining a cost allocation under this 

4 paragraph, the Director shall consult with the Com5 missioner of the Bureau of Reclamation and may 

6 make a cost allocation determination for fish and 

7 wildlife benefits in accordance with existing cost allo8 cation procedures, to the extent that such proce9 dures are consistent with the requirements of this 

10 subsection. Cost allocation determinations for all 

11 other non-reimbursable or reimbursable project pur12 poses for a major water storage project advanced 

13 under this section shall be determined in accordance 

14 with existing cost allocation procedures under the 

15 reclamation laws. 

16 (h) PRELIMINARY STUDIES.—Of the amounts made 

17 available under subsection (b), not more than 25 percent 

18 shall be provided for appraisal studies, feasibility studies, 

19 or other preliminary studies. 

20 (i) PROVIDING GREATER FEDERAL FUNDING AND

21 SUPPORT FOR MULTI-BENEFIT STORAGE PROJECTS.— 

22 Notwithstanding any non-Federal cost share requirement 

23 under the reclamation laws for water development 

24 projects, any cost allocated to a water storage project 

25 under this section for the sole purpose of providing fish 


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1 and wildlife benefits, determined in accordance with all ap2 plicable requirements under this section, shall be consid3 ered a 100 percent non-reimbursable Federal cost. 

4 (j) CALFED REAUTHORIZATION.— 

5 (1) REAUTHORIZATION.—Title I of Public Law 

6 108–361 (118 Stat. 1681; 123 Stat. 2860; 128 Stat. 

7 164; 128 Stat. 2312; 129 Stat. 2407; 130 Stat. 

8 1866; 133 Stat. 2669), as amended by section 204 

9 of the Energy and Water Development and Related 

10 Agencies Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 

11 116–260), is amended by striking ‘‘2021’’ each place 

12 it appears and inserting ‘‘2026’’. 

13 (2) CALFED DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES.— 

14 Subparagraph 103(f)(1)(A) of Public Law 108–361 

15 (118 Stat. 1694) is amended by striking ‘‘, except 

16 that’’ and all that follows through the end of the 

17 subparagraph. 

18 (k) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section is intended to 

19 authorize Federal funds made available under subsection 

20 (b) for a project led by a non-profit organization, as de21 scribed in subsection (a)(7), except for a project that is 

22 a natural water storage project or forest restoration, wa23 tershed restoration or other restoration project that re24 duces the risk of water storage loss described in subsection 

25 (a). 


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1 SEC. 104. EXTENSION OF EXISTING REQUIREMENTS FOR 

2 GRANDFATHERED STORAGE PROJECTS. 

3 (a) PURPOSE; DEFINITION.— 

4 (1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is 

5 to establish an expedited project advancement proc6 ess for certain water storage projects that have al7 ready received some degree of evaluation under the 

8 Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation 

9 Act (Public Law 114–322) or under certain State 

10 water storage project evaluations. 

11 (2) DEFINITION OF GRANDFATHERED STORAGE

12 PROJECT.—In this section, the term ‘‘grandfathered 

13 storage project’’ means a storage project that has al14 ready been recommended for funding made available 

15 under section 4007 of the Water Infrastructure Im16 provements for the Nation Act (Public Law 114– 

17 322) by the Secretary or a State governor prior to 

18 June 1, 2020, except for any project within the 

19 State of California that— 

20 (A) has been evaluated for State storage 

21 funding awards by the California Water Com22 mission pursuant to the California Water Qual23 ity, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement 

24 Act, approved by California voters on November 

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1 ditional eligibility determination of at least 

2 $200 million; or 

3 (B) is an on-stream storage project that 

4 has not been evaluated for State storage fund5 ing awards by the California Water Commission 

6 pursuant to the California Water Quality, Sup7 ply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act, ap8 proved by California voters on November 4, 

9 2014. 

10 (b) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other re11 quirements of this Act, grandfathered storage projects 

12 shall be eligible to receive funding authorized under sec13 tion 103(b) of this Act in accordance with this section. 

14 (c) REQUIREMENTS.— 

15 (1) IMPORTATION OF WIIN ACT REQUIRE16 MENTS.—The following requirements shall apply to 

17 grandfathered storage projects: sections 4007(c)(1) 

18 through 4007(c)(4), section 4007(f), and section 

19 4007(h)(2) of the Water Infrastructure Improve20 ments for the Nation Act (Public Law 114–322), ex21 cept that any reference contained in those sections 

22 to State-led storage projects shall be considered to 

23 be a reference to grandfathered storage projects. 

24 (2) PRIORITIZATION.—The Secretary shall give 

25 funding priority among grandfathered storage 


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1 projects to those that provide greater and more reli2 able water supply benefits to wildlife refuges, species 

3 listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

4 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.), or to commercially har5 vested salmon species. 

6 (d) APPLICABILITY OF WIIN ACT DEADLINES.— 

7 Storage project deadlines described in section 4007(i) and 

8 section 4013(2) of the Water Infrastructure Improve9 ments for the Nation Act (Public Law 114–322) shall not 

10 apply to any grandfathered storage project under this sec11 tion. 

12 SEC. 105. DESALINATION PROJECT DEVELOPMENT. 

13 (a) DESALINATION PROJECTS AUTHORIZATION.— 

14 Section 4(a) of the Water Desalination Act of 1996 (42 

15 U.S.C. 10301 note; Public Law 104–298) is amended by 

16 striking the second paragraph (1) (relating to projects) 

17 and inserting the following: 

18 ‘‘(2) PROJECTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

20 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBLE DESALINATION

21 PROJECT.—The term ‘eligible desalination 

22 project’ means any project located in a 

23 Reclamation State that— 

24 ‘‘(I) involves an ocean or brack25 ish water desalination facility— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) constructed, operated, 

2 and maintained by a State, In3 dian Tribe, municipality, irriga4 tion district, water district, or 

5 other organization with water or 

6 power delivery authority; or 

7 ‘‘(bb) sponsored or funded 

8 by a State, department of a 

9 State, political subdivision of a 

10 State, municipality or public 

11 agency organized pursuant to 

12 State law, including through— 

13 ‘‘(AA) direct sponsor14 ship or funding; or 

15 ‘‘(BB) indirect sponsor16 ship or funding, such as by 

17 paying for the water pro18 vided by the facility; and 

19 ‘‘(II) provides a Federal benefit 

20 in accordance with the reclamation 

21 laws. 

22 ‘‘(ii) RURAL DESALINATION

23 PROJECT.—The term ‘rural desalination 

24 project’ means an eligible desalination 

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1 nity or group of communities, each of 

2 which has a population of not more than 

3 40,000 inhabitants. 

4 ‘‘(iii) DESIGNATED DESALINATION

5 PROJECT.—The term ‘designated desalina6 tion project’ means an eligible desalination 

7 project that— 

8 ‘‘(I) is an ocean desalination 

9 project that uses a subsurface intake; 

10 ‘‘(II) has a total estimated cost 

11 of $80,000,000 or less; and 

12 ‘‘(III) is designed to serve a com13 munity or group of communities that 

14 collectively import more than 75 per15 cent of their water supplies. 

16 ‘‘(B) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the re18 quirements of this subsection and notwith19 standing section 7, the Federal share of an 

20 eligible desalination project carried out 

21 under this subsection shall be— 

22 ‘‘(I) not more than 25 percent of 

23 the total cost of the eligible desalina24 tion project; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) in the case of a rural de2 salination project or a designated de3 salination project, the applicable per4 centage determined in accordance 

5 with clause (ii). 

6 ‘‘(ii) RURAL DESALINATION PROJECTS

7 AND DESIGNATED DESALINATION

8 PROJECTS.— 

9 ‘‘(I) COST-SHARING REQUIRE10 MENT FOR APPRAISAL STUDIES.—In 

11 the case of a rural desalination project 

12 carried out under this subsection, the 

13 Federal share of the cost of appraisal 

14 studies for the rural desalination 

15 project shall be— 

16 ‘‘(aa) 100 percent of the 

17 total costs of the appraisal stud18 ies, up to $200,000; and 

19 ‘‘(bb) if the total costs of 

20 the appraisal studies are more 

21 than $200,000, 50 percent of any 

22 amounts over $200,000. 

23 ‘‘(II) COST-SHARING REQUIRE24 MENT FOR FEASIBILITY STUDIES.—In 

25 the case of a rural desalination project 


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1 carried out under this subsection, the 

2 Federal share of the cost of feasibility 

3 studies for the rural desalination 

4 project shall be not more than 50 per5 cent. 

6 ‘‘(III) COST-SHARING REQUIRE7 MENT FOR CONSTRUCTION COSTS.—In 

8 the case of a rural desalination project 

9 or a designated desalination project 

10 carried out under this subsection, the 

11 Federal share of the cost of construc12 tion of the rural desalination project 

13 shall not exceed the greater of— 

14 ‘‘(aa) 35 percent of the total 

15 cost of construction, up to a Fed16 eral cost of $20,000,000; or 

17 ‘‘(bb) 25 percent of the total 

18 cost of construction. 

19 ‘‘(C) STATE ROLE.—Participation by the 

20 Secretary in an eligible desalination project 

21 under this paragraph shall not occur unless— 

22 ‘‘(i)(I) the eligible desalination project 

23 is included in a State-approved plan; or 

24 ‘‘(II) the participation has been 

25 requested by the Governor of the 


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1 State in which the eligible desalination 

2 project is located; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the State or local sponsor of the 

4 eligible desalination project determines, 

5 and the Secretary concurs, that— 

6 ‘‘(I) the eligible desalination 

7 project— 

8 ‘‘(aa) is technically and fi9 nancially feasible; 

10 ‘‘(bb) provides a Federal 

11 benefit in accordance with the 

12 reclamation laws; and 

13 ‘‘(cc) is consistent with ap14 plicable State laws, State regula15 tions, State coastal zone manage16 ment plans and other State plans 

17 such as California’s Water Qual18 ity Control Plan for the Ocean 

19 Waters in California; 

20 ‘‘(II) sufficient non-Federal fund21 ing is available to complete the eligible 

22 desalination project; and 

23 ‘‘(III) the eligible desalination 

24 project sponsors are financially sol25 vent; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the Secretary submits to Con2 gress a written notification of the deter3 minations under clause (ii) by not later 

4 than 30 days after the date of the deter5 minations. 

6 ‘‘(D) ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS.—In partici7 pating in an eligible desalination project under 

8 this paragraph, the Secretary shall comply with 

9 all applicable environmental laws, including, but 

10 not limited to, the National Environmental Pol11 icy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and 

12 State laws implementing the Coastal Zone Man13 agement Act. 

14 ‘‘(E) INFORMATION.—In participating in 

15 an eligible desalination project under this sub16 section, the Secretary— 

17 ‘‘(i) may consider the use of reports 

18 prepared by the sponsor of the eligible de19 salination project, including feasibility or 

20 equivalent studies, environmental analyses, 

21 and other pertinent reports and analyses; 

22 but 

23 ‘‘(ii) shall retain responsibility for 

24 making the independent determinations de25 scribed in subparagraph (C). 


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1 ‘‘(F) FUNDING.— 

2 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA3 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appro4 priated to carry out this paragraph 

5 $260,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 

6 2022 through 2026, to remain available 

7 until expended, of which not less than 

8 $15,000,000 shall be made available dur9 ing that period for rural desalination 

10 projects. 

11 ‘‘(ii) CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL INI12 TIALLY REQUIRED.— 

13 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Each initial 

14 award under this paragraph for de15 sign and study or for construction of 

16 an eligible desalination project shall 

17 be approved by an Act of Congress. 

18 ‘‘(II) RECLAMATION REC19 OMMENDATIONS.—The Commissioner 

20 of Reclamation shall submit rec21 ommendations regarding the initial 

22 award of preconstruction and con23 struction funding for consideration 

24 under subclause (I) to— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) the Committee on Ap2 propriations of the Senate; 

3 ‘‘(bb) the Committee on En4 ergy and Natural Resources of 

5 the Senate; 

6 ‘‘(cc) the Committee on Ap7 propriations of the House of Rep8 resentatives; and 

9 ‘‘(dd) the Committee on 

10 Natural Resources of the House 

11 of Representatives. 

12 ‘‘(iii) SUBSEQUENT FUNDING

13 AWARDS.—After approval by Congress of 

14 an initial award of preconstruction or con15 struction funding for an eligible desalina16 tion project under clause (ii), the Commis17 sioner of Reclamation may award addi18 tional preconstruction or construction 

19 funding, respectively, for the eligible desali20 nation project without further congres21 sional approval. 

22 ‘‘(G) TOTAL DOLLAR CAP.—The Secretary 

23 shall not impose a total dollar cap on Federal 

24 contributions for individual desalination 


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1 projects receiving funding under this para2 graph.’’. 

3 (b) PRIORITIZATION FOR PROJECTS.—Section 4 of 

4 the Water Desalination Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 10301 

5 note; Public Law 104–298) is amended by striking sub6 section (c) and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(c) PRIORITIZATION.—In carrying out demonstra8 tion and development activities under this section, the Sec9 retary and the Commissioner of Reclamation shall each 

10 prioritize projects— 

11 ‘‘(1) for the benefit of drought-stricken States 

12 and communities; 

13 ‘‘(2) for the benefit of States that have author14 ized funding for research and development of desali15 nation technologies and projects; 

16 ‘‘(3) that demonstrably reduce a reliance on im17 ported water supplies that have an impact on species 

18 listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

19 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

20 ‘‘(4) that, in a measurable and verifiable man21 ner, reduce a reliance on imported water supplies 

22 from imperiled ecosystems such as the Sacramento23 San Joaquin River Delta; 


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1 ‘‘(5) that demonstrably leverage the experience 

2 of international partners with considerable expertise 

3 in desalination, such as the State of Israel; 

4 ‘‘(6) that maximize use of renewable energy to 

5 power desalination facilities; 

6 ‘‘(7) that maximize energy efficiency so that the 

7 lifecycle energy demands of desalination are mini8 mized; 

9 ‘‘(8) located in regions that have employed 

10 strategies to increase water conservation and the 

11 capture and recycling of wastewater and stormwater; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(9) that meet the following criteria if they are 

14 ocean desalination facilities— 

15 ‘‘(A) utilize a subsurface intake or, if a 

16 subsurface intake is not technologically feasible, 

17 an intake that uses the best available site, de18 sign, technology, and mitigation measures to 

19 minimize the mortality of all forms of marine 

20 life and impacts to coastal dependent resources; 

21 ‘‘(B) are sited and designed to ensure that 

22 the disposal of wastewaters including brine 

23 from the desalination process— 

24 ‘‘(i) are not discharged in a manner 

25 that increases salinity levels in impaired 


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1 bodies of water, or State or Federal Ma2 rine Protected Areas; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) achieve ambient salinity levels 

4 within a reasonable distance from the dis5 charge point; 

6 ‘‘(C) are sited, designed, and operated in a 

7 manner that maintains indigenous marine life 

8 and a healthy and diverse marine community; 

9 ‘‘(D) do not cause significant unmitigated 

10 harm to aquatic life; and 

11 ‘‘(E) include a construction and operation 

12 plan designed to minimize loss of coastal habi13 tat as well as aesthetic, noise, and air quality 

14 impacts.’’. 

15 (c) RECOMMENDATIONS TO CONGRESS.—In deter16 mining project recommendations to Congress under sec17 tion 4(a)(2)(F)(ii)(II) of the Water Desalination Act of 

18 1996, the Commissioner of Reclamation shall establish a 

19 priority scoring system that assigns priority scores to each 

20 project evaluated based on the prioritization criteria of 

21 section 4(c) of the Water Desalination Act of 1996 (42 

22 U.S.C. 10301 note; Public Law 104–298). 


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1 SEC. 106. ASSISTANCE FOR DISADVANTAGED COMMU2 NITIES WITHOUT ADEQUATE DRINKING 

3 WATER. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

5 grants within the Reclamation States to assist eligible ap6 plicants in planning, designing, or carrying out projects 

7 to help disadvantaged communities address a significant 

8 decline in the quantity or quality of drinking water. 

9 (b) ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS.—To be eligible to receive 

10 a grant under this section, an applicant shall submit an 

11 application to the Secretary that includes a proposal of 

12 the project or activity in subsection (c) to be planned, de13 signed, constructed, or implemented, the service area of 

14 which— 

15 (1) shall not be located in any city or town with 

16 a population of more than 60,000 residents; and 

17 (2) has a median household income of less than 

18 100 percent of the nonmetropolitan median house19 hold income of the State. 

20 (c) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—Projects eligible for 

21 grants under this program may be used for— 

22 (1) emergency water supplies; 

23 (2) distributed treatment facilities; 

24 (3) construction of new wells and connections to 

25 existing water source systems; 

26 (4) water distribution facilities; 


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1 (5) connection fees to existing systems; 

2 (6) assistance to households to connect to water 

3 facilities; 

4 (7) local resource sharing, including voluntary 

5 agreements between water systems to jointly con6 tract for services or equipment, or to study or imple7 ment the physical consolidation of two or more water 

8 systems; 

9 (8) technical assistance, planning, and design 

10 for any of the activities described in paragraphs (1) 

11 through (7); or 

12 (9) any combination of activities described in 

13 paragraphs (1) through (8). 

14 (d) PRIORITIZATION.—In determining priorities for 

15 funding projects, the Secretary shall take into consider16 ation— 

17 (1) where the decline in the quantity or quality 

18 of water poses the greatest threat to public health 

19 and safety; 

20 (2) the degree to which the project provides a 

21 long-term solution to the water needs of the commu22 nity; and 

23 (3) whether the applicant has the ability to 

24 qualify for alternative funding sources. 


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1 (e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The amount of a grant pro2 vided under this section may be up to 100 percent of costs, 

3 including— 

4 (1) initial operation costs incurred for startup 

5 and testing of project facilities; 

6 (2) costs of components to ensure such facilities 

7 and components are properly operational; and 

8 (3) costs of operation or maintenance incurred 

9 subsequent to placing the facilities or components 

10 into service. 

11 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

12 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

13 $100,000,000, to remain available until expended. 

14 (g) COORDINATION REQUIRED.—In carrying out this 

15 section, the Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of 

16 Agriculture and the Administrator of the Environmental 

17 Protection Agency to identify opportunities to improve the 

18 efficiency, effectiveness, and impact of activities carried 

19 out under this section to help disadvantaged communities 

20 address a significant decline in the quantity or quality of 

21 drinking water. 

22 SEC. 107. WATER INFRASTRUCTURE FUND. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

24 Treasury of the United States a fund, to be known as the 


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1 Bureau of Reclamation Infrastructure Fund (referred to 

2 in this section as the ‘‘Fund’’), consisting of— 

3 (1) such amounts as are deposited in the Fund 

4 under subsection (b); and 

5 (2) any interest earned on investment of 

6 amounts in the Fund under subsection (c)(1)(B). 

7 (b) DEPOSITS TO FUND.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—For each of fiscal years 

9 2032 through 2062, the Secretary of the Treasury 

10 shall deposit in the Fund $300,000,000 of the reve11 nues that would otherwise be deposited for the fiscal 

12 year in the reclamation fund established by the first 

13 section of the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388; 

14 chapter 1093), of which— 

15 (A) $100,000,000 shall be expended by the 

16 Secretary for water reclamation and reuse 

17 projects authorized under title XVI of Public 

18 Law 102–575 or section 4009 of Public Law 

19 114–322; 

20 (B) $100,000,000 shall be expended by the 

21 Secretary for grants authorized under sections 

22 6002 and 9504 of the Omnibus Public Land 

23 Management Act of 2009 (16 U.S.C. 1015a 

24 and 42 U.S.C. 10364); and 


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1 (C) $100,000,000 shall be expended by the 

2 Secretary to perform modifications to preserve 

3 the structural safety of Bureau of Reclamation 

4 dams and related facilities to ensure that Rec5 lamation facilities do not present unreasonable 

6 risks to public safety, property, or the environ7 ment, provided that Federal expenditures made 

8 under this section— 

9 (i) account for no more than 85 per10 cent of the total costs for any dam safety 

11 project; and 

12 (ii) are made in accordance with sec13 tion 3 of the Reclamation Safety of Dams 

14 Act of 1978. 

15 (2) AVAILABILITY OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts de16 posited in the Fund under this section shall— 

17 (A) be made available in accordance with 

18 this section, without further appropriation; and 

19 (B) be in addition to amounts appropriated 

20 for such purposes under any other provision of 

21 law. 

22 (c) EXPENDITURES FROM FUND.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), 

24 for each of fiscal years 2032 through 2062, the Sec25 retary may expend from the Fund, in accordance 


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1 with this section, not more than an amount equal to 

2 the sum of— 

3 (A) the amounts deposited in the Fund 

4 that year under subsection (b); and 

5 (B) the amount of interest accrued in the 

6 Fund for the fiscal year in which the expendi7 tures are made. 

8 (2) ADDITIONAL EXPENDITURES.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may ex10 pend more in any fiscal year than the amounts 

11 described in subsection (a) if the additional 

12 amounts are available in the Fund as a result 

13 of a failure of the Secretary to expend all of the 

14 amounts available under subsection (a) in 1 or 

15 more prior fiscal years. 

16 (B) RETENTION IN ACCOUNTS.—Any addi17 tional amounts referred to in paragraph (1) 

18 shall— 

19 (i) accrue interest in accordance with 

20 this section; and 

21 (ii) only be expended for the purposes 

22 for which expenditures from the Fund are 

23 authorized. 


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1 TITLE II—IMPROVED 

2 TECHNOLOGY AND DATA 

3 SEC. 201. REAUTHORIZATION OF WATER AVAILABILITY 

4 AND USE ASSESSMENT PROGRAM. 

5 Section 9508 of Public Law 111–11 (42 U.S.C. 

6 10368) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (b)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para9 graph (2)(A)(ii)(VII); 

10 (B) in paragraph (2)(A)(iii), by adding 

11 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

12 (C) by adding at the end of paragraph 

13 (2)(A) the following: 

14 ‘‘(iv) water supplies made available 

15 through water reuse and seawater and 

16 brackish desalination;’’; and 

17 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(3) DATA INTEGRATION.—In carrying out the 

19 assessment program, the Secretary shall, to the 

20 greatest extent practicable— 

21 ‘‘(A) integrate available data from new 

22 technologies where appropriate including data 

23 made available from drones and emerging re24 mote sensing technologies; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) coordinate with relevant Federal 

2 agencies and bureaus to develop common data 

3 requirements for— 

4 ‘‘(i) Federal water data programs and 

5 efforts; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) geospatial data programs that 

7 can inform assessments of water avail8 ability and use under the assessment pro9 gram.’’; 

10 (2) in subsection (c)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘State 

12 water resource’’ each place it appears and in13 serting ‘‘State or Tribal water resource’’; 

14 (B) in the heading of paragraph (2), by 

15 striking ‘‘CRITERIA’’ and inserting ‘‘STATE CRI16 TERIA’’; 

17 (C) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

18 following (and redesignating the succeeding 

19 paragraph accordingly): 

20 ‘‘(3) TRIBAL CRITERIA.—To be eligible to re21 ceive a grant under paragraph (1), a Tribal water 

22 resource agency shall demonstrate to the Secretary 

23 that the water use and availability dataset proposed 

24 to be established or integrated by the Tribal water 

25 resource agency— 


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1 ‘‘(A) is in compliance with each quality 

2 and conformity standard established by the Sec3 retary to ensure that the data will be capable 

4 of integration with any national dataset; and 

5 ‘‘(B) will enhance the ability of the offi6 cials of the Tribe or the Tribal water resource 

7 agency to carry out water management respon8 sibilities. 

9 ‘‘(4) TRIBAL WATER RESOURCE AGENCY DEFI10 NITION.—For the purposes of this subsection, the 

11 term ‘Tribal water resource agency’ means any 

12 agency of an Indian Tribe responsible for water re13 source planning and management.’’; and 

14 (D) in paragraph (5) (as so redesig15 nated)— 

16 (i) by inserting ‘‘or Tribal water re17 source agency’’ after ‘‘State water resource 

18 agency’’; and 

19 (ii) by inserting ‘‘within any 5-year 

20 period’’ after ‘‘$250,000’’; and 

21 (3) in subsection (e)(2), by striking ‘‘2009 

22 through 2013’’ and inserting ‘‘2022 through 2026’’. 


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1 SEC. 202. MODIFICATIONS TO INCOME EXCLUSION FOR 

2 CONSERVATION SUBSIDIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 136(a) of the Internal 

4 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘any subsidy provided’’ and in6 serting any subsidy— 

7 ‘‘(1) provided’’; 

8 (2) by striking the period at the end and insert9 ing a comma; and 

10 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

11 paragraphs: 

12 ‘‘(2) provided (directly or indirectly) by a public 

13 utility to a customer, or by a State or local govern14 ment to a resident of such State or locality, for the 

15 purchase or installation of any water conservation or 

16 efficiency measure; 

17 ‘‘(3) provided (directly or indirectly) by a storm 

18 water management provider to a customer, or by a 

19 State or local government to a resident of such State 

20 or locality, for the purchase or installation of any 

21 storm water management measure; or 

22 ‘‘(4) provided (directly or indirectly) by a State 

23 or local government to a resident of such State or 

24 locality for the purchase or installation of any waste25 water management measure, but only if such measVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00089 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3404.IH H3404

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1 ure is with respect to the taxpayer’s principal resi2 dence.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

4 (1) DEFINITION OF WATER CONSERVATION OR

5 EFFICIENCY MEASURE AND STORM WATER MANAGE6 MENT MEASURE.—Section 136(c) of the Internal 

7 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘ENERGY CONSERVATION

9 MEASURE’’ in the heading thereof and inserting 

10 ‘‘DEFINITIONS’’; 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘IN GENERAL’’ in the 

12 heading of paragraph (1) and inserting ‘‘EN13 ERGY CONSERVATION MEASURE’’; and 

14 (C) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

15 paragraph (5) and by inserting after paragraph 

16 (1) the following: 

17 ‘‘(2) WATER CONSERVATION OR EFFICIENCY

18 MEASURE.—For purposes of this section, the term 

19 ‘water conservation or efficiency measure’ means any 

20 evaluation of water use, or any installation or modi21 fication of property, the primary purpose of which is 

22 to reduce consumption of water or to improve the 

23 management of water demand with respect to one or 

24 more dwelling units. 


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1 ‘‘(3) STORM WATER MANAGEMENT MEASURE.— 

2 For purposes of this section, the term ‘storm water 

3 management measure’ means any installation or 

4 modification of property primarily designed to re5 duce or manage amounts of storm water with re6 spect to one or more dwelling units. 

7 ‘‘(4) WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT MEASURE.— 

8 For purposes of this section, the term ‘wastewater 

9 management measure’ means any installation or 

10 modification of property primarily designed to man11 age wastewater (including septic tanks and cess12 pools) with respect to one or more dwelling units.’’. 

13 (2) DEFINITIONS.—Section 136(c)(5) of the In14 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 (as redesignated by 

15 paragraph (1)(C)) is amended by striking subpara16 graph (B) and inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC UTILITY.—The term ‘public 

18 utility’ means a person engaged in the sale of 

19 electricity, natural gas, or water to residential, 

20 commercial, or industrial customers for use by 

21 such customers. 

22 ‘‘(C) STORM WATER MANAGEMENT PRO23 VIDER.—The term ‘storm water management 

24 provider’ means a person engaged in the proviVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00091 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3404.IH H3404

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1 sion of storm water management measures to 

2 the public. 

3 ‘‘(D) PERSON.—For purposes of subpara4 graphs (B) and (C), the term ‘person’ includes 

5 the Federal Government, a State or local gov6 ernment or any political subdivision thereof, or 

7 any instrumentality of any of the foregoing.’’. 

8 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

9 (A) The heading for section 136 of the In10 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

11 (i) by inserting ‘‘AND WATER’’ after 

12 ‘‘ENERGY’’; and 

13 (ii) by striking ‘‘PROVIDED BY PUB14 LIC UTILITIES’’. 

15 (B) The item relating to section 136 in the 

16 table of sections of part III of subchapter B of 

17 chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

18 is amended— 

19 (i) by inserting ‘‘and water’’ after 

20 ‘‘Energy’’; and 

21 (ii) by striking ‘‘provided by public 

22 utilities’’. 

23 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

24 this section shall apply to amounts received after Decem25 ber 31, 2018. 


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1 (d) NO INFERENCE.—Nothing in this Act or the 

2 amendments made by this Act shall be construed to create 

3 any inference with respect to the proper tax treatment of 

4 any subsidy received directly or indirectly from a public 

5 utility, a storm water management provider, or a State 

6 or local government for any water conservation measure 

7 or storm water management measure before January 1, 

8 2022. 

9 SEC. 203. X-PRIZE FOR WATER TECHNOLOGY BREAK10 THROUGHS. 

11 (a) WATER TECHNOLOGY AWARD PROGRAM ESTAB12 LISHED.—The Secretary, working through the Bureau of 

13 Reclamation, shall establish a program to award prizes to 

14 eligible persons described in subsection (b) for achieve15 ment in one or more of the following applications of water 

16 technology: 

17 (1) Demonstration of wastewater and industrial 

18 process water purification for reuse or desalination 

19 of brackish water or seawater with significantly less 

20 energy than current municipally and commercially 

21 adopted technologies. 

22 (2) Demonstration of portable or modular de23 salination units that can process 1 to 5,000,000 gal24 lons per day that could be deployed for temporary 


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1 emergency uses in coastal communities or commu2 nities with brackish groundwater supplies. 

3 (3) Demonstration of significant advantages 

4 over current municipally and commercially adopted 

5 reverse osmosis technologies as determined by the 

6 board established under subsection (c). 

7 (4) Demonstration of significant improvements 

8 in the recovery of residual or waste energy from the 

9 desalination process. 

10 (5) Reducing open water evaporation. 

11 (b) ELIGIBLE PERSON.—An eligible person described 

12 in this subsection is— 

13 (1) an individual who is— 

14 (A) a citizen or legal resident of the 

15 United States; or 

16 (B) a member of a group that includes 

17 citizens or legal residents of the United States; 

18 (2) an entity that is incorporated and maintains 

19 its primary place of business in the United States; 

20 or 

21 (3) a public water agency. 

22 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF BOARD.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

24 a board to administer the program established under 

25 subsection (a). 


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1 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The board shall be com2 posed of not less than 15 and not more than 21 

3 members appointed by the Secretary, of whom not 

4 less than 2 shall— 

5 (A) be a representative of the interests of 

6 public water districts or other public organiza7 tions with water delivery authority; 

8 (B) be a representative of the interests of 

9 academic organizations with expertise in the 

10 field of water technology, including desalination 

11 or water reuse; 

12 (C) be representative of a non-profit con13 servation organization; 

14 (D) have expertise in administering award 

15 competitions; and 

16 (E) be a representative of the Bureau of 

17 Reclamation of the Department of the Interior 

18 with expertise in the deployment of desalination 

19 or water reuse. 

20 (d) AWARDS.—Subject to the availability of appro21 priations, the board established under subsection (c) may 

22 make awards under the program established under sub23 section (a) as follows: 

24 (1) FINANCIAL PRIZE.—The board may hold a 

25 financial award competition and award a financial 


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1 award in an amount determined before the com2 mencement of the competition to the first competitor 

3 to meet such criteria as the board shall establish. 

4 (2) RECOGNITION PRIZE.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The board may recog6 nize an eligible person for superlative achieve7 ment in 1 or more applications described in 

8 subsection (a). 

9 (B) NO FINANCIAL REMUNERATION.—An 

10 award under this paragraph shall not include 

11 any financial remuneration. 

12 (e) ADMINISTRATION.— 

13 (1) CONTRACTING.—The board established 

14 under subsection (c) may contract with a private or15 ganization to administer a financial award competi16 tion described in subsection (d)(1). 

17 (2) SOLICITATION OF FUNDS.—A member of 

18 the board or any administering organization with 

19 which the board has a contract under paragraph (1) 

20 may solicit gifts from private and public entities to 

21 be used for a financial award under subsection 

22 (d)(1). 

23 (3) LIMITATION ON PARTICIPATION OF DO24 NORS.—The board may allow a donor who is a pri25 vate person described in paragraph (2) to participate 


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1 in the determination of criteria for an award under 

2 subsection (d), but such donor may not solely deter3 mine the criteria for such award. 

4 (4) NO ADVANTAGE FOR DONATION.—A donor 

5 who is a private person described in paragraph (3) 

6 shall not be entitled to any special consideration or 

7 advantage with respect to participation in a financial 

8 award competition under subsection (d)(1). 

9 (f) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.—The Federal Gov10 ernment may not acquire an intellectual property right in 

11 any product or idea by virtue of the submission of such 

12 product or idea in any competition under subsection 

13 (d)(1). 

14 (g) LIABILITY.—The board established under sub15 section (c) may require a competitor in a financial award 

16 competition under subsection (d)(1) to waive liability 

17 against the Federal Government for injuries and damages 

18 that result from participation in such competition. 

19 (h) ANNUAL REPORT.—Each year, the board estab20 lished under subsection (c) shall submit to the relevant 

21 committees of Congress a report on the program estab22 lished under subsection (a). 

23 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

2 appropriated sums for the program established 

3 under subsection (a) as follows: 

4 (A) For administration of prize competi5 tions under subsection (d), $750,000 for each 

6 fiscal year through fiscal year 2026. 

7 (B) For the awarding of a financial prize 

8 award under subsection (d)(1), in addition to 

9 any amounts received under subsection (e)(2), 

10 $5,000,000 for each fiscal year through fiscal 

11 year 2026. 

12 (2) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated 

13 under paragraph (1) shall remain available until ex14 pended. 

15 (j) WATER TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT PROGRAM

16 ESTABLISHED.—The Secretary, acting through the Bu17 reau of Reclamation, shall establish a program, pursuant 

18 to the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study 

19 and Facilities Act (Public Law 102–575, title XVI), the 

20 Water Desalination Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–298), 

21 and other applicable laws, to promote the expanded use 

22 of technology for improving availability and resiliency of 

23 water supplies and power deliveries, which shall include— 

24 (1) investments to enable expanded and acceler25 ated deployment of desalination technology; and 


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1 (2) investments to enable expanded and acceler2 ated use of recycled water. 

3 (k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each fis5 cal year through fiscal year 2026 for the Secretary to 

6 carry out the purposes and provisions of subsection (j). 

7 SEC. 204. STUDY EXAMINING SEDIMENT TRANSPORT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

10 make appropriate arrangements with the National Acad11 emies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (referred to 

12 in this section as the ‘‘National Academies’’) under which 

13 the National Academies shall conduct a study that— 

14 (1) examines existing science and management 

15 guidance related to methods for managing sediment 

16 transport from dam removal; 

17 (2) includes case studies where diverse inter18 ests, including hydroelectric, agricultural, conserva19 tion, and industry stakeholders work jointly with 

20 Tribal, State, and Federal government agencies to 

21 implement collaborative projects requiring sediment 

22 transport; and 

23 (3) identifies future research opportunities, re24 quirements, and recommendations related to the 

25 science and management guidance examined under 


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1 paragraph (1), including research opportunities, re2 quirements, and recommendations related to mod3 eling and quantifying sediment flows. 

4 (b) REPORT.—In entering into an arrangement under 

5 subsection (a), the Secretary shall request that the Na6 tional Academies transmit to the Secretary and to Con7 gress a report not later than 36 months after the date 

8 of the enactment of this Act that— 

9 (1) includes the results of the study and rel10 evant interpretations of the results; 

11 (2) provides recommendations for applying 

12 science in management and mitigation decisions re13 lating to dam removal; and 

14 (3) provides recommendations for improving fu15 ture research on the beneficial and adverse environ16 mental impacts of sediment transport from dam re17 moval and appropriate actions to mitigate such im18 pacts. 

19 SEC. 205. FEDERAL PRIORITY STREAMGAGES. 

20 (a) FEDERAL PRIORITY STREAMGAGES.—The Sec21 retary shall make every reasonable effort to make oper22 ational all streamgages identified as Federal Priority 

23 Streamgages by the United States Geological Survey not 

24 later than 10 years after the date of the enactment of this 

25 Act. 


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1 (b) COLLABORATION WITH STATES.—The Secretary 

2 shall, to the maximum extent practicable, seek to leverage 

3 Federal investments in Federal Priority Streamgages 

4 through collaborative partnerships with States and local 

5 agencies that invest non-Federal funds to maintain and 

6 enhance gage networks to improve both environmental 

7 quality and water supply reliability. 

8 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated $45,000,000 to carry 

10 out this section for each fiscal year through fiscal year 

11 2026. 

12 SEC. 206. STUDY EXAMINING CLIMATE VULNERABILITIES 

13 AT FEDERAL DAMS. 

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

15 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

16 make appropriate arrangements with the National Acad17 emies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (referred to 

18 in this section as the ‘‘National Academies’’) under which 

19 the National Academies shall conduct an independent 

20 study to— 

21 (1) examine the projected impact of climate 

22 change on the safety of Bureau of Reclamation 

23 dams; and 

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1 lated safety risks based on an assessment of climate 

2 change related impacts on— 

3 (A) the frequency of heavy precipitation 

4 events; and 

5 (B) other factors that influence the mag6 nitude and severity of flooding events including 

7 snow cover and snowmelt, vegetation, and soil 

8 moisture. 

9 (b) REPORT.—In entering into an arrangement under 

10 subsection (a), the Secretary shall request that the Na11 tional Academies— 

12 (1) transmit to the Secretary and to the rel13 evant committees of Congress a report not later 

14 than 24 months after the date of the enactment of 

15 this Act that includes the results of the study; and 

16 (2) consider any previous studies or evaluations 

17 conducted or completed by the Bureau of Reclama18 tion or local water agencies on climate change im19 pacts to dams, facilities, and watersheds as a ref20 erence and source of information during the develop21 ment of the independent study. 

22 SEC. 207. INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION. 

23 The Secretary is directed to include as a priority for 

24 grants authorized under section 9504 of the Omnibus 

25 Public Land Management Act of 2009 (42 U.S.C. 10364), 


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1 the Water Conservation Field Services Program, and 

2 other water conservation grant programs, as appropriate, 

3 that help foster the adoption of technologies that can— 

4 (1) identify losses from water conveyance facili5 ties in a non-destructive manner that— 

6 (A) does not disrupt the conveyance of 

7 water supplies; and 

8 (B) provides comprehensive data on pipe9 line integrity, including leak and gas pocket de10 tection, for all pipeline materials; 

11 (2) provide real-time monitoring of weather pat12 terns and reservoir operations to improve flexibility, 

13 protect natural resources, increase resiliency, main14 tain temperature control, and ensure water supply 

15 reliability; 

16 (3) provide real-time data acquisition and anal17 ysis to improve predictive aquifer management, in18 cluding the improvement of recharge, storage, and 

19 stormwater management capabilities; 

20 (4) implement the use of real time sensors and 

21 forecast data to improve the management of other 

22 water infrastructure assets, including the identifica23 tion and prevention of impairments from inad24 equately treated agricultural or municipal 

25 wastewaters or stormwater; or 


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1 (5) improve water use efficiency and conserva2 tion, including through behavioral water efficiency, 

3 supervisory control and data acquisition systems, or 

4 other system modernizations. 

5 SEC. 208. FORECAST-INFORMED WATER CONTROL MANUAL 

6 UPDATES. 

7 Not less than $10,000,000 annually shall be used by 

8 the Army Corps of Engineers out of appropriated Oper9 ations and Maintenance funds to prepare for and process 

10 Water Control Manual Updates for forecast-informed 

11 water operations projects prioritizing regions impacted by 

12 Atmospheric Rivers and where improved forecast skill can 

13 improve water operations. Funds shall also be used to 

14 operationalize a forecast-informed water operations com15 patible component of the Corps Water Management Sys16 tem to process ensemble and synthetic forecasts to ensure 

17 continuous implementation of improvements in forecast 

18 skill for water operations. 

19 TITLE III—ECOSYSTEM PROTEC20 TION AND RESTORATION 

21 SEC. 301. WATERBIRD HABITAT CREATION PROGRAM. 

22 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF HABITAT CREATION PRO23 GRAM.—The Secretary shall establish a program to 

24 incentivize farmers to keep fields flooded during appro25 priate time periods for the purposes of waterbird habitat 


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1 creation and maintenance, including waterfowl and 

2 shorebird habitat creation and maintenance, provided 

3 that— 

4 (1) such incentives may not exceed $3,500,000 

5 annually, either directly or through credits against 

6 other contractual payment obligations; 

7 (2) the holder of a water contract receiving pay8 ments under this section pass such payments 

9 through to farmers participating in the program, 

10 less reasonable contractor costs, if any; and 

11 (3) the Secretary determines that habitat cre12 ation activities receiving financial support under this 

13 section will create new habitat that is not likely to 

14 be created without the financial incentives provided 

15 under this section. 

16 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

17 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary $3,500,000 

18 for each fiscal year through fiscal year 2026 to carry out 

19 this section, to remain available until expended. 

20 (c) REPORT.—Not later than October 1, 2022, and 

21 every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to 

22 Congress a report summarizing the environmental per23 formance of activities that are receiving, or have received, 

24 assistance under the program authorized by this section. 


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1 SEC. 302. COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM FOR THE FUND2 ING OF WATERSHED HEALTH PROJECTS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act and in accordance with 

5 this section, the Secretary, in consultation with the heads 

6 of relevant agencies, shall establish a competitive grant 

7 program to award grants to an eligible entity for habitat 

8 restoration projects that improve watershed health in a 

9 Reclamation State and accomplish one or more of the fol10 lowing benefits: 

11 (1) Ecosystem benefits. 

12 (2) Restoration of native species beyond exist13 ing or planned measures necessary to meet State or 

14 Federal laws for species recovery. 

15 (3) Protection against invasive species. 

16 (4) Restoration of aspects of the natural eco17 system. 

18 (5) Enhancement of commercial and rec19 reational fishing. 

20 (6) Enhancement of river-based recreation such 

21 as kayaking, canoeing, and rafting. 

22 (7) Mitigate against the impacts of climate 

23 change to fish and wildlife habitats. 

24 (b) REQUIREMENTS.— 

25 (1) IN GENERAL.—In awarding a grant under 

26 subsection (a), the Secretary— 


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1 (A) shall give priority to a project that 

2 achieves more than one of the benefits listed in 

3 subsection (a); and 

4 (B) may not provide a grant for a project 

5 that is for the purpose of meeting existing envi6 ronmental mitigation or compliance obligations 

7 under State or Federal law. 

8 (2) COMPLIANCE.—A project awarded a grant 

9 under subsection (a) shall comply with all applicable 

10 Federal and State laws. 

11 (c) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—In this sec12 tion, the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means a State, Indian 

13 Tribe, nonprofit conservation organization operating in a 

14 Reclamation State, irrigation district, water district, or 

15 other organization with water or power delivery authority. 

16 (d) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—Before the establish17 ment of the program under subsection (a), the Secretary 

18 shall— 

19 (1) provide notice of and, for a period of not 

20 less than 90 days, an opportunity for public com21 ment on, any draft or proposed version of the pro22 gram requirements in accordance with this section; 

23 and 

24 (2) consider public comments received in devel25 oping the final program requirements. 


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1 (e) REPORT.—Not later than October 1, 2023, and 

2 every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to 

3 Congress a report summarizing the environmental per4 formance of activities that are receiving, or have received, 

5 assistance under the program authorized by this section. 

6 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

7 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

8 $150,000,000 for each fiscal year through fiscal year 

9 2026, to remain available until expended. 

10 SEC. 303. SUPPORT FOR REFUGE WATER DELIVERIES. 

11 (a) REPORT ON HISTORIC REFUGE WATER DELIV12 ERIES.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the en13 actment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the rel14 evant committees of Congress and make publicly available 

15 a report that describes the following: 

16 (1) Compliance with section 3406(d)(1) and 

17 section 3406(d)(2) of the Central Valley Project Im18 provement Act (title XXXIV of Public Law 102– 

19 575) in each of years 1992 through 2018, including 

20 an indication of the amount of water identified as 

21 the Level 2 amount and incremental Level 4 amount 

22 for each wetland area. 

23 (2) The difference between the mandated quan24 tity of water to be delivered to each wetland habitat 

25 area described in section 3406(d)(2) and the actual 


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1 quantity of water delivered since October 30, 1992, 

2 including a listing of every year in which the full de3 livery of water to wetland habitat areas was achieved 

4 in accordance with Level 4 of the ‘‘Dependable 

5 Water Supply Needs’’ table, described in section 

6 3406(d)(2) of the Central Valley Project Improve7 ment Act (title XXXIV of Public Law 102–575). 

8 (3) Which of the authorities granted to the Sec9 retary under Public Law 102–575 to achieve the full 

10 Level 4 deliveries of water to wetland habitat areas 

11 was employed in achieving the increment of water 

12 delivery above the Level 2 amount for each wetland 

13 habitat area, including whether water conservation, 

14 conjunctive use, water purchases, water leases, dona15 tions, water banking, or other authorized activities 

16 have been used and the extent to which such au17 thorities have been used. 

18 (4) An assessment of the degree to which the 

19 elimination of water transaction fees for the dona20 tion of water rights to wildlife refuges would help 

21 advance the goals of the Central Valley Project Im22 provement Act (title XXXIV of Public Law 102– 

23 575). 

24 (b) PRIORITY CONSTRUCTION LIST.—The Secretary 

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1 tion with the Interagency Refuge Water Management 

2 Team, a priority list for the completion of the conveyance 

3 construction projects at the wildlife habitat areas de4 scribed in section 3406(d)(2) of the Central Valley Project 

5 Improvement Act (title XXXIV of Public Law 102–575), 

6 including the Mendota Wildlife Area, Pixley National 

7 Wildlife Refuge and Sutter National Wildlife Refuge. 

8 (c) ECOLOGICAL MONITORING AND EVALUATION

9 PROGRAM.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the 

10 enactment of this Act, the Secretary, acting through the 

11 Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, 

12 shall design and implement an ecological monitoring and 

13 evaluation program, for all Central Valley wildlife refuges, 

14 that produces an annual report based on existing and 

15 newly collected information, including— 

16 (1) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

17 Animal Health Lab disease reports; 

18 (2) mid-winter waterfowl inventories; 

19 (3) nesting and brood surveys; 

20 (4) additional data collected regularly by the 

21 refuges, such as herptile distribution and abundance; 

22 (5) a new coordinated systemwide monitoring 

23 effort for at least one key migrant species and two 

24 resident species listed as threatened and endangered 

25 pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973 


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1 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) (including one warm-blood2 ed and one cold-blooded), that identifies population 

3 numbers and survival rates for the 3 previous years; 

4 and 

5 (6) an estimate of the bioenergetic food produc6 tion benefits to migrant waterfowl, consistent with 

7 the methodology used by the Central Valley Joint 

8 Venture, to compliment and inform the Central Val9 ley Joint Venture implementation plan. 

10 (d) ADEQUATE STAFFING FOR REFUGE WATER DE11 LIVERY OBJECTIVES.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

12 adequate staffing is provided to advance the refuge water 

13 supply delivery objectives under the Central Valley Project 

14 Improvement Act (title XXXIV of Public Law 102–575). 

15 (e) FUNDING.—There is authorized to be appro16 priated $25,000,000 to carry out subsections (a) through 

17 (d), which shall remain available until expended. 

18 (f) EFFECT ON OTHER FUNDS.—Amounts author19 ized under this section shall be in addition to amounts col20 lected or appropriated under the Central Valley Project 

21 Improvement Act (title XXXIV of Public Law 102–575). 

22 SEC. 304. DROUGHT PLANNING AND PREPAREDNESS FOR 

23 CRITICALLY IMPORTANT FISHERIES. 

24 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) CRITICALLY IMPORTANT FISHERIES.—The 

2 term ‘‘critically important fisheries’’ means— 

3 (A) commercially and recreationally impor4 tant fisheries located within the Reclamation 

5 States; 

6 (B) fisheries containing fish species that 

7 are listed as threatened or endangered pursuant 

8 to the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

9 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) within the Reclamation 

10 States; or 

11 (C) fisheries used by Indian Tribes within 

12 the Reclamation States for ceremonial, subsist13 ence, or commercial purposes. 

14 (2) QUALIFIED TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The 

15 term ‘‘qualified Tribal Government’’ means any gov16 ernment of an Indian Tribe that the Secretary deter17 mines— 

18 (A) is involved in fishery management and 

19 recovery activities including under the Endan20 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 

21 seq.); or 

22 (B) has the management and organiza23 tional capability to maximize the benefits of as24 sistance provided under this section. 


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1 (b) DROUGHT PLAN FOR CRITICALLY IMPORTANT

2 FISHERIES.—Not later than January 1, 2022, and every 

3 three years thereafter, the Secretary, acting through the 

4 Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

5 shall, in consultation with the National Marine Fisheries 

6 Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Army Corps of 

7 Engineers, State fish and wildlife agencies, and affected 

8 Indian Tribes, prepare a plan to sustain the survival of 

9 critically important fisheries within the Reclamation 

10 States during future periods of extended drought. The 

11 plan shall focus on actions that can aid the survival of 

12 critically important fisheries during the driest years. In 

13 preparing such plan, the Director shall consider— 

14 (1) habitat restoration efforts designed to pro15 vide drought refugia and increased fisheries resil16 ience during droughts; 

17 (2) relocating the release location and timing of 

18 hatchery fish to avoid predation and temperature 

19 impacts; 

20 (3) barging of hatchery release fish to improve 

21 survival and reduce straying; 

22 (4) coordination with water users, the Bureau 

23 of Reclamation, State fish and wildlife agencies, and 

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1 stitution activities, to determine if water releases can 

2 be collaboratively managed in a way that provides 

3 additional benefits for critically important fisheries 

4 without negatively impacting wildlife habitat; 

5 (5) hatchery management modifications, such 

6 as expanding hatchery production of fish during the 

7 driest years, if appropriate for a particular river 

8 basin; 

9 (6) hatchery retrofit projects, such as the in10 stallation and operation of filtration equipment and 

11 chillers, to reduce disease outbreaks, egg mortality 

12 and other impacts of droughts and high water tem13 peratures; 

14 (7) increasing rescue operations of upstream 

15 migrating fish; 

16 (8) improving temperature modeling and related 

17 forecasted information to predict water management 

18 impacts to the habitat of critically important fish19 eries with a higher degree of accuracy than current 

20 models; 

21 (9) testing the potential for parentage-based 

22 tagging and other genetic testing technologies to im23 prove the management of hatcheries; 

24 (10) programs to reduce predation losses at ar25 tificially created predation hot spots; and 


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1 (11) retrofitting existing water facilities to pro2 vide improved temperature conditions for fish. 

3 (c) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Director of the United 

4 States Fish and Wildlife Service shall provide for a public 

5 comment period of not less than 90 days before finalizing 

6 a plan under subsection (a). 

7 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR FISH

8 RECOVERY EFFORTS.—There is authorized to be appro9 priated $25,000,000 for the United States Fish and Wild10 life Service for fiscal year 2022 for fish, stream, and 

11 hatchery activities related to fish recovery efforts, includ12 ing work with the National Marine Fisheries Service, the 

13 Bureau of Reclamation, the Army Corps of Engineers, 

14 State fish and wildlife agencies, or a qualified Tribal Gov15 ernment. 

16 (e) EFFECT.—Nothing in this section is intended to 

17 expand, diminish, or affect any obligation under Federal 

18 or State environmental law. 

19 SEC. 305. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE FISHERIES RESTORA20 TION AND IRRIGATION MITIGATION ACT OF 

21 2000. 

22 Section 10(a) of the Fisheries Restoration and Irriga23 tion Mitigation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 777 note; Public 

24 Law 106–502) is amended by striking ‘‘$15 million 


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1 through 2021’’ and inserting ‘‘$25,000,000 through 

2 2028’’. 

3 SEC. 306. COMBATING WATER THEFT FOR ILLEGAL MARI4 JUANA CULTIVATION. 

5 (a) POLICY DIRECTIVE ON ILLEGAL WATER DIVER6 SION FOR MARIJUANA CULTIVATION.—Not later than 90 

7 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Direc8 tor of National Drug Control Policy, in collaboration with 

9 the Secretary and the Administrator of the Environmental 

10 Protection Agency, shall use the best available information 

11 to determine the amount of water diverted for marijuana 

12 cultivation in each of the high intensity drug trafficking 

13 areas (as designated under section 707 of the Office of 

14 National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998 

15 (21 U.S.C. 1706)) within the State of California and other 

16 States frequently affected by water shortages. 

17 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

18 FOR DOMESTIC CANNABIS ERADICATION PROGRAM.—Not 

19 later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 

20 Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General shall 

21 require, as a condition of the receipt of any funds under 

22 the Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression program 

23 of the Drug Enforcement Administration, or any successor 

24 program, a report from any participant in such program 

25 containing information on the environmental consequences 


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1 of actions taken pursuant to program participation. The 

2 Attorney General, in making any determination to provide 

3 funding under the program, shall take into account the 

4 information so reported. 

5 (c) TRESPASS MARIJUANA LOCATION REGISTRY.— 

6 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

7 of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish and main8 tain a registry, in which reports received by the Attorney 

9 General of incidents of cultivation of marijuana on Federal 

10 or State property or while intentionally trespassing on the 

11 property of another shall be recorded and, to the extent 

12 feasible, made available to the public. 

13 (d) FUNDING FOR REMEDIATION OF TRESPASS

14 MARIJUANA SITES.— 

15 (1) FROM FORFEITURE FUND.—Section 

16 524(c)(1)(E)(ii) of title 28, United States Code, is 

17 amended— 

18 (A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

19 the end; 

20 (B) in subclause (II), by inserting ‘‘and’’ 

21 after the semicolon at the end; and 

22 (C) by inserting after subclause (II) the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(III) costs incurred by or on be25 half of any State, local, or Tribal govVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00117 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3404.IH H3404

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1 ernment in connection with the reme2 diation of any area formerly used for 

3 the production or cultivation of mari4 juana, including the removal of any 

5 hazardous substance or pollutant or 

6 contaminant, in which such State, 

7 local, or Tribal government has as8 sisted in a Federal prosecution related 

9 to marijuana;’’. 

10 (2) FROM RESTITUTION IN CRIMINAL CASES.— 

11 Section 413(q) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 

12 U.S.C. 853(q)) is amended— 

13 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph 

14 (1)— 

15 (i) by inserting after ‘‘manufacture’’ 

16 the following: ‘‘or cultivation’’; and 

17 (ii) by striking ‘‘or methamphet18 amine’’ and inserting ‘‘, methamphet19 amine, or marihuana’’; and 

20 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting after 

21 ‘‘or methamphetamine’’ the following: ‘‘, or cul22 tivation of marihuana,’’. 

23 (e) VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES.— 

24 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF VOLUNTARY GUIDE25 LINES.—Not later than 6 months after the date of 


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1 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Agri2 culture, in consultation with other appropriate Fed3 eral agencies, including the Environmental Protec4 tion Agency, and experts in the field, shall establish 

5 voluntary guidelines, based on the best available sci6 entific knowledge— 

7 (A) for the remediation of former indoor 

8 and outdoor marijuana cultivation and proc9 essing sites, including guidelines regarding pre10 liminary site assessment and the remediation of 

11 residual contaminants and ecosystems; and 

12 (B) for State, local, and Tribal govern13 ments to use in developing and implementing 

14 laws, regulations, guidelines, and other policies 

15 that apply the best available research and tech16 nology to the remediation of former indoor and 

17 outdoor marijuana cultivation and processing 

18 sites. 

19 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing the vol20 untary guidelines under paragraph (1), the Sec21 retary of Agriculture shall consider, at a minimum— 

22 (A) relevant standards, guidelines, and re23 quirements found in Federal, State, Tribal, and 

24 local laws and regulations; 


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1 (B) the various types and locations of 

2 former marijuana cultivation or processing 

3 sites, including both indoor and outdoor sites; 

4 and 

5 (C) the estimated costs of carrying out any 

6 such guidelines. 

7 (3) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary of Agri8 culture shall work with State, local, and Tribal gov9 ernments and other non-Federal agencies and orga10 nizations the Secretary determines relevant to pro11 mote and encourage the adoption of the voluntary 

12 guidelines established under paragraph (1). 

13 (4) REVISIONS TO THE GUIDELINES.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agri15 culture shall periodically review and revise the 

16 voluntary guidelines to incorporate findings of 

17 the research conducted pursuant to subsection 

18 (f) and other new knowledge. 

19 (B) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out sub20 paragraph (A), the Secretary of Agriculture 

21 may consult with State, local, Tribal govern22 ments, and non-profits engaged in scientific re23 search and reclamation, and other interested 

24 parties. 


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1 (f) RESEARCH PROGRAM.—The Secretary of Agri2 culture, in consultation with other appropriate Federal 

3 agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, 

4 shall establish a program of research to support the devel5 opment and revision of the voluntary guidelines estab6 lished under subsection (e). Such program shall— 

7 (1) identify marijuana cultivation or processing8 related chemicals of concern; 

9 (2) assess the types and levels of exposure to 

10 chemicals of concern identified under paragraph (1) 

11 that may present significant adverse biological ef12 fects, and identify actions and additional research 

13 necessary to remediate such biological effects; 

14 (3) assess the impacts of marijuana cultivation 

15 and processing on waterways and bodies of water, 

16 and identify actions and additional research nec17 essary to remediate such impacts; 

18 (4) evaluate the performance of current remedi19 ation techniques for marijuana cultivation and proc20 essing sites; 

21 (5) identify areas for which additional research 

22 is necessary, including research relating to— 

23 (A) the impacts of indoor and outdoor 

24 marijuana cultivation and processing, including 

25 biological and hydrological effects and impacts 


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1 to soil and landscape, such as the potential for 

2 erosion; and 

3 (B) the remediation of former indoor or 

4 outdoor marijuana cultivation or processing 

5 sites; 

6 (6) support other research priorities identified 

7 by the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with 

8 State, local, Tribal governments, non-profits engaged 

9 in scientific research and reclamation, and other in10 terested parties; and 

11 (7) include collaboration with institutions of 

12 higher education engaged in research on any matter 

13 described in this subsection or additional research 

14 priorities determined appropriate by the Secretary of 

15 Agriculture. 

16 SEC. 307. SUSTAINING BIODIVERSITY DURING DROUGHTS. 

17 Section 9503(b) of the Omnibus Public Land Man18 agement Act of 2009 (42 U.S.C. 10363(b)) is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (3)(D), by inserting ‘‘and na20 tive biodiversity’’ after ‘‘wildlife habitat’’; and 

21 (2) in paragraph (4)(B), by inserting ‘‘and 

22 drought biodiversity plans to address sustaining na23 tive biodiversity during periods of drought’’ after 

24 ‘‘restoration plans’’. 


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1 TITLE IV—WATER JOB TRAINING 

2 AND EDUCATION 

3 SEC. 401. WATER RESOURCE EDUCATION. 

4 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—In accordance with this 

5 section, the Secretary may enter into a cooperative agree6 ment or contract or provide financial assistance in the 

7 form of a grant, to support activities related to education 

8 on water resources. 

9 (b) ELIGIBLE ACTIVITIES.—The Secretary may enter 

10 into a cooperative agreement or contract or provide finan11 cial assistance for activities that improve water resources 

12 education, including through tours, publications or other 

13 activities that— 

14 (1) disseminate information on water resources 

15 via educational tools, materials or programs; 

16 (2) publish relevant information on water re17 source issues, including environmental and ecological 

18 conditions; 

19 (3) advance projects that improve public under20 standing of water resource issues or management 

21 challenges, including education on drought, drought 

22 awareness, and drought resiliency; 

23 (4) provide training or related education for 

24 teachers, faculty, or related personnel, including in 

25 a specific geographic area or region; or 


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1 (5) enable tours, conferences, or other activities 

2 to foster cooperation in addressing water resources 

3 or management challenges, including cooperation re4 lating to water resources shared by the United 

5 States and Canada or Mexico. 

6 (c) GRANT PRIORITY.—In making grants under this 

7 section, the Secretary shall give priority to activities 

8 that— 

9 (1) provide training for the professional devel10 opment of legal and technical experts in the field of 

11 water resources management; or 

12 (2) help educate the public, teachers or key 

13 stakeholders on— 

14 (A) a new or significantly improved water 

15 resource management practice, method, or tech16 nique; 

17 (B) the existence of a water resource man18 agement practice, method, or technique that 

19 may have wide application; 

20 (C) a water resource management practice, 

21 method, or technique related to a scientific field 

22 or skill identified as a priority by the Secretary; 

23 or 

24 (D) general water resource issues or man25 agement challenges, including as part of a 


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1 science curricula in elementary or secondary 

2 education setting. 

3 SEC. 402. WATER SECTOR CAREER GRANT PROGRAMS. 

4 (a) COORDINATION WITH INNOVATIVE WATER IN5 FRASTRUCTURE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PRO6 GRAM.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 

8 a grant program to improve job placement and re9 tention in the water and wastewater utilities sector, 

10 to be administered in coordination with the Innova11 tive Water Infrastructure Workforce Development 

12 Program. 

13 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

14 4304(b) of Public Law 115–270 (42 U.S.C. 300j– 

15 19e) is amended by inserting ‘‘and the Secretary of 

16 the Interior’’ after ‘‘Agriculture’’. 

17 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

18 There is authorized to be appropriated for purposes 

19 of this section $10,000,000 for each fiscal year 

20 through fiscal year 2026, to remain available until 

21 expended. 

22 (b) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.—Beginning 360 days 

23 after the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec24 retary may award grants to eligible entities for the pur25 pose of developing, offering, or improving programs that 


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1 increase the job placement and retention of skilled and di2 verse workers in the water and wastewater sector. 

3 (c) ALLOCATION OF GRANTS.— 

4 (1) LIMITATION ON GRANT QUANTITY AND

5 SIZE.—An eligible entity may not be awarded— 

6 (A) more than 1 grant under this section 

7 for which the eligible entity is the lead appli8 cant; or 

9 (B) a grant under this section in excess of 

10 $2,500,000. 

11 (2) ALLOCATION TO COMMUNITY COLLEGES.— 

12 Not less than 20 percent of the total amount award13 ed under this section for a fiscal year shall be 

14 awarded to eligible entities that are community col15 leges. 

16 (d) PARTNERSHIPS.—An eligible entity seeking to re17 ceive a grant under this section may partner with 1 or 

18 more of the following: 

19 (1) Another eligible entity (including an eligible 

20 entity that is a community college). 

21 (2) A water district or other organization with 

22 water delivery authority. 

23 (3) A State or local government. 

24 (4) A nonprofit organization. 


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1 (e) USE OF GRANT.—An eligible entity may use a 

2 grant awarded under this section for the following activi3 ties: 

4 (1) Assessment of water workforce needs and 

5 priorities. 

6 (2) Development of a water workforce plan. 

7 (3) Design and implementation of formalized 

8 mentorship or registered apprenticeship programs. 

9 (4) Design and implementation of bridge pro10 grams, work-study opportunities, or other strategies 

11 to connect jobseekers with employment opportuni12 ties. 

13 (5) Development of outreach strategies to re14 cruit a more diverse workforce. 

15 (6) Incumbent worker and career ladder train16 ing and skill upgrading and retraining. 

17 (7) Identification and removal of barriers pre18 venting qualified individuals from securing and re19 taining a job. 

20 (8) Curriculum development at the under21 graduate and postgraduate levels. 

22 (9) Development and support of water resource 

23 management major, minor, or certificate programs. 

24 (10) Outreach, recruitment, career guidance, 

25 and case management services. 


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1 (11) Such other activities, as determined by the 

2 Secretary, to meet the purposes of this section. 

3 (f) GRANT PROPOSALS.— 

4 (1) SUBMISSION PROCEDURE FOR GRANT PRO5 POSALS.—An eligible entity seeking to receive a 

6 grant under this section shall submit a grant pro7 posal to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 

8 and containing such information as the Secretary 

9 may require. 

10 (2) CONTENT OF GRANT PROPOSALS.—A grant 

11 proposal submitted to the Secretary under this sec12 tion shall include a detailed description of— 

13 (A) the specific project for which the grant 

14 proposal is submitted, including the manner in 

15 which the grant will be used to develop, offer, 

16 or improve a program to improve recruitment 

17 and retention in the water or wastewater utility 

18 sector; 

19 (B) any previous experience of the eligible 

20 entity in providing such programs; and 

21 (C) the extent to which such project will 

22 meet the needs identified under subsection (i). 

23 (g) CRITERIA FOR AWARD OF GRANTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to appropriations, 

2 the Secretary shall award grants under this section 

3 based on an evaluation of— 

4 (A) the merits of the grant proposal; 

5 (B) the likely improvement to job recruit6 ment and retention as a result of the grant pro7 posal; and 

8 (C) the availability and capacity of existing 

9 educational programs in the community to meet 

10 future demand for such programs. 

11 (2) PRIORITY.—Priority in awarding grants 

12 under this section shall be given to an eligible entity 

13 that— 

14 (A) includes the equal participation of in15 dustry and labor organizations, including joint 

16 labor-management training programs and work17 force investment boards; 

18 (B) has entered into a memorandum of un19 derstanding with an employer that is a water 

20 district or organization with water delivery au21 thority to foster workforce development, recruit22 ment, and retention, and can leverage addi23 tional public and private resources to fund ac24 tivities that further the purposes of the grant; 

25 (C) focuses on individuals who are— 


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1 (i) veterans, members of the reserve 

2 components of the Armed Forces, or 

3 former members of such reserve compo4 nents; 

5 (ii) unemployed; 

6 (iii) seeking employment pathways out 

7 of poverty and into economic self-suffi8 ciency; 

9 (iv) at-risk youth; 

10 (v) formerly incarcerated, adjudicated, 

11 nonviolent offenders; or 

12 (vi) from populations that are tradi13 tionally underrepresented in the infrastruc14 ture workforce; or 

15 (D) with respect to an eligible entity that 

16 is an institution of higher education, has a high 

17 percentage or number of minority or low-income 

18 students. 

19 (3) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—The Sec20 retary shall, to the extent practicable, award grants 

21 under this section in a manner that provides for a 

22 reasonable geographic distribution, except that the 

23 Secretary shall prioritize grants to institutions fo24 cused on the water management challenges of the 

25 Reclamation States. 


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1 (h) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grantee under this section 

3 shall collect and report to the Secretary on an an4 nual basis the following: 

5 (A) The number of participants enrolled in 

6 the program. 

7 (B) The number of participants that have 

8 completed the program. 

9 (C) The services received by such partici10 pants, including a description of training, edu11 cation, and supportive services. 

12 (D) The amount spent by the grantee per 

13 participant. 

14 (E) The rate of job placement of partici15 pants with a water district or other entity in 

16 the water and wastewater utilities sector. 

17 (F) The rate of employment retention 1 

18 year after completion of the program or 1 year 

19 after the participant is no longer enrolled in 

20 such institution of higher education, whichever 

21 is later. 

22 (G) The average wage at placement, in23 cluding any benefits, and the rate of average 

24 wage increase after 1 year. 


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1 (H) Any factors determined as signifi2 cantly interfering with recruitment and reten3 tion. 

4 (2) DISAGGREGATION OF DATA.—The data col5 lected and reported under this subsection shall be 

6 disaggregated by— 

7 (A) race; 

8 (B) gender; 

9 (C) low-income status; 

10 (D) disability; and 

11 (E) English language proficiency. 

12 (3) ASSISTANCE FROM SECRETARY.—The Sec13 retary shall assist grantees in the collection of data 

14 under this subsection by making available, where 

15 practicable, low-cost means of tracking the labor 

16 market outcomes of participants and by providing 

17 standardized reporting forms, where appropriate. 

18 (i) INTERAGENCY RESEARCH PROGRAM AND CO19 ORDINATION.— 

20 (1) INTERAGENCY LABOR MARKET RESEARCH

21 PROGRAM.— 

22 (A) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.— 

23 Not later than 120 days after the date of the 

24 enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 

25 enter into a memorandum of understanding 


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1 with the Administrator of the Environmental 

2 Protection Agency, the Secretary of Agriculture, 

3 and the Secretary of Labor, acting through the 

4 Bureau of Labor Statistics, on a program to— 

5 (i) collect and analyze labor market 

6 data in the water and wastewater utilities 

7 sector, including the data collected in sub8 section (h); 

9 (ii) track workforce trends, including 

10 those affecting recruitment and retention; 

11 and 

12 (iii) identify the educational and ca13 reer training needs for current and future 

14 jobs in the water and wastewater utilities 

15 sector, including those related to construc16 tion and installation, engineering, oper17 ation, and maintenance. 

18 (B) COLLABORATION.—Activities carried 

19 out under this paragraph shall include collabo20 ration with State and local governments, work21 force investment boards, industry, labor organi22 zations, water districts, and nonprofit organiza23 tions. 

24 (2) COORDINATION BETWEEN FEDERAL WATER

25 CAREER TRAINING PROGRAMS.—Not later than 180 


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1 days after the date of the enactment of this section, 

2 the Secretary shall enter into a memorandum of un3 derstanding with the Administrator of the Environ4 mental Protection Agency to facilitate coordination 

5 and collaboration between the career training pro6 gram established by this section and the Innovative 

7 Water Infrastructure Workforce Development Pro8 gram, including the improvement of such career 

9 training programs over time to reflect the needs 

10 identified by the interagency research program es11 tablished in paragraph (1). 

12 (j) GUIDELINES.—Not later than 240 days after the 

13 date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall— 

14 (1) promulgate guidelines for the submission of 

15 grant proposals under this section, including a list of 

16 the needs identified under subsection (i); and 

17 (2) publish and maintain such guidelines on a 

18 public website of the Secretary. 

19 (k) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 18 

20 months after the date of the enactment of this section, 

21 and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit 

22 a report to the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

23 House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy 

24 and Natural Resources of the Senate on the grant pro25 grams established by this section and the Innovative 


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1 Water Infrastructure Workforce Development Program. 

2 The report shall include a description of the grantees and 

3 the activities for which grantees used a grant awarded 

4 under this section. 

5 (l) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) COMMUNITY COLLEGE.—The term ‘‘commu7 nity college’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘junior 

8 or community college’’ in section 312(f) of the High9 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1058(f)). 

10 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti11 ty’’ means a nonprofit entity or partnership that 

12 demonstrates experience in implementing and oper13 ating worker skills training and education programs 

14 such as a labor organization or an institution of 

15 higher education, as such term is defined in section 

16 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

17 U.S.C. 1001). 

18 (3) GRANTEE.—The term ‘‘grantee’’ means an 

19 eligible entity that has received a grant under this 

20 section. 

21 (4) INNOVATIVE WATER INFRASTRUCTURE

22 WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.—The term 

23 ‘‘Innovative Water Infrastructure Workforce Devel24 opment Program’’ means the program authorized by 

25 section 4304(b) of Public Law 115–270. 


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1 (5) LEAD APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘lead appli2 cant’’ means the eligible entity that is primarily re3 sponsible for the preparation, conduct, and adminis4 tration of the project for which the grant was award5 ed. 

6 (6) LOW-INCOME STUDENT.—The term ‘‘low-in7 come student’’ means a student whose income (ad8 justed for family size) does not exceed— 

9 (A) for metropolitan areas, 80 percent of 

10 the area median income; and 

11 (B) for nonmetropolitan areas, the greater 

12 of— 

13 (i) 80 percent of the area median in14 come; or 

15 (ii) 80 percent of the statewide non16 metropolitan area median income. 

17 TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS 

18 SEC. 501. OFFSET. 

19 (a) PURPOSE; DEFINITION.— 

20 (1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is 

21 to establish an efficient and transparent 1-time proc22 ess for deauthorizing Bureau of Reclamation 

23 projects that have failed— 

24 (A) to receive a minimum level of Federal 

25 investment; or 


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1 (B) to initiate construction. 

2 (2) DEFINITION OF RECLAMATION PROJECT.— 

3 In this section, the term ‘‘Reclamation project’’ 

4 means a surface water storage project or project 

5 under the purview of title XVI of Public Law 102– 

6 575 that is to be carried out, funded or operated in 

7 whole or in part by the Secretary pursuant to the 

8 Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, chapter 1093), 

9 and Acts supplemental to and amendatory of that 

10 Act (43 U.S.C. 371 et seq.). 

11 (b) BACKLOG LIST.—Not later than 180 days after 

12 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

13 submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Re14 sources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Re15 sources of the House of Representatives, and make avail16 able on a publicly accessible internet website in a manner 

17 that is downloadable, searchable, and sortable, a list of— 

18 (1) Reclamation projects— 

19 (A) that are authorized; and 

20 (B) for which, during the fiscal year in 

21 which this Act is enacted and each of the pre22 ceding 10 fiscal years— 

23 (i) no application for Federal funding 

24 has been received; and 

25 (ii) no construction has occurred; and 


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1 (2) for each Reclamation project listed under 

2 paragraph (1)— 

3 (A) the date of authorization of the Rec4 lamation project, including any subsequent 

5 modifications to the original authorization; 

6 (B) a brief description of the Reclamation 

7 project; and 

8 (C) any amounts appropriated for the Rec9 lamation project that remain unobligated. 

10 (c) INTERIM DEAUTHORIZATION LIST.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 

12 and make publicly available an interim deauthoriza13 tion list that identifies each Reclamation project de14 scribed in subsection (b)(1). 

15 (2) PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONSULTATION.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall so17 licit and accept, for a period of not less than 90 

18 days, comments relating to the interim de19 authorization list under paragraph (1) from— 

20 (i) the public; and 

21 (ii) the Governor of each applicable 

22 State. 

23 (B) PROJECT SPONSORS.—As part of the 

24 public comment period under subparagraph (A), 

25 the Secretary shall provide to project sponsors 


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1 the opportunity to provide to the Secretary a 

2 notice of the intent to initiate construction of 

3 the project by not later than the date that is 2 

4 years after the date of publication of the pre5 liminary final deauthorization list under sub6 section (d). 

7 (3) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS; PUBLICA8 TION.—Not later than 90 days after the date of sub9 mission of the backlog list under subsection (b), the 

10 Secretary shall— 

11 (A) submit the interim deauthorization list 

12 under paragraph (1) to the Committee on En13 ergy and Natural Resources of the Senate and 

14 the Committee on Natural Resources of the 

15 House of Representatives; and 

16 (B) publish the interim deauthorization list 

17 in the Federal Register. 

18 (d) PRELIMINARY FINAL DEAUTHORIZATION LIST.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 

20 a preliminary final deauthorization list that includes 

21 each project identified pursuant to paragraph (2). 

22 (2) IDENTIFICATION OF PROJECTS.— 

23 (A) EXCLUSIONS.—The Secretary may 

24 identify a Reclamation project described in sub25 section (b)(1) for exclusion from the prelimiVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:26 Jun 30, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00139 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3404.IH H3404

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1 nary final deauthorization list if the Secretary 

2 determines, on a case-by-case basis following re3 ceipt of public comments, that the project is 

4 critical for interests of the United States, based 

5 on the practicable impact of the project on— 

6 (i) public health and safety; 

7 (ii) the national economy; or 

8 (iii) the environment. 

9 (B) SUBJECT TO DEAUTHORIZATION DES10 IGNATION.—Any Reclamation project the spon11 sor of which has provided to the Secretary a no12 tice of the intent to initiate construction by not 

13 later than 2 years after the date of publication 

14 of the preliminary final deauthorization list 

15 under this subsection shall be designated on 

16 that list as ‘‘subject to deauthorization’’. 

17 (C) APPENDIX.—The Secretary shall in18 clude as part of the preliminary final deauthor19 ization list under this subsection an appendix 

20 that— 

21 (i) identifies each Reclamation project 

22 included on the interim deauthorization list 

23 under subsection (c) that is not included 

24 on the preliminary final deauthorization 

25 list; and 


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1 (ii) describes the reasons why each 

2 Reclamation project identified under clause 

3 (i) is not included on the preliminary final 

4 deauthorization list. 

5 (3) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS; PUBLICA6 TION.—Not later than 120 days after the date of ex7 piration of the public comment period under sub8 section (c)(2)(A), the Secretary shall— 

9 (A) submit to the Committee on Energy 

10 and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 

11 Committee on Natural Resources of the House 

12 of Representatives the preliminary final de13 authorization list and the appendix required 

14 under this subsection; and 

15 (B) publish the preliminary final deauthor16 ization list and appendix in the Federal Reg17 ister. 

18 (e) DEAUTHORIZATION; CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW.— 

19 Effective beginning on the date that is 180 days after the 

20 date of submission to Congress of the preliminary final 

21 deauthorization list under subsection (d)(3)(A), each Rec22 lamation project included on that list is deauthorized, un23 less— 


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1 (1) the Reclamation project is designated as 

2 ‘‘subject to deauthorization’’ pursuant to subsection 

3 (d)(2)(B); or 

4 (2) Congress has enacted a joint resolution dis5 approving the preliminary final deauthorization list. 

6 (f) UPDATED FINAL DEAUTHORIZATION LIST.— 

7 (1) PUBLICATION.—Not later than the date 

8 that is 2 years after the date of publication of the 

9 preliminary final deauthorization list under sub10 section (d)(3)(B), the Secretary shall publish an up11 dated final deauthorization list. 

12 (2) PROJECTS SUBJECT TO DEAUTHORIZA13 TION.—On the updated final deauthorization list 

14 under this subsection, the Secretary shall describe 

15 any Reclamation project designated as ‘‘subject to 

16 deauthorization’’ on the preliminary final deauthor17 ization list pursuant to subsection (d)(2)(B) as— 

18 (A) authorized, if the Secretary has re19 ceived evidence that the sponsor of the Rec20 lamation project has substantially initiated con21 struction on the Reclamation project; or 

22 (B) deauthorized, if the Secretary has not 

23 received the evidence described in subparagraph 

24 (A). 


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1 (3) DEAUTHORIZATION.—Any project described 

2 as deauthorized pursuant to paragraph (2)(B) shall 

3 be deauthorized on the date that is 180 days after 

4 the date of submission of the updated final de5 authorization list under paragraph (1), unless Con6 gress has enacted a joint resolution disapproving 

7 that list. 

8 (g) TREATMENT OF PROJECT MODIFICATIONS.—For 

9 purposes of this section, if an authorized Reclamation 

10 project has been modified by an Act of Congress, the date 

11 of authorization of the project shall be considered to be 

12 the date of the most recent modification. 

Æ 


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