I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2348
To authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to provide cost sharing for the
endangered fish recovery implementation programs for the Upper Colo-
rado and San Juan River Basins.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 24, 1999
Mr. HANSEN (for himself, Mr. COOK, Mr. CANNON, Mr. UDALL of Colorado,
Mr. MCINNIS, Mr. SCHAFFER, Mr. TANCREDO, and Mrs. CUBIN) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Re-
sources
A BILL
To authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to provide cost
sharing for the endangered fish recovery implementation
programs for the Upper Colorado and San Juan River
Basins.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to authorize and provide
funding for the Bureau of Reclamation to continue the
implementation of the endangered fish recovery implemen-
tation programs for the Upper Colorado and San Juan
River Basins in order to accomplish the objectives of these
programs within a currently established time schedule.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘Recovery Implementation Pro-
grams’’ means the intergovernmental programs es-
tablished pursuant to the 1988 Cooperative Agree-
ment to implement the Recovery Implementation
Program for the Endangered Fish Species in the
Upper Colorado River dated September 29, 1987,
and the 1992 Cooperative Agreement to implement
the San Juan River Recovery Implementation Pro-
gram dated October 21, 1992, and as they may be
amended by the parties thereto.
(2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of the Interior.
(3) The term ‘‘Upper Division States’’ means
the States of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wy-
oming.
(4) The term ‘‘Colorado River Storage Project’’
or ‘‘storage project’’ means those dams, reservoirs,
power plants, and other appurtenant project facili-
ties and features authorized by and constructed in
accordance with the Colorado River Storage Project
Act (43 U.S.C. 620 et seq.).
(5) The term ‘‘capital projects’’ means plan-
ning, design, permitting or other compliance, pre-
construction activities, construction, construction
management, and replacement of facilities, and the
acquisition of interests in land or water, as nec-
essary to carry out the Recovery Implementation
Programs.
(6) The term ‘‘facilities’’ includes facilities for
the genetic conservation or propagation of the en-
dangered fishes, those for the restoration of flood-
plain habitat or fish passage, those for control or
supply of instream flows, and those for the removal
or translocation of nonnative fishes.
(7) The term ‘‘interests in land and water’’ in-
cludes, but is not limited to, long-term leases and
easements, and long-term enforcement, or other
agreements protecting instream flows.
(8) The term ‘‘base funding’’ means funding for
operation and maintenance of capital projects, im-
plementation of recovery actions other than capital
projects, monitoring and research to evaluate the
need for or effectiveness of any recovery action, and
program management, as necessary to carry out the
Recovery Implementation Programs. Base funding
also includes annual funding provided under the
terms of the 1988 Cooperative Agreement and the
1992 Cooperative Agreement.
(9) The term ‘‘recovery actions other than cap-
ital projects’’ includes short-term leases and agree-
ments for interests in land, water, and facilities; the
reintroduction or augmentation of endangered fish
stocks; and the removal, translocation, or other con-
trol of nonnative fishes.
(10) The term ‘‘depletion charge’’ means a one-
time contribution in dollars per acre-foot to be paid
to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service based
on the average annual new depletion by each project.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION TO FUND RECOVERY PROGRAMS.
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR FED-
ERAL PARTICIPATION IN CAPITAL PROJECTS.—(1) There
is hereby authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary,
$46,000,000 to undertake capital projects to carry out the
purposes of this Act. Such funds shall be considered a
nonreimbursable Federal expenditure.
(2) The authority of the Secretary, acting through
the Bureau of Reclamation, under this or any other provi-
sion of law to implement capital projects for the Recovery
Implementation Program for Endangered Fish Species in
the Upper Colorado River Basin shall expire in fiscal year
2005 unless reauthorized by an Act of Congress.
(3) The authority of the Secretary to implement the
capital projects for the San Juan River Basin Recovery
Implementation Program shall expire in fiscal year 2007
unless reauthorized by an Act of Congress.
(b) COST OF CAPITAL PROJECTS.—The total costs
of the capital projects undertaken for the Recovery Imple-
mentation Programs receiving assistance under this Act
shall not exceed $100,000,000 of which—
(1) costs shall not exceed $82,000,000 for the
Recovery Implementation Program for Endangered
Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin
through fiscal year 2005; and
(2) costs shall not exceed $18,000,000 for the
San Juan River Recovery Implementation Program
through fiscal year 2007.
The amounts set forth in this subsection shall be adjusted
by the Secretary for inflation in each fiscal year beginning
after the enactment of this Act.
(c) NON-FEDERAL
CONTRIBUTIONS
TO
CAPITAL
PROJECTS.—(1) The Secretary, acting through the Bu-
reau of Reclamation, may accept contributed funds from
the Upper Division States, or political subdivisions or or-
ganizations with the Upper Division States, pursuant to
agreements that provide for the contributions to be used
for capital projects costs. Such funds may be expended
as if appropriated for such purposes. Such non-Federal
contributions shall not exceed $17,000,000.
(2) In addition to the contribution described in para-
graph (1), the Secretary of Energy, acting through the
Western Area Power Administration, and the Secretary of
the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation,
may utilize power revenues collected pursuant to the Colo-
rado River Storage Project Act to carry out the purposes
of section 3(c) of this Act. Such funds shall be treated
as reimbursable costs assigned to power for repayment
under section 5 of the Colorado River Storage Project Act.
This additional contribution shall not exceed $17,000,000.
Such funds shall be considered a non-Federal contribution
for the purposes of this Act.
(3) The additional funding provided pursuant to
paragraph (2) may be provided through loans from the
Colorado Water Conservation Board Construction Fund
(37–60–121 C.R.S.) to the Western Area Power Adminis-
tration in lieu of funds which would otherwise be collected
from power revenues and used for storage project repay-
ments. The Western Area Power Administration is author-
ized to repay such loan or loans from power revenues col-
lected beginning in fiscal year 2012, subject to an agree-
ment between the Colorado Water Conservation Board,
the Western Area Power Administration, and the Bureau